20220107 WHO CAN OVERCOME THE WORLD?
First reading | 1 John 5:5-13 © |
There are three witnesses: the Spirit and the water and the blood
Who can overcome the world?
Only the man who believes that Jesus is the Son of God:
Jesus Christ who came by water and blood,
not with water only,
but with water and blood;
with the Spirit as another witness –
since the Spirit is the truth –
so that there are three witnesses,
the Spirit, the water and the blood,
and all three of them agree.
We accept the testimony of human witnesses,
but God’s testimony is much greater,
and this is God’s testimony,
given as evidence for his Son.
Everybody who believes in the Son of God
has this testimony inside him;
and anyone who will not believe God
is making God out to be a liar,
because he has not trusted
the testimony God has given about his Son.
This is the testimony:
God has given us eternal life
and this life is in his Son;
anyone who has the Son has life,
anyone who does not have the Son does not have life.
I have written all this to you
so that you who believe in the name of the Son of God
may be sure that you have eternal life.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 147:12-15,19-20 © |
O praise the Lord, Jerusalem!
or
Alleluia!
O praise the Lord, Jerusalem!
Zion, praise your God!
He has strengthened the bars of your gates
he has blessed the children within you.
O praise the Lord, Jerusalem!
or
Alleluia!
He established peace on your borders,
he feeds you with finest wheat.
He sends out his word to the earth
and swiftly runs his command.
O praise the Lord, Jerusalem!
or
Alleluia!
He makes his word known to Jacob,
to Israel his laws and decrees.
He has not dealt thus with other nations;
he has not taught them his decrees.
O praise the Lord, Jerusalem!
or
Alleluia!
Gospel Acclamation | cf.1Tim3:16 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Glory to you, O Christ,
proclaimed to the pagans;
glory to you, O Christ,
believed in by the world.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Luke 5:12-16 © |
'If you want to, you can cure me'
Jesus was in one of the towns when a man appeared, covered with leprosy. Seeing Jesus he fell on his face and implored him. ‘Sir,’ he said ‘if you want to, you can cure me.’ Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him and said, ‘Of course I want to! Be cured!’ And the leprosy left him at once. He ordered him to tell no one, ‘But go and show yourself to the priest and make the offering for your healing as Moses prescribed it, as evidence for them.’
His reputation continued to grow, and large crowds would gather to hear him and to have their sickness cured, but he would always go off to some place where he could be alone and pray.
WHO CAN OVERCOME THE WORLD?
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [1 JOHN 5:5-13; PSALM 147:12-15.19-20; LUKE 5:12-16]
St John asked, “Who can overcome the world?” ‘The world’ in this context stands for all that is worldly, and not creation as this word is also used positively when Jesus said, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” (Jn 3:16) In a negative sense, the world represents all the temptations of the flesh, and the Evil One. It leads us away from God, from ourselves and our fellowmen because we are absorbed in the things of this world, whether it is pleasure, power, glory, success, recognition, so that we lose touch with our spirit. Often, we are enslaved by sin, greed, envy, revenge and violence.
Jesus Christ as the Son of God is the key to overcoming the world. We have been reading a series of miracles which our Lord performed, thereby manifesting Himself as the Son of God, the mercy and love of the Father. In today’s gospel, Jesus healed a leper who pleaded with Him to heal him. “A man appeared, covered with leprosy. Seeing Jesus he fell on his face and implored him. ‘Sir,’ he said, ‘if you want to, you can cure me.’ Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him and said, ‘Of course I want to! Be cured!’ And the leprosy left him at once.” Of course, the healing of the leper is more than just a physical healing. It has social, emotional and spiritual implications as well. Because of leprosy, the man was emotionally disengaged with his loved ones. He was socially marginalized from the community. And he too was cut off from God and worship, as he was forbidden to go near to anyone.
Theologically, the healing of the leper represents healing from our sins. Leprosy, like sin, can be deadly. We too are covered with the leprosy of sin, which has alienated us from our loved ones, our community, and from God. Cut off from the community and from God, helpless and unable to do anything to save ourselves, as there was no cure for leprosy then, one can only turn to God. Jesus, acting on behalf of God, touches and heals us by assuring us that we are accepted by God and forgiven. To cement this non-tangible fact, Jesus told the leper “go and show yourself to the priest and make the offering for your healing as Moses prescribed it, as evidence for them.” The priest acted not just as the authority to certify that the person was medically well but also in the place of God for the person to be readmitted to the community. Leprosy, therefore, is a symbol of sin and sometimes understood as the consequence of sin, as was the case of all illnesses, as perceived by the Jews in their days.
This miracle of Jesus vouched for the fact that Jesus is the One who could overcome sin in the world. This is because Jesus is the Son of God, the eternally begotten one of the Father who has come to us to take away our sins and the sin of the world. John the Baptist pointed out to Jesus saying, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.” (Jn 1:29, 33f)
But how sure can we be that He is the Son of God and that only through Him we can overcome the world? St John said, “Jesus Christ who came by water and blood, not with water only, but with water and blood, with the Spirit as another witness – since the Spirit is the truth – so that there are three witnesses, the Spirit, the water and the blood, and all three of them agree.” What is this testimony of water and blood and the Holy Spirit? It is a reference to the Sacrament of Baptism and the Eucharist, both of which are made effective and possible through the Holy Spirit who transformed water into purifying and cleansing water for our sins and the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ, which celebrates His saving death for our salvation.
Why is water called a witness? Firstly, with reference to our Lord Himself, He was baptized by John the Baptist. For Jesus, His baptism was an identification with humanity. He was a man like us. Although He knew no sin, yet He led the way to baptism. His baptism was the moment of affirmation by His Father as His beloved Son and also His mission to make the Father’s love known. So the early Church, following Jesus, baptized her members so that they too could have their sins purified through the waters sanctified by Christ who went into the waters, and be filled with the Holy Spirit, just as the Spirit descended on Him at His baptism. The baptism of our Lord therefore is the basis of Christian baptism.
Secondly, we must bear in mind the symbol of water as one of cleansing and giving of new life in the Spirit. We are reminded of the river that flowed through the Temple of Jerusalem and Jesus exclaiming, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.'” And the evangelist gave a footnote, “Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” (Jn 7:37-39) Water, therefore, is a channel to bestow the Holy Spirit, and for this reason, water is the sign for baptism. A person is washed clean of his sins and receives the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Just as Jesus changed water to wine at Cana, Jesus can use the same water to transform us into a new creature when we are baptized in His name, and bestow on us the Holy Spirit.
With respect to the witness of the blood, clearly, it refers to the passion and death of our Lord. Once again, we are reminded of the testimony of the beloved disciple of our Lord who, at the cross, witnessed the piercing of the heart of Jesus by a lance. He wrote, “one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out. (He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth.) These things occurred so that the scripture might be fulfilled, ‘None of his bones shall be broken.’ And again another passage of scripture says, ‘They will look on the one whom they have pierced.'” That blood and water flowed vouched for the truth that Jesus was truly a man, and secondly, that He really died. Only with His death could He atone for our sins and render the justice of God for humanity. Furthermore, without the death of Jesus, death would not have been overcome; death, which is the wage of sin and the cause of sin because man fears death. Death is the last enemy of man to be overcome. (1 Cor 15:26f0
But it was at His death that the Spirit was bestowed on humanity in principle, as St John remarked, “Jesus had received the wine, he said, ‘It is finished.’ Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” (Jn 19:30) These words are more than just a literal statement that Jesus died, but that the mission had been accomplished and so upon His death, He poured forth His Spirit to the world. However, this is realized and visibly encountered after the resurrection in the evening of that same day. “He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.'” (Jn 20:22f)
Consequently, the water, the blood and the Holy Spirit are God’s testimony to His Son whom He raised from the dead and bestowed His Spirit upon us all. Hence, St John says, “We accept the testimony of human witnesses, but God’s testimony is much greater, and this is God’s testimony, given as evidence for his Son.” In view of the above, clearly, for the Christian, salvation is through baptism and the reception of the Eucharist. These are two primary sacraments that mediate the divine life of God to man. In both sacraments, the Spirit of Jesus is given to us. Baptism is the entry into the Christian community and the Eucharist makes us a member of Christ’s body. When we are baptized, we receive the life of the Spirit, but we need to be nurtured and strengthened in our union with the Lord and the Christian community through the Eucharist. United with Jesus through baptism and the Eucharist, God gives us “eternal life and this life is in his Son; anyone who has the Son has life.” With Christ and His Spirit in us, we can overcome everything in this world.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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