20220330 CHRIST RESTORES THE COVENANT GOD MADE WITH HIS PEOPLE
30 March, 2022, Wednesday, 4th Week of Lent
First reading | Isaiah 49:8-15 © |
On the day of salvation I will help you
Thus says the Lord:
At the favourable time I will answer you,
on the day of salvation I will help you.
(I have formed you and have appointed you
as covenant of the people.)
I will restore the land
and assign you the estates that lie waste.
I will say to the prisoners, ‘Come out’,
to those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’
On every roadway they will graze,
and each bare height shall be their pasture.
They will never hunger or thirst,
scorching wind and sun shall never plague them;
for he who pities them will lead them
and guide them to springs of water.
I will make a highway of all the mountains,
and the high roads shall be banked up.
Some are on their way from afar,
others from the north and the west,
others from the land of Sinim.
Shout for joy, you heavens; exult, you earth!
You mountains, break into happy cries!
For the Lord consoles his people
and takes pity on those who are afflicted.
For Zion was saying, ‘The Lord has abandoned me,
the Lord has forgotten me.’
Does a woman forget her baby at the breast,
or fail to cherish the son of her womb?
Yet even if these forget,
I will never forget you.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 144(145):8-9,13b-14,17-18 © |
The Lord is kind and full of compassion.
The Lord is kind and full of compassion,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
How good is the Lord to all,
compassionate to all his creatures.
The Lord is kind and full of compassion.
The Lord is faithful in all his words
and loving in all his deeds.
The Lord supports all who fall
and raises all who are bowed down.
The Lord is kind and full of compassion.
The Lord is just in all his ways
and loving in all his deeds.
He is close to all who call him,
who call on him from their hearts.
The Lord is kind and full of compassion.
Gospel Acclamation | Jn3:16 |
Glory and praise to you, O Christ!
God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son:
everyone who believes in him has eternal life.
Glory and praise to you, O Christ!
Or: | Jn11:25, 26 |
Glory and praise to you, O Christ!
I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord;
whoever believes in me will never die.
Glory and praise to you, O Christ!
Gospel | John 5:17-30 © |
The dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and all who hear it will live
Jesus said to the Jews, ‘My Father goes on working, and so do I.’ But that only made them even more intent on killing him, because, not content with breaking the sabbath, he spoke of God as his own Father, and so made himself God’s equal.
To this accusation Jesus replied:
‘I tell you most solemnly,
the Son can do nothing by himself;
he can do only what he sees the Father doing:
and whatever the Father does the Son does too.
For the Father loves the Son
and shows him everything he does himself,
and he will show him even greater things than these,
works that will astonish you.
Thus, as the Father raises the dead and gives them life,
so the Son gives life to anyone he chooses;
for the Father judges no one;
he has entrusted all judgement to the Son,
so that all may honour the Son
as they honour the Father.
Whoever refuses honour to the Son
refuses honour to the Father who sent him.
I tell you most solemnly,
whoever listens to my words,
and believes in the one who sent me,
has eternal life;
without being brought to judgement
he has passed from death to life.
I tell you most solemnly,
the hour will come – in fact it is here already –
when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God,
and all who hear it will live.
For the Father, who is the source of life,
has made the Son the source of life;
and, because he is the Son of Man,
has appointed him supreme judge.
Do not be surprised at this,
for the hour is coming when the dead will leave their graves
at the sound of his voice:
those who did good will rise again to life;
and those who did evil, to condemnation.
I can do nothing by myself;
I can only judge as I am told to judge,
and my judging is just,
because my aim is to do not my own will,
but the will of him who sent me.’
CHRIST RESTORES THE COVENANT GOD MADE WITH HIS PEOPLE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Isaiah 49:8-15; Ps 145:8-9,13-14,17-18; John 5:17-30]
We are in the fourth week of Lent. The fourth Sunday of Lent is Laetare Sunday, the Sunday of rejoicing because the liturgy wants us to anticipate the joy of resurrection ahead of us. The common theme that runs through this week is that God has come to give us life. This theme had already been underscored on Sunday when in the Prodigal Son story, the father said, “we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” (Lk 15:32) The scripture readings today also speak about renewal and, most of all, restoration of life.
In the first reading from the prophet Isaiah, God was addressing the Israelites in exile. They were languishing away in Babylon. They had lost everything, land, Temple and Kingdom. They were captives exiled in Babylon. As a consequence, the people were saying, “Yahweh has abandoned me, the Lord has forgotten me.” But this was far from the truth. God is always faithful to His covenant even when we are not faithful to Him. If the Lord abandoned the people for a while, it was to bring them back to realization and repentance. But God was ever ready to bring them back when they returned to Him. Indeed, as the Lord said, “Can a woman forget her baby at the breast, feel no pity for the child she has borne? Even if these were to forget, I shall not forget you.” Such is God’s faithful love for His people.
But they would need to wait for the right time for God to intervene. “Thus, says Yahweh: At the time of my favour I have answered you, on the day of salvation I have helped you.” This is true in life as well. When we are too quick to help or to intervene, the time might not be right. Even last Sunday’s Prodigal Son came back only after having gone through the misery of his sins and experienced what it felt like to lose his sonship and be treated like a slave, worse than the swine. Only “when he came to his senses”, realization and repentance, was he then ready to return home. (Lk 15:17-20) So too for the people of Israel, in their return to Jerusalem.
But God had prepared a lasting covenant beyond even what Isaiah prophesied. “Along the roadway they will graze, and any bare height will be their pasture. They will never hunger or thirst, scorching wind and sun will never plague them; for he who pities them will lead them, will guide them to springs of water. I shall turn all my mountains into a road and my highways will be raised aloft. Look! Here they come from far away, look, these from the north and the west, those from the land of Sinim.” And the One who would be appointed “to be the covenant for a people, to restore the land, to return ravaged properties, to say to prisoners, “Come out,” to those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves'” is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. He will establish the everlasting Covenant, as the prophet Jeremiah said, “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. ‘I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.'” (Jer 31:33) The Lord also said, “Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.'” (Ez 37:13f)
In the gospel, Jesus proclaimed Himself to be one with the Father, not in metaphysical abstract and static terms as in the Greek definition of the Holy Trinity, three persons, one nature, equal in essence and the two natures of Christ in one person. Rather, St John used dynamic terms to describe His identity and nature by speaking of Jesus sharing the same will, knowledge and power of the Heavenly Father. Jesus employed verbs rather than adjectives to describe His relationship with the Father. Jesus’ real identity was that of the Son of the Father. As the Jews rightly surmised, “he spoke of God as his own Father, and so made himself God’s equal.” This was something that the Jews and the Muslims, the great monotheistic religions cannot accept. They might be able to accept Jesus as a prophet, but monotheism cannot permit any division in God. For them, this is the greatest heresy of the Christians, to call Jesus, God, or even the Son of God.
Yet, today’s gospel text does not make it easier for us Christians to make a compromise for the sake of religious harmony and to tell the world that Jesus was only a great teacher, a man and a founder of a religion like all other founders of religions. Of course, there are some Christians who, wanting to appear acceptable to people of other faiths, would try to say that Jesus is just one of the ways to come to God, but He is not the only way. In other words, all ways lead to God and it does not matter whether one believes in Jesus or not.
In no uncertain terms, the Lord in today’s gospel claims total identification with His Father. In action, Jesus acts like the Father, and on His Father’s behalf. Like the Father who goes on working even on Sabbath since He continues to give life by the birth of new babies and healing the sick; judging those who die and come before Him, Jesus continues to work even in Sabbath, healing sick people, mending broken lives, reconciling sinners with God, and being judge as well, since all will be judged in Him. “Thus, as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son gives life to anyone he chooses; for the Father judges no one; he has entrusted all judgement to the Son.” If Jesus were the life-giver and the judge, He therefore could not be anything less than God His Father who is the source of life and the Judge of all.
This union with His Father in His actions is the consequence of Jesus sharing the same will and knowledge of His Father. To those who accused Him of blasphemy and heresy, He said, “I tell you most solemnly, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees the Father doing: and whatever the Father does the Son does too. For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he does himself.” Jesus acted always in union with the Father in all things. He was one with the Father. He did nothing of Himself but from Him. Jesus said, “I can do nothing by myself: I can only judge as I am told to judge, and my judging is just, because my aim is to do not my own will, but the will of him who sent me.” The Father is the source of life. The power of the Son is a derivative power that comes from the Father. But He is no less than God. Whatever the Father has, He gave to His Son, except His Fatherhood, which cannot be given, for that is what distinguishes Him from His Son as the source of life, love and truth.
The ultimate proof that He is truly what He professed to be is that the Father “will show him even greater things than these, works that will astonish you!” What would astonish us if not His passion, death and resurrection? When the great work, the recreation came about on Easter Sunday, the whole of creation was renewed by Him. Once again, we find hope in the midst of suffering, life in death, love in hatred. Indeed, the ultimate proof that Jesus is truly the Son of God is His Father’s vindication of His works and words by raising Him from the dead after a most scandalous and humiliating crucifixion on the cross.
Consequently, we are challenged today to seek life in Christ, or someone, or somewhere else. The choice will decide our eternal happiness. As the Lord said, “Whoever refuses honour to the Son refuses honour to the Father who sent him.” To choose Jesus means to believe in His words and do good. The Lord warns us, “Do not be surprised at this, for the hour is coming when the dead will leave their graves at the sound of his voice: those who did good will rise again to life; and those who did evil, to condemnation.” However, the Lord assured us, “whoever listens to my words, and believes in the one who sent me, has eternal life; without being brought to judgement he has passed from death to life.” When we also act in union with Jesus in mind, heart and will, we too like Jesus will also be in union with God. We will no longer be judged because God sees the face of His Son in us. Those of us who have lived a good and honest life need not fear judgment or condemnation. (1 Jn 4:17f) With Jesus, we already have a foretaste of the eternal life to come.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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