Wednesday of the Second Week of Easter
(Acts 5:17-26; John 3:16-21)
After a tragedy such as the killing of thirty-two people at Virginia Polytechnic Institute two years ago by a deranged gunman, humans rack their brains to figure out why such atrocities take place. There is no shortage of answers.
Liberals usually criticize the lack of social safeguards that might protect the public from harm. Conservatives tend to blame the tragedies on the erosion of personal responsibility. Atheists may snicker that God should be held accountable for not intervening. Religious zealots may rant that God is only sending a brutal message calling for reform.
The Gospel of John does not provide detailed reasons for the occurrence of evil. It does tell us today, however, that people prefer darkness to light. From almost the very beginning the world has been marred by wickedness which is not about to stop. Today’s passage further points out how God acts to relieve suffering. He sends His son to mend many hurts and to preach better ways than the narrow self-interests people tend to pursue. Christ also dies on a cross which unites him in solidarity with the suffering from around the world and through the ages. More significantly, the cross provides humans the opportunity to vouch for Christ with faith so that we may experience the turnabout of his resurrection.
