Wednesday of the
Fourth Week of Lent
(Isaiah 49:8-15; John 5:17-30)
The title, “& Son,” in a business listing reassures
clients. The owner obviously has a
family which roots him in the community and suggests trustworthiness. If the son comes to do the job, the client
perhaps thinks “like father, like son” and expects the true value for what she
pays. An analogous father-son
relationship forms the heart of today’s gospel.
The Jews become upset that Jesus keeps calling God his
father. They correctly see -- although
they do not believe -- that if God is his father, then he has all God’s
characteristics. In other words, Jesus is
God. He too is able to bring people out
of captivity as the reading from Isaiah proclaims of God. Jesus will perform a greater wonder. Empowered by the Father, he will call the
dead to life. But he will not do this
arbitrarily. He will call only those who
already have known his voice to eternal life.
Others may be called, but to condemnation.
The Easter promise will always astound us. We cannot help but ask, how can the dead be
raised to life? But certainly all adults
have seen in their lifetimes things that they never before had dreamed. God, who also is beyond our imagining, has
infinite power. When we try to imitate
not His power but His goodness, we attend to Jesus’ voice and can hope to be
called from death to life.
