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. A similar father-son relationship
forms the heart of today’s gospel.
The Jews have criticized Jesus for healing on the
Sabbath. He, in turn, tells them that he
is permitted to heal on the Sabbath because God, his Father, heals on the
Sabbath. This claim, of course,
infuriates the Jews. They find the idea of Jesus being God blasphemous. But Jesus is not
deterred. He goes on to say that like
his Father he also raises the dead to new life.
In fact, he claims that to be raised from the dead one has to believe the
doctrine that he is teaching.
Jesus’ promise of resurrection from the dead should
astound us. It is not merely the ongoing life
of the soul when we die. Rather it is the retrieval of our bodies and their unification
with our souls at the end of time. We
cannot help but ask how this can happen.
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 and can do much more marvelous things. Ours is to imitate God’s goodness, not
His power. Doing so, we show belief in Jesus’
doctrine and can hope to be called from death to life.
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