Friends,
in today’s Gospel, Jewish leaders attempt to stone Jesus because he
claimed to be the Son of God. He defended his identity, saying, "If I do
not perform my Father’s works, do not believe me; but if I perform
them, even if you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may
realize and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father."
At
the Last Supper, Jesus would
further explain his intimate relationship with the Father. There he lays
out for us the coinherence that obtains at the most fundamental
dimension of being—that is to say, within the very existence of God.
"Lord," Philip said to him, "show us the Father, and that will be enough
for us." Jesus replied, "Philip, after I have been with you all this
time, you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the
Father."
How
can this be true, unless the Father and the Son coinhere in each other?
Though Father and Son are truly distinct, they are utterly implicated
in each other by a mutual act of love.
As Jesus says, "It is the Father who lives in me, accomplishing his
works."
Reflect: In this Gospel, Jesus
teaches about the mystery of the Trinity, which confuses his disciples
and causes Jewish leaders to accuse him of blasphemy. Why is the mystery
of the Trinity so important to the Christian faith?
Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent
Lectionary: 255
I hear the whisperings of many:
"Terror on every side!
Denounce! let us denounce him!"
All those who were my friends
are on the watch for any misstep of mine.
"Perhaps he will be trapped; then we can prevail,
and take our vengeance on him."
But the LORD is with me, like a mighty champion:
my persecutors will stumble, they will not triumph.
In their failure they will be put to utter shame,
to lasting, unforgettable confusion.
O LORD of hosts, you who test the just,
who probe mind and heart,
Let me witness the vengeance you take on them,
for to you I have entrusted my cause.
Sing to the LORD,
praise the LORD,
For he has rescued the life of the poor
from the power of the wicked!
The Jews picked up rocks to stone Jesus.
Jesus answered them, "I have shown you many good works from my Father.
For which of these are you trying to stone me?"
The Jews answered him,
"We are not stoning you for a good work but for blasphemy.
You, a man, are making yourself God."
Jesus answered them,
"Is it not written in your law, 'I said, 'You are gods"'?
If it calls them gods to whom the word of God came,
and Scripture cannot be set aside,
can you say that the one
whom the Father has consecrated and sent into the world
blasphemes because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?
If I do not perform my Father's works, do not believe me;
but if I perform them, even if you do not believe me,
believe the works, so that you may realize and understand
that the Father is in me and I am in the Father."
Then they tried again to arrest him;
but he escaped from their power.
He went back across the Jordan
to the place where John first baptized, and there he remained.
Many came to him and said,
"John performed no sign,
but everything John said about this man was true."
And many there began to believe in him.
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