The essential idea behind ‘Paraclete’ is that of someone who stands beside you in time of difficulty, providing a comforting, supportive and encouraging presence. Though Jesus may no longer be physically present, the comfort and assurance his presence gave the disciples during his lifetime will continue in the presence of the Holy Spirit. In the face of constant trial and rejection from the world, the Paraclete will be for the disciples ‘the Spirit of Truth’ in the sense of imparting to them a conviction that what they believe and hold on to is indeed reality in the most profound sense. The Gospel begins and ends with the sense that believers ‘have entered into the same reciprocity of love that unites the Father and the Son’. Though the language may suggest it to be the case, the Gospel does not mean that God’s love is conditional upon human observance of the commandments. The essential commandment is that of love. What the Gospel is saying is that when the community is indeed one where love prevails, the atmosphere of love that it experiences is nothing other than a sharing in the communion of love that is the Godhead.
This Sunday Jesus says that it is through his death that he goes to God. However, it is as he is raised up in crucifixion that he is exalted. The author of the epistle declares him ‘chosen and precious in the sight of God’ but it is as the stone that was rejected that he is so honoured. If we ever wonder how the exaltation of Jesus will effect us, we have Jesus’ own words of explanation. He promises to go ahead of us and make arrangements for us to share in his exaltation in the house of the one he calls Father. All we need do is follow him. Today’s readings suggest that the exaltation of Jesus is most dramatically manifested in the character of the community of those called by his name. It is revealed in the way Christians settle their differences so that all parties are treated fairly. Jesus is the cornerstone upon which this community is built, and the community mirrors his influence in its life. Christians also participate in the exaltation of Jesus by spreading the good news to others. In Acts we see how the witness of life and the preaching of the word of God increased the number of believers.
The central idea and series of images used by Jesus in the Gospel is that of the intimate knowledge that should exist between a shepherd and sheep: he knows his sheep, they recognise his voice and willingly follow his call. Jesus contrasts a ‘good shepherd’ like this with others who come only to steal, harass, and ultimately destroy sheep that do not belong to them. Jesus identifies himself not only with the shepherd but also with the Gate of the sheepfold: ‘I am the Gate of the sheepfold.’ This adds a fresh dimension. If the sheep are to flourish, they have to come and go through the gate of the fold; if they stay within the fold, they will decline for lack of pasture. If they do not return to the fold but stay out in the hillsides all night, they will be at risk. So daily they have to come and go through the gate, which then becomes their means of access to both protection and growth. By describing himself as ‘the Gate of the sheepfold’ Jesus is indicating that only through vital and continual interaction with himself will members of the community find life and growth. In this sense he ‘has come that they may have life and have it to the full’, that is, beyond life as mere existence, to have the ‘eternal life’ that is a share in the undying life of God.
Perhaps the most important part of this week’s Gospel reading is the first sentence about the two disciples walking to Emmaus. These disciples had been told by Jesus, ‘Wait in Jerusalem’ and here they are, with their backs to Jerusalem, walking out on him. They’ve given up. As they later explain to the stranger who walks with them, they ‘had hoped’ that Jesus would be the great saviour, but things haven’t turned out how they wanted.
Jesus explains in this journey that God’s plan wasn’t the same as the disciples, that in fact their ‘had hopes’ were unreal. Jesus’ way of being the saviour, in some mysterious way included the event of his execution. God’s plan went way beyond mere political freedom which his disciples had wanted. Jesus journeys with them and opens up the scriptures in such a way that their vision of God is expanded.
The themes for the second Sunday of Easter set the tone for the entire Easter season. They are all directed toward mystagogical instruction, primarily of those baptised during the Easter Vigil, but also of the whole Christian community. The readings for this season provide us an extended meditation on the resurrection and on our own incorporation into it through the mysteries of initiation. Most of us are like Thomas who looked for some tangible evidence of the resurrection. We do not find it any easier to live by faith than he did. However, when we do live by faith, we actually discover our capacity, as a Christian community, to reach out in care and support to others. Jesus extends his wounded hands to us as he did to Thomas, and the community is invited to touch his wounds as we touch the wounds of our world. Although the blessings that we derive from the resurrection are clearly gifts from God, they are nonetheless gifts that came at a cost.
John’s Easter story is closer to our real experience than many of the other Resurrection stories. Here we have no angels announcing ‘He is raised’; no Jesus present to change sadness into joy. Resurrection is more subtle in this Gospel. Mary and Peter miss the signs. They remain locked in grief still carrying the painful burden of Golgotha. It is the disciple named ‘beloved’ who first experiences resurrection in his openness to believe in God’s power to raise Jesus. Easter calls for faith. Those who know the loss and pain of death know too well the hard, long search to find signs of life. We don’t experience a sudden glorious moment of life returned. Like the anonymous disciple, we often stay some time within the tomb before finding grace to turn and enter into life. Such grace is found in simple signs of a love that does endure. Perhaps this is why ‘the beloved’ disciple first reaches Easter faith.
In this final Lenten Sunday we look again at the significance of Christ in our lives. We recognise him as our saviour, but we look more closely in order to discover just what kind of saviour he is. He has taken the form of a slave; he has been glorified with a name above all other names; he continues to suffer with us. We have not been saved through military might, but through the self-offering humility of Jesus. Though he was really in the form of God, Jesus came in the form of a slave. We have a saviour who was crushed for our iniquities, nailed to a cross as a convicted criminal, and there endured the sense of abandonment. In the face of this, we must ask a fundamental question: Why does God love us with such abandon? Our Saviour was lifted up and exalted precisely because he emptied himself of his divine prerogatives. He became one of us in order to show us how we are to live. Unlike conquerors who triumph by putting down their opponents, Jesus was raised up because he himself was first willing to be put down. Our Saviour first offered himself for us and continues to offer himself to us as an example to follow. As he was willing to empty himself for our sake, so we are told to empty ourselves for the sake of others. The Passion narrative leaves us up in the air. It leaves us in a better position than the disciples because we know the end of the story!. Jesus’ disciples were downcast by what they felt was the defeat of Jesus, however we know that out of this darkness, light and hope will emerge!
The pure human emotion of Jesus in this text attests to the love he had for Lazarus, but this human affection is nothing compared with the future promise to which the actions of Jesus towards Lazarus will lead. For those without faith, the tomb is simply a place of human corruption and decay. Death has ultimate power over people. But for people of faith, the tomb holds no fear. It is ironic that in raising Lazarus to life, Jesus is ensuring his own death at the hands of ‘the Jews’. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, the power of sin and death is broken, and instead, resurrection and life are offered to all who would attest with Martha that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. It is Jesus who is the resurrection and the life! There is a fundamental difference between the death and resurrection of Lazarus and that of Jesus. Lazarus will return to death, symbolised by the fact that he still wears the clothes of death when he comes forth from the tomb. Jesus’ death, however, will lead to a glory that lasts forever, symbolised by the fact that his death clothes are neatly folded and placed to one side when he emerges from the tomb. The resurrection of Jesus brings eternal life.
By means of the water that washed away his blindness, the blind man is made a new creation. He progresses from knowing the name of the one who cured him, to professing that Jesus is a prophet, to proclaiming that he comes from God. The struggle between darkness and light, between blindness and sight runs throughout this account. Jesus is the light of the world. The man, who is gradually brought from physical blindness to sight, also progressively moves from spiritual blindness to religious insight. The Pharisees were blind to the truth that the newly cured man saw so clearly. The one who was blind sees, and those who can see are blind. The move from darkness to light describes the radical change that takes place in the lives of Christians as a result of their commitment to Christ. The three qualities that are produced by the light – goodness, righteousness, truth – are merely symbolic of the complete transformation of character that this light can effect. Christians have entered into a new state of being, which will require of them a new way of living.
The Gospel reading this Sunday very clearly lays out the choices between water that quenches thirst and water that does not. Jesus identifies himself as the source of water that guarantees eternal life. He places before the Samaritan woman a choice that requires a step of profound faith. She knows the thirst-quenching quality of the water from Jacob’s well, but she is not acquainted with the water promised by this stranger who is also an enemy of her people. The choice is not an obvious one. A similar choice is placed before us. We know the demands of our culture and the circumstances of our lives. Are we able to acknowledge the sins of which we are guilty, recognise the grace that is being offered to us, and make the right choice?