Wednesday of Week 2 of Easter – Gospel

Commentary on John 3:16-21

Today we continue reflecting on the meeting of Jesus with Nicodemus.  The dialogue has given way to a theological reflection in which the words of Jesus and of the author cannot easily be distinguished.

The theme is the relationship between God and the world.  A few very important statements are made:

• God so loved the world…He loves it so much that he gave his only Son, who died a terrible death on a cross as proof of that love.  God loves the whole world and not just the “good” parts.  God’s love is total and unconditional for every one of his creatures.  But to experience the life that comes from God through Jesus, we have to believe in him, open ourselves to him and give our whole selves to him in deep faith and trust.
• God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him. We must constantly remind ourselves of this.  God’s first and only instinct is to love us and for us to experience that love.  We have been made by him and for him.  He made us to share his life and love forever.
• Those who believe in him…in heart, word and deed—avoid judgement. But whoever does not believe is already condemned. That does not contradict what we have just said above. Judgment does not come from God, but rather from our own choice.  Today’s Gospel states it this way:

…the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed.

It is not God who abandons or dumps us—it is we who abandon him.  We are our own judges when we deliberately choose darkness over light.  We put ourselves beyond the reach of his love, which is there and only waiting for us to turn back.  On the contrary, those who:

…do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.

It is not God’s judgment that we are to fear. Rather it is our own choices which can bring us closer to him or push us away from him. It is our own decision whether we wish to live always in the light or instead choose darkness.

It might be good for us to reflect today on those dark corners of our life—present and past—which we keep hidden from others.  Why do we hide these things?  The person who lives in the light, the person of integrity and wholeness, has nothing whatever to hide.

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Wednesday of Week 2 of Easter – First Reading

Commentary on Acts 5:17-26

In the passage immediately preceding today’s reading we are told that many signs and wonders were being performed by the Apostles and more and more people joined their community.  Even Peter’s shadow falling on the sick was enough to heal them.  All this was causing great alarm among the religious leadership who saw these men acting on the basis of a faith (a Saviour risen from the dead) which they regarded as heretical. During the next three days (Wednesday, Thursday and Friday) we will be hearing a description of the leaders’ efforts to put a stop to the Apostles’ work.

Specifically, those upset were the high priest and the Sadducee party to which he belonged.  As we saw earlier, Caiaphas was the high priest recognised by Rome, but the Jews considered his father-in-law Annas still the high priest because it was an office held for life.  The Sadducees only accepted the first five books of the Bible (the Pentateuch) as inspired, and rejected later teachings accepted by others.  Nor did they believe in a personal Messiah, but only in a Messianic age. They also were seen to some extent as collaborators with the Romans, and it was partly because they feared the reaction of the Romans that they wanted to get rid of this new ‘movement’ which could arouse the suspicions of the Roman authorities. Caiaphas had said during Jesus’ trial:

You do not understand that it is better for you to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed. (John 11:50)

Here was a similar situation.

We are told that the main motive for their displeasure was jealousy.  The Apostles were attracting large crowds, apart from the fact that they were disseminating a doctrine which the Sadducees denounced.  So they had the Apostles arrested and thrown into the public jail.

But during the night an “angel of the Lord” opened the gates for them and told them to go back and continue preaching in the Temple.  The phrase “angel of the Lord” appears four times in Acts: Stephen, during his address to the Sanhedrin, tells of an angel speaking to Moses near Mount Sinai (7:30-38); an angel guides the deacon Philip to seek out the Ethiopian eunuch (8:26); an angel frees Peter from prison (12:7-10); and it is an angel who strikes down Herod when he accepts being addressed as a god (12:23).

In today’s reading, was it really a divine intervention, or was it the work of a secret but influential supporter?  It does not matter; it is clear that Jesus is with his Apostles.  So the dawn finds them back in the Temple preaching about Jesus.

The same morning, the Sanhedrin, the ruling council of the Jews, was convoked and the prisoners summoned.  The Sanhedrin was the supreme Jewish court, consisting of 70 to 100 men (the proper number was 71).  They sat in a semi-circle, backed by three rows of disciples of the “learned men”, with the clerks of the court standing in front.

The temple guard found the jail locked and the guards at their posts, but there was no sign of the Apostles.  They were dumbfounded and could not explain the situation.  Then the council was amazed to hear that the Apostles were back in the Temple teaching the people.  They were re-arrested, but with no show of force because the leaders feared the opposition of the crowd.

We have here again a pattern that recurs throughout the history of the Church and indeed among all those who fight in this world for truth and justice. Untold numbers of Christians in every part of the world have found themselves in jail for their faith.  Across the world, there are Christians in detention and labour camps right now.  They have experienced the protection of God who gives them courage and peace and a sense of liberation (even if they are not always miraculously released).

As in today’s case, those in power are aware that they often do not have the people on their side.  Their only weapon is their power, but not truth or justice.  To keep their power and all that goes with it, they will not hesitate to suppress truth and act unjustly and often violently.

As with the Apostles, we cannot acquiesce in a situation where truth and justice are being attacked.  There must be dialogue and even resistance, but never violence.  Our own dignity and that of our opponents must be deeply respected.  We oppose, not them, but their ideas and their actions.  We might pray today to have even a modicum of the Apostles’ integrity and courage. Tomorrow, we will continue with this story.

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