God our Father, you always work to save us, and now we rejoice in the great love you give to your chosen people. Protect all who are about to become your children, and continue to bless those who are already baptized. Amen
John 11:45-56Many of the Jews who had come to Mary and seen what Jesus had done began to believe in him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin and said, “What are we going to do? This man is performing many signs. If we leave him alone, all will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our land and our nation.” But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing, nor do you consider that it is better for you that one man should die instead of the people, so that the whole nation may not perish.” He did not say this on his own, but since he was high priest for that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not only for the nation, but also to gather into one the dispersed children of God. So from that day on they planned to kill him.
Now the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before Passover to purify themselves. They looked for Jesus and said to one another as they were in the temple area, “What do you think? Surely he will not come to the feast?”
We see Caiaphas wants to have Jesus silenced and he voices God’s intention “to gather into one the dispersed children of God”, which would come about as a result of Jesus’ death. Today, as we stand on the threshold of Holy Week, in which we will make that saving death present in our own time, it is helpful to reflect both on the unity which God Himself prays for throughout the Bible (e.g., “. . . that they all may be one, as you Father in Me, and I in You . . . that the world may believe . . .”) and on the emphasis throughout on a people, not just individuals.We humans are irreversibly divisive – “we” and “them” in a thousand different guises. It’s embedded in our natures. Thus, clearly, the unity God desires has to be God’s own work. We ourselves can’t do it without being transformed, without being a new creation, without the life that God gives us in baptism – all of which we will re-actualize next Saturday at the Easter vigil. Can we believe it? Dare we believe it?As Christians, as disciples of Jesus, unity – unity within families, unity within nations, unity between nations, unity between churches, and unity within churches – must be our first priority. It can’t be left to someone else. It’s not that there are no differences – “Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female”. There are indeed differences. But, “all are one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28). The differences don’t matter in God’s eyes. God clearly enough sees the flaws that we see in one another, in one group or another, in one religion or another – the flaws that seem to us to block our becoming one. God sees them too. God loves us all anyway. That’s the ultimate basis for unity – a people loved by God. We’re all one around the table of the Lord. We’re all invited to the feast. “We” just have to be willing to sit down with “them”.
Loving God, Your eternal watchfulness keeps us safe from harm. We are filled with a great happiness when we feel your endless love for us. Thank you for your care for us, your children. We ask you to protect from harm those who will soon be your children, joined in the joy of your church. Please continue to pour out your blessings on all of us who have been given the lifegiving waters of baptism. Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment