Acts 5:12-16; Revelation 1:9-11a, 12-13, 17-19; John 20:19-31
Completing the Missing Link: “[T]hat through this belief you may have life in his name” (John 20:31)
Authentic or fake, Nigerian society is riddled with miracles and wonder-workers; what is not in doubt, in most Nigerians’ and Sub-Saharan Africans’ minds is the presence and activeness of the Christian Faith. In fact, Christianity, Islam and African Traditional Religion argue for their strangle-hold on the minds and souls of the Africans. Perhaps, the Mbitian claim that Africans are incurably religious still holds some truths today not only in continental Africa, but also wherever Africans and people of African descent are found. But is this kind of “faith” what is at stake on this second Sunday of Easter?
The statement, “But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31) turns our minds toward a revelation – how God revealed to us that 1) Jesus is Messiah, 2) Son of God, and 3) Salvation comes through him.
When one listens to the shallowness of most homilies preached across continental Africa, especially in “born-again” and “miracle centers,” brandished as churches, it is very obvious that the gospel of John cannot be their repair for evangelization. The reason is simple: the knowledge that Jesus is Messiah, Son of God and that Salvation comes through him is missing. One thing is abundantly present in today’s homilies, though, how to obtain food and clothing here and now, instead of the knowledge leading to Eternal Salvation with God.
For example, the testimony of Philip, “Philip found Nathanael and told him, we have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. Nazareth! Can anything good come from there? Nathanael asked. Come and see, said Philip” (John 1:45-46), is non-existent in most homilies and sermons today! How many preachers today, including Roman Catholics, use their pulpit to demonstrate the veracity of the accomplishment of Scriptures in Jesus as the Christ/Messiah? What a happy providence, Nathaniel (meaning – God’s gift), was the first person Philip confronts with the truth of Scriptures: “we have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. Nazareth!” Without a profound knowledge of Sacred Scriptures, it is impossible to make this statement, that the personality of Jesus corresponds to what Sacred Scriptures attests of him! Do you know portions of the Old Testaments Philip is referring to?
If Salvation/Life comes through the knowledge of Christ, St. Jerome is very correct when he asserts that the “ignorance of Sacred Scripture is ignorance of Christ.” This further proves the need to know what the “knowledge” of Sacred Scriptures really means, is it the ability to quote chapter and verses of the Bible?
There are many good and laudable things about the contemporary crave for miracles and miracle workers, after all, Jesus himself worked a lot of signs in John’s gospel, and Jesus’ apostles and disciples did likewise. The tragedy, however, comes, when we end in our crave for miracles instead of the thirst for the knowledge of Christ – the quest for miracles and signs are symptomatic of a society plagued by material poverty; but Jesus claims – “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24). Here precisely is the crux of contemporary Christianity – the abandonment of the true worship in search of “food and prosperity gospel.”
The emphasis on Spirit and knowledge is that the primary purpose of Jesus’ life and death is not for earthly, but heavenly Salvation. Jesus insists, “do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval” (John 4:27). This a condemnation of a gospel of prosperity and the inauguration of the gospel of truth and knowledge of the Messiah, Jesus-Christ, for eternal Salvation.
If Sacred Scriptures provide Christians with the knowledge of the Messiah, Salvation comes through believing in the Son of God. How is this possible, according to John’s gospel, given the initial doubts of Thomas in today’s gospel, a doubt that still plagues a lot of Christians today? If Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan Woman (John 4) emphasizes “Spirit and Truth,” if Jesus’ teaching on the Bread of Life (John 6) admonishes work for food that endures unto eternal life (John 6), the story of the man-born-blind (John 9) provides the labyrinth of Faith in Jesus the Son of God who gives eternal Life, and the raising of Lazarus from the death raps up the story (John 11): the “I am” (Divinity of Jesus’) passages.
The doubts of Thomas today reminds us of the need for verifiability extant in our contemporary culture, which is fair enough. But how many of us, on boarding a passenger plane, train or vehicle have all the relevant information about the state of these means of transportation, pilots/drivers, weather, etc? We see that there is still an active faith in our culture, despite our technological advancements! Our point, however, is that Thomas’ quest for prove is earthly because he wanted a certitude for earthly existence, which he got, but Jesus moves the discussion to “blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe”: our certitude should be for eternal Salvation not earth credibility! This certitude comes from an unshakeable faith, that Jesus raised Lazarus and himself from the dead, he will do likewise for us. No science can do that, God alone. The resurrection of Christ is my guarantee for eternal life with God.
Doubts, like that of Thomas, are the product of human intelligence: how reasonable is this? What will people say about it and me? Of course, Fides et Ratio (Faith and Reason) go together in Roman Catholic hermeneutics, but it a reason that comes to us from the past, a reason transmitted to us by a community of faith, a reason on the basis of which many gave their lives as martyrs and confessors. Yes, it is a reason that precedes us and that will out live our earthly existence; it is a reason based in God: God is the grounding principle for our believe; take away God, and our believe crumbles! The storm of temptation from friends and family, yes, from from religious leaders (read the story of the man-born-blind) will assail us, but when we stand on God and the Tradition of Truth coming from Christ himself, we can never go wrong!
Indeed, the whole of the Law and the Prophets prove God’s plans to bring about Salvation, this story is also the story of God’s Mercy, for Divine Mercy Sunday; the knowledge of God’s Eternal Salvation for all humanity is the story of God’s Mercy for all his creatures!
Assignment for the Week
Pick up your Bible and try to find five passages in the Law and the Prophets that prove that Jesus is the Messiah.