ST. JOHN 8: 21 – 30
This Icon is of Jesus The Teacher. Traditionally in the East
Icons are windows into heaven, in the West stained-glass windows, statues are
also portals-reminders of the reality of the true place of our dwelling, the
place of which Jesus assures: In my Father’s
house there are many dwelling places. [Jn.14.2]
The
most important windows/portals are, of course the Divine Liturgy, Sacred
Scripture, all Sacraments, deep prayer, every act of love-charity we perform in
service of others including our willingness to forgive.
St.
John, in each chapter, including the eighth, places Jesus the Teacher before
us.
When we
meditate upon Sacred Scripture, importantly the Holy Gospels, if we be still
the Holy Spirit will gift us with illumination more profound than contemplating
an icon, a stained glass window, a statue, for: Indeed, the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any
two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow,
and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart. [Heb. 4: 12]
He said to them again, “I am going away
and you will look for Me, but you will die in your sin. Where I am going you
cannot come.” [v.21]
He said to them again……..that word ‘again’ is used by St. John
as emphasis when Jesus, with His loving patience, must teach and re-teach the
same truth. He must do this in 8:12, 10:7, 13:12, 18:7; 20:21; 21:16 and St.
John uses the word in 11:38, when he notes Jesus’ inner groaning ‘again’ as He
approaches the tomb of Lazarus.
If we
pause for a moment and reflect upon how and when we make use of this same
seemingly ‘little’ word, it is not so little after all! Another time; once
more; a second time; afresh; anew; extra; in addition; additionally; over and
above; on top; also; too; as well; besides; furthermore; moreover: just a few
synonyms for ‘again’. Hence, not only is every word uttered by Jesus of supreme
importance, depth, meaning, but when contemplating Sacred Scripture, the Holy
Gospels, each word has its own depth.
“I am going away and you will look for
Me, but you will die in your sin. Where I am going you cannot come.”
The
going away is to His passion and death, and unless His hearers, unless we
‘find’ Jesus in the depths of belief in His Holy Resurrection, then indeed
death will be in the quagmire of sin, the sin of unbelief, not accidental
because we never heard of Jesus, but when we have heard of Him and still refuse
to believe, as His hearers not only heard of Him but were speaking with Him,
then the sin is deliberate. We cannot go where He is going because the
immediacy of Jesus’ Passion, Death, Burial, Resurrection is for Him a solitary
journey to redeem us. Such is God’s love for us we do go there with Jesus in
Holy Baptism where we are plunged into His death and brought forth, born anew,
in His Holy Resurrection. A grace-gift we must beg of the Holy Trinity for all
those who do not know Jesus and have not been baptized.
So the Jews said, “He is not going to
kill Himself, is He, because He said, ‘Where I am going you cannot come’?”
[v.22]
Though
of course we do not know if Jesus’ questioners were aware of some spike in
suicide around this time, we do know that: You
shall not kill. [Ex. 20:13] You shall not kill. [Deut.5:12] “You have heard that it was said to
your ancestors, ‘You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to
judgment.’ [Mt. 5:21]
The
command is unambiguous. There is no qualifier.
We
cannot kill any other person, pre-born or already born, nor can we self-kill,
that is murder ourselves by self or other assisted suicide, also known as
assisted dying/euthanasia. No matter the fanciful language used disingenuously
to define abortion or euthanasia, it is murder, always murder, either murdering
self, alone or with a co-conspirator, or murdering a pre-born or already born
human being.
There
are eight instances of suicide recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures [Jdg. 9:54;
16:28-31; 1 Sm. 31:1-4; 31:5; 2 Sm. 17:23; 1 Kg. 16:18] and only one recorded
in the New Testament, that of Judas [Mt. 27: 3-5]. Only the Lord can read human
hearts in any of the recorded instances, though there is a stark contrast
between the repentance-tears of Peter and Judas’ choice.
Suicide contradicts the natural
inclination of the human being to preserve and perpetuate his life. It is
gravely contrary to the just love of self. It likewise offends love of neighbor
because it unjustly breaks the ties of solidarity with family, nation, and
other human societies to which we continue to have obligations. Suicide is
contrary to love for the living God. [Catechism of the Catholic Church {CCC}
2281; If suicide is committed with the intention of setting an example,
especially to the young, it also takes on the gravity of scandal. Voluntary
co-operation in suicide is contrary to the moral law. Grave psychological
disturbances, anguish, or grave fear of hardship, suffering, or torture can
diminish the responsibility of the one committing suicide. We should not
despair of the eternal salvation of persons who have taken their own lives. By
ways known to him alone, God can provide the opportunity for salutary
repentance. the Church prays for persons who have taken their own lives. [CCC
2282/83]
He said to them, “You belong to what is
below, I belong to what is above. You belong to this world, but I do not belong
to this world. That is why I told you that you will die in your sins. For if
you do not believe that I AM, you will die in your sins.” [vs.23,24]
Each
time Jesus asserts “I AM” He is making it abundantly clear He is, while second
Person of the Holy Trinity, Son of the Father, the same God who self-identifies
in the Hebrew Scriptures. [cf. Ex. 3:14; Deut. 32:39; Is. 43:10]. It is an
assertion Jesus makes constantly and should have enlightened anyone familiar
with the Scriptures and thus begs their question: So they said to Him, “Who are you?” [v.25]
Some
may have asked from a sincere seeking to be assured Jesus is indeed who He says
He is, others as a challenge. Each of us can humbly ask Jesus repeatedly to
show us that He is real, or variations of the question, but we must ask not as
a challenge or out of mere curiosity, but with the sincerity of the man seeking
to have Jesus free his son from a demon, the father crying out: Then the boy’s father cried out, “I do
believe, help my unbelief!” [Mk.9:24]
V.25 cont.: Jesus said to them, “What I
told you from the beginning.” If
anyone of us had to constantly reply to the same question, as Jesus must yet
again being challenged to His identity, likely our frustration would be
expressed by facial expression, tone, or words, yet Jesus patiently continues
to teach and within His teaching is the answer His questioners, everyone seeks,
if we open our hearts as Jesus says: Whoever
has ears ought to hear. [Mt. 11:15]
I have much to say about you in
condemnation. But the One who sent Me is true, and what I heard from Him I tell
the world.” [v.26] Once
again with these words Jesus is giving them the answer, namely that He and the
Father are one, He is the awaited One, the Messiah, He speaks only truth, truth
which the Father has spoken to Him. St.
John notes: They did not realize that He
was speaking to them of the Father.
[v.27], a statement which connects to Jesus’ words from the Cross: Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them,
they know not what they do.” [Lk.23:34]
Yet
again with a sense from the words of the fire of His love for His questioners,
for us, Jesus repeats the constant truth about Himself, the Father, the mission
to redeem us: So Jesus said to them,
“When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM, and that I
do nothing on My own, but I say only what the Father taught Me. The One who
sent Me is with Me. He has not left Me alone, because I always do what is
pleasing to Him.” [vs.28/29]
These
words also convey the intimacy of love between the Father and the Son and finally,
after all this time, all His patient and clear teaching, St. John can tell us: Because He spoke this way, many came to
believe in Him. [v.30]
© 2019
Fr. Arthur Joseph
So they said to Him, “Where is Your
father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father. If you knew Me,
you would know My Father also.” [v.19]
Questions
such as asking about Jesus’ father are not posed by the Pharisees as a sincere
seeking of faith, nor to discern if Jesus is indeed the Messiah and then become
His disciples. This is a type of seeking yet another way to reject Him. Thus,
Jesus calls them on it by asserting their wilful ignorance, even though they
frequently claim to be well versed in the prophecies about the Messiah. Also,
Jesus is asserting anew the truth that in the reality of the Holy Trinity He
and the Father are indeed one, therefore, to know the Father is to know Jesus,
to know Jesus is to know the Father.
He spoke these words while teaching in
the treasury in the temple area. But no one arrested Him, because His hour had
not yet come. [v.20]
It may
be difficult to imagine Jesus in the treasury of the temple, given St. John has
already told us [2:13ff] of Jesus’
attitude towards the money changes. However, the treasury was different in the
sense that besides being the place where gifts were brought for the upkeep of
the temple, donations to the poor, it was also that area of the temple where
the women came to worship.
It was
from the monies in the treasury the leaders would take the thirty pieces of
silver to pay Judas to betray Christ [Mt.
26:15].
Once
again St. John references the ‘hour’ and the powerlessness of Christ’s enemies
until His hour arrives.
Jesus’
first mention of His hour is in John 2:4; Mark 14:35 gives us Jesus’ cry to the
Father that the hour might pass, yet Jesus submits to the will of the Father;
Matthew 26:45 recounts Jesus immediately after His agony in the Garden telling
His apostles that it is the hour. When they are arresting Jesus He defines ‘the
hour’ as: “…..your hour, the time for the power of darkness.” [Lk.22:53].
To
truly enter into the fullness of the mystery of the hour Jesus speaks of it is
important to humbly accept the fact we human beings, indeed we the baptized,
have a very poor appreciation of the gift of time, its sacred importance,
because we have for millennia tried, and still try, to parse and control time.
Time is
salvation history, most importantly for we the baptized called to live in the
rhythm and depths of the liturgy and within the liturgical year, Kairos, which
means every moment, is the opportune moment of grace.
Only if
we live in the deep reality of Kairos, within Chronos, that is chronological
time as the world determines it, will we be able to understand, and peacefully
embrace, the taking up daily of the necessary cross of living in, but not of,
the world: I gave them Your word, and
the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world any more than I
belong to the world. I do not ask that You take them out of the world but that
You keep them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world any more than
I belong to the world. Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth. As You
sent Me into the world, so I sent them into the world. And I consecrate Myself
for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth. [17:14-19]
Do not love the world or the things of
the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For
all that is in the world, sensual lust, enticement for the eyes, and a
pretentious life, is not from the Father but is from the world. Yet the world
and its enticement are passing away. But whoever does the will of God remains
forever. [1 Jn. 2:15-17]
From
the moment the Most Holy Trinity created all and everyone that has been, is,
will be, Kairos is the reality of time and chronos is the aberration, the
disruption of time, since original sin.
Jesus’ hour begins and ends with the beginning
of creation, enters chronological time visibly with His Incarnation, thus His
hour has within it specific ‘events’. In His Ascension He takes chronological
time as we experience it in salvation history, into the heart of the Trinity,
thus redeeming, sanctifying time: “I am
the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “the one who is and who was and
who is to come, the almighty.” [Rv. 1:8]
In the
Roman Liturgy the Paschal Candle is blessed by the priest who, with a knife,
cuts into the wax the sign of the Cross, cutting at the top of the cross the
word Alpha and at the bottom the word Omega, and then also the numerals, to the
left and right, above and below the arm of the cross the millennium, century,
decade, year, while praying: Christ
yesterday and today the Beginning and the End, Alpha and Omega, His are the
times and ages, To Him be glory and dominion, Through all ages and forever.
Amen.
This is
Kairos, lived in chronos.
We do
ourselves, indeed the entire human family for whom we are baptized to be
witnesses of Christ and of the Holy Gospel lived without compromise, no favours
and in a sense frustrate the Holy Spirit in His sanctifying activity, if we
approach the Divine Liturgy, approach for Holy Communion, or any Sacrament,
listen to the proclamation of the Holy Gospel during Liturgy, as observers rather
than active participants in Christ’s every unfolding hour.
True
most of us at such times as those noted above may be prone to distractions
because we are wounded by the pressures of chronological time, so we must ask
the Holy Spirit for the gift of attentiveness.
Every
moment is grace-gift, a gift not to be wasted. Every season is grace-gift, most
fully each liturgical season in which we are given the opportunity to
participate, to be nourished, strengthened for the ‘time’ we needs spend in the
world without being of it.
There
is a translucent aspect to entering any moment, any hour, almost as if time
moves towards, embraces and then washes over us.
While
in a narrow sense we may say everyone has an awareness of chronological time,
such as it is time to go to work, to sleep, whatever, the experience of time is
as unique as the person who experiences it. Two people sitting in time on a
park bench and one feels the time is passing quickly, the other that time is
just creeping along, yet the third person standing there with a watch sees only
a specific recorded amount of time has passed.
Returning
to St. John’s use of the word ‘hour’ in the life and words of Jesus, this hour
rooted in Kairos, experienced in chronology is an experience of transition, of
threshold crossing, reminds us that Jesus dwells in, and through baptism we are
invited to dwell in, the translucent, shimmering light of the proverbial ‘thin
places’, so sought after by Medieval Irish monks.
These
places are thin/translucent not because of any physical or material phenomenon
but because in such a place the veil between this visible world of
chronological time, of history moving towards the end of time, is also, as it
were, lifted, experientially perhaps only for a moment, liturgically and always
within the reality of baptism, is ever present should we be still enough,
forget self and our worries enough, and enter into the garden enclosed in our
souls to commune, in love and attentive dialogue with the Most Holy Trinity.
Perhaps
the most dramatic affirmation of the above is when the Holy Doors are flung
open and left open through the Holy Pascha season revealing the reality and
purpose of time, pilgrimage into the eternal Kairos of dwelling within the
light and love, the Holy Trinity, God.
Jesus
assures us that He is true Light and if we follow Him life within us becomes
light, thus we can say Kairos is our true place in time: Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world.
Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
[v. 12]
With
this tremendous gift of faith and discipleship, of true light and life, poured
into us at Baptism comes the duty to live out Christ’s command….. your light must shine before others, that
they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father. [Mt. 5:16]
It was
Tertullian, living during the paganism of his time, who noted how the same
pagan society, seeing the Christians in their midst exclaimed: ‘See how they love one another.’
We too
live in an, if not pagan, certainly a secular society. How many of our
contemporaries say to one another of we Christians: “Look how they love one
another!”?
Every
time we love others as Christ loves us, every time we, as humble servants, care
for another human being, forgive our enemies, pray for those who persecute us,
every time we are silent in prayer, attentive during Liturgy, humbly confess
our sins, approach and receive Holy Communion, every moment we struggle to be
faithful to our, included in our foundational baptismal vocation, the specific
adjunct vocation the Holy Spirit has brought us to, that is when we are within
the thin place, the translucent place, participating in every dimension of
Jesus’ Hour.
© 2019
Fr. Arthur Joseph