April 3, 2019 Wednesday, 4th Week of Lent
1st Reading: Is 49:8–15Gospel: Jn 5:17–30
Jesus said to the Jews, “My Father goes on working and so do I.” And the Jews tried all the harder to kill him, for Jesus not only broke the Sabbath observance, but also made himself equal with God, calling him his own Father.Jesus said to them, “Truly, I assure you, the Son cannot do anything by himself, but only what he sees the Father do. And whatever he does, the Son also does. The Father loves the Son and shows him everything he does; and he will show him even greater things than these, so that you will be amazed. As the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son gives life to whom he wills. In the same way the Father judges no one, for he has entrusted all judgment to the Son, and he wants all to honor the Son as they honor the Father. Whoever ignores the Son, ignores as well the Father who sent him.Truly, I say to you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life. …. Truly, the hour is coming and has indeed come, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and, on hearing it, will live. For the Father has life in himself and he has given to the Son also to have life in himself. And he has empowered him as well to carry out Judgment, for he is a son of man. Do not be surprised at this: the hour is coming when all those lying in tombs will hear my voice and come out; those who have done good shall rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.I can do nothing of myself, and I need to hear Another One to judge; and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will, but the will of him who sent me.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
In calling God his Father, was Jesus claiming equality with God? The Jews should have resolved this issue before accusing Jesus of the crime of blasphemy. Ambition was far from his mind when he called God his Father. St. Paul later wrote to the believers in Philippians: “Though he was in the form of God, Jesus did not deem equality with God…” (Phil. 2:6-9).
Even if Jesus did claim equality with God in addressing him as Father, he couldn’t be accused of blasphemy because He is the Son of God. But this too was an issue impossible to resolve in those times. That’s why Jesus made a great risk when he used the term. What was he up to? It was his way of connecting with God in an intimate manner. It was his manner of renewing his commitment to do God’s will that all should be saved by his passion and death. This was one reason worth all that risk! – (Atty) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., D.M.
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