FIRST READING
John 3:11–21
Beloved:
This is the message you have heard from the beginning: we should love one another, unlike Cain who belonged to the Evil One and slaughtered his brother. Why did he slaughter him? Because his own works were evil, and those of his brother righteous. Do not be amazed, then, brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers. Whoever does not love remains in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him. The way we came to know love was that he laid down his life for us; so we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If someone who has worldly means sees a brother in need and refuses him compassion, how can the love of God remain in him? Children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth.
Now this is how we shall know that we belong to the truth and reassure our hearts before him in whatever our hearts condemn, for God is greater than our hearts and knows everything. Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence in God.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM
Psalm 100:1b–2, 3, 4, 5
R. (2a) Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands; serve the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful song.
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
Know that the LORD is God; he made us, his we are; his people, the flock he tends.
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving, his courts with praise; Give thanks to him; bless his name.
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
The LORD is good: the LORD, whose kindness endures forever, and his faithfulness, to all generations.
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
ALLELUIA
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
A holy day has dawned upon us. Come, you nations, and adore the Lord. Today a great light has come upon the earth.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GOSPEL
John 1:43–51
Jesus decided to go to Galilee, and he found Philip. And Jesus said to him, "Follow me." Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the town of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law, and also the prophets, Jesus, son of Joseph, from Nazareth." But Nathanael said to him, "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" Philip said to him, "Come and see." Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, "Here is a true child of Israel. There is no duplicity in him." Nathanael said to him, "How do you know me?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree." Nathanael answered him, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel." Jesus answered and said to him, "Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this." And he said to him, "Amen, amen, I say to you, you will see the sky opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."
REFLECTIONS:
How can one know for certain that Jesus is truly who he claims to be – the Son of God and Messiah sent from the Father in heaven? Philip, a new disciple of Jesus, at first failed to convince his friend Nathaniel that he had found the Messiah. Nathaniel was very skeptical. He didn’t like Nazareth and didn’t want to have anything to do with people who came from such a place. How could the Messiah come from a town at the crossroads with gentile nations and peoples of other religions? Perhaps we are like Nathaniel. We reject others out of rivalry or prejudice, or we keep them at a distance because we find fault with something about them, whether it be their manners, dress, customs, associations, or whatever we dislike about them and their kind. Rather than argue with his friend, Philip took the wiser strategy of inviting Nathaniel to "come and see" for himself who this Jesus claimed to be. Clever arguments rarely win people to the gospel, but a genuine encounter with the person of Jesus Christ can transform one's life forever.When Philip brought his friend Nathanael to see Jesus, Jesus did the unthinkable! He brought revelation to Nathanael – revelation of how God looks at each one of us in the very depths of our hearts and invites us into intimate communion with him in his heavenly court. Nathanael was very startled that Jesus could know him and understand what was in his heart even before Nathanael had the opportunity to speak with Jesus. Nathaniel was amazed that Jesus called him "an Israelite in whom is no guile" (Psalm 32:2). Nathanael was a seeker of the truth – the truth that only God can fully reveal. But how could Jesus, a man from Galilee, know Nathanael's deepest thoughts and desires? It took only one word to set Nathaniel's heart ablaze with wonder! Nathaniel was hungry for knowledge of God. He really wanted to know God personally. God places in every heart a longing and desire to know the One who created us in love for love. That is why Saint Augustine of Hippo, who found God only after many years of wandering in disbelief and spiritual darkness, exclaimed in his autobiographical Confessions: “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”What is the significance of Jesus' revelation of seeing Nathanael "under the fig tree"? For the people of Israel, the fig tree was a symbol of God's peace and blessing (1 Kings 4:24b-25, Micah 4:4). It provided shade from the midday sun and a cool refreshing place to retreat, pray, and reflect on God's word. Rabbis often gathered their disciples under the shade of the fig to teach them the wisdom and revelation of God from the scriptures. The rabbis had an expression for comparing the fig tree to being nourished with God's word in Scripture, "He who tends the fig tree will eat its fruit."It is very likely that Nathanial had been thinking about God "under his fig tree" and reflecting on God's promise in the Scriptures to send a Messiah King who would free his people from sin and oppression and usher in God's kingdom of righteousness and peace for the whole world. Perhaps Nathanael dozed off for a midday nap and dreamt of God's kindgom like Jacob had dreamt when God gave him a vision of a great ladder which united earth with heaven (see Genesis 28:12-17). Through the gift of revelation Nathanael recognized that Jesus was truly the Messiah, the everlasting "Son of God and King of Israel" (John 1:49). The Lord Jesus offered to Nathanael the greatest gift possible – the gift of friendship with God and free access to God's throne in heaven.What does Jesus mean when he says "you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man"? One of the most remarkable revelations recorded in the Bible is the dream of Jacob (Genesis 28:12-17). God had opened a door for Jacob that brought him and his people into a new relationship with the living God. In Jacob's dream God revealed his angelic host and showed him the throne of heaven and promised Jacob that he and his descendants would dwell with the living God. Who are the angels and why do they intervene between heaven and earth? The Scriptures tell us the angels are God's servants and messengers."They are the mighty ones who do his word, hearkening to the voice of his word" (Psalm 103:20). The angels belong to Christ and were created for and through him (Colossians 1:16). The Letter to the Hebrews speaks of the role of the angels in God's plan of salvation:"Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to serve, for the sake of those who are to obtain salvation?" (Hebrews 1:14) The angels are not only messengers but protectors and guardians as well. “For he will give his angels charge of you to guard you in all yours ways” (Psalm 91:11). We are not alone in our struggle against sin and evil in the world. The armies of heaven fight for us and with us in the spiritual battle for our hearts, minds, and wills. Do you know the peace and security of a life submitted to God and to his way of peace and happiness?Jesus' response to Nathanael's new faith is the promise that Jesus himself will be the "ladder which unites earth with heaven." Jesus proclaims that he is the fulfillment of the promise made to the Patriarch Jacob and his descendants. Jesus is the true ladder or stairway to heaven. In Jesus' incarnation, the divine Son of God taking on human flesh for our sake, we see the union of heaven and earth – God making his dwelling with us and bringing us into the heavenly reality of his kingdom through his Son Jesus. Jesus' death on the cross, where he defeated sin and won new life for us through his resurrection, opens the way for each of us to come into a new relationship with God as his adopted sons and daughters. The Lord Jesus opens the way for each one of us to "ascend to heaven" and to bring "heaven to earth" in the daily circumstances of our lives. God's kingdom is present in those who seek him and who strive to do his will. Through the gift of faith God opens a door for each one of us to the heavenly reality of his kingdom. Do you see with the "eyes of faith" what the Lord Jesus has done for us?"Heavenly Father, through your Son Jesus Christ, you have opened the way to heaven for us. As you revealed yourself to your beloved patriarchs and apostles, so reveal yourself to me that I may recognize your presence with me and know the power of your kingdom at work in my life. May I always find joy in your presence and never lose sight of your kingdom."
No comments:
Post a Comment