Reading
John 5:17-30
17 In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” 18 For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
19 Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. 21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. 22 Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.
24 “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. 25 Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.
28 “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned. 30 By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.
Meditation
The observance of the Sabbath is founded on God's rest on the seventh day, but God also remains active on the Sabbath, making things exist, giving life with birth, and calling it to himself with death. For this God "always works" and Jesus claims the same authority to work as the Father. Indeed, the Son "gives his life" (v. 21) and the Father leaves all judgment to him (v. 22).
The intimate relationship of Jesus with the Father also expresses a close relationship of dependence on him and on his will, for this reason, Jesus affirms that he cannot do anything by himself (v. 30). The Son's obedience is therefore not a limitation of him but the result of his eternal, intimate and indissoluble unity with the Father.
The equal dignity of the Son with the Father is attested by the fact that whoever honors him honors the Father (v. 23). The redeemer has the same honor as the creator. The time has come, and it is this (v. 25), in which whoever welcomes the Son and listens to his voice will be taken from death and given to life (v 24).
Life precedes judgment for those who receive Christ; the resurrection begins now, with the experimentation of the fullness of life that God desires for every man. Welcoming Jesus means participating right now in his communion with the Father, in the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us and who speaks in the Scriptures, an inexhaustible source of life. But it also means working, through him, with the Father, becoming ourselves generators of life, taking care of his creation, and participating in his plan of salvation.
This work of love, through which God creates, sustains, and brings everything back to himself, knows no setbacks in the eternal "today" in which his Word is spoken. Are we ready to welcome it to pass from death to life?
Prayer
You created us and you sustain us, o Lord; grant us to participate in the work of your redemption, to enjoy communion with you right now, source of eternal life. Amen.
- Rev. Dr. Luca Vona
