The scripture passages today show us the current state of affairs for those of us who seek to follow Jesus but who are still trying to find our way ... and they also provide encouragement as they demonstrate to us what is possible if we are aware of God's presence in our midst.
The passage from the gospel of John is taken from the encounter that Jesus had with Nicodemus, the Jewish ruler who had come to Jesus at night. Nicodemus was seeking to understand Jesus' teachings in this one-on-one conversation. To some extent, we all seek to do the same: to understand Jesus' teachings in the one-on-one encounters we have with him in prayer. In this context - on our knees - we hear him say to us: you must be born from above (Jn 3: 7), but our human understanding is not enough to understand what he means by this image, so we all cry out: How can this happen? (Jn 3: 9) until we learn to think not in terms of human understanding but rather in terms of God's plan. Only then can the veil of our human logic begin to give way to the clarity of Jesus' understanding.
The same was true for the disciples. Even after the tragedy of Jesus' suffering and death, they could not believe the truth of the resurrection until he appeared to them and helped them to understand that God's plan was much greater than our human comprehension is capable of understanding. Only when they were able to grasp this truth did they understand the fullness of its implication: death has no power over God. In fact, death is but a gateway for us to reach our God because in Jesus, we all can look forward to the same promise of resurrection.
This was and is the joyful news that is proclaimed by the community of believers (Acts 4: 32) even today. With great power, the Apostles bore witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus (Acts 4: 33). This is true even today. When we put forward the effort to share this good news with those we meet, the Lord himself is always present with us to fill our hearts with the great joy that is the gift entrusted to those who commit themselves to spreading the gospel. The scriptures speak of Barnabas and his willingness to sell his possessions and to provide for the needs of the Apostles (Acts 4: 36-37). The same is true today: when we do the work of Jesus, others too come to believe, and Jesus puts the desire in their hearts to help with the mission of spreading the good news.
Have we witnessed this in our own lives? Let us open our minds, our hearts and our eyes to the many ways in which Jesus is present, using our talents and gifts and continually reaching out to those who need to hear this good news today.
Have a great day.
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