In the first reading this morning the Sanhedrin said that if the movement of the apostles, the preaching of the Good News, is of human origin it will break up of its own accord; but if it does in fact come from God, no one can stop it.
This reminds me of a debate I saw on TV between an atheist and a theologian. The atheist was saying that there was no evidence that Jesus really existed, that it was all a made up story by a particular group in Palestine.
The theologian replied quite ironically saying, “if this was a made up movement, which has then given us the New Testament, that gave birth to Christianity, the Church, that shook human history, well, this would be an even more significant phenomenon itself than to prove the existence of Jesus.” After hearing this, everyone on the show was gobsmacked. “What matters then,” the theologian continued, “is not about whether Jesus existed or not, rather, it is the question: ‘who Jesus is.’" This question is very much relevant for us today especially after the Resurrection.
When someone, who you might know very well, surprises you in some way, surely you might have caught yourself asking “waw, who is this guy?” I found myself asking this question a lot at the Raffle Night.
“Who is Jesus” is what drives all theologians, including the apostles, who knew Jesus very well, who preached his Good News without ceasing; yet they themselves were inflamed by this question, because, without this question, we stop searching, we lose our bearing and we preach a dead news.
“Who is Jesus” comes from a heart that has been touched and amazed by the story. This element of astonishment is part of the journey of faith, almost vital I would say. Indeed, we have to let ourselves be amazed by the story of Jesus, by letting his story touch ours.
In the Gospel of John, there is plenty to be amazed of. Here, Jesus multiplies the fish and the loaves, amazing! A little bit deeper, the narrative leads us to understand that Jesus is the prophet foretold and the promised Messiah. And what is more wonderful, is that in the story the heart of Jesus is revealed to us; by escaping the crowd who wants to make him king, Jesus shows that he does not want to be put on a pedestal.
Yes, he is the Prophet and the Messiah, however not in the fashion of an earthly king, but one like a humble shepherd. The image of the crowd sitting on the grass and being fed abundantly evokes the psalm: “The Lord is my shepherd, he makes me lie down in green pastures..., my cup overflows.”
The Messiah smells the sheep, and wants to be close to us. We have to be amazed about this! This is the Good News! And especially through the light of the Resurrection, Jesus is showing that he is not far away in time in history, but is very well close to us today.
Our Saviour Jesus is Risen, and he lives with us today, this is amazing.
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PS: The Raffle Night is an evening where the public is entertained by seminarians which ends with a raffle. Another entertaining evening is the Trivia Night occurring on the 19th May. Go to https://www.trybooking.com/CHRUW for bookings.