Wednesday of the Second Week of Easter

H.L. Mencken once described Puritanism as “the haunting fear that someone somewhere may be happy.” As I ponder John 3:16 I find it hard to chip away that hard overlay of American religion. We’ve heard this verse and seen those numbers displayed ominously on billboards and front yard signs and, most notably, at televised NFL games. Whoever showed that sign, I suppose, was afraid that someone somewhere in that enormous crowd might be enjoying the football game without considering his immortal soul.

The great scripture scholar, Father Raymond Brown conjectured that the Gospel according to Saint John was written in a Christian community that was locked in mortal combat with a larger Jewish synagogue. Many of the Jews, including some of their best and brightest, had joined the new “way,” becoming disciples of Jesus. But the synagogue still had powerful economic and social resources to make life difficult for the budding church.

More than a few times in my life I’ve been involved in heated, prolonged discussions about religion. It can be very exciting, especially as the mind races to create new and better arguments against one’s opponents. The controversy seems to pull all kinds of thoughts, images, memories and inspirations together, creating new, wonderful configurations. Saint John’s Gospel is like that. It is a work of incredible genius, probing more and more deeply the mystery of Jesus.

Of course, there is a price to pay for the intoxication of new ideas and deeper insights. One fears people who disagree and suspects people who might disagree. It is so easy to demonize opponents in an argument, as John’s gospel demonizes “the Jews.” When these arguments go on for years at a time, affecting the formation of children and the care of the elderly, they can become vicious.

But if we excise some of the worse tendencies of our fallen human nature we can return to John 3: 14 for a fresh look:

God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might not perish
but might have eternal life.

This may be the briefest summary of the gospel, and the clearest expression of Jesus’ mission. Jesus’ entire life, not just his death, is a gift to us. Graces flow from his conception, birth, infancy, childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, his maturity and his premature death. God has given us Jesus to bless every moment of our earthly life.

My Franciscan tradition favors this verse, hearing in it a teaching about Christmas. We understand that Jesus finished the work of our creation, formation and redemption by being a human being. As an earthling he would live with the same danger, weakness, and vulnerability of every human being. He relied on God’s providential care every day of his life. God provided for his birth in Bethlehem as the child of the Virgin Mary. God provided for his escape to Egypt and return to Nazareth. The Holy Spirit impelled him to the Jordan River for baptism and into the desert to be tempted. 

Jesus never regretted any moment of his earthly existence. He was glad to be a human being. "He was not ashamed to call us his brothers and sisters." He never hesitated to remain among us, despite the perks and privileges that should have gone with his divine nature.

Like any human being, Jesus would die. In obedience to the specific vocation God had given him – the same obedience that every earthling owes to God – Jesus died on the cross. By this incredible display of innocence, Jesus showed us how to be fully human. His final, triumphant cry – “It is finished” – signifies not only the work of our salvation but the satisfaction of his total humanity.

When he is lifted up he draws us to himself. We can no more resist his love than an iron can resist a magnet. He is beautiful, fascinating and delightful. No tower would be high enough to show us Jesus; no throne would be grand enough; no light, bright enough. But his cross is the perfect tower, throne and spectacle to show us who he is. If our minds cannot comprehend him, our hearts welcome him.