But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go. For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes he will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation....
In today's gospel the Lord speaks of what must happen. First, he must go. Although this passage is placed in John 16, before the Lord's passion and death, it has the feel of "post-Resurrection." And the Church offers it to us in this sixth week after Easter. So it has both meanings: he must die on the cross and he must go to the Father. His being raised on the cross is his ascension, as he is "lifted up." All these different words, meaning pretty much the same thing, whirl around this mystery of his going.
And yet no one dares to ask, "Where are you going?"
Perhaps they're down there by that river in Egypt, da-nile. They can't and won't hear what he is saying; they act as if he didn't say it.
But Jesus presses through their denial, "...if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you."
This must happen. There is no salvation if the Advocate does not come.
Skeptical critics have sometimes mocked Christian belief, "If he is risen where is he? Why can't we see him?"
The idea of Jesus popping up from time to time, in various places, attending prayer meetings, board meetings, synods and councils, acting like the chairman of every parish council and committee -- is absurd. Of course he is dead. He died on the cross. We saw it, we witnessed it.
If he had not died there would be no salvation, and no Advocate to guide us.
What must happen is also the conviction of the world in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation. With the death of Jesus every evil act is exposed, judged and condemned. Contemplating the cross we realize how deep sin runs in our hearts. It lurks everywhere in our institutions, infrastructure, education, leisure, customs, and language. No human institution is free of sin. Our economies -- capitalist, communist, slave, and free -- are steeped in sin. Americans might like to point to the American Constitution as a sacred document until we see the injustices of slavery inscribed there. Others will point to the Bible but sinful institutions have been built out of traditional readings of the Bible, from slavery to spousal abuse. All that evil -- that "original sin" -- leads like a highway to hell, to the inexorable killing of our Savior.
As Jesus takes up his cross and insistently invites each of us to take up the cross and carry it daily, we see more clearly, It is necessary; "it is better that I go." There is no other way to purify human life. There is no simpler, quicker, less painful way to redirect all human effort toward salvation.
No comments:
Post a Comment
I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.