Tuesday of the Second Week of Easter

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/041712.cfm

If I tell you about earthly things and you do not believe,
how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things?
No one has gone up to heaven
except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man.

Saint John opens a series of conversations between Jesus and his disciples and Jesus and the Jews with this conversation with Nicodemus. No matter how friendly or sympathetic his interlocutors might be, they will not understand Jesus’ reasoning. As the series progresses the conversation will become more intense; and his audience, more hostile.

Somewhere in my training I was told, “Reasonable people can always find common grounds for agreement.” I believe it was Lyndon Johnson who invited others to conversation with words from the Prophet Isaiah, “Come, let us reason together.” But Lyndon Johnson was an adroit politician, famous for his deal-making and pushiness. He had ways of making unpalatable solutions “reasonable” to his opponents. I am afraid the world more often settles differences with Johnsonian power and authority than platonic reason and persuasion.

Throughout the Gospel of Saint John, Jesus cannot be any more reasonable as he announces the Gospel. His truth is clear; his authority, certain. But, as in the conversation with Nicodemus, they cannot even agree about “earthly things.” How can they agree about heavenly things?

Jesus is the Emissary from Reality to our world of delusions. Original Sin, with its tentacular roots in every person and every human institution, blinds us to simple, obvious truths. Often we “cannot see the forest for the trees.” History recalls threats so obvious and looming perils so undeniable – like the attack on Pearl Harbor, Nine-Eleven and the Great Recession of 2008 – that we can hardly believe we did not see them coming.

I remember one fellow who was told repeatedly he must take better care of himself, that his high blood pressure was a ticking time bomb. I remember how he sometimes stumbled blindly around the house with the pressure on his brain. But when it finally struck he complained, “Why wasn’t I warned? Did you have to hit me so hard?”

Jesus presents himself with both authority and rationality. He sees clearly what is happening; he knows precisely what he is doing; and he understands what his opponents cannot imagine. His reasoning is flawless and his authority is divine; but neither Nicodemus nor the others can accept him.

The Church often finds itself in the same blind quarrel with society. We see clearly that abortion is evil; that capital punishment is senseless violence; that everyone has a right to basic health care. It takes no crystal ball to see where the world’s misconceptions must lead. But they will not listen. Nevertheless we must represent the Gospel reasonably as Jesus did -- and with his moral authority -- to a distressed, disoriented world.