What “houses of Cornelius” have you had to enter? When have you had to cross a religious or social boundary to bring God to people? When, like Peter, has your idea of what’s possible for God been broadened?
Trust, faith, love. Scripture sounds these great themes this week. Trust, not only in God but also in former enemies. Faith in the true vine. Loving in deed as well as words.
Believing in Jesus, our good shepherd, makes us God’s children and opens us to God’s love, healing, and salvation. Out of this relationship, spiritual benefits flow. The key lies in accepting Jesus as savior.
The gospel paradox asserts itself in the readings. The author of life is put to death. The sinner is forgiven. The ghost has flesh and bones.
In this world we sin and we die. It is only in faith that we share in the Lord’s victory over sin and death. Thomas seeks proof; it is only the direct experience of the Lord’s suffering that brings him to confess that Jesus is Lord.
There is no story of Christ’s Resurrection from the dead, only the eye-witnesses’ accounts of the empty tomb and his appearances among his friends. Though crucified, he did not condemn those who betrayed and abandoned him. Rather, he forgave and commissioned his believers to do the same.
The Passion account connects directly with our lives. This is what it’s like for Jesus to carry the burden of our sinful humanity.
We have not kept the old covenant, so God offers us a new one. God forgives our evildoing and remembers our sin no more.
The consequences of disbelief are devastating. When the ancient people refused to follow God, their own way took them to destruction. But God is rich in mercy and has worked throughout history to save even the unfaithful.
Is it possible that the same God who established the Ten Commandments would send his only begotten Son to disrupt the very temple that enshrined that law? If this is the foolishness of God, then it is wiser than human wisdom. Religion is one thing, but the love of God transcends even the practice of the faith.