A Message of Hope

Homily for Wednesday of the Fourth Week in Lent

Theology has been defined as “faith seeking understanding, love, and hope.” Today’s readings really bring home that last element, namely the importance of hope in the midst of darkness, suffering, and death.

In the history of the ancient world, the Jews were unique in their passionate commitment to believe in one all-powerful and entirely transcendent God. This belief necessitated the rejection of ancient Near Eastern, Egyptian, and Greek polytheism. It also meant the heroic refusal to participate in Roman Imperial religious mandates regarding pantheism – the belief that the gods of all religions are equal and must be respected as such. This resulted in martyrdom across many Jewish generations. The Roman temple, the Pantheon, was built to house images of any and all gods that were worshiped within the Empire.

It is all the more unusual and surprising, then, that Jesus, a faithful Jewish man, makes himself equal to God. Of all the people on earth, it would have been the Jewish people who would be most “amazed” by the implication that any man was a god, let alone the God.

This is the claim that Jesus makes. One must choose, then, as C.S. Lewis and others have said, whether Jesus is blaspheming as a man who made himself God’s equal or is telling the truth. If speaking truthfully, then indeed we ought to rejoice… break forth into song… for the Lord comforts his people and shows mercy to his afflicted as Isaiah prophesied so long ago. Isaiah’s vivid, visceral prophecy is delivered in the midst of tremendous deprivation. He delivers God’s Word that prisoners will emerge from their cells. Barren land will now be fit for pasturing, with springs of water bubbling over. The famished will have their fill; thirst will be quenched; the brutal sun and scorching desert wind will give way to a land shouting and singing for joy. Yet near the end of the reading, Israel’s lament lingers as it reminds us that Isaiah’s prophecy is very much one of hope rather than fulfillment.

Jesus today tells us that the Father has given all judgment to the Son. “Yet the Son did not come to judge, but to save and to give the life he has in himself. Jesus goes on to say, “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life and will not come to condemnation.”

This Lent, let us prepare our hearts to receive this Good News. Jesus Christ loves us as a mother loves her child; he gave his life to save us; and now he is living at our side every day to enlighten, strengthen, and free us.