Water, Blood and the Holy Spirit

Homily for Saturday of the Second Week in the Christmas Season

In the text from the First Letter of St. John that we read this morning, we hear the words “testify” and “testimony” several times. As you probably know, the law of Moses demands that any crime or sin of omission can only stand if there are two who will testify to their knowledge of that crime or sin. The same is true of upholding any claim in court. To this end, judgment in the Jewish religion was usually a matter of enlisting three judges to decide any case. One of the judges would be chosen by the person bringing the suit, another judge would be chosen by the person denying the suit, and the third judge would be chosen at random from among the people.

St. John proposes that placing our faith in Jesus as the son of God has been testified by blood and water as well as by the Holy Spirit. Considering the testimony of water and blood, we know that when a woman gives birth to a child, the water from her womb as well as some blood from the umbilical cord accompanies the birth of a child. This is a sign that Jesus is truly human. When he died on the cross, a soldier’s lance was used to prove that Jesus had really died, and again water and blood issued from this wound. Water also was used by John the Baptist in the Jordan River when Jesus came to be baptized. It was at that time that God first revealed that Jesus was the Beloved Son in whom God was well pleased through the voice of the Holy Spirit.

We know that the First Letter of St. John was the evangelist’s effort to suppress the Gnostic heresy that had sprung up in the early Christian community. Part of that heresy was to deny that Jesus was both truly human and truly divine. The testimony of water, blood, and the Holy Spirit all support the dogma that teaches the humanity and divinity of Jesus. Therefore, John claims that faith in Jesus Christ not only saves the individual who believes but also conquers the evil of the world.

An option is offered for the Gospel text of this day. One of the options involves reading the genealogy of Jesus that appears in St. Luke’s Gospel. Obviously, anyone familiar with the genealogy that appears in St. Matthew’s Gospel and compares it with the genealogy of St. Luke’s Gospel recognizes that there is a difference between the two. Whereas Mt 1:2 begins the genealogy of Jesus with Abraham to emphasize Jesus’ bonds with the people of Israel, Luke’s universalism leads him to trace the descent of Jesus beyond Israel to Adam and beyond that to God (Lk 3:38) to stress again Jesus’ divine sonship and his human nature in his descent from Adam.

Consequently, the readings for this Saturday of the Christmas season remind us that our faith is grounded in Jesus who is truly human and truly divine. While this may seem to be rather elementary in our faith, it is good for us to remember that the early Christian community found it necessary to work through this issue as there were those who believed that Jesus was not of two natures.

Each time we celebrate the Eucharist, the mystery of Christ’s dual nature is remembered as the presider places both water and wine in the chalice as he prays quietly: “By the mystery of this water and wine, may we come to share in the divinity of Christ, who humbled himself to share in our humanity.” As we receive Jesus in communion, we receive him completely – body and soul, humanity and divinity.