In our Second Reading for this Sunday St. Paul writes to the people of Corinth and speaks of how the Jewish people were always demanding signs to show proof that something was of God while the Greeks preferred words of wisdom to enlighten them.
Then in the Gospel, there it is, the Jews demanding a sign from Jesus who in anger had expelled the people who were making a marketplace out of his Father’s house.
“What sign can you show us for doing this?” They were demanding Jesus to show proof that this temple was HIS Father’s house. They were demanding proof that Jesus was the Son of God. But the explanation that Jesus gave them made no sense to them:
“Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” John 2.19
It made no sense because they were thinking only about the temple in which they were standing, and Jesus was speaking of the temple of his body that would rise three days after it was hung on the cross. The Gospel ends with this verse: “. . . and he did not need anyone to testify about human nature. He himself understood it well.”
John 2.25
Jesus knew these people well, just as he knows us.
He did not share all of who he was for he knew it would be necessary for the people to see it for themselves.
Being told something by someone is one thing but witnessing it is something altogether different.
We were not present at the time of Christ, yet we understand who Jesus is through faith. A faith that has been handed down for generations dating back to those who walked with Jesus. Do we, like the Jews, still demand signs of proof of who Jesus is? Do you know and believe in your heart that he is the Son of God, that he was born of Mary and became man? Do you believe he died on the cross, that his body was destroyed and that he in fact, rose from the dead, just as he had stated to the people listening to him in the temple that day?
Our believing in Jesus Christ and who he is as the Son of God, born of the Holy Spirit is our gift of faith. “We walk by faith and not by sight” 2 Cor 5.7, and by that gift of faith we experience a loving and forgiving God who is with us always. How can we repay that? Jesus tells us with three words: love one another. For by loving others, we love God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. What acts of love will you shower on others this week? Take time to thank God for the gift of Jesus and our shared faith in him and go about your days loving one another. Then come to the Gathering Place, to place your acts of love on the Cross as an offering to Jesus.
Have a blessed week,
Deb Rudolph