Gospel (Jn 12:44-50)

Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day. For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment – what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”

Commentary

“Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me.” These words of Jesus are a summary of many of his teachings throughout the course of his public life.

Jesus makes clear the need to have faith in Him in order to receive the new life that He has come to give us. To believe in Him is to believe in the one who has sent Him, in the Father. Jesus often reproaches his disciples for their lack of faith. He tells Peter amid the storm on the sea: “O man of little faith! Why did you doubt?” (Mt 14:31). But sometimes he also praises people for their faith, like the Syrophoenician woman whom he tells: “O woman, great is your faith!” (Mt 15:28). And others beg Him to strengthen their faith, like the Apostles: “Increase our faith” (Lk 17:5).

To believe in Jesus is to believe in the Father. And to live in God’s light: “I have come into the world as light.” To live in this light is to live truly, to find what each person truly longs for: a life anchored in Love, in the true Love that is the Love God has for each of us. And the light to find this authentic Love is Jesus.

Jesus offers everyone this authentic Love that each of us can find in the depths of our heart and that we are called to discover. This search is what determines the sincerity of our life, and what we will be judged for: for how we have opened ourselves to Love or how we have resisted the Love that is constantly seeking us.

And Jesus once again makes reference to eternal life: “I know that his commandment is eternal life.” Our Lord has won this eternal life for us by his death and resurrection, and it is what we are seeking when we open our hearts to Love.

These days of Easter are a wonderful time to view life from the perspective of eternity. We can detach ourselves from the bonds of time and space and contemplate what awaits us if we are faithful to our Lord Jesus Christ – faithful to the Love He comes to give us. In short, we need to strive to live like Christ, who identified Himself with his Father’s will. By his example, Jesus teaches us to live in harmony with the Father.