Belief in God
Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent
John 4:43-54
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/031626.cfm
Jesus didn’t put any stipulations to healing the royal official’s son. While Jesus heavily supported people on the fringe of society, a royal official was definitely not that. We don’t know if the official was a Jew or a Gentile as the gospel doesn’t call it out. And does it matter? The gospel writer does not in this situation. Jesus was here for the conversion of all.
Jesus says, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.” It’s a challenge for him that a change in belief requires a sign. And what is the change in belief? Jesus never recites a creed and the gospels all show a different point when Jesus’s divinity was recognized. Jesus didn’t even preach a strict theology or provide apologetics to explain God away. He didn’t condemn others, he asked questions and told stories.
For Jesus, it was the message that was important, not all the noise around that message. We are the ones who have over explained and theologized his death and resurrection and given it more meaning. He showed God to the world by the message he shared and how he lived. We make it more about his birth, death, and resurrection, but often lose sight of all the information in between. We stay focused on what’s in it for us. That’s why the miracles were so important for the people in Jesus’s time, and that’s why we focus mostly on the fact that Jesus was a sacrifice for our sins. We take it back to “What have you done for me lately?”
Jesus wasn’t calling passive followers. The transformation that Jesus was seeking was one of love. Jesus was calling people to expand how they loved one another. This love isn’t limited by belief systems. If it were, Jesus would have been fighting the Romans for their beliefs. Jesus didn’t even fight the government and the laws he may have been against. Jesus could have fought the cross through protest and fighting, but he died by it and his death has been a lasting example of how wrong it was. Yet today, we still have capital punishment and condemn in public spaces often in the name of a God who showed us another way. We keep killing Christ. Jesus wants that core transformed. That core is only transformed through love, not enforcement. If you believe God wants to end abortion, create a world where men seek for consent and where young parents are supported with their material, physical, and psychological needs. It all goes back to love.
Jesus’s transformation starts with love and mercy. It is through love and mercy that one is transformed. Love and mercy is the starting point. The law and the prophets come out of love, not the other way around. Proselytizing doesn’t lead to conversion, love and compassion does. If we transform our hearts, the law will follow. Enforcing the law, leads to resentment and pushes people away. God doesn’t give us the authority to enforce that law. Jesus even states that the Father is the authority for that.
I’m sure the royal official kept his own traditions, a lot of his belief system, and role within the government after he and his family became followers. Being a follower of Christ goes beyond these earthly surface things. It takes signs of love and compassion to drive others to believe. But we often overlook the power of love, and focus on dominance and authority. Even today, I see things being said like, “What good is mercy without a seat of judgment? The seat of judgment comes first.” In the story of the Garden of Eden, we are the ones who brought judgment into the world. Jesus wants us to return to the garden. That’s not done by fighting fire with fire, judgment for judgment, war with war. Jesus clearly says to turn the other cheek, to find the divine in ourselves through helping others, to give others the opportunity to see the divine in themselves through helping us. More is done to convert in the 12th Step program than condemning in public spaces.
Look at who religious people are judging, and that is where you would find Jesus today. While Jesus came for all, that’s where he focused his attention. We need to help those suffering and personally recognize the suffering we cause in others and eliminate it. Jesus came for the redemption of all and his judgment was to show that we were excluding others from that redemption. In today’s gospel, Jesus shows even the government official with whom we may disagree still deserves our love, compassion, and an opportunity for redemption. Let us pray for them within our own country and abroad. No one is excluded from the love and transformation of God.
