for April 22
Wednesday of the Second Week of Easter

A few years ago while watching sporting events on TV, when the camera panned the crowd it was not uncommon to see someone holding a sign reading: JN 3:6, a reference to the opening verse of today’s gospel, namely God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. If the intent was to claim this was the most important verse in the New Testament, I find that too limiting. But as a starting point for self-reflection it might be helpful. Non-believers and especially maybe weak believers could also be challenged by the next verse proclaiming that Jesus came not to condemn but to save the world.

For us believers hearing this gospel in the Easter season invites deeper contemplation. In John’s gospel that God gave the Son means that God gave him over to death, for our salvation and the salvation of the whole world, through the resurrection that we are continuing to celebrate. We are also promised eternal life, a theme we will hear often these coming days in John’s gospel passages. So it is good to remind ourselves in advance that eternal life in John is not just quantitative, life after death, but also qualitative, sharing even now in divine life. To paraphrase an expression common in the early church, Jesus came to share humanity that we might share divinity.

Another Easter theme in the passage is that Christ is the light of the world. But there was and is darkness in our world, and not just the darkness of sin. Could we not say our lives have been darkened as it were by the fear and sadness and depression that we sometimes find ourselves in these days? The gospel tells us that truth is what keeps us in the light, and for us Jesus is that truth, all that he is for us and all that he has accomplished for us. In that light the result is that our works, presumably our good works, can be clearly seen as God working through us. While we can’t run out and do all kinds of wonderful things right now, let us pray for one another, let us reach out to one another, let us be patient with one another.

Today’s first reading offers a different perspective. The apostles have been jailed for proclaiming Jesus, exactly what they had told not to do. But their adversary is the party of the Sadducees. Unlike most of the Jews at the time of Jesus, the Sadducees did not believe in resurrection. So if they did not believe in life after death for anyone, not surprisingly they could not comprehend the resurrection of Jesus. A miracle gets the apostles out of jail, reminding me of a line from 2 Timothy 2:9 that the word of God cannot be chained. The angel who frees them sends them back to the temple area to teach about their life, which even in the idealized form described in Acts, can encourage and challenge us today.
—Edward O’Donnell SJ

Today’s readings can be found on the US Conference of Catholic Bishops website.