Words and Works
What are the obstacles to faith for you?
If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me. But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father." Then they tried to arrest him again, but he escaped from their hands. He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing earlier, and he remained there. Many came to him, and they were saying, "John performed no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true." And many believed in him there. - John 10:37-42
In today's Gospel reading, John juxtaposes two reactions to good works.
In the first, we have those who choose not to believe, citing that the words Jesus spoke about himself present themselves as a true obstacle.
In the second, the works or signs are enough, becoming the source of belief. The actions of Jesus in the world are all that they need to believe.
What about us? What is the source of our faith?
Do we believe because of what Jesus said or because of what he did?
We are fast approaching the season of Easter, beginning with the entrance into Jerusalem this Palm Sunday and ending with the Resurrection on Easter Sunday. At what point in that journey do we say, "I believe."?
Is it when he fulfills the prophesy by arriving as a king? Or is it when he rises from the dead?
Between those two events, our faith may be shattered when the Messiah is crucified. Even though Jesus said this would happen, even his disciples lost hope when he died on the cross.
It took the empty tomb to shake them back to questioning what they saw and heard.
Faith is believing despite all reason and witness to the contrary. If we believe only what we see or only what we hear, we may lose faith when we see or hear something to the contrary.
But if we can believe despite what we hear and see, we never lose hold of faith.
So, this is the dilemma of our faith. We will always be tested by this world, and we will find ourselves shaken.
But God is always with us, even when we fail to feel His presence. Coming to us in human form is proof that we are never out of His sight and mind.
So, by walking among us, God chose to defy reason. It is up to us to accept or reject what we find impossible to believe.
More to come...