Daily Scriptures Reflection for 3/28/12

Scripture: Lectionary # 254, March 28, 20012. Daniel 3:14-20,91-92,95. Resp. Daniel 3:52.53.54.55.56. John 8:31-42

We are all called to be disciples of Jesus. Jesus promises us that we will be set free if we follow him closely as disciples. John’s Gospel presents Jesus as the Revealer. We are given a powerful and attractive message today: “you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31). Truth in the Fourth Gospel is one of the main themes given in the revelatory words of Jesus. One Belgian Jesuit worked on this theme for twenty-five years and completed his doctorate on it just after Vatican II. It is a two volume work done in French. His defense was spectacular in front of renowned scholars who could only tell him that he made a few mistakes in his footnotes! The scholar who wrote this is Ignace de la Potterie, S.J. now deceased. I was privileged to have had him as a teacher for several courses.

We are freed from our sins by Jesus’ life of revelation and self-giving. We continue to enjoy this freedom especially in this sacred season of Lent. We want the type of freedom that Jesus is speaking about. It is a freedom that is not political or national. This freedom comes from the Truth himself. Jesus tells us that he is the way, the truth, and the life. (John 14:6). If our faith in the person of Jesus is strong and enduring our Easter will be a season of freedom in the Spirit and in our hearts.

Jesus assures us that he has come from God and is the apostle of God par excellence. He is always with us here in our journey of life. And wherever there are two or three of us gathered in his name, he is there with us in our midst. Jesus did not come to do his own will but that of the Father. This integrity of Jesus is what brings us our freedom in and through him. We are able to experience the freedom of the children of God. Jesus who is God’s truth sets us free.

Our liturgical reading began with the narrative saying that there were those who believed in Jesus. (John 8:31). We join those believers for our belief is based on his words and the event of his glorious resurrection. We may wish to meditate on the concluding words of chapter twenty: “Many other signs also Jesus worked in the sight of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:30-31). Amen