[stephenkhoo]

23 April, 2012, Third Monday of Easter
FAITH IN JESUS AS LORD PRECEDES THE NEW LIFE OF EASTER

SCRIPTURE READINGS: ACTS 6:8-15; JN 6:22-29

What is the most important message of Easter? If we say, “new life”, then we are not wrong. However, we would have overlooked a more fundamental prerequisite of this new life. For this new life would not be possible if not for the fact that the new life that is given to us at Easter is the consequence of Jesus who has been raised as Lord. Hence, the central message of Easter is not so much new life, but that Jesus is Lord. Of course, the purpose of recognizing Jesus is Lord is so that we might have eternal life.

That the confession of faith in the divinity of Christ is critical is indeed the whole message of John’s gospel. For John, what was of utmost concern is that we come to confess that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Indeed, the Church intends for us to continue to reflect on the importance of recognizing Jesus as the Lord in the liturgy. This is shown in the linkage between today’s and yesterday’s gospel readings. For it was at the same shore of Tiberias that Jesus appeared to the apostles after His resurrection. The beloved disciple recognized Jesus as the Risen Lord, and this was verified by all when Jesus had breakfast with them. The bread and the fish of course allude to the Eucharist.

The gospel today is a sequence to the multiplication of the loaves and a prelude to the Eucharistic discourse. What is also significant is that the multiplication of loaves is paralleled to the manna given to the Israelites in the desert. The theme of new life is seen in the new exodus that takes place with the people taking the boats from the shoreof Tiberiasand crossing to the other side of the lake at Capharnaum. In other words, John wants to bring out the message that new life is given to those who have faith in Jesus. But why is faith in Jesus as the Risen Lord a necessary prelude to the Eucharistic discourse?

Firstly, it is a presupposition to faith in the Eucharist. Unless, Jesus is Risen, one cannot speak of faith in the real presence of our Lord in the Eucharist. As it is, the Eucharist is the continuation of the Incarnation and the Resurrection. In the Eucharist, we confess that Jesus is truly present in His whole being in the bread and wine. The resurrection indeed is the basis for faith in the incarnation. Hence, Jesus told the Jews, “This is working for God: you must believe in the one he has sent.” In other words, the eternal life that God wants to give us is not so much our work. It is given through Jesus only. So to the question, “What must we do if we are to do the works that God wants?”, the answer given by Jesus is that we simply need to “work” by giving ourselves to Hm in faith.

Secondly, the purpose of the Eucharist is the means by which Jesus can continue to give Himself to us. This is the true food that we need. Hence, Jesus told the Jews, “Do not work for food that cannot last, but work for food that endures to eternal life, the kind of food the Son of Man is offering you, for on him the Father, God himself, has set his seal.” What is this food of eternal life if not Jesus Himself as He would elaborate in the Eucharistic discourse!

Only by recognizing Jesus as Lord, can we situate everything in perspective. Faith in Jesus is fundamental. Once we have faith in Jesus, then we can be like St Stephen who carried out the ministry of service effectively. We are told that “Stephen was filled with grace and power and began to work miracles and great signs among the people.” In spite of the attempts to discredit his message with false accusations and charges, “they found they could not get the better of him because of his wisdom, and because it was the Spirit that prompted what he said.” Furthermore, we are told that even “the members of the Sanhedrin all looked intently at Stephen, and his face appeared to them like the face of an angel.”

Today, we are exhorted to look at the signs and interpret them correctly. We must continue to reflect on the signs of the Risen Lord in our lives so that our faith in Jesus as Lord can grow and deepen. To the extent we have faith in Jesus as the Risen Lord, to that extent will we be able to live out the new life that is offered to us in Christ, a life that is free from fear and slavery.

Indeed, for those of us who are involved in ministry, if we ever find ourselves relying on our own strength and ingenuity to do the works of God, it is because we lack personal conviction in the power of the Lord at work in our lives. We think that salvation is dependent on us rather than God who works in us. In such a situation, we would be like the Jews who asked Jesus, “What must we do if we are to do the works that God wants?” Faith that is not grounded on a personal encounter but a doctrine of the Risen Lord, lacks power.

The tragedy today is that there are many people who are unable to read the signs of the presence of the Risen Lord. Instead of seeing the signs that Stephen performed as the work of God, the Jews interpreted them as blasphemous work. Even though the Sanhedrin looked at Stephen intently and saw in him the face of an angel, yet they condemned him and his work as the work of Satan. In the gospel too, the Jews were looking for material benefits. They did not see beyond the signs of the miraculous multiplication of loaves. Their superficiality earned the rebuke of Jesus who said, “I tell you most solemnly, you are not looking for me because you have seen the signs but because you had all the bread you wanted to eat.”

What then is the sign of having encountered the Risen Lord? It is the sign of martyrdom. A sign that we have faith in Jesus as Lord is when we are able to withstand persecutions in our faith. This was so in the case of Stephen who stood up in defense of his faith in Jesus. So unless we are ready to be martyrs for Jesus, that is, witnesses to Jesus with our entire life, we cannot be said to have attained the resurrection faith. True witnesses or martyrs are those who are ready to give everything to Jesus, only because Jesus is truly Lord. Otherwise, we cannot account for their readiness to die for Jesus.