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Isaiah 56:1-3A, 6-8
Psalm 61:2-3, 5, 7-8
John 5:33-36
Summary
Isaiah proclaims that the salvation, the justice, of the Lord is offered not only to Israel but
to all “who believe in the Lord and who keep his commandments regardless of origin or
social condition.” (NAB Is 56:1-3 fn. 56, 1-8.) The Psalmist prays that the Lord’s salva-
tion may become known among all nations, who should praise the Lord for he rules with
justice. In the Gospel, Jesus asserts that he is that salvation offered to all -- the Christ,
as John the Baptist had testified, and that the miraculous works that the Father gave him
to accomplish are greater testimony than John’s.
Reflection
I imagine myself in the Gospel scene, hearing Jesus speak the quoted words.
When Jesus refers to the works he says the Father gave him to accomplish, I remember
three that seem miraculous (three, because the other four signs in John had not yet oc-
curred). Jesus had changed water into wine at the wedding at Cana, cured the near
death son of a royal official, and healed a paralytic man on the Sabbath.
Today I ask myself: Would I, on the testimony of John, that burning and shining lamp in
whose light I had rejoiced for a while, and on Jesus’ three miraculous works have then
and there believed that Jesus was the one in Isaiah to whom the Lord would gather oth-
ers, all those who keep God’s commandments, the one who was the revelation of God’s
justice? Would I have believed that Jesus was the Christ?
Probably not.
I would have needed to reflect over time on Jesus’ three works, his words and his intel-
lect, his demeanor, his sincerity, his way of speaking with authority. For fear of being
wrong, I would have needed to test my nascent intuition that he is the Christ by search-
ing scripture, hopefully finding and seeing meaning
in the passage from Isaiah and other passages re-
ferring to the Christ to be revealed. I likely would
have needed all seven signs in John plus credible
testimony about Jesus’ passion, death, and resur-
rection, and, even then, irrespective of whether I had
personally seen Jesus resurrected, I would still have