I Believe . . .
At my Bible Study class this past Friday, one of the participants recalled a bumper sticker he had seen lately. It read: “We all know John 3:16; does anyone pay attention to 3:18?) Now that’s a powerful question. Just to recall: John 3:18 reads: Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
The question is powerful because it speaks to the purpose of St. John’s Gospel. We find that purpose clearly stated in John 20: But these are written that you may [come to] believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name.
Belief or, to use a word that we are perhaps more comfortable with, faith is the sole purpose for St. John’s Gospel. Scripture scholars go so far as to say that the ONLY sin mentioned in St. John’s Gospel is the sin of unbelief, the sin of failing to put one’s faith in Jesus as the Incarnate Word of God. If we believe, we are saved. If we don’t believe, we have already been condemned.
We are all familiar with St. Paul’s doctrine of justification by faith, a doctrine that has been the source of some dissension within Christian rank and file. Sadly, this doctrine has caused a split in the Christian denominations when it never should have. When we consider that St. Paul’s letters were all written before even one of the Gospels was written, it is safe to say that St. John’s insistence on belief as the way to salvation is simply a restating of St. Paul’s teaching. Writing for the community of Ephesus, St. John is very careful to include this doctrine over and over again in the Gospel. This teaching is evoked as the seven signs are recalled in St. John’s Gospel; e.g. when Jesus pulls the man born blind aside after he has been expelled from the synagogue, he asks the man: When Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, he found him and said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered and said, “Who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him and the one speaking with you is he.” He said, “I do believe, Lord,” and he worshiped him. Then Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see might see, and those who do see might become blind.” (John 9:35-39) Once again, that pesky term “judgment” finds its way to the surface. Those who do not believe are judged and condemned. It is evoked at the very end of the Gospel when Thomas is challenged to believe after seeing and touching the wounds of Jesus. Jesus responds to Thomas’ declaration of faith by saying: “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” (John 20:29b)
The Gospel passage for today’s solemnity tells us that Jesus was given and sent, two separate verbs. Jesus is a gift. Jesus was sent with a mission. When we place our faith in Jesus, we respond to the gift and we fulfill the mission. As we recite the creed at Mass today, affirming our belief in the Triune God, let us try to keep in mind what a precious is ours as well as the fact that the proper response to the gift is to continue the mission.
Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator
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