James 1:1-11
Psalm 119:67-68, 71-72, 75-76
Mark 8:11-13
Jesus “sighed from the depth of his spirit.” I think we all know how Jesus felt. The Pharisees were pestering him for a sign. Of course, Jesus had, at least twice, fed crowds with a few loaves of bread and a couple fish. He healed the sick, the blind, and the deaf by the thousands. Still, the Pharisees were demanding a sign.
Jesus could have just given in. This must be at least partially where that sigh came from. Jesus knew that he could have said, “What do you want? Just name it.” He could change the color of the sky, turn mud into a person, summon 12 legions of angels, or whatever. He could literally have done anything. He could have just started taking requests and fulfilling them as they were spoken. The Pharisees want to test Jesus here; they want to try him out like we might try out a new gadget on Christmas day.
This demand for a sign shows a basic misunderstanding about faith. Faith is a gift from God. Faith is not something we do; faith is something God does to us. The Pharisees, like most people today, thought that their faith was the result of weighing both sides, thinking about it, and coming to a judgment. They are asking for a sign because they want more evidence before making their decision. But what evidence would have been sufficient? Anything can be thrown into question. Maybe it is just an illusion. Perhaps Jesus was a space alien with advanced technology. Maybe it was all just a dream. Maybe you are dreaming now and you will wake up in a minute and realize that this is all imaginary. Maybe we live in the Matrix.
There is no argument, there is no evidence, that could convince us 100%. Our brains are not perfect. If faith came from within us, it would have no surer footing than any other thought we have. Faith, however, comes from outside, from God. If we lack faith, we should not demand signs from God, we should not invent elaborate schemes to prove or disprove him. We ought to pray. If we ask God for faith, he can give it to us; he can give us a faith that does not rely on our weak intellect, that is not subject to the whims of our limited mind.
Daily Homilies
Showing posts with label Signs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Signs. Show all posts
September 05, 2012 - Wednesday of the Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
1 Corinthians 3:1-9
Psalm 33:12-15, 20-21
Luke 4:38-44
We are told that “at sunset, all who had people sick with various diseases brought them to him.” They had seen him at the synagogue the night before. They had watched him cast a demon out of a man with nothing more than the authority of his words. Then they went home, and Jesus healed another woman on the Sabbath, and perhaps everyone heard about this too. The people waited until the next evening, but, as soon as they could, they brought all the sick people to him.
Imagine the struggle and the joy of going home to a sick son or daughter, mother or father, sister or brother, knowing that the man at the synagogue could cure them, but still waiting a whole day until the Sabbath was over. During that time of waiting, they clung to hope. They hoped that the man would not leave town. They hoped that he would heal their relative. They went to bed that night full of hope, and it did not disappoint. There is a hope waiting for us in heaven. We cling to this hope while we wait here on earth for our own personal healing.
Surely most of the people had doubts while they waited. Had they really seen what they thought they saw or was it some kind of trick? Would the man be willing to heal their loved one? Their hope lived on the promise of the two who had already been healed. So it is for us. If we begin to doubt the power of God to heal our souls, we should look and see some of the people who have already been healed.
The existence of these people, the Saints, strengthens our hope. Another soul has been healed; perhaps my soul too can be healed. We need to see Saints, to see the healing God has effected in their lives, so that we can continue to believe in the healing that we hope to receive. We need to see Saints in books and stories and in our elders, who may not be perfect in the way of St. Francis or St. Therese but many of them have experienced a remarkable healing of their soul. While we are waiting here anxiously, wondering, doubting, hoping, these glimpses confirm the possibility of being healed.
Psalm 33:12-15, 20-21
Luke 4:38-44
We are told that “at sunset, all who had people sick with various diseases brought them to him.” They had seen him at the synagogue the night before. They had watched him cast a demon out of a man with nothing more than the authority of his words. Then they went home, and Jesus healed another woman on the Sabbath, and perhaps everyone heard about this too. The people waited until the next evening, but, as soon as they could, they brought all the sick people to him.
Imagine the struggle and the joy of going home to a sick son or daughter, mother or father, sister or brother, knowing that the man at the synagogue could cure them, but still waiting a whole day until the Sabbath was over. During that time of waiting, they clung to hope. They hoped that the man would not leave town. They hoped that he would heal their relative. They went to bed that night full of hope, and it did not disappoint. There is a hope waiting for us in heaven. We cling to this hope while we wait here on earth for our own personal healing.
Surely most of the people had doubts while they waited. Had they really seen what they thought they saw or was it some kind of trick? Would the man be willing to heal their loved one? Their hope lived on the promise of the two who had already been healed. So it is for us. If we begin to doubt the power of God to heal our souls, we should look and see some of the people who have already been healed.
The existence of these people, the Saints, strengthens our hope. Another soul has been healed; perhaps my soul too can be healed. We need to see Saints, to see the healing God has effected in their lives, so that we can continue to believe in the healing that we hope to receive. We need to see Saints in books and stories and in our elders, who may not be perfect in the way of St. Francis or St. Therese but many of them have experienced a remarkable healing of their soul. While we are waiting here anxiously, wondering, doubting, hoping, these glimpses confirm the possibility of being healed.
August 24, 2012 - Feast of Saint Bartholomew, Apostle
Revelation 21:9-14
Psalm 145:10-13, 17-18
John 1:45-51
Jesus and Nathaniel bar-Tholomew have a sort of inside joke that we are not in on. Jesus says, “I saw you under the fig tree” and Nathaniel responds, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.” I like to imagine that one day Nathaniel was standing under a fig tree out in the wilderness and said to himself, “There is no one around. No one can see me now except the Lord himself.” And maybe this was a password between him and God. Perhaps he said in prayer one day, “God, when you send the Messiah, let him say these words to me so that I know who he is: ‘I saw you under the fig tree.’”
Whatever it was that was so special about that fig tree, Nathaniel proves Jesus right. He hears the words and he does not pause but answers immediately, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.” Here truly is a man without duplicity, a real Israelite. He asked for a sign; he got it; and he believed. There was no backtracking or wondering whether the sign was authentic or a coincidence. Jesus promises Nathaniel greater signs, but Nathaniel is satisfied with this little sign. He was a simple man, not in the sense of being stupid but in the sense that when he got exactly what he asked for, that was good enough.
How often did the scribes and Pharisees test Jesus! Yet they were so twisted that they convinced themselves that Jesus was working miracles and preaching repentance from sins by the power of the devil. How many miracles did the crowds see! Yet they could not see past the signs to the reality of who Jesus is. Nathaniel came to Jesus with his prejudices about people from Nazareth ("Can anything good come from Nazareth?"); he even seems a little angry when Jesus gives him a compliment: “How do you know me?”, he says, but as soon as he receives the sign he does not mince any words: “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.”
Let us pray to St. Nathaniel bar-Tholomew for the grace of simple faith. He was an Apostle and a martyr. He spent the rest of his life preaching the Gospel and died a witness to the faith, all because he believed when Jesus told him, “I saw you under the fig tree.”
Psalm 145:10-13, 17-18
John 1:45-51
Jesus and Nathaniel bar-Tholomew have a sort of inside joke that we are not in on. Jesus says, “I saw you under the fig tree” and Nathaniel responds, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.” I like to imagine that one day Nathaniel was standing under a fig tree out in the wilderness and said to himself, “There is no one around. No one can see me now except the Lord himself.” And maybe this was a password between him and God. Perhaps he said in prayer one day, “God, when you send the Messiah, let him say these words to me so that I know who he is: ‘I saw you under the fig tree.’”
Whatever it was that was so special about that fig tree, Nathaniel proves Jesus right. He hears the words and he does not pause but answers immediately, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.” Here truly is a man without duplicity, a real Israelite. He asked for a sign; he got it; and he believed. There was no backtracking or wondering whether the sign was authentic or a coincidence. Jesus promises Nathaniel greater signs, but Nathaniel is satisfied with this little sign. He was a simple man, not in the sense of being stupid but in the sense that when he got exactly what he asked for, that was good enough.
How often did the scribes and Pharisees test Jesus! Yet they were so twisted that they convinced themselves that Jesus was working miracles and preaching repentance from sins by the power of the devil. How many miracles did the crowds see! Yet they could not see past the signs to the reality of who Jesus is. Nathaniel came to Jesus with his prejudices about people from Nazareth ("Can anything good come from Nazareth?"); he even seems a little angry when Jesus gives him a compliment: “How do you know me?”, he says, but as soon as he receives the sign he does not mince any words: “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.”
Let us pray to St. Nathaniel bar-Tholomew for the grace of simple faith. He was an Apostle and a martyr. He spent the rest of his life preaching the Gospel and died a witness to the faith, all because he believed when Jesus told him, “I saw you under the fig tree.”
February 13, 2012 - Monday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
Today's Readings
Jesus “sighed from the depth of his spirit.” I think we all know how Jesus felt. The Pharisees were pestering him for a sign. Of course, Jesus had, at least twice, fed crowds with a few loaves of bread and a couple fish. He healed the sick, the blind, and the deaf by the thousands. Still, the Pharisees were demanding a sign.
Jesus could have just given in. This must be at least partially where that sigh came from. Jesus knew that he could have said, “What do you want? Just name it.” He could change the color of the sky, turn mud into a person, summon 12 legions of angels, or whatever. He could literally have done anything. He could have just started taking requests and fulfilling them as they were spoken. The Pharisees want to test Jesus here; they want to try him out like we might try out a new gadget on Christmas day.
This demand for a sign shows a basic misunderstanding about faith. Faith is a gift from God. Faith is not something we do; faith is something God does to us. The Pharisees, like most people today, thought that their faith was the result of weighing both sides, thinking about it, and coming to a judgment. They are asking for a sign because they want more evidence before making their decision. But what evidence would have been sufficient? Anything can be thrown into question. Maybe it is just an illusion. Perhaps Jesus was a space alien with advanced technology. Maybe it was all just a dream. Maybe you are dreaming now and you will wake up in a minute and realize that this is all imaginary.
There is no argument, there is no evidence, that could convince us perfectly. Our brains are not perfect. If faith came from within us, it would have no surer footing than any other thought we have. Faith, however, comes from outside, from God. If we lack faith, we should not demand signs from God, we should not invent elaborate schemes to prove or disprove him. We ought to pray. If we ask God for faith, he can give it to us; he can give us a faith that does not rely on our weak intellect, that is not subject to the whims of our limited mind.
Jesus “sighed from the depth of his spirit.” I think we all know how Jesus felt. The Pharisees were pestering him for a sign. Of course, Jesus had, at least twice, fed crowds with a few loaves of bread and a couple fish. He healed the sick, the blind, and the deaf by the thousands. Still, the Pharisees were demanding a sign.
Jesus could have just given in. This must be at least partially where that sigh came from. Jesus knew that he could have said, “What do you want? Just name it.” He could change the color of the sky, turn mud into a person, summon 12 legions of angels, or whatever. He could literally have done anything. He could have just started taking requests and fulfilling them as they were spoken. The Pharisees want to test Jesus here; they want to try him out like we might try out a new gadget on Christmas day.
This demand for a sign shows a basic misunderstanding about faith. Faith is a gift from God. Faith is not something we do; faith is something God does to us. The Pharisees, like most people today, thought that their faith was the result of weighing both sides, thinking about it, and coming to a judgment. They are asking for a sign because they want more evidence before making their decision. But what evidence would have been sufficient? Anything can be thrown into question. Maybe it is just an illusion. Perhaps Jesus was a space alien with advanced technology. Maybe it was all just a dream. Maybe you are dreaming now and you will wake up in a minute and realize that this is all imaginary.
There is no argument, there is no evidence, that could convince us perfectly. Our brains are not perfect. If faith came from within us, it would have no surer footing than any other thought we have. Faith, however, comes from outside, from God. If we lack faith, we should not demand signs from God, we should not invent elaborate schemes to prove or disprove him. We ought to pray. If we ask God for faith, he can give it to us; he can give us a faith that does not rely on our weak intellect, that is not subject to the whims of our limited mind.
January 6, 2012 - Christmas Weekday
Today's Readings
What does it mean to conquer the world? Does it mean that you control all the land? Does it mean that people obey you? St. John does not think so. He says that the the victor over the world is the one who believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Alexander the Great spent his entire life leading an army on the march. He died at 32 having conquered the world, or so people said. How could he have conquered the world when every day of his life was defined by the world? It seems, rather, that the world conquered him.
The battle between us and the world does not take place in Europe or Asia or Africa. It takes place in our souls. Conquering the world does not mean controlling billions of people. It means controlling ourself, and this begins with believing in the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ. It is by submitting ourselves to the true king of heaven and earth that we can rule under him.
The necessary faith is not blind faith. It comes through the testimony of God. We know the testimony of the Holy Spirit, who descended on Jesus at his baptism like a dove. Then there is the testimony of the water. Water obeyed Jesus Christ. He could walk on water. He changed water into wine. He calmed the sea with a word. Who can do that except God?
Then there is the testimony of the blood. Perhaps Jesus was just a magician or an alien from another planet with advanced technology. No, because the testimony of the blood is the final testimony: he died for us. He suffered and died for us. It is this combination of power and weakness that equals infallible testimony. If Jesus were weak, why was he so powerful? If he was powerful, why did he die for us? He must be someone of great power who also loved us. Who else could that be except God?
What does it mean to conquer the world? Does it mean that you control all the land? Does it mean that people obey you? St. John does not think so. He says that the the victor over the world is the one who believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Alexander the Great spent his entire life leading an army on the march. He died at 32 having conquered the world, or so people said. How could he have conquered the world when every day of his life was defined by the world? It seems, rather, that the world conquered him.
The battle between us and the world does not take place in Europe or Asia or Africa. It takes place in our souls. Conquering the world does not mean controlling billions of people. It means controlling ourself, and this begins with believing in the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ. It is by submitting ourselves to the true king of heaven and earth that we can rule under him.
The necessary faith is not blind faith. It comes through the testimony of God. We know the testimony of the Holy Spirit, who descended on Jesus at his baptism like a dove. Then there is the testimony of the water. Water obeyed Jesus Christ. He could walk on water. He changed water into wine. He calmed the sea with a word. Who can do that except God?
Then there is the testimony of the blood. Perhaps Jesus was just a magician or an alien from another planet with advanced technology. No, because the testimony of the blood is the final testimony: he died for us. He suffered and died for us. It is this combination of power and weakness that equals infallible testimony. If Jesus were weak, why was he so powerful? If he was powerful, why did he die for us? He must be someone of great power who also loved us. Who else could that be except God?
November 25, 2011 - Friday of the Thirty-Fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Today's Readings
Daniel’s vision is somewhat obscure to us. These beasts are fantastical creatures. They are symbolic of something (that is how Daniel spoke), but whether these beasts have already come or are yet to come, whether they symbolize countries or individuals, we do not know. This prophecy seems like something from the book of Revelation, and like that book, interpretation is often pure speculation and rarely fruitful.
But the last part of Daniel’s prophecy is as clear as day. One like a son of man approaches the Ancient of Days on the throne and receives dominion, glory, and kingship. And “his dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away; his kingship shall not be destroyed.” Even the simplest Christian without any theological education at all can discern that the Ancient of Days is God the Father and the one like a son of man is God the Son. At the time Daniel wrote it, no one knew what it meant, but now we all do. Much prophecy is given simply so that when we see it fulfilled, we will believe.
Jesus tells his disciples the coming of the Kingdom of God is as obvious as the coming of summer. I am sure it was to his eyes. Yet this analogy is apropos to us 21st century people. I am sure that I miss many natural signs that would have been obvious to the disciples, to anyone 2000 years ago. I spend so much time indoors that I do not see the buds on the trees until it is almost in full bloom. Even then I would not be able to tell a fig tree from an apple tree until the fruit appeared.
So too the signs of Kingdom of God are not obvious to those who are not looking, and without experience it would be impossible to interpret those signs. I cannot tell if we are almost at the end of the world. It might be the beginning of the end or only the end of the beginning. There might be ten years left, and there might be 10,000. I have neither the eyes nor the mind to see the signs and interpret them, but I do not doubt that they are there. No one can predict when the end will arrive, but when it has come it will be obvious to everyone that the signs of the coming were everywhere.
Daniel’s vision is somewhat obscure to us. These beasts are fantastical creatures. They are symbolic of something (that is how Daniel spoke), but whether these beasts have already come or are yet to come, whether they symbolize countries or individuals, we do not know. This prophecy seems like something from the book of Revelation, and like that book, interpretation is often pure speculation and rarely fruitful.
But the last part of Daniel’s prophecy is as clear as day. One like a son of man approaches the Ancient of Days on the throne and receives dominion, glory, and kingship. And “his dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away; his kingship shall not be destroyed.” Even the simplest Christian without any theological education at all can discern that the Ancient of Days is God the Father and the one like a son of man is God the Son. At the time Daniel wrote it, no one knew what it meant, but now we all do. Much prophecy is given simply so that when we see it fulfilled, we will believe.
Jesus tells his disciples the coming of the Kingdom of God is as obvious as the coming of summer. I am sure it was to his eyes. Yet this analogy is apropos to us 21st century people. I am sure that I miss many natural signs that would have been obvious to the disciples, to anyone 2000 years ago. I spend so much time indoors that I do not see the buds on the trees until it is almost in full bloom. Even then I would not be able to tell a fig tree from an apple tree until the fruit appeared.
So too the signs of Kingdom of God are not obvious to those who are not looking, and without experience it would be impossible to interpret those signs. I cannot tell if we are almost at the end of the world. It might be the beginning of the end or only the end of the beginning. There might be ten years left, and there might be 10,000. I have neither the eyes nor the mind to see the signs and interpret them, but I do not doubt that they are there. No one can predict when the end will arrive, but when it has come it will be obvious to everyone that the signs of the coming were everywhere.
September 2, 2011 - Friday of the Twenty-Second Week in Ordinary Time
Today's Readings
“Christ Jesus is the image of the invisible God.” “No one has seen the Father except Jesus Christ, who is from God; he has seen the Father.” Imagine what God the Father looks like. If you imagined something, it is wrong. There is no image whatsoever that can represent the Father. We sometimes think of God the Father as being the old man with the white beard, but God is a spirit.
When God created the world, he made an image of himself for us to look at when we want to know him. It is us. We are created in his image and likeness, male and female he created us. So each individual person is an image of God, because we are alive and he is alive, because we can think and he can think, but we are more an image of him because we can love and he is love. The family is an image of God: three persons but one God, so also three persons but one family.
None of these images were ever perfect. A family is cannot be truly one the way that God is one. We can think but God knows everything. We are alive but God is life. None of these images were ever perfect, but when we sinned that first time, and every time since, we have smudged and obscured the image so that it can be difficult to see God.
Which is where Jesus comes in. He is the image of the invisible God. He is the perfect image; he is, first of all, the perfection of man. In Jesus Christ we can see the image and likeness of God that is damaged and blurry in each of us as clearly as it was originally intended to be. Here is one who thinks rightly. Here is one who lives well. Here is one who loves with the entire capacity of the human heart.
The link between any symbol and reality is a convention, an agreement of human minds. All language is ultimately arbitrary. Any given word could mean anything at all if we agreed on it. But the link between the human nature of Jesus and the divine person of the Son is perfect and complete: the hypostatic union. If we have a relationship with Jesus, then we have a relationship with God. Jesus is the image of the invisible God because Jesus is the invisible God.
“Christ Jesus is the image of the invisible God.” “No one has seen the Father except Jesus Christ, who is from God; he has seen the Father.” Imagine what God the Father looks like. If you imagined something, it is wrong. There is no image whatsoever that can represent the Father. We sometimes think of God the Father as being the old man with the white beard, but God is a spirit.
When God created the world, he made an image of himself for us to look at when we want to know him. It is us. We are created in his image and likeness, male and female he created us. So each individual person is an image of God, because we are alive and he is alive, because we can think and he can think, but we are more an image of him because we can love and he is love. The family is an image of God: three persons but one God, so also three persons but one family.
None of these images were ever perfect. A family is cannot be truly one the way that God is one. We can think but God knows everything. We are alive but God is life. None of these images were ever perfect, but when we sinned that first time, and every time since, we have smudged and obscured the image so that it can be difficult to see God.
Which is where Jesus comes in. He is the image of the invisible God. He is the perfect image; he is, first of all, the perfection of man. In Jesus Christ we can see the image and likeness of God that is damaged and blurry in each of us as clearly as it was originally intended to be. Here is one who thinks rightly. Here is one who lives well. Here is one who loves with the entire capacity of the human heart.
The link between any symbol and reality is a convention, an agreement of human minds. All language is ultimately arbitrary. Any given word could mean anything at all if we agreed on it. But the link between the human nature of Jesus and the divine person of the Son is perfect and complete: the hypostatic union. If we have a relationship with Jesus, then we have a relationship with God. Jesus is the image of the invisible God because Jesus is the invisible God.
July 18, 2011 - Monday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Today's Readings
The scribes and Pharisees want to see a sign from Jesus. What exactly were they looking for? Water to wine? Check. Healing thousands of people? Check. Casting out demons that no one else could? Check. None of his many signs up to that point were enough for them; what could he do that would satisfy them? I do not know what they had in mind, whether one of the plagues of Egypt or dividing the Red Sea. Perhaps they did not have anything particular in mind, only that they wanted Jesus to do something to convince them, something greater than what he had already done.
Jesus responds that he will give them a sign: the sign of Jonah. None of the miracles of Jesus were enough for the Pharisees, so Jesus points to his greatest work: the Cross. Perhaps a great magician could have worked some of the miracles that Jesus worked, or at least convince a crowd that he had done so, but no one could accomplish the Cross except Jesus. On the Cross Jesus was tortured, but he forgave his tormentors. He was killed, but he rose from the dead. That was not the work of an illusionist. No human person could fake the Cross.
So the Pharisees will have their perfect sign, and, for the most part, they will still not believe. This is because faith does not come from signs but is an interior gift of the Holy Spirit. Real faith, the kind that does not rely on anything but is itself the bedrock of life, can only be a gift from God. If faith were something we created by our own judgment of the signs, then faith could never be stronger than our own judgment.
When Jonah walked through Nineveh and the whole city repented, it was not because of the eloquence of the preacher. God put repentance in their hearts and they needed nothing more than the small encouragement of Jonah. If God gives you faith, the smallest sign, seen with faith, will be more convincing than any proof ever done. If God has not given you faith, the greatest sign, feeding thousands with a little bread, making the sun dance across the sky, dying on a cross without complaining, will still leave room for doubt. So do not ask for signs from God; ask for faith, for perfect, invisible faith.
April 4, 2011 - Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent
Today's Readings
Jesus leaves Samaria for Galilee, “for Jesus himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his native place.” From this line alone, we would almost think that Samaria was Jesus’ native place, but it was not. Galilee was his native place. Jesus goes today to seek a place where he was “without honor.”
The Samaritans had come to believe because of the testimony of the woman at the well and because of what they themselves saw. Indeed, Jesus’ ministry to the Samaritans goes perfectly. He comes, preaches a little bit, converts a sinner, and the whole town came to believe in him over the course of two days. Jesus says elsewhere that if he had gone to any of the pagan cities, the results would have been the same. Samaritans and Pagans heard Jesus and honored him.
Nevertheless, Jesus returns to his native place and his own people so that he will not be honored. Jesus did not come to earth in order to be honored or to be successful in human terms, but to suffer and to die. If Jesus had gone away to Athens or Rome, he would have been greatly honored; he would have been very successful. Instead, he chose to stay with his own people, who would reject him.
When he returns to Galilee, we see a familiar image: a parent persistent in prayer. The royal official sought out Jesus and asked him to come heal his son, who was about to die. Jesus’ response is very harsh. The official simply asks again, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” We do not know if there was something wrong with how he asked the first time, since he is not quoted. He seems to have asked the same way twice.
He does fulfill Jesus words though: it is not until he sees the sign that he converts. Jesus worked no miracles in Samaria, that we are told of, except the miracle of telling a woman about her 5½ husbands, yet the town converted. In Galilee, the people will not believe unless they see signs and wonders. It is not that Jesus did not want to heal the child (he came to give sight to the blind, make the lame walk, and the mute speak), but the honor ought to come first. We should believe in Jesus and, then, expect great things, not insist he do great things if he expects us to believe in him.
February 14, 2011 - Memorial of Saint Cyril, monk, and Saint Methodius, bishop
Jesus “sighed from the depth of his spirit.” I think we all know how Jesus felt. The Pharisees were pestering him for a sign. Of course, Jesus had, at least twice, fed crowds with a few loaves of bread and a couple fish. He healed the sick, the blind, and the deaf by the thousands. Still, the Pharisees were demanding a sign.
Jesus could have just given in. This must be at least partially where that sigh came from. Jesus knew that he could have said, “What do you want? Just name it.” He could change the color of the sky, turn mud into a person, summon 12 legions of angels, or whatever. He could literally have done anything. He could have just started taking requests and fulfilling them as they were spoken. The Pharisees want to test Jesus here; they want to try him out like we might try out a new gadget on Christmas day.
This demand for a sign shows a basic misunderstanding about faith. Faith is a gift from God. Faith is not something we do; faith is something God does to us. The Pharisees, like most people today, thought that their faith was the result of weighing both sides, thinking about it, and coming to a judgment. They are asking for a sign because they want more evidence before making their decision. But what evidence would have been sufficient? Anything can be thrown into question. Maybe it is just an illusion. Perhaps Jesus was a space alien with advanced technology. Maybe it was all just a dream. Maybe you are dreaming now and you will wake up in a minute and realize that this is all imaginary.
There is no argument, there is no evidence, that could convince us perfectly. Our brains are not perfect. If faith came from within us, it would have no surer footing than any other thought we have. Faith, however, comes from outside, from God. If we lack faith, we should not demand signs from God, we should not invent elaborate schemes to prove or disprove him. We ought to pray. If we ask God for faith, he can give it to us; he can give us a faith that does not rely on our weak intellect, that is not subject to the whims of our limited mind.
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