HE HAS SEEN AND HEARD
St. John sensed
God's love for himself through the Person of Jesus Christ so intensely that he
was consumed with the desire to make others aware of this great love.
When many people
think of St. John the first thought that often comes to their minds is that he
is the "Apostle of love." He sensed God's love for himself through
the Person of Jesus Christ so intensely that he was consumed with the desire to
make others aware of this great love.
From all the
passages in his Gospel, the Church has chosen for his feast the moment when
John himself came to faith in the Resurrection of Jesus. He went into the empty
tomb; he saw and believed. Today's Gospel helps us to see that death for Jesus,
led to the glory of His Resurrection. What did John see in the tomb that led
him to believe in the Resurrection of Jesus? It was certainly not a dead body.
The body of Jesus would have disproven the Resurrection and made His death a
tragic conclusion to a glorious and great teacher of works of miracles. When
John saw the empty tomb he must have recalled Jesus' prophecy that He would
rise again after three days. Through the gift of faith John realized that no
tomb on earth could contain the Lord and Giver of life.
The Resurrection of
Jesus is not only the sign of the Father's great love for His beloved Son; it
is also the sign of the Father's great love for us. Jesus is the plan - the
blueprint for our lives. What happened to Him will happen to us. We too are
vulnerable, subject to death. But death for us will also lead to the resurrection.
The Father loves us so much that He wants us to share in His glory and the
everlasting life of His Son.
John, in his first
epistle, testifies: "What we have heard, what we have seen with our
eyes... was from the beginning" (1 Jn 1:1). John bears witness to what has
existed from all eternity. This "word of life" is Jesus, the Word
Incarnate, but also Jesus as the Word announced by the prophets and Jesus the
Word now preached throughout the Church for all ages to come. One thing is
certain, if Jesus had not risen from the dead and appeared to His disciples, we
would never have heard Him. Nothing else could have changed sad and despairing
men and women into people radiant with joy and courage. The reality of the
Resurrection is the central fact of the Christian Faith. Through the gift of
the Holy Spirit, the Lord gives us "eyes of faith" to know Him and
the power of His Resurrection. The greatest joy we can have is to encounter the
living Christ and to know Him personally as our Savior and Lord.
The Christmas
season is a time of great joy. St. John, in the first reading, stated that his
purpose in writing was so that our joy might be complete. Our joy at the birth
of Christ is complete when we realize that our fellowship is with the Father
and with His Son, Jesus Christ. This fellowship, this oneness, will come to
full fruit in our own resurrection from the dead.