Monday, December 17, 2007

Jn 5, 40-47 You do not want to come to me to have life

(Jn 5, 40-47) You do not want to come to me to have life
[40] But you do not want to come to me to have life. [41] "I do not accept human praise; [42] moreover, I know that you do not have the love of God in you. [43] I came in the name of my Father, but you do not accept me; yet if another comes in his own name, you will accept him. [44] How can you believe, when you accept praise from one another and do not seek the praise that comes from the only God? [45] Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father: the one who will accuse you is Moses, in whom you have placed your hope. [46] For if you had believed Moses, you would have believed me, because he wrote about me. [47] But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?"
(CCC 702) From the beginning until "the fullness of time" (Gal 4:4), the joint mission of the Father's Word and Spirit remains hidden, but it is at work. God's Spirit prepares for the time of the Messiah. Neither is fully revealed but both are already promised, to be watched for and welcomed at their manifestation. So, for this reason, when the Church reads the Old Testament, she searches there for what the Spirit, "who has spoken through the prophets," wants to tell us about Christ (Cf. 2 Cor 3:14; Jn 5:39, 46). By "prophets" the faith of the Church here understands all whom the Holy Spirit inspired in living proclamation and in the composition of the sacred books, both of the Old and the New Testaments. Jewish tradition distinguishes first the Law (the five first books or Pentateuch), then the Prophets (our historical and prophetic books) and finally the Writings (especially the wisdom literature, in particular the Psalms) (Cf. Lk 24:44).

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