Reflection on John 11:45 (Br Jude David)

As we celebrate these great days of Easter, it is not possible to grasp the significance of these days if we have not fully grasped the great mysteries of Holy Week that we have just celebrated. I would like to share with you a theme that touched me at Holy Week this year and that continues to colour my reflection for Easter.
In John 11:45-56, we have the account of the meeting of the chief priests and Pharisees who plot the death of Jesus. The High Priest Caiaphas prophetically announces that it is “better for one man to die for the people, than for the whole nation to be destroyed” and this is certainly fulfilled in Jesus beyond our comprehension. The following verse (John 11:52) – “to gather together in unity the scattered children of God”, summarises for me the whole mission of Jesus and is for me, the underlying theme for both Holy Week and Easter. Jesus entire life, mission, death and resurrection may be summarised in these words. He has come amongst us so that He may gather together into unity the scattered children of God and we will experience the fulfilment of this at Pentecost when the Spirit of Unity will be poured out upon all mankind and the Church will be born. This gathering together into unity the scattered children of God is precisely the mission of the Church even today after 2000 years since our Lord’s death and resurrection. It is this unity that we must continuously and zealously aspire for. What are the means of gathering together the “scattered children of God”? Jesus tells us, “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters” (Matt 12:30) and thus, Jesus is the only true source of unity; He is our singular means of “gathering together the scattered children of God” and this is our conviction as Church. Let us draw close to Jesus so that we may be gathered in together with Him in His Church so that we may be sent out to share in His mission of “gathering together the scattered children of God”!



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stay tuned for the next post by Br Terence Kesavan on 7th Apr 2010.