[Salvation]

From: John 12:44-50


The Unbelief of the Jews

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[44] And Jesus cried out and said, "He who believes in Me, believes not
in Me, but in Him who sent Me. [45] And he who sees Me sees Him who
sent Me. [46] I have come as light into the world, that whoever
believes in Me may not remain in darkness. [47] If any one hears My
sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come
to judge the world but to save the world. [48] He who rejects Me and
does not receive My sayings has a judge; the word that I have spoken
will be His judge on the last day. [49] For I have not spoken on My
own authority; the Father who sent Me has Himself given Me commandment
what to say and what to speak. [50] And I know that His commandment is
eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has bidden
Me."

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Commentary:


44-50. With these verses St. John brings to an end his account of our
Lord's public ministry. He brings together certain fundamental themes
developed in previous chapters--the need for faith in Christ (verse
44); the Father and the Son are one yet distinct (cf. 45); Jesus is
Light and Life of the world (verses 46, 50); men will be judged in
accordance with whether they accept or reject the Son of God (verses
47-49). The chapters which follow contain Jesus' teaching to His
Apostles at the Last Supper, and the accounts of the Passion and
Resurrection.


45. Christ, the Word Incarnate, is one with the Father (cf. John
10:30); "He reflects the glory of God" (Hebrews 1:3); "He is the image
of the invisible God" (Colossians 1:15). In John 14:9 Jesus expresses
Himself in almost the same words: "He who has seen Me has seen the
Father". At the same time as He speaks of His oneness with the Father,
we are clearly shown the distinction of persons--the Father who sends,
and the Son who is sent.


In Christ's holy human nature His divinity is, as it were, hidden, that
divinity which He possesses with the Father in the unity of the Holy
Spirit (cf. John 14:7-11). In theology "circumincession" is the word
usually used for the fact that, by virtue of the unity among the three
Persons of the Blessed Trinity, "the Father is wholly in the Son and
wholly in the Holy Spirit; the Son wholly in the Father and wholly in
the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit wholly in the Father and wholly in the
Son" (Council of Florence, "Decree Pro Jacobitis, Dz-Sch", 1331).


47. Christ has come to save the world by offering Himself in sacrifice
for our sins and bringing us supernatural life (cf. John 3:17). But He
has also been made Judge of the living and the dead (cf. Acts 10:42):
He passes sentence at the Particular Judgment which happens immediately
after death, and at the end of the world, at His Second Coming or
Parousia, at the universal judgment (cf. John 5:22; 8:15-16).

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Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.

[Salvation]

Scripture readings taken from the Jerusalem Bible, published and copyright © 1966, 1967 and 1968 by Darton, Longman & Todd

Mass Readings

First reading

Acts 12:24 - 13:5 ©

The word of God continued to spread and to gain followers. Barnabas and Saul completed their task and came back from Jerusalem, bringing John Mark with them. In the church at Antioch the following were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen, who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. One day while they were offering worship to the Lord and keeping a fast, the Holy Spirit said, ‘I want Barnabas and Saul set apart for the work to which I have called them’. So it was that after fasting and prayer they laid their hands on them and sent them off. So these two, sent on their mission by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and from there sailed to Cyprus. They landed at Salamis and proclaimed the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews; John acted as their assistant.

Psalm or canticle: Psalm 66

Gospel

John 12:44 - 50 ©

Jesus declared publicly: ‘Whoever believes in me believes not in me but in the one who sent me, and whoever sees me, sees the one who sent me. I, the light, have come into the world, so that whoever believes in me need not stay in the dark any more. If anyone hears my words and does not keep them faithfully, it is not I who shall condemn him, since I have come not to condemn the world, but to save the world. He who rejects me and refuses my words has his judge already: the word itself that I have spoken will be his judge on the last day. For what I have spoken does not come from myself; no, what I was to say, what I had to speak, was commanded by the Father who sent me, and I know that his commands mean eternal life. And therefore what the Father has told me is what I speak.’