The Gospel - John 10:22-30
Homily by The Reverend John S. Ruef
Is
this scene [described in John’s Gospel] from the life of Jesus or a scene from
the life of the early Church? This is an historical question and deserves to be
answered in an historical manner. And the question is a relevant one when it
comes to deciding who Jesus might be or who the Church has always claimed him
to be.
In this scene as the fourth evangelist portrays
it: Jesus argues with the Jewish scholars saying that they don't need to take
his word for who he is; they simply have to look at the works which he does,
referring, one supposes, to his miracles. But Jesus is portrayed elsewhere in
the Fourth Gospel as assuming that nothing will convince them since they have
determined that he must die.
Actually, up until the eighteenth century, this
miracle reasoning was a stock argument for the divinity of Jesus: look at the
wonders he performed. As the world of science became better at probing the
mysteries of the universe, however, people became less impressed with this line
of thinking.
Christian
People usually realize that their faith is not determined by the miracles which
Jesus is supposed to have performed. They know inwardly that there is more to
it than that. They know inwardly that there often seems to be more evil than goodness
in the world. If they are honest, they also realize that people they believe to
be evil sometimes turn out to be good and vice-versa. But in the middle of this
hodge-podge, they believe (and this is where faith comes in) that in the long
run goodness triumphs over evil.
This is what Jesus is all about, his life, his
teachings, his mighty works, his crucifixion, and his resurrection. This
faith goes beyond any mighty works which Jesus may have done. This has to do
with who and what goodness is. This has to do with who and what the end and
purpose of life is. Somewhere along life's way most people encounter goodness
and they suspect that this is what life is all about, all the evidence to the
contrary not withstanding.
The
word Gospel is usually taken to mean "Good News." I believe, seen as
the confirmation of our suspicions about goodness, this story of Jesus is good
news indeed.
