John 5,17-30 – Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent
“”My Father always works and I too work”. Precisely for this reason the Jews tried even more to kill him: because not only did he violate the Sabbath, but he called God his Father, making himself equal to God”. It is found in this verse one of the most decisive points in the life of Jesus. What makes his presence so unbearable for some is not simply his preaching, nor the many miracles that enhance his fame.
The real problem is his relationship with God. Jesus calls God “Father” and presents himself as Son. It is in this relationship of sonship that his entire destiny is played out. This intimacy with the Father is the secret of his freedom and his strength. Jesus never acts alone: everything he does is born from communion with the Father. Precisely for this reason it arouses opposition. Because when faced with such a true relationship with God, a form of resistance also manifests itself, almost a sort of spiritual envy: the inability to accept that someone lives so deeply rooted in a love relationship.
Yet the Gospel does not tell this relationship only to talk about Jesus. It also tells it to talk about us. With baptism we received the same gift: we are no longer just creatures brought into the world, but children. The whole Christian life consists in trying to live from this truth. It is not simply adhering to a set of religious ideas or a tradition. It’s learning to live as children. It means remembering that God is not an anonymous or distant force, but a Father who loves us. Jesus’ strength was the Father. All his freedom came from there. And the same should happen for us too. The Gospel, then, asks us a very serious question: do we really live like children or are we content to be just followers?
The difference is big. The adept executes; the son trusts. The adept observes; the son lives through relationships. And only those who live as children truly know the freedom of loved ones.
