Daily Readings - Wed Apr 03 2019
Isaiah
8This is what the LORD says: "In the time of my favor I will answer you, and in the day of salvation I will help you; I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land and to reassign its desolate inheritances,9to say to the captives, 'Come out,' and to those in darkness, 'Be free!'"They will feed beside the roads and find pasture on every barren hill.10They will neither hunger nor thirst, nor will the desert heat or the sun beat upon them. He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water.11I will turn all my mountains into roads, and my highways will be raised up.12See, they will come from afar- some from the north, some from the west, some from the region of Aswan. "13Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth; burst into song, O mountains! For the LORD comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.14But Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me."15"Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!
John
16So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted him.17Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working."18For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.19Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.20For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these.21For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.22Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son,23that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.24"I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.25I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.26For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself.27And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.28"Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice29and come out--those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.30By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.
Sermon
In today’s readings, we encounter powerful expressions of God’s love and care for His people, as well as the profound unity and authority of Jesus Christ. The first reading from Isaiah paints a vivid picture of God’s providence and consolation. Speaking to a people in exile, Isaiah reassures them that God has not forgotten them. He describes how God will gather His scattered people, feed them, and guide them, even in the darkest of times. Zion, though feeling abandoned, is reminded that God’s love is far greater than any human love; even if a mother could forget her child, God never forgets His own.
The Gospel reading from John deepens this theme of divine love and care, but it also introduces a note of tension. Jesus, accused by the Pharisees for working on the Sabbath, defends His actions by revealing His intimate relationship with the Father. He explains that He does nothing on His own, but only what He sees the Father doing. This unity with the Father is the source of His authority to give life and to judge. Jesus emphasizes that His works are not His own, but the Father’s, and that those who honor Him honor the Father who sent Him. He also speaks of a time when the dead will hear His voice and come to life, a promise that extends beyond physical resurrection to the spiritual life He offers even now.
These readings invite us to reflect on our relationship with God and our trust in His providence. Like the exiled Israelites, we may sometimes feel forgotten or abandoned, but God’s love is unfailing. Like the Pharisees, we may question God’s ways or resist His truth, but Jesus reveals that His works are a manifestation of the Father’s love and will. Let us ask ourselves: Do we trust in God’s plan, even when it seems unclear? Do we honor Jesus as the Son of God, and do we listen to His voice, which calls us from death to life? May we find hope in God’s promises and may we live in the light of His truth, knowing that He is always working for our good.