Thursday of the Second Week of Easter
“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life”
Today, the Gospel invites us to cease being so “worldly”, to stop being men who can only speak about mundane things, to speak and behave instead as “The one who comes from above”(Jn 3:31), who is Jesus. In this text we see —once more— that in evangelic radicalism there is no happy medium. We must always strive to follow God's thinking, endeavor to share Christ's feelings and aim at seeing men and their circumstances with the same spirit of the Word made flesh. If we behave as “he who comes from above” we shall discover the multitude of positive things happening all the time around us, for God's love is a continued action in favor of man. If we come from above we shall love everybody without exception, and our life will be an open invitation for others to do the same.
“The one who comes from above” (Jn 3:31). This is why He can be so helpful to every man and woman where they need help; furthermore “the one who comes from heaven [is above all]. He testifies to what he has seen and heard” (Jn 3:32). And his service costs nothing. This attitude of service without expecting anything in return, without needing a reply from the others, creates a profoundly human and respectful ambiance towards each person's free will; this is a contagious attitude that freely impels others to respond and behave in very much the same way.
Service and testimony go always together, they identify one another. Our world needs authenticity: and what can be more authentic than God's words? What is there more authentic than He who “does not ration his gift of the Spirit” (Jn 3:34)? This is why “Whoever does accept his testimony certifies that God is trustworthy” (Jn 3:33).
“Believing in the Son” means to have eternal life; it also means that Judgement day is not hanging over believers because they have already been judged and received a favorable sentence; on the other hand, “whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains upon him” (Jn 3:36)... until he believes.