People who don’t agree with the truth or are afraid of being exposed by it try to lock it away or cover it up. The Sanhedrin in today’s First Reading tries in vain to lock up those now entrusted by Christ with spreading the truth. It’s a truth that profoundly impacts the way we see ourselves, God, and the world, and is poignantly summarized in today’s Gospel: “God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” God has acted in our regard out of concern and love; Jesus didn’t come to condemn, but to save. The Father handed him over to us, and those who didn’t believe in him made a concerted effort to kill him, the truth, because he condemned what they were doing. They weren’t successful, just as the Sanhedrin wasn’t when the early Church started to also proclaim the truth.
Our Lord doesn’t just want to come into the world; he wants to come into our hearts and shed light on what we’d rather not see. Turning from him is turning from the truth. We all have that fear from time to time of being exposed for what we are–not as virtuous or holy as we could be or should be–yet Our Lord doesn’t come to expose us in order to condemn us; he comes to lead us back into the light, his light, the light of truth, and to save us from all the evil destructive things contained in the darkness of ignorance and falsehood. Advocates of keeping things in the dark, of doing evil, will try to lock us away too if we strive to live the truth and reflect it’s light, but like the first believers, Our Lord will watch over us as we try to live the life he’s shown us and teach it to others as well.
Ask Our Lord today to help see whether you’re jailed or the jailor. No matter which one you are, or both, he has come to set you free.
Readings: Acts 5:17–26; Psalm 34:2–9; John 3:16–21. See also 2nd Week of Easter,Wednesday.