Like Father, Like Son

Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent

Isaiah 49:8-15 / Psalm 145:8-9, 13cd-14, 17-18 / John 5:17-30

Like Father, Like Son

Can you picture a little boy clunking around the house in work boots several sizes too big for him with a toy tool belt falling around his knees? He grabs a block and drives an imaginary nail into it with his plastic hammer. He’s seen his dad do something like this before. He wants to be just like him when he grows up — for now at least.

Jesus never grew out of this love for his Father’s work. In today’s gospel reading from John we conclude with a verse that could make one feel helpless, but when properly understood, actually explains what it truly means to be powerful. It turns what seems like subservience into true empowerment. It is the power of imitation that is beyond flattery; a power that saves.

“I cannot do anything on my own…” (John 5:30) seems like what a mere child would say, rather than the words of a thirty year old. It can seem like the self-pitying thought of a patient confined to a hospital bed waiting for the nurse to arrive and help with simple daily needs that others accomplish under their own power and take for granted. It does not seem like the words of a Savior or the Son of God. But this capable Son remains totally dependent and in strictest conformity with his Father’s will — so great is his love for his Father.

Perhaps the words “I cannot do anything on my own…” really mean, “I can’t imagine doing anything on my own. I don’t want to do anything apart from my Father.” Jesus always has the will of his Father in mind. Perhaps we choose to sin because we do not delight in the will of the Father as much as Jesus did.

·         Some people practice their religious faith because they want to have good things in their life, and be protected by God, not because the will of their Heavenly Father is their all-consuming passion. Reflect on your own reasons for practicing your faith: Why do you want to develop your relationship with your Heavenly Father? In developing this relationship, are you trying to take his will as your own?