Believing in Jesus
All of Christendom is based upon belief that Jesus rose from the dead. St. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:14, “And if Christ has not been raised, then empty [too] is our preaching; empty, too, your faith.” So belief is absolute trust in what God said and our experience of the life in Christ that he gives to all his disciples who follow him by the gift of His Spirit living in us.
This belief has to be understood in light of God’s word, in revealed truth. It is not enough to give assent, to believe that God exists. James 2:19 says, “You believe that God is one. You do well. Even the demons believe that and tremble.” Here James is talking about faith and works and how the two go together. In Hebrews we see Abraham and his faith in God is accredited to him as righteousness. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says, “Faith is a personal act – the free response of the human person to the initiative of God who reveals himself. But faith is not an isolated act. No one can believe alone, just as no one can live alone. You have not given yourself faith as you have not given yourself life.” That is why the cross stretches upward to show us it is a relationship of love, first of all with God and then horizontally as it is a relationship with his creation, our neighbors.
In Wisdom 1:2 we are told, “he manifest himself to those who do not disbelieve him.” It means we need to understand the difference. Historically, we can read that Jesus was a man who lived among us, he had a family and he was a Jew. We may not believe he is the messiah sent from God to redeem all humans and the only way to come to know God and attain heaven. Through dialogue and discussion, we come to give our assent, only after God has touched our hearts and brought us to that place of surrender through our cooperation with God’s grace at work in us. Fr. William Eberschweiler, S.J. speaks about living as children of light. He then says, “What are the requisites? What must we do that we may walk in the light of the Lord that we may live by faith as we read: ‘The just man lives by faith’ The response is simple. This light must illumine all our ways, penetrate into all our circumstances, and there enjoy the full freedom of shining.” He then speaks of the obstacles of sin in modern man and says, “He prefers to be guided solely by the views and prejudges of blinded and perverted reason and the efforts of corrupt nature. Therefore, with impunity, he shuts out the higher light, the beneficent rays of the Sun of Justice.” Finally, he provides a warning even to Catholics when he says, “There are Catholics who otherwise lead good and wholesome lives, for the greater part without much sin, it is true, yet they seem to lack the spirit of living faith; they are listless in their response to grace and careless of acquiring merit for eternity.” He reminds them of Jesus words, “Are you also yet without understanding?” We then see that in Psalm 14 it says, “The fool says in his heart, there is no God.”
Belief has to be at the core of who we are to trust Jesus completely and to abandon ourselves to him with our entire being. In 1 John 3:23 we read, “And his commandment is this: we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another as he commands.” Again, faith and works go hand in hand. Our belief should lead us to live fully in love with God and our neighbor. By giving our ‘Yes’, our fiat as Mary did, John 1: 12 says, “But to those who did accept him, he gave power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name.” Are you ready to believe in what Jesus did for you on the cross? Are you ready to consider that he is the messiah come to earth to redeem you from your sins? John 3:16-18 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave* his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”
As Christians, this Friday, we remember what Jesus did for us, his complete sacrifice to die for our sins and then three days later to rise from the dead, so we could have eternal life and live in the freedom as sons and daughters. What will you believe? Take time to consider all of this and that the name of Jesus, the Christ is more powerful than any other name on earth. Jesus is ready and invites you to come to him, to receive forgiveness in his name and to become his child. Talk to him and ask him to come into your life today and show you the reality that he is the chosen one of God and loves you just as you are. Then go to Church and share what God is doing in your life with others. I pray that you might believe in Jesus, trust in him and honor him with your choice today and your life.