Heart of Jesus, Obedient even to Death
“After this, aware that everything was now finished, in order that the scripture might be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I thirst.” There was a vessel filled with common wine.So, they put a sponge soaked in wine on a sprig of hyssop and put it up to his mouth. When Jesus had taken the wine, he said, “It is finished.” And bowing his head, he handed over the spirit.” (Jn 19, 28-30)
A characteristic feature of the New Testament theology is showing to man the Almighty God, who humbles himself unbelievably, taking the form of the Incarnate Word - the Beloved Son of God. The leitmotif and fundamental principle of Jesus' life is the principle of unlimited obedience to the Father. The very fact of the Incarnation is identified with the words of the psalm, attributed to Jesus: “See; I come with an inscribed scroll written upon me. I delight to do your will, my God; your law is in my inner being! (Ps 40: 8-9). “Then I said, ‘As is written of me in the scroll, Behold, I come to do your will, O God.”(Heb 10: 7). These words express the deepest conviction of Jesus that only in obedience to God - the Best Father - there we should look for opportunities for perfect development of oneself in accordance with God's plan of goodness and love for each person.
This is Jesus' vocation - to do the Father's will. Jesus Himself speaks of these many times. In the scene of the meeting with the Samaritan woman, he confesses that his food is doing the will of the Father (cf. Jn 4:34). In another place we read that Jesus came down from heaven to do the Father's will and that His will is that he would not lose anything what the Father gave him (cf. Jn 6: 38-39). All of Jesus' life was permeated with a spirit of obedience to the Father.
In the Olive Garden, we are witnessing a touching prayer. Jesus, seeing the greatness of suffering awaiting him, asks the Father to dismiss this cup. However, he adds: "Not my will, but yours be done!" (Luke 22:42). Jesus not only showed perfect obedience to the Father, but he also obeyed people. First of all, Mary and Joseph. (cf. Lk 2:51). He also obeyed those who condemned him to death.
He obediently listened to the sentence and accepted it in silence.
However, Jesus' obedience cannot be seen as merely as a moral act. It becomes something much larger. Through obedience of the Son of God, humanity entered into a new relationship with God. “For just as through the disobedience of one person the many were made sinners, so through the obedience of one the many will be made righteous” (Rom 5:19).
Obedience thus became Jesus' most characteristic virtue and determinant of his mission. In this perspective, the sacrifice of the life of God's Son, which he gave to the Father on the tree of the cross, gained salvific power, becoming an antidote and a remedy for the original sin of disobedience of the first parents.
Thanking for the gift of the Heart of Jesus obedient to death, let us ask God the Father for the gift of an enlightened discernment of God's will and doing it with a willing heart.
LIVE THE WORD!
Look at your obedience to God and people. Think about how you can show it to God, to what He is calling you, and follow His call.
Until Tomorrow
fr. george