Today is April 10, Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent.
We read at today’s Mass, “Jesus said to them, ‘Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM.’ So they picked up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid and went out of the temple area” (Jn 8:58-59).
The idea of Jesus hiding is fascinating. As Christians, we make a big deal about how Jesus shows us the face of God. During the Christmas season, we speak of the gradual manifestation of God’s glory to the world as the Magi come and adore the Christ Child, the Father opens the heavens and calls Jesus his Son and Jesus turns the water into wine. Jesus calls himself the light that scatters the darkness as a new era of salvation dawns upon mankind.
But now, as we approach the celebration of the Passion and death of Jesus, the tone changes. Jesus, who reveals God to us, hides from us. Those to whom the Father sent the Son now want to stone him. The more Jesus tells us who he is, the more his identity becomes a threat to sinners.
Finding us in our hiding
That Jesus hides from the anger of men is reminiscent of another “hiding.” Immediately after the fall of Adam and Eve, God entered Eden to walk with our first parents in friendship — but they hid. In shame, Adam and Eve could not face God. Now, in Jesus Christ, God goes into hiding from the faces of angry men.
God is ready to forgive. We often hide in our own shame from the truth of our sinfulness and even try to make it look a little better in the confessional. It is hard for us to understand that all God wants is to show us mercy, used as we are to the anger of men. Adam and Eve went into hiding. Jesus went into hiding to find Adam and Eve and bring them into the light. In doing so, he shows how he is in search of our souls to bring us into the light.
While many do not like who Jesus is and what he offers, we find consolation and peace in his presence. Jesus offers us salvation. He seeks us out wherever we are hiding. He manifests his glory to us in our own darkness and brings us into the presence of God.
Let us pray,
Be near, O Lord, to those who plead before you, and look kindly on those who place their hope in your mercy, that, cleansed from the stain of their sins, they may persevere in holy living and be made full heirs of your promise. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
