GRACE ENHANCES OUR NATURE


THURSDAY, FOURTH WEEK OF EASTER

Act 13:13-25; Ps 89:2-3,21-22,25,27; Jn 13:16-20

The Superiority of Grace over Nature

The synagogue presidents in Antioch in Pisidia saw Paul and his companion and thought they were regular Jews who came and went among them. So, he invited them to give a word of encouragement to the congregation in their shared Judaism, as they used to do with other visitors. He least expected what Saint Paul gave them. It was not an encouragement as he thought, but a whole new foundation for their rethinking of Judaism as a religion. Saint Paul and his companion were not just passers-by but intentional visitors on a mission to offer them something beyond their imagination, a new religion far surpassing the old. The same applies to our natural birth and rebirth in the grace of Jesus Christ, our Lord. We have reflected that God made human nature for himself to be his temple. But on deeper reflection, the rebirth of our nature in the incarnation of the Eternal Word is something beyond our comprehension. Our new birth in Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit, far surpasses what we received by nature. In the incarnation of the Son of God, God did not just restore what the original fall or sin of Adam and Eve destroyed but surpassed what he originally intended.

Human nature was reinforced in the rebirth through grace coming from Jesus Christ. The extra gifts offered to man in the promised salvation were part of the promise made to Abraham. Paul pointed to the special blessing in the promise to Abraham when he said: “To keep his promise, God has raised up for Israel one of David’s descendants, Jesus, as Saviour, whose coming was heralded by John when he proclaimed a baptism of repentance for the whole people of Israel.” The Son of Man is a unique gift to us, men, for in him, man and God are united in the Person of the Son. The Christian baptism is a means of sharing in that unique blessing God promised Abraham and the patriarchs. On the authority of the words of Jesus Christ, baptism is the birth of a heavenly man, the death and rebirth of man according to the will of the Father. From the Christian baptism, we have God-men whose origin is in heaven and not on earth, for they are born of the will of the Father and not of the will of man. Hence, Christian baptism patterns us according to the life of Jesus Christ, whose origin is from the Holy Spirit. The distinction makes Christianity quite different from Judaism and any other religion. It is a heavenly religion for heavenly people. So, the Church is a communion of pilgrims on earth, those in the penitentiary, and the triumphant in heaven. “I will sing forever of your love, O Lord; through all ages, my mouth will proclaim your truth. Of this, I am sure, that your love lasts forever, that your truth is firmly established as the heavens.”

Our Lord demonstrated the identity and communion of the new people in the gospel passage when he washed the feet of his people, thereby demonstrating the heavenly dignity his passion and death were about to elevate us. “I tell you most solemnly, no servant is greater than his master, no messenger is greater than the man who sent him.” They were being washed by God himself and not by a mere man. Our cleansing and rebirth are from the Father himself, and it is a birth into perfection if we believe and act accordingly. “Now that you know this, happiness will be yours if you behave accordingly.” He invited them to become what he is by obedience to his words and deeds. The meaning of our baptism is death to self and alive for heaven with a heavenly life inspired by the Holy Spirit, which Jesus shared with us. “I tell you this now, before it happens, so that when it does happen you may believe that I am He.” Our new birth is not just of water but of water, blood, and the Holy Spirit. By his resurrection, Jesus Christ confirmed every word he spoke and demonstrated that he had taken away our sins. We now have the grace to follow God’s will in everything, for we have been reborn according to the will of the Father by the gift of the Holy Spirit. By the Spirit, we can now call God our Father. These are mysteries beyond our natural capacity.   

Let us pray: O God, who restore human nature to yet greater dignity than at its beginnings, look upon the amazing mystery of your loving kindness, and in those you have chosen to make new through the wonder of rebirth may you preserve the gifts of your enduring grace and blessing. 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. 

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