SALVATION THROUGH THE NAME OF JESUS

EASTER FRIDAY   

Acts 4:1-12; Ps 118:1-2,4,22-27; Jn 21:1-14

The Name by which We are Saved

The divinization of the Son of Man implies or translates to the fact that his name carries a divine authority. The name, which once referred to a man, the Son of Man, now invokes divinity. This is the result of the Passion he faithfully endured, which transformed the Son of Man into the Son of God meritoriously. Not that he was not the Son of God from conception, but what he was without merit, he now grounds in the merit of his passion and death. The merit is what he justly devoted to our salvation. The Son of Man steadfastly obeyed the will of the Father and remained faithfully human and vulnerable through his ordeals. By his faithful obedience, he entered the glory of the Son of God and merited to be one with the Eternal Word, as Isaiah prophesied in 53:12. By his steadfast obedience, he established human nature as an eternal dwelling of God, as the Father had proposed from the beginning. He is therefore the sacrifice that appeased the justice of God, demanding the condemnation/damnation of the human race. By his consecration, he became our High Priest in the true Temple of God that our nature was created to be. By his union with the Eternal Word, the Son of God, he is our God, and we worship him with the Father and the Holy Spirit. The name of Jesus Christ represents all these for us. These are the contents of our faith that we profess in the name of Jesus Christ when we accept baptism for our salvation.    

Faith in these revelations makes the Holy Spirit dwell within us at baptism. The presence of the Holy Spirit confirms that we are justified in the name of Jesus Christ and united with him in his death and burial, which he underwent for our salvation. Thus, when the religious rulers, elders, and scribes demanded to know what name Peter and John used to work a miracle, Peter responded thus: “Rulers of the people, and elders! If you are questioning us today about an act of kindness to a cripple, and asking us how he was healed, then I am glad to tell you all, and would indeed be glad to tell the whole people of Israel, that it was by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, the one you  crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by this name and by no other that this man is able to stand up perfectly healthy, here in your presence today.” In essence, Peter and John proved that God has elevated or approved the man Jesus Christ as the Messiah of Israel by working a miracle in the name of a supposedly dead man. So, he is not dead in any way; for dead men do not act, nor their names. Worst of all, the religious leaders failed to stand with God by their rejection of the Messiah. “This is the stone rejected by you, the builders, but which has proved to be the keystone.” This singular action has rubbished all their religious worship and activities. Next, Peter inadvertently presents a global or world religion in the name of Jesus Christ. “For of all the names in the world given to men, this is the only one by which we can be saved.” This simplifies salvation, making it accessible to all peoples and nations.

What the Holy Spirit inspired Peter to proclaim to the Jewish religious leaders would take some time for the apostles and disciples to understand the different ramifications and implications of the contents. The various appearances of the Risen Lord to his disciples were to open their minds to his real presence with them in mystery and to initiate their gradual understanding and assimilation of the mysteries of salvation. The apostles, not understanding the universal intent of the Gospel, wanted to go back to their former profession. “Simon Peter said, ‘I am going fishing.’ They replied, ‘We’ll come with you.’ They went out and got into the boat, but caught nothing that night.” The Risen Lord appeared to them at dawn and worked a miracle that deepened their faith and refocused their attention on him. The Evangelist gave us the number of fish they caught at the instruction of the Lord. “Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net to the shore, full of big fish, one hundred and fifty-three of them; and in spite of their being so many the net was not broken.” According to scholars, the number represents the number of known nations. The fish were a symbol of the world to which they must take the Gospel for the salvation of men. They have been made custodians of the name of Jesus Christ, by which every man would be saved. With them, we must make Jesus Christ the keystone of our lives to be saved. “The stone which the builders rejected has become the corner stone. This is the work of the Lord, a marvel in our eyes.”

Let us pray: Almighty ever-living God, who gave us the Paschal Mystery in the covenant you established for reconciling the human race, to dispose our minds, we pray, that what we celebrate by profession of faith we may express in deeds. 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.