Daily Gospel Reflection

Know Your Influence

Welcome back to Radical and Relevant. Today's reading is from John 5:17-30. Three days in a row now, we're reading directly, in a row, in the Gospel of John. And we're seeing Jesus have these encounters with healing people and then encounters with the authorities, healing people, then encounters with the authorities. And so yesterday, he healed the man, and the authorities getting on his back because it was the Sabbath. And Jesus answered them, "My father is working still, and I am working." Even on the Sabbath, he's saying, "It's the Sabbath, yes, but my father is working still and I am working." And this is why the Jews sought all the more to kill him because he not only broke the Sabbath but also called God his father, making himself equal with God.

Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the father doing. For whatever he does, that the son does likewise. For the father loves the son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show you that you may marvel in him. For as the father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the son gives life to whom he will. The father judges no one but has given all judgment to the son. And all may honor the son, even as they honor the father. He who does not honor the son does not honor the father who sent him."

"Truly, truly I say to you, he who hears my words and believes him who sent me as eternal life. He does not come into judgment but has passed from death to life. Truly, truly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is here when the dead will hear the voice of the son of God. And those who hear will live. Whereas the father has life in himself, so he has granted the son also to have life in himself and has given him authority to execute judgment because he is the son of man. Do not marvel at this, for the hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come forth. Those who have done good, to the resurrection of the life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment, I can do nothing of my own authority. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just because I seek not my own will, but the will of him who sent me."

John's great. He's got these great images. He's got this great language and vocabulary. And there's a lot here in this reading today. Two things strike me. The first thing is the mention of evil towards the end. There is evil in the world, and we forget that sometimes. And I think it's important that we be mindful of that. But what really strikes me here is this relationship between the father and the son. And I think it draws attention to the relationship between fathers and their children in an earthly capacity. As a father, as a father of children, and relatively young children, it makes me think, "Okay, what are my kids seeing in me? What are my kids witnessing me? How is how I'm living my life influencing how they're living their life now? How is how I'm living my life influencing how they will live their life out in the future," because our parents have an enormous influence on us.

And my father's been dead 20 years, but I still hear him pointing out things in the day. I still am reminded of things he shared with me, even 20 years after his death. And so the influence of parents on children is massive. If you're a parent, think about that today. Pray about that today. No matter how well you think you've done it or how poorly you think you've done it up until now, and it doesn't matter if your child is 1 or 51, resolve today to take another look at that. Resolve today to become a better parent wherever you are in a parenting journey. Being mindful you're exerting massive influence on your children. Have a great day. Remember, don't just be yourself. Be the very best version of yourself, all that God created you to be. And I'll see you tomorrow.