In today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles Peter declares, “We are witnesses…as is the holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.” When the apostles were ordered not to teach in the name of Jesus, Peter and the others replied, “We must obey God rather than men.” Although the Sanhedrin consists of respected Jewish authorities and teachers, they are not the only voice of God. Sometimes God speaks through ordinary fishermen like Peter and John. Our church is currently undergoing a process called Synodality (“journeying together”). Pope Francis inaugurated this process to listen to the whole church, lay women and men, priests and bishops and especially the holy Spirit. All of us through baptism have the gift of the holy Spirit and all of us need to obey the voice of God. God speaks through our religious leaders but God also speaks through all who have the Spirit so Peter’s statement applies to us today: “We must obey God rather than human beings.” Like the apostles you and are called to be “witnesses” of what God has revealed in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
We as a church are called upon to listen carefully to the voice of Jesus who reveals to us the will and way of God. As we hear in today’s Gospel Jesus is “The one who comes from above [and] is above all…He testifies to what he has seen and heard.” Jesus, the Son of God, testifies to what he has heard and seen God his Father doing. He has seen his heavenly Father act with love and mercy and testifies to this in his earthly life. In John’s Gospel Jesus reveals what he has seen in his Father’s presence:
“And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14).
When Jesus lived in our midst we saw the glory of God, we experienced the real presence of God. We saw what the one true God looks like. This is what Jesus teaches Philip and his other disciples in his Last Supper dialogue:
Jesus: “If you know me, then you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
Philip: “Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.”
Jesus: “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”
Image: “03 Apostles preaching the Gospel” by fz1844 is marked with Public Domain Mark 1.0.