IF ONE IS NOT BORN FROM ABOVE, HE CANNOT SEE THE KINGDOM OF GOD

Johannine morality is a morality of truth: «Instead, he who does the truth comes towards the light, so that it appears clearly that his works were done in God ". In the growing awareness that "without me you can do nothing", the consequences of being Christian, also on a moral level, they are connected in Giovanni to the theme of remaining. Remaining with Jesus implies a duty at the level of coherence, but first and foremost as a consequence at the level of being, live like Jesus: «He who says he remains in him, he must also behave as he behaved".

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Since the Gospel of Mark is shorter than the others, some passages from the Gospel of John help to cover all Sundays of the liturgical year, especially during Lent. They are texts that help to understand that Paschal mystery which will be celebrated in particular in the days of the "Triduum". They anticipate important themes, like that of the raising of the "Son of man" referred to in the following evangelical passage which is proclaimed on the fourth Sunday of Lent.

"During that time, Jesasu said to Niconamo: “How Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so the Son of man must be raised up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. In fact, God so loved the world that he gave the only Son so that whoever believes in him would not be lost, but have eternal life. It gave, indeed, did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but for the world to be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned; but those who do not believe have already been sentenced, because he did not believe in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the verdict: the light has come into the world, but men loved darkness more than light, because their works were evil. Anyone in fact does evil, He hates the light, and it does not come to light so that its works are not reproved. Instead, whoever does the truth comes towards the light, so that it may clearly appear that his works were done in God"" (GV 3,14-21)

In the Synoptics, Jesus predicts that he will have to suffer a lot; announces that «he will be mocked, scourged and crucified" (Mt 20,19) and that on the third day he will rise again. Giovanni, instead, announcing the passion of Jesus presents it as an "exaltation". He does it in the chapters 3 (vv. 14-15), 8 (v. 28) e 12 (v. 32). The last one is the most explicit song: «When I am lifted up [exalted] from the ground I will draw everyone to me". In the previous verse Jesus had said: «Now is the judgment of this world, now the prince of this world [Satan] he will be kicked out". Jesus, raised from the ground, will take his place, becoming king and attracting everyone to him. But Jesus' exaltation will not take place in Heaven, but on the cross. Many have interpreted, indeed, the raising of Jesus as a Johannine anticipation of his Ascension, while here there is instead explicit reference to the death of the Lord. All this might seem disconcerting because in our passage, The Other Brother, we are at the beginning of the Gospel and not at the end, yet Jesus already speaks of his death. Moreover, we also read in the prologue that: «His parents didn't welcome him» (GV 1,11). And let's not forget that this is also Sunday «In Rejoicing» as the entrance antiphon of the Eucharistic liturgy proclaims. So where to find reasons to rejoice? Evidently in this evangelical verticality that makes you dizzy.

The first to be disconcerted is Nicodemus, Jesus' interlocutor, who is asked for a rebirth from above (from above), that is, by the Spirit poured out from above. Nicodemus' astonished reaction - «How can this happen?» - encounters a response from Jesus that disconcerts us too:

«If you do not believe when I spoke to you about things of the earth, as you will believe if I speak to you about things of heaven?» (GV 3,12).

According to the context earthly things consist precisely in the dynamic of spiritual rebirth that must occur in life, here on Earth, in the humanity of the person who, thanks to faith, opens itself to the action of the Spirit. While celestial things are the paradox of a rising that coincides with a death sentence and a crucifixion that, according to John, it is exaltation and glorification. We find the echo of the words of the prophet Isaiah: «Who will believe our revelation?» (53,1); which follow the announcement that the "servant of the Lord will be exalted" (Is 52,13). The Greek verb, in version of the Septuagint (LXX), ypsóo, it will also be used by John in our text to indicate the raising of the Son of man. Thus at the heart of the Christian faith there is something surprising specified immediately afterwards: the raising of the Son of man is the event that fulfills and fully realizes the gift that the Father has given to humanity: the gift of the Son. The elevation on the cross which seems to appear to be the lowest point of Jesus' life, for the gaze of faith it is the moment in which one is born from above, as Nicodemus was asked: "In truth, truly I tell you, if one is not born from above, cannot see the kingdom of God"; thanks to the gift of the Spirit that the crucifix pours out. Here is the reason to rejoice, since if "no one has ever ascended to heaven except he who descended from heaven" (GV 3,13), the event that we could read as the lowest in the life of Jesus, his cross, According to John, it becomes the highest moment for him and for us: occasion of a gift that reveals all the love of God. A love that, as such, does not intend to condemn in the slightest, but only save. A free and unconditional love that can spread and manifest its energies in those who make room for it by welcoming it into themselves through faith: «God loved the world so much that he gave his only begotten Son». A gift that is vertical and asymmetrical because it does not seek reciprocity: «As the Father loved me, so I loved you. Stay in my love" (GV 15,9); «As I have loved you, so you love one another" (GV 13,34).

Here we must insist on the absolute novelty of a statement. In other religions, for example, we talk about the depth of the mystery of God, of its greatness, of his eternity, of his justice, etc.. But only Christianity teaches us:

«For God loved the world so much that he gave his only begotten Son, because everyone believes in him […] have eternal life" (GV 3, 16).

Such a revelation transforms Christian morality. Jesus left us only one commandment, which is a new commandment, that of loving one another, as he loved us (GV 13, 34). This is the only way to explain the fact, paradoxical at first sight, that all Johannine morality is practically a morality of truth. It is summarized in two fundamental precepts: the faith that opens us to the Mystery and the love that makes us live in the mystery of revelation. Conversely, Giovanni seems to know, in its very rich essentiality and simplicity, only two sins: the rejection of faith in Jesus and hatred of one's brother.

Thus the Johannine morality is a morality of truth: «Instead, he who does the truth comes towards the light, so that it appears clearly that his works were done in God ". In the growing awareness that "without me you can do nothing", the consequences of being Christian, also on a moral level, they are connected in Giovanni to the theme of remaining. Remaining with Jesus implies a duty at the level of coherence, but first and foremost as a consequence at the level of being, live like Jesus: «He who says he remains in him, he must also behave as he behaved" (1 GV 2,6). «Whoever remains in Him does not sin; whoever sins has neither seen nor known him" (1GV 3,6). If the Christian, like John, he is amazed to look at it, indeed if it truly remains in Him, then he sins no more. Since whoever remains in that amazement and in that grace cannot sin. It's beautiful, in its conciseness, Augustine's commentary on this verse: «In so far as it remains in him, in so far he does not sin». A common perception especially among the fathers of the Eastern Church. Ecumenius too, a theologian of the Antiochian tradition of Chrysostom, in his commentary on the First Letter of John, writes:

«When he who is born of God has completely given himself to Christ who dwells in him through sonship, he remains beyond the reach of sin".

Let's become flawless as we abandon ourselves totally to Jesus Christ, as we remain in Him.

To conclude and summarize, if it were ever possible, themes of such great theological density that can be drawn from this Sunday's Gospel passage, I report a passage from the dogmatic constitution The light:

«Cristo, indeed, raised from the ground, he attracted everyone to him; risen from the dead, he sent his life-giving Spirit upon the disciples and through him constituted his body, the church, as a universal sacrament of salvation; seated at the right hand of the Father, works incessantly in the world to lead men to the Church and through it unite them more intimately to himself and make them participants in his glorious life by nourishing them with his body and his blood".

From the Hermitage, 10 March 2024

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