Saint Paul’s Sermons

In chapter 16 of John's Gospel we have an eyewitness account of Jesus's words to his close disciples on the night before he died. He told them "in a little while" they would not see him, but that "in a little while" they would see him again. "Your hearts will rejoice. No one will take your joy from you," he assures them. And later he assures them that, although "the world" will rejoice and gloat when he is executed, he has overcome the world!! Jn 16:33, 1 Jn 5:5.

Pharisees are never satisfied; today's Gospel speaks to Jesus' return to the disciples in the upper room.

The disaster of Holy Week turns to glory when Jesus rises from the dead!

There was a popular song in the 1990s called, "One of Us," by Joan Osborne. It asks, "What if God was one of us?" It's a good question but misses the mark, because God was indeed one of us in the Incarnation (John 1:1-5, 11-15). The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We have in Jesus a savior who knows firsthand what it is like to be one of us. Moreover, God himself took action in the Incarnation by becoming man and living a perfectly just and righteous life so that, by His atoning death, God became both the just and the justifier (Romans 3:26) for the benefit of all who place their trust in Christ.