April 3, 2025 // Thursday of the Fourth Week of Lent

Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: John 5:31-47

Reflect on the Word // 

In the opening pages of Jacques Philippe's tiny wonder Searching for and Maintaining Peace, he reminds us of a pivotal message of  Jesus Christ—that our Lord says to us, “Apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). He doesn’t say “you can do something” or “you can do a little bit” or even “you can do enough,” He says we can do nothing without Him. Nothing. 

Does this make you feel small? Good. I think it should.

When we read today’s Gospel, Jesus is saying a similar thing; He is chastising the Jews for not having the faith required to accept Him as the Savior. They believed in Moses, they believed in John the Baptist, but still they rejected the Son. He says to them,“ But you do not want to come to me to have life” (John 5:40).

How many things in our lives are similar? We put our hope in so much, with so little return. Being entertained, satisfying our senses, material things, an addiction to wasted time. Even good and worthy things we can tend to place our trust in—our own successes, our family life or marriages, our daily output, our accomplishments and abilities. But still Jesus is asking us just to desire Him, to know Him, to trust Him. Then and only then will we be filled with the stuff of Life, His own self, fueling and motivating and giving Life to every other thing, and turning our efforts into a real treasure. Then and only then will we know how small and incapable we are, and how beloved, which is ultimately at the heart of true interior peace.

In this light, Christ's chastisement becomes more than just a slap on the wrist; it is so clearly the loving call of a benevolent God—trust in Me, hope in Me, believe in Me, and I will give you rest.

Relate to the Lord // What would it look like to be small and loved today?