Homily For Saturday Fourth Week of Easter Year B, 27th April, 2024

Readings: Acts. 13:44-52; Ps.98; John 14:7-14

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike  Onyia

 

JESUS THE TRUE IMAGE OF GOD THE FATHER

 

The use of the imagery of Father and Son by Jesus is one of the means, Jesus used to explain his relationship with God. But oftentimes, the people and even his disciples find it difficult to understand the systematic fashion of this relationship. So in our Gospel passage today, Jesus tried to explain this relationship to his disciples when he said to them: If you know me, you know my Father too. From this moment you know him and have seen him.

 

Curiously, Philip said, ‘Lord, let us see the Father and then we shall be satisfied'. But Jesus said: you must believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; I tell you most solemnly, whoever believes in me will perform even greater works because I am going to the Father and whatever you ask for in my name I will do it.

 

Here Jesus is saying that if we want to know God and understand his ways in relation to humanity, all we need to do is to look at him (Jesus) as the Son of the Father who has come to reveal the true image of God to humanity. We are to observe what he does, listen to what he teaches, watch how he behaves, what and who he loves, and what he rejects or defends. For by so do we will discover God in him because as the Son, he is the true human image of God. He is one with the Father in unity of existence and life and this is evidenced in the Words he spoke and the works he performed.

 

Consequently,  those who believe in him are endowed with the power of the Holy Spirit and will do greater works than he has done. For he has gone to the Father and whatever they ask in his name he will do it because they will be asked by the Holy Spirit in union with the name of the very person of Jesus whose request the Father will always grant.

 

Dear friends, the questions we need to ask ourselves today are: what is my relationship with Jesus and God the Father? Do we believe in God as our Father? Do we personally and truly know and believe in Jesus? Have we any personal experience of the power of the Holy Spirit? The truth is that we can only do great work in his name when we have a personal experience and encounter with the risen Lord, just like the disciples who were filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit and spoke out boldly to the people about the good news of Jesus and when they where rejected out of jealousy by the Jews as we have it in our first reading, they turned to the gentiles who embraced the good news with joy.

 

Therefore, I don’t know what you want God to do for you, I don’t know what prayer points you recite every day, I don’t know how deep your requests are. All I know is that if we truly have a personal relationship with Jesus and believe in him, we are going to be endowed with the power of the Holy Spirit and will do greater works than he has done for he has gone to the Father. And whatever we ask in his name he will do it, because we will be asked by the Holy Spirit in union with the name of the very person of Jesus, whose request the Father will always grant.

 

LET US PRAY: Lord God, in the celebration of Easter you graciously give to the world the gift of heavenly remedies, grant that we your children may have a personal experience of your presence in our lives so that presenting our needs before you, we may find favour in your presence. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. Wishing you a fruitful and peaceful weekend.