Thursday March 30
An oriental saying goes thus: “When the wise guru points to the moon, the idiot sees only the finger.” The sacred Scriptures are fingers pointing to Christ, the moon. Once a person discovers Christ, then Christ must become the focus of attraction and worship, not the Scriptures.
Like a finger, Scripture is a means to an end, a pointer bearing testimony to the savior. Jesus reminds his audience that Moses and all of Scripture point to him, but they refuse to come to him. The Israelites made a similar mistake when they forgot the living God and focused their energies on lesser gods who were merely substitute expressions of human longing for God. The living God and His living Son are waiting to be loved and received. Let us recognize their presence and hasten to them.
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This controversy between Jesus and the Jews after healing the paralytic at the pool of Bethesda continues. The dominant theme is the credibility of Jesus; thus witnesses attesting to his person and mission are needed. The first is John the Baptist, the prophet; but above all, there is an exceptional witness: God himself. The miraculous works of Jesus are proofs of his divine identity and credibility. The ultimate witness is Sacred Scripture, which from Moses proclaims Christ as the awaited Messiah, the Son of God, whom we contemplate today.