Commentary on the Gospel of
One of the signs that the Holy Spirit is present and at work in people is fortitude. Only the presence of the Spirit can explain the boldness of the disciples before the Temple officials. The seeming righteous fury of these very officials was baseless and they would have known in their hearts that they were indeed guilty of the death of Jesus. The Gospel, like the first reading, is the story of a witness to Jesus – this time John the Baptist witnessing to the living Jesus. He testifies that Jesus’ witness is trustworthy because he has truly come from above and he is speaking of what he has seen there.
The summary of the Christian faith is here: Jesus has come from God and he is God himself. He is from the beginning and will continue to live and love for ever. Jesus made it clear that those who believe in him have everlasting life. God’s Spirit was present in fulness in Jesus and therefore he is the highest revelation of God to humanity. We pray for the gift of faith so that the God of love will give the Spirit to us. To believe in Jesus is to believe in God’s very own words. We need nothing more.
