Do You Understand What You Are Reading?

Thursday of the 3rd week in Easter

It is no surprise that whenever someone is reading from the OT during NT times, he is probably reading from an Isaiah scroll. The only time that Jesus gave His disciples an extensive Bible lesson, He began with Moses and then the prophets and asked “was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter into His glory?” He was, of course, quoting from Isaiah, in a passage like the one deacon Philip is teaching from as he instructed the Ethiopian eunuch in the faith.

Now it’s about 100 km by the current roads from Jerusalem to Gaza, so if Philip was with the Ethiopian for half that distance, and the inquirer already had some knowledge of Scripture, then Philip had a good amount of time to work with him and discern his intentions. Remember, the Holy Spirit was nudging evangelist Philip the whole way, so the baptism was not premature. Indeed, Tradition tells us that he went on to become evangelist to his native land.

But let’s not pass over the key question Philip asked, because it’s a question we need to answer ourselves: “Do you understand what you are reading?” We read Scripture because we want to know more about God and His plan for us. But do we really understand? We’ll never comprehend the Word of God, whatever our education. We can’t get our mental and physical arms completely around it. God's Word has an analogy in physics. It's like a hologram, that contains a huge amount of information requiring a special instrument to retrieve. But we can, if we don’t mind the work, stand under the Scripture and allow the Word of God to flood us with His Truth. That means having a good translation, like the NRSV, a good commentary, and someone to ask or call when we have a question that we can’t find answers to. What we don’t need is Wikipedia or one of the half-Christian websites that’s trying to snare converts.

Our Gospel reading goes one step beyond the words about Christ’s redemption and our baptism into Christ to answer the question, “is there a sacramental way beyond baptism to strengthen my mind and will for the daily journey?” Jesus answers the question, and the answer to the question is a personal encounter with Jesus. Let me explain.

First, the Father draws us to Jesus. We should all have a testimony about that time of our life. Maybe it was a family crisis, a retreat, a health problem, but the Father pointed us toward Jesus as the One who could give us what we need. Then, upon hearing, we believe in Jesus as our personal Way, Truth and Life. He is the bread of life; believing in Jesus is a kind of nourishment. Jesus is living Bread. His Word is THE Word.

But there’s more. Jesus points to Himself and says “this is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die.” So He is preparing the Jews for the Eucharist. When we receive the Eucharist, our “Amen” means not only that we believe in His Presence, Body, Blood, Soul, Divinity, but that we accept His teaching, His Law of love of God and of neighbor. May we always profess this faith, to the glory of the Most Holy Trinity, now and forever.