Jesus Christ – God's “Yes”
Today's Second Reading from St. Paul's Second Letter to the Corinthians, chapter 1, verses 18-22, tells us that Jesus is God's “Yes.” But what does this really mean?
Jesus is the “Yes” to God's promises.
What exactly has God promised?
In the Old Testament, God promised a Messiah, a Redeemer, a Savior who would deliver His people from their enemies, save them from their sins, and establish a new covenant by which the law would be written on their hearts. He promised to pour forth His Spirit onto the Israelite people and to lead them to a new Jerusalem of peace, prosperity, and abundance. Further, He promised to draw all the nations of the world into a relationship with Him and teach them how to worship Him properly. In other words, God promised to deepen and broaden His intimacy with all people and to give them a share in His divine life.
St. Augustine sums up God's wonderful promises:
“He promised eternal salvation, everlasting happiness with the angels, an immortal inheritance, endless glory, the joyful vision of His face, His holy dwelling in heaven, and after resurrection from the dead no further fear of dying. This is as it were His final promise, the goal of all our striving. When we reach it, we shall ask for nothing more. But as to the way in which we are to arrive at our final goal, He has revealed this also, by promise and prophecy. He has promised men divinity, mortals immortality, sinners justification, the poor a rising to glory.
“But, brethren, because God’s promises seemed impossible to men – equality with the angels in exchange for mortality, corruption, poverty, weakness, dust and ashes – God not only made a written contract with men, to win their belief but also established a mediator of His good faith, not a prince or angel or archangel, but His only Son. He wanted, through His Son, to show us and give us the way He would lead us to the goal He has promised.”
Spend some time reflecting on how Jesus has fulfilled all of God's promises.
Jesus is God's “Yes” to all our deepest human needs.
What do human beings really need the most? 1. Love; 2. Salvation, forgiveness, and acceptance; 3. A personal, intimate relationship with God; 4. Truth, beauty, and goodness
Meditate on how Jesus provides all of these and so much more.
Jesus is God's “Yes” to all your personal needs.
What do you need most in your life?
Think about the ways in which Jesus is God's “Yes” to your personal needs.
We must say “yes” back to God through Jesus Christ.
As today's reading explains, “...the Amen from us also goes through Him [Jesus] to God for glory.” “Amen” essentially means “yes” or “so be it.”
How are you saying yes to God? Are you saying no to God in any way? How might you change that no to a yes?
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