One of the greatest problems facing the world today is a movement either to deny or ignore the divinity of Christ. There are some who would want to see Jesus as a great philosopher, or social reformer, or even as some kind of beatnik. To be sure, Jesus has a human nature which creates great appeal for us: He graced the wedding banquet, blessed little children, ate and drank with sinners. But Jesus is much more than a man, even a very extraordinary one. He is truly God, and the Jews in today's Gospel saw clearly that Jesus spoke of God as His own Father, thereby making Himself God's equal.

Jesus forcefully manifested His claim of divinity by attributing to Himself two works in particular which are distinctively God's works: these are the greater works which Jesus will show, greater, for instance than the cure of the man at the pool which we heard about in yesterday's Gospel. First, Jesus gives life; He raises the dead to life. Second, He judges all men, and thereby grants them eternal life or sentences them to eternal condemnation, depending on whether they accept or reject Him.

We accept Christ, we believe in His divinity. We should take this occasion to remind ourselves of what this belief entails. It is only by our faith in Christ that we can pass from death to eternal life. It is in Christ that we find God and in Him alone.