I Can't Lie

Lent Day 25

“And if I should say that I do not know him, I would be like you a liar.”

— John 8:55—

One thing Christians cannot do is take credit for the grace that God has given them. This is especially true for Protestants who have entered into full communion with the Church. There is a lot of grace required for a Protestant to convert. It does not happen merely on their own steam.

Now that our initial conversion has become somewhat accepted, some people want to pretend nothing has changed, others have commented that I have changed, while still others want to know why I can’t just set aside the “Catholic bits” and focus on what we have in common. This is like an atheist telling his friend who used to be an atheist to stop talking about Jesus and the Bible. Should the convert accept and pretend like the joy and peace he has received in his life are merely psychological or the result of meditation, he would be lying to himself and his friend.

In today’s reading, I think we find a similar parallel from Christ’s debate with the religious leaders. The second half of John 8 is essentially three parts of a back and forth between Jesus and the Pharisees. For approximately 30 verses, John’s Gospel records Jesus debating with the Pharisees about who he really is. Here is some more context.

“‘Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? Or the prophets, who died? Who do you make yourself out to be?’ Jesus answered, ‘If I glorify myself, my glory is worth nothing; but it is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say , ‘He is our God.’ You do not know him, but I know him. And if I should say that I do not know him, I would be like you a liar.’”

— Jn. 8 52-55

It’s as if the Jewish leaders are saying to Jesus, “Who do you think you are? You’re no different than we are. Why are you talking such nonsense?” Christ’s response is essentially, “I have no other choice. This is who I am. If I conceded to your demands to ‘focus on what we have in common,’ I would be a liar.”

Now, this is a very harsh response, and I don’t think the parallel of Jewish rejection of Jesus is the same thing as the Protestant rejection of Catholicism. However, the spirit behind asking Catholics to keep the “Catholic parts” to themselves is characteristic of something more sinister than it is virtuous.

In reality, if Christ’s words in John 6 and at the Last Supper, recorded in the other Gospels — “This is my body…this is my blood” — are true, the Catholics are objectively closer to Christ and also held to a much higher standard. This makes it our responsibility to give credit to God’s grace within the sacraments and credit them as the basis for any change perceived in us by our Protestant brothers and sisters. If we deny the power of the sacraments in our lives, especially when people notice, we, as Jesus said, would be liars.

— DR