God living Word, incarnate in Jesus, is a glorifying Word. Glorifying, in the sense that you and I are utter servants of that Word, and as servants our calling is to glorify the Father, to make God known. The Word calls us, even in the womb, and is put in our mouths once we begin our journey of life as God’s servant. Its strength carries us through our labors in God’s behalf. It constantly reminds us that, when we try to go it on our own, it’s in vain. “I will give you as a light...that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth”, that God may be glorified.
God’s living Word, incarnate in Jesus, is a judging Word. In Jesus God invites us to share eternal life. The one who rejects Jesus, and therefore God, is judged by the Word spoken by the Father. To reject Jesus is to reject the reign of God over our lives, to reject the possibility of having true life.
Most of all, God’s living Word, incarnate in Jesus, is a saving Word. “The message of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” It’s a strange Word, for it doesn’t make sense by the standards of this world. It’s strange because it’s about a man crucified in behalf of others who showed that they didn’t even love or respect him. It’s strange because it’s proclaimed by people in need of salvation -- sinners -- weak people, unsophisticated people, foolish people, to all appearances. But it’s a saving and empowering Word because the source is Godself, through the Son, Jesus, whom God made our wisdom, our rightness, our way of becoming holy, our salvation.
We prepare for to celebrate Christ’s Resurrection by open our hearts and minds to this glorifying, judging, saving Word of God, and by allowing that Word to work in us the salvation which we contemplate and celebrate during this Holy Week.
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