Is Philip brave or foolish to ask, “Show us the Father, and that will be enough for us”? After all, the God of Israel was too holy to look upon, his glory too dangerous for mortals. Despite the gap, God never ceased to reach out to the Jewish people, always seeking an intimacy deeper than “what would have been enough” (in the words of the beloved Passover song, Dayenu).
In Jesus Christ, however, the Father has drawn close, not only to one nation, but to all. Since the Father dwells in the Son, and the Son dwells in us, we are to do the works of the Father, showing Christ to all humankind.

In the boisterous crowds we encounter in the Acts of the Apostles, we see Paul and Barnabas extending the Father’s love to the ends of the earth. Unfortunately, we also see the seeds of distrust and division between some of the Jews living in the Roman Empire and the earliest Christian churches. Though many Gentiles rejoiced to find themselves included in the covenant, these early divisions have led to much lament in the centuries since. Too often we have forgotten the vision of today’s Psalm, in which God reveals his justice to the Gentiles while remembering his faithfulness to the Jewish people.

Christians are called to solidarity with their Jewish neighbors, all the more so during this time of Passover. Remembering that we were all saved by blood, let us give thanks with them that God’s merciful providence is “enough” for all.

Kimberly Hope Belcher

Kimberly Hope Belcher is a married mother of three children and a professor of theology and liturgy at the University of Notre Dame. She is also the author of Efficacious Engagement.