Folia Theologica et Canonica 10. 32/24 (2021)

Sacra theologia

I AM WITH YOU EVERY DAY... (GOD’S PROMISES ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES) 47

ly life. True to His promise, He Himself, the Lord on high, is present and is constantly at work in the Church through His disciples.

To the disciples who abide with him, that is, who believe in him, Jesus promises to grant all their requests (i.e. Mt 21:21 f), provided that their actions serve to glorify him - and through him the Father (i.e. Jn 14:13). To ask in the name of Jesus is to ask with reference to him, which also implies, in substance, to ask according to his criteria. This is what John writes when we read in his letter, “In this is our confidence that whatever we ask according to his will, he hears us” (Un 5:14). And Jesus’ will be that we should not ask the Father for anything or anyone, but above all for the source of every gift in his name: “the Spirit of truth”, whom the world cannot receive (Jn 14:17), because without faith it cannot receive him who is the living riches of the Father and of the Son (i.e. Jn 16:15).

It is striking how, in his Pentecost sermon, S.t Peter describes the appearance of the Church as a “promise” (Acts 2:39: epangelia) and the gift of the Spirit as the fulfilment of Joel’s prophecies (Acts 2:16ff). As a result of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the early Church recognised that in Jesus the ancient promises had been fulfilled. However, the unfolding of this truth of faith appears gradually in the Pauline epistles and then in the evangelical tradition.

The Pentecostal experience led the apostle Peter to announce to all present: ‘The promise is for you and for your sons’ (Acts 2:39). In fact, by the power of the Spirit, he is moved to extend the invitation to all those invited to him with these words: ‘(the promise) is to all those who are far oif, but to all of whom the Lord our God invites to himself’. The author of Acts also notes that at Cornelius’ baptism, after Peter’s speech, the witnesses “were astonished that the grace of the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Gentiles” (Acts 10:45). The Apostle Paul sees God’s eternal plan being fulfilled when he writes of the Gentiles: they who were once “outside the covenants of promise” (Eph 2:12) have become “partakers of the promise” in Christ (Eph 3:6).

Our earlier observation is now confirmed, that God comes very near and reveals himself, but does not make his love conditional. Nonetheless, the fulfilment of his promise can only be seen by those who approach with confidence and trust in the God of signs. For in Jesus, God’s promise is embodied, because his presence is made tangible, and through his resurrection, a person of faith in every age and in every part of the world can experience the fulfilment of God’s promise.

Attila Thorday Gál Ferenc University thorday. attila@gfe. hu