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Daily reflections for Lenten Easter, written by Oblate Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI.

The Gospels tell us that when people witnessed Jesus life and ministry, they saw something that sharply differentiated him from others. He spoke with great power. Unlike the scribes and Pharisees, however, they use a curious word to name that power.

They never say that Jesus spoke with great energia. Wow, is he energetic or dynamis. What dynamism. Instead, they used the Greek word exousia, a word with no English equivalent, but whose meaning can be conveyed in an image.

If you would put the strongest man in the world in a room with a newborn baby, which of those two beings would be more powerful? Well, obviously on one level, the man is more powerful. He could kill the baby if he wanted. But the baby possesses a different kind of power, one that can move things, muscles can’t. A baby has exousia.

Its vulnerability is a great power. It doesn’t need to out muscle anyone. A baby invites, beckons, and all that’s moral and deep in the conscience simply cannot walk away. It’s no accident God chose to be incarnated into this world as a baby. God’s power is the power of exousia.

A baby that lies helpless, muted, patient, beckoning for someone to take care of it. It’s this power that lies at the deepest base of things and will, in the end, gently have the final say. It’s a power that invites us in.