LENTEN REFLECTION

Message

Gospel Reading

John  8 21 Again he said to them, “I am  going away, and you will search for me, but  you will die  in your sin. Where I am  going, you  cannot come.” 22 Then the Jews said, “Is  he  going to  kill himself? Is  that what he  means by  saying, ‘Where I  am  going, you  cannot come’?” 23 He  said to  them, “You  are  from below, I am  from above; you  are  of this world, I am  not  of this world. 24 I told you  that you  would die  in your sins, for you  will die  in your sins unless you believe that I am  he.” 25 They  said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Why do  I speak to you  at  all? 26 I have much to  say about you  and much to condemn; but  the  one who sent me  is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.” 27 They  did  not  understand that he  was speaking to them about the  Father. 28 So  Jesus said, “When you  have lifted  up the  Son of Man, then you will realize that I am  he,  and that I do nothing on my own, but I speak these things as the  Father instructed me. 29 And  the  one who sent me is with  me;  he  has not  left  me  alone, for  I  always do  what is pleasing to him.” 30 As he was saying these things, many believed in him.

By being lifted  up,  our  Lord  Jesus Christ was referring to His crucifixion. This lifting up gives eternal life: “14  And just  as Moses lifted  up the  serpent in the wilderness, so must the  Son of Man  be  lifted  up,  15 that whoever believes in him  may have eternal life” (Jn 3:14-15).  Saying this to Nicodemus in the  context of being born in heaven, of water and spirit (Jn 3:3-6), lifting  up refers to the  passion, death, resurrection and ascension of  our  Lord  Jesus Christ, and the  coming of  the  Holy  Spirit upon the disciples and into  the  world (Jn 7:37-39;  Acts 1:8, 2:1-47).  Jesus has exorcised the world; He has defeated sin,  death, and evil (Jn 12:31;  cf Mk 5:1-20,  Mt 12:22-29, Lk 11:14-22). Jesus can  do this  because He is true man who shared in our  humanity. As Gregory of Nazianzus said in Epistle 101, “For  that which He has not  assumed He has not  healed; but  that which is united to His Godhead is also saved.” Jesus is the priest who offers the   one permanent  sacrifice of  Himself on  the  Cross for  the salvation of all creation for  once and for  all (Jn 1:29,  Heb  10:10-18). On  the  Cross, Jesus declares, “It is all accomplished” or  fully  settled; tetelestai (Jn  19:30),  then dies.

Above all, Jesus is able to work  our  salvation because He is God. Only God  forgives sin. The Gospel of John is explicit throughout that Jesus is truly  human (11:35),  but also truly God  (1:1-18).  Jesus and the  Father are  one (10:30).  Seeing Jesus is seeing the  Father (14:9). Jesus refers to Himself with God’s name: the  tetragrammaton, the I AM, derived from God’s self-introduction to Moses in the  burning bush; I AM WHO I AM (Ex 3:14); I am  that which I am, or I am  that I am, according to the  Septuagint; or also I am  the  one being, in the  Greek.

Jesus makes seven I AM statements in  the  Gospel of  John (6:35-41,  8:12,  10:7-9,10:11,  11:25,  14:6 and 51:1). And He makes absolute I AM statements, simply stating that I AM, or I AM he; “58  Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.’ 59 So  they picked up  stones to  throw at  him, but  Jesus hid  himself and went out  of the    temple” (Jn 8:58-59); “28  So Jesus said, “When you  have lifted  up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I am  he” (Jn 8:28). When Jesus comes to His disciples walking on water, as only  God  does (Job 9:8), and they become so  afraid, He assures them, “It  is I”, which in Greek is ego  eimi  meaning I AM (Mk 6:50,  Mt 14:22-23, Jn 6:20), the very expression God uses in Ex 3:14 in pronouncing His name.

God’s name is also translated as Lord. In the  Gospels, Jesus is addressed as Lord. Early Christians, including in the  Pauline letters, referred to Jesus as Lord.  And  so do we. We confess Him in the  Creed as One  Lord,  Jesus Christ; and with  St Thomas, we cry out  in joy and wonder, “My Lord and my God” (Jn  20:28).

Being true to yourself, being reasonable, and speaking from the  core of your soul, what should your response to Jesus be,  knowing that He is God;  your creator, and the  creator of all there is; knowing that He alone gives you  life and makes you  live (Jn 1:1-4)? Jesus said that “you will die in your sins unless you  believe that I am  he” (Jn 8:24). To be  in sin is to reject Jesus, to separate oneself from the very  source of life. To reject Jesus is to choose what is very  contrary to who you  are  at heart.