Season of
Denha
Second Sunday: JOHN 8:21-30
ONE WHO SENT ME IS WITH ME
ONE WHO SENT ME IS WITH ME
INTRODUCTION
Despite the opponents Jesus had in Jerusalem,
he attended the Feast of Tabernacles in the Temple and preached there.
He predicted his imminent return to his Father in heaven, while the
hostile Jews who rejected him would die in their sins. Jesus clarified
he was from above, but those who rejected him belong to the world. Jesus
came to lift humanity to heaven. He allowed his enemies to lift him on
the cross, after which came his glorification through his resurrection
and ascension. Jesus invites us to avoid death in our sins, and to
follow his path of the cross to our glorification in heaven. He asserted
his Father was with him. So also, God is with us by the merit of Jesus
Christ and the sacraments he offers us through the Church he has
established for our salvation.
BIBLE TEXT
(Jn 8:21) He said
to them again, “I am going away and you will look for me, but you will
die in your sin. Where I am going you cannot come.”
(22) So the Jews said, “He is not going to kill himself, is he, because
he said, ‘Where I am going you cannot come’?”
(23) He said to them, “You belong to what is below, I belong to what is
above. You belong to this world, but I do not belong to this world.
(24) That is why I told you that you will die in your sins. For if you
do not believe that I AM, you will die in your sins.”
(25) So they said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “What I
told you from the beginning. (26) I have much to
say about you in condemnation. But the one who sent me is true, and what
I heard from him I tell the world.” (27) They did
not realize that he was speaking to them of the Father.
(28) So Jesus said (to them), “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you
will realize that I AM, and that I do nothing on my own, but I say only
what the Father taught me.
(29) The one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, because I
always do what is pleasing to him.” (30) Because
he spoke this way, many came to believe in him.
INTERPRETATION
Background
After Jesus’ teaching on the Bread of Life
(Jn 6:26-65), at the synagogue in Capernaum, “many [of] his disciples
returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him” (Jn
6:66). Even his brothers did not believe him (Jn 7:5). However, the 12
apostles stayed with him (Jn 6:67-69). Realizing that the Jews were
trying to kill Jesus, and because his time had not yet come (Jn 7:6), he
delayed his travel to Judea for the Feast of Tabernacles (Jn 7:1). He
went in secret to the Temple (Jn 7:10) when the feast celebration was
half over (Jn 7:14). The people assembled for the festival were divided
on who Jesus was (Jn 7:12). Jesus boldly preached to them and “many of
the crowd began to believe in him” (Jn 7:31). However, people were
divided on account of him (Jn 7:43). The chief priests and the Pharisees
sent guards to arrest Jesus (Jn 7:32). But they could not do so (Jn
7:44). On the last day of the festival, Jesus taught on the rivers of
Living Water (Jn 7:37-39) and discussed on the origins of the Messiah
(Jn 7:40-52).
On the next day morning, Jesus again went to
the Temple area and taught the people who gathered to listen to him.
Then, the Scribes and the Pharisees presented an adulterous woman in
front of Jesus to test him. However, they failed in that attempt (Jn
8:2-11). Jesus continued teaching and revealing himself as the light of
the world (Jn 8:12), that led to his dispute with the Pharisees. Their
attempts to arrest him were in vain because “his hour had not yet come”
(Jn 8:20). So, the context of this gospel passage is a stressful
situation of dispute between Jesus and the Pharisees.
(Jn 8:21) He said to them again, “I am going away and you will look for me, but you will die in your sin. Where I am going you cannot come.”
He said to them again
Jesus addressed his discourse initially to
the worshippers who came to the Temple of Jerusalem for the Feast of
Tabernacles. However, the Pharisees, the Scribes, and the temple guards
also joined the crowd. Some had an inquisitive mind while his
adversaries had a pessimistic approach. Jesus addressed the negative
remarks to the opponents.
He said to them
again
Before Jesus taught at the Temple area on the
Living Waters, he had told his Jewish adversaries, “I will be with you
only a little while longer, and then I will go to the one who sent me.
You will look for me but not find [me], and where I am you cannot come.”
(Jn 7:33-34). Hence, the following is a repetition of the same with an
addition on their death in their sin if they reject him. The crowd that
listened to him earlier might have gone and a new crowd might have
formed. So, Jesus repeated what he had spoken before.
I am going away
We can take this in a double meaning that
Jesus at times used. He was addressing the Jews at the conclusion of the
Feast of Tabernacles. So, the pilgrims and Jesus were going away from
Jerusalem after the completion of the feast. Another sense is that Jesus
was going away from this world to return to his glory with his Father.
So, they might no longer see him. The crowd could understand only the
first sense.
You will look for me
After missing the opportunity for conversion,
the listeners of Jesus might change their mind and look for salvation in
vain. Jesus expressed similar thought in some of his parables, like the
story of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Lk 16:19-31) and the parable of the
ten virgins (Mt 25:1-13). The Rich Man and the Foolish Virgins realized
their mistake only late and missed attaining their goal. The same would
happen to the Jews who forsake Jesus the Messiah.
You will die in your sin.
By rejecting their long-awaited Messiah, they
were giving up their redemption and embracing their spiritual
destruction. They were intentionally dying in their original sin and
their personal sins. The rejection of the Savior resulted
in their destruction in this world, and in the world to come.
Some Biblical scholars interpret this from a
historical perspective. Forty years after Jesus’ warning, the Roman
army, under the leadership of Titus, attacked the Jews and destroyed
Jerusalem along with the Temple in 70 AD. The Jews would earnestly
desire the intervention of the Messiah to save them from that distress.
But no other Messiah would come because Jesus is the only Messiah, and
they resolutely avoided him. According to the historian Josephus, the
Roman army killed 1.1 million people and took away 97,000 as slaves to
Rome. Many fled to areas around the Mediterranean Sea. The Roman army
destroyed the prestigious Jewish Temple. The Christians had fled from
Jerusalem before this happened.
The sacrifice of Jesus was the remedy for the
original sin that would benefit all who receive baptism and join his
kingdom (the church) that he established on the day of Pentecost.
“Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not
believe will be condemned” (Mk 16:16).
We must free ourselves also from personal
sins. The teachings of Jesus and the sacraments he offers through the
church help us remedy this. If the wicked do not turn away from their
evil conduct, “then they shall die for their sin” (Ez 3:18; 18:18). The
sins of omission can also lead to eternal damnation (Mt 25:41-43). So,
accepting the gospel of Jesus and practicing it are essential to save us
from the sinful death. Those who reject Jesus become the slayers of
their own souls.
The word for sin is “hamartia” which means missing a target in shooting. In the spiritual sense, it means missing the goal in life, which is to reach heaven to be united with God. So, the non-believers and the impenitent miss their God-granted goal of reaching heaven.
Where I am going you cannot come.
Jesus is the bridge between the heaven and
the earth. Though other religions attempt to reach heaven, they cannot
touch that end. Jesus has opened the gates of heaven and has entrusted
its key to Simon Peter (Mt 16:19). Those who reject or ignore Jesus will
not pass through this bridge. Hence, they cannot approach Jesus, who
sits at the right hand of his Father in heaven. So, Jesus is asserting
that he will die, rise from the dead, and will ascend to heaven, where
those who reject him cannot reach.
(22) So the Jews said, “He is not going to kill himself, is he, because he said, ‘Where I am going you cannot come’?”
Formerly, when Jesus mentioned, “I will go to
the one who sent me. You will look for me but not find [me], and where I
am you cannot come” (Jn 7:33-34), the Jews said to one another, “Where
is he going that we will not find him? Surely, he is not going to the
dispersion among the Greeks to teach the Greeks, is he?” (Jn 7:35). When
Jesus repeated the same, they thought differently.
He is not going to kill himself, is he,
For Jesus, his death was imminent, and he was
aware when that would happen. His death was a God-designed one that he
voluntarily accepted for the salvation of humanity. When Jesus predicted
that indirectly, the Jews suspected Jesus of a voluntary death. The
reasoning behind it was that no one knows the time of his death except
someone who commits suicide. The adversaries made use of this to
ridicule Jesus as if he was going to end his own life.
Since self-murder was a great crime, they asked this question out of
their hatred and contempt. They considered Jesus as a blasphemer, a
friend of sinners, a demon-possessed person, a breaker of Sabbatical
laws, one who disrespected Jewish traditions, and a public critique of
the Jewish leaders. So, they wished his death, probably a self-inflicted
one. This expressed their malicious intention.
because he said, ‘Where I am going you cannot come’?
Since those who commit suicide were destined
for Hades, the Jews interpreted that if Jesus was going to take his
life, he would end up in Hades, and hence, he would be unreachable for
them. The Jews believed that they were destined to reach Abraham’s
bosom, that had a great chasm to prevent anyone from crossing to the
netherworld (Lk 16:26) as Jesus showed in the story of the Rich Man and
Lazarus. The enemies wished destruction of Jesus even in his afterlife.
(23) He said to them, “You belong to what is below, I belong to what is above. You belong to this world, but I do not belong to this world.
You belong to what is below … You belong to this world
The Greek word for world is “kosmos.” God
created it and found it good. Sin made it hard to live and created a
gulf separating it from heaven. The people who are born in this world
inherited the consequences of the original sin of Adam and Eve.
Influenced by the worldly passions, they do evil that is opposed to
heaven.
Instead of abandoning the world (humanity),
God so loved it that he sent his son to redeem it (Jn 3:16). Without the
rescue efforts of Jesus, they are destined to hell. Whoever rejects
Jesus shall die in sin, and thus inherit eternal death.
I belong to what is above … I do not belong to this world.
In contrast to the humans of this world who
have evil desires and corrupt actions, Jesus, who is God incarnate, is
from above and holy. Though his body is earthly because he was born of a
virgin, he had a divine origin in his incarnation by the intervention of
the Holy Spirit. Jesus came to reveal the heavenly truth to the worldly
people and rescue them to heaven. That made a gap in the understanding
of Jesus and the Jewish leaders of the time. The poor and the ordinary
people welcomed his teachings. Whereas the proud and the elite abandoned
him and opted for their own spiritual death.
(24) That is why I told you that you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I AM, you will die in your sins.”
Since Jesus is from above and he is God, he
has the knowledge and authority to say that those who reject him will
die in their sins. Humans have inherited sin by birth because of the
fall of the first parents, and they have personal sins that they are
committing. So, they are living in sin. They can be free from this
bondage only by accepting Jesus, who came as the redeemer of humanity,
and only he can do it. Otherwise, their destiny is death in their sins.
God revealed His name as “I am” to Moses (Ex
3:14). To Isaiah also God revealed Himself as I AM, “You are my
witnesses - oracle of the LORD - my servant whom I have chosen to know
and believe in me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was
formed, and after me there shall be none” (Is 43:10). Jesus identified
himself with the Father using the same name. When he used “I am” for
himself, the Jews tried to stone him (Jn 8:56-59) because they
understood Jesus was making himself equal to God. Jesus used “I am” in
seven pronouncements about himself combining it with metaphors which
express his saving relationship with humanity. All of them appear in the
gospel of John: I AM the Bread of Life (Jn 6:35, 41, 48, 51); I AM the
Light of the World (Jn 8:12); I AM the Gate for the Sheep (Jn 10:7, 9);
I AM the Good Shepherd (Jn 10:11, 14); I AM the Resurrection and the
Life (Jn 11:25); I AM the Way, the Truth and the Life (Jn 14:6); and I
AM the True Vine (Jn 15:1, 5). Besides in John 8:28, Jesus used I AM for
him saying, “Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM”
(Jn 8:58). When the soldiers came to arrest him at the Garden of
Gethsemane, he revealed himself again as I AM (Jn 18:5). These are proof
that Jesus is from above, he is God, and the God Incarnate or the
Messiah.
Jesus further clarified the requirement of
faith in him as God (I AM) to avoid death in sins. When the singular is
used for sin, it refers to the original sin. Here Jesus used the plural
“sins,” instead of singular sin he used before (Jn 8:21). That denotes
the sins they had committed besides the sin they had inherited by birth.
Besides the spiritual death, some interpret this also as a warning of
the temporal destruction of Jerusalem that happened in 70 A.D. by the
Roman army under the leadership of Titus. The Christians had escaped
before that severe attack while many Jews died, and others faced many
casualties, including the destruction of the Holy City and the Temple.
(25) So they said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “What I told you from the beginning.
“Who are you?”
This was a questioning of ridicule because
Jesus expressed, he was from above and equivalent to God. Their goal was
not to learn from him, but to put him down.
What I told you from the beginning.
Since the words in the original Greek text
can have different meanings, the translations vary for Jesus’ answer,
“What I told you from the beginning.” For example, they can also be,
“Everything I am saying to you now is only a beginning,” or “I told you
at the beginning what I am also telling you (now).” Jesus clarified he
had the same answer that he had given from the start of their discussion
or from the beginning of his public ministry. He did not change his
response, though the adversaries tried to ridicule him.
(26) I have much to say about you in condemnation. But the one who sent me is true, and what I heard from him I tell the world.”
I have much to say about you in condemnation. But the one who sent me is true
The Jewish adversaries of Jesus, who were
from below, denounced him based on their worldly misunderstanding of
Jesus. Jesus, who was from God, had much to say to them in condemnation
because of their denial of him as the Messiah and accusing him of false
allegations. His understanding of the Jews was genuine because the God
who sent him is true.
What I heard from him I tell the world.
Jesus had a shift of thought here. He first
wanted to focus on preaching the truth he heard from his Father to the
people who were receptive to his message, rather than pronouncing
condemnation on the worthless people who opposed him. So, he refrained
from denouncing them. The judgement will happen only at his second
coming. His initial mission was to save the world by sharing the people
the truth that originated from God, his Father. He knew that his
argument with the opponents would not benefit their salvation. Instead,
he gave them time for conversion.
(27) They did not realize that he was speaking to them of the Father.
These words are from John the Evangelist.
According to him, the Jews who were arguing with Jesus did not realize
that God the Father sent Jesus, His Son, to redeem them and all
humanity. Whereas for Jesus, his every word, action, and events that
happened in his life were according to the design of his Father. Even if
they understood Jesus was referring to God as his Father, they were
fervently against acknowledging it. This was like Isaiah’s experience
with the Israelites: They will “Listen carefully, but do not understand!
Look intently, but do not perceive!” (Is 6:9). That lasted “Until the
cities are desolate, without inhabitants, houses, without people, and
the land is a desolate waste” (Is 6:11).
Instead of saying when you lift “me”, Jesus
used “lift up the Son of Man” to ascertain again his divine origin as a
human being. Thus, he made it certain that they were going to crucify
the Messiah. Despite that warning, the Jewish leaders were blind in
annihilating him.
By using the words “lift up,” Jesus was
referring to the prophetic action of Moses lifting a bronze serpent on a
pole in the desert according to God’s direction (Num 21:9). God spared
the snake-bitten sinners of the Old Testament from death, provided they
looked up at the bronze serpent as a mark of their faith in God’s word.
So also, God would save from the bite of the devil (serpent), those who
believe in the Son of God lifted on the cross. Jesus had to fulfill this
prophetic action and was predicting to his opponents how he was going to
accomplish his mission.
Jesus had foretold his crucifixion and its
relationship with the lifting of the bronze serpent in his discussion
with Nicodemus. Jesus told him, “And just as Moses lifted up the serpent
in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who
believes in him may have eternal life” (Jn 14-15). Jesus clarified the
purpose of mounting him on the cross in this conversation with
Nicodemus. Just as the Israelites in the desert regained earthly life by
looking at the mounted bronze serpent, those who look at the crucified
Savior with faith will regain eternal life.
The Greek word for “lifted” means “highly
exalted.” John gives importance to the exaltation of Jesus.
So lifted also implied the glorification of Jesus that followed his
crucifixion. They were his resurrection, ascension, and sitting on God’s
right side.
Someone had to mount Jesus on the cross.
Jesus was forecasting who would do that. If the Jewish adversaries were
not spiritually blind, they would have recognized him as the Son of God
and would not have crucified him. St. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 2:7-8,
“we speak God’s wisdom, mysterious, hidden, which God predetermined
before the ages for our glory, and which none of the rulers of this age
knew; for if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord
of glory.”
Jesus had told his disciples, “When I am
lifted up from the earth, I shall draw everyone to myself” (Jn 12:32).
That happened soon after his crucifixion. “The centurion and the
soldiers who guarded Jesus were greatly terrified when they saw the
earthquake and all that had happened, and said, ‘Truly, this man was the
Son of God’” (Mt 27:54). “And all the people who had gathered to watch
the spectacle, as soon as they saw what had happened, went home beating
their breasts” (Lk 23:48). On the day of Pentecost, after St. Peter’s
speech, “Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three
thousand persons were added that day” (Acts 2:41). More Jews believed in
Jesus later. “And every day the Lord added to their number those who
were being saved” (Acts 2:47). “But many of those who heard the word
came to believe and (the) number of men grew to [about] five thousand”
(Acts 4:4). “The word of God continued to spread, and the number of the
disciples in Jerusalem increased greatly; even a large group of priests
were becoming obedient to the faith” (Acts 6:7). Thus, the Jews who
insisted Pilate to crucify Jesus and release Barabbas realized after his
resurrection and ascension that he was the Messiah.
As part of the Most Holy Trinity, Jesus is
not independent of his Father and the Holy Spirit. He does the will of
his Father. In John 6:38 Jesus said, “I came down from heaven not to do
my own will but the will of the one who sent me.” He further clarified,
“And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose
anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it [on] the last
day” (Jn 6:39).
The Jews who were amazed at Jesus’ words
asked, “’How does he know scripture without having studied?’ Jesus
answered and said, ‘My teaching is not my own but is from the one who
sent me. Whoever chooses to do his will shall know whether my teaching
is from God or whether I speak on my own” (Jn 7:15-17). Being the Word
of God, Jesus did not require anyone to teach him. Even at 12, when his
parents found him in the Temple after three days of search, he was
“sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them
questions, and all who heard him were astounded at his understanding and
his answers” (Lk. 2:46-47). At the Last Supper, Jesus promised his
disciples, “The Advocate, the holy Spirit that the Father will send in
my name—he will teach you everything and remind you of all that [I] told
you” (Jn 14:26). These show the unity of the one true God in three
persons. The truth comes from the three persons of the Most Holy
Trinity, and they are inseparable.
Jesus expressed his Father in him in several
instances. For example, when the Pharisees said to Jesus, “You testify
on your own behalf, so your testimony cannot be verified” (Jn 8:13), he
replied, “Even if I should judge, my judgment is valid, because I am not
alone, but it is I and the Father who sent me. Even in your law it is
written that the testimony of two men can be verified. I testify on my
behalf and so does the Father who sent me” (Jn 8:16-18). When Philip
asked Jesus, “Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for
us” (Jn 14:8), Jesus replied, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father”
(Jn 14:9). He continued, “I am in the Father and the Father is in me?
The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own. The Father who
dwells in me is doing his works” (Jn 14:10).
In his farewell speech, Jesus told his
disciples, “Behold, the hour is coming and has arrived when each of you
will be scattered to his own home and you will leave me alone. But I am
not alone, because the Father is with me” (Jn 16:32). However, at the
acute stage of his suffering, Jesus cried on the cross, “My God, my God,
why have you forsaken me?” (Mt 27:46). It was the fulfillment of Psalm
22:2 and an expression of the mental agony he went through, along with
his physical distress. Jesus knew the Father won’t abandon him. However,
like us, he also went through dark moments of loneliness and
helplessness.
Since Jesus was doing the will of his Father,
he was pleasing to Him. Jesus told his adversaries, “Amen, amen, I say
to you, a son cannot do anything on his own, but only what he sees his
father doing; for what he does, his son will do also” (Jn 5:19). During
his last supper discourses, Jesus said, “If you keep my commandments,
you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments
and remain in his love” (Jn 15:10). Thus, Jesus remained in the love of
his Father by keeping his Father’s commandments. Our call is to please
God by keeping the ordinances of God revealed through Jesus Christ.
Sometimes God the Father expressed how his
Son was pleasing to Him. After John baptized Jesus, “a voice came from
the heavens, saying, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well
pleased’” (Mt 3:17). At the transfiguration of Jesus, the disciples
Peter, James, and John heard a voice from the bright cloud, “This is my
beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him” (Mt 17:5).
Letter to the Hebrews 11:5 states, “By faith
Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and ‘he was found no
more because God had taken him.’ Before he was taken up, he was attested
to have pleased God.” Enoch lived only 365 years when the lifespan was
above 900 years during the antediluvian period. Jesus lived only 33
years in this world and rose from the dead and ascended into heaven
because he pleased the Father by fulfilling the mission his Father had
assigned to him.
The way Jesus spoke was strong but confusing
for many, especially his claim as the Son of God. For others, his
teachings and actions were convincing to believe that he was
extraordinary. The Jews in Jerusalem were conservative. Though they
approached him with an antagonistic attitude, many acted inversely.
While some rejected him, others took it with a positive mindset.
Jesus had many admirers and believers in
Galilee and some in Judea. Most of them had received favors from him or
were his receptive listeners. They included Jews, Gentiles, and
Samaritans. Many of them were marginalized because they were sinners,
poor, or publicans. The people who gathered around Jesus at the Temple
when they were debating were mixed in receptivity. The pilgrims and the
ordinary people had an inquisitive mind while his adversaries had a
pessimistic approach. So, conversion happened in the lives of
open-minded Jews.
Belief in Jesus could be of variant ranges.
Some were mere admirers, and others were firm believers. When Jesus took
an opinion survey of himself through the apostles while they were at
Caesarea Philippi, the apostles responded, “Some say John the Baptist,
others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets” (Mt 16:14).
John the Evangelist reports that although
Jesus had performed several signs in their presence, many Jews did not
believe in him (Jn 12:37). “Nevertheless, many, even among the
authorities, believed in him, but because of the Pharisees they did not
acknowledge it openly in order not to be expelled from the synagogue”
(Jn 12:42). Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea were major examples of
this.
Nicodemus was a Pharisee and a wealthy member
of the Sanhedrin. He was sure that Jesus was from God because he said to
Jesus, “no one can perform miraculous signs like you do unless God is
with him” (Jn 3:2). He chose nighttime to discuss with Jesus to avoid
public notice. The Bible reports two instances when Nicodemus supported
Jesus. He questioned the Sanhedrin on the unjust trial of Jesus: “Does
our law condemn a person without first hearing him and knowing the
facts?” (Jn 7:50-51). Nicodemus supplied spices to embalm Jesus’ body
and assisted Joseph of Arimathea for the burial (Jn 19:39-42).
Joseph of Arimathea was a respected member of
the Sanhedrin who was waiting for the Kingdom of God. He boldly went to
Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus for burial before sunset (Mk
15:43). He got permission from the governor. He contributed his valuable
tomb no one had used and buried Jesus there. “Having bought a linen
cloth, he took him down, wrapped him in the linen cloth and laid him in
a tomb that had been hewn out of the rock. Then he rolled a stone
against the entrance to the tomb” (Mk 15:46).
MESSAGE
1. Jesus said, “I am going away and you will
look for me, but you will die in your sin. Where I am going you cannot
come” (Jn 8:21). Since we have only a short lifespan, we must make use
of every opportunity to do God’s will in our lives. Let us die in the
grace of God rather in sins.
2. Just as a patient can refuse to
take a lifesaving treatment, we have the freedom to accept or reject the
salvation that Jesus offers. There are many who abandon the faith they
once received. Let us pray for them and make sure that we and our coming
generations do not lose the faith in Jesus.
3. Besides baptism
that free us from original sin, we must free ourselves also from
personal sins. The teachings of Jesus and the sacraments that he offers
through the church help us remedy this. If the wicked do not turn away
from their evil conduct, “then they shall die for their sin” (Ze 3:18;
18:18). The sins of commission and omission also can lead us to eternal
damnation (Mt 25:41-43). So, accepting the gospel of Jesus and
practicing it are essential to save us from sinful death.
4. God
will raise those who die in Christ at his second coming for eternal life
and those who die in sin to eternal damnation. Let us die in Christ by
taking up the hardships of Christian witnessing for the eternal joy in
heaven.
5. Though Moses raised the bronze serpent on a pole, that
alone could not save the lives of the people. The snake-bitten people
had to look at it with repentance and seek God’s mercy. Likewise, the
death of Jesus on the cross is the symbol of our salvation. We need to
look at the cross with repentance for our salvation.
6. Jesus
said, “I do nothing on my own, but I say only what the Father taught me”
(Jn 8:28). We shall not deviate from what Jesus taught in our teachings
of others, especially as religious instructors. Let us also follow the
traditions and the magisterium of the church.
7. Jesus said, “The
one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, because I always
do what is pleasing to him” (Jn 8:29). John the Evangelist wrote in his
first letter, “Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God
remains in him and he in God” (1Jn 4:15). He continued, “God is love,
and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him” (1Jn 4:16b).
Let us also feel the oneness with God and practice acts of live to
please Him.