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April 8, 2014

Jesus Christ reveals himself to us as “I Am who Am” or “I Am” – the name by which God revealed himself to Moses. In Semitic thought, “I Am” brings to mind God’s deliverance of Israel from the slavery in Egypt, which was a powerful and merciful intervention of God in the history of this people. For Israel, “I Am” is the true God, the only one who can save. Even if we are not of Semitic origin, we are the new Israel – for God is ready to manifest himself to us in our lives today. He is acting now with the same strength to save us from the tyranny of Pharoah, which is sin. However, we are like the Israelites in the desert as portrayed in today’s first reading which describes the consequences of this people’s lack of trust in God: they were bitten by the snakes and were dying from the poison. This is the effect of sin in us. Whenever we sin, we kill God in us and choose to do our own will, thus making ourselves God. When we kill God, who is life itself, we kill life within us. That is why Jesus says in the Gospel, “You will die in your sins.” Today Christ is waiting for us to believe that he was sent by the Father so that we do not need to die in our sins because on the cross he has already destroyed sin. We are called to believe in Christ who is telling us today, “I Am.” In believing, we will have life.

One Bread, One Body

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All Issues > Volume 30, Issue 3

<< Tuesday, April 8, 2014 >>

Numbers 21:4-9
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Psalm 102:2-3, 16-21

John 8:21-30
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CROSS PEACE

"Where I am going you cannot come." —John 8:21

Jesus told His sinful audience that He was going somewhere that they couldn't come (Jn 8:21). One possible way to interpret this saying is to identify His destination as the cross. In our old, sinful nature, we "cannot come" (Jn 8:21) to the cross.

If we haven't committed our lives to Jesus, we "cannot come" near the cross; rather, we flee from it (see Mk 14:50). Chained to our old, sinful nature, we are doomed to die in our sins (Jn 8:21, 24). We are "enemies of the cross" (Phil 3:18). In fact, when we live in our sins, the only time we come near the cross is for the purpose of nailing Jesus to it (see Heb 6:6; Catechism, 598).

What a miserable dilemma! To avoid dying in our sins, we need to believe that Jesus is God, I AM (Jn 8:24). However, we need to come to the cross to realize that Jesus is God (Jn 8:28).

Therefore, in His mercy, Jesus came down from heaven to go where we could not: the cross. When the crucified Jesus was lifted up on the cross, He snatched up our sinful nature and nailed it to the cross to be crucified with Him (Col 2:14). Hanging on the cross, Jesus draws all to Himself (Jn 12:32). By the grace and favor of God, we sinners who flee from the cross are given the desire to turn and look on Jesus. If we accept this grace, we will realize this crucified Jesus is God (Jn 8:28). We will believe in Him, accept Him as Lord and Savior (Jn 3:14-15), and be healed (Nm 21:9).

Come to the cross today. Be set free in Jesus.

Prayer: Jesus, nail Your crucified self to me so I can never leave You. May I be crucified to the world and the world to me (Gal 6:14). May I be a man or a woman of Your cross.

Promise: "You will surely die in your sins unless you come to believe that I AM." —Jn 8:24

Praise: Robert has found direction to his life by spending time before the Blessed Sacrament.