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Theo Tigno•
9/14/2010 3:17 pm
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Tuesday, September 14th 2010 |
John 3: 13-17
Jesus said to Nicodemus: "No one has gone up to heaven except the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man. 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."
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.
Dawg's Thought:
Today's prayer intention - for those who are persecuted for their faith.
Today's reflection comes from Pope John Paul II:
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This mission was directed towards "the lifting up" of Christ on the Cross. Jesus says to Nicodemus: "The Son of Man must be lifted up as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert." Nicodemus knows the Scriptures well; he knows the inspired message of the Old Testament. He can recall the event that took place during the journey of the chosen people in the desert. At the command of Yahweh, "Moses fashioned a bronze serpent which he put on a standard."
This bronze serpent would restore to health and save the lives of the Israelites who had been bitten by the serpents. They were serpents with a poisonous venom; after being bitten by them many Israelites died. But the serpent made of bronze and placed on a high standard would become a means of salvation: whoever looked at it would live.
Jesus continues: "The Son of Man must be lifted up... so that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him." The human family had received at the very beginning of earthly history a deadly bite from the "ancient serpent". He had injected a satanic venom - the venom of original sin - into the souls of the first man and woman. And from that time onward, man's history on earth has been burdened by sin. A tendency towards sin has generated many evils in the lives of individual persons and the communities to which they belong, in families, in entire peoples and nations.
"The Son of Man must be lifted up", says Jesus to Nicodemus. And he says this with a view to his crucifixion: The Son of Man must be lifted up on the Cross. Whoever believes in him, whoever sees in this Cross and in the Crucified One the Redeemer of the world, whoever looks with faith on the redemptive death of Jesus on the Cross, finds in him the power of eternal life. By this power, sin is overcome. People receive forgiveness of their sins at the price of the Sacrifice of Christ. They find again the life of God which had been lost by sin.
This is the meaning of the Cross of Christ. This is its power. "God sent his Son into the world not to condemn the world, but so that through him the world might be saved."
The feast that we celebrate today speaks of a marvellous and ceaseless action of God in human history, in the history of every man, woman and child. The Cross of Christ on Golgotha has become for all time the centre of this saving work of God. Christ is the Saviour of the world, because in him and through him the love with which God so loved the world is continuously revealed: "God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son."
- The Father gave him so that this Son, who is one in substance with him, would become man by being conceived of the Virgin Mary.
- The Father gave him so that as the Son of Man he would proclaim the Gospel, the Good News of salvation.
- The Father gave him so that this Son, by responding with his own infinite love to the love of the Father, might offer himself on the Cross.
From a human point of view, Christ's offering of himself on the Cross was a sign of contradiction, an unthinkable disgrace. It was, in fact, the most profound humiliation possible.
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Take care and God Bless.
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