Reflection for April 11 Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent: John 10:31-42

Gospel: John 10:31-42

The Jews picked up rocks to stone Jesus. Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from my Father. For which of these are you trying to stone me?” The Jews answered him, “We are not stoning you for a good work but for blasphemy. You, a man, are making yourself God.” 

Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, ‘You are gods”‘? If it calls them gods to whom the word of God came, and Scripture cannot be set aside, can you say that the one whom the Father has consecrated and sent into the world blasphemes because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 

If I do not perform my Father’s works, do not believe me; but if I perform them, even if you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may realize and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” Then they tried again to arrest him; but he escaped from their power.  

He went back across the Jordan to the place where John first baptized, and there he remained. Many came to him and said, “John performed no sign, but everything John said about this man was true.” And many there began to believe in him.

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Reflection:

How deep is your faith in Jesus? 

As we near Holy Week, we hear Jesus inviting us all to believe in Him. Why is He inviting us to believe in Him? Because He wants us all to be saved from the evils of this world. This is the primary reason why Jesus wants us to believe. 

We will not lose anything—except our sins, worldliness, and vices—if we choose to believe in and embrace Jesus. Everything is ours to gain, including eternal life, if we decide to finally believe and follow Him. 

Everything in this world is passing and temporary. In fact, we are not in control of our lives. We can even vanish from this world at any time—and this is the reality. Life is so fragile and fleeting. 

Jesus invites us to believe in Him, for this will serve as our security blanket—our assurance that no matter what happens in our lives, we are firmly secured in the loving arms of Jesus. Let us not gamble our lives in this world by embracing its many evils, which are attractively packaged to entice us. 

Let us embrace the love of Jesus, which He generously offers to us—free of any cost. In doing so, we secure not only our lives in this world but also our future life after this world. 

Would you embrace Jesus? – Marino J. Dasmarinas