Jesus said to
the Pharisees: “I am going away and you will look for me, but you will die in
your sin. Where I am going you cannot come. So the Jews said, “He is not going
to kill himself, is he, because he said, ‘Where I am going you cannot come’? 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. 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. So they said to him, “Who are you? Jesus said to them, “What
I told you from the beginning. 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.
They did not realize that he was speaking to them of the Father. 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. The
one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, because I always do what
is pleasing to him. Because he spoke this way, many came to believe in him.
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Reflection:
What is the
barrier that prevents us to be with Jesus? It’s our sinfulness and
unfaithfulness to Him. Whenever we sin we put barrier that divides us from
Jesus the more we sin the more barriers that we create that separates us from
Jesus.
But we also
know that this separation is not permanent because through our humble
submission to the Sacrament of Reconciliation we allow Jesus to reach out to us
as we reach out to Him also. This is what separates us from the many Pharisees
of Jesus time.
By
their arrogance and unbelief, they created a permanent barrier between them and
Jesus. This is one of the reasons why Jesus told them (Pharisees), where I am
going you cannot come. What then is the key element for us to be able to go
eventually where Jesus is? It’s our humility and faith in Jesus.
We read in
the first part of the gospel that Jesus is somewhat distant and aloft. Yes, in
His humanity Jesus was perhaps exasperated already with the Pharisees. Who
would not be? They always contradict Him, they always find fault in Him and
they were full of jealousy and unbelief.
Nevertheless,
Jesus loved them dearly also the same love and intensity that He gave to His
followers and to us also. Jesus did not sacrifice His life on the cross for
those who only believe Him. He died on the cross for all of us believers,
unbelievers and sinners.
If you think
that because of your sinfulness and unbelief you’re already hopeless and out of
the loop of the love of Jesus. Think again because you’re not! You still have
hope, you’re still dearly loved by Jesus who died for you on the cross. Pray to
Him, look up to Him and invite Him to come into your life. – Marino J.
Dasmarinas
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