Reflection for March 20, Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Lent: John 8:31-42

Gospel: John 8:31-42

Jesus said to those Jews who believed in him, "If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." They answered him, "We are descendants of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How can you say, 'You will become free'?" Jesus answered them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. 

A slave does not remain in a household forever, but a son always remains. So if the Son frees you, then you will truly be free. I know that you are descendants of Abraham. But you are trying to kill me, because my word has no room among you. I tell you what I have seen in the Father's presence; then do what you have heard from the Father." 

They answered and said to him, "Our father is Abraham." Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works of Abraham. But now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God; Abraham did not do this. You are doing the works of your father!" So they said to him, "We were not born of fornication. We have one Father, God." 

Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and am here; I did not come on my own, but he sent me."

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Reflection:

What will happen to us if we give space for the words of Jesus in our hearts? Of course we will start to build a deeper friendship with Jesus. We will start to trust Jesus more than we trust ourselves and we will also become averse to sin.  

In the first reading, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego trusted more on their faith in God than  obey the command of the king. They were being forced by king Nebuchadnezzar to worship his own God. But until the end the three did not follow the king’s order so they were thrown into the fiery furnace yet they were not hurt because God was with them. 

This is what would happen to us also if we faithfully follow Jesus, yes there would be instances of persecution. But if we remain faithful until the end, our being persecuted is nothing compared to the glory or reward that awaits us.  

If there’s glory or reward for those who would remain faithful, why are we not faithful to Jesus? Why do we easily betray Him for the fleeting and sinful pleasures of this world?  This is so for the simple reason that we allow ourselves to succumb to the inducement of the devil. That’s how plain and simple it is, we give up Jesus for this world because we love this world more than we love Jesus. We love to satisfy our sinful human needs than satisfy the needs of our souls.  

As we approach the holiest of weeks let us reflect on how many times have we given up Jesus for the sinful pleasures of this world. And what have we gained for giving up Jesus for this world? Nothing except the continuous pilling up of emptiness and problems disguised as hedonistic pleasures. – Marino J. Dasmarinas