Reflection for March 24 Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent: John 8:21-30

Gospel: John 8:21-30

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 prevents us from becoming close friends with Jesus? It is our sinfulness and our unfaithfulness to Him. Whenever we fall into sin, we place barriers between ourselves and the Lord. The more we sin, the more we build walls that separate us from His loving presence.

And yet, there is hope for all of us. This separation is never meant to be permanent. Through our humble and sincere submission to the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we allow Jesus to reach out to us—while we, in faith, reach out to Him. In this sacred encounter, we experience once more His mercy, His healing, and His restoring love.

This is what sets us apart from the many Pharisees of Jesus’ time: we are invited to humble ourselves before the Lord. While they allowed arrogance and unbelief to harden their hearts and create a lasting barrier, we are given the grace to choose humility and faith. These become the bridge that leads us back to Jesus and draws us closer to where He is.

At times, we may feel that Jesus seems distant or even silent. In His humanity, He may have felt deep sorrow and even weariness in the face of constant rejection. The Pharisees repeatedly opposed Him, found fault in Him, and were consumed by jealousy and unbelief. And yet, even in the midst of this, Jesus never stopped loving them.

The love of Jesus is not limited. It is not reserved only for those who believe or those who are faithful. He offered His life on the cross for all—for us, for those who struggle to believe, and even for those who turn away. His love reaches beyond our failures, beyond our doubts, and beyond our sins.

So when we are tempted to think that we are already too sinful, too unworthy, or too far gone to be loved by God, let us remember this truth: we are not beyond His mercy. We are not outside His love. We still have hope, because Jesus gave His life for each one of us.

Now the question is not whether Jesus still loves us—He always does. The question is: Are we willing to humble ourselves, turn back to Him, and allow His mercy to break down the barriers we have built, so that we may truly walk with Him and one day be where He is?— Marino J. Dasmarinas