Dispute Over Who Jesus Is

March 23, 2021, Tuesday
Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent (Violet)
CYCLE B - YEAR I
RDGS: NM 21:4-9/ PS 102:2-3. 16-18. 19-21
GOSPEL: JN 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.

GOSPEL REFLECTION:

In our gospel today Jesus is trying to tell people that He is in fact one with the Father and was sent by Him to share with them the good news of the kingdom of God. He also refers to his crucifixion and resurrection when he tells them “when you have lifted up the Son of Man then you will know that I am He”. This reminds us that our salvation cost Him a great deal and opens our hearts to the extend of his love for us. The more you know that a person is of value, the more you wish to hear what he or she has to say, especially when they speak to you on a personal level. This is the way the gift of faith operates in us and helps us to listen to Jesus.

PRAYER:

‘I always do what is pleasing to the Father.’ This reveals the heart of Jesus’ spirituality. I pray that it may become the truth of my life too because God is so good to me.