TUESDAY IN THE FIFTH WEEK OF LENT

When one mistakes Christian teaching for weakness, there is John 8:21-30. Christ defends the truth of God and calls us to follow him. Jesus is admonishing the Pharisees for their self-absorption, their selfish preoccupations with this world and their preconceived notions of who he is. Sometimes, the world tries to encourage us to understand God through the lenses of our time and place. However, Christ admonished the Pharisees for the same sins. We cannot understand Christ without a singular focus on what is eternal, rather than what is only temporal. We cannot understand Christianity and Christ without understanding that his teachings are eternal and from the Father. However, the call to conversion in the text is most striking when Jesus pulls no punches, telling the Pharisees: “For if you do not believe that I AM, you will die in your sins.” Either we accept the new and eternal life that Christ offers us, or we are left bereft of the grace He desires to give us – eternal life.

John reminds us that “many came to believe in him” not simply based on the content of what he said, but “because of the way he spoke.” In his brevity and directness, Christ Jesus makes it clear our focus must be on him, as he actually is, not as our world would have him be; either we stand with him, or our sins consume us. Pray that we may all be so fortunate to see the truth even in today’s world.