GOSPEL, John (3: 7-15)

Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to Saint John

Nicodemus Visits Jesus

⁷ Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ ⁸ The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” ⁹ Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” ¹⁰ Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?

¹¹ “Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. ¹² If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? ¹³ No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. ¹⁴ And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

The Gospel of the Lord

REFLECTION

Jesus in dialogue with Nicodemus presents himself as the only one who can reveal the “things in heaven”, because he came from there and only those who believe in him will have eternal life

Moses saved the Israelites (NM 21,8-9) from the poisonous serpents by  setting a bronze serpent on a pole so those who were bitten and believed would be saved , likewise if they look and accept Christ who will be raised on the Cross.

To follow the God of Jesus Christ, is to be open to the Spirit of Jesus, who came “from on high” and is a sign of contradiction for those who live according to the selfish logic of the world.

The act serpent worship as related to Moses’s instructions by God,(NM 21, 8-9) is followed by the worship of Christ, which will reach its fullness at the end of Jesus’ earthly journey on the Cross.

The scandalous death of Christ on the Cross-marks the end of the Old Testament and the birth of the New. This New Testament of God is open to all humankind without distinctions of race, sex or country.

Our life takes on meaning if we accept the death on the cross as God’s divine will. In a selfless act of giving up our lives for others, we may understand the authentic meaning of life.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, eternal guarantor of the joys of human life, give us strength to be willing to sacrifice our lives for others, especially when the suffering of the Cross becomes a fundamental element of it, and help us to always be happy when we commit ourselves to Your love. Victory will reign.