Redemption

Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent
Gospel: John 8:21-30
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/040825.cfm

Jesus’s message is to bring us new life. Today’s gospel can be read as Jesus calling out the damnation of the Pharisees he was speaking to, but he was actually speaking to their potential for redemption.

We all die in our sin. We were created in God’s image and sin is what we do to turn our back on that image. Who we are is found in God. It can’t be found anywhere else. So when we are lost in our sin, we are actually killing ourselves. We are turning away from who we truly are. We are one in the image of God. We are to flow through, in, and with that which is the great I AM, the creator and sustainer of all. We are truly nothing without God, and that is where sin gets us. Sin isn’t a highly moralistic concept, it’s choosing a path without full reference to God. It’s saying that I can do it all on my own while it’s also saying I can’t do it all. God seeks partnership and that’s what Jesus shares with the crowd in today’s gospel. 

God transforms us. We die to sin so that we can be born again. It’s not that sin is to be desired or sought out, but the pain of sin steers us to where we should go. God desires our company and our partnership. As Jesus speaks of himself and his relationship with the Father, he’s giving us the same opportunity. We’re called to experience the fullness of life, not limit it. God’s plan for us is something God wants to do with us. We’re not left alone in isolation. We don’t have anything we need to prove. We must open ourselves up to the possibilities that God grants us.

God wants us to die of our old self to become a new self in God. This new self is a return to what we are that we have lost because of the distance we have put between us and God. No distance is too far for the one who turns around and calls out. God will come running with a welcomed embrace. For God is what is and God wants us to be the same through unity with him.