GOSPEL READING:
John 3:16-1816 For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. 18 He who believes in him is not condemned; he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
SCRIPTURE READING:
Exodus 34:4-94 So Moses cut two tables of stone like the first; and he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took in his hand two tables of stone. 5 And the LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. 6 The LORD passed before him, and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation." 8 And Moses made haste to bow his head toward the earth, and worshiped. 9 And he said, "If now I have found favor in thy sight, O Lord, let the Lord, I pray you, go in the midst of us, although it is a stiff-necked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance."
Meditation: What does Scripture tell us about God and how he relates to us? When God met with Moses on Mount Sinai and made a covenant with the people of Israel, he revealed the nature of his character and his personal love for them:
"The LORD passed before him, and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy and faithfulness'" (Exodus 34:6).
God is all-loving, faithful, merciful, and forgiving by nature.
God's love
is supreme because it directs, orders, and shapes everything he
does.
Love and judgment
Scripture tells us that God is all just and all loving. How does
his
love and justice go together? God opposes sin and evil with his
just wrath
(his righteous anger) and right judgment - and he approaches
sinful people
and evil doers with mercy ("slow to anger" and "ready to forgive")
and
discipline ("fatherly correction" and "training in
righteousness"). John
the Evangelist tells us that the Father sent his Son into the
world - not
to condemn but to redeem - not to destroy but to heal and restore.
Paul
the Apostle tells us that "the wages of sin is death, but the free
gift
of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans
6:23). God does not desire the death of anyone (Ezekiel
18:23,32, Ezekiel 33:11, Wisdom of Solomon 1:13). Instead
he gives
us the freedom to choose between life and death - good and evil.
When we choose to sin and to go our own way apart from God, we
bring
condemnation upon ourselves. Sin draws us away from God and leads
to a
spiritual death - a death that is worse than physical loss of life
because
it results in a hopeless life of misery and separation from God's
peace
and joy. Jesus was sent on a rescue mission to free us from
slavery to
sin and death and to bring us the abundant life which will never
end. His
death brought us true freedom and abundant new life in his Spirit
- as
well as pardon, reconciliation and adoption as sons and daughters
of God.
Jesus took upon himself all of our sins and nailed them to the
cross
(Colossians
2:14). His death was an atoning sacrifice
for our sins and a perfect
offering to the Father on our behalf. We can find no greater proof
of God's
love for fallen sinful humanity than the cross of Jesus Christ.
"To ransom
a slave God gave away his Son" (from an early Christian hymn for
the Easter
vigil liturgy). Jesus' mission was motivated by love and
obedience. That
is why he willingly laid down his life for us. Jesus told his
disciples
that there is no greater love than for a person to willingly lay
down his
or her life for a friend (John 15:13).
Jesus loved
us first - even while we were captives to sin and Satan - in order
to set
us free and make us friends and beloved children of God.
Believing in the Son of God
Do you believe that Jesus personally died for you - for you alone
-
simply because he loved you? Scripture tells us that God knew each
one
of us even before we were knit in our mother's womb (Psalm
139:13, Jeremiah 1:5). We were created
for a purpose - to be united
with God and to share in his love and glory now and forever.
Augustine
of Hippo wrote: "God loves each one of us as if there were only
one of
us to love." God's love is complete and perfect because it is
wholly directed
towards our greatest good - to make us whole and to unite us in a
perfect
bond of love and peace. That is why God was willing to go to any
length
necessary to save us from slavery to sin and death.
How does God's love bring healing, pardon, and wholeness to our
lives?
God's love has power to set each one of us free from every form of
bondage
to sin - whether it be bondage to fear and guilt, pride and greed,
envy
and hatred. We can only know the love of God and experience his
healing
power to the degree that we put our faith in him and surrender our
lives
to his will. Faith is the key that opens the door to Christ and to
his
healing power in our lives. But for faith to be effective we must
act and
do our part. That is why faith requires repentance and obedience -
turning
away from unbelief and disobedience - and turning to the
Lord with
a believing heart and listening ear. That is why Jesus said,
"whoever believes
in me is not condemned" (John 3:18).
To believe that Jesus is the only Son of God who died for our
sins is
the key that opens the door to his presence and work in our lives.
Jesus
said, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my
voice
and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with
me" (Revelation
3:20). The Lord Jesus knocks at the door of your heart - will you
listen
today and open at once?
Triune nature of God
The Lord Jesus has revealed to his disciples the great mystery of
our
faith - the triune nature of God and the inseparable union of the
eternal
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus' mission is to reveal the
glory of
God to us - a Trinity of persons - God the Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit
- and to unite us with God in a community of love. The ultimate
end, the
purpose for which God created us, is the entry of God's creatures
into
the perfect unity of the blessed Trinity.
The Jews understood God as Creator and Father of all that he made
(Deuteronomy
32:6) and they understood the nation of Israel as God's
firstborn
son (Exodus 4:22). Jesus reveals the Father in an unheard of
sense. He
is eternally Father by his relationship to his only Son, who,
reciprocally,
is Son only in relation to his Father
(see Matthew 11:27).
The Spirit, likewise, is inseparably one with the Father and the
Son.
The mission of Jesus and of the Holy Spirit are the same. That is
why
Jesus tells his disciples that the Spirit will reveal the glory of
the
Father and the Son and will speak what is true. Before his
Passover, Jesus
revealed the Holy Spirit as the "Paraclete" and Helper who will be
with
Jesus' disciples to teach and guide them "into all the truth" (John
14:17,26; 16:13). In baptism we are called to share in
the life
of the Holy Trinity here on earth in faith and after death in
eternal light.
Clement of Alexandria, a third century church father, wrote:"What
an
astonishing mystery! There is one Father of the universe, one
Logos
(Word) of the universe, and also one Holy Spirit, everywhere one
and the
same; there is also one virgin become mother, and I should like to
call
her 'Church'."
We can know God personally
How can we grow in our understanding and experience of God the
Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit? It is the Holy Spirit who reveals the Father
and
the Son to us and who gives us the gift of faith to know and
understand
the truth of God's word. Through baptism we receive the gift of
the Holy
Spirit. The Lord renews the gift of the Spirit in each one of us
as we
open our hearts with expectant faith and yield to his work in our
lives.
Jesus promised his disciples that he would send them the Spirit of
truth
who would be their Teacher and Guide. Ask the Lord Jesus to renew
in you
the gift of the Holy Spirit who strengthens us in the seven-fold
gifts
of wisdom and understanding, right judgment and courage, knowledge
and
reverence, and holy fear in God's presence (Isaiah 11:2-3).
May the Lord Jesus put his hands on our eyes also, for then we too shall begin to look not at what is seen but at what is not seen. May he open the eyes that are concerned not with the present but with what is yet to come, may he unseal the heart's vision, that we may gaze on God in the Spirit, through the same Lord, Jesus Christ, whose glory and power will endure throughout the unending succession of ages. (prayer of Origin, 185-254 AD)
Psalm 8:4-9
4 What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?
5 Yet you have made him little less than the angels, and have crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet,
7 all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the sea.
9 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: The pledge of the Holy Spirit, by Ambrose of Milan, 339-397 A.D.
"Recall then that you have received the spiritual seal, the
spirit of
wisdom and understanding, the spirit of right judgment and
courage, the
spirit of knowledge and reverence, the spirit of holy fear in
God's presence.
Guard what you have received. God the Father has marked you with
His sign;
Christ the Lord has confirmed you and has placed His pledge, the
Spirit,
in your hearts" (excerpt from De Mysteriis 7, 42).
