Daily Reflection | Gospel Reading | RVA

Gospel: John 8:31-42
Jesus went on to say to the Jews who believed in him, “You will be my true disciples, if you keep my word. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered him, “We are the descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves of anyone. What do you mean by saying: You will be free?”Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave. But the slave doesn’t stay in the house forever; the son stays forever. So, if the Son makes you free, you will be really free.I know that you are the descendants of Abraham; yet you want to kill me because my word finds no place in you. For my part, I speak of what I have seen in my Father’s presence, but you do what you have learned from your father.”They answered

him, “Our father is Abraham.” Then Jesus said, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do as Abraham did. But now you want to kill me, the one who tells you the truth—the truth that I have learned from God. That is not what Abraham did; what you are doing are the works of your father.”The Jews said to him, “We are not illegitimate children; we have one Father, God.” Jesus replied, “If God were your Father you would love me, for I came forth from God, and I am here. And I didn’t come by my own decision, but it was he himself who sent me.

Reflections

“If the Son makes you free, you will be really free.”Truth will set you free. That is a very popular saying of Jesus. Even non-Christians quote it. Now what is truth? For Jesus, truth is he. That what he testifies is truth and it must be believed or taken as true. It must be liberating, not enslaving. Freedom is not attained by blood relations, like being descendants of Abraham. Freedom is associating with Jesus and taking to heart his teaching.Those who do not possess the truth are bent on killing Jesus. They are slaves still. They have murderous heart. They can be identified easily.Those who possess it are identified as disciples of Jesus. They have been following him since they come to know about him. They seek to know his full story. Jesus knows them.In faith, truth is not about what is exactly said or the exact count, exact data or the one who exactly did what was actually done, subject to reconstruction or investigation. The truth that Jesus is teaching is something that pertains our salvation. It is about our relationship with him and the Father. He wants us to enter into that relationship. That is truth.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2019

Gospel: John 8:21-30
Again, Jesus said to them, “I am going away, and though you look for me, you will die in your sin. Where I am going you cannot come.” The Jews wondered, “Why does he say that we can’t come where he is going? Will he kill himself?”But Jesus said, “You are from below and I am from above; you are of this world and I am not of this world. That is why I told you that you will die in your sins. And you shall die in your sins, unless you believe that I am He.”They asked him, “Who are you?”; and Jesus said, “Just what I have told you from the beginning. I have much to

say about you and much to condemn; but the One who sent me is truthful and everything I learned from him, I proclaim to the world.” me. He who sent me is with me and has not left me alone; because I always do what pleases him.”As Jesus spoke like this, many believed in him.

Reflections

“You are of this world and I am not of this world.”It is not easy to communicate when we are in different levels. Jesus comes from above, that is, from heaven, while the Jews come from below. They never understand each other. They can understand each other because Jesus comes down to their level. The Jews must go up to his level. But they are not willing to do it, so they are stuck in their reasoning.Faith is really a gift. It opens us to God’s mystery revealed by Jesus. We can never understand the things are God’s, if we are not willing to play with God’s rule. We too can be like the Jews, who fail to understand the identity of Jesus and his purpose.It is consoling to note the last line. “Many believed in him.” They are Jews also who are open to the testimony of Jesus. All that is needed is to believe in him. When we believe in something, we no longer argue. We do not seek explanations but to live in that mystery, thus we understand without saying a word. St. Augustine once said, “Believe that you may understand.” Yes, if we seek to understand first, we may never come to believe.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2019

Gospel: John 8:12-20
Jesus spoke to them again, “I am the Light of the world; the one who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have light and life.” The Pharisees replied, “Now you are speaking on your own behalf, your testimony is worthless.”Then Jesus said, “Even though I bear witness to myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I have come from and where I am going. But you do not know where I came from or where I am going.You judge by human standards; as for me, I don’t judge anyone. But if I had to judge, my judgment would be valid for I am not alone: the Father who sent me is with me. In your law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is valid; so I am bearing witness to myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness to me.”They asked him, “Where is your Father?”

Jesus answered, “You don’t know me or my Father; if you knew me, you would know my Father as well.”Jesus said these things when he was teaching in the temple area, in the place where they received the offerings. No one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.

Reflections

“If you knew me, you would know my Father as well.”The Pharisees question the validity of Jesus’ testimony. They consider it somehow self-serving or unusual. Somebody else, at least two, should testify for him, to make his claim valid. The witnesses must come from the same level or point of view. No human witness can verify Jesus’ claim as the light of the world coming from heaven. He too must come from heaven.When it comes to faith, our concept of testifying in court is not applicable. It is futile to use scientific method like experimentation in laboratories or data gathering or argumentation. It is “take it or leave it.” When we come to believe that Jesus is sent by the Father, we do not have the burden to prove it. It is a gift to believe in him.Christian faith is communicated and transmitted by the apostles and early Christians and this process continues with the succeeding generations of believers.In the face of violent opposition, many Christians have chosen to die rather than renege their faith. They are recognized as martyrs. If the word martyr is translated back to Greek, it simply means to testify or to bear witness. One does not necessarily get killed for it.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2019

Gospel: John 8:1-11
As for Jesus, he went to the Mount of Olives. At daybreak Jesus appeared in the temple again. All the people came to him, and he sat down and began to teach them. Then the teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They made her stand in front of everyone. “Master,” they said, “this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now the law of Moses orders that such women be stoned to death; but you, what do you say?” They said this to test Jesus, in order to have some charge against him.Jesus bent down and started writing on the ground with his finger. And as they continued to ask him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let anyone among you who has no sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” And he bent down, again, writing on the ground.As a result of these words, they went away, one by one, starting with the elders, and Jesus was left alone, with the woman standing before him. Then Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She replied, “No one.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go away and don’t sin again.”

Lectio Divina

READ: A woman who was caught committing adultery was brought to Jesus. Isaiah calls the people not to lose heart but to anticipate God‘s promise of redemption. Paul kept his eye on the goal, which is “to gain trust.

”REFLECT: The teacher of the law and the Pharisees were never interested to learn a lesson from Jesus. Their question was simply “to test“ Jesus, so they could have an argument against him. Instead Jesus asked them to scrutinize themselves “ if no one among them has no sin“. In the end, the woman was left alone standing before Jesus. he did not condemn her, but gave her freedom form sin.

PRAY: Ask the Lord to maintain his presence in your heart. You pray and receive Holy Communion regularly and listen to the Word of God.

ACT: Consciously behave like a renewed person who lives in freedom from sin and gives love to others.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2019