Jesus, the Father’s Ambassador

Today's Reflections

Jesus, the Father’s Ambassador 

 

Jn 8:21-30

²¹[Jesus] said to [the Pharisees], “I am going away and you will look for me, but you will die in your sin. Where I am going you cannot come.” ²²So the Jews said, “He is not going to kill himself, is he, because he said, ‘Where I am going you cannot come’?” ²³He said to them, “You belong to what is below, I belong to what is above. You belong to this world, but I do not belong to this world. ²⁴That is why I told you that you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I AM, you will die in your sins.” ²⁵So they said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “What I told you from the beginning. ²⁶I have much to say about you in condemnation. But the one who sent me is true, and what I heard from him I tell the world.”

²⁷They did not realize that he was speaking to them of the Father. ²⁸So Jesus said [to them], “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM, and that I do nothing on my own, but I say only what the Father taught me. ²⁹The one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, because I always do what is pleasing to him.” ³⁰Because he spoke this way, many came to believe in him.

Reflection:
 

]THE ONE WHO SENT ME IS WITH ME. Jesus reveals who he is. He comes from the Father, and he is with the Father, doing only what is pleasing to the Father. The Jews do not believe him because they belong to this world while Jesus is not of this world.

Jesus further reveals his identity when he speaks of the Son of Man being lifted up. This refers to his crucifixion and eventually his glorification by the Father. Jesus is one with the Father in carrying out the work of salvation. He is the Savior of the world.

Jesus desires our faith. Let us accept and trust him. Let us fix our gaze on him and be saved, just like the Israelites who, bitten by serpents for whining and complaining in the desert, were asked to look at a brazen serpent mounted on a pole in order to recover.

Do we work and speak for God?
To whom is God sending us?