SAINT TURIBIUS OF MOGROVEJO, BISHOP (OPTIONAL MEMORIAL)

If you do not believe that I AM, you will die in your sins.

Jesus isn’t just talking about physical death here. He is also talking about the spiritual death that is the state of everyone who is bound up in sin. He is warning his listeners that if they don’t come to him in faith, they risk spending the rest of their lives in a kind of living death. They risk going through life unable to shake off the weight of their sins and then taking those sins with them into eternity.

Try to imagine a life without Christ. Without him, there is no relief from the burden of guilt. There is no divine grace to strengthen us against temptation. And worst of all, there is no gift of the Holy Spirit to shine God’s love into our hearts. Granted, we might come to a kind of stalemate in the fight against some of our sins. But that’s as far as most of us will get. Where is the victory? Where is the joy in God’s mercy?

That’s not the life Jesus wants for you—or for anyone! His sacrifice on the cross was more than a symbol of his love. It’s more than an example of extreme goodness that he hopes will inspire us to try harder. It’s the very power and wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:24). It’s the one singular “righteous act” that brings “acquittal and life” to everyone who comes to him (Romans 5:18).

That’s the good news in today’s Gospel: Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, has taken away the sins of the world. By his cross, he has made atonement for all your sins and the sins of everyone you could ever think of. No one who turns to him has to remain dead in their sins. No one has to go through life repeating the same sins over and over again. Everyone can be freed from the darkness of sin and brought into the light of God’s love.

Jesus promised that when we lift him up on the cross, we’ll see how far he went in order to save us. So fix your eyes on Christ crucified today. Gaze upon him and see his love streaming out toward you. Let that love bring you from death into life.

“Thank you, Jesus, for rescuing me from sin and death!”

Numbers 21:4-9
Psalm 102:2-3, 16-21
John 8:21-30

WORD AMONG US