God’s Love For Us Is Manifested In Jesus’ Sacrifice So We Can Be Saved

 

Our Gospel from St. John this Fourth Sunday of Lent quotes what is considered one of the best known verses in the Bible:

 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life.” (John 3:16) 

And yet, it is one of the most difficult for us to understand and to follow.

 It seems that Nicodemus, the Sanhedrin Pharisee, who came in the dark of night to visit with Jesus had difficulty in understanding it at this juncture of his journey.  Though a learned and intelligent man, he is grappling with how Jesus teaching and healings are a fulfillment of the Mosaic covenant of 10 Commandments and an additional 603 laws as being an answer to holiness and salvation.

We too have a problem with it because as sinful humans we don’t understand unconditional love.  With all the disappointments God has suffered from His creation, how can He make a decision out of love to sacrifice His only begotten Son to a terrible death of crucifixion?  As St. Paul wrote in his First Letter to the Corinthians we heard last Sunday, crucifixion is considered both a stumbling block and foolish to a majority of humans.

Our answer comes to us in St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians this Sunday with God’s gift of mercy and grace: “God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love He had for us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, brought us to life with Christ – by grace you have been saved…through faith…it is the gift of God…”  The kicker to this is that we are His handiwork as St. Paul calls Christians.

Being the handiwork of God means we are created with a free will to choose to love or reject God.  We can be the embodiment of what Jesus did when He visited the earth: Teach the ways of His Father so we are true to our very being by reaching out to those in need.  We also can be a sign to others by our presence of practicing love, mercy and forgiveness as God does.

In addition to this, we need to be steadfast in avoiding the pitfalls of what the world offers in opposition to God’s ways.  We can’t promise by our Baptism to love God with our mind, heart, soul and strength and our neighbor as Jesus loves us, if we are partaking of the world’s formula for success in amassing wealth, seeking power and garnering fame.  That timetable lasts for only as long as we live in a human time frame.  God’s offer of salvation is for eternity.

If we accept God’s plan for redemption, we receive a double benefit:  We are exempted from eternal damnation and we are brought to eternal glory.  In addition, we are justified in that our guilt of sin is removed and we are sanctified to properly prepare us for entry into the Kingdom of Heaven.

My suggestions are that unlike Nicodemus, we seek God in the light of day so what we do is both truthful and transparent.  We are not fearful in our thoughts, words or actions because God has our back.  In God’s promise of the New Covenant He shared with the Prophet Jeremiah (Chapter 31:33-34), He said: “I will place My law within them, and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be My people. … All, from the least to the greatest, shall know me, says the Lord, for I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sin no more.”

I believe Saint Nicodemus realized this in his journey and I hope we also can if we focus on God’s love for us and His plan for our salvation.  I will strive towards that direction.  I hope you do as well.         

Reading 1: 2 Chronicles 36:14-16, 19-23
Reading 2: Ephesians 2:4-10
Gospel: John 3:14-21