John 8:21- 30
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." So the Jews said, "He is not going to kill himself, is he, because he said, 'Where I am going you cannot come'?" He 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. That 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." So they said to him, "Who are you?" Jesus said to them, "What I told you from the beginning. I 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." They did not realize that he was speaking to them of the Father. So 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. The one who sent me is with me.
He has not left me alone, because I always do what is pleasing to him." Because he spoke this way, many came to believe in him.
Death can be scary stuff! Surprisingly fear of death is beat out buy one other fear. Most studies show that people fear public speaking first and death is second, which I read somewhere means that the person in the casket is better off than the one giving the eulogy.
Anyway, Jesus wasn’t showing fear of his death here. Jesus was preparing for his death. He was setting things in motion, getting the ball rolling. He knew that the things he was saying, all of which were true, would engrage the Pharisees who suffered from hardness of hearts. He told them they will die in their sin, that they belong to what is below. Finally the thing that would offend the Pharisees the most would be when Jesus places himself on par with God and calls himself Yahweh, I AM. A phrase they weren’t even allowed to utter!
If you read further on you can see once this discussion with the Pharisees is over “they pick up stones to throw at him” but Jesus slips away. He knew his time was coming soon but he also knew it wasn’t time just yet.
I want to focus on how we can be like the Pharisees at times. Jesus told them that they belong to what is below. Jesus wasn’t talking about hell when he stated that, what Jesus meant was that they belong to this earth. Jesus went on to say that they will die in their sins, again, this isn’t the physical death that we all must encounter at the end of this life, this is a spiritual death, a death that is for eternity. I assume everyone of us here wants to avoid that eternal spiritual death that the New Testament mentions six different times! It’s a death that includes wailing and gnashing of teeth...for ETERNITY!
WebMD states that chronic teeth grinding can result in a fracturing, loosening or even loss of teeth, that sounds excruciatingly painful, all of this agony would last for ETERNITY!
Even with all that information from WebMD and an extreme dislike of dental issues there are times that I am very much of this earth! I find myself of this earth when I am involved in the secular things, which is when I should be more of an example of faith instead, I sometimes find myself slipping into the secular world too much and forgetting my Christianity. How can I remedy this? One way I have found is scripture. The internet is a very secular place but I have tried to make that a place that reminds me of what is above. When I open my browser one of the tabs that also opens is scripture relating to an area I may be having trouble with. If I’ve been too gossipy I change the tab to be James 3:6
The tongue is also a fire. It exists among our members as a world of malice, defiling the whole body and setting the entire course of our lives on fire, itself set on fire by Gehenna.
We’ve had several pretty major storms this year. Snow, wind, rain, basement flooding, power outages. When the fear of the loss of my earthly possessions starts to get to me I turn to Philippians 4:6-7
Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
This helps me to focus better on what is above. Another area where I had serious issues with was driving in traffic on Route 24 in the morning. It was a part of my life that I was constantly coming up in confession about how I reacted with anger and frustration towards my fellow humans.
Well, my commute happens to be just about the length of the rosary with a little time to spare so I added the Rosary to my morning drive and have become a better, kinder driver because of it. I’m more likely to let that driver with his blinker on into my lane and less likely to tailgate the driver without who just cut me off without using a blinker. It’s hard to remain of this earth when doing such a heavenly prayer!
It’s not always easy to keep our gaze on heaven while living on this earth. God doesn’t just pop in on us to shake us around when we become too earthly focused. The Holy Spirit will help us but we have to allow it to work in us to keep us focused more on heaven and less on earth.
One way to stay focused is the Eucharist and St. Francis of Assisi says it very well with this quote:
In this world I cannot see the Most High Son of God with my own eyes, except for His Most Holy Body and Blood."
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