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.
REFLECTION
Do you have trouble remembering things? It seems to be a human problem. During a recent retreat the Retreat Master said that you have to read or repeat something 18 times to remember it.
Animals use instinct to perform skills that are important to their survival. Ants can predict the weather. They know when the weather is going to be rainy or cold. They start marching to cut the leaves off of nearby plants and with incredible strength carrying big pieces all the way to their hill.
Collective memory is a social concept of how groups, families, nations, religions share memories by building memorials, or putting memorabilia in museums, or performing rituals that can be passed on through generations.
God is a good teacher. He knows His students well. We need a lot of repetition to remember important lessons.
Moses' first encounter with God was on Mt. Horeb (or Mt. Sinai). It was there that God told Moses from the burning bush, His name, I AM.
While Moses was leading the people to the Promiseland, there were many things God wanted the Israelites to learn while in the desert. They started to complain about the same food everyday. So God sent seraphs and many died from the snake bites. Until God gave them the remedy. Moses was told to put a seraph on a staff and lift it up, if an Israelite looked at it they would live. This was a reference to Jesus being lifted up on the cross.
Jesus knows that the Pharisees know the Torah. They have all the teachings about things said or done in their history with God. Jesus is saying, "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. " He is the cure, the seraph, lifted on the pole which refers to the Cross. Jesus is telling them He is the Messiah, I AM, and he is the remedy who will die for our sins.
Next week we will celebrate Holy Week. Let us remember how Jesus Christ saved us from death. Let us pray the Litany of the Cross.
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