Loving obedience as the path to eternal life

March 10—Fourth Sunday of Lent

Readings: 2 Chr 36:14-16, 19-23; Responsorial Psalm, 137, R. Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you!; Eph 2:4-10; Gospel—Jn 3:14-21The central theme that I propose for our reflection this Sunday is the loving obedience of the Lord that brought us the grace of salvation.Our three points for reflection, from the Gospel: first, “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.”

Second, “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”

Third, “Whoever believes in Him will not be condemned … Whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that His works may be clearly seen as done in God.”

The Lord being lifted up refers to the Cross and Resurrection, the two moments of the central mystery of our faith. This was His loving obedience.

When we were seminarians, Fr. Jean Louis Ska, S.J., a scripture scholar, gave us one of our eight-day retreats. He used the Gospel of John as we went through the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola.

When we got to this passage, Father Ska referred to the story of Moses when he “lifted up the serpent in the desert.” (cf. Numbers 21:4-9)

When the people sinned against God while wandering in the desert, they were punished; “The Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died.” (Numbers 21:6)

They turned to Moses to beg for pardon from God, and when Moses did, God instructed him, “Make a [bronze] snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” (Numbers 21:8)

Father Ska pointed out that to be lifted up on a pole was an unnatural (vertical) position for the serpent. Its natural position was horizontal, crawling on its belly, and thus it became a source of physical healing.

As an aside, this standard, the two serpents mounted on a pole, is the symbol of the physician.This is the same process that brought about the saving grace of eternal life trough the Cross and the Resurrection. Jesus on the Cross, with arms outstretched, left Him physically vulnerable. It was an unnatural position.

This was, is and will always be the source of eternal life. It was the free choice of Jesus out of loving obedience.

Free choice

We go back to the Agony in the Garden to better understand and appreciate the free choice made out of loving obedience.Jesus agonized over His impending suffering and death on the Cross, so much so that blood came out of the pores of His skin. This was a natural human response to such a horror.

But He chose otherwise, which was unnatural. He freely chose to undergo the suffering and death out of loving obedience, “not My will, but Yours be done.” (Luke 22:42)

This frames our second and third points for reflection.

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Jesus did not come to condemn us, but through His example he showed us the path to eternal life—loving obedience. As the formula of absolution states, “God, the Father of mercies, through the death and Resurrection of His son has reconciled the world to Himself and poured out the Holy Spirit for the forgiveness of sins … ”

The mission was to reconcile, save us and the world through Jesus’ example, a life and ministry that was oriented toward, lived out and completed in the Cross and Resurrection.

The third point gives us the daily context of loving obedience as it discusses faith and good works. This was one “burning issue” of the reformation: Are we saved by faith or by good works? This Gospel passage would show that it is both.

It states that whoever believes in Jesus will not be condemned and thus will be saved. It is this faith in Jesus that enables us to do good works. It is our faith in Jesus that makes us His disciples, His followers.

As followers we share in His mission. We collaborate with Him. We collaborate in His mission. Our good works are done through, with and in Him.

This is done through loving obedience. Loving obedience is the greatest act of freedom. Loving obedience is the core of the Cross and Resurrection, the central mystery of our faith. —Contributed INQ