Our Lord says in our gospel today to the crowd following Him,
“You will die in your sin.” (Jn 8:21,24) Sin is not just doing something bad.
Sin is, also, to enclose ourselves in on ourselves – to be wrapped up with
ourselves. Enclosed in on ourselves in our own petty problems and relying only
on human wisdom, we refuse to open ourselves to the horizons of God. This leads
to death. A life closed to God is no real life at all.
In Holy Scripture people are divided into two camps: those from above, who seek God’s ways,
and those from below, who seek
limited human goals. Sin is to refuse to allow oneself to be born again from
above, as Jesus told Nicodemus (Jn 3:3). The Jews, Jesus was speaking to, did
not believe in Jesus. Jesus’ life and Jesus’ message reflected a world of
transcendent values and goods – values and goods beyond this world. This did
not attract them. Speaking any more with those Jews who did not believe in Him
would have been a waste of time. They were closed; they were locked in on their
sin.
In this part of the Gospel Jesus gives witness to His own
divinity by using the expression “I AM” seven times. This was how God
designated Himself before Moses, and thus Jews called God “Yahweh”, that is,
“He who IS”. Jesus claims for Himself “I AM” which is a claim that should not
be applied to any creature. Jesus IS. But the fullest expression of who Jesus
IS will be when He is “lifted up”, that is, in His Crucifixion, His
Resurrection and in His Ascension.
Fr Ian
