GOD’S WORD FOR THE DAY (based on Catholic Liturgical Readings)
DATE: 4TH APRIL 2017
TUESDAY OF THE FIFTH WEEK OF LENT
FIRST READING: Numbers 21:4-9
PSALM: Psalm 102:2-3, 16-18, 19-2
GOSPEL: John 8:21-30
THEME: THE BITE OF SIN
The pain of losing a loved one who passes away is deep when one discovers that the cause of death is both preventable and curable e.g. malaria. Similarly, on the spiritual plane, it is a tragedy when a loved one dies in sin. This is because sin is both preventable and curable.
The sin of the Israelites, as recounted in our First Reading, could have been avoided if they had exercised some level of restraint and patience during their sojourn in the desert. Unfortunately, they lost self-control. With their patience worn out by the journey, they complained against God and Moses. This opened the door for fiery serpents to invade them. God, however, provided a cure for the bite of sin. He tells Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he shall live” (Num 21:8). They were healed not because of the bronze serpent in itself but because they obeyed what God had asked them to do — faith in the Word of God.
In our Gospel text, Jesus tells the Jews, primarily the Pharisees, “you will die in your sins unless you believe that I am he” (Jn 8:24). The expression “I am” carries with it an undertone of the name of the Lord God revealed to Moses at the burning bush. Hence, in the person of Jesus, the Lord God who brought healing to the Israelites in the desert, offers healing to all those who have been bitten by sin.
A sinner is a spiritually sick person. When a physically sick person refuses to see a doctor or take any medication, he/she risks dying. Similarly, a sinner who rejects Jesus puts himself/herself in a deadly situation.
In Christ, there is a solution to sin. Are you planning to sin. Halt! It is preventable. Have you sinned? Courage! It is curable. Jesus is God’s answer to every sin. He is both the doctor and the medicine for the bite of sin.
PRAYER: By my sins Lord, I have opened the door to evil in my life. Deliver me from death and set me free. Amen
Andrews Obeng, svd
DIVINE WORD MISSIONARIES
BIBLICAL PASTORAL MINISTRY
(Ghana Province)
“May the darkness of sin and the night of unbelief vanish before the light of the Word and the Spirit of grace. And may the heart of Jesus live in the hearts of all people” (St. Arnold Janssen).