“Why does he say that we can’t come where he is going? Will he kill himself?”
But Jesus said, “You are from below and I am from above; you are of this world and
I am not of this world. That is why I told you that you will die in your sins. And you shall
die in your sins, unless you believe that I am He.”
They asked him, “Who are you?”; and Jesus said, “Just what I have told you from the
beginning. I have much to say about you and much to condemn; but the One who sent me
is truthful and everything I learned from him, I proclaim to the world.”
They didn’t understand that Jesus was speaking to them about the Father. So Jesus said,
“When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He and that I do
nothing of myself, but I say just what the Father taught me. He who sent me is with me
and has not left me alone; because I always do what pleases him.”
As Jesus spoke like this, many believed in him.
Reflect
Many years ago, a friend asked me this question: “Don’t you think it’s odd that Christians
wear crosses? After all, the cross is an instrument of torture and death. Jesus died on a cross.
Yet we wear it like jewelry.”
Perhaps that was what the Israelites thought when Moses presented them with a bronze
serpent set on a pole. They were supposed to look on the image of the serpent that had killed
many of their family and friends. Yet, though the power of God, looking on this image brought
healing to those who had been bitten.
Similarly, we look upon the cross on which our Lord was raised up. Through his sacrificial
death, willingly accepted, he destroyed death forever. United with Christ, we can share in
his victory over death. We look upon (and wear) the image of the cross, knowing that, through
the power of God, it will bring us healing and eternal life.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2023