Message of Abbot Paul - Tuesday 18th April 2023
Abbot Paul • April 17, 2023
Yesterday we began reading the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus, although Nicodemus does little more than ask a few short questions, as in today’s Gospel passage, (Jn 3: 7-15). Jesus reiterates what he has already said to Nicodemus, that we need to be born once more from above, born again of the Holy Spirit. Nicodemus asks, “How can that be possible?” To this Jesus replies, “You, a teacher in Israel, and you do not know these things!” He then goes on to say:
“I tell you most solemnly,
we speak only about what we know
and witness only to what we have seen
and yet you people reject our evidence.
If you do not believe me when I speak about things in this world,
how are you going to believe me
when I speak to you about heavenly things?
No one has gone up to heaven
except the one who came down from heaven,
the Son of Man who is in heaven;
and the Son of Man must be lifted up
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,
so that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”
Jesus insists that he is not making things up, that he only speaks of what he sees and knows to be true, that he is the only one to have come down from heaven to reveal the hidden things of heaven. What is more, he has come, the Son of Man, who must be lifted up as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so that whoever believes in him and relies on his healing power, the power to forgive, will have eternal life.
As we know this was accomplished by Jesus in his passion, death and resurrection. We recall and celebrate these each day in our daily Eucharist, when the mystery of salvation becomes a reality in our lives.
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