FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT YEAR "B"

FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT    Cycle “B”

John 3, 14 -21: “God so loved the world”

One day in a ten-storey building the lift got stuck between two floors. The manager of the building was informed and he immediately rushed up the stairs to the grill work under the stalled car and called to the trapped passenger, “Keep cool, sir, we’ll have you out soon. I’ve called for the lift mechanic.”  So he kept on assuring the trapped passenger. The passenger got tired and shouted back, “Will you please shut up; I am the lift mechanic.”  This gives you an idea of the people of Israel. They were trapped in the sins of their making, like idolatry, and could not help themselves. God’s punishment descended on his people in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple.  Yet this tragic history ended on an optimistic note.  God chose Cyrus, king of Persia, as his instrument of Israel’s liberation.  A very unexpected choice, since Cyrus was a non-Jew, a gentile. The prophet Isaiah would call Cyrus “the anointed one, the messiah.”  Similarly, the Jews never expected more than a prophet to be their final Messiah, a prophet with political acumen and military might.  So it was quite a surprise for Nicodemus, the Pharisee, to learn from Jesus that “God sent his own Son”, and not in the way that the Jews expected.

Let us focus on old Nicodemus a little.  His conversation with the Lord was held under the cover of darkness. He’d rather not be seen by his fellows in the company of this wandering preacher.  He had too much to lose. He would remain at best a closet Christian all his life.  Nicodemus thought he was in the presence of a teacher when actually he was encountering the Light of the world. He came secretly by night and found himself obliged to choose between the light and darkness. On the evidence of the miracles wrought, he believed that God was with Jesus, but then discovers that God is in him.  Jesus calls on him to face  and do the truth.  Truth is the depth of our being, the point of encounter between the event and eternity, the point where anguish merges into the courage to be.  A decision for or against truth is a matter of life and death.  We either discover the real meaning of life and the whole structure, or remain content with superficiality and the trivial.  The German mystic, Gertrude von LaFort once said, “It is better to die for the truth made for us by God than to live by lies fabricated by ourselves. And the Danish philosopher, Kierkegaarde, said, “It is so much easier to become a Christian when you are not one than to become one when you assume you already are.”

There is a long and arduous journey from mere external knowledge to interior faith, from a merely favourable attitude towards Jesus to an attachment to the Father and the gift of life he bestows. True faith is more than mere benevolence or religiosity.

Jesus, lifted up on the cross, is a challenge to every man and woman, for on each one’s response to this revelation of the God who is love, depends his salvation or condemnation.  Christ is Saviour or Judge according to each one’s acceptance or rejection of him.

How could anyone reject Jesus Christ, since his sending by the Father was for  very love of us. Let me end with a story.

An Anglican minister who recent lost his wife took his seven-year old daughter with him Europe. They were crossing the ocean on a ship, and one of the passengers learned he was a minister. The captain came to him and asked if he would conduct the Sunday services. “I do not know what denomination you are”, the Captain said, “but I wish you would speak on the love of God.” This was a difficult topic for the minister, who was still in deep grief over the loss of his wife. But because he had survived this test of faith, he was able to stand before the people and talk about the immeasurable love of Christ. After lunch he and his daughter were standing on the deck, leaning on the railing.  The little girl said, “Daddy, you said that God loves us. How much does god love us ?”  “More than anybody,” answered the father.  “Daddy, does God love us as Mummy loved us ?”  The father answered yes, then looked out over the ocean. He said, “Look. Look in that direction. God’s love extends farther than that.”  Pointing in the opposite direction over endless miles of ocean, he said, “Look the other way. God’s love is greater than that.”  Pointing at the sky he said, “God’s love is higher than that,” and down at the ocean, “God’s love is deeper than that.”  Biting her lip to hold back the tears, the little girl said, “Daddy, isn’t it wonderful that we are standing out here in the middle of it.”

AN  INSPIRATIONAL:

Love is an attitude  -  love is a prayer,

For a soul in sorrow, a heart in despair.

Love is good wishes for the gain of another,

Love suffers long with the fault of a brother.

Love gives water to a cup that runs dry,

Love reaches low, as it can reach high.

Seeks not her own at expense of another,

Love reaches God when it reaches our brother.

St. Thomas’ Church,

Calcutta