John 8:21-30
There are two things that stand out in this passage; Jesus’ high level of acceptance of how he was going to die, so much so that he was free in talking about it with the very ones who would take him to his death. This came from the fact that he understood God’s Love, in that he knew Yahweh as a Steadfast God, who watched his back, and would never let him down. Mary had asked the angel, how she would become a mother, that too of God, and she was given an answer. In the same thought process we can understand that God had already shown Jesus the path he would have to take, to the cross. But also that the path did not end there, but proceeded to the resurrection.
The second thing which jumps out is the non understanding/confusion that Jesus’ listeners will have to endure, when they hear his teachings. He himself gives us the key to understanding his teachings and his intentions. That key is accepting Jesus for who he truly is – the ‘Son of God’. Once you open yourself to this fact, you totally understand Jesus’ words in their proper context, bringing us correct understanding. In John 3; Jesus says the same thing to Nicodemus, “unless you are ‘reborn’ of water and spirit, meaning, unless you discard your principles of understanding life around you, giving them up in favour of Jesus’ Worldview, and to see things correctly, else we will always fail to understand Jesus’ Ministry. Those who fail in this regard, though they may call Jesus Lord, they hold back things from Jesus. because they fully do not understand Jesus, fully, because he is a question mark to them.
Christian Baptism is precisely a call to discard, leave aside and abandon all philosophies of life we may have acquired, and to put on a new one, that which Jesus gives. Let’s understand it this way, till the moment of Baptism, we may have acquired spectacles, which are coloured. And everything that we see and understand is based on these spectacles that we have been wearing. But Christian Baptism demands that we discard these and wear the spectacles which Jesus provides, which are colourless, showing us the truth, reality and things around us for what they really are. So let us this Lent, pray and discard every philosophy that masquerades as coming from Jesus’, sit at the feet of Christ, read his words (Bible), take them in conversation with Jesus, asking him to enlighten our minds to the Truth, and be reborn of Spirit and Truth.
