UNCONDITIONAL YES TO JESUS!!!

UNCONDITIONAL YES TO JESUS!!!

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Lenten Weekday

By Lorenz S. Centino, Jr.

John 8: 51 - 59
51	Truly, truly, I say to you, if any one keeps my word, he will never see death."
52	The Jews said to him, "Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, as did the prophets; and you say, `If any one keeps my word, he will never taste death.'
53	Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you claim to be?"
54	Jesus answered, "If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing; it is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say that he is your God.
55	But you have not known him; I know him. If I said, I do not know him, I should be a liar like you; but I do know him and I keep his word.
56	Your father Abraham rejoiced that he was to see my day; he saw it and was glad."
57	The Jews then said to him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?"
58	Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am."
59	So they took up stones to throw at him; but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple.

PERSONAL REFLECTIONS:

A BLESSED THURSDAY TO ALL!!!

SALES TALK is very important to any venture of promoting something or persuading someone to do, believe or buy something. It is therefore aimed specifically to convince and sway someone on one’s side and influence someone in making a decision. This is a very important quality in any sales agent marketing a product to prospective buyers or consumers. Sales talk most of the time takes the form of SPECIAL OFFERS.

In the Gospel today Jesus is making his sales talk on something that people don’t have to buy but simply to freely accept and believe. He is promoting something that is for FREE. Jesus was OFFERING something very SPECIAL. But those who heard him were upset rather than being pleased or cheered up. They reacted to Jesus negatively by attempting to throw stones at him. This could have shown how troubled and outraged they were. Jesus had told them the KEY to ultimate CONTENTMENT and BLESSEDNESS. Jesus told them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, if any one keeps my word, he will never see death."

The people cannot take passively Jesus’ words. They cannot just dismiss it without much reacting strongly for they thought Jesus was possessed by a demon. They compared Jesus to Abraham and the prophets who have tasted death. They must have considered Jesus CRAZY, out of his mind to make such a claim that anyone who will abide by his word will never die. This is not surprising a reaction from the Jews who consider Abraham as the father of their FAITH and the prophets as the guardians and nurturer of their faith. Both Abraham and the prophets were not spared from the power of death. Moreover, Thomas one of the twelve close associates of Jesus did not even believe at once when told that Jesus came back to life from death. He cannot take the news that Jesus is ALIVE without any physical proof!

As we are about to enter the Holy Week, let us examine ourselves. Do we surrender and submit ourselves completely to the WORD of Jesus without any qualms and hesitations? Are we still looking for clear answers to all our questions about Jesus that we have some reservations on our commitment to him? FAITH does not depend on complete comprehension and understanding. Faith thrives not in COMPLETE KNOWLEDGE ABOUT Jesus. Faith rather thrives in our COMPLETE SUBMISSION to the WORD and TESTIMONY of Jesus. Faith does not thrive on PERCEPTIBLE evidence and APPARENT proof of what is claimed or proposed by Jesus. Faith rather thrives in SURRENDERING ONESELF to the AUTHORITY of Jesus as GOD SPEAKING to us. Faith is then primarily our RESPONSE of UNCONDITIONAL YES to Jesus.