by Fr. Tommy Lane
In some parts of the world, if you pass by the emergency department of a hospital you will see something you do not see here. At the entrance to the emergency department, you see large posters with photographs or pictures of the venomous snakes in that locality. If one gets bitten by a snake, one has to go immediately to the emergency department and, if possible, identify the type of snake in order to get the antivenom. Anyone who has ever lived in such an area knows people who were bitten, for example, when they startled a snake hiding in their back yard or when out walking in a secluded area.
In today’s Gospel Jesus said to Nicodemus,
Just as Moses lifted
up the serpent in the desert,
so must the Son of Man be lifted
up,
so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life
(John 3:14-15)
Jesus is referring to an incident described in the Book of Numbers (21:6-9). When the Israelites were wandering through the desert after leaving Egypt on the way to Canaan, many were bitten by snakes and died. The Lord said to Moses to make a serpent out of bronze and put it on a pole and anyone bitten who looked at it would recover. Again, Jesus words are,
Just as Moses lifted
up the serpent in the desert,
so must the Son of Man be lifted
up,
so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.
(John 3:14-15)
The salvation the snake-bitten Israelites received from looking at a bronze serpent on a pole anticipated the salvation we all receive from Jesus on the cross. The antivenom, so to speak, the salvation for our sins, comes from Jesus on the cross. The Son of Man had to be lifted up so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life (John 3:15).
Then in today’s Gospel we have the famous verse,
For God so loved the
world that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in
him might not perish
but might have eternal life. (John 3:16)
We see this salvation from the cross in the image of Divine Mercy. Two rays of light stream from Jesus’ heart, one red and one white. This recalls what we read in John’s Gospel when Jesus died. A soldier pierced Jesus’ side with his spear and blood and water flowed out (John 19:34). When a person dies, the right auricle of the heart fills with blood but not the left side. This means the soldier pierced Jesus’ heart with his lance from the right. John makes a little fuss over the blood and water, saying there is eyewitness testimony to it (John 19:35). John emphasizes it because the early Church understood the blood and water symbolizing the sacraments coming to us from Jesus on the cross; the blood and water signifying the sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist. All our life of grace comes to us from Christ on the cross.
This gift of our salvation from God is completely unmerited on our part. We do not deserve this because of our sins. We did not earn salvation from God. It is all a gift to us from God. As our second reading from the Letter to the Ephesians said,
For by grace you have
been saved through faith,
and this is not from you; it is the
gift of God. (Eph 2:8)
God gives this gift to us because he loves us. Again, as our second reading today says,
God, who is rich in
mercy,
because of the great love he had for us,
even when we
were dead in our transgressions,
brought us to life with Christ.
(Eph 2:4-5)
This gift from God to us cost a huge amount. It cost God his Son.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son. (John 3:16)
God prevented Abraham from sacrificing his son Isaac, but God sacrificed his son Jesus for our salvation. You might sometimes hear someone saying that something is deeper than Christianity and Catholicism. Just because something such as an ancient burial ground is older than Christianity does not mean it is deeper. You will find nothing deeper than God loving the world so much that he gave his only Son for us. That is the deepest of all.
Contemplating all that God has done for us, it is a great sadness when people do not love God, are indifferent towards God and basically ignore God. This is what Jesus said to St. Faustina concerning lukewarm souls:
These souls wound my heart most painfully. My soul suffered the most dreadful loathing in the Garden of Olives because of lukewarm souls. They were the reason I cried out: “Father, take this cup away from me, if it be your will.” For them, the last hope of salvation is to flee to my mercy. (Diary of St. Faustina §1228)
On the other hand, Jesus said to St. Faustina concerning devout and faithful souls:
These souls brought me consolation on the Way of the Cross. They were that drop of consolation in the midst of an ocean of bitterness. (Diary of St. Faustina §1214)
So, contemplating that God loved us so much that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life, that Jesus had to be lifted up so that all who believe in him may have eternal life, we do not want to be among those who made Jesus cry out that his cup be taken from him. Instead, we want to be Jesus’ consolation on the way to Calvary.
© Fr. Tommy Lane 2021
This homily was delivered in a parish in Ireland.
More Homilies for the Fourth Sunday of Lent Year B
Related: light came into the world Inexplicable light in form of embryo in Guadalupe
Light of Jesus on the shroud of Turin
Second reading: saved by grace through faith