Saturday of the 5th Week of Lent
Eze 37:21-28
Jn 11:45-56
…Jesus was to die for the nation — and not for the nation only, but to gather together in unity the scattered children of God.
My son has a children’s book that explains why Jesus came into the world, and in the story, the mother is explaining to her child that Jesus came for all of us. The child thinks for a moment and then asks if Jesus also came for the mean and grumpy children in her playgroup, which her mother affirms. Jesus came for all of us, says the mother.
Today, we are reminded of Jesus’ sacrifice for the world. I am reminded of a beautiful but bittersweet verse in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” In this verse, we see that God gave us Jesus. In a child’s mind, when you give them something, they see it as a present. But as we know, this was also God giving up His only Son. He is both the present and the sacrifice. He came for the world, says the verse, for anyone who would believe in Him, and yes even the ‘grumpy’ and ‘mean’ people.
Which brings us to the irony of today’s reading, spoken by none other than the high priest Caiaphas himself, who wishes to condemn Jesus. Whether by the power of the Holy Spirit or otherwise, Caiaphas prophesies that Jesus’s death would bring together the world. Of course, the real message is hidden from the chief priests and Pharisees; but, I wonder if after the events had happened, whether they would reflect on it and ponder about the truth of Caiaphas’ prophecy.
While the Pharisees had a very narrow and misinterpreted view of Jesus’ sacrifice, we — with the wisdom of hindsight — can see that God had a bigger plan for the whole world, and for each of us. God may manifest Himself differently in each of our lives, and at different times of our lives, but ultimately, there is only one goal, and that is to bring us all home to His everlasting love.
“There shall be one shepherd for them all,” says the first reading. One shepherd to guide his flock, one shepherd to guard his flock. One shepherd to find the lost and bring them back to the fold. Yet, none of these shall be made a sacrifice except for the Lamb of God himself.
(Today’s OXYGEN by Annette Soo)
Prayer: Lord, I pray that we will never forget the sacrifice that You made for us, the blood that You poured out for us. Even till the very end, we could not understand and sometimes, we still don’t. I pray that we won’t be stubborn to our own beliefs but help us see Your bigger picture in our lives.
Thanksgiving: Heavenly Father, there are no words that would be enough to describe the depth of Your love for us, when You planned this sacrifice for the world. Thank you for loving us so much.
OXYGEN 
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