Dying in Sin?

Tuesday, April 8, 2025

Nm 21:4-9; Jn 8: 21-30

Today’s Gospel highlights the difference between healing by faith and dying in sin.

Why would Jesus say that those who reject him will die in their sins? Has he lost hope in them? Or is he exposing the truth about who his haters are?

Jesus exposes the truth about his haters by giving two reasons. 

1.Those who hated Jesus rejected his person and discredited his testimony. By their disbelief, they prove where they belong (to this world!). Here, when Jesus refers to himself as ‘I AM,’ it reminds us of the call narrative of Moses, where God reveals His identity to be ‘I am who am’ (Ex 3:14). 

2. Jesus predicts his passion and death through the phrase ‘lifting up of the Son of Man,’ which results from people’s rejection of him. Here one can see the desperation in the words of Jesus. However, what consoles him is the awareness that the God who sent him is his constant companion who holds him up always. 

But as Jesus asks, ‘Should the haters of Jesus die in their sin? Paraphrasing the question, we may as well ask ourselves, ‘Should we die in our sin?’

By disbelieving Jesus, we declare our choice against God, hardly realizing that our faith provides healing not only from our sins but also from our ignorance. 

Let us pray that we may be healed by our faith and embrace the everlasting life. 

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar