“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” John 3:16
Arguable one of the most well known verses in all the Bible for a Christian. You see this verse written on banners at sporting events and even in protests. This was one of the verses that awestruck me when I came back to my faith for the first time. Twenty years ago, I sat at my desk and read these words – oh the impact they had on me.
Imagine if you will, just for a moment, that it is you, not Nicodemus, sitting in front of Jesus as He speaks these tremendous words. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son..”. As He looks into your eyes, Holy Eyes of Love gazing into your soul, you know He is telling you, “God so loves YOU that I came that you may believe and live forever.”
This scene in the show “The Chosen” really hit me hard. I was brought to tears as Jesus said “and as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up”, “that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
This is Jesus Himself speaking through time, into your heart, His Divine Mercy. If you but gaze upon Jesus upon the cross and believe, you will be saved. If you just believe and trust His words, you have nothing to fear. And, trust further in the immensity of His Divine Mercy for He came that “the world might be saved through Him.” Not condemned, not judged and cast into the fiery pit – saved.
Jesus is telling you that His Divine Mercy and the Father’s plan of Mercy is big enough to save the WHOLE world. It is big enough to save you, no matter how far you’ve wandered.
I am the first to praise His Mercy for I am the least deserving of it. The sins I’ve committed in my life, I spent 34 years slandering God, spitting on His face, denying His very existence, and so much more of which I am ashamed. But, Jesus didn’t care. He pursued me through my darkness, spoke to me through my deafness and opened my eyes from blindness. He raised me from the dead.
So, when I read these words and look upon the Cross of St. Benedict, hanging on my wall, I am overwhelmed. I am unworthy, but to Jesus, I am worth dying for. He tells me, “one drop of My Precious Blood is enough to save all the world, and I shed it all for you.”
I know that we’re in a Road of Faith series on praise, this reflection is not a break in that series.
When I think that God sent Jesus to earth to teach me, lead me and die for me that I may believe and be washed clean of all my past failures and sins, how can I keep from praising His Holy Name?
So. when you see me with my hands raised in praise at the upcoming Praise Nation Festival of Praise, know that it is precisely because Jesus spoke these words to me and then, proved them all in His Divine Mercy that I praise.
Jesus speaks to you today and says, “son/daughter, God so loved you…” Trust and Believe! Find a crucifix and believe that He loves you that much. Trust His Mercy, trust His love. Then, let that feeling burst from your soul.
Praise Nation Festival of Praise is October 17, 2020 at St. Albert the Great in Pgh at 5:30PM. Praise Nation is ‘Coming Home’.
Come Home to God, no matter where you have been, where you are, or what you’ve done. He is calling out to you in these words, “for God so loved the world, He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” Everyone! Even the lost and dead soul.
As a side note, I highly recommend the series, “The Chosen”. It isn’t perfect, but, it shows scenes like this and others that will call you heart to awaken.