A reading from the holy Gospel according to John
Jesus, knowing everything that was going to happen to him, went out and said to them, “Whom are you looking for?” They answered him, “Jesus the Nazorean.” He said to them, “I AM.” Judas his betrayer was also with them. When he said to them, “I AM,” they turned away and fell to the ground. So he again asked them, “Whom are you looking for?” They said, “Jesus the Nazorean.” Jesus answered, “I told you that I AM.”
In the Lord’s Passion, Jesus refers to himself as I AM from the moment the chief priests and Pharisees come looking for him to his moment of death, when he says, “It is finished.” In his self-declaration as I AM, Jesus identifies himself as God. When Pilate tells Jesus that his own nation has handed him over to him and asks what Jesus has done, Jesus replies: “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here.” Again, when Pilate tells Jesus he has the power to release him or crucify him, Jesus says, “You would have no power over me if it had not been given to you from above.” So it is the eternal God, the creator of the universe, God who loved us into existence and whose Son is one with him, who died on the cross to take away our sins. As Isaiah says in the first reading of the servant, the Son of God: “he shall take away the sins of many, and win pardon for their offenses.”
God, considering your Son on this day of his Passion, I fumble for words. What do I say to you? It’s the way I might feel when approaching a great or saintly person, yet there is added to that the sorrow of death and loss of a beloved one, your Son. It is your grace I need to help me expand and deepen my understanding of the passion. Saint Paul encourages me to come to you for that grace. Let me remember his words throughout the day: “So let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help.” To find grace in you, God—I know you desire that and that you thirst for me to come to you. From the cross, Jesus said, “I thirst.” Let me hear your voice today and come to you to receive your mercy.
Let your face shine upon your servant; save me in your kindness. Take courage and be stouthearted, all you who hope in the LORD. Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.