From the Gospel according to John Jn 3:13-17

Jesus said to Nicodemus:“No one has gone up to heavenexcept the one who has come down from heaven, the Son of Man.And 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.”

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,so that everyone who believes in him might not perishbut might have eternal life.For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,but that the world might be saved through him.

 

WORDS OF THE HOLY FATHER

Jesus lifted up on the Cross. Moses makes a serpent and lifts him up. Jesus will be lifted up, like the serpent, to give salvation. But the crux of the prophecy is precisely that Jesus became sin for us. He did not sin: He made Himself sin. As St Peter says in his Letter: 'He took our sins upon Himself' (cf. 1 Peter 2:24) And when we look at crucifix, we think of the suffering Lord: all that is true. But we stop before we get to the centre of that truth: at this moment, You seem to be the greatest sinner, You have made Yourself sin. You have taken upon Yourself all our sins, You have annihilated Yourself until now. The Cross, it is true, is a torment, there is the vengeance of the doctors of the Law, of those who did not want Jesus: all this is true. But the truth that comes from God is that He came into the world to take our sins upon Himself to the point of becoming sin. All sin. Our sins are there. We must get used to looking at the crucifix in this light, which is the truest light; it is the light of redemption. (Santa Marta, 31 March 2020)