THE NATURE OF SIN

Sunday, third week of lent/2024
Reflection from Friar Nicholas Okeke,OP

Theme: The nature of sin

As we draw nearer to the paschal celebration of our Lord, the Church puts before us the consideration of the mystery of human sin. The mystery of sin is derived from the mystery of God and his goodness in creating rational creatures in his image. By the free will he gave to his rational creatures, they are able to resist and oppose the infinite goodness of God. This is the summary of the mystery of sin. Man by sinning, in collaboration with the evil one, is able to prevent God from dwelling in his temple within man. Subsequently, sin alienated man from God, from the true knowledge of himself, and from understanding the purpose of creation. Hence, God’s salvation offered to man entails mending the breach between God and man, rebuilding the temple of God within man, and reconciling man to himself and to his neighbour. The salvation history is about the reconstruction of the temple of God in us. The call of Abraham was the objective starting point of the endeavour. The deliverance of the children of Israel from slavery in Egypt and covenant with them was the second stage of the salvation history which is communal and community development. The ten Commandments formed the principle of development of the community of God and men. The commandments achieved the objectification of sin in man’s consciousness. Its purpose, as explained by St. Paul, was to reveal the nature of sin to man. The knowledge the heinous nature of sin was necessary for the solution of the problem which it constitutes in man.

Sin destroys the dwelling of God in man. It causes the spiritual death of man by separating him from God, who is man’s true life. God sent his only Begotten Son to reveal the Father to man. The Eternal Word of God is the true life of man, separated from him we die. Sin causes this separation by killing the spiritual man in us; and sin is essentially disobedience to the word of God. What we destroy by sinning, the Eternal Word rebuilds through our faith in him. Thus, the death of Jesus Christ is at the same time the demonstration of what we destroyed by our sin, and what is restored by faith in him. “While the Jews demand miracles and the Greeks look for wisdom, here are we preaching a crucified Christ; to the Jews an obstacle that they cannot get over, to the pagans madness, but to those who have been called, whether they are Jews or Greeks, a Christ who is the power and wisdom of God.” By our own power, we can never undo the effects of sin in our life. It is by believing in the word of God that we are rebuilt into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. Every temple we pretend to build for God to dwell turns out to be a temple for our idols we make in our own images. 

Only God can rebuild his temple within us destroyed by our disobedience. “Destroy this sanctuary, and in three days I will raise it up.” He rebuilds the spiritual temple within us in three days or ages of the spiritual life: the day of purification in which we are purified of self and its religious practices or idolatry, as he did today in the gospel; the day of illumination in which we come to know Jesus Christ and who he really is for us, after which we will have no doubt like the Jews who questioned him in the Temple about his purifying action; and the day of mystical union in which he will give himself in marriage to those he has purified. He did not trust him to those who believed in him in Jerusalem because he had not purified them.

Let us pray: Grant us, Lord, the grace to understand our sinfulness, and to submit wholeheartedly to the purification and healing graces of Jesus Christ.