Where do you belong -- to what is ‘above’ or what is ‘down below’? Jesus said to the Pharisees: “I am going away, and you will look for me, but you will die in your sin. Where I am going you cannot come.” Jesus is saying this today because the Pharisees didn’t want to admit that they also needed repentance and forgiveness. Their hearts were just too hard to admit that. And for someone who lives in such pride and thinks that there is no repentance for him or her, there is no place in heaven. That’s why Jesus continues by saying: “You belong to what is below, I belong to what is above. You belong to this world, but I do not belong to this world. That is why I told you that you will die in your sins.” This is a warning to all of us too, and if we want to belong where Christ resides, to what is above, we simply need to admit our sinfulness and keep asking for forgiveness. We need to be humble, not proud.
