Gospel: John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30
After this, Jesus went around Galilee; he would not go about in Judea, because the Jews wanted to kill him. Now the Jewish feast of the Tents was at hand.But after his brothers had gone to the festival, he also went up, not publicly but in secret.Some of the people of Jerusalem said, “Is this not the man they want to kill? And here he is speaking freely, and they don’t say a word to him? Can it be, that the rulers know that this is really the Christ? Yet we know where this man comes from; but when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from.”So Jesus announced in a loud voice in the temple court where he was teaching, “You say that you know me and know where I come from! I have not come of myself; I was sent by the One who is true, and you don’tknow him. I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me.” They would have arrested him, but no one laid hands on him because his time had not yet come.
Reflections
“I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me.” The enemies of Jesus presume they know where the Messiah comes from. They base their knowledge on their own tentative interpretations. At this time Jesus is at large because he violated the Sabbath and claimed to be equal to God.The Jews look for him during the Feast of Tents (or Booths) which celebrates the forty-year wandering of the Hebrew people in the Sinai desert before entering the Promised Land. Every male Jew is required to attend this. They are on the look out to arrest him. They do not tolerate his grave offenses. It is bad for their religion if he is not contained and disciplined.In the Temple, Jesus in a loud voice disproves that the authorities know about the Messiah and where he is coming from. They are all wrong. He is the Messiah, “christos“ in Greek. He comes from God. He is sent by God. He has been laying his claims on this by making signs (miracles). There is no need for further scrutiny or debate.Present authorities can be so brutal or extra careful if they are not sure of what they know or do. They will silence an innocent man for their comfort.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2019
