THE WORD
Jer 11,18-20 / Jn 7,40-53
Some in the crowd who heard these words said, “This is truly the Prophet.” Others said, “This is the Messiah.” But others said, “The Messiah will not come from Galilee, will he? Does not scripture say that the Messiah will be of David’s family and come from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?”
So a division occurred in the crowd because of him. Some of them even wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him. So the guards went to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why did you not bring him?” The guards answered, “Never before has anyone spoken like this one.” So the Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived? Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd, which does not know the law, is accursed.” Nicodemus, one of their members who had come to him earlier, said to them, “Does our law condemn a person before it first hears him and finds out what he is doing?” They answered and said to him, “You are not from Galilee also, are you? Look and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.” Then each went to his own house.
IN OTHER WORDS
I was writing this reflection at the time when the whole nation was talking about the death of the 44 members of the PNP Special Action Force (SAF) who had been killed while arresting a known terrorist allegedly residing in Mamasapano, Maguindanao. With the death of the Fallen 44, government officials and even ordinary citizens had varying reactions to the carnage. Some are blaming the MILF for the overkill while others are blaming the Commander-in-chief, holding him accountable for the attack. The PNP and AFP were even throwing blame at each other for the alleged non-coordination of the former and for not sending reinforcement, for the latter. Blame here.
Finger pointing there. Opinions everywhere.
But what if the 44 had not been killed? For sure, everybody would want credit and appreciation for it!
In today’s Gospel, we can see various reactions as to who Jesus was. In fact, it had caused division among those who had known him. Some believed that he was a prophet; some declared him as the Messiah while others confused his identity. The officers, who were instructed to arrest him, were amazed at how he spoke. For the chief priests and Pharisees, what Jesus was doing was a complete disrespect to their religion. In the latter part of the Gospel, we find Nicodemus having a mixed reaction: trying to defend Jesus and staying silent for fear of persecution. With such various reactions; they failed to understand the message of Jesus. They were so enclosed in their useless worries on Jesus’ identity rather than focusing on his message. Related to the reaction on the Fallen 44, we failed to see the message of such action – giving life for others to have peaceful lives! Jesus’ message is clear – salvation. We should not doubt the message by confusing who He is.
In this season of Lent, let us first examine ourselves. Are we ready to stand to defend Jesus amid the chaos of life? Am I making opinions about people or events in my life objectively and constructively?
- Fr. Bernard Abrazado, SVD | Calapan City, Mindoro
The Word in other words 2016
An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.
