MY daily reflection and prayer:
Sarurday, March 12, 2016
The Fourth Week of Lent
Dear my friends,
Here is the Gospel for us today according to St. John 7:40-53
When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This is really the prophet.” Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee? Has not the scripture said that the Christ is descended from David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” So there was a division among the people over him. Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him. The officers then went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” The officers answered, “No man ever spoke like this man!” The Pharisees answered them, “Are you led astray, you also? Have any of the authorities or of the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd, who do not know the law, are accursed.” Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” They replied, “Are you from Galilee too? Search and you will see that no prophet is to rise from Galilee.” They went each to his own house.
This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.
***
The Gospel today tells us about two sides of a paradoxical reaction to Jesus. On the one hand, people believe that Jesus is a really the prophet and even the Christ; but on the other hand the chief priests and the Pharisees reject him. Even some of them want to arrest and to kill him.
I am interested in how Nicodemus defends Jesus Christ. He is one of the Pharisees who stands for Jesus Christ. He says to the Pharisees, “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” He can say it for he has gone to him before and heard him by night (see John 3:1-21). [He also would come to bring a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight for the body of Jesus after his death on the cross (be)for(e)burying him.(see John 19:39-40)]
The Pharisees, however, are not even willing to believe in Jesus Christ and hear him out. Their stubborness leads them to error. It also leads them to malice. They have already made up their minds to accuse him of willful deception.
In the Perpetual Adoration of the Eucharist, while adoring Jesus Christ, we learn to stand for Jesus Christ, although it may provoke deception and opposition. It may even entail suffering and hardship for us, such as the loss of our job and reputation, or even our lives.
Let’s pray: Lord Jesus Christ, you are open to all who sincerely seek you. So we seek you now, through this adoration. Help us to trust in you and to stand for you now and forever. Amen.
Kredit foto: Ilustrasi (Ist)
