Word to the Wise
Saturday, April 9, 2011 - 4th Week of Lent - Sat
[Jer 11:18-20 and John 7:40-53]Some in the crowd who heard these words of Jesus said, "This is truly the Prophet." Others said, "This is the Christ," But others said, "The Christ will not come from Galilee, will he? Does not Scripture say that the Christ will be of David's family and come from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?"
Credentials, certificates, diplomas, transcripts, testimonial letters......these are the stuff of "qualification" or "eligibility." These are the things that open doors to various opportunities in today's world. But they are nothing new. Yesterday we saw how Jesus submitted the "testimony" of John the Baptist, God the Father, "works" and scriptures on his behalf! Today we see that some in the "crowd" were convinced by this, but others raised the issue of "origins." They were aware, as were the scribes in Herod's day when the Magi showed up looking for the "newborn King of the Jews, of the prophecy that the Messiah would come from Bethlehem in Judaea [Micah 5:1,Mt. 2:5-6], and Jesus claimed Nazareth and Capernaum as home! These villages are in Galilee! No doubt the controversy in the "crowd" is what led the guards to have second thoughts about arresting Jesus. They put it rather well when they said, "Never before has anyone spoken like this man!"
It becomes clear that the opponents of Jesus are going to play every card they could play: breaking the sabbath, blasphemy (for saying that he and the Father are one), and invalid credentials! Eventually they would play the political card with Pilate by claiming that Jesus sought to make himself superior to Caesar! As far as Pilate would be concerned, all the other "credentials" meant nothing to him. [As he said, "Am I a Jew?] Only the political question mattered (even though he had his doubts that Jesus was a serious threat).
The plots and debates and controversy are part of the building dramatic tension that leads us toward the events of Holy Week. Once more, and every year, we have a choice as believers. We can be passive observers of a passing calendar observance, or we can become participants in the events of our salvation. We can take on any role we want. We can debate about Jesus' credentials. We can be one of the guards. We can be one of the opponents. We can be Nicodemus who tries to defend Jesus. We can be Peter who denies Jesus, Thomas who doubts, Mary Magdalen who proclaims the resurrection......the possibilities are many. No matter which role we take, we can ask ourselves about Jesus' "credentials" and decide if he is truly the Christ! AMEN
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