Word to the Wise
Saturday, March 24, 2012 - 4th Week of Lent - Sat
[Jer 11:18-20 and John 7:40-53]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 man." 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."
At first, one might feel sorry for those guards. They are sent to do "the dirty work" for the "Pharisees and authorities!" They're supposed to arrest Jesus and bring him in, but they return empty-handed to the angry Pharisees! On the other hand, one should rejoice because it is clear that the guards have seen what the Pharisees and authorities cannot "see." The guards realize that Jesus is not an ordinary person, no matter where he might have been born or where he comes from!! Their words really sum up the mounting dramatic tension: "Never before has anyone spoken like this man!"
One might feel sorry for the Pharisees as well. Their frustration at Jesus' preaching and popularity defies their faith in their interpretation about the messiah/prophet. They have contempt for the faith of the "crowd." The caution of Nicodemus, who came to Jesus at night earlier in the gospel, is dismissed, and the last words of the passage are really ominous for them: "Then each went to his own house." Their blindness is collective and individual! The "crowd," the "guards," and even Nicodemus in all their imperfect faith are heading in the right direction...."Never before has anyone spoken like this man!"
We, too, have the opportunity to hear Jesus by picking up the Gospel of John and entering into the drama. After reading what is there and meditating about it, where do we find ourselves? Do we believe only in the "signs," or can we look beyond the "signs" to the person? When all is said and done, can we echo the guards and say, "Never before has anyone spoken like this man?" AMEN