RBWords

     The gospel passage today will make more sense to the reader if the whole of chapter seven of John is read!  The dramatic qualities of the Gospel of John are a frequent subject for my comment!  Chapter seven builds on the conflict between Jesus and the religious authorities with the "crowd" in between.  The crowd seems to sway back and forth between the words of Jesus and the prophetic traditions that the scribes and Pharisees thought they were upholding.  (Strangely enough, no one seems aware of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem!)  It is his origins in Nazareth in Galilee that blind the authorities.  It is his words that are thrilling the crowd!  "Never before has anyone spoken like this man...."  The guards that were sent to arrest him fall under his "spell" like the rest of the crowd, The scribes and Pharisees contemptuously dismiss everyone else by saying:  "But this crowd, which does not know the law is accursed."  They also dismiss Nicodemus (whom we meet back in chapter three when he comes "at night" to Jesus to ask questions) when he, who would know the law, also questions them.

     Jeremiah, a dramatic prophet if ever there was one, adds to the tension with his words about folks plotting against him.  But most of the "drama" will be played out over the next weeks in the daily gospel passages from the Gospel of John!  On Sunday, in those parishes that follow Cycle A for the RCIA program, the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead will be read, which further infuriates Jesus' adversaries.  The Cycle C passage concerns the woman caught in adultery, which will be the subject here.  In either case, Jesus comes face to face with the adversaries and pushes them further and further!

     Why wait till Holy Week to get involved in what is happening now?  The power of good drama is that it pulls us from the audience up onto the stage in our own minds and hearts.  The Gospel of John will do that if you let it!  AMEN