Word to the Wise
Friday, April 5, 2019 - 4th Week of Lent - Fri
[Wis 2:1a, 12-22 and John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30]"Is he not the one they are trying to kill? And look, he is speaking openly and they say nothing to him. Could the authorities have realized that he is the Christ? But we know where he is from. When the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from." [John]
One of the major themes of the Gospel According to John is simply that Jesus is the one whom God has sent. In today's gospel scripture, there is an argument among "the Jews" about this because there was a tradition in certain circles that the origins of the Messiah would be mysterious, and everyone knew Jesus was from Galilee! The irony in all of this is that Jesus' true origin is from God and not from Galilee. He says, 'You know me and also know where I am from. Yet I did not come on my own, but the one who sent me, whom you do not know, is true. I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me."
The preconceived notions of people about the way in which God will act can often be obstacles to faith. To argue about Jesus' geographic origin is to miss the point entirely! There was considerable prejudice in Jerusalem against Galileans who were suspected of being less than faithful Jews because they lived among pagans. In the courtyard of the high priest after Jesus' arrest, Peter is accused of being one of Jesus' followers because the Galilean accent was apparently distinct! [Matt. 26:73]. To be a Galilean was to be considered an ignorant country boy.
Are we able to look beyond appearances and accents to see the One whom God has sent? AMEN