Word to the Wise
Saturday, April 5, 2025 - 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." [John]
The scribes and Pharisees were frustrated. They sent temple guards to arrest Jesus and the guards came back empty-handed! Their excuse is a profound one: "Never before has anyone spoken like this man." Even Nicodemus speaks timidly for at least giving Jesus due process! He left in darkness after chatting with Jesus earlier in the gospel. He will join Joseph of Arimathea in burying Jesus - a journey of faith. The scribes and Pharisees are trapped in their interpretative world. Jesus was from Galilee and no prophet was supposed to have come from there!
Light and darkness, belief and unbelief, life and death are gathering tension as the days move toward Holy Week. Jeremiah's lament about people plotting against him were later seen as a foretelling of the plotting of the Jewish authorities against Jesus. Their integrity will be challenged this Sunday in the story of the woman caught in adultery. Where are we in all of this? Can it just be a story of something that happened long ago? Jesus' words are very challenging. "Never before has anyone spoken like this man!" If those words become "too challenging," do we simply remove Jesus from consideration? Is this being done not only individually but politically and nationally and internationally? Maybe we should talk to the guards about their experience! AMEN