Friday of Week 4 of Lent – Gospel

Commentary on John 7:1-2,10,25-30

In today’s Gospel we move to the 7th chapter of John, skipping chapter 6 on the Bread of Life, which will be read at another time in the liturgical cycle. We are told that Jesus was confining his activities to Galilee. He did not want to go to Judea and the vicinity of Jerusalem because there were people there who wanted to kill him. Jesus does not expose himself unnecessarily to danger. He knows that a time is coming when the final conflict will be inevitable, but that time is not yet.

It is the time of the Feast of Tabernacles and (though not contained in today’s reading) his family are urging him to go up to Jerusalem for the feast and show himself to the world. He tells them the time is not ripe for him to do this, but later on, after his family have left for the city, he goes privately and unbeknown to others. However, in Jerusalem, Jesus goes to the Temple area and begins to teach openly, to the amazement of his listeners:

How does this man have such learning, when he has never been taught? (John 5:15)

A marvelous example of Johannine irony—the Word does not need to study the Word!

Jesus is a source of some confusion in the minds of many people. On the one hand, the people are aware that Jesus has become a target of their religious leaders, and yet he goes about openly and speaking freely and without fear.

Jesus would not be Jesus if he were to keep his message to himself. The Word of God cannot remain silent. On the other hand, the people are also confused about the identity of Jesus. Is he allowed to speak freely because the leaders now believe he really is the Messiah-Christ? But everyone knows where Jesus comes from (Nazareth in Galilee). How, then, can he be the Messiah?

Jesus then tells them:

You know me, and you know where I am from.

That is only partially true; rather, they think they know.

I have not come on my own. But the one who sent me is true…I know him because I am from him, and he sent me.

And, if they do not know the Father, how can they know the Son? And vice versa.

This only angers his listeners who know what he is implying, but they cannot arrest him there and then because “his hour had not yet come.” The time of his arrest will only be in accordance with God’s plan.

Do we really know who Jesus is? There are many conflicting opinions out there. We can only know the real Jesus by reading the Scriptures under wise and perceptive guides who can help us penetrate the deeper meaning beneath the literal text. We can also learn a lot by prayer and contemplation. Lent is an excellent time for us to do both and, better still, to begin making it a practice that goes far beyond Lent.

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Friday of Week 4 of Lent – First Reading

Commentary on Wisdom 2:1,12-22

Today’s reading comes from early on in the Book of Wisdom, in a passage describing life as seen by the godless (the “ungodly”, see chap 1). We often feel that if we are good and virtuous and, even more, because we are good and virtuous, people should be inspired to follow and imitate our good example. However, experience tells us that many times exactly the opposite happens, and people feel somehow threatened by or resentful of our good behavior.

The description of the animosity directed against those who live good and virtuous lives is well put in today’s reading, and it applies so perfectly to how Jesus was treated—so much so that some people see in this passage a prophecy about Jesus. However, it also applies to hundreds of others down the ages whose goodness has been resented, whose behaviour is seen as a condemnation and a threat to those with different values. Such individuals, as a result, have been persecuted and even killed.

In the passage, the “ungodly”, who are speaking about a prophet (called “the righteous man”) say:

Let us lie in wait for the righteous man, because he is inconvenient to us and opposes our actions.

It is because the prophet’s words are felt to be true that they create feelings of guilt in those against whom they are directed.

Again, the “ungodly” say:

He [the righteous man] reproaches us for sins against the law and accuses us of sins against our training.

The reproach is not denied, but it is strongly resented:

He professes to have knowledge of God,
and calls himself a child of the Lord.
He became to us a reproof of our thoughts;
the very sight of him is a burden to us…

Of course, “the righteous man” is the very person whom Scripture says should be respected and protected. And that claim is not denied by the “ungodly”, but such a one is seen as an obstruction to how they live.

And then there follows a good description of the “righteous man”:

…his manner of life is unlike that of others, and his ways are strange.

How true of Jesus and of many of his most faithful followers!

Subsequently comes the justification for violent action to remove the source of criticism. If the prophet is really a spokesperson for God, then surely God will protect him against any violent attack.

Let us test him with insult and torture,
so that we may find out how reasonable he is
and make trial of his forbearance.
Let us condemn him to a shameful death,
for, according to what he says, he will be protected.

It is exactly what happened to Jesus at the hands of his opponents as his enemies mocked him during his trial:

Some began to spit on him, to blindfold him, and to strike him, saying to him, “Prophesy!” The guards also took him and beat him. (Mark 14:65)

And again, on the cross:

In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking him…He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he wants to… (Matt 27:41-44)

This has happened to many down through the centuries and it will happen in our times as well—and for exactly the same reasons. We call such dedicated followers martyrs, from the Greek word for ‘witness’. They give striking witness to the values of the Kingdom.

Those who carry out these actions can convince themselves that what they are doing is right:

Thus they reasoned, but they were led astray, for their wickedness blinded them, and they did not know the secret purposes of God…

Their aim is to obliterate the source of their discomfort, but the result is often the very opposite. It is a very dangerous thing to create martyrs. We remember the early Christian saying from the writings of Tertullian:

The blood of martyrs is the seed of faith.

Jesus himself has told us not to be surprised that we too will be misunderstood and treated as he was. The following of Christ involves what is called a ‘counter-witness’ to the prevailing values in our societies. Such a counter-witness will often be deeply resented, attacked, rubbished and ridiculed, and it may invite even violence and death.

Of course, we also have to be very careful that our witness is based on truth, integrity and love; we have to be careful to avoid any taint of Pharisaism or superior elitism, which we can fall into so easily. It is God we are proclaiming, not ourselves.

As we approach Holy Week, we need to reflect on these things and see how they fit into our lives. Whose side am I on? If I had been on Calvary, with whom would I have been standing? In issues of truth and justice in my own society, where am I seen?

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