Jn 7:1-2, 10, 25-30
After this Jesus went around Galilee; he would not go about in Judea, because the Jews wanted to kill him. Now the Jewish feast of the Tents was at hand.
But after his brothers had gone to the festival, he also went up, not publicly but in secret.
Some of the people of Jerusalem said, “Is this not the man they want to kill? And here he is speaking freely, and they don’t say a word to him? Can it be that the rulers know that this is really the Christ? Yet we know where this man comes from; but when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from.”So Jesus announced in a loud voice in the temple court where he was teaching, “You say that you know me and know where I come from! I have not come of myself; I was sent by the One who is true, and you don’t know him. I know him for I come from him and he sent me.”
They would have arrested him, but no one laid hands on him because his time had not yet come.
REFLECTION
Considering Jesus blasphemous and arrogant, the religious leaders had long wanted to kill Jesus, their envy getting the best of them. Yet Jesus was fearless in speaking the truth. Attracting greater outrage and murderous reaction from the religious leaders, he made two startling statements: that he was the Messiah, God’s Anointed One, and that the Jews did not know “the One who is true” but that he alone knew God. Although Jesus was speaking the truth, the religious authorities could not stomach such claims which they considered blasphemous and arrogant. The leaders’ outrage was such that they were plotting to get rid of Jesus, having been envious of him for some time. We are presented with two contrasting behavior: Jesus’ courage and freedom to speak the truth versus the religious leaders’ and unfreedom to stand for their own accusation and judgment. Even if there was a threat on His life, Jesus still secretly went to Judea to attend the Feast of the Tabernacle. He courageously spoke there at the risk of His life. Where does His courage come from? It originates from His intimate union with the Father.
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