Contrasting responses to Jesus

Today’s gospel portrays very different responses to Jesus on the part of his disciples as he enters into the final days of his earthly life. The disciple Jesus loved is described as “reclining next to Jesus’, literally, “close to the heart of Jesus.” In the very first chapter of his gospel, the evangelist described Jesus as “close to the heart of the Father”..

In memory of her

The impulsive, loving gesture done for Jesus by his close friend Mary of Bethany, is so inspirational that it’s a wonder the Church has not made more of it in our liturgy. Mary may not yet have seen Jesus in the full light of prophecy, as “a covenant to the people, a light to the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners who sit in darkness” (1st Reading), or indeed as the world’s only Saviour, but she knew and loved him as a man of God, a fearless preacher…

Cynical but pragmatic

Pragmatism is a quality that is often admired in political leaders. Today’s gospel has an example of a rather deadly form of political pragmatism, when the high priest Caiaphas declares to his colleagues, “it is better for one man to die for the people, than for the whole nation to be destroyed.” Jesus was threatening the status quo, therefore he should be eliminated. ..

Prepared to be unpopular

In last Monday’s gospel some hard-liners brought a woman into Jesus’ presence, claiming that according to the Jewish Law she ought to be stoned. Today’s gospel has them fetching stones to throw at Jesus himself. In response Jesus asks a very probing question…

Abraham’s Legacy: Think Big

The promises to Abraham reach into the future, possibly even to many centuries beyond our present age. In his vocational encounter with God, the patriarch had foretaste of a time when all the nations of the world will be united as though they were blood-relatives, all linked as the offspring of one selected forefather.

Representing us all

There are some specific details in today’s gospel: Galilee, Nazareth, Joseph of the house of David, Mary. It happens a very particular place, Nazareth in Galilee, and to a very particular couple in that place, Joseph who was betrothed to Mary. It was that particular couple in that particular place at a particular moment in time whom God chose in a special way for the sake of all of humanity…

The Serpent and the Cross

The symbol of Israel’s sin, the saraph serpent (the Hebrew word saraph means burning), which threatened them with its poisonous bite, is transformed into an instrument of salvation. Moses made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole, so that all who look upon it with an honest admission of guilt and sincere sorrow for their offenses, will be forgiven..

The first stone
Some people are very devoted to condemning. The religious leaders bring a woman to Jesus expecting him to condemn her, because, as they say, “Moses has ordered us in the Law to condemn women like this.” Earlier in his gospel, John has a very striking saying on the lips of Jesus, “God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world…

Nicodemus speaks out:
Nicodemus was a Pharisee who sought out Jesus under cover of darkness so as not to be seen consulting him. There he is again in today’s gospel, only this time he speaks out openly, challenging his fellow-Pharisees and the other Jewish leaders to give Jesus a fair hearing, and not to prejudge him. His peers have closed mind…

Knowing who Jesus really is:

By the term “Jews” St John nearly always means the Jewish religious leaders. His gospel tends to distinguish between the Jewish religious leaders and the people as a whole. It is not said that the Jewish people were out to kill him. That was what the leaders wanted; but the people also disparage Jesus when they say, “we all know where he comes from….

In a homily on this feast (1969) pope Paul VI noted how he lived an unknown life, the life of a simple artisan, with no sign of personal greatness. But that humble figure is revealed as being full of significance if we look at him attentively. He has those qualities which made him a great saint. The pope suggested that if we look carefully we find that Joseph’s life was greater than our first estimate of him. “The Gospel describes him as a Just Man (Mt. 1:19). No greater praise of virtue and no higher tribute to merit could be applied…

Seeing the bigger picture
Isaiah 40 to 55 (promising return from exile) and today’s section from St John both constitute a clear call to see the larger picture. The prophet thinks of God splitting the mountains to bring his people home from afar. Almost in the same breath he imagines this mighty God as a mother, tenderly loving the child of her womb…

Patrick, Pastoral Theologian
Perhaps we are wrong to take Patrick’s statement about his ignorance at face value. To describe himself as a mere illiterate sinner was just a foil to highlight the glorious workings of God’s grace. His Confessio clearly reveals that..

Request willingly granted
Many people approached Jesus for help as he went around the villages. On this occasion a court official asked him to come to his home and cure his seriously ill son. This official was probably attached to the court of Herod Antipas. His request at first met with what seems like a refusal…