March 21, 2015 Saturday: 4th Week of Lent
A Lenten PilgrimageSaturday of the Fourth Week
March 21, 2015
Some in the crowd who heard these words of Jesus said,
“This is truly the Prophet.”
Others said, “This is the Christ.”
But others said, “The Christ will not come from Galilee, will he?
Does not Scripture say that the Christ will be of David’s family
and come from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?”
So a division occurred in the crowd because of him.
Some of them even wanted to arrest him,
but no one laid hands on him. (John 7:40-44)
The guards sent by the Chief Priests and Pharisees were unsuccessful in arresting Jesus. They were astonished and amazed when they heard Him preaching and saw Him performing miracles. He brought sight to the blind, the lame walked again and he even cast out evil spirits. Jesus words have power and authority that whoever listened was moved to repent and follow Him.
The Chief Priests and Pharisees did not accept Jesus as the Messiah primarily because he was of Galilean origin. They accused and condemned Him without examining His case. The leaders claimed that Jesus has not convinced anyone who was educated and therefore He was not the Messiah. They used their power and authority to persuade the crowd against Jesus.
In our life, how often do we accuse and condemn others without even listening to their side? Is it because we always think that we know the truth better than anybody else? (Bro. Rudyard Bartolome, SVD Bible Diary 2002)
