4th Week of Lent : Saturday 2nd April 2022

Today we have a continuation of yesterday’s confusion about the identity of Jesus. In yesterday’s Gospel Reading, Jesus only spoke three sentences: “You know me and also know where I am from. Yet I did not come on my own, but the One who sent me, whom you do not know, is true. I know Him because I am from Him, and He sent me.”

These statements elicited varied responses in today’s passage. “Is he the prophet?” “Is He the Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed One?” “A Messiah surely does not come from Galilee?” They argue about Jesus’ origin, which bears on His identity.

But for today’s Gospel reading, Jesus does not speak. Nor is he present in their conversations. There seems to be a conspiracy going on. They are bent on wiping out Jesus. But it took one Pharisee, Nicodemus, to state: “The Law does not allow a judgment to be passed without giving him a hearing.” But Nicodemus was countered: “No prophets come from Galilee!”

Prophet Jeremiah’s prophecy on the Messiah rings true. Indeed, Jesus is the trustful lamb being led to the slaughterhouse, but He did not know of the schemes that would be plotted against Jesus. The conspirers agree among themselves: “Let us destroy the tree in its strength, let us cut him off from the land of the living, so that his name may be quickly forgotten!”

“Am I no better than those who conspired against Jesus?” Perhaps I am blinded by my own sense of righteousness that I do not see the need for conversion?

Lord Jesus, You are the Holy One – the Anointed.