Today’s Scripture Readings

Gospel Reading

NRSV

When they heard these words, some in the crowd said, ‘This is really the prophet.’ Others said, ‘This is the Messiah.’ But some asked, ‘Surely the Messiah does not come from Galilee, does he? Has not the scripture said that the Messiah is descended from David and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?’ So there was a division in the crowd because of him. Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him. Then the temple police went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, ‘Why did you not arrest him?’ The police answered, ‘Never has anyone spoken like this!’ Then the Pharisees replied, ‘Surely you have not been deceived too, have you? Has any one of the authorities or of the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd, which does not know the law—they are accursed.’ Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus before, and who was one of them, asked, ‘Our law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it?’ They replied, ‘Surely you are not also from Galilee, are you? Search and you will see that no prophet is to arise from Galilee.’

The religious leaders, with one exception, are blinded by their own expectations. They can’t see Jesus as the Messiah because they think they know when and how the Messiah will come, and Jesus doesn’t fit their bill. They are the all-knowing elite who regard others as a rabble who know nothing about the Law and who are damned. They think that they alone are saved.

So threatened are they that they even turn on one of their own who stands up not for Jesus but for a basic principle of justice. They are determined to get Jesus one way or another; they want to silence him for good, whatever the demands of justice.

The same was true of Jeremiah. They want to silence him too; they are determined to get rid of him. The prophet had moments of regretting that he’d said yes to God’s call, especially when death was threatened. But in calling Jeremiah, God had promised to stand by him; and Jeremiah puts his faith in that promise.

So too does Jesus who knows that in the face of all attacks, even on Calvary, the Father won’t abandon him. Therefore, he can say, “Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit” (Luke 23:46).