From: John 7:40-53
Different Opinions About Jesus (Continuation)
[45] The officers then went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to
them, “Why did you not bring Him?” [46] The officers answered, “No man ever
spoke like this man!” [47] The Pharisees answered them, “Are you led astray,
you also? [48] Have any of the authorities or of the Pharisees believed in Him?
[49] But this crowd, who do not know the law, are accursed.” [50] Nicodemus,
who had gone to Him before, and who was one of them, said to them, [51] “Does
our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?”
[52] They replied, “Are you from Galilee too? Search and you will see that no pro-
phet is to rise from Galilee.” [53] They went each to his own house, but Jesus
went to the Mount of Olives.
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Commentary:
40-43. “The prophet” refers to Deuteronomy 18:18, which predicts the coming of
a prophet during the last times, a prophet to whom all must listen (cf. John 1:21;
6:14); and “the Christ” (”the Messiah”) was the title most used in the Old Testa-
ment to designate the future Savior whom God would send. This passage shows
us, once again, the range of people’s attitudes towards Jesus. Many Jews — not
taking the trouble to check—did not know that He had been born in Bethlehem,
the city of David, where Micah (5:2) says the Lord will be born. It was their own
fault that they used this ignorance as an excuse for not accepting Christ. Others,
however, realized from His miracles that He must be the Messiah. The same pat-
tern obtains throughout history: some people see Him simply as an extraordinary
man, not wanting to admit that His greatness comes precisely from the fact that
He is the Son of God.
46. The truth begins to influence the straightforward souls of the servants of the
Sanhedrin but it cannot make headway against the obstinacy of the Pharisees.
“Notice that the Pharisees and scribes derive no benefit either from witnessing
miracles or reading the Scriptures; whereas their servants, without these helps,
were captivated by a single discourse, and those who set out to arrest Jesus
went back under the influence of His authority. And they did not say, ‘We can-
not arrest Him, the people will not let us’; instead they extolled Christ’s wisdom.
Not only is their prudence admirable, for they did not need signs; it is also im-
pressive that they were won over by His teaching on its own; they did not say,
in effect, ‘No man has ever worked such miracles,’ but ‘No man ever spoke like
this man.’ Their conviction also is worthy of admiration: they go to the Pharisees,
who were opposed to Christ, and address them in the way they do” (St. John
Chrysostom, “Hom. On St. John”, 9).
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
Liturgical Colour: Violet.
| First reading |
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| Jeremiah 11:18-20 © |
| 'Let us cut him off from the land of the living, so that his name may be quickly forgotten' |
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| Responsorial Psalm |
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| Psalm 7:2-3,9-12 © |
| Gospel Acclamation | Ezk33:11 |
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| Or: | cf.Lk8:15 |
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| Gospel | John 7:40-52 © |
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| The Law does not allow us to pass judgement on a man without hearing him |
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