Day 31 of Lent
Thank you for joining us today.
TODAY’S BIBLE VERSE
JOHN 7:28
So Jesus proclaimed, as he taught in the temple, “You know me, and you know where I come from? But I have not come of my own accord; he who sent me is true, and him you do not know
ne of the first things that we ask people when we meet them is where they are from. Along with knowing a person’s name, this information is an important part of getting to know others. This was just as important in Jesus’ time as it is today.
In this Gospel passage from John, some of the residents of Jerusalem believed that they knew where Jesus was from. It is clear that Jesus’ place of origin was connected with the claim some were making that he was the Christ, the Messiah, the “one who was to come” in the name of the Lord. But others, in order to deny that claim, used the fact that they knew where Jesus came from.
Jesus responded and “cried out,” interrupting his teaching in the Temple. Whenever Jesus responds with such emotion, we need to be extremely attentive because of the depth of what he reveals through such emotion. “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.” With this exclamation, Jesus corrected the mistaken “knowledge” of those who claimed to know where he was from. Unlike us, Jesus situated his origin, his point of departure, not in a place, but in a Person—the Person of his Father.
Knowing where someone is from is important because it helps us frame someone’s identity. But if we do not know the Father, we will be unable to grasp Jesus’ identity. We cannot put preconceived ideas or judgments drawn from such bits of knowledge as someone’s place of birth onto Jesus. If we really want to know Jesus, we must free ourselves from this very human way of relating to others and allow him to reveal himself to us.
Reflection from this:
“Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him” (Jn 14:23).
