What We Know

Gospel: John 7: 1-2, 10, 25-30

The irony of today's Gospel portion is not lost on us.  The author intended this irony for his times.  Many claimed to know Jesus and his origins: a man from Nazareth, son of Mary and Joseph, a carpenter.  What's to know? But they did not know what John had noted at the beginning of this book, that Jesus is the Logos of God and has existed with God from all time.  Had they known this fact, perhaps they would not have put Jesus to death.

But this same irony exists in our own time among those who claim to be Christian.  Countless apologists and theologians have Jesus all figured out, have the mind of God as their own.  Many Christians act as if this were the case.  We find ourselves in the same situation as the original audience, claiming what we ought not.  For in the moment of authentic encounter with God in prayer, in meeting one poor, in need, and in grief, we find out how little we really know.

We might object and say we would never put Jesus to death, but we do - every single day.  We do so in our unjust system of capital punishment, in our scorn and neglect for immigrants and refugees, in our lack of care for the poor and marginalized.  A thousand times a day we put Jesus to death.  Do we really know Jesus and where he is from?