Never before has anyone spoken like this one.

 

The scripture readings for this reflection can be found at Saturday of the Fourth Week of Lent | USCCB

In our gospel for today we hear of the confusion of who Jesus really was. Was he a prophet? Was he the Messiah? There seemed to be much confusion as to who Jesus really was.

All throughout the gospel of St. John, we see that Jesus very clearly shows that he is indeed the Messiah. Starting with the first chapter of St. John, we hear John the Baptist point to Jesus and say, “Behold the Lamb of God”. As a result, some of John’s followers became followers of Jesus.

Also, in the gospel of John, we hear the familiar story of the Wedding at Cana where Jesus turned water into wine. As a result of this, his disciples began to believe in Him. There’s also the cleansing of the temple in chapter two, the healing of the son of the royal official in chapter 4, the healing of blind and crippled man on the sabbath in chapter 5. Further, we have Jesus give the bread of life discourse in chapter 6 where he clearly points out that He indeed is God and is the “bread of life” and that whoever eats this bread will live forever, and that the bread that He will give is his flesh for the life of the world. There are many parts of John’s gospel pointing to Jesus as the one who is the Messiah.

But as it turns out, these things were causing division among the people and the leaders were anxious to put Jesus to death. They felt threatened by Jesus.

In light of these different ways of understanding Jesus in the gospel of St. John, we can ask ourselves: who do we believe and know Jesus to be? For us Catholic Christians, we know and believe that he is more than just a prophet. We have come to know and believe that Jesus is indeed the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. He is True God and True Man. The guards in today’s gospel were given the job of arresting Jesus because of all the misunderstandings of who He was and what He taught. But they came back empty handed because the words of Jesus moved them, and they started to wonder who this Jesus really was. They said to the priests and Pharisees, “Never before has anyone spoken likethis one.” They were moved to possibly wonder if indeed Jesus is the Messiah.

In light of our belief that Jesus is indeed the Messiah, the Son of the living God, let us constantly turn to Him through the regular reading of holy scripture and by the regular reception of Holy Communion. Let us not be confused about who He is. Let us at every Holy Mass we attend, as the priest holds up the Host and says, “Behold the Lamb of God…”, let us say, “My Lord and My God.”