1 April 2017 - never before

[ Today's Readings ]

Never before has anyone spoken like this man.

Jesus is a divisive figure. He is polarizing. Though one may not agree with him he is hard to ignore.

So a division occurred in the crowd because of him.

Some hear his words and say, "This is the Christ."

Others call him a deceiver.

No one is neutral. If they are open like Nicodemus they eventually become his followers.

Nicodemus, one of their members who had come to him earlier, said to them, 
"Does our law condemn a man before it first hears him
and finds out what he is doing?"

If they are closed then they eventually try to silence him.

Some of them even wanted to arrest him,
but no one laid hands on him.

Jesus speaks to us today. Every time he does we have an opportunity to choose how to respond. We are surprised because when we do try to silence the voice of Jesus in our lives he shows no resistance. He is like a lamb led to the slaughter.

Even when we silence the voice of Jesus within us he does not abandon us. He tries again and again to reveal his love to us. He gives us chance after chance to surrender more fully to him.

Let us be open like Nicodemus to the possibility that God wants to speak to us. He might not seem like enough in the face of all the evil in the world. Because of this his words to us may seem naive. But listen! No one has ever spoken like this man. These aren't words of weakness. They are words of love. In them we find the only true strength.

A shield before me is God,
who saves the upright of heart;
A just judge is God,
a God who punishes day by day.