Temple Tantrums- Saturday, 4th Week of Lent-John 7:40-53
So here is the Pharisaic logic; if the Pharisees or the authorities do not believe in Jesus then the believing crowds who do, are accursed. This sounds more like sour grapes or perhaps bitter ones. So intense is the bitterness, that anyone who remotely defended Jesus incurred the wrath of the Pharisees.
It was now confrontation time and no longer were the Pharisees willing to sit around like ‘sheep with a secret sorrow’, they had turned into ‘bulls in a china shop’ tearing down any one who remotely supported Jesus. Nothing would stop their anger and if there was no stone in sight to stone Him they might have even torn down the temple themselves, to gather stones.
So am I exaggerating? Absolutely not! In the gospel of John, the plot to kill Jesus thickens. Today’s gospel highlights one of those many incidents. We are in the temple, that will give you location and it is the seventh day, the last day of the festival of tabernacles; that would give you occasion. The temple was obviously full and Jesus picks the moment.
‘The last day of the feast of Tabernacles was the day when the priests took water from the spring of Siloam and circled the altar seven times. The crowd carried branches of myrtle and willow twigs tied with palm in the right hand and a citron or lemon in the left as signs of harvest’. (JBC)
When Jesus announced that he was the living water and the believer should drink from Him, it caused a stir. We are told that many began to see Him as a ‘prophet’ or ‘Messiah’ though some doubted his origins and hence disqualified Him from being the anointed Davidic Messiah. It is amazing that even the temple guards do not arrest him. ‘For no one has spoken like this.”
Fr. Warner D'Souza is a Catholic priest of the Archdiocese of Bombay. He has served in the parishes of St Michael's (Mahim), St Paul's (Dadar East), Our Lady of Mount Carmel, (Bandra), a ten year stint as priest-in-charge at St Jude Church (Malad East) and at present is the Parish Priest at St Stephen's Church (Cumballa Hill). He is also the Director of the Archdiocesan Heritage Museum and is the co-ordinator of the Committee for the Promotion and Preservation of the Artistic and Historic Patrimony of the Church.
Please send me the explanation of the gospel of the 18th March 2018. I need it urgently. Thanks
There’s something I’d like to share. Maybe it’ll help someone who is in a situation I was a few years back.
I can see how a Non-Catholic Christian can use this as proof text against the Catholic Church, specifically her authority on matters of faith and morals.
The Pharisees did seem to have a valid concern. They didn’t know where Jesus was born and thought he’s from Nazareth since that’s where he grew up. Their conclusion was out of ignorance and yet Jesus rebukes them. What can we say about those who criticize the Church saying that she is against Sacred Scripture (statues, praying to saints, Marian dogmas, the Eucharist, etc).
Here’s what I realized is key. In the Old Testament, when something is amiss, God instructs His people to “inquire diligently” (Deuteronomy 13:14, 17:4, 19:18). This is where the Pharisees erred. They could have easily asked Jesus where He was born. If they did this genuinely for the sake of living God’s law, I doubt Jesus would have not told them.
The Catholic Church *as a whole* has always inquired diligently before coming to a definitive conclusion on anything. Individuals may have erred but not the Church as a whole. Examples include how St. Padre Pio was initially suppressed but later allowed to celebrate the Sacraments. St. Faustina’s revelations were kept under wraps but Cardinal Karol Wojtyla (now Pope St. John Paul II) pushed for it and we now celebrate the Sunday after Easter as Divine Mercy Sunday. Miracles are declared worthy of belief and saints are canonized only after diligent inquiry. Even when Martin Luther opposed the Church, history tells us that the Church did take him seriously, even though not immediately and we had the Council of Trent.
If you’re someone who has doubts about certain beliefs of the Catholic Church, inquire diligently. A good place to start is the Catechism (CCC), and then the early Church Fathers (even from 100 AD; all available for free online). A very powerful key that’ll help see scriptural roots of teachings found only in Sacred Tradition and not directly in the Bible is typology (CCC 128-130). Something Jesus and New Testament authors used many, many times.
Ashwith, I appreciate your concern out of which you have given the explanation to diligently clarify when we need to and thus update the knowledge of our Faith Matters..
There are numerous queries that come to our mind…which often puzzle us.. for eg..why is Jesus referred to as SON OF MAN…??
Your explanation will surely serve the serious minded to get their answers..
I also thank Fr. Warner as POTTYPADRE nurtured by him, is a platform to enrichen ourselves in Our Faith Matters and grow in love of OUR LORD with a worthy purpose…🙏