Daily Gospel Reflection for April 4, 2020

Today's Gospel: John 11:45-56 It’s easy to condemn the Pharisees. We know how everything turns out. It’s easy to look with a critical eye at their closed mindedness and fear. What if Jesus walked in our neighborhoods today? We already have false prophets declaring the end of the world or telling us who will go to heaven. There are many who prattle on from their pulpits. In Jesus’ day some claimed to be the Messiah and none were. Why did some believe what Jesus taught, and some hold fast to the old ways? God’s grace, no doubt. I feel bad for the Pharisees. They were good Jews, following what had been passed down to them. They were expecting a warrior Messiah. They’d known conflict with other nations and they knew what their ancestors endured. I imagine it was hard to believe Jesus was who He said He was. To accept His teachings meant letting go of what they’d known. How do we experience the same thing? Despite having the benefit of being able to see a bigger part of the salvation picture, we struggle. We live in the tension between what the world says is truth and what Jesus says is truth. Jesus has no shortage of hard sayings that contradict what we hear. Like the Pharisees, we hold onto what we know, what we’ve been taught. We don’t want to acknowledge that we are wrong. Jesus became a man and lived a countercultural life. He asks us to follow Him, trust Him, and rely on Him. We trust He will bring good. We can be Pharisees and hold tightly to what we think is right, or we can be disciples and open our hearts to the love of Jesus Christ. Jesus suffered and died so we could do the latter. Trust Him.