So some of the inhabitants of Jerusalem said, “Is he not the one they are trying to kill? 26 And look, he is speaking openly and they say nothing to him. Could the authorities have realized that he is the Messiah? 27 But we know where he is from. When the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from.” 28 So Jesus cried out in the temple area as he was teaching and said, “You know me and also know where I am from. Yet I did not come on my own, but the one who sent me, whom you do not know, is true. 29 I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.” 30 So they tried to arrest him, but no one laid a hand upon him, because his hour had not yet come. 31 But many of the crowd began to believe in him, and said, “When the Messiah comes, will he perform more signs than this man has done?”
Some of the crowd from Jerusalem were surprised at Jesus’ authoritative teaching in the Temple since they knew the authorities were trying to arrest him. They wondered if the Jewish leaders had acknowledged that he was the Messiah. Popular Jewish belief was that the Messiah was to be of unknown origin (v. 27). They knew Jesus’ parents (Jn. 6:42) and believed that he was a prophet who came from Nazareth (Mt. 21:11) so he could not be the Messiah. Jesus raised his voice and acknowledged that they knew where he came from, but they did not know who sent him. He was not a self-appointed prophet as they thought. Jesus said that his origin was with God, the true sender whom they do not know.
As with many of Jesus’ encounters with crowds, some believed in him because of the signs he had done. The ones who thought they knew where Jesus came from refused to believe in him and joined the authorities in trying to arrest Jesus. The ones who believed wondered if when the Messiah comes if he will perform greater signs than Jesus.
Almighty God, grant us the grace to see with our spiritual eyes and hear with our spiritual ears so that, through steadfast prayer and obedience to your commands, we may be your instruments to lead others to salvation. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
Orchard, Bernard, et al. A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Feb. 1953.
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