Reflections Today   John 7:40-53   Some in the crowd who heard these words of Jesus said, “This is truly the Prophet.” Others said, “This is the Christ.” But others said, “The Christ will not come from Galilee, will he? Does not scripture say that the Christ will be of David’s family and come from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?” So a division occurred in the crowd because of him. Some of them even wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him. So the guards went to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why did you not bring him?” The guards answered, “Never before has anyone spoken like this one.” So the Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived? Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd, which does not know the law, is accursed.” Nicodemus, one of their members who had come to him earlier, said to them, “Does our law condemn a person before it first hears him and finds out what he is doing?” They answered and said to him, “You are not from Galilee also, are you? Look and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.” Then each went to his own house.   REFLECTION NEVER BEFORE HAS ANYONE SPOKEN LIKE THIS ONE. The people are divided about Jesus: some believe he is the Prophet or the Messiah, whereas others, especially the religious authorities, do not. Once again, the basis for the latter’s rejection is that Jesus comes from a place that the Scriptures never point to as the provenance of the awaited Messiah. Still, the people are so mesmerized by the way Jesus speaks: “Never before has anyone spoken like this one,” they say. Perhaps they mean Jesus preaches with such authority and conviction, unlike the scribes and the Pharisees. He speaks with so much tenderness and love and concern, with so much depth and truth and wisdom as no human being has done before. But the religious authorities do not notice this, for they are fixated on what they know. Indeed, we can distinguish people by the way they speak. Some draw us to listen willingly; others turn us off right at the start of their speech. Our Pope, at least to me personally, is one person who speaks with authority and conviction that I am drawn to listen to him attentively—perhaps also because his words are accompanied by the witness of his life.   SOURCE: “365 Days with the Lord 2018,” ST. PAULS Philippines, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 895-9701; Fax 895-7328; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.