First Reading, Jeremiah 11:18-20 
Gospel, John 7:40-53

In today’s Gospel, Jewish leaders disagreed about who Jesus is but they generally believed he could not be the Messiah. Some ordinary Jews decided He could be at least a prophet, if not the Messiah. Even the temple police expressed admiration for him: “Never has anyone spoken like this.”

Theologians (also laity) still debate the basics of our faith: Who is Jesus? How should his church be organised? What attitudes and behaviours does God require of us? Is anything right or wrong absolutely? Christians are still divided into denominations, each quoting the Bible as their authority.

Because Lent calls us to deeper prayer and study, we might want to review our guidelines for reading the Bible profitably. Jeremiah and the words from John’s Gospel today offer some help for interpreting the Bible.

Although Jeremiah was “like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter” he was fully open to the Lord’s revelation. What St. John says about Nicodemus (“Our law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing …”) suggests that we should keep an open mind about texts that are difficult to interpret. We should think, pray hard and openly discuss before deciding.

As Nicodemus told his colleagues on the Jewish Council, we should be slow to condemn what we do not understand. Like him, we need to know facts before rejecting or accepting something as true and in order to understand, we must respect differences of opinion. If the preaching of Jesus was a public issue among his people and their religious leaders during his lifetime, it should be no surprise that such debate continues today. Jesus sought to bring the faith of the disciples to perfection. His teaching gained the respect of honest people, who valued what is good and wholesome.

The Bible should not be used to prove we are right or wrong or to make what is good look bad, nor make what is bad look good. Bible study should be honest and fair. Honest, decent people with a positive attitude toward their neighbours, people who are slow to condemn and who are tolerant of other people’s convictions, have the best chance of interpreting the Bible fairly and honestly, as God’s guide to us. In these “stay-at-home days”, we have plenty of opportunity to let the Word of God soften our hearts and convert us. It’s all about recognizing God in these times and responding to him in our love for family and friends.

Fr. Brian