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 people of Jerusalem were surprised at Jesus’ authoritative teaching in the Temple since they knew the authorities were trying to arrest him. They wondered if he was the Messiah. They did not know that Jesus was not from the place his parents came from, but that he came from the Father, “I am the bread that came down from heaven,” and they said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? Do we not know his father and mother? Then how can he say, ‘I have come down from heaven’ (Jn. 6:41-42)?” 'Jesus told them that if they knew the Father who sent him, they would know where he came from. As with many of Jesus encounters with crowds, some believed in him because of the signs he had done and began to believe he was the Messiah. The ones who believed they knew where Jesus came from refused to believe in him and joined the authorities in trying to arrest 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 see what needs to be done to lead others to salvation and have the understanding to do what you command. 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.
Faculty of the University of Navarre. The Navarre Bible: New Testament Expanded Edition. Expanded Edition, Four Courts / Scepter, 2008.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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