DEFENDING JESUS

Prejudice or hardness of heart, or whatever you may call it, men are always able to find a reason to reject you.
In John 7:27, the Jews claimed that when the Christ appeared, no one knew where he came from. Not long after, another group of Jews were sure that Christ was the descendant of David and thus came from Bethlehem, the village of David (7:42). Both groups of Jews knew that Jesus had come from Galilee. Obviously, the latter group of Jews had prejudice against Galileans. They claimed that no prophet was to rise from Galilee (7:52). You were not even a prophet. How could you be the Christ? The logic seems impeccable. So, it is clear that there was no consensus among the Jews about the origin of the Christ. But I don't think it was a matter of knowledge, that some had access to Scriptures while others had not. It can never be a matter of knowledge, but a matter of love. How did I come to this conclusion? I think the life of Blessed Mother Teresa speaks volume. She did not convince people with theology. She performed works of charity and mercy. That's all. Every spiritual person must have gone through spiritual desolation, not just once. She must have, but she did not hesitate to love Jesus among the poorest.

In love, there is no fear (1 John 4:18). When we are afraid to defend Jesus, we do not love Jesus enough. In the gospel of John, there was a Nicodemus who visited Jesus at night lest his colleagues would accuse him of siding with their enemy. Now he tried to speak for Jesus but he was shouted down by his fellow Pharisees. Jesus had become a sign that is spoken against (Luke 2:34). As his followers, are we able to defend Jesus properly? Have we done enough to equip ourselves to defend him? If we are not able to and have not done enough, do we feel ashamed of failing to defend him?

Perhaps you may say that Jesus does not need us to defend him. He can defend himself. Unfortunately, such hardness of heart will only harm oneself. Rejecting others will lock ourselves up inside our comfort zone, while not actively involved in building up our relation with Jesus will seal our fate.

Merciful Lord, I would like to defend you. Yet, you come to protect me instead. I thank you. Amen.