Homily: 24 March 2021: John 8:31-41

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(Please read this passage before the homily.)

Jesus is Jewish.  Joseph and Mary are Jewish.  The apostles and the early Church is Jewish.  Believers in Jesus lived and worshiped alongside other Jews for decades after the resurrection.  Eventually there was a falling out.  Jewish people were offended that believers in Jesus did not support the Jewish revolt against Rome that led to the destruction of Jerusalem.

At the same time, John’s community was dealing with internal issues that were disrupting the community.  It is this internal conflict in John’s community that is behind this passage of Scripture.  The Jews who believed in Jesus, at least partially, in the tension are the ones who opposed the orthodoxy of john.  They are not the Jews of the time of Christ; they are Jewish believers in Jesus at the time of the writing of the gospel account.

The Gospel accounts describe the life of Jesus on more than one level.  They describe Jesus as he lived among the people in his mortal body.  They also describe Jesus as actively present and identified with his Church.  It is not always easy to separate the levels one from the other.

Historically, this passage has caused much suffering to the Jewish people.  The Jewish people did not kill Jesus.  Some Jewish people at the time of Jesus’ death had a hand in his death under Pontius Pilate, but the Jewish nation as a whole, which includes his mother, family and apostles, did not kill him.  We may not use this passage or any other passage in the New Testament to justify mistreating, persecuting, killing or harassing any Jewish person.

Our Jewish, and our Muslim, brothers and sisters worship with us Christians the same one God of Abraham.  We should acknowledge this fact and strive to treat all people with friendship and peace.  Rightly both the Second Vatican Council and the popes after it, have condemned anti-Semitism and anti-Muslim attitudes and violence.

This gospel accounts also draw us into the biography of Jesus.  We are with Jesus in his life on earth.   We interact with Jesus in the events of the Gospel.  We can ask what this passage says to us about the conflicts and tensions of our communities, of our nation and of our world.  How do we join Jesus in solving these crises?