Wisdom From Surprising Sources

Jer 11:18-10 & Jn. 7:40-53

The readiness of Jeremiah to suffer, as related in today's first reading, fits Jesus perfectly. He too will be a trusting lamb led to slaughter.

A scene of unbelievable arrogance and spiritual blindness is depicted in the Gospel excerpt. Jesus was in Jerusalem and His teaching had incurred the wrath of the authorities. So they dispatched the temple guards with orders to arrest Him - but they came back empty-handed. All they could say was, "There has never been anybody who has spoken like Him." The things Jesus said and the way He said them had done something to these men that they could not quite explain. They had clearly been captivated by the very man they had gone to arrest.

This infuriated the Pharisees and they launched into a lecture about the utter stupidity of anyone who would pay attention to anything that Jesus had to say. They branded all believers in Jesus as ignorant people who knew nothing about the law, and boastfully pointed that none of their number had been deceived by Him.

How extraordinary! Here was a group of unlearned men whose hearts had been deeply touched by truth. And here was a group of so-called scholars whose minds were closed so tightly that the truth could not enter them. It was one of the many times in history when the experts should have been listening to what the amateurs had to say! Looking back across the years we can see that now.

In retrospect, it becomes clear that the Sanhedrin Court was wrong, and the temple guards were right. This ancient event is telling you and me that it is always possible to learn from others. There are some truths, like there are three Persons in one God, that are indisputable. There are other matters whereby we can gain insight into the truth from some unexpected source.

None of us has a monopoly of the truth. Traditional roles of learning can be and, on occasions, should be reversed. Parents can sometimes learn from their children, employers from their workforce as some of the best ideas in industry have come from the assembly line. Teachers can learn from their students, doctors from their patients. Priests can learn from their people.

I remember a prayer of Jesus (Luke 10:21) in which He thanked His Father for having hidden certain truths from the learned and the clever, and revealed them instead to mere children. If God were doing that 2,000 years ago, could He still be doing it today?

This means that we must have open minds and a willingness to listen, because God moves in mysterious ways and His wisdom sometimes comes from surprising sources.

Lord God, may we all have minds that are open to Your truth, and be prepared to learn from various surprising sources when appropriate.