John 7.40-53 – Saturday of the Fourth Week of Lent
The climate in today’s Gospel of John is tense. The opposition towards Jesus grows more and more and there is even an attempt to arrest him. Yet, precisely in the midst of this tension, an unexpected testimony emergesthat of the guards sent to arrest him: «The guards then returned to the chief priests and the Pharisees and they said to them: “Why didn’t you bring him?”. The guards replied: “Never has a man spoken as this man speaks!”». This sentence has something surprising.
They are men accustomed to discipline, to the order received, probably far from the spiritual and religious world that surrounds Jesus. Yet they are struck by his words. They can’t take it away. Not because anyone stopped them, but because what they heard touched them deeply. Jesus had this ability: reach the hearts of those who listened to him. His words were not simply well-constructed speeches or brilliant reasoning, but were words that revealed the truth of man. For this reason they did not leave anyone indifferent. One could not remain neutral in front of him. Yet, alongside those who allow themselves to be touched, there are also those who defend themselves.
The Gospel clearly shows that grace does not eliminate freedom. The word of Christ can strike the heart, but it does not force it. Human freedom remains free even in the face of truth. Jesus is not a siren who seduces and drags along. He doesn’t manipulate, he doesn’t force. He is someone who announces, who proposes, who invites. And precisely for this reason, if we choose to really listen to him, we don’t lose our freedom: we find it again. His word does not imprison, but frees. It does not take something away from man, but gives him himself back. For this reason, even today, the real question is not whether the word of Jesus is powerful, but whether we are willing to let ourselves be reached by it.
Saturday 21 March 2026 – (Saturday of the Fourth Week of Lent)
