Saturday of the Fourth Week of Lent
March 21, 2026
Hello and welcome to the Word, bringing you the Good News of Jesus Christ every day from the Redemptorists of the Baltimore Province. I am Fr. Karl Esker from the Basilica of our Lady of Perpetual Help in Brooklyn, NY. Today is Saturday of the Fourth Week of Lent.
Our reading today is taken from the holy gospel according to John.
Some in the crowd who heard these words of Jesus said, "This is truly the Prophet." Others said, "This is the Christ." But others said, "The Christ will not come from Galilee, will he? Does not Scripture say that the Christ will be of David's family and come from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?" So a division occurred in the crowd because of him. Some of them even wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.
So the guards went to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, "Why did you not bring him?" The guards answered, "Never before has anyone spoken like this man." So the Pharisees answered them, "Have you also been deceived? Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd, which does not know the law, is accursed." Nicodemus, one of their members who had come to him earlier, said to them, "Does our law condemn a man before it first hears him and finds out what he is doing?" They answered and said to him, "You are not from Galilee also, are you? Look and see that no prophet arises from Galilee."
Then each went to his own house.
The gospel of the Lord.
Homily
In today’s gospel we do not hear Jesus speak, but he is the center of everyone’s attention. They all have an opinion about him, but they cannot figure out who he really is. Some think he is the Messiah, and for that the Chief Priests and Pharisees sent their guards to arrest Jesus. Other question Jesus’ Galilean origins: "The Christ will not come from Galilee, will he?” The Pharisees are adamant: “Look and see that no prophet arises from Galilee." Others say that the Messiah must come from Bethlehem. They did not know what we know from Matthew and Luke that Jesus was born in Bethlehem and is of the house of David.
Jesus, however, makes little of his human origins, whether he is from Galilee or Bethlehem. In the verses that come before today’s gospel reading, he declares that he comes from the one who sent him. He comes from above; it was God the Father who sent him.
For saying that the Chief Priests and Pharisees were even more anxious to arrest Jesus, but the guards returned empty handed, saying: "Never before has anyone spoken like this man." So. They ridiculed the guards and the crowds who were beginning to believe in Jesus.
Interestingly, a lone voice spoke up in Jesus’ defense. It was Nicodemus, the Pharisee who some time before had gone to see Jesus by night. He asked: "Does our law condemn a man before it first hears him and finds out what he is doing?" The other Pharisees ridiculed him for his efforts; and then each went off to his own house.
Listening to Jesus can bring ridicule and following him may even be dangerous. That was true in Jesus’ day and is still true in our own. Even now, people are not in agreement over what Jesus represents. Jesus himself said that he had come not to judge the world, but to save it. His compassion for the outcast, the suffering and hungry drew an attentive following, but today compassion is considered weakness and attention to the needy a wasteful use of resources.
Christians who adopt this attitude overlook Jesus’ humanity on this earth and concentrates on his reigning in power at the right hand of God. This is a Jesus who will come in judgment for the earth, and will come at the head of a victorious army of angels. Thus, they can bless wars, whether in the Ukraine or in Iran.
Of course, Pope Francis and now Pope Leo have questioned and sharply criticized this self-styled form of Christianity. Scripture teaches us that Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father to intercede for us. When he comes in glory, he will gather to himself all who have imitated his life of love and reconciliation. As he said in the famous parable of judgment: “what you have done to the least of my brothers and sisters you have done to me.”
We need more Nicodemuses today who are willing to stand up for the justice that flows from recognizing the dignity of every human being as created in the image and likeness of God and redeemed in the blood of Christ. We may not be able to do much on the world stage, but we can begin by recognizing the dignity of each person in our home, our school and our work.
May God bless you.
Fr. Karl E. Esker
Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help
Brooklyn, NY
POWERED BY BLUBRRY
