Background Check

Today’s Gospel Text:   Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." 13 The Pharisees then said to him, "You are bearing witness to yourself; your testimony is not true." 14 Jesus answered, "Even if I do bear witness to myself, my testimony is true, for I know whence I have come and whither I am going, but you do not know whence I come or whither I am going. 15 You judge according to the flesh, I judge no one. 16 Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone that judge, but I and he who sent me. 17 In your law it is written that the testimony of two men is true; 18 I bear witness to myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness to me." 19 They said to him therefore, "Where is your Father?" Jesus answered, "You know neither me nor my Father; if you knew me, you would know my Father also." 20 These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come. John 8:12-20

Reflection: How many of us as individuals know Jesus? And how many in this world know Jesus? How many are there who seek their wisdom from all sorts of sources and not from Jesus? 

Do we know from where he is come and where he is gone and where he is right now?

Knowing the whereabouts and antecedents of Jesus are extremely important. It is more important than any philosophical or worldly knowledge.  

Most corporate houses and the media too may do a background check of a candidate standing for an election or applying for a job. It is important to know the background of a bride and a bridegroom if one wants to be safe and secure in the long term relationship of marriage.

Human nature even otherwise will not take a decision on the spur of the moment, especially in those matters which effect their life in a major way.  In the trivial, insignificant aspects of life one may not really be discerning much.

Hence in the marketing of products branding works, because every brand carries with it a value based on a solid historical background of trust.

If such is the human nature that it so easily and in everyday life trusts the many available things of life, then why can’t they believe in the most sincere, honest, eternal words of Christ Jesus?

He has a background and it can be checked. The cross of Christ and his subsequent resurrection is the ultimate and real background of Jesus proved by history and actualized by faith in the life of all who have given God a chance to prove himself.  

The many martyrdom's, through their witness to the truth of the gospel, by the countless men and women of all ages and the martyrdom of the living who live the gospel literally with meaning, speaks volumes to the many who care to search for the truth of Christ.

This privilege is not meant for the petty who only seek to look at the miniature sized scar of the followers of Christ. These have their motives clear; seeking to magnify them for the world to see. 

Nor is it meant for the Judases among the followers of Christ who continue to betray Christ through their complicity in the crime of the modern day scribes and Pharisees.

Prayer: O God save the sheep of your flock, who seek to diligently listen to your voice each day of their lives.

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