Our previous lenten gospels record Jesus’ words during the Feast of Tabernacles in the temple area. It was hardly a public square, an open space where you could say anything; certainly not the freer space of Galilee or other places where Jesus taught and did great works. 

The temple area was under the tight control of the authorities and his audience was often hostile. At times, they cry out to arrest him and they pick up stones to kill him. 

Yet, Jesus will not be silenced. “Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM,” he says to them. He proclaims fearlessly his divine status:  “I am always there.” Jn 8, 51-59

Are we fearless enough to tell his story, to repeat his message, to proclaim him everywhere, even where he and his works are rejected? “I know him,” Jesus says about his Father, “and if I should say that I do not know him, I would be like you a liar. But I do know him and I keep his word.”

The world today, especially our western world, can be hostile to Jesus Christ. Are we brave enough to witness where his name is ridiculed or ignored?

Lord Jesus,

you speak the truth,

even when others rejected your word.

Make me your zealous witness,

never fearful to speak your name 

and help me live according to your teaching.