3rd Sunday of Lent (March 8). Right judgment

Prepare to Listen.  The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.  (Jn 1:9)
 
Prayerfully Read John 5:45-47 and 7:19-24
5:45Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; your accuser is Moses, on whom you have set your hope.  46If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me.  47But if you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?”
7:19“Did not Moses give you the law?  Yet none of you keeps the law.  Why are you looking for an opportunity to kill me?”  20The crowd answered, “You have a demon!  Who is trying to kill you?”  21Jesus answered them, “I performed one work, and all of you are astonished.  22Because of this Moses gave you circumcision (it is, of course, not from Moses but from the patriarchs), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.  23If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath in order that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because I healed a man’s whole body on the Sabbath?  24Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”
 
Prayerfully Wonder
John’s Jesus goes back and forth between Jerusalem and Galilee.  His teaching has the same back-and-forth character.  Chapter 5 ends with his accusation that the Jews didn’t believe him because they didn’t really believe Moses.  John 7 returns to that idea, so I’ve brought these two passages together.
 
This time, Jesus accused the Jews of not keeping the law.  Since they were zealous keepers of the law, this was shocking.  But, as Newbigin suggests, “under cover of zeal for the law there is lurking a terrible violation of the law.”[1]  Like all zealous rule-keepers, they twisted it to suit themselves.  It was wrong to heal “a man’s whole body on the Sabbath,” but okay to circumcise a small part.  It was wrong to murder, but okay to plot the murder of Jesus.  They judged according to their narrow-minded views that saw only appearances, only part of the picture.
 
Before we judge the Jews, we ought to examine ourselves.  We live in a polarized and divisive culture and it’s easy to judge by appearances.  We see a person with a red Maga cap or a Democrat sign and assume we know what they stand for.  We judge them good or bad.  It’s easy to do, and we fall into the trap more often than we want.  Instead of learning from our adversary, we right them off on the basis of appearances.
 
Jesus’ words to the Jews are also for us today: “Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”  Merton defines wise (or right) judgment as: “A good sense which sees that we are not always necessarily infallible in our ideas.”[2]  In other words, be willing to admit you’re wrong and willing to learn from others, including adversaries.
 
What is the basis of your judgment of others?
 
Prayerfully Respond
Lord, forgive me when I’ve behaved like the Jews, presuming I’m right, judging by appearances.  Help me resist the temptation to judge by appearances only.  Amen.
 
Live obediently.  Seek right judgment.
[1] Newbigin, Lesslie.  The Light Has Come.  Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company.  1982, p. 96.
[2] Merton, Thomas.  Faith and Violence.  Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press.  1968, p. 25.