Saturday of the Fifth Week of Lent
As we recently talked through the Sunday readings with our young family, one of our children remarked how foolish the featured disciples were. How could they not understand what Jesus was saying? It makes so much sense! Didn’t they trust Him that what He said would come true? How could they not have reconciled His words with the teachings they surely had learned?
My husband and I explained it may be “easy” for those of us who know how the story ends to see, but there was so much that the people in the story couldn’t have known. There was room for doubt that Jesus was the Messiah. There was fear of what that could mean.
As I read today’s Gospel and remember that conversation, I’m trying to use that same framing to consider the Pharisees. We hear in John 11:45-56: “So the chief priests and the Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin and said, “What are we going to do? This man is performing many signs. If we leave him alone, all will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our land and our nation.”’
There were so much the people in the story couldn’t have known. There was room for doubt that Jesus was the Messiah. There was fear of what that could mean.
In 2025, it’s easy to sit here and see how it all played out, to perhaps even feel a bit of self-righteousness and confidence that “I would never…” and “how could they ever…?”
And yet. They were humans living in a time without the benefit of 2,000+ years of reflection, teaching and perspective. There was room for doubt. There was fear of what the truth could mean.
As we enter into Holy Week, let’s find ourselves in the story, holding space for the doubt and the fear of what the truth might mean. Let’s take up the mindset and feelings of a Pharisee in those final days, Peter in the courtyard, or Mary Magdalene at the tomb. Let’s put aside our “How could they…” and instead take some time to ponder with grace, “What would’ve changed if they’d known? What do I understand today because of their stories? In my life today, where is there doubt? Where am I letting fear blur me from seeing the truth?”
—Meghann Naveau