6 March 2027 · Syro-Malabar Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: Latin Rite · Syro-Malankara Rite · മലയാളം
“The police answered, “Never has anyone spoken like this!”” John 7:46
Paul writes to Christians living in the capital of the empire, under rulers who were not Christian and not always just: “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God.” He is not flattering the emperor. He is saying that ordered government, which protects the weak and restrains the violent, is part of God's providence, and that the ruler is meant to be “God's servant for your good.” So Christians pay their taxes honestly, give respect and honour where they are due, and obey “not only because of wrath but also because of conscience.” Elsewhere the Church learned the limit of this obedience from the apostles themselves: when the authorities forbade them to preach Christ, Peter answered, “We must obey God rather than any human authority” (Acts 5:29). Jesus had already drawn the line: “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God the things that are God's” (Matthew 22:21). The St Thomas Christians lived this balance for centuries under Hindu kings. The Tharisappalli copper plates of 849 record the privileges granted to the Christian community of Quilon by a local ruler, and our forefathers were known as loyal subjects and honest traders. A Christian citizen today pays tax without cheating, does not bribe, votes with conscience, prays for those in authority, and refuses only what is against God.
In the Gospel the chief priests and Pharisees had sent temple police to arrest Jesus. The police come back empty-handed. “Why did you not arrest him?” Their answer is one of the simplest confessions in the Gospel: “Never has anyone spoken like this!” They were not theologians; they had only listened. Their superiors are angry: “Surely you have not been deceived too, have you? Has any one of the authorities or of the Pharisees believed in him?” Then one voice rises in the council. Nicodemus, “who had gone to Jesus before, and who was one of them”, asks a careful question: “Our law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it?” It is not yet a bold confession, only a plea for fairness, and he is mocked for it: “Surely you are not also from Galilee, are you?” But this small courage grows. On Good Friday the same Nicodemus will come openly to the Cross, “bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds” (John 19:39), to bury the Lord. The Passion is drawing near. In families, parishes and offices, someone is always being condemned without a hearing. The Great Fast asks us for the courage of Nicodemus: to say, quietly and clearly, let us first hear him.
Theme: “Never has anyone spoken like this!”
The Christian as citizen under God, the guards who only listened, and Nicodemus who asked for a fair hearing.
“By me kings reign, and rulers decree what is just;” Proverbs 8:15
“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God.” Romans 13:1
Apply: Make sure your taxes, bills and documents are honest, and refuse every bribe.
“I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their own people; I will put my words in the mouth of the prophet, who shall speak to them everything that I command.” Deuteronomy 18:18
“The police answered, “Never has anyone spoken like this!”” John 7:46
Apply: Read the Passion according to John slowly before Palm Sunday, as if hearing it for the first time.
“You must not be partial in judging: hear out the small and the great alike; you shall not be intimidated by anyone, for the judgment is God's. Any case that is too hard for you, bring to me, and I will hear it.”” Deuteronomy 1:17
““Our law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it?”” John 7:51
Apply: When someone is criticised in their absence, ask that their side be heard first.
A Christian is an honest citizen, a careful listener and a fair judge, faithful to God above all.
Listen to the One whose word is like no other, and find the courage of Nicodemus.
Take-home resolution: This week, be honest in every duty, and defend one person who is being judged without a hearing.
Dear friends, Paul writes: let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God (Romans 13:1). Authority is meant to be God's servant for our good. So a Christian pays tax honestly, refuses bribes, gives respect and prays for those who govern.
But there is a limit. When the authorities forbade the apostles to preach, Peter said: we must obey God rather than any human authority (Acts 5:29). We give to the emperor what is his, and to God what is God's.
The guards sent to arrest Jesus came back empty-handed and said: never has anyone spoken like this! (John 7:46). They had only listened. If we listen to Jesus with open hearts during this fast, his word will stop us too.
Nicodemus asked the council: does our law judge people without first giving them a hearing? (John 7:51). It was a small act of courage, and it grew until he came openly to bury the Lord. Let us also defend those who are judged without a hearing. Amen.
Children, the guards went to catch Jesus, but when they heard him speak they came back and said: no one ever talked like this man! Let us listen to Jesus too. And when someone is being blamed, let us say: let's hear their side first!
Lord Jesus Christ, the guards who came to arrest you went away saying: never has anyone spoken like this. Give us ears to listen to your word, honest hands in our duties as citizens, and the courage of Nicodemus to defend those who are condemned without a hearing. Bless all who govern, that they may serve the good of all, and keep us always faithful to God above every human power. Amen.
Saturday brings two readings about authority. Paul tells the Christians of Rome that governing authority comes from God and that good citizens obey it in conscience. In John, the temple police return without their prisoner, saying, “Never has anyone spoken like this!”, and the leaders argue among themselves. Read together, they set human authority in its place. It has real dignity, it answers to God, and it must itself listen before it judges, as Nicodemus reminds his colleagues.
Setting.
Paul writes around AD 57 to a Church in the capital of the Empire, under the emperor Nero, before the persecution of AD 64. Some years earlier, Jews had been expelled from Rome under Claudius, Aquila and Priscilla among them (Acts 18:2). Many scholars think that Paul wants these Christians to live quietly and to give no reason for further trouble. Some also connect v. 7 with public anger over taxes at about this time.
This passage does not stand alone. Just before it Paul says “Do not repay anyone evil for evil” (12:17), and straight after it he says “Owe no one anything, except to love one another” (13:8). It is part of what the life of love looks like in public.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities;” (13:1)
Paul speaks of “every person”, not only Christians. He rejects the idea that being in Christ puts believers above the law of the land.
“for it is God’s servant for your good.” (13:4)
The authority is a servant, and its purpose is the common good. This sets a measure by which every government can be judged. The next phrase, about the sword, describes the Rome of Paul’s day. The Church today teaches that the death penalty is inadmissible (CCC 2267).
“Therefore one must be subject, not only because of wrath but also because of conscience.” (13:5)
Conscience is the deciding word. A person who obeys from conscience is able also to refuse when an order is evil, which is what Peter and the apostles did (Acts 5:29).
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism quotes this passage when it teaches that authority is required by the moral order and comes from God (CCC 1897–1904, esp. 1899). It also draws from v. 7 the duty of citizens to pay taxes and to share in public life (CCC 2238–2240). And it adds the other side: a citizen is obliged in conscience not to follow orders contrary to the moral order, for “We must obey God rather than any human authority” (Acts 5:29; CCC 2242). St Clement of Rome, in a time of danger, prayed for rulers that God would give them health and peace (1 Clement 61).
Setting.
The police were sent to arrest Jesus during the festival (7:32), and he has just spoken of living water (7:37–39). They now return to the chief priests and Pharisees with empty hands. The scene shows division among those in authority. Nicodemus, who came to Jesus by night (3:1–2), speaks up for a fair hearing here, and he will bring myrrh and aloes for Jesus’ burial (19:39).
Verse 53 begins the story of the woman taken in adultery (7:53–8:11), which the earliest manuscripts of John do not have. The Church receives the story as inspired Scripture, and the NRSV prints it in brackets.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“Never has anyone spoken like this!” (7:46)
The police are not theologians and they offer no argument. They just report what they heard. The words of Jesus have done what weapons could not.
““Our law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it?”” (7:51)
Nicodemus says “our law”. He speaks as a loyal Pharisee and uses the law to defend Jesus. He is not yet openly a disciple, but he has taken one brave step. That he is one of them shows that no group here can be judged all together.
“Surely you are not also from Galilee, are you?” (7:52)
An insult, not an answer. The claim that no prophet comes from Galilee is what these speakers say in anger. Yet 2 Kings 14:25 says that Jonah came from Gath-hepher, a town in Galilee, and an early papyrus of John here reads “the prophet”, which would mean the one foretold by Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15).
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism draws from this passage the honest picture of the leaders of that time. Among the religious authorities of Jerusalem, the Pharisee Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea were secret disciples of Jesus, and there was long-standing dissension about him (CCC 595). That is why the Church refuses to lay the responsibility for his death on the Jews as a people (CCC 597–598; Nostra Aetate 4). These harsh words about the crowd come from a few men in a moment of anger and are not the voice of Israel.
Does Romans 13 mean that Christians must obey any government, whatever it does?
No. Paul describes authority as “God’s servant for your good” (13:4). Its right to be obeyed depends on that purpose. When a command goes against God’s law, the Christian must follow God first (Acts 5:29; CCC 2242). Revelation 13 shows the other face of an empire that demands what belongs only to God.