Gospel (Jn 7,40-53) - At that time, hearing the words of Jesus, some of the people said: "This is truly the prophet!". Others said: «This is the Christ!». Others instead said: «Does Christ come from Galilee? Doesn't the Scripture say: "From the lineage of David and from Bethlehem, the village of David, will the Christ come"? And dissension arose among the people concerning him. Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him. The guards then returned to the chief priests and the Pharisees and they said to them: "Why didn't you bring him here?". The guards replied: "Never has a man spoken like that!". But the Pharisees replied to them: « Have you also allowed yourselves to be deceived? Did any of the leaders or Pharisees believe in him? But these people, who do not know the Law, are cursed! Then Nicodèmo, who had previously gone to Jesus, and was one of them, said: «Does our Law judge a man before having listened to him and knowing what he does?». They answered him, “Are you also from Galilee? He studies, and you will see that no prophet arises from Galilee! And each one returned to his own house.

The commentary on the Gospel by Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia

The evangelical passage makes us still remain in Jerusalem in the temple. It is the last day of the Feast of Booths and Jesus continues to confront his opponents to show the truth of his mission. Numerous people listen to him. Some are admired by his teaching, recognize him as a prophet and some think that he is the Messiah: "This is the Christ!". However, a discussion begins in the crowd of listeners. We can say that the Gospel always gives rise to debate and division even between those who welcome it and others who reject it. In fact, the debate lights up everyone's heart when he listens carefully to those words. The Gospel always arouses disturbance, which is not only amazement at the beauty of the words but a push to change one's life. This also happened to Mary who was troubled by the words of the angel of the annunciation. And at the end of Peter's preaching at Pentecost, the author writes that the crowd felt their hearts being pierced in their chests. That day in the temple a discussion about this arose among the crowd. What is certain is that Jesus' preaching was so authoritative that no one dared to lay hands on him. The guards sent specifically to arrest him, after hearing him speak, did not have the courage to arrest him. And to the Pharisees' remonstrances for not having arrested him they responded with a frankness that made them even more irritated: "Never has a man spoken like that!". The word of God is strong. It is certainly a "weak" force which is nevertheless stronger than the alleged fortresses of men. His strength is that of presenting a love that knows no boundaries, which teaches us to love others before ourselves. In fact, a word like this had never been heard, no one had spoken like Jesus. In fact, no teacher had taught that the truly blessed are the poor, the non-violent, the meek, the workers of peace and justice. The entire Gospel - from the birth of Jesus, to the cross, to the resurrection and ascension - is marked page after page by this love. Among the Pharisees only Nicodemus, who had met Jesus for a long time and talked with him, objected to the blindness of his colleagues. But they also harshly reprimanded him, inviting him to resume his studies. They were so blinded by pride that they didn't give up even in the face of evidence. In fact, only by continuously listening to his Word, as Nicodemus did, is it possible to open your eyes and heart to this extraordinary Master.