Today’s readings bring us into a difficult place.

Jeremiah says:

“I hear many whispering… ‘Denounce him! Let us denounce him!’”

He is surrounded. Watched. Betrayed.

Even his friends are waiting for him to fall.

Jeremiah is not suffering because he has done wrong.

He is suffering because he has spoken the truth.

And that prepares us for the Gospel.

Jesus has just revealed who He is.

And the response is immediate: “The Jews picked up stones again to stone him.”

Not because He has harmed anyone. Not because He has deceived them.

But because the truth He speaks demands a response.

This is something we must understand clearly.

Truth does not leave people neutral. It draws people — or it provokes them.

Jesus says: “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?”

It is a simple question. Look at what I have done. Look at the evidence.

But they answer: “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you
but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.”

They understand exactly what He is claiming. And they reject it.

Here is the point. They are not lacking evidence. They are resisting what the evidence means.

Jeremiah felt this.

Jesus lives it fully.

And the Church still experiences it.

Because truth — especially about God — does not fit easily into human pride.

Jeremiah says something striking: “But the Lord is with me as a dread warrior;
therefore my persecutors will stumble.”

He is afraid. But he is not abandoned. He is opposed. But he is not alone.

And that is the key for us. Because most of us will not face stones.

But we will face something else. Silence. Pressure.

The temptation to soften the truth so that it causes less reaction.

It is easy to be faithful when it costs nothing.

It is harder when it costs reputation, comfort, or peace.

Jesus does not back away.

He does not say, “You have misunderstood me.”

He presses further. “Even though you do not believe me, believe the works.”

In other words: Look honestly. See what is in front of you.

And again, they try to arrest Him. But He escapes.

Because His hour has not yet come.

Then something quiet but important happens.

Jesus goes away. “And many believed in him there.”

Not everyone rejects the truth.

Some recognise it. Some accept it. Some follow.

That is always how it is.

The same truth
hardens some hearts
and opens others.

So where does that leave us?

First — do not be surprised when truth meets resistance.

Jeremiah experienced it. Christ endured it. The Church lives it.

Second — do not measure truth by how easily it is accepted.

If something is true, it remains true even when it is rejected.

And third — remain close to Christ.

Jeremiah could stand because the Lord was with him.

And we can remain faithful only if we stay near to Christ.

Because the real danger is not opposition.

The real danger is slowly adjusting the truth until it no longer challenges anyone.

Christ does not do that.

He speaks clearly.

He acts clearly.

And He leaves people free
to accept or reject Him.

So the question is not: “Is the truth easy?”

The question is: “Is it true?”

And if it is true —
then it is worth holding on to.

Even when it is costly.

Even when it is resisted.

Even when it is misunderstood.

Because in the end,

the truth that was rejected is the truth that saves.

And the one they tried to stone
is the one who gives life.