These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews: for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue — John provides the explanation: the parents fear 'the Jews' (the authorities). The institutional authorities have decreed that anyone confessing Jesus as the Messiah will be cast out of the synagogue (aposynagōgos, expelled from the community). This is an act of social death: excommunication. The parents' caution reflects the real threat: public alignment with Jesus means exile from the community, family, and religious life.

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

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