Encountering Jesus - "Believe the Works!"

When we moved into our home in Quebec, we inherited a cockatiel. Her name is Bibi.
This picture has NOTHING to do with the point of this blog post.
It is simply a glimpse of our
daily life in our new place.

If he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be set aside— what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father. But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.” Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp. (John 10.35-39)

Wow!

It has been almost a year since I last wrote in this series... which started as a slow, deliberate plodding through the book of John, a book which I've always found difficult to understand and therefore have not understood the recommendation to new believers that they start here. I don't know that this study is helping me to comprehend that recommendation, but it certainly is allowing me to encounter Jesus in more profound ways than I have in the past. Now that my hiatus and the craziness of the last 12 months is over, I hope to continue plodding a bit more consistently.

The last time I wrote, I looked at Jesus' statement, "Is it not written... 'I have said you are gods?'" It was a statement that totally befuddled me as Jesus quoted from the Old Testament, and I concluded with these questions: 

1. In my God-appointed roles, where He's vested me with power and authority, am I acting rightly and justly so that some day, when I give account, He will be pleased?
2. As I seek to know God, do I rely on others, personal experience, mystical feelings and sensations... or do I depend upon the same authority on which Jesus staked, first in priority: His claims - the written-Word?
3. Am I allowing God to write His Word deep within on my heart, thus making it a part of me? Or am I trying to scribble it all down and in the process adding, dropping and/or mutating it into something different so that I can say I possess it? 

Continuing on through John 10, look carefully at what Jesus says to His accusers, "Believe the works." First, He tells those who are infuriated by His claim to be the Son of God to believe what was written. If they can't trust the written Word of God, He exhorts them to believe based on what they've seen Him do... to judge rightly whether or not His actions line up with God's nature and attributes. As Matthew Henry wrote, Jesus is effectively saying "...if [my] acts of healing and helping, of mighty consolation and symbolic grace, are obviously such as you can recognize as the Father's, believe them; learn that much..." Jesus was going about doing the types of things that only God could do. 

If those around us won't trust the testimony of Jesus - the authority of His Word - then we must point them to the things that He did and does. 

I'm a TV crime/drama show junkie. After working all day and then a couple of hours of homework with my kids in their second language, it is a preferred way for me to relax. Often, during the court scenes, people are called to the stand as character witnesses for the one accused of a crime. As they are questioned by lawyers, these character witness often give examples of things the person on trial has done - his/her works - works that either confirm to judge/jury that the crime matches with the demonstrated character of the accused... or works that contradict the possibility that accused likely committed the crime.

Jesus is, in a sense, asking those present at this encounter, to serve as judge/jury. Based on what He has done, could His words possibly be true. 

And, in their case, believing the works should ultimately brings one to believe the words as well.

Again... they tried to seize Him. In their minds, they probably figured they had given Him an opportunity to refute the charge of blasphemy. Instead, He only strengthened the case against Him. It was a similar circumstance to what takes place in John 5 - where the Sanhedrin is ready to kill him for breaking the Sabbath and for blasphemy. I'm struck by how often our preconceived ideas blind us to the truth literally right in front of our faces. They understood the significance of what He said - that He was One with God. That came through loud and clear. What they couldn't grasp, perhaps because their understanding of what it meant for God to be one God, was that they were standing in His presence, beholding the face of their incarnate God. But this makes me wonder what "preconceived" ideas I'm currently holding at this moment that are also blinding me to seeing my God at work, right in front of me.

The again in this final phrase refers back to, I believe, John 7. In verse 30, John records that they tried to seize (same word) him - possibly the crowd listening to Him. In verse 32, in response to the "whisperings" the temple guards were sent to arrest ( a word built on the same root as the word translated "seize" elsewhere) Him. Then, in verse 44, the text mentions that the people were divided in their opinions about Jesus and that some desired to seize (same word). In this last instance, it isn't clear if they actually tried... but the comment made was that no one could lay a hand upon Him - so it could be inferred that someone tried.

Apparently seizing Him was a common theme...

What does that word "seize" mean in the original language?

According to Strong's, it means: "apprehend, catch, lay hand on, take; probably another form of biazo; to squeeze, i.e. Seize (gently by the hand (press), or officially (arrest), or in hunting (capture)) -- apprehend, catch, lay hand on, take." 

Jesus was outnumbered each time they tried to seize Him - but they couldn't. Imagine. Here's how Matthew Henry puts it: "They stretched out hands which dropped harmlessly at their side - another confirmation of the solemn statement of verses 17-18:" "I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father."

I'm trying to imagine if that had been me - reaching out to grab someone in anger only to find my hands refusing to cooperate...

...If you can't believe the words, then believe the works!

One of the most troubling and convicting thoughts as I've studied these words this week has been: "what "preconceived" ideas am I currently holding that are also blinding me to seeing my God at work, or noting His presence, right in front of me?"

How about you?

**************************************

Our kitty. She joined our family back in early December as the kids' Christmas gift.
She was a stray who would hang out on our back deck and lived in the big back hedge.
We named her Frankincense (in keeping with the Christmas theme)... or Frankie for short.
However, long before we'd ever enticed her to darken the door of the house, we had
started calling her "Pouf" because she looked like a little puffball of fur.
Frankinpouf seems to be the evolution...

Recently Frankinpouf has been obsessing on Bibi...
So... anyone have suggestions or advice on how to train a cat to ignore a bird?

Ten most recent posts in this series: 

• of illusions and fun house mirrors
• Four elements of Spiritual Sight... according to MacArthur
• It's your call!
• "I just don't get it? Why didn't they understand?"
• Authority and Authorization
• Two really important "I ams!"
• The Great Separator
• "Tell us plainly... Have you come to take away our souls?"
• He is Messiah
• one of those times Jesus said a confusing thing

Click here for all of the titles and their corresponding links in the Encountering Jesus series.

Encountering Jesus ~ one of those times Jesus said a confusing thing

I'd originally planned on looking at a much larger section of John 10 today. But I got stuck with just these words because I found them very hard to understand. 

Jesus answered them, 

“Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are “gods”?’ ”(John 10.34)

photo credit: toridawnrector via photopin cc

 First - since it has been a few weeks - let's take a quick look at the context and refresh our minds as to what was taking place. Jesus had quite clearly stated that He was the Son of God (vs 25-30). The unbelieving Jews, in turn, respond by accusing Jesus of blasphemy; in their minds, He blasphemed the moment He said said He and the Father were one... the instant He attributed to Himself the power to grant eternal life and the ability to preserve those He'd saved (vs 33).

What's all that mean? Well, the Jews would have been very familiar with those powers that only God had. They would have studied them in the Old Testament and would have recognized that anyone who claimed to do what God alone could do was, at best, trying to set himself up as God's equal. At worst, he'd be identifying himself as God.

Look at just a few verses where God gives His people information to use so that they would know Him:

• "See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand." (Deuteronomy 32:39)
• "For He wounds, but He also binds up; He injures, but His hands also heal." (Job 5:18)
• "There is none holy like the LORD; there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God ... The LORD kills and brings to life; He brings down to Sheol and raises up." (1 Samuel 2:2, 6)
• "The moon will shine like the sun, and the sunlight will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven full days, when the LORD binds up the bruises of his people and heals the wounds he inflicted." (Isaiah 30:26)
"‘All the nations gather together, and the peoples assemble. Who among them can declare this, and show us the former things? Let them bring their witnesses to prove them right, and let them hear and say, It is true. You are my witnesses,’ declares the LORD, ‘and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me. I, I am the LORD, and besides me there is no savior. I declared and saved and proclaimed, when there was no strange god among you; and you are my witnesses,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I am God. Also henceforth I am he; there is none who can deliver from my hand; I work, and who can turn it back?’" (Isaiah 43:9-13)

In these verses, God proclaims that He gives life and that He stops anyone who would impede Him from accomplishing His sovereign will.

In light of this, any response other than the Pharisaical reaction of angry astonishment when Jesus makes similar claims about Himself would have been surprising:

"‘My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one.’ Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, ‘I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?’ ‘We are not stoning you for any of these,’ replied the Jews, ‘but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.’" (John 10:27-33)

 We have the context of the immediate passage, but to discern what Jesus was saying, we also need to understand the context of the psalm that Jesus quotes. Psalm 82, a psalm of Asaph, pleads with God to judge the "gods" for failing to execute their position with justice and righteousness. It is quite obvious within the psalm that "gods" are simply men in positions of authority, those whom God appointed to rule and judge His people. Calling human magistrates “gods” highlights 1) their authority, 2) that civil power was a formidable force, and 3) both power and authority came derived from God as those men were His choices and ruled by His appointment. Key to understanding Psalm 82 is understanding that men appointed to judge while on earth must be impartial and rigorously pursue justice because God will hold them accountable. Look at verses 6 and 7 of Psalm 82, as they warn these flesh and blood judges: “I said, `You are gods; you are all sons of the Most High.' But you will die like mere men; you will fall like every other ruler.” Those God chooses to represent Him are mortal, they will die and after death, will face judgment as they give account for how they used the power and authority with which He vested them.

So, when Jesus quotes this verse from Psalm 82, he focuses Jewish attention on the fact that the Law refers to mere men—men of authority, power and prestige—as “gods.” Essentially, He asks, "Why accuse me of blasphemy because I called myself 'Son of God' when the Law uses the exact same word to mean magistrate?" 

Looking closely at Jesus' words, though, I find that the other parts of His statement just as fascinating and equally convicting. First, He asks, "Is it not written...?" He appeals to respect for the written Word, word which the Jews considered holy and the key to knowing and understanding God. As W. Gary Phillips writes, "The Word-Incarnate relied on inferences drawn from the Word-written." For those who take the time to look deeply and seek, those written words will confirm Who Jesus is. He also refers to the Law - the one that God gave His people and that these Jews have worked so hard to try and keep, even down to every jot and tittle - as YOUR law. Sometimes, I can take the Word God gave and modify or mutilate... metamorphisize or mutate... and make it mine. If that is because God is writing it on my heart and I'm internalizing it so that it becomes a part of me and is present and reflected in all that I say and do. If I grab ahold of that Word to make it mine by adding my own mark to it... well, then it is no longer God's Word and is merely my own. And then I begin trying to hold people accountable to "my" law - a behavior that is unrighteous, unjust and abusive.

I started last week, examining this passage, and very confused. Now, as I type these words, I find myself deeply challenged by asking three questions God's Spirit is asking me I've plunged even deeper into this very intense Jesus encounter:

1. In my God-appointed roles, where He's vested me with power and authority, am I acting rightly and justly so that some day, when I give account, He will be pleased?
2. As I seek to know God, do I rely on others, personal experience, mystical feelings and sensations... or do I depend upon the same authority on which Jesus staked His claims - the written-Word?
3. Am I allowing God to write His Word deep within on my heart and thus making it a part of me? Or am I trying to scribble it all down and in the process adding and dropping and mutating it into something different so that I can say I possess it? The first pleases the Father. The second angers while deeply saddening Him...

How would you answer each one of those questions?

this week's gratitude list

(#'s 4955 - 4979)
little guy wandering about the house practicing his music for Christmas Eve

good heart to heart with my Tori-girl

finding the perfect-as-says-Mary perfect tree

the delight on her face when we said she could pick the tree

the absolute very biggest Christmas tree we've ever had

clothespin dolls turned into Christmas ornaments

choir practice with the orchestra

Christmas carols

little girl cold seemingly making its exit

minion t-shirts

Christmas tree lights

Thanksgiving with the WHOLE Wright side of the family this year

playing Euchre with my nephew

watching said nephew teach his mom to play Euchre at the same time

Live Nativity plans

folk and praise music jam sessions

giblet gravy that turned out perfectly... which only happens about 1 out of 5 times, so truly a cause to celebrate

beautiful Christmas dresses in a bag of hand-me-downs

an extension I was praying I'd get

looking forward to sharing one of my favorite studies, from Colossians 3

the cutest little white feathery owl ornaments you've ever seen

lounging around in a comfy, old pair of my Pop-pop's pjs - and remembering special times with him

a new season of The Mentalist - been waiting a long time!

so much fun watching Sadie Roberston represent Christians well and winsomely as she competed on Dancing with the Stars

enjoying this season's Amazing Race and watching "the surfers" (i.e. Bethany [Hamilton] and her hubby Adam) do the same

Ten most recent posts in this series: 

• THEN Jesus...
• of illusions and fun house mirrors
• Four elements of Spiritual Sight... according to MacArthur
• It's your call!
• "I just don't get it? Why didn't they understand?"
• Authority and Authorization
• Two really important "I ams!"
• The Great Separator
• "Tell us plainly... Have you come to take away our souls?"
• He is Messiah

Click here for all of the titles and their corresponding links in the Encountering Jesus series.

Encountering Jesus ~ He IS Messiah

The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”

Again his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?”

“We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.” (John 10.26-33)

Jesus had taught a parable - the good shepherd versus the thief.

Then, the Jews make a request:

"Tell us plainly... Have you come to take away our souls?"

They just DID. NOT. get it, did they?

Before diving into this text, read this brief summary from InterVarsity New Testament Commentaries: 

Jesus has withdrawn from the temple (8:59) and begun to gather around him a community distinct from official Judaism (chap. 9). He has interpreted his activity as the divine shepherd's gathering the flock of God (10:1-21) and has concluded with a reference to the authority God has given him to lay down his life and take it back again (10:18), echoing what he had said in his first public teaching to these Jewish leaders concerning his body, the temple (2:19-22). Now he returns to the vicinity of the temple, though not to the temple proper. Solomon's Colonnade (10:23) was an open, roofed 45-foot walkway with double columns that were 38 feet tall. It was situated along the east side of the Court of Gentiles (Westerholm 1988:772). Although it was part of the temple complex, it was not considered to be part of the actual temple (Brown 1966:402), as evidenced by the fact that Gentiles were not allowed into the temple but they could be present in Solomon's Colonnade. Thus, Jesus' departure from the temple at the end of chapter 8 was final. But now, right next to the temple, at a feast commemorating the rededication of the temple, Jesus gives his clearest teaching about his own identity. It is this identity that is the grounds for his replacement of the temple as the place where forgiveness of sins is available and God is to be met. "Christ in fact perfectly accomplished what the Maccabees wrought in a figure, and dedicated a new and abiding temple" (Westcott 1908:2:64). Jesus also clearly spells out the separation between himself and the Jewish leaders.

photo credit: freestone via photopin cc

Jesus has told them, and even if He has not told them in uncertain terms, as bluntly - perhaps - as they would have preferred, His message should have been unmistakable. The Jews, with their knowledge of prophecy, the hearing of Jesus speak (for example John 7:37 John 7:38 , John 8:12 John 8:35 John 8:36 John 8:58) and the clear testimony of His actions verifying both prophecy and His Words, should have clearly recognized Him for what He was... the long awaited Messiah. 

The problem is not a lack of clarity on the part of Jesus. Rather, it is that these Jews are not of His fold... they've understood exactly what He is saying, but they cannot believe and accept because they are not His sheep.

But oh... the benefits for His sheep:

• His sheep listen to His voice - in other words, His sheep get to hear God's voice which prompts God to birth faith within; 
• Jesus knows His followers - the kind of first-hand personal experience that comes through prolonged acquaintance;
• They get to follow Him or to go to be in the same way with Jesus, accompanying Him specifically as a disciple;
• Jesus gives His sheep eternal life - an amazing gift because in Him, they experience the unique reality of God's life at work within. The Lord manifests His self-existent life as it is in His sinless abode of heaven and His sheep will partake of that. Eternal life operates simultaneously outside of time, inside of time, and beyond time and while time is what gives everlasting meaning for the believer through faith, eternal also means time-independent. (Try wrapping your head around all of that!);
• His sheep shall never perish - they will never be fully, permanently and utterly destroyed;
• no one will snatch them out of His hand - no thief can access them as they are kept in His hand
• these sheep are a gift to Jesus, from His Almighty Father, Who also holds them in His hand;

Then Jesus makes a statement that gives so much peace and confidence to the hearts of His sheep... but inflames the Jews. He states, "I and the Father are one.”

I found this paragraph (from the InterVarsity New Testament Commentaries) to be particularly helpful as I've sought to understand this passage: "His sheep are safe in his hand (v. 28) and his Father's hand (v. 29). The implication of such a juxtaposition comes with Jesus' climactic claim, I and the Father are one (v. 30). What is this oneness? In the context Jesus is speaking of God's love, care and power and his own claim to share in these. Such a claim to oneness with God is not a claim to deity, since the same unity with God is true of Christians, who share in God's very life and are participants in his will, love, activity and power. Thus Jesus is one with the Father in the same way believers are. But even when this language is used of Christians it is made clear that their oneness with God is mediated to them by Christ (17:22-23). Jesus' own oneness with the Father includes these aspects, but it also is of a completely different order (cf. 8:58). The Father not only gave Jesus life, as he has done for believers, but has made him the giver of life (5:21), a divine attribute illustrated in what Jesus says about the bread (chap. 6) and the water (chap. 7) and which will be climactically demonstrated in the raising of Lazarus (chap. 11). So this figure of the hand is not just about sharing in God's power or exercising God's power; it is part of his claim to equality with God. It implies a oneness in essence since "infinite power is an essential attribute of God; and it is impossible to suppose that two beings distinct in essence could be equal in power" (Westcott 1908:2:68; cf. Chrysostom In John 61.2; Augustine In John 48.7). Here, then, is a powerful claim to deity. The opponents take it as such (v. 33), and Jesus does not deny that interpretation.

The reaction of the Jews is to prepare to stone Him. They asked Him to tell them plainly if He was or was not the promised Messiah. He says He is - but even at that, they never expected their Messiah to claim equality and oneness with God. Stop and think about the craziness of what actually occurs here. A crowd of angry, deeply offended people are gathering stones to start throwing them at Him with intent to kill. Instead of fleeing for His life, or "disappearing" as He does at another time, He gently tries to explain - always seeking to bring them to faith and into the fold. Talk about amazing grace!

But it has me thinking about how often we seek to kill... or silence... the One Who offers... or has already given us... life.

He appeals to them, based their experience of what He has done:  good works, meaning things both great and admirable, things that demonstrate great power but also moral excellence, the things that would be expected of a good shepherd. The proper response to the works of Jesus should have been admiration, humility, thankfulness, praise, awe... instead He received anger, hatefulness, and evil intentions. 

I wonder if it hurt Jesus when they accused Him of blasphemy...???

this week's gratitude list

(#'s 4931 - 4954)
snow

a successful wisdom teeth extraction - and relatively minimal pain resulting (now for the swelling to go down!)

convicting sermon at church on Sunday night

Christmas shopping with Gammie

a really cool arts and craft fair with the kiddos over the weekend

basketball practice

cheerleading practice

a college fair at the Creation Science Museum

college apps, essays, test scores and transcripts... all over again

being able to make a late night run to the grocery store

snow ploughs

that moment when I overheard the girls discussing that they felt like they were living inside a snow globe and God had shaken it up so the snow was fluttering every direction

the gift of two cases of Coke

weekends in a deer blind with Daddy and her Chromebook

birds of prey up close and personal

friends traveling safely

looking forward to homemade waffles this week - to go with my homemade syrup

starting to enjoy my study through Psalms, since the psalms have always been harder than average scriptures for me to enjoy

heaters on cold winter mornings

actual checking a few things off that never-ending, ever-growing checklist

an upcoming Shakespeare competition for my big girl

snow shovels

finding my electric blanket (now to get it plugged in)

homemade biscuits that turned out just right and fluffy and perfect (since it doesn't happen very often!)

Ten most recent posts in this series: 

• When your past comes back to haunt you... 
• THEN Jesus...
• of illusions and fun house mirrors
• Four elements of Spiritual Sight... according to MacArthur
• It's your call!
• "I just don't get it? Why didn't they understand?"
• Authority and Authorization
• Two really important "I ams!"
• The Great Separator
• "Tell us plainly... Have you come to take away our souls?"

Click here for all of the titles and their corresponding links in the Encountering Jesus series.

Encountering Jesus ~ "Tell us plainly... Have you come to take away our souls?"

Then came the Festival of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade. The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”

Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe.

Can you identify with "the Jews" in this passage?

Have you ever prayed to the Lord and asked Him to show you, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that He is the Messiah?

I have... I still do... some times, some days...

My husband and I have often discussed this. He rarely doubts God, rarely questions if He is true, if He is good, if Jesus is Who He says He is and really did come and do what He said He would. I, on the other hand, struggle with doubt more often than I care to admit. I easily identify with the Jews in this passage. I start thinking about God, trying to figure Him out, trying to make Him make sense-according-to-me. My mind gets overwhelmed by the enormity and awesomeness and power of the God I want to believe in, I seek to understand in a way that makes sense to me and then I start coming up with my own ideas to try and make all the puzzle pieces fit and to answer questions like this:

• What if man really has made all of this up... after all, there are many men and women who are so much smarter than I am?
• What if there really isn't a God? I think I've seen evidence of Him, but what if I'm just putting the puzzle pieces together all wrong and only seeing what I want to see?
• What if Jesus wasn't anything more than a good man, albeit deluded teacher?
• What if the Bible isn't inspired and is nothing more than a creative, enticing fabrication created by those who wanted for themselves and others a real purpose in life?
• What if this life is all there is and then there is nothing?

Big problem!

Because I can't answer those questions. 

There really aren't any answers other than to confess, once again, my sin of unbelief - to cry out in desperation, "Lord, I believe! Help Thou my unbelief!"

That's what faith is all about. It is a believing that is some sort of synergism between God's empowering grace to believe and man's choice to believe, regardless of how things look or how well it all makes sense... 

At some moment, I have to leap and trust that God will be there to catch me, even on the days I can't see Him. And? To be okay with, on those doubting days, knowing that the moment I'll know for sure will be that moment when I take my final breath on this earth.

But back to the Jews in this passage.

As I said, I really do identify with them and I don't "fault" them for asking this question, especially not if it is a sincere one and I have to think that in a group (i.e. Jews is plural), there must have been at least one sincere, searching, wondering and wandering heart.

This Jesus encounter takes place at a specific time in a specific locale. It happens during the Feast of Dedication. We call it Hanukkah today. Hanukkah, also known as the Festival of Lights, is celebrated as

A few hundred years before Christ, Alexander the Great conquered Israel, but left the Jews to practice their theocracy uninhibited, with Syrian overseers and rulers. However, after a period of time, the pressure to assimilate increased and eventually the Jewish people were prohibited from practicing their faith. Additionally, the temple was profaned and dishonored. During the 160s BC, Judah of Maccabee and his father instigated a revolt, retaking Jerusalem, purifying the temple and establishing a dynasty from their family that then prospered and ruled for nearly a century. Hanukkah is a celebration commemorating that rededication of the temple and is celebrated each year in close proximity to Christmas. At the time of the rededication, only an insufficient amount of undefiled oil remained to burn during the rites of purification. Oil fueled the Temple candles that needed to burn all night every night. While the amount appeared insufficient, miraculously the candle burned for the entire prescribed time. An eight day festival was declared to commemorate this miracle of provision (not the Maccabean military victory).

Thus, the Jews were in Jerusalem, celebrating the remembrance of miraculous provision.

Solomon's Colonnade, according to Matthew Henry, "...was associated with the grandest events in [Jewish] national history; for it was reared on the substructions of Solomon's temple, which even to the present day are intact.... The Lord walked there because it was winter, and wintry weather." Also, "He walked in Solomon's portico - that part of the temple of Herod which the apostles afterwards adopted as the scene of some of their most explicit assertions of the gospel (Acts 3:11; Acts 5:12)."

Thus, the Jews were not only celebrating miraculous provision, but also in a place where God had traditionally accomplished great things. 

Most commentators indicate that the Jews gathered about with the goal of waylaying Jesus. In general, at least the leaders had not come with a sincere question. The question they asked, Gill explains in the following manner: "'and said unto him, how long dost thou make us doubt?' or as the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Persic, and Ethiopic versions literally render it, 'how long dost thou take away our soul?' that is, deprive us of the knowledge of thee; Nonnus renders it, 'wherefore dost thou steal away our minds with words?' so Jacob when he went away privately, without the knowledge of Laban, is said to steal away the heart of Laban, as it is in the Hebrew text, in Genesis 31:20. In like manner the Jews charge Christ with taking away their soul, or stealing away their heart, or hiding himself from them; not telling them plainly, who he was: therefore say they, 'if thou be the Christ, tell us plainly; freely, boldly, openly, in express words;' this they said, not as desirous of knowing who he was, or for the sake of information, but in order to ensnare him; that should he say he was not the Christ, as they might hope he would, for fear of them, now they had got him by himself, hemmed him in, it would then lessen his credit among the people; and should he say he was the Messiah, they would have whereof to accuse him to the Roman governor, as an enemy to Caesar, as one that set up for king of the Jews."

"Tell us plainly... Have you come to take away our souls?"

The answer to that question is that Jesus came to deliver life back to our souls...

Just as those today who fear making that leap of faith and trusting Jesus... just as those who fear that a life spent following Jesus is only a life wasted because this life is all they have... these Jews accused Jesus of stealing from them the very gift He offered and longed for them to take.

Jesus' response to this question was that He'd already plainly told them. 

He was not the thief, coming to seek and destroy - go back and read the first part of this chapter, in case you've forgotten what He'd just taught.

Were there some in that crowd of Jews that day who then believed?

How about you, today? What do you believe about Jesus?

photo credit: exoimperator via photopin cc

this week's gratitude list

(#'s 4907 - 4930)

pumpkin cake for a Gampy birthday party

lots of leaves raked

a great choir/drama tour for my big girlies

fun Euchre party with friends

decisions made for Jesus

safety after a scary driving moment

Rebekah finally earning some of those needed driving hours to get to stage 2

a brand new 19 year old

the encouragement of singing with our church choir

the end of the first marking period

hearing that m&m is right where she belongs, school wise

mostly decent grades, even for our brand new secondary student who's finding the adjustment a bit challenging

volleyball champions

cheerleading and basketball about to begin

Christmas shopping with Gammie on a Sunday afternoon

finding those gifts that you know will make the kiddos smile

college decisions happening

big girls finally caught up in their French class

back to a normal week's schedule

praying with a friend

finishing the 31 days posting project and all the insights God gave as I worked my way through Proverbs

a few days of a blogging break afterwards

diving back into this study of John

the challenge God gave me as I've looked at this passage over the past few weeks... only a few words, but I'm pretty sure I've heard God speak

Ten most recent posts in this series: 

• Standing for Jesus
• When your past comes back to haunt you... 
• THEN Jesus...
• of illusions and fun house mirrors
• Four elements of Spiritual Sight... according to MacArthur
• It's your call!
• "I just don't get it? Why didn't they understand?"
• Authority and Authorization
• Two really important "I ams!"
• The Great Separator

Click here for all of the titles and their corresponding links in the Encountering Jesus series.

Encountering Jesus ~ The Great Separator

The Jews who heard these words were again divided. Many of them said, “He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?”

But others said, “These are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?” (John 10.19-21)

We don't seem to read of an indifferent response to encountering Jesus, at least not in this chapter of John. Instead, He provoked division: a self-righteous some who attacked and accused, calling Him a demon or a tool of Satan... then others, seekers, who were listening with open hearts and teachable spirits, amazed by the miraculous He was doing. The self-righteous group attempts to shame the seeking group, totally dismissing and discounting what should have been clear evidence (particularly to them - with all of their study of the Law and prophetical writings) with condescension.

"Why listen to the crazy ravings of a lunatic? No one in their right might could possibly, seriously, consider those claims! No one thinks like that!"

Some things never change. The world, the critics of Christianity and of those who seek to follow Jesus, use similar tactics today. They dismiss, discount, discredit, disesteem, dishonor, degrade and deride anything that hints of faith while insinuating they are simply acting in the only reasonable, responsible and wise manner, given the circumstances.

Honorable men, seekers, do not allow these sorts of shaming techniques to discourage them. Instead they use their wills, they address facts, applying logic and reason to understand what they've seen.

Thus, those with teachable spirits weighed the Lord's message and miracles. They countered the accusations of the accusers. They stated the obvious: Jesus' actions were not that of a man possessed by a demon. A devil could not open blinded eyes. Rather, a devil only has the power to blind man. As Luke wrote, Jesus revealed this truth, "Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division." (Luke 12:51).

Jesus is the great separator of men.

On which side do you find yourself... today? 

Do you stand today? With the revilers or with the vindicators?

Is it possible to stand on one side one day... and flip to the other side on another day?

photo credit: iko via photopin cc

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this week's gratitude list

(#'s 4881 -4907)

a wonderful two days up on Mackinac Island with friends

friends willing to transport our bikes up to the island so we could use them

bike riding in the rain

ferry rides in the rain...

...with the cacophony of kid giggles and raincoats whipping in the wind

little legs pedaling as fast as they can

lunch after church with grandparents... and running into the other grandparents at the restaurant

fudge

Coke in glass bottles

key lime yogurt

weekend with Gammie and Gampy for the kiddos

first batch of senior pics

fall leaves, even in the rain

all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet with the family

great and challenging sermon on Nicodemus from John 3

good grades for our college boy

safety in a minor car accident

looking at greeting cards, just for the fun of it

sleeping in... even if just a little bit

hot showers after a cold morning

Hungry Hippo travel games

insect collection completed and off my back porch

laughing about escaped insects from said collection

planning a snack to bring for Bible study

writing thank you cards, reminding me of how many wonderful people we have in our lives and just how much I have for which to be thankful

snuggly blankets on a cool morning

good grades in physics, calculus and other challenging classes

Ten most recent posts in this series: 

• "Cock-a-d00dle-d00!" they crowed
• Standing for Jesus
• When your past comes back to haunt you... 
• THEN Jesus...
• of illusions and fun house mirrors
• Four elements of Spiritual Sight... according to MacArthur
• It's your call!
• "I just don't get it? Why didn't they understand?"
• Authority and Authorization
• Two really important "I ams!"

Click here for all of the titles and their corresponding links in the Encountering Jesus series.