Word to the Wise
Friday, April 7, 2017 - 5th Week of Lent - Fri
[Jer 20:10-13 and John 10:31-42]FRIDAY, APRIL 7, 2017. FRIDAY IN THE FIFTH WEEK OF LENT [Jeremiah 20:10-13 and John 10:31-42] The Jews again picked up rocks to stone him. Jesus answered them, "I have shown you many good works from my Father. For which of these are you trying to stone me?" The Jews answered him, "We are not stoning you for a good work but for blasphemy. You, a man, are making yourself God." [John] Today we have another rock-throwing occasion similar to the one from Chapter 8. Jesus is perceived as claiming to be divine. No matter how dramatic the "signs" he worked, in the minds of his adversaries, these do not add up to being God. He is seen to be committing blasphemy. Like all good drama we can find ourselves drawn into the action. If we have "grown up" in our faith, we might sit back and say, "Well, of course Jesus is God." That fact is not as startling to us as it was in the time that the Gospel According to John was composed. Should it be? We have the water-made-wine from Cana. We have the curing of the Royal Official's Son, the crippled beggar, the multiplied loaves and fishes, the Man Born Blind and Lazarus raised from the dead. Last but not least, we have Jesus crucified, dead, buried and risen! Is that enough to bring us to faith? Pointing the finger at those with the rocks will not answer the question for us. We are offered an opportunity to look afresh at Jesus. We can throw rocks, or we can shrug and walk away or we can worship. The second of those alternatives is common to our own time. What is our own reaction? Holy Week, beginning Sunday with the palms of welcome, will challenge us. AMEN
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