DAY 148
SERVE HIM OR STONE HIM
2 Chronicles 4, 5 & 6 and John 10:24-42
In the 2nd Chronicles
reading today we have the wonderful moment where Solomon blesses God as the
Temple is dedicated. On April 30th I blogged about this event as we
read the 8th chapter of 1 Kings.
In the New Testament today we come upon
a rather remarkable moment. It may seem like a typical scene with Jesus and the
religious of the day debating. It is, but Jesus says some amazing things, and
while they may not agree with Him, the religious of the day certainly
understood who He was claiming to be.
Jesus said, “I give them eternal life,
and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” The
Jews picked up stones to stone Jesus, “Why?” He asked. “…because you being a
man, make yourself God.”
There it is – Jesus claiming to be God –
He is so clear that they are getting ready to stone Him. Some people today love
the sayings of Jesus. They acknowledge that He was a great man. That
however is not who Jesus claimed to be. C. S. Lewis has a famous quote:
“I am trying here to prevent anyone from saying
the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: ‘I’m ready to accept
Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’ This is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort
of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on the level
with the man who says he is a poached egg – or else he would be the Devil of
Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God:
or else a madman or something worse. You
can shut Him up a fool, you can spit at Him, you can kill Him as a demon; or
you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing
nonsense about His being a great human teacher.
He has not left that open to us.
He did not intend to.” Mere
Christianity, p. 52
A
lunatic, a liar, or the Lord: the religious of the day have accused Him of
having Satan as his father and they have challenged the veracity of His sayings.
Yet they, and all, are still drawn to him. The reality for the people of Jesus’
day was whether or not to believe Jesus was Messiah and God. Their choice was
clear: either serve Him or stone Him.
The same choice lays before all today.
What really struck me in today's readings was when Jesus said "no one is able to snatch them out of my hand". (Jn 10:29) We are his forever. Brings tears to my eyes and hope to my heart.
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