A Worldview of Faith

The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” The Jews answered him, “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.” Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken—do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’  If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; 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 am in the Father.” Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.

He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained. And many came to him. And they said, “John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.” And many believed in him there (John 10: 31-42).

 The Jewish leaders challenged Jesus to identify Himself again. Jesus declared Himself God. For the Jews, this claim was blasphemy. They responded by preparing to stone Him for the second time. The law required that anyone who claims to be God must be stoned to death. To these first-century Jews, God did not dwell in human bodies or in idol forms. You could not get close to Him or you would die. From a purely legal, religious perspective Jesus, who is human and bound to this earth, could not be God. But seeing and believing who Jesus really was requires a different frame of reference. Knowing and trusting that Jesus is the Christ requires a worldview of faith.

When the Jews threatened to stone Jesus previously He disappeared… “So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple” (John 8:59). This time He remained and asked these skeptical followers a question that directed their attention to the testimony of God’s works through His life… “But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me” (John 5:36). Jesus had manifested the works of God on earth as the Holy Spirit had inspired Isaiah to prophecy of the Messiah… “Say to those who have an anxious heart, ‘Be strong; fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.’ Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped;  then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy” (Isaiah 35:4-6). If they had simply let God’s word speak without clinging so dearly to their religious traditions, the Jews would have recognized Jesus was the Son of God by the testimony of His works… “Even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father”. But such acknowledgement required a step away from the skeptical religion of the crowd and a step of faith toward becoming a disciple of the Son of God.

Jesus was persistent in His effort to reach the cold hearts of His accusers, so He asked another question… “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’?” This question directed their attention away from the religious interpretation of blasphemy and into the precious truth of God’s word. In this quote from Psalm 82 God called out to the rulers of men that He had appointed. The title gods, in this context, implied authorities or rulers. He called His representatives on earth gods and He called them sons of God. Jesus made an argument from the lesser to the greater, saying if these human authorities could be called sons of God without performing any great works of God, could He not rightly be called the Son of God, having manifested God’s works? The Father was at work through His Son not to confirm religious tradition, but to provoke personal faith… “Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves” (John 14:11). The transition from skeptical follower to intimate disciple required faith in Jesus as the miracle working, only true Son of God.

As we grow up into Christ we grow as His disciples by abiding in His word and building…

A Worldview of Faith.