Lent Day 13: Did Jesus consider himself God?

We're meditating on the gospel of John. Reading through it with a Muslim friend years ago was insightful.

"I like the stories of Jesus in Matthew, Mark, and Luke," she said. "But John! I love John because he reports what Jesus says about himself." She was bold in considering the claims of Jesus.

> One of the repeated arguments against the divinity of Jesus is that he didn't consider himself to be God. That he knew he was only a prophet, like other prophets before and after him.

> Yet those who read the scriptures for themselves will disagree. The religious leaders of Jesus' day had no doubt about what Jesus said about himself. In one incident, the Pharisees ask a man who was healed about what happened and who healed him:

The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.

Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, ‘See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.’ The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well.

So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. In his defence Jesus said to them, ‘My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.’

For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. (John 5:13-18)

> Either Jesus is a liar and lunatic, or we have to take his claims seriously. Later in this chapter, Jesus says, 
"The works that the Father has given me to finish – the very works that I am doing – testify that the Father has sent me." (John 5:36)

> No one could do what Jesus does without direct access to God's creativity and power. But because God loves you, and love doesn't force a relationship, He lets you choose whether you accept his terms of forgiveness through Jesus ... or walk away to do your own thing.

> Do you need more evidence? Be careful - if scripture isn't enough for you, heed the warning Jesus gives in Luke 16. He tells the story of a rich man who lives a corrupt life. He ignores a beggar who is close to God.

> Both men die. One lands in eternal torment and the other goes to paradise. The rich man makes a final appeal, not for mercy for himself, but for others:

[The rich man says]: "I beg you, father [Abraham], send [the beggar] to my family, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.”

Abraham replied, “They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.”

“No, father Abraham,” he said, “but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.”

He said to him, “If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.”
> Your destiny is not determined by your philosophy or what you study, but what transforms your heart. 

> Is today the day you reconsider your journey and your destination?

Popular posts from this blog

Lent Day 23: A life in hiding

Image
" You have been raised up with Christ. So think about things that are in heaven. That is where Christ is. He is sitting at God’s right hand.  Think about things that are in heaven. Don’t think about things that are only on earth.  You died. Now your life is hidden with Christ in God." Colossians 3:1-3 Where are you hiding? And what are you hiding from? What would happen if you believed God had raised you from the dead and you were focused on heaven? What is you hid behind God' power instead of depending on your own?
Read more

Lent Day 39: Sentenced for your crimes and mine

Image
When the Pharisees and other national leaders take Jesus to the Roman governor, they are looking for the worst punishment they can inflict, a cruel and painful death . Here are the details, from  John 18:28-19:16: Then the Jewish leaders took Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness they did not enter the palace, because they wanted to be able to eat the Passover.  So Pilate came out to them and asked, ‘What charges are you bringing against this man?’ ‘If he were not a criminal,’ they replied, ‘we would not have handed him over to you.’ Pilate said, ‘Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.’ ‘But we have no right to execute anyone,’ they objected.  This took place to fulfil what Jesus had said about the kind of death he was going to die. > This is hardly a trial that seeks justice. Rather, it is a conspiracy to execute someone who threatens the power base and status quo. The reli...
Read more

Lent Day 31, 2024: Pruning that profits us

Image
It's painful to lose things. Sometimes we have to wave goodbye to a friendship, a job, or a home. Sometimes it seems like God is angry with us or that it's our fault. But Jesus offers a different perspective. Jesus talks about the value of the hard times, when things are pruned away.  “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.   He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful (John 15:1-2) ." Sometimes what you leave behind is something that has outgrown its season or taken energy away from your true purpose: a fruitful life. Other times we don't know why  we are being reshaped.  It can hurt.  The writer to the Hebrews notes: " No  discipline  seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it (Hebrews 12:11)." Challenge: Think of som...
Read more