“Speculation and contention”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Monday, September 9, 2024
John 10: 19-30 (Forward, p. 42) CEV p. 1115
Sadly, and unfortunately, the people in Jesus’ audience were ‘stuck’, stuck in their own preconceptions of who or what the Messiah should be. They asked Jesus to tell them plainly, right up front, whether He is the Messiah or not. But it is plain, when He does tell them, that they will not accept what He says about Himself. When He tells them that God is His Father, and that He is one with the Father, they rebel and want to stone Him. And when they are asked what good thing they are stoning Him for, they replied, “We are not stoning you because of any good thing you did. We are stoning you because you did a terrible thing. You are just a man, and here you are claiming to be God” (verse 33).
They have not picked up on the clues left in the Hebrew Scriptures that the Messiah might be more than just a mere man, that He might, indeed, even be God. (But, of course, merely the suggestion of that went far beyond anything that they ever conceived of.) No, what they were presumably looking for, expecting, hungering for, was an earthly Messiah, a militaristic one that would raise an army, drive the Romans into the sea and restore the kingdom to Israel, none of which Jesus was to be.
This, for me, raises a certain question, a rather fundamental one, namely about us and how we react when God or Jesus fail to live up to our expectations. I am told, for instance, that Charles Templeton gave up on the Christian faith when he saw firsthand all the suffering and poverty in India. He could not reconcile what he experienced there with the idea of a loving God. And I’m sure that he’s not the only one. I’m sure that others, those that have experienced great loss for instance, have also felt that way. Not everyone is like Job, who can ‘roll with the punches’ and still believe and still trust the Lord. And, certainly, that sort of thing can’t be the only thing where God doesn’t necessarily live up to our expectations. Just look at how society and our world are behaving, for example: many might well wonder where God is in all of this. But worse still, what if the life of a loved one, for instance, is taken ‘long before his or her time?’ So, the question comes down to this, namely, are we willing to trust Him no matter what? The reality is this: God, being God, and being far above and removed from our limited knowledge and experience, will never quite live up to our limited, earthbound expectations.
Forward notes: “What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand” (verse 29).
“Accusations abound in today’s readings. In true form, the psalmists lament [see Psalms 41,44, 52], and Job’s saga continues. A young man named Elihu has silently awaited his opportunity to speak amongst elders. When he speaks at last, he does so with the conviction that he also carries wisdom [see Job 32: 1-10, 19n- 33:1-19-28
“To be self-assured is not to be self-righteous. I wrestled for many years to embrace this. It’s taken encouragement from others to acknowledge my strengths and gifts and act in accordance with who God is calling me to be. I believe this pleases God. Like Paul and Barnabas and the other disciples who were driven out of Cyprus by accusations and envy, gossip and insecurity [see Acts 13:44-52], we too can be filled with joy and the Holy Spirit when we know with assurance who it is we serve.”
Moving Forward: “Do you exude self-righteousness or self-assurance? What’s the difference?”
A concluding note: I hate to be picky but it wasn’t Cyprus that they were driven out of on this occasion but a city on the mainland of what is now Turkey, Antioch of Pisidia.