Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent – March 26, 2010
John 10:31 – 42
Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?"
"We are not stoning you for any good work," they replied, "but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God."
Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your Law, 'I have said you are “gods”’? If he called them 'gods,' to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken— what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, 'I am God's Son'? Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father. 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 in the Father." Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp.
Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing in the early days. Here he stayed and many people came to him. They said, "Though John never performed a sign, all that John said about this man was true." And in that place many believed in Jesus.
The persons who wanted to stone Jesus appraised him as “a mere man.”
We may find those words hard to fathom, knowing from hindsight what we do about Jesus. But we make similar appraisals about persons every day. We misjudge. We label. We categorize using all sorts of criteria and prejudice.
Those standing with stones in their hands, threatened by Jesus, considered him a “mere man.” We pigeon-hole those we see on street corners, in grocery stores, and sitting on park benches in all sorts of ways. Most all of our characterizations over-generalize and fail to notice the person underneath the outer circumstance. Our labels and categories provide easy ways to objectify people so that we don’t have to deal with them as human.
A growing, evolving spiritual life gives us a new framework with which to see, a new lens so to speak, with which to see God, ourselves, others, and the world. The Apostle Paul knew this reality when he wrote:
So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. (2 Cor. 5:16)
In the biblical framework, there is no such thing as a “mere man” or a “mere woman.” A growing capacity to see, to attend, and to notice allows us to see what is most real about a person. We begin to see their brokenness, as well as their gift.
It is easy to regard others from a “worldly point of view.” It takes no effort. We simply accept our society’s appraisal of persons and adopt that appraisal as our own. We don’t have to question whether culture has it right or not. We simply accept that some people are cheats and some people are lazy and some others are better than everyone else.
The spiritual life invites us to move out of those easy categories to the more difficult work of authentic relationship, living honestly with those around us.
The Apostle confesses how easy it is to consider persons from a “worldly point of view,” and further confesses that at one time he viewed Jesus that way. In a sense, seeing with different eyes involves a transformation of spiritual sight, seeing with the eyes of the heart rather than the eyes of the head and reason.
I can guarantee this: Today no one you see will be a “mere men or mere women.” Each person you see will be extraordinary in some way, just as Jesus was no “mere man.” The challenge will be for you and me to live at such a pace so as to see persons as more than ordinary.
Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?"
"We are not stoning you for any good work," they replied, "but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God."
Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your Law, 'I have said you are “gods”’? If he called them 'gods,' to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken— what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, 'I am God's Son'? Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father. 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 in the Father." Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp.
Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing in the early days. Here he stayed and many people came to him. They said, "Though John never performed a sign, all that John said about this man was true." And in that place many believed in Jesus.
The persons who wanted to stone Jesus appraised him as “a mere man.”
We may find those words hard to fathom, knowing from hindsight what we do about Jesus. But we make similar appraisals about persons every day. We misjudge. We label. We categorize using all sorts of criteria and prejudice.
Those standing with stones in their hands, threatened by Jesus, considered him a “mere man.” We pigeon-hole those we see on street corners, in grocery stores, and sitting on park benches in all sorts of ways. Most all of our characterizations over-generalize and fail to notice the person underneath the outer circumstance. Our labels and categories provide easy ways to objectify people so that we don’t have to deal with them as human.
A growing, evolving spiritual life gives us a new framework with which to see, a new lens so to speak, with which to see God, ourselves, others, and the world. The Apostle Paul knew this reality when he wrote:
So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. (2 Cor. 5:16)
In the biblical framework, there is no such thing as a “mere man” or a “mere woman.” A growing capacity to see, to attend, and to notice allows us to see what is most real about a person. We begin to see their brokenness, as well as their gift.
It is easy to regard others from a “worldly point of view.” It takes no effort. We simply accept our society’s appraisal of persons and adopt that appraisal as our own. We don’t have to question whether culture has it right or not. We simply accept that some people are cheats and some people are lazy and some others are better than everyone else.
The spiritual life invites us to move out of those easy categories to the more difficult work of authentic relationship, living honestly with those around us.
The Apostle confesses how easy it is to consider persons from a “worldly point of view,” and further confesses that at one time he viewed Jesus that way. In a sense, seeing with different eyes involves a transformation of spiritual sight, seeing with the eyes of the heart rather than the eyes of the head and reason.
I can guarantee this: Today no one you see will be a “mere men or mere women.” Each person you see will be extraordinary in some way, just as Jesus was no “mere man.” The challenge will be for you and me to live at such a pace so as to see persons as more than ordinary.
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