I hear the whisperings of many: "Terror on every side! Denounce! let us denounce him!" All those who were my friends are on the watch for any misstep of mine. "Perhaps he will be trapped; then we can prevail, and take our vengeance on him." But the LORD is with me, like a mighty champion: my persecutors will stumble, they will not triumph. In their failure they will be put to utter shame, to lasting, unforgettable confusion.
O LORD of hosts, you who test the just, who probe mind and heart, let me witness the vengeance you take on them, for to you I have entrusted my cause. Sing to the LORD, praise the LORD, For he has rescued the life of the poor from the power of the wicked! (Jeremiah 20:10-13)
To those in the pews this reading sounds like Jesus speaking about terror on every side and him being denounced by his friends looking for his missteps and to trap him. It sounds like Jesus saying the LORD is with him as his mighty champion with his persecutors stumbling and being put to shame.
This reading is from Jeremiah who was not speaking of Jesus. According to our Bible, “The Book of Jeremiah combines history, biography, and prophecy. It portrays a nation in crisis and introduces the reader to an extraordinary person [Jeremiah] whom the Lord called to prophesy under the trying circumstances of the final days of the kingdom of Judah. Jeremiah was born perhaps about 650 B.C.”
Then we have our Gospel reading from John, again beginning with stoning. The Jews picked up rocks to stone Jesus. Jesus answered them, "I have shown you many good works from my Father. For which of these are you trying to stone me?" The Jews answered him, "We are not stoning you for a good work but for blasphemy. You, a man, are making yourself God."
Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, 'You are gods"'? If it calls them gods to whom the word of God came, and Scripture cannot be set aside, can you say that the one whom the Father has consecrated and sent into the world blasphemes because I said, 'I am the Son of God'? If I do not perform my Father's works, do not believe me; but if I perform them, even if you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may realize and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father." Then they tried again to arrest him; but he escaped from their power.
He went back across the Jordan to the place where John first baptized, and there he remained. Many came to him and said, "John performed no sign, but everything John said about this man was true." And many there began to believe in him. (John 10:31-42)
John [not the Baptist] portrays Jesus as divine, and Jesus knew that to be true. Therefore, how could “the Jews” believe in him? As an example: The Jews answered him, "We are not stoning you for a good work but for blasphemy. You, a man, are making yourself God…they tried again to arrest him; but he escaped from their power.” Nevertheless, John noted: “…many there [Jordan River] began to believe in him.”
Jesus said, “Realize and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” He said, “I am the Son of God,” according to John. Supporting his claim, Jesus said, “I have shown you many good works from my Father.” We know this to be true. Although we have not directly “seen” his good works, we know that through us as the Body of Christ those good works are manifest, especially during Lent. When this happens, we can say with confidence: “the Father is in us and we are in the Father.”
Deacon David Pierce
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