God's Son

Which is more important, who Jesus was or what he did?

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, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father." - John 10:37-38

In today's Gospel reading, John gives us a glimpse of Jesus that we don't get in the other Gospels.  He is not only being challenged, but is about to be stoned for saying he is God's son.

Jesus tells those who seek to kill him that they do not need to believe him, but should believe in what he does.  That way they would know the Father lives in him.

Is he helping or hurting his case?

To call oneself the Son of God in Roman times was to say one was on par with the Emperor who used that title.  So, I get that the Romans would have a problem with Jesus using the term, if he truly did refer to himself that way, but the Jewish leaders should have been able to ignore the title and focus on the works, shouldn't they?

Isn't that what many followers do?

It is not easy to explain the divinity of Christ to anyone, including believers, so some might choose not to go there at all.  Focus on what he did.

One of the benefits of believing in Jesus, though, is knowing he left us the Spirit to dwell within us, so we, too, have God in us, and that makes us capable of seeing God's grace at work in the world through the works we do.

How cool is that?

I, for one, can see God's hand in that.  Giving us all the ability to be His children and to do His work is an awesome responsibility, yes, but it is also an awesome gift.

So, if we are challenged, should we be able to say the same, that we are sons and daughters of God?

If all good things come from God, the good we do is also His, so let us all be good children and do our Father's work.

And seeing how God works through us will bring us closer to believing that He sent His son to show us the way.

More to come...