I Am the Greatest
John portrays Jesus as someone who gets in trouble not for what he does, but for what he says.
The Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus replied, ‘I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these are you going to stone me?’ The Jews answered, ‘It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you, but for blasphemy, because you, though only a human being, are making yourself God.’ Jesus answered, ‘Is it not written in your law, “I said, you are gods”? If those to whom the word of God came were called “gods” and the scripture cannot be annulled can you say that the one whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world is blaspheming because I said, “I am God’s Son”? 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.’ Then they tried to arrest him again, but he escaped from their hands. He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing earlier, and he remained there. Many came to him, and they were saying, ‘John performed no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.’And many believed in him there. - John 10:31-42
Today's reading reminds me of Mohammed Ali.
We remember him as a great fighter, and in his own words, he was the greatest. He ridiculed his opponents and made no bones about the fact that he knew he was going to win.
His fights proved him right most of the time, so when it comes to results, one couldn't argue with him. You either loved him for his arrogance and ego or you hated him.
In John's Gospel, Jesus isn't afraid to tell everyone who he is. In the other gospels, he tells people to keep quiet, but here he is standing up for himself, telling the world he is not ashamed to say what will lead to a charge of blasphemy against him. I am God's son.
I am sure there were some who heard him and said, I don't care who he says he is, I see what he has done and I am impressed.
But others felt threatened by this upstart who undermines the system and shows no respect for its leaders.
It is funny that we can overlook misdeeds of people who say the things we want to hear, but fail to see the good deeds of someone we don't want to hear.
Jesus didn't care. He was on a mission to reach the forgotten and the lost. The truly righteous were already on the right path, and the hypocrites would never be convinced, so he ignored them and let his good works speak for themselves.
Perhaps he could have used a good PR person or spokesperson to address the biting impact of his words. I wonder what his message would have been like on social media.
The lesson for us may be to pay attention, not just to what people say about themselves, but to what they do. Are they walking the walk to match the talk? Or are they just blowing smoke?
It depends on what we want to hear and see. That is why Jesus often said those with ears should hear and with eyes should see.
More to come...