Psalm 82, Job 33.1-18, John 10.22-42 - Lectionary for 3/1/11

Today's readings are Psalm 82, Job 33.1-18, and John 10.22-42.

There's a stream of liberal Bible scholarship which says Jesus never claimed to be God. It seems increasingly common to hear people bandy this idea around nowadays. So what do we do with passages such as our reading from John today? The Jews here in the Gospel obviously are of the impression that Jesus is equating himself with the Father. They are certain enough of it that they attempt to stone Jesus. And we observe that Jesus does not deny anything that the Jews have understood. He never says they misunderstood him. He says they deny him, but not that they misunderstand him. 

Today we are confronted with Jesus, claiming to be truly God and truly man, claiming to do the works of God, showing his deity in every way. The question is not whether or not Jesus claims to be God. The question is what we do with Jesus' claim of deity. Do we believe him? Do we, like the Jews in John 10 try to kill him? May the Lord grant us hearts to believe Jesus as Lord and Savior.

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Dave Spotts
blogging at http://capnsaltyslongvoyage.blogspot.com