Lent - Day 38 (15/4/2011)

"I Would Never Imagine God In Any Other Way"

John 10:31-42

The Jews knew very well what Jesus was teaching about Himself. Even though He regularly used the phrase "Son of Man" for Himself, the claims He makes about Himself leaves them in no doubt as to Who He claims to be, the "Son of God". For us all, we do not have the privilege the Jews had of observing His miracles. But we can make our minds up in the way Jesus is to be understood: How are we to understand it when Jesus said, "Do not believe Me unless I do what my Father does," (v37).

It is as if Jesus is saying to us, "In other words, as long as what I do and what I teach are consistent with what you know of God, both from Scripture and from the depths of your heart, you know you can trust Me. Otherwise I would be pure evil, scheming to usurp the place of God in your heart."

The most powerful thing that our Lord did was to die on the cross. Other religious leaders might have taught well. Still others might have fought well. Jesus gave up His life. Do others say in their hearts, "No, the Son of God will never do this". Or do we say in our hearts, "Yes! Yes! Yes!" We would never have thought of it but now that Jesus, the Son of God has it, we would never imagine God in any other way.

Prayer (Jesus of the Scars by Edward Shillito)
If we have never sought, we seek Thee now;
Thine eyes burn through the dark, our only stars;
We must have sight of thorn-pricks on Thy brow,
We must have Thee, O Jesus of the Scars.

The heavens frighten us; they are too calm;
In all the universe we have no place.
Our wounds are hurting us; where is the balm?
Lord Jesus, by Thy Scars, we claim Thy grace.

If, when the doors are shut, Thou drawest near,
Only reveal those hands, that side of Thine;
We know today what wounds are, have no fear,
Show us Thy Scars, we know the countersign.

The other gods were strong; but Thou wast weak;
They rode, but Thou didst stumble to a throne;
But to our wounds only God's wounds can speak,
An not a god has wounds, but Thou alone.

From Contemplation to Action
What can I, as a son of God, as a daughter of God, do in my everyday life, to manifest that "I do what my Father does." (v37)?