John 10:31-42 (NRSV)

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.

Blasphemy…  So, the “Jews” claim that Jesus is guilty of blasphemy.  He isn’t guilty for the works he has performed, but they say he is guilty of irreverence or impiety to God.  They thought Jesus was making himself God.  Little did they know what they were up against.  Nevertheless, they once again reach for the stones.

Jesus lets the works testify to who he is, and that he does them only by the power that has been bestowed upon him by God.  He is the one that God has made holy and sent into the world, yet he is not believed by the religious powers.  Jesus reminds them of the prophets (the ones to whom the word of God came), and how the prophets were treated.

Escaping arrest, Jesus slips away across the Jordan river, to where his ministry began – where he was baptized.  People still came to him, testifying to the signs, and believing everything that John said about him.

The Pharisees and scribes (the Jews) who challenge Jesus continue to feel the pressure of their own creation.  Jesus is upsetting the apple cart, and making life difficult for them.  However, Jesus has done nothing wrong but continues to be blamed with trumped up charges and false accusations.

The call I hear today is be who you are.  Jesus is just being who he is – God.  We are not God and shouldn’t try to be God.  I feel that the leaders are challenged because they think that they have the only path to God, and therefore get to control who comes to God and how.  Jesus provides the true way to God, through belief in him.  Only if we are true to who we are can show others the way to God.

We are working hard at putting together our Lenten series at Trinity called “Outward Signs.”  In this series, small groups will discuss what it means to be an visible sign of Christ in the world.  This takes the church gathering beyond the 4 walls, and puts it in the context of the world.