John 7:25

It is then that some of the people around town begin to ask, “Is this not the man the authorities are trying to kill?” John 7:25 EFP 

Jerusalem is not unlike many places today when it comes to what we believe about God.  There are many who reject any notion of God, or Jesus for that matter, attributing to them all sorts of injustices and crimes against humanity.  Others reject God on the basis of perceived inconsistencies between the claims of God in Scripture and the perceived reality of who God is based on the history of religion in general, and Christianity in particular.

Since it can be safely concluded that all humans alive today have never seen God Almighty personally nor were they alive to meet Jesus in person during his time on earth, we can on that basis alone conclude that their opinion about God is second-hand at best. The evidence of history is seen through eyes of others. The testimony of contemporaries is also second-hand. There comes a time when all seekers of good and truth must come to grips with the reality that God cannot be experienced through someone else. It requires the risk of a personal encounter.  The more we learn personally, through a sincere search of the evidence in His Word, and evidence in the lives of great men and women of faith, historical and contemporary, the more likely we will arrive at the place these people in Jerusalem found themselves when they wondered out loud, “Why is there so much hatred towards this man?” They could have just as well been asking, “Why are these people so determined to kill God?”

Let God be judged on the merits of the good he has brought about through men and women of faith throughout the centuries, not by the worst atrocities and injustices done in the name of God by people who use religion to attain personal gain and not to grow the Kingdom of God espoused by Jesus and those who seek to live their lives in his footsteps. I want to know Jesus more; it’s the only way to make a decision about whether he is worthy of my faith and worship.