John 8:59

Not surprisingly the mob begins to pick up stones to launch at Jesus. Undaunted, Jesus makes himself scarce; he leaves the temple walking right through their midst to do so—he simply passes by and makes his exit without them noticing him.  John 8:59 EFP 

It is not unexpected that the temple mob would react violently to the words of Jesus, given his blasphemous declaration—and it was certainly that in the eyes of religious zealots and common folk who were well-versed in the consequences of using God’s name in vain, and worse, for making himself equal to the Almighty!

What is surprising is that their mob mentality did not translate into action beyond searching for stones to use in capital punishment. I do not know if Jesus snuck out of the temple courts while the mob searched for their projectiles or if the crowd was so infuriated they could not see straight, thus letting Jesus pass them by without so much as hint that he was right next to them.

Prejudice can do that. Abject hate can do that. Religious intolerance can to that. Fanaticism can do that. We lose sight of what is right in our quest to defend what we believe is right. Said another way—we become the evil we perceive in others. There is a fine line between passion for one’s faith and disdain for the faith of others. But the mettle of my faith is made clear in moments when it is challenged and even threatened. How do I respond when someone makes a statement that is offensive to my core belief? My response says a lot about the God I claim to serve.