John 10:36

Jesus asks them, “Given the fact that we cannot simply cast aside this passage, how do you find it so easy to accuse of blasphemy the very one whom the Father set aside and sent into the world?  Do you do this simply because I take the Scripture at face value and say, ‘I am the Son of God’?” John 10:36 EFP

The Jewish leaders are now is a conundrum of their own making. They cannot ignore the words of the Psalmist. He does, after all, refer to people as “gods”. On the other hand by conceding this point they allow for the possibility that Jesus has the right to call himself the Son of God, even if they consider him deluded. But they cannot outright cast him aside as a lunatic, because he not only gives evidence of miracle-working power, but by doing so, he validates that God is working through him because God does not listen to sinners in their religious paradigm.

Jesus seizes this moment to solidify his claim. The bottom line is that these “men of God” are rejecting him, not on any valid biblical basis, but simply because he makes claims they cannot fathom, are unwilling to accept or even consider! Jesus, on the other hand, does not have any hesitation in making these claims, since he has self-authenticating evidence of His special connection with the Father, with whom his opponents only have a religious relationship based on their self-proclaimed status as “the chosen.”

I cannot help but consider the impact this passage has on me and my claims as a believer. What evidence exists that validates my connection with God? What do my choices reveal about my commitment to the Jesus as the Son of God? May God help me close the gap between my profession of faith and my daily witness to the validity of that faith I claim as mine.