…that people often say about Him: “I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.” That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic–on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg–or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.
C.S. Lewis (1898 - 1963), from Mere Christianity
Read:
“At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.” John 8:59
Study:
In the name of God people have done many things. Some have even claimed to be God in the midst of their crazy actions. Nuts right? Well, we all have met someone who says “off the wall” stuff on occasion. However, most of the time, we don’t pay attention to what they have to say because after-all, they’re crazy! Yet every once in a while, they go a little too far, and say something that we just have to respond to.
That’s kind of where all the Jewish leaders were in the text today. Jesus had just claimed to be living before Abraham, which seemed absolutely absurd because Abraham had died several hundred years ago. Jesus was probably in his upper 20s at this time, so after the Jewish leaders claimed that there was no way that Jesus could have been alive then, Jesus went too far. He called Himself God’s Holy name – I Am (Exodus 3:14)!
This demanded a response, and the Jewish leaders were ready to give it to Him by picking up stones to kill Him! Knowing what was about to happen, Jesus ran off. The problem was that Jesus was telling the truth. He is God, but the people wouldn’t listen.
Jesus is God! How are you going to respond?
Pray:
Lord, help me always hear and know your truth, and then respond appropriately. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
Live:
Jesus is God. Respond this way in prayer to make Him your Savior: God I have done many things that aren’t appropriate and that don’t please you. You have done what I can’t do for myself; conquer the world. I believe that you died on the cross for me, to save me. Take control of my life and help me live a life that always responds to your calling. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.