I have blogged, daily, without fail,for about two years. But today this could have been broken. It is about 8 PM Venice time, and I am reading the lectionary for the 26th March. I last posted at 7 am NZ time on March 25. It has taken me thirty hours of travel and some hours of sleep… and finding that the only place with internet is the hotel lobby.
Besides, I have priorities: I had to charge the cellphone and tell people I am safe.
Today’s readings contradict. Sort of.
Because neither are false. It is a great blessing when one lives in unity. It is a sign of God’s favour. However, the times are evil, and generally are: and in those days there will be opposition.
It is also worth nothing the Jews understood what Christ was saying. They were not blind. They were not stupid. They understood that he was saying he was God, and they called that blasphemy.
Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!
It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard,
on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes!
It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion!
For there the LORD has commanded the blessing, life forevermore.(Psalm 133 ESV)
There was again a division among the Jews because of these words. Many of them said, “He has a demon, and is insane; why listen to him?” Others said, “These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”
The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.” Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken—do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 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, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.
He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained. And many came to him. And they said, “John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.” And many believed in him there.
(John 10:19-42 ESV)
i know it is a cliché among apologists to say that Christ was either mad (Lunatic) or evil (Liar) or whom he said he is (Lord of all). But it is seen here: some thought Jesus needed the attention of my professional ancestors, the mad-doctors: others wanted to stone him, and some said he was the Messiah.
What is clearer is that Christ does call those who are his. And he will keep them. Despite, at times, the church and the times. If we become too apostate, our congregations will die, but the elect will be saved.
This has led to a certain fatalism among the ultra Calvinists: as God is sovereign, it matters not if we evangelize, or preach, or warn, for we cannot save one man from perdition.
Well, that is true, but misses one point. In this world, what we do is as a witness to Christ, and we do not know what actions will save another. We are to live as a witness to God, using words when needed. For in these fallen times even those who fail in their attempts to live in holiness find themselves standing out, much to the horror of this blogger, who is quite aware of his sin.
There is a unity among those chosen, the sheep. For they talk of Christ. When we get too smart in our theological models we find ourselves disputing in a manner akin to the scribes in Pharisees of Christ’s day, and we lose our love.
And that is grievous, for it is only with the tears of love that our rebukes and corrections have any rhetorical power. And it is only by the spirit that the people are saved. Which should drive us, again, to our knees.