2 Chronicles 4-6 John 10:24-42

“Again some of the people picked up stones to kill Jesus. But he said to them, ‘I have done many good works from the Father. Which of these good works are you killing me for?’ They answered, ‘We are not killing you because of any good work you did, but because you speak against God. You are only a human, but you say you are the same as God!’” (John 10: 31-22 NCV)

Don’t ya hate it when people get it, but they don’t get that they get it? In this passage, people are furious with Jesus because He was saying that He was the same as God. Throughout this passage, Jesus sparred with the people and asked them many times to compare His works with His claims. In His response to those picking up stones in this passage, He asked which of those good works He was being stoned for. Later in the passage, He asked them to believe that He was God’s Son because He did what the Father asked Him to do. The people recognized that Jesus claimed that He was God. What they didn’t get was that they were so dead set against the idea of God coming to earth as a man that they refused to recognize that Jesus could be telling the truth. If He was, and I believe He was, then that would overthrow their confined religious beliefs and force them to change their lives.

We who are Christians get it about Jesus. He is God the Son. What we don’t seem to get sometimes, is that because He is God the Son, the agent of Creation (Colossians 1:15-16), all we have belongs to Him. We grow so attached to our stuff that when God calls on us to use that stuff to help others, we find good excuses to keep our wealth to ourselves, much like the Pharisees who called their worldly riches “Corban.” (Mark 7:11) Do we really believe that Jesus is God’s Son, or can I say, “God the Son?” When I read through the story of the building of the Temple or of the Tabernacle and I read how willingly and joyfully the people gave, I can’t help but shake my head when I think about today’s followers of God who have this idea that when God blesses them with material things, it’s a dead-end blessing. God doesn’t bless us so that we can hold the blessings to ourselves, He blesses us so that we can be a blessing to others. He’s blessed us with the good news of mercy, forgiveness, and grace in Jesus Christ, and so we ought to share that with others. When He blesses us with material goods, we ought to be finding ways to share them with others. If we took God’s blessings and found ways to use them to help others, we could find ways to deal with most, if not all, of the poverty issues in our world. If you don’t believe me, start small. Give regularly to a local Christian ministry (other than your church – and don’t take this money from what you give to your church). Can you find a way to give $10 a month or $25 a month? That small gift will make a difference for that ministry, and for you as you begin to recognize God working in this world. Then, spend some time working with those ministries and you’ll really get some joy! So put down the stones and take out your wallet and work gloves. You’ll experience great blessings when you do.

Lord, so many in our world today have great needs. Help me to find ways to meet small needs, and let others join in so that by meeting small needs, we can see You taking care of great needs.

Scripture taken from the New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.