Contemplative Bible Reading

John 10:33 (New International Version)

“We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”

Speaking here are Jews in Jerusalem. They are going to execute Jesus for a capital crime.

Jesus of Nazareth claimed to be the Son of God.

To claim to be the Son of God was the worst type of blasphemy. It was a capital crime deserving of execution by the community via throwing stones at the person until they died. These people had heard this guy Jesus from Nazareth claim to be the Son of God. They didn’t believe him. Hence, they were bound by their respect of the law of God to kill him right now. I admire their respect for the law of God; I lament their unbelief.

This Jesus was more than your usual guy drifting down from Nazareth to wander about Palestine. He healed people of their physical ills. He fed multitudes with a few morsels of food. He raised a few people from the dead. What is more than these physical impossibilities, this guy from Nazareth spoke to people in a manner and with words that changed their lives.

It is now the year 2010. To our day there are some who admire this man from Nazareth as a great teacher or a prophet or someone who showed us how to love other people. A fundamental item remains: either Jesus of Nazareth was the Son of God, the one anointed to restore mankind to the right relationship with God, or he was a raving lunatic deserving of death for his heresy.

The fundamental decision remains with us today. It remains with each individual. Was Jesus the Christ? Was Jesus the Son of God? Or was Jesus just another nut, just another blasphemer who deserved the death he experienced?