Jn 10:31-42
The Jews fetched stones to stone him, so Jesus said to them, ‘I have shown you many good works from my Father; for which of these are you stoning me?’ The Jews answered him, ‘We are stoning you, not for doing a good work, but for blasphemy; though you are only a man, you claim to be God.’ Jesus answered: Is it not written in your Law: I said, you are gods? So it uses the word ‘gods’ of those people to whom the word of God was addressed — and scripture cannot be set aside. Yet to someone whom the Father has consecrated and sent into the world you say, ‘You are blaspheming’ because I said, ‘I am Son of God.’ If I am not doing my Father’s work, there is no need to believe me; but if I am doing it, then even if you refuse to believe in me, at least believe in the work I do; then you will know for certain that the Father is in me and I am in the Father. They again wanted to arrest him then, but he eluded their clutches. He went back again to the far side of the Jordan to the district where John had been baptising at first and he stayed there. Many people who came to him said, ‘John gave no signs, but all he said about this man was true’; and many of them believed in him.
The accusation of blasphemy accompanied Jesus to the end of his life and even today most Jews doubt or reject his sonship of God and thus the deity of Jesus.
We have already considered that it takes a special light – a knowledge in the Holy Spirit – to see who Jesus is, to turn to him, to believe in him.
He shows another way to know him: “If I am not doing my Father’s work, there is no need to believe me; but if I am doing it, then even if you refuse to believe in me, at least believe in the work I do; then you will know for certain that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”
The first way to recognise him is to listen to his word so that it penetrates and spreads his light. If there is no openness to this and even the arguments from Scripture are rejected – as we experience in Jesus’ confrontation with the Jews – then the Lord points to his works.
These works speak a clear language. They range from healing the blind, the deaf, the paralysed, the sick of all kinds, to multiplying bread, even raising the dead, and much more!
It is as if Jesus said: “Look, these are the works of the Father! Who else but the Father can do such works? If you can recognise this, then you will also recognise what you have not yet understood.”
This is also a message for us.
If the Word of God does not reach people, spiritual arguments are not understood, discussions are in vain, then people should be able to be touched by our lives; that is, by the works we do in faith.
If fruits of the Spirit can grow in our lives, then may these touch people’s hearts. This is another reason why it is important that our lives are in accordance with the Word of God, so that this second way of knowledge is also open to people and not closed.
Unfortunately, in today’s Gospel we see that this access mentioned by Jesus does not reach the Jews either and they remain in their delusion. Again they want to seize him, but Jesus eludes them. His hour has not yet come.
The above text hints at another possible way of knowing Jesus:
Through the testimony of another person. In the case of the biblical account, it is a very significant testimony, because it comes from John the Baptist: For the people who sought Jesus said, “John gave no signs, but all he said about this man was true’; and many of them believed in him.”
If we want to draw people’s attention to faith, we could also use the following possibility. Perhaps there is someone in these people’s lives whom they greatly admire and trust. If this someone is close to the faith, this could become a bridge for people to prove – as it happened in the text – who Jesus is and get to know him in this way.
All legitimate ways of proclaiming the faith should be a matter of heart for us, both for the joy of the Father, who can in this way gift people with his love, and for the person himself, who should come into contact with salvation!
Harpa Dei acompaña musicalmente las meditaciones que a diario ofrece el Hno. Elías, su director espiritual. Éstas se basan normalmente en las lecturas bíblicas de cada día; o bien tratan algún otro tema de espiritualidad.
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