What are WE missing?

What if it IS True? Blog

Discovering, wrestling with, and trying like crazy to live Gospel virtue.

04/11/14

John 10:31-42

The Jews picked up rocks to stone Jesus.
Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from my Father.
For which of these are you trying to stone me?”
The Jews answered him,
“We are not stoning you for a good work but for blasphemy.
You, a man, are making yourself God.”
Jesus answered them,
“Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, ‘You are gods”‘?
If it calls them gods to whom the word of God came,
and Scripture cannot be set aside,
can you say that the one
whom the Father has consecrated and sent into the world
blasphemes because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?
If I do not perform my Father’s works, do not believe me;
but if I perform them, even if you do not believe me,
believe the works, so that you may realize and understand
that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”
Then they tried again to arrest him;
but he escaped from their power.

He went back across the Jordan
to the place where John first baptized, and there he remained.
Many came to him and said,
“John performed no sign,
but everything John said about this man was true.”
And many there began to believe in him.

What if it is true? This is the question that the Pharisees refused to answer. There was no even dealing with the thought that Jesus could be who he said he was. It's the question that many of us refuse to deal with today. After all, isn't easier to distract yourself with entertainment or medication and not have to deal with the tough questions? Or maybe it's something seemingly good. The Pharisees were just rying to be good Jews. They just didn't expect Jesus to crash into their world the way he did.

What are we not seeing? There's been a lot of blindness in the Gospels recently. We are in the time of Lent where we are intentionally entering the darkness of prayer and fasting in order to se more clearly the glimmer of Christ's revelation in all of his creation. Even if we're working hard at this, kind of like the Pharisees, we still have to pray for an openness to really see what God has for us. Otherwise, we aren't so far removed from the first century.

Here's how I have been looking at my relationship with Jesus recently. I want to be so open to what God has for me that I pray for surprises. My most recent surprise was prompted by an interview with Fr. Leo Patalinghug when he suggested that we be honest with our sin in prayer ans actually pray with the desire to sin. Sharing it openly. That was radical and unexpected. However, it opened my heart to a willingness to be honest with God in ways I never knew I could be. As a result, I am able to trust him even more and open myself to him. It's crazy. Sharing honestly every detail of my sinful inclinations and how I wanted to sin was a breakthrough. A big breakthrough. That's my encouragement to you. Share openly and honestly. Jesus has been showing his grace and good works since first getting criticized by the Pharisees. Why would he stop now?

Good luck and God bless,

Leo Brown