Reflection

John 5:30-47

“I have come in my Father's name, and you do not accept me; if another comes in his own name, you will accept him. How can you believe when you accept glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the one who alone is God? Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; your accuser is Moses, on whom you have set your hope. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But if you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe what I say?"

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Jesus is speaking to the Jewish people of his day in this scripture passage.

Try to place yourself into that space and time with the knowledge of today.

This person proclaiming that he is the Son of God comes into my circle of influence. Maybe I’ve seen some of his healings and listened to what he has to say. Or maybe I have heard from you about this guy and I can see how excited or disinterested you are towards him.

Read the passage again with this view.

I get stuck on the line “if another comes in his own name, you will accept him.” How many times do I  accept a person for who they say they are? Being a trusting person I can say all the time!

Someone claiming they are the Son of God would have me be a bit cautious though. And I wonder why? Is it due to my preconceived notions of who the Son of God should be? And the way in which the Son of God would behave or what he would look like? How can the Son of God be a human being? Really? Come on, you have got to be kidding me!

To believe today that Jesus is the Son of God can be a very hard thing to do because I first have to believe what was written about him, scripture, is true and not some man made story. If I can be so trusting of a stranger to take them at their word of who they are. Why can’t I do the same for who Jesus says he is?