Differentiation

8/8/2009

John 10:38 38 “…but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.” (New American Standard Bible)

The Jews answered Him, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy; and because You, being a man, make Yourself out to be God.” (John 10:33 NASB)

Their issue was differentiation – the Jews couldn’t wrap their minds around God being ‘in’ someone and God being good to them; to them, God was somewhere ‘out there’. Jesus was trying to explain to them that, that thought, was the root of their problem – God wasn’t ‘out there’, He was up close and personal. But the problem remained of Jesus’ miracles which they really couldn’t explain but accepted as ‘good works’. They wanted to accept good things from God, just not God up close and personal. You can’t have one without the other – the miraculous and the divine are inseparable. We still wrestle with that today.

For me the real issue is belief – either the goodness of God manifests His presence (i.e. His involvement in and around my life) or it doesn’t. I am to accept both the divine and the miraculous because both manifest the presence of God; and whether I see them or not, God is still in the miracle business; He’s still (miracle of miracles) in the process of redeeming me (see Philippians 1.6).

Father in Heaven,

Your manifest presence is in Your goodness and in the fact that You care about me. Thank You for the gifts You give and for Your presence that I enjoy. Help me to be careful not to differentiate but to believe; and to partner with You in the real act of redemption still going on in the world today. I pray in Jesus’ Name, amen.