Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Matthew 8:8-9 "You are not yet fifty years old," the Jews said to him, "and you have seen Abraham!" "I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!" At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds."
THEY GOT IT: THE JEWS
Some churches claim Jesus as their own, but teach that He is on a "lower level" than God the Father. They don't get it, but the Jews here did. Even though they had no faith in Jesus, these Jews heard what Jesus was claiming loud and clear. Jesus was claiming to be eternal, He was claiming to be God. They didn't believe it, so they picked up stones to kill him for blasphemy.
They understood Jesus' claim, and this isn't the only place that fact comes out. In John's Gospel it says: "For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God" (John 5:18).
On the morning of Jesus' crucifixion the high court of Israel met. The Sanhedrin decided they had enough testimony to put Jesus to death after this question was answered: "They all asked, 'Are you then the Son of God?' He replied, 'You are right in saying I am.' Then they said, 'Why do we need any more testimony? We have heard it from his own lips'" (Luke 22:70-71).
Don't be fooled by people who use Jesus' name to enhance their own religion. Followers of Jesus believe and teach what Jesus says: He is eternal. He is God on the same level with the Father and the Holy Spirit. And by His death in our place, our sins stand forgiven.
