When Jesus Wept - By Bodie Page 0,46
on wax tablets. Many of the curious onlookers moved away under the stern, disapproving glares.
I arrived in time to hear Jesus repeat the core theme of his message: “You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”
A man at the back of the crowd shouted, “I am a descendant of Abraham!” He tapped his barrel-shaped chest with a meaty thumb. “I’ve never been a slave to anyone. What do you mean, I can be set free? I am free!”
Looking right at the man, Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth: everyone who sins is a slave to sin.”
The critic dropped his head and blushed, then scowled when the crowd laughed.
Resuming, Jesus said, “I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet here you are, ready to kill me because you have no room for my Word. I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence, but you do what you have heard from your father.”
“Abraham is our father!” the heavyset man roared with exasperation, recovering from his momentary shame.
“That’s right!” another heckler added. “Who do you think you are, going on about our father?”
“What are you trying to say?” demanded a Levite in the robes of his duty at the Temple.
There were a number of opponents planted in the group surrounding the steps. Some were there merely to heckle. Others were present to prod Jesus into making incautious remarks for which he could be arrested … or worse.
Suddenly I was afraid for him. If they accused him of blasphemy they might try to stone him. The authorities might kill him and blame it on an angry mob, even if the first stone was flung by someone paid by Lord Caiaphas. I hoped he would be cautious, judicious with his choice of words.
“If you were Abraham’s children,” Jesus said quietly. By lowering his tone, he forced the mockers to be still as well to hear what he said next. “If you were children of Abraham, you would do the things Abraham did.”
What did that mean? Abraham was known for a life of faith and obedience, even against all human reason … even to the point of trusting a God who asked him to sacrifice his only son.
“As it is,” Jesus continued, “you are determined to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. You are doing the things your own father does.”
The connection to the depth of Abraham’s faith was overshadowed by the last challenge. A growling rose from the rabbi’s opponents. Even his closest followers looked uncomfortable.
“We are not illegitimate children!” challenged a Pharisee. “The only Father we have is God himself!”
“If God were your father,” Jesus replied, “you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say: you belong to your father … the devil!”
There was such a roar from the crowd that Jesus’ words were drowned out. The biggest disciple, Peter, and two muscled fishermen, stood to form a protective screen between Jesus and the mob, but the Teacher pushed them aside.
He did not let up. “He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. He who belongs to God must do what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”
As the rank of Temple police closed in, the rings of listeners scooted out of the way and the crowd started to dissolve.
Someone shouted an insult, “You’re a Samaritan, aren’t you?”
Another amplified the abuse: “You’re a Samaritan, and you’re demon possessed!”
“I am not possessed,” Jesus called back calmly, “but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. I tell you the truth: if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.”
That statement rocked me to my core: Never see death? What did that mean? Even if Jesus was a good man, a fine teacher, a great philosopher, and a gifted healer, who could say such an outrageous thing? My wife and child were beyond that very veil. Never see death?
Who was this man?
Jesus’ critics verbalized and amplified my doubts. “Now we know you are demon possessed! Abraham died—”
“That’s right, and so did all the prophets!”
“Yet you claim that if anyone keeps your word, he will never taste death?”
“Are you greater than our father Abraham?”
This was very, very near dangerous ground. Making