5-7-19 - Are You For Real?

(You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.)

Some people just want a straight answer. They don’t want to be told a story, or given a demonstration, or be delivered an elliptical discourse that circles around, making its points indirectly. People like that had trouble with Jesus.

People like that still have trouble with Jesus, especially as we meet him in the Gospel of John, much of which shows the Jewish religious leaders (“the Jews” in John’s shorthand) grappling with the often contradictory “evidence” about Jesus: he teaches with authority, yet seems to flout the Law at will; he has undeniable spiritual power and holiness, yet he consorts with people who are “impure.” Worst, he makes radical claims about himself and his relationship to God, who he refers to as his “heavenly Father.” Who is this guy?

So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.’ Jesus answered, ‘I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep."

There’s a reason no one is going to win this argument, Jesus asserts, because the religious leaders will never accept his claims; their suspicion blocks their ability to believe. And only believing Jesus’ claims can dismantle their suspicions. As far as Jesus is concerned, his works of power (miracles) are incontrovertible testimony supporting his claims. If the leaders won’t accept that testimony, they will never believe. And they can’t accept that testimony because Jesus doesn’t look like or sound like the kind of Messiah they believe in. “The guy comes from Galilee, for Christ’s sake!” they reason (rough paraphrase…).

Not much has changed in the millennia since these encounters. It’s hard to accept Jesus as Risen Lord and Savior without faith, and we’re told faith is a gift from the Spirit of Christ. It is hard – but not impossible for those who want to believe. It is more challenging for those who refuse to believe, or who are so sure that God could never look or sound like a poor, itinerant preacher and miracle-worker from a backwater county who died on a cross. Or those who would only follow a Lord who delivers on their prayer requests with more speed and accuracy than God has promised. Everyone has reasons for holding back their hearts from full faith and trust in Jesus.

We may all have times in our lives when we want to say, “Are you for real, Jesus, or aren’t you? Because I’m tired of trusting and believing and not feeling the love, not seeing the fruits.” The Good News is that Jesus invites those questions and the longing behind them. Jesus entertains our expressions of doubt as he entertained Thomas’, just as he delights in our affirmations of faith. First and foremost, Jesus invites us into a relationship of knowledge and intimacy and trust – the trust of a sheep for their shepherd.

Where does the balance between faith and suspicion lie for you today? What do you want to know about Jesus? Go ahead and ask him!

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