Jesus Is Rejected. (John 10:22-42)
It was winter, and the Festival of the Dedication of the Temple was being celebrated in Jerusalem.
Jesus was walking in Solomon's Porch in the Temple, when the people gathered around Him and asked, 'How long are you going to keep us in suspense?
Tell us the plain truth: are You the Messiah?'
Jesus answered, "I have already told you, but you would not believe Me.
The deeds I do by My Father's authority speaks on My behalf; but you will not believe, for you are not My sheep.
My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me.
I give eternal life, and they shall never die.
No one can snatch them away from Me.
What My Father has given Me is greater than everything, and no one can snatch them away from the Father's care.
The Father and I are one."
Then the people again picked up stones to throw at him.
Jesus said to them, "I have done many good deeds in your presence which the Father gave me to do; for which one of these do you want to stone Me?"
They answered, 'We do not want to stone you because of any good deeds, but because of Your blasphemy!
You are only a man, but you are trying to make yourself God!"
Jesus answered, "It is written in your Law that God said, "You are gods.'
We know that what the scripture says is true forever; and God called those people gods, the people to whom His message was given.
As for me, the Father chose me and sent me into the world.
How, then can you say that I blaspheme because I said that I am the Son of God?
Do not believe me, then, if I am not doing the things my Father wants Me to do.
But if I do them, even though you do not believe Me, you should at least believe my deeds, in order that you may know once and for all that the Father is in Me and I am in the Father."
Once more they tried to seize Jesus, but He slipped out of their hands.
Jesus then went back again across the Jordan River to the place where John had been baptizing and He stayed there.
Many people came to Him. 'John performed no miracles,' they said, 'but everything he said about this man was true.'
And many people there believed in Him.
As I tried to get some enlightenment from God, through the Holy Spirit, on the Gospel's quotations, God decided that He emphasized only on certain details.
After Sin, had devastated the whole earth and its creation, especially intimately or personally affected were, are, will be human beings who bored the 'nature and personalities of God in us'.
Our souls are supposed to be the 'Image and Likeness of God'.
We are supposed to be called gods, because God truly wanted a home in our hearts, in order to glorify them, as His dwelling place. Uplifting them to be like the 'Sacred Heart' of Christ. The Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ was Jesus' own human hearts that had submitted fully to God. His Heart, was, is and will for eternity be one with God the Father. Which means that His humanity and Divinity had been glorified to be God. Therefore God too wanted to share the victory of Christ with all of Jesus' kind; that is all human being, with the same human nature of His.
The souls that still had the Life of God in them are supposed to be part and parcel of the Divine Godhead. God's Spirit dwells in the souls, so to sustains and gives them lives. Which means that God still had the ability to invite and seek for co-operation from man, without having to consult or plead with man.
For God, through our pure human nature that are bound to exist, in all of God's creatures, are likened to be 'His Stations' and properties of which He had sole right, not even the Devil, who might had been made into the master of those sinful men. Yet the Devil had no right and authority over God's properties. They could, can and would spread their deceits and falsehood into the minds of man, hoping to drag them into participating with their plans of destruction of the souls. We! Indeed were, are and would be made into great fool and laughing stocks of the Devil. He only wants to achieve his own purpose in us. The Devil took revenge on God, yet they still had to seek for permission from God in order that we are tested. The Devil is just like a 'fire', of which God used as a chastisement, in order to train man, to cling on to Him. The Devil would only have authority over us, if we allow them. How much, depend on our providence for them. If only man stood, stand and through conviction fully trust, in God, they would not be able to invade the territories of God, in our hearts. Why! How! Could God, the Almighty trusted in the Devil to train us?
'Do not bring us to the test, but deliver us from evil!'
Take this humanly parallel scenario: The glory of the Lord God was shinning everywhere, in the palace of the King. Everyone was feasting, with great joy, peace, love and harmony. They were sharing joy and laughter were heard everywhere; but there was a group of people, present in the feast felt dissatisfied with the whole scenario; so they seek permission and insisted the King to allow them to roam the other territory. Maybe they can find their own happiness. Like the story of the prodigal son of which the father insisted he stayed, but his pleads were deafly rejected, but the father was in tears, yet was cruelly ignored. He packed his bags and go, with the father's money and everything. The father waited patiently, days and nights, then months and years passed by. It seemed a lifetime for the father who was waiting for his son to return home some day. His father knew fully well, there was no food or shelter out there in the 'cold' world, yet his son was too slow to return. Only after he was starved to the skin and bone that he decided to return, so to be his slave and servant. He underestimated the love of his father, who later put rings and clothed him as before. His father still loves him just the same, as his son, not a slave or servant.
Can we blame God, for our fault?
In this world, what could, can and will be seen in the past, presence and time to come are contradicting its very purpose of Divine existence in our lives.
In the world as can be seen today, the children, adolescents, teenagers, adults and elders, were being fed with inferior food, instead of Divine food.
In this world, there are different categories of spirits that infested our lives, if we accept, welcome or invite them in.
Children of tender age, were exposed and fed with food that were and are passed on through their parents; who were and are themselves tainted, by living a deviated lives.
Children were exposed to entertainment that would soon bring about negativity in their lives.
Adolescents and teenagers began to worship celebrities, fame and idolized them as gods.
They knew those idols, so much better than they know God; who created them. With their whole hearts and minds, they foolishly dragged their souls along to worship these graven images.
These were part of the tactics of the Devil to bring God's Children away from Him.
The Children were complacence with their lifestyles and might even began to preach these falsehoods to their friends and even parents seemed to surrender or stood indifferent to their ways of life. These stubbornness and rebellious attitudes, was a great advantage to the Devil, who began to expand their stations in innocence lives, spreading further deceits and falsehoods. They tried with all their strength and tricks to bring down their hearts and minds, aiming maliciously to destroy and paralyzed them, from seeking help from God. These children were not totally helpless, as God had limited their destructive tactics. They could only operate to its fullness, as was allowed by God. Then, when God stood up, they had to abundant their stations, in the lives of God's Children, who were created to the 'Image and Likeness' of God. These God would achieves, through His personal intervention, or through instruments, not necessary parents, but could be other sources, to direct the children's path once more. These children had decisions to make for themselves, after every source of truth and knowledge were channeled to them. They would have to ask for strength and ability from God, to courageously change their lifestyles and ways. God would not reject the pleading of the helpless, 'little ones', as Jesus taught us to love and help them.
Teenagers, who were rebellious, seemed to have secret duels and pacts with the Devil.
With these evil and worldly spirits filling their hearts and minds, they would challenge, even the virtuous and good values, passed by their parents.
As a parent, myself, this scenario of the world is put forth before me. I could made peace with the world and its value and be indifferent, so there would be a smooth flow of human tainted and worldly spirits, which would leads to false peace and complacency. This was what the world preached about, but not God. Jesus said that He had come to bring wars, not peace. Close and intimate relationships are at stack here.
With the Holy Spirit and His wisdom, as judge: there would be great battles, in the family. These spiritual battles take place, so that the crocked path of our loved ones would be straightened, the hill; leveled, the valley; filled, so that the Spirit of God could flow smoothly along the paths of our beloved ones' hearts.
To compromise with them would amount to our obligation, responsibility and duty to God diluted.
True apostles of Christ, as Jesus said, "A prophet would be rejected by his own people, in his own country and by his own family".
Why is that so?
Why didn't God choose other single man, instead of St. Peter, who was married with family of his own?
Why is Jesus seemed so harsh and cruel, indeed to snatch Peter away from his household and status as breadwinner?
Why did Jesus say that no one could, would or will be worthy of being a disciple, if they love their loved ones or neighbors, more than God?
Aren't our responsibilities towards God, reflected in our neighbors?
We might think that St. Peter was being irresponsible, so was Jesus.
That was the mentality and value of this world, which focused lives on material as the sole priority. They were considered spiritually blind and ignorant.
It would be a great blessing indeed, if our loved ones, may they be our spouses or children, who receive great honor and blessing to be among the 'blessed' of God. God would reward those who act as clutches to the 'disables' and 'handicaps' ones. Saints are 'little ones' of God, in their simplicity and humility of which they trusted fully in God to provide. To the world, they are disable and handicap, but not to the Kingdom of God, of which they would sour like a strong eagle, with the wings provided by God, in Jesus Christ.
Jesus even mentioned that, "If people gave them even 'cold water', they shall be rewarded".
'Cold water', concerning attitude would be; a service even reluctantly gives, but because he is a disciple, there is no other choice.
Those, whom they ought to be responsible for, would indeed, receive abundant and great blessing.
How wonderful and blessed to be the spouse of Mary, no other then St. Joseph, as far as human relationship is concerned. We might give countless credits to Joseph, but we might be the one whom, God is also calling us in our dreams, to be like St. Joseph.
Who was Joseph? He would be a mere carpenter, with spiritual knowledge and wisdom, working and laboring for the world, if the mission of God was not given to him. He might have to struggled through the path that all had to, after we departed from this earthly life?
No one is omitted to participate in God's plan of salvation. All are called to be workers in the vineyard of the Lord, while on earth, then later to share in the abundance of our labors of which Christ had won for us.
How blessed Joseph would be, for remaining holy, chaste and pure, even when temptations were strong!
These were indeed, a great test of faith. Being spouses, parents, siblings, etc towards those journeying towards sainthood on earth, receive from God, a share of abundant life and blessing, which were and are reserved for the saints.
'Jesus was and is rejected!'
Man who focused on Him, from a mere human point of view, could not accept Him as the world's Savior.
He was rejected mostly because of the sins of division and inequity. They were biased and discriminated Jesus, mostly based from their human wisdom and impure judgement. The Jews and the world judged Him from human angle.
Spiritually; He spoke with great power and authority. He had every ability to fulfill His own words. There was never any one with such authority and power. Natures and its laws obeyed His commands. Nothing seemed to be above Him. He was fearless of the highest authority of which the elite Jews was obliged to submit. Who was He?
Man of great wisdom, could not overthrew Him. He was wiser than the wisest man, ever. Greeks were men of great wisdom. For that particular race acquiring wisdom was their 'food and drink'. All the tactics that they applied were revealed, which became lessons for man to learn.
From the point of which He was born and brought up; he was to His own people, a shame, outcast and among, the poorest.
There was nothing extra-ordinary about this poor family of Mary and Joseph, accept that Joseph was a descendent of King David, yet that had very little significant, in the eyes of the Jews.
How could God, the Almighty who owned every thing seen and unseen could ever looked with favor on this young lady and poor man? This truly did not make any sense at all!
From the educational point of view, who was Jesus? He could not afford the price of being among the rich to be educated in a high society of a Jewish schools. His parents, relatives and village teachers taught Jesus. Yet that was not His priority and concern. The Spirit of God taught him, as a human being, from birth, through His personal and filial relationship with the Father. Living among Him were His maternal mother, foster father and relatives, whom God usually consecrate, so to be His instruments to train, teach and nurture human Jesus, to grow in body and strength.
This, to the Jews was a low profile life of the marginalized and poor villager.
To them, His human acquired knowledge and wisdom which was limited could easily be overpowered and belittled, yet that they were surprised, amazed and humiliated because their learned wisdom could not overpowered the wisdom of the twelve years old boy.
What more, yet that was not usually emphasized; of His birth among the animals, sheltered by a humble roofing, surrounded by droppings and the atmosphere, just nauseating. How could God who owned everything, allow His Son, Jesus Christ to be heralded into the world, in this situation, condition and the humble presence of animals?
Why, only the poorest among the poor, were given the blessing to be acknowledged personally of the coming of the King of Kings?
Why God had to allow those rich in wisdom and wealth, wise men of the East, to go all out to search for this humble child, through the assistant of the guiding Star? How could these worldly wise man, knew that indeed this baby, born in a stable was the Messiah?
These were two directly opposite scenarios. The poor, worldly uneducated and humble versus the rich, educated and the powerful. God excitedly revealed to the poor shepherd boys that the Savior, Prince of Peace was born, and they were the first to be invited to worship Him.
But, to the three 'wise men', God knew that they had the ability to search for Jesus, through their own knowledge and wisdom. They not only had to bow down, but also to bring with them their labored and acquired wealth of gold, frankincense and myrrh. They had to submit and truly admit that Jesus is their King, Priest and Savior of the world.
The poor shepherds had nothing material to bring to Him, but their fullness of worship and adoration from their hearts, souls and minds, which were adequate.
Jesus was born, humanly as a Jew, to fulfill the promise, blessing to Abraham and all his descendents.
Among the Jews, who had patiently and solemnly; observed and practiced the various religious rituals as commanded by their religious authority, so to prepare for the coming of the Messiah, could not accept Jesus, of which was ironical to their expectation.
They longed for a man, anointed to be the ' Suffering Servant'; with a figure that would bring to, their already hurt pride; after being conquered by the Roman Governor, a great man, greater than King David, who would never die so to redeem their selfish pride and power in the eyes of the world.
They wanted a Messiah, who would bring about the fulfillment of the meanings of their rituals, but only to their expectations. They refused to accept the high price of self-denial and personal sacrifices, which the rituals were in fact pointing towards. Rituals remained merely outward signs that bear non-spiritual significant. They were actions, but not of the hearts. They were over-burdened with the price of even the rituals, which includes obedience to the laws, restrictions on food, drinks and various rituals of purification and sacrifices. They did not welcome God into their lives, so to make their sacrifices meaningful and spiritual. They overlooked the needs of the spirits and souls, inside of the human body. The rituals were in fact fulfilled in Jesus Christ, who was chosen, as a victim to replace the unblemished and specially selected young lambs. They could not see that indeed, Jesus ransomed them, as He united Himself with humanity and their fall, as He brought Himself into His own death. His cross was too heavy, yet He never failed to accomplish God's plan for Him. He was to preserve and survive, till the time specified by God, when every words and actions God burdened Him were fully fulfilled as He said, "It is accomplished", and He died. We had burdened Jesus, until He fell down three times, but Simon of Cyrene, helped Him to finish, part of His journey. Jesus, pleaded with us, to carry our own cross, so that as He had finished His journey and died; He rose again, so would all those who took their own cross, which we had put on Him. We are not called to carry Jesus' cross, as He need not carry His. He was sinless and spotless, therefore the penalty of sin, was and is not His, but the whole world and ours.
The sins of inequity had been a great obstacle for the message of salvation to reach the whole human race. Human prejudice and discrimination, which caused distrust and retaliation among mankind, being one of the factors that prevented the free flows of God's message and love.
The 'Lost sheep' would not have rejected Jesus, not only of the 'House of Israel', but the whole world, if this sins are not presence. If that were so, then whoever bound to be saved would be saved.
The whole world would be able to embrace one single channel, so to reach God, without having to call and anoint different people as channels of reconciliation and transmission of Light. Without Jesus as Light of the world, the mysteries of the Kingdom of God, no one would be able to fully understand, only Jesus Himself could. His human nature too was overwhelmed by the Power of God working, in penetrating and uniting in this 'One' unique Being, Jesus Christ. God not only made Him into an Instrument, for His Light to shine, through His Son, as a human being, but He overpowered the completely submissive Jesus, the Son of Man. This mystery, no human mind could ever grasp, but God decided to reveal and allow it to slowly penetrate 'time and space', to those who wished to participate. This participation was the promised of Jesus before He departed from the earth. He promised to send forth the 'Helper', to reveal simple truth then to complete truth. The truth that God is going to reveal would be through the Holy Spirit, which was Jesus' promise, fulfilled.
Apart, from Jesus, not even His closest of disciples, could ever understand the mission, that Jesus came for. They only saw everything from a human point of view, which they tried to analyze what they see, through human understanding, judgement and prospective.
Therefore because of the sin of inequity, God therefore had to choose others, apart from the Jews or Jesus, as channels for God to shine His Light. But truly, God's Heart was greatly hurt when, even those who were consecrated had deviated, which cast, a great shadow to the truth that God was and is going to reveal. They too were overwhelmed but later pride and sins sipped in, tainting what was pure. The water of Life that God poured and flowed from God's throne was 'crystal clear and pure', but man saturated this purity, with the water of the earth, which was polluted. The final outcome; was truth saturated, which became mere teaching about human morality, values, wisdom and understanding. They could not become God's perfect messengers. They fear of persecutions and death, which they are bound to face. Therefore as mere human being, they decided to succumb, to the standard and wishes of the people in this world.
Jesus as a human being and God, had triumphed and with this victory, He invited all of us, regardless of race or status, to join Him. He was and is the sole owner of the Victorious Spirit, which was and is fully empowering His human nature. He became the sole owner of the 'Key' into the Kingdom of Heaven. Before He departed from the earth, He entrusted this same 'Key', to St. Peter, so were the authorities and power that accompanied that 'Key'. As holder of Jesus' trust, we must yield to the Holy Spirit, so that we would and will never yield to the world and its demand. Let Jesus' Spirit, find in us, the perfect freedom to flow through our hearts, then the courage and ability to let this same Spirit, flows to others too.
Jesus revealed to me, that if the whole Church yielded and submitted to God there would be great awakening and revelations, like the fire that consumes the earth. Jesus told me that, in, through and with St. Peter and all those Popes, together with the saints who are in heaven, the whole church's participation would bring about the prompt Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
Jesus revealed God the Father and the Holy Spirit, as symbolized by water, in His encounter with the Samaritan woman, at Jacob's well.
Jesus found and still finds it hard to reveal God Spirit, in the past and the presence.
It was through the Holy Spirit, we know the will of God, for our neighbors and us.
Jesus said, "Worship God in Truth and in Spirit", was clearly pointing to Jesus as the Truth in His Divine Nature, as God, and the Holy Spirit.
We cannot worship God solely through our human nature, its wisdom and intelligence.
We could never be worthy to even offer up our lives, without submitting to God, for the service of Him.
If that was acceptable to God, man could rightly claim credits and boast about it. Jesus as a human being, did not boast about Himself, instead; gives glory, praise and thanks to God. That was the quality of perfect worship that God wants of us.
Jesus offered up Himself as a human being, at the cross, through the participation of God in His mysteries of suffering.
Therefore, if we decided to reject God's Spirit, in participating with us, in His works of salvation and sanctification, was in fact deceiving ourselves. Christ did not; how could we?
God demanded that from Jesus, through His participation of freewill, is also asking this of us; that is worship Him, through Jesus; the truth and of our partnership with the Holy Spirit.
In unity with the Holy Spirit, who is God, we indeed, stand beside Him, and liken to a room of which direct sunlight penetrated, of which tiny particles of dust are fully exposed, so are our souls with God. Without the sunlight penetration, the air and atmosphere; it seemed clean and pure.
The Light of the Spirit, which is truth, would penetrate our hearts to reveal our sinfulness and unworthiness, or else we thought that we are clean already.
With this revelation, we stand before God, remorseful and with knowledge that we are in fact spiritually very sick, Jesus would not refuse to attend and heal, the sick Children God sent to Him.
Without the activation of the Holy Spirit in us, we indeed stand beside sinners, just as dark or even darker. Being deceived, we felt complacent of our holiness and almost perfection, yet God cannot be dragged into our deceitful lives. They therefore could not experience an intimacy or relationship with Jesus and God.
Those who had been living, their lives as their human sinful nature's desires, would try to hide in the dark. They hated those who come to reveal the Light and Truth.
They had enjoyed the company of the Devil, the king in the realm of hell. They partake in their food and therefore share in their mission. They too would share in their imminent destiny, at the end of time.
Without God dwelling in us to the fullness, we are still living a life of falsehood and therefore had allowed rooms for deceits to grow.
Without God's revelation of Jesus, through His Spirit, we are still like the Pharisees and Scribes, who kill, murder, rob, persecute and crucify Jesus.
They were spiritually blind, so were those who refused the Holy Spirit's activation in their lives, so to be of service to God and one another.
As Jesus sternly condemned them, out of love, so too, He would offer this love to us.
The Holy Spirit diverts our human nature, together with human spirit, mind and heart to submission and worship of God.
Ignorant of the Holy Spirit is indeed ignorant of Jesus as Man and God. Being blind about Jesus and the Spirit is also blind of the Father. For Jesus said that He and the Father are One. For the Divine Nature, in human Jesus, was although God the Son, yet as undivided God, He is God the Father.
No one knows the Father, accept the Son. No one knows the Son, unless the Spirit of God decided to reveal.
Therefore be humble enough to acknowledge our inadequacy and incapability to reach God. The disciples of Jesus could not go where Jesus was going, but only after the descent of the Holy Spirit of which Jesus assured; they would be able to be where Jesus would be. The same offer was and is being put forth before us, so that we could be where Jesus is.
Rejection of the Holy Spirit is also the rejection of Jesus Christ and the Father in His undivided nature, in the Divine Godhead. This is the only unforgivable sin, of which Jesus warned. The Holy Spirit will not glorify Himself, but God the Father and God the Son, warned that the sin against Him, is a total rejection of God. For the Holy Spirit, is the Spirit of the Father and the Son. Others might have rejected Jesus, as they saw Him from a mere human prospective, but they had not rejected God. When time and material, ended in them, at their death, they were amazed and shocked to see that indeed, God reigned in Jesus Christ. They had to worship and submit to Him. For He is the only entrance into the Kingdom of heaven. God gave Him the highest authority over all humankind. Their destinies depended solely on Him. His blood will be the only anti-dote for the Sin of man and the world. Humankind, are called to be one in His mystical Body, of which the whole process of purification, cleansing and salvation could be achieved. In purity and perfection, like human Jesus; only then we could possibly face and be one with God.
Praise the Lord. Amen.
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