Jesus scandalised the Pharisees by eating with tax
collectors and sinners. He spoke against those who trusted in themselves that
they were righteous, and said, “I have not come to call the righteous, but
sinners to repentance.” Jesus scandalised them when He suggested that the mercy
He showed to sinners was that of God’s own attitude to sinners; by sharing the
table of sinners he was admitting them to the messianic banquet. Perhaps even
more did He scandalise them by forgiving sins. Only God can forgive sins, so
either Jesus was blaspheming or He was speaking the truth.
Only if Jesus is truly divine can He justify such claims
that would otherwise be scandal and blasphemy. So all who listen to the Gospel
must decide, is Jesus insane/wicked or is He divine – there is no other option
if we take the evidence seriously.
Jesus’ divine identity was gradually revealed in what He
said. When He said, “He who is not with me is against me”, this could only be
taken seriously if Jesus was divine. Similarly when He said, “something greater
than Jonah… greater than Solomon”, and something “greater than the Temple” was
in Him. His reminder that David called his Messiah his Lord, was also revealing
the Messiah as being divine. But then we come to the gospel of today (Jn 8:51-59)
and Jesus then makes it quite plain: “Amen. Amen. I say unto you, before
Abraham was, I AM.” “I AM” was the divine name revealed by God to Moses at the
burning bush.
Thus the Sanhedrin had to make a stark choice: was this man
the Messiah God, or was Jesus a blasphemer deserving death? They made their
choice and Jesus became the victim.
We too must make this choice. We make this choice when we
accept the Christian faith as our faith. But we must also make this choice in
the moral decisions of daily life. When we choose to sin, we choose to go
against the way of Christ, and we thus make Him out to be a liar. Sin is an
anti-Christ action, and in that sin we are identifying with the Sanhedrin who
condemned Jesus. When we resist temptation, we affirm that Jesus is God the
Saviour.
Fr Ian
