12/29/16
The earliest Christians followed a Jewish tradition of pausing to pray, preferably together, first thing in the morning, about mid morning, at noon, about mid afternoon, and in the evening. “Just a Note” posts are brief observations made from Scripture readings not related to a lectionary. If I have one to post, it normally appears about 9:00 in the morning, at “the hour of prayer.”
Is Jesus some sort of maniac? Is he someone who understands reality? This was the debate in John 10:19-21. Maybe he is someone who has a demon. He could be insane. Certainly making claims to godhood would seem that way. I have not, in fact, met Jesus in any institutions. I do have a friend who reports that when he held a Bible discussion group at an asylum one of his regular attendees was John the Baptist. This is not the behavior of a normal person.
What of verse 21? Does Jesus act odd in other ways? Normally when I am dealing with a person who has delusions or other mental irregularities, there are multiple signs. The person may not know what time in history it is. He may think he saw somebody who is not present. I have known several people who think we are in a different country or who are expecting relatives to come home from work, even though those relatives have been dead for decades. How does Jesus act?
Aside from his insistence that he and God the Father are one, and that he is the Son of God, he acts perfectly oriented. He recognizes people, events, his location. He is perfectly normal in every way. If you asked him how to find the local seller of bagels he would probably be able to give you street names and directions. What does this suggest? It suggests that he is perfectly sane. He knows who he is. He is a reliable witness.
Do we find Jesus to be reliable? Do we find that the accounts of him in the four Gospels are reliable and credible? How do we deal with the exhortations to trust Jesus as the one who is the resurrection and the life? Seems reasonable to me. Maybe this very reasonable person knows something that I don’t.
If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.
The earliest Christians followed a Jewish tradition of pausing to pray, preferably together, first thing in the morning, about mid morning, at noon, about mid afternoon, and in the evening. “Just a Note” posts are brief observations made from Scripture readings not related to a lectionary. If I have one to post, it normally appears about 9:00 in the morning, at “the hour of prayer.”
Is Jesus some sort of maniac? Is he someone who understands reality? This was the debate in John 10:19-21. Maybe he is someone who has a demon. He could be insane. Certainly making claims to godhood would seem that way. I have not, in fact, met Jesus in any institutions. I do have a friend who reports that when he held a Bible discussion group at an asylum one of his regular attendees was John the Baptist. This is not the behavior of a normal person.
What of verse 21? Does Jesus act odd in other ways? Normally when I am dealing with a person who has delusions or other mental irregularities, there are multiple signs. The person may not know what time in history it is. He may think he saw somebody who is not present. I have known several people who think we are in a different country or who are expecting relatives to come home from work, even though those relatives have been dead for decades. How does Jesus act?
Aside from his insistence that he and God the Father are one, and that he is the Son of God, he acts perfectly oriented. He recognizes people, events, his location. He is perfectly normal in every way. If you asked him how to find the local seller of bagels he would probably be able to give you street names and directions. What does this suggest? It suggests that he is perfectly sane. He knows who he is. He is a reliable witness.
Do we find Jesus to be reliable? Do we find that the accounts of him in the four Gospels are reliable and credible? How do we deal with the exhortations to trust Jesus as the one who is the resurrection and the life? Seems reasonable to me. Maybe this very reasonable person knows something that I don’t.
If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.
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