“Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, he of whom you say, ‘He is our God,’ ⁵⁵ though you do not know him. But I know him; if I would say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him and I keep his word. ⁵⁶ Your ancestor Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day; he saw it and was glad.” ⁵⁷ Then the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” ⁵⁸ Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.” ⁵⁹ So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.” John 8:54-59

In John 8:54-59, we see Christ’s disregard for accepting Glory. He goes on to say that it will be his Father who gives him glory—and actually it will be on the cross that Christ achieves such glory. But he can only bear the cross event with the help of the Father. But Christ is certain of his lineage and his relationship with the Father that nothing, not even the scourge of the words of his enemies will get him down.

Our reading ends with the words, “So they picked up stones to throw at him…”  How often do you feel the world is throwing stones at you because of your faith or your devotion to the church? Does the world come into conflict with your beliefs or your faith life?  When the stones of contempt or the slings of persecution come from those in the world who have yet to come to know Jesus, we need to remember the words of scripture: before the world was, Jesus was – and in keeping his word, the sting of death will not be the final word in our lives.

Pastor Dave