The guards answered, "Never before has anyone spoken like this man."
No one speaks like Jesus. If we just listen with open hearts we will be converted and transformed. But there is always a risk when God speaks to us. We can choose to hear his voice. But we can also choose to harden ours hearts.
So a division occurred in the crowd because of him.
How do we listen in such a way that we are converted? How do we prevent ourselves from hardening our hearts? The voice heard is the same voice. The receptivity is the difference. We should be on guard against second guessing what Jesus tells us.
But others said, "The Christ will not come from Galilee, will he?
When we're listening to Jesus we don't need to evaluate or find loopholes. We often try this so that we don't have to respond with our whole hearts. We're afraid of what might be asked of us. We want to keep things in our own control. So we find reasons to not make that complete surrender. Jesus calls us to use prudential judgment in planning and acting in our daily lives. But this isn't necessary or helpful in listening to Jesus himself. He only speaks life. Whatever he asks, it is for our good. The more of it that we can receive the better. Prudential judgment has its place in our lives. But that place is not in filtering the things we hear from Jesus. We use discernment to make sure that what we are hearing is in fact from him. But if it is from him, we must receive it completely.
Yet I, like a trusting lamb led to slaughter,
had not realized that they were hatching plots against me:
"Let us destroy the tree in its vigor;
let us cut him off from the land of the living,
so that his name will be spoken no more."
Even if listening to Jesus makes us feel as exposed as lambs led to the slaughter we know that we can trust him. He himself was led to the slaughter for us. But that was not the end. The resurrection proved his trust in the Father. Our trust in him will also be vindicated if we hold fast to his word.
A shield before me is God,
who saves the upright of heart;
A just judge is God,
a God who punishes day by day.
No comments:
Post a Comment