Then the Jews took up stones again, to stone Him. John 10:31
As boys, we used to throw stones at the glass insulators on the telephone poles alongside the road in New Annan. We rarely hit the insulators, and even less frequently damaged them. But what we were doing was wrong. We knew better, because we knew that the telephone line was a valuable communication tool for the community. If we had been caught, we would surely have been punished. The Jewish leaders in today’s text should also have known better than to take up stones to stone the Lord Jesus. And they will surely be punished for it. In addition to the cruel threat from their actions, consider the magnitude of the indignity they were offering to the Son of God!
Today, the religious leaders, and almost everyone else, continues to heap indignities on the Lord Jesus. His Name is used as a swear word. His Book is ridiculed and rejected, His people are persecuted and reviled, and even at Christmas time, His birth is used as an excuse for drunkenness and revelry. In their desire to stone Him, the Jewish leaders were not alone in their rejection of the Lord Jesus. When we think of such shameful behaviour, we know that we would not have endured it. Had we been the ones receiving such rejection and scorn, we would have struck back in anger. But we see the Lord Jesus uses this occasion to point out their error and to confound their faulty reason, and leaves them in confusion. He knew their latter end, and had no need to punish them at this time, but would leave them to either repent or to fill their cup of judgment.
As our Lord’s representatives today, we see people acting in shameful ways toward Him. We encounter rejection and apathy when the Gospel is presented. We meet with denial when the claims of Christ are declared. We meet with religious intolerance and bigotry from those who falsely claim to be His followers. Their selfish agendas are followed rigidly while ignoring the reality of a loving Saviour Who longs to see them redeemed.
In the Pharisees’ futile attempt to stone the Lord Jesus, we see the devil’s plot to divert Him from His great purpose. Had He been smitten down with stones on this occasion, there would be no Calvary. So their plan was doomed to fail, because it contradicted the great Plan of Salvation. To the child of God, this is precious, to know that even such evil behaviour by His creatures would not keep Christ from bearing His cross.
If our Saviour so loved those who would stone Him, how can we withhold the Gospel from them? -Jim MacIntosh