They take up stones to stone Him
Feast of Dedication. Jesus one with the Father.
(The Gospel History, Section 82)
The Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from the Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? The Jews answered him, For a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came (and the scripture cannot be broken), say ye of him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God? If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do them, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father. They sought again to take him: and he went forth out of their hand.
They take up stones to stone Him
(The Saviour of the World, Vol V Book V Poem LXVII)
Again, demoniac-wrath o’ermastered them,
As on that other day when Christ proclaimed,—
“From everlasting to everlasting, I am God;”
As on that day, tore they cobbles from the street
Wherewith to stone their God, made manifest:
What withheld their impious hands? a prudent fear
Of Rome, who brooked not trespass on her laws?
To th’ winds with prudence! cries your man in wrath:
Was it the eye of Christ, deterrent, held,
As dog in leash, these savage, venomous?
That we might see our Lord as stood He there,
This Man, our Peace, in the tempest of men’s hate!
Calm reasoned words, as oil, He drops on them,
And they, willing or wroth, must needs hear Him.
How strange the transposition, could the man
In the prisoner’s dock sudden transfer himself
To the awful Bench of the Judge, he, go below
To the place of the accused! So fared these men
Self-constituted judges: their upraised hand
Ready to launch the murderous stone, was held:
Constrained, they heard the accusing words of Him,
The Judge, austere and calm.
The Lord. Many good works
From the Father—His own acts—have I performed,
To convince, compel you to perceive the truth:
Are works of mercy the offences ye condemn?
What then of God, whose mercies every morn
Are poured unstinted in the laps of men?
Is this your return to Me who do His works?
And for which of these would ye stone Me?
The Jews. For a good work
We stone Thee not, but for blasphemy,—the last
Worst sin a man can do,—we Thee arraign;
Wilt have it, this our charge;—that Thou, being man,
Makest Thyself as God.
The Lord. O fools and blind,
Who know not their estate, how great it is,
But hold them bounded by the flesh, its needs
And fond desires, how indeed can they perceive
The open secret of the Father’s face,
The errand of the Son! Have ye not read
In your law, (and the Scriptures cannot be broken),
“I said, Ye are gods”? What sense, then, bear the words,—
Have ye ta’en thought to know? If they be gods
To whom came the word of God, you, an ye will,
If they who hear be children of the Highest,
What then of Him whom the Father sanctified
E’en for this thing, to discover their estate
To men; to say to them—“Ye are gods; abide
Then in your Father’s house and work His will.”
The Jews. No gods are we, and thou, thou hast a devil
Who heapeth blasphemy on blasphemy!
Thou hast no part or lot in the Nation!
The Lord. Why?
Because I said, I am the Son of God?
Bethink you; use your reasoning mind and judge:
A man’s works testify,—show what he is;
If I do not the works of God, ye are right,
I am not the Son of God; but if I do,
Then, let the works themselves convince, not I;
Believe the works, so shall ye understand
That the Father is in Me, and in Him, I
Do move and have My being.
But who were they
To comprehend supernal mysteries,—
How the unseen God should dwell in visible Form,
And how the visible Christ had His dwelling-place,
Serene, unchanging, in the unseen God:
And how of all men it is said, “Ye are gods,”
Even so far as ye will have it so—
Receive the filial portion: how, in Christ,
In absolute measure was the Word fulfilled,
For He, of God, as God could comprehend:—
Those narrow souls, what was all this to them,
Each tied and bound fast in a web of schemes
For his own aggrandisement?
Again, they seek
To lay hold on the Lord, and He went from them.
St. John x. 31–39.
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