Scripture Readings for April 11, 2025

Jeremiah 20:10-13, Psalm 18: 2-7, John 10:31-42

What attracted my attention in today’s readings is the point John is trying to make in the Gospel. The pharisees are picking up rocks to stone Jesus for pretty plainly claiming to be God’s son. Why does this seem strange to me? After all John’s writing a Gospel, literally a story of good news that claims Jesus is God, one with the Father and that makes all the difference for us today. Why should this catch my attention?

I think the point that strikes me is that besides the big religious question of whether Jesus is the Son of God, the pertinent issue for me is these guys are questioning Jesus’ identity. They are challenging who he claims to be and that is very relevant to us today. We are acutely aware, today even more than generations before, of what personal identity means for our happiness and ability to succeed in everyday life.

If we start with personal identity, I think there is an encouraging message these readings have to say to us right now. Jeremiah’s in a very similar situation. People he considers friends are waiting for him to trip up so they can “take … vengeance on him.” They think “any misstep” of his will lead to him being “trapped.”  But Jeremiah says he will trust that God will save him because God knows their “mind and heart” and will put them to shame. This same line in my favorite bible translation, New Jerusalem Bible, is translated as, God the “observer of motives and thoughts.” God knows who everyone is deep in their soul. What does God do in this situation? God “rescued the life of the poor from the power of the wicked.” This is not about economic poverty this is about the fragility of our souls. Who of us has not felt the challenge when friends or loved ones question our motives, our desires, our inner most feelings. It is hard to stay true to oneself when others are dismissive of what we value.

This is exactly what’s happening to Jesus in the Gospel. Even though he is doing lots of good things. People don’t see that as evidence of who he really is. They seek to stone him for who he claims to be. Here is the key to this story in John’s Gospel, “they tried again to arrest him; but he escaped from their power.” He escaped from their power, the power to question his identity. He was strong enough to know who he was and not be intimidated.

As is often the case, today’s Psalm tells us what Jesus knew, what Jeremiah did and what we should do, “In my distress I called upon the Lord, and he heard my voice.” If we believe that Jesus was the presence of God on this earth. Then we can trust that God is active deep within us and available to rescue us from the actions, attitudes and beliefs that can be destructive of our wellbeing.