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- What attributes of God’s character does this passage reveal?
- How does the passage point to Jesus?
- How should the truth of this passage change me?
- How do the events of today’s reading help you better understand the grand narrative of Scripture?
Luke 10:1-11:4
I think it’s important to always remember what matters. Jesus gave His disciples incredible authority and power with which they were able to do so much good. Yet Jesus told them, “However, don’t rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” (Lk. 10:20). That’s what matters. It’s never about what we do, but always about what God has done for us. I don’t know, but I wonder if Jesus’ mention of Satan’s falling from heaven was a case in point for that statement. Satan, too, received great power and authority. Likely more than any except God. Thus, he is proof that no amount of power can give us the one thing we need the most. That right relationship with God comes, not from any mighty power He grants us, but only through humble acceptance of His great grace.
John 10:22-42
When the Jews asked Jesus if He was the Messiah, what were they expecting to hear? What did they think the Messiah would be? They must not have realized that the Messiah was God Himself, come to turn them back to Him. If they had understood that, surely they would have recognized Him. Instead, they tried to stone Him for revealing who He was.
Something else Jesus’ words reveal is what it means to be a son of God. He quoted from Psalm 82:6. That Psalm calls out the unjust rulers of the land and declares God’s judgment on them. “I said, ‘You are gods; you are all sons of the Most High. However, you will die like humans and fall like any other ruler.’” (Ps. 82:6-7). Jesus then supported His claim to be the Son of God by saying that He was doing His Father’s works.
So again we see that it is not any power or authority that makes us sons of God, and thus, “gods”. Rather, we are “gods” only when we do God’s work because, “the Father is in [us] and [we] in the Father.” (Jn. 10:38b). And what is God’s work? “Provide justice for the needy and the fatherless; uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute. Rescue the poor and needy; save them from the power of the wicked.” (Ps. 82:3-4).