Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?

 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.  Jesus answered them, "Many good works I have shown you from My Father.  For which of those works do you stone Me?"  The Jews answered Him, saying, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God."  Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, "You are gods" '?  If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?  If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him."  Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.

And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed.  Then many people came to Him and said, "John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about His Man were true."  And many believed in Him there.

- John 10:31-42

Yesterday we read that by the end of Christ's time at the Feast of Tabernacles, there was a division again among the leadership because of His sayings.  And many of them said, "He has a demon and is mad.  Why do you listen to Him?"  Others said, "These are not the words of one who has a demon.  Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"  Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter.  And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon's porch.  Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, "How long do You keep us in doubt?  If You are the Christ, tell us plainly."  Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe.  The works that I do in My Father's name, they bear witness of Me.  But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.  My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.  And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.  My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand.  I and My Father are one."

Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.  Jesus answered them, "Many good works I have shown you from My Father.  For which of those works do you stone Me?"  The Jews answered Him, saying, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God."  Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, "You are gods" '?  If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?  If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him."  Once again the leadership (this is the meaning of the term the Jews in John's Gospel) take up stones to put Him to death for blasphemy.  Jesus emphasizes once more that the works He does bear witness to Him.  Even if they don't believe His words about Himself, they should believe the works they have seen and know about as testimony.  You are gods is a quotation from Psalm 82:6.  My study bible explains that people who receive God's grace in faith will partake of His divine nature (2 Peter 1:4) and can rightly be called gods.  St. John Chrysostom expresses what He's saying this way: "If those who have received this honor by grace are not guilty for calling themselves gods, how can He who has this by nature deserve to be rebuked?"

Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.  Christ is going to His Passion voluntarily, and according to His own will (10:17-18), they are unable to arrest Him until He is ready and it is "His hour" (7:30, 8:20; see Luke 4:28-30).

And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed.  Then many people came to Him and said, "John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about His Man were true."  And many believed in Him there.   Faith comes also through those with whom Christ has relationship, like John the Baptist whose work as prophet is through the Holy Spirit. 

Jesus' works express His identity.  Once again, we are confronted with the reality of who Jesus really is, and that His works bear witness to that identity.  Surely we are asked to follow.  When we think of His works, we think of healing, "making whole" as it is so often phrased in the Gospels.  For which of these do they condemn Him?  How do these works tell us about Christ?  Surely, "making whole" is something we pray for when we pray to Him.  We pray for ourselves, for our friends and loved ones, for our communities, and for our world.   To be "made whole" is to be restored to the true condition of our creation.   Our Creator, therefore, is the help we need to become "whole" -- for real healing.  This can go in all directions.  In the Gospels, the works that Christ does in terms of restoring wholeness vary greatly, and happen in all kinds of conditions and even through varied methods.  For example, in the events for which the leadership is angry with Him -- healings which have taken place during various festivals in Jerusalem -- we've read of Christ healing the paralytic by simply telling him to take up his bed and walk (see this reading, in which, interestingly, Jesus speaks of "working").  Unfortunately, for this the leadership condemn Him, as He told the man to carry his bed on a Sabbath.  And then we read more recently of Christ's healing of a man blind from birth, this time by the method of using His own spittle and the soil, to make mud put on the man's eyes (see this reading, in which once again, Jesus spoke of working the works of God).  But making whole comes in other forms as well as physical healing.  Jesus heals those who are clearly "out of their minds" or who have various diseases and illnesses.   In another sign given only to the disciples, Jesus walks on the water (see this reading).  He tells them, "It is I; do not be afraid."  Let us consider the great sign apart from its miraculous properties, and in the framework of the fear of the disciples crossing a stormy sea; His action and work of comfort to them, telling them not to be afraid, is also a form of making whole, of healing, and one which we all need to hear.  Faith is a difficult struggle that involves facing our own fears and growing in our dependency upon God.  Yet, this is the way to wholeness, to be made whole, restored to the condition of our creation.  In all ways, then, we observe that Jesus' work is to "make whole."  Whether we are in need of this restoration (and who is not?) or we can help to offer such restoration to others, to "make whole" is a sign of God's work in the world.  When we pray for others, we do the same.  When we pray for the world, so we offer the world back to God in order for God to return it to us in right relation, understanding that its true nature is to be filled with the presence of God.  Our lives and faith are sacramental, and it is in the nature of sacrament that "making whole" happens.  In today's reading, John the Baptist works through faith as prophet and holy man to bring others to the faith as well.  In this he also shares in the work of restoration and wholeness.  If faith is truly a journey, then it is one to wholeness, to fullness, to the restoration in the sight of Creator on all levels.  Which way does this work in your life today?  In which ways do you need this work?  How does the world know you as His follower in such work of restoring to wholeness?