They answered, ‘We are descended from Abraham and we have never been the slaves of anyone; what do you mean, “You will be set free?” ' Jesus replied: In all truth I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave. Now a slave has no permanent standing in the household, but a son belongs to it for ever. So if the Son sets you free, you will indeed be free. I know that you are descended from Abraham; but you want to kill me because my word finds no place in you. What I speak of is what I have seen at my Father's side, and you too put into action the lessons you have learnt from your father. They repeated, ‘Our father is Abraham.' Jesus said to them: If you are Abraham's children, do as Abraham did. As it is, you want to kill me, a man who has told you the truth as I have learnt it from God; that is not what Abraham did. You are doing your father's work. They replied, ‘We were not born illegitimate, the only father we have is God.' Jesus answered: If God were your father, you would love me, since I have my origin in God and have come from him; I did not come of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? Because you cannot bear to listen to my words. You are from your father, the devil, and you prefer to do what your father wants. He was a murderer from the start; he was never grounded in the truth; there is no truth in him at all. When he lies he is speaking true to his nature, because he is a liar, and the father of lies. But it is because I speak the truth that you do not believe me. Can any of you convict me of sin? If I speak the truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever comes from God listens to the words of God; the reason why you do not listen is that you are not from God. ( John 8:33-47 NJB)
Over the last few years we've heard a lot about what has come to be known as "Swift Boating". This refers to the practice of taking a set of facts about a particular situation and spinning them in such a manner as to make the person involved look as badly as possible. If you are good at it, it's an almost elegant means of turning the tables on an opponent; making him or her appear to be exactly the opposite of what the unspun facts truly reveal. If you're clumsy at it, you come across sounding like an Ann Coulter, whose "political commentary" is simply, in the words of the old Looney Tunes character, Sylvester the Cat, "Despicable".
In the Book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon tells us that there is nothing new under the sun, and so it is with "Swift Boating". It's been around for ages. It's very possible that in today's Gospel we have an example of it. Jesus opponents don't come right out and attack Him, but they poignantly state that THEY are not illegimate. There are no questions about their parentage. Jesus doesn't fall for it though. He doesn't shrink from speaking or dig a hole to crawl into. Boldly He replies, "You're right there is no question. Your father is Satan, and here's the proof of it." The lesson here is that when opposition arises, and it will if we are following Jesus, don't waste time dealing with peripheral issues. Don't get distracted. Go straight at the heart of the matter. Proclaim the truth, as Christ did, and let the rest take care of itself.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment