31 Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, 32 but Jesus said to them, "I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?"
Neither moved by miracles nor message, these unbelieving Jews were determined to murder the Messiah. Treating the Lord Jesus as a mere malefactor, they set out to repay His good deeds with evil. Our Lord had previously baffled a similar attempt on His life by these Jewish hearers earlier in John:
58 "I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!" 59 At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds. John 8:58-59 (NIV)
It appears that human nature often seeks to rid itself of that which convicts us or of that which we staunchly refuse to believe or embrace. Get rid of the problem so that we can get on with the life is the permeating mantra of the flesh. These Jews had no real grievance with our Lord. He had done them no injustice. He had done them no injury. He had neither stolen nor killed nor gone against the law of the land rather He had healed the sick, He had set the captives free and He had opened the eyes that were blind. He was perfect and spotless yet they remained thirsting for His blood – ready to rid themselves of His presence. Jesus speaks of this a little later in John:
22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin. 23 He who hates me hates my Father as well. 24 If I had not done among them what no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen these miracles, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25 But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: 'They hated me without reason.' John 15:22-25 (NIV)
When we willfully reject Truth (aka Jesus), stopping up our ears and stomping our feet in blatant refusal, we have no excuse. Jesus’ miracles were so distinctive that their meaning was unmistakably clear. Our Lord’s works demonstrated without question God was indeed with Him and working through Him. In fact, Jesus Words declared this very point earlier in John:
36 "I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the very work that the Father has given me to finish, and which I am doing, testifies that the Father has sent me. 37 And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, 38 nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. John 5:36-38 (NIV)
It appears that it was not the faults of Jesus causing the uproar, rather His graces which called forth such animosity from men. His Light exposed their darkness – their sins and false doctrines – and for that they sought His blood. We find the following Truth in Job:
22 He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings deep shadows into the light. Job 12:22 (NIV)
Indeed, God is the revealer of the hearts and thoughts of men. He is intimately acquainted with all of our ways. King David rightly proclaims in Psalm 139:
1 O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. 2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. 3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. 4 Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD. Psalms 139:1-4 (NIV)
11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," 12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. Psalms 139:11-12 (NIV)
Interestingly, perhaps in an effort for them to see the light, Jesus poses the question to His Jewish enemies which should have red flagged them to the Truth - "I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?" For which of the good things I have done in your presence are you trying to kill me? Seriously, how much more blatant could He have been? Certainly if you were sitting there with a stone in your hand it would cause you to wonder why. Children of the world remain vexed and conscience pricked when confronted with others better than themselves. They hated Jesus because He testified that their works were evil. It is apparent that flesh will go to the extreme to rid itself of conviction if unwilling to change. Jesus poses the same question to us as well. Are we ready to rid Him from our presence because of our unwillingness to change - because of our unwillingness to embrace Truth? Do we pay Him back evil for good? Do we cling to worthless idols forfeiting the grace that could me ours?
“Men who are not secure in Christ cast about for spiritual life preservers with which to support their confidence, and in their frantic search they not only cling to the shreds of ability and righteousness they find in themselves, but they fix upon their race, their membership in a part, their familiar social and ecclesiastical patterns and the culture as a means of self-recommendation. The culture is put on as though it were armor against self-doubt, but it becomes a mental straitjacket which cleaves to the flesh and can never be removed except through comprehensive faith in the saving work of Christ.” Richard Lovelace, Dynamics of Spiritual Life