Knowledge

If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.’” (John 10:42).

Mary Magdalene (Artemisia Gentileschi)

Knowledge is an interesting thing. 

The other day I was having a conversation with one of my children, and he was disagreeing with me, quite vehemently.  He believed that based on my conversation that I was completely and utterly wrong about something.  And what is more, he did not want to concede his victory to little old me – especially when in his personal opinion, I was completely and utterly wrong anyway.  And I remember listening to his conversation and thinking about his perspective.  And at one point I stopped and asked him to consider the argument from a completely different perspective.  Instead of considering me the winner if he conceded and did as requested, he could think of me as losing – which is in fact the actual reality anyway.  Once my child was able to consider the circumstances in this new light, he was also able to concede the point as he no longer felt that there was an affront to his pride.

And I have been thinking about how much our pride gets in the way of good old fashioned commonsense… 

It certainly did in the Gospels…  After all, there was Christ doing everything perfectly right and being perfect GOODNESS, and there were the Jews, just like my child (and just like me) convinced that if they conceded the point that they would lose…

“The Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them, ‘I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of these do you stone me?’ The Jews answered him, ‘It is not for a good work that we stone you but for blasphemy; because you, being a man, make yourself God.’ Jesus answered them... ‘do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God? If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.’” (John 10:31-42).

It did not matter the good that Christ did for them.  It did not matter that everything that He did had the appearance and reality of GOODNESS, what mattered to them was that they knew more than Him.  What mattered to them was that He would not win against them.  What mattered to them was that they would be able to continue along their path in the sure knowledge that nothing at all needed to change.

They were so sure that their knowledge was superior that they would actively work against anyone who might come to know more than them.  For them the victory was winning, not knowledge at all.  And I have been thinking about that today.  For it seems to me that sometimes I really do get fixated on winning, and all that really does, is cause me to lose…

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.