Whose Children Are We?

John 8:45-59 In today's reading, the Jews are accusing Jesus of being demon-posessed. They can't accept his claims that he came from the Father to them. Instead of hearing the truth he spoke and obeying him, they call him a liar and find fault in anything he utters. They claim they know God, that they are His children, yet cannot see Jesus for who he was - God's only son, the true Israel who had come to fulfill the covenant God established with his people at Mt Sinai. They were deaf to hear their Father speak through Jesus, his son. As a mother, I know the frustration of having children who do not listen to my words. I know my daughters know my voice, yet choose not to listen to it at times. As a daughter, I know many times I did the same thing to my parents growing up. And as a child of God, I know I do not always listen for God's voice, or follow His Word. Satan is the father of lies. So Jesus calls the Jews children of the devil (v44), because they will not listen to the truth, but choose to believe lies about Jesus. What an accusation! It causes me to ponder how good of a listener I am. Do I search for God's truth? Do I embrace it? Or do I listen to the world's lies, or the ways it will twist the truth of God's word? Praise be to God that through baptism I have become a child of the true God. Everyone who has been baptized into his name is given the gift of faith, and we use that gift to hear and respond to His truth - THE only truth! In the days leading up to our Easter celebration, as we continue to reflect on Jesus life, suffering, and death in our place, I pray we would listen closely to hear the voice of our Father in heaven - and BELIEVE His truth. And what is that truth? That the great I AM - the one true God, came to earth in the human form of Jesus, lived a perfect life so he could die OUR death, and in turn, through His resurrection, give us His life! Thank you, my Jesus.