Always On His Mind

John 10:22-30

“It was winter, and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade. The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying, ‘How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.’ Jesus answered, ‘I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.  My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.  I and the Father are one.”
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As we approach the end of Lent, Holy Week and the celebration of Easter, there is this quickening…an urgency…to the Gospel reading every day.  In this part of John’s Gospel, we see Jesus laying it out there for those with Him in the temple.  The situation seems to have reached a culmination, a crescendo from which there is no return.  He is claiming something no one in history has ever claimed.   He is Messiah come.

I love the parts of scripture when we see Jesus doing something very “normal”.  These verses do not start with a healing miracle, feeding thousands with little or a transfiguration.  He is merely walking in the temple.

When I am out for a walk (usually a run), my mind tends to focus on something which is a struggle, a problem or merely needs some thought.  I wonder what Jesus was thinking about while walking among the giant columns of the temple.  He could have been contemplating anything because He is everything.

He knew what was coming in just a few short days; his betrayal, arrest, torture and death. He knew what was happening, everything that had ever happened and everything that would ever be.  So what could He be thinking about?

He was thinking about you.

Dear Lord, 

You are an awesome God who can be present in the expanse of the entire universe, all of humanity and every whirling particle, all at the same time.   

And yet, You have an intimate and individual relationship with me every moment of my waking and sleeping. 

Who am I that you are mindful of me?  I am so thankful that You are. 

Your grace, mercy and love abound in my life every day.  I am full of gratitude, blessed and humbled. 

In Christ’s name, 

Amen.