QT 12 Sep 12, What is more important, religion as we know it or as Jesus defined it?

John 10:22-33 (NIV) Then came the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was in the temple area walking in Solomon's Colonnade. 24 The Jews gathered around him, saying, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly."

25 Jesus answered, "I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father's name speak for me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. 30 I and the Father are one."

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?"

33 "We are not stoning you for any of these," replied the Jews, "but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God."

NOTE: Yes, Jesus was a man, and yes, Jesus claimed to be God. The miracles authenticated his claim. The proof was his sinless life. The leaders objected based on a misinterpretation of the Sabbath, claiming that no work could be done on the Sabbath. Jesus argued very effectively that in the case of an animal falling into a pit or a circumcision that falls on the Sabbath, they will make exceptions, but for healing they would not, and therefore they contradicted themselves. They prefer animals or rituals over the healing of living soul. Additionally, Jesus has already made it very clear who he is, and this is not the first time they pick up stones because of  the supposed blasphemy -- but for some reason they never throw the stone. Their testimony indicates that they understood very clearly his claim.

Today, we have the verbal record of his miracles, claims, and statements. For the most part, people will accept the statements, some of the claims, but not the miracles. Humanity picks and chooses because it is too difficult to face the facts, that one man could actually make the claims that he did and perform the miracles that he did. Jesus really did do all those things, the historical record cannot be ignored. What are we going to do about it? I suppose it is not that hard to still ignore or to not believe, since even the people of his day chose to reject him. In their case, they put their view of the law over Jesus' claim. They would rather be legalistic and ritual-based, than to seek the life that Jesus was preaching. It seems foolish, but sometimes years of behavior are hard to break old habits. Lord, I want what you have to offer, not what religion offers. I want to be different, not like the crowd's definition of Christianity and religion, but your definition. Open my eyes to see the difference.