The Friday after the First Sunday after the Epiphany of our Lord
Posted on January 16, 2026 by under
Scripture: St. John 10:31-38 (NKJV)
10:31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. 32 Jesus answered them, “Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?”
33 The Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.”
34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods”’? 35 If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), 36 do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 37 If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; 38 but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.”
Devotion
In today’s reading, Jesus argues with the Jews concerning His identity. He reminds them He is consistently doing the works of the Father, which they cannot deny. Since the works yield proof of His Sonship, they should believe in Him. But they cannot accept that connection. Jesus claiming to be the Son of God is too much.
Jesus then refers to a verse in Psalm 82: “I said, ‘You are gods, and all of you are children of the Most High’” (v 6). Jesus’ title, therefore, should not be foreign to them. Even the children of Israel were given a lofty label. Jesus, because of the works He performs, is not merely a chief among men, or even the highest of men, but a man in perfection. Jesus not only does the will of the Father by performing miracles (a fact they cannot and do not deny), but He lives a life free from sin. These are the evidence of His Sonship with the Father. Jesus tells them you cannot separate the Person from His work: “If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.”
Collect: O Lord, we beseech Thee mercifully to receive the prayers of Thy people who call upon Thee; and grant that they may both perceive and know what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to fulfill the same; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
