By J. Wilbur Chapman
"Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him" (John 10:31).
The shining of the sun produces two effects in the world, one exactly the opposite of the other. In one place it enlivens, beautifies and strengthens; in the other it deadens, mars and decays. So is it with the Gospel of Christ. It is unto some a "savor of life unto life"; unto others it is "a savor of death unto death." So it was with the coming of Christ into the world. He brought to light the truest affection and the deepest hatred. Men loved darkness rather than light, so Christ's coming into the world could only disturb them.
If you go into the woods on a summer's day, and if it be possible, turn over one of the logs which may be near to you, you will find underneath hundreds of little insects; the moment the light strikes them they run in every direction. Darkness is their life; they hate the light. But if you could journey a little further and lift a stone, which for a little time has been covering the grass or the little flowers, the moment you would lift the obstruction these things would begin to grow. The light is their life; they die in the darkness.
Christ's coming into the world provoked the bitterest prejudice and called forth the deepest devotion. Simeon, a devout man, was in the temple when the young child Jesus was brought in, and he took him up in his hands and blessed God, and said, "Lord, lettest now thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word, for now my eyes have seen thy salvation." It was just the opposite with Herod. When the king heard concerning Jesus he sent the wise men that he might find out through them where He was, and when they did not return, he was exceeding wroth, and sent forth and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem and in all the coast thereof two years and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. These are the two extremes.
John's gospel is the gospel of love, but in it we find the same great differences. Where can you find such sweetness as is contained in these words -- "For God. so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life"? Where is there such tenderness as in this expression -- "Jesus wept"? Only two words, and yet on them the sorrowing world rests, taking comfort and consolation! But where can you find such hatred as expressed in John 8:59, "Then took they up stones to cast at Him"? and again in the text, "Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him"? When you remember whom they were stoning, the Son of Man and the Son of God, the One who was going about doing good, the sin is something awful to think about. This text and the verse that follows is a beautiful illustration of hate and love, brutality and tenderness. He had just said, "I and my Father are one," words which should have made the hearts of the people leap for joy; that He was one with Jehovah, who had led their forefathers from Egypt to Canaan; who had spoken the worlds into existence; had held the winds in His fists; in whose hands the seas washed to and fro. You would have thought at these expressions of the Master every knee would have been bowed in loving devotion; but not so. The Jews took up the stones again with which to stone Him, and he gave them one of the tenderest answers His heart could dictate -- "Many good works have I shown you from my Father, for which of these do you stone me?"
The text is an illustration of the fact that those who were models in fairness of their treatment of men are most unfair in their treatment of Jesus Christ. If you are familiar with the mode of stoning offenders in the early days, you will be able to see how true this was of the Jews. The crier marched before the man who was to die, proclaiming the man's sins and the name of the witnesses appearing against him. This was for the humane purpose of enabling anyone who was acquainted with the circumstances in the case to go forward and speak for him, and the prisoner was held until the new evidence was given. But the Jews were not so considerate of Jesus; when He said, "I and my Father are one," immediately they began to stone Him.
All that is asked for our religion, for Christ and for the Bible is just a fair consideration of their claims. The Bible, we claim, is the word of God, not because it is old only, but because it is both old and true. It seems as if it were written for us as individuals; it is my present answer to my present need. We simply present the Book in evidence. Suppose you try to find its equal; suppose you try to produce its simplest parable; failure would be the result. Our religion is the same; we only ask for it a fair consideration. For Christ it is just the same. In England not long ago a woman was lecturing against our religion, and after she had closed, one of the mill-hands said, "I would like to ask the lecturer this one question: Thirty years ago I was the curse of this town and everybody in it. I tried to do better and failed. The teetotaler got hold of me, and I signed the pledge and broke it. The police took me and sent me to prison, and the wardens tried to make me better, and I began to drink as soon as I left my cell. When all had failed, I took Christ as my Saviour, and He made a new man of me. I am a member of the church, a class-leader and superintendent of the Sunday School. If Christ is a myth and religion is untrue, how could I be so helped by them?"
Men are still stoning Jesus Christ. Perhaps you shrink from the conduct of the Jews and cry, "For shame!" but there is a worse way to stone Him than that. Men can hurt you far more than by striking you in the face or beating you with stripes. Do you imagine that Christ's worst suffering was when they cast stones at Him, or scourged Him, or put nails through His hands? I am sure not; but it was rather when He came unto His own, and His own received Him not; when they called Him "this fellow"; when He was in Gethsemane in an agony; when He was on the cross and He felt so forsaken that His heart broke.
If He were here today in the flesh as He is in the Spirit, I am sure there are ways we could hurt Him more than by taking up stones from the very streets and casting them in His blessed face until His eyes were blinded by the blood drops falling down.
Inconsistency
I. Have you ever noticed the sadness which throbbed in the words of our Saviour at the Last Supper, "One of you shall betray me"? or when He was walking with them toward the garden, "All of you shall be offended this night because of me"? or when He was in the garden and we hear Him saying: "What, could you not watch with me one hour?" The stone that hurts Christ most is not the one that is cast by the unbelieving world; He expects that; it is the one that is cast by His own people, and there is only one stone that they can cast at Him, and that is the one of inconsistency to talk one way and live another, confessing with the lips and denying in the walk. You never took a step in the wrong direction but it was a stone cast at Christ. I have heard of a young lady who was engaged in the greatest amount of pleasure and frivolity, nearly forgetful of her loyalty to Christ. One day being asked by her companions to go to a certain place, she refused on the ground that it was Communion Sunday in the church, in amazement her friends asked her, "Are you a communicant?" If the world does not know it, if our friends do not know it; we are taking up stones with which to stone Him. Hatred
II. On the part of those who are not His followers, with some it is absolute hatred; certainly it was so with the Jews. You read in the text that they took up stones again. The first time we read of their stoning Christ is in the eighth chapter of John, and it is supposed that they were near a place where stones abounded, and it was very easy to pick them up. The second time they were near Solomon's porch; and it is a question if there were any stones there to be found. So it is thought that they carried them all the way, perhaps only dropping them as they listened to His speech, by which they were so enraged that they stooped and picked them up and hurled them at Him. Are you casting these stones at Christ? Remember that He said, "He that is not with me is against me." Indifference
III. With many it is the stone of indifference. It was one of the first cast at Him in the world. It began at the manger, going to the cross, and it is still being thrown. With curling lips and insolent contempt men said, "Is this not the carpenter's son?" When He was on the cross, they said in derision, "He saved others; now let Him save Himself." It is now the ninth hour and darkness is settled about the place. Listen! His lips are moving: "Eloi! Eloi!" Surely this will move them; but some one says, "He is calling for Elias; let us see if he will come to Him." This is all like the gathering of a storm to me: first the cloud was the size of a man's hand, that is, at Bethlehem; it is larger at Egypt; heavier at Nazareth; darker in Jerusalem; then He comes up to the Mount of Olives, and the cloud seems to break as He cries out, "Oh! Jerusalem, Jerusalem!" Have you been indifferent to Christ? Anything is better than that; better outspoken opposition to Him. than to be theoretically a believer and to be practically denying Him. How can you be indifferent to Him?
A man working on one of the railroads in the State of Indiana discovered, one morning, that the bridge had fallen, and he remembered that the train was due. He started down the track to meet her, saw her coming, and, raising his hands, pointed to the bridge; but on she came, having no time to lose. He threw himself across the track, and the engineer, thinking him a madman, stopped the train. The man arose and told his story, and saved the lives of hundreds. Christ did this for you; He purchased your redemption by the giving of Himself whether you have accepted this salvation or not. Will you stone Him for that?
Unbelief
IV. When He said: "I and my Father are one, they cast another stone at Him. That was unbelief. Indifference was hard to bear; hatred cut like a knife; but unbelief was the crowning sin of the Jews. Many are hurling it at Him today. He has promised to save us if we only believe, and we need only to trust Him to be saved. A little girl in Glasgow who had just found peace was heard counseling one of her playmates in this way: "I say, lassie, do as I did, grip a promise and hold on to it, and you will be saved," and there is salvation in the child's words. Now read the verse that immediately follows the text: "Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?" It is supposed that some of the Jews had actually struck Him with a stone, and this drew forth from Him words tender enough, pathetic enough to turn aside the hatred of one who had a heart of stone.
Do Not Stone Him
1. Because of what He was, they called Him the bright and morning star; the fairest of all the children of men; the chiefest among ten thousand. Oh, that we might have our eyes open to behold Him!
2. Fifty years ago there was a war in India with England. On one occasion several English officers were taken prisoners; among them was one man named Baird. One of the Indian officers brought fetters to put on them all. Baird had been sorely wounded, and was suffering from his weakness. A gray-haired officer said, "You will not put chains on that man, surely?"
The answer was, "I have just as many fetters as prisoners, and they must all be worn." Then said the old hero, "Put two pairs on me." Baird lived to gain his freedom; but the other man went down to his death doubly chained. But what if he had worn the fetters of all in the prison, and what if voluntarily he had left a palace to wear chains, to suffer the stripes and endure the agony? That would be a poor illustration of all that Christ has done for you and for me. Will you stone Him for that?
3. Because of what He is today. In 1517 there was a great riot in London, in which houses were sacked and a general insurrection reigned; guns in the tower were thundering against the insurgents, and armed bands were assailing them on every side. Three hundred were arrested, tried and hanged; five hundred were cast into prison, and were to be tried before the king, Henry VIII. As he sat in state on the throne, the door opened, and in they came, every man with a rope about his neck. Before sentence could be passed on them, three queens entered, Catherine of Aragon, wife of the king; Margaret of Scotland, sister of the king; and Mary of France. They approached the throne, knelt at the feet of his majesty and there remained pleading until the king forgave the five hundred trembling men.
But there is a better intercession than that going on for you and for me at this moment. Will you stone Him for that? Looking out from the windows of Heaven, the Son of God beheld people heavily burdened, bearing the weight of their sins, groping about in their blindness, crying, "Peace! peace!" and there was no peace. And He said, "I will go down and become bone of their bone and flesh of their flesh; I will open their eyes and bear their burdens, forgive their sins and give them peace." Between man and the Father's house was a great gulf, wider than the distance from east to west, deeper than the distance from north to south; but Christ's coming bridged the gulf over. Across the chasm He cast His cross, and on the other side I see Him standing, His arms outspread, His attitude one of pleading. Listen! you will hear Him saying, "Come unto me, come unto me, whosoever will, let him come." Will you stone Him for that?
