For which of these do you stone me?” The Jews answered, “We are not stoning you for
doing a good work, but for insulting God; you are only a man, and you make yourself God.
” Then Jesus replied, “Is this not written in your law: I said, you are gods? So those who
received this word of God were called gods, and the Scripture is always true. What then
should be said of the one anointed, and sent into the world, by the Father? Am I insulting
God when I say, ‘I am the Son of God’? If I am not doing the works of my Father, do not
believe me. But if I do them, even if you have no faith in me, believe because of the works
I do; and know that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.” Again they tried to arrest him,
but Jesus escaped from their hands. He went away again to the other side of the Jordan,
to the place where John had baptized, and there he stayed. Many people came to Jesus,
and said, “John worked no miracles, but he spoke about you, and everything he said was
true.” And many in that place became believers.

Reflect

There’s an old saying that no good deed goes unpunished. Sometimes it seems that the
kinder and more giving we are, the harsher that people can be to us. They may accuse us
of not doing enough or of doing the wrong thing, of acting from wrong motivations or of
being hypocrites. Such criticism can make it very difficult to stay the course and do
what is right.

We can be comforted in knowing that we are not alone. The great prophet Jeremiah faced
much opposition to his preaching. Once his opponents even threw him into a dried-up well,
hoping that he would starve. (He was rescued by a just man.) Jesus too faced hostility from
some of the people of his time despite all of the good things he had done for them, feeding
them and healing those who were sick.

How can we expect better treatment than Jesus and Jeremiah? Like them, we know that the
Father is with us throughout our struggles. Those who want to hurt us will not prevail for God
is with us.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2023