John 10.37-38 ESV “If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.‚Äù
Jesus can see that it is too much of a stumbling block for these guys to see who He is, so He almost appeals to their supposed faith in God. They are saying He has a demon and Jesus is saying, “If you aren’t going to believe me, at least believe that the things that are happening (blind see, lame walk, lepers healed, good news preached to the poor) are from God. If you won’t believe that I’m from God, at least believe that My works are!
In some amazing way, Jesus all at once is lowering the criteria and making it easier to come to the Father, just by believing in these works. At the same time though, He raises the bar and makes it more difficult to come to Him, because He states that He is equal to the Father. That forces us to change inside. You can’t just do motions and activities on the outside and reconcile those two things.
The people want to shout that Jesus is the King and make Him their ruler, but the acts of mercy and compassion to Gentiles and ROMANS don’t fit with them. The Pharisees really do want to see the Messiah come (as they understand the Messiah) but they don’t want people healed on the Sabbath because that breaks their laws and keeps the Messiah away.
Jesus forces their hand and ours to see double. He IS equal to God, and His works are FROM God, even if they are done on the Sabbath, even if they are done to Romans, even if they are done to unclean women that ‘steal’ the healing.
