John 5:17-18
But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.  Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

What was it about Jesus that made it so hard for the Jews to believe?  Was He so ordinary that they couldn’t align this man who stood before them with the holy God they were supposed to be serving?  He had demonstrated his power in many ways.  He had taught with authority an undeniable truth from God with unconquerable wisdom.  And He personified the love, compassion, kindness, grace, and mercy that were all hallmarks of the God they thought they knew.  But He looked like them.  He got tired and thirsty and hungry.  And perhaps their idea of who the Messiah would be didn’t involve a carpenter’s son and a humble preacher.

So the Pharisees looked at Jesus, the Son of God, and saw a man trying to make Himself God.  And Jesus, who was God, looked at these men, who were mere men, and saw men trying to make themselves gods, seeking that highest place for themselves.  They may have pretended that what they were doing was out of regard for the law, but really it seems to have been out of pride and a selfish pursuit for position, power, and admiration especially for themselves.

And with that kind of attitude, they placed Jesus Christ below themselves.  And that prideful attitude left them with little regard for Jesus’ teachings, His miracles, His position, and His life.  Many others who sought Jesus fell down and worshipped Him.  And that humble attitude changed their view of Jesus.  They saw their own unworthiness and His infinite greatness.  They clamored for His teaching, for His presence, for His touch upon them.  Their understanding of who He was, their acceptance of Him as the Son of God, would cause them to give much for His sake.

Our attitudes toward the things of God are important.  How we view Jesus matters and affects many things in our own lives.  So may we be willing to accept Him for who He truly is—the Son of God, our Savior and Lord.  And may that understanding trickle down to our hearts and change our attitudes, defeat the pride and selfishness within us, and cause us to worship and honor Jesus from a humble heart.  May we give Him the high place He is due and nothing less than that.  May we simply be willing to believe all those wonderful things that are true about Jesus.