As the men knelt down, picked up the stones strewn across the colonnade from the Temple rebuilding process, and eyed each other to see who would throw first, Jesus asked a theological question. Before they killed him, he wanted to know which life-giving miracle was to blame. They specify the charge meriting the death penalty: blasphemy. His brazen claim to be one with the Father is all the evidence needed; what's the point of a formal, legal process? But Jesus complicates their charge. Since the Scriptures speak of 'gods', why is it forbidden for Jesus to call himself the Son of God? It's an argument that gives them pause, but Jesus isn't playing defense. At the festival that remembered the sacred rededication of the Temple to the worship of God, Jesus claimed that the Father has dedicated him to be the presence of God in the world. In other words, their Temple is no longer set apart for the worship of God. God no longer dwells there. Instead, Jesus says that he is in the Father and the Father is in him. I know what it's like to worship in a building after God's presence has left. RZIM's global headquarters featured a beautiful chapel. At times, we gathered there to pray for God to protect the ministry against what we believed were false, slanderous accusations. Our prayers felt real, but now I wonder if they bounced off the sloped wooden ceilings. The crowd in the colonnade heard Jesus explain their crisis, but they couldn't accept it. To worship Jesus would cost them everything. They'd have to abandon their Temple, surrender their authority, and humbly follow a man already marked for death. Their hands are empty, and the Light of the World is gone. But Jesus knows he's consecrated for the Father's mission. Soon, he'll be back to die for their sins. In the meantime, he went to find his people across the Jordan. In a rural area, to a prophet who did no miracles, many believe.