Chapel message on Exodus 32

Today in chapel Dr. Moore preached a message on idolatry from Exodus 32, where the people of Israel grumble and Aaron makes a golden calf for them right after they were led out of Egypt and while they are at the foot of Mt. Sinai, where God is giving the law to Moses.

 

His observations were helpful. First, idolatry is seen in a pull toward a Christ-less god. The Israelites were ungrateful to God for delivering them from Egypt. They credited Moses with having led them out of Egypt, and they grew uncomfortable when Moses was “missing” for a long time. Because they wanted to feel like they had a leader, they asked Aaron to give them a god to go before them. But the true and living God, who had delivered them from Egypt, was talking to Moses on Mt. Sinai. They exchanged the God who had delivered them for a god that could not deliver them but that made them feel comfortable because they could control it (the idol). They even gave this idol God’s name, the LORD. Ingratitude, fear, and self-deception led them to do this.

 

Second, idolatry is a pull toward a Christ-less intercession. Rather than depending on God as he should have, Aaron sought to establish peace by caving in to the people’s desires and doing what they wanted. Had he interceded correctly, he would have had a tough time with a great many grumbling people, but he would have kept them more on track with the true God. Moses followed the right pattern, pleading for the people and asking to be blotted out of God’s book if God destroyed the people. But God did not accept his request. Ultimately, Christ is the only one who can intercede for us and actually cover over our sins, because He is the only one who has been without sin and whose death pays the penalty for sinful humanity. All other forms of intercession, forms that do not depend on Christ, are idolatrous, whether they are based on idols, better marriages, better finances, or just self-improvement. Nothing will heal the sin in our lives completely except Christ’s intercession on our behalf. Christ is everything!

 

Third, idolatry is a pull toward a Christ-less judgment. The Israelites were judged in the same way as the Egyptians. Their brothers and sons died. God sent a plague among the people. When God’s people choose not to trust in their God, they place themselves in the camp of the Egyptians and will face the same judgments, without a God to mediate on their behalf.

 

If anyone is interested in listening to this message, it will soon be available at http://www.sbts.edu.

 

Balancing Act

I am really looking forward to this semester. Christy and I are trying a new balancing act where I go to school every afternoon and spend several hours in the library, studying and researching, while she watches the kids (I watch them in the mornings). As long as it works and doesn’t keep her from earning enough money to keep us alive, this could be a really great arrangement for my studies and should remove a lot of stress just by giving me a block of time I know I’ll be able to use for studies. Pretty awesome! Especially since I have felt at times as though it is kind of pointless for me to do seminary without more time, since I end up learning so much less.

 

It should be noted that Christy is the most amazing wife and friend in the whole wide world to do this! I mean, she really isn’t comfortable with bearing the responsibility for our finances during this time of our lives. So giving up a lot of the time she had for business to help me out this way really means a lot. I hope that we both find it to be a rewarding experience for our whole family. If doing this forces us into financial difficulties, of course, we’ll have to change back. But if not… Well, then Christy will have just saved me a lot of stress. A lot!

 

Dancing with Emma

I get to dance with Emma almost every day. It’s wonderful, because I’m a terrible dancer. But Emma doesn’t know that (yet). So I get to enjoy myself, without worrying about anyone judging my pitiful movements.

 

We also sing. She thinks that Prince Charming sings the choir’s part in the Cinderella CD that we play, so she always wants me to sing the choir’s part.

 

Today (she doesn’t know this yet) we’re going to drive up to Indiana to have lunch with Grandma Harner, who is on tour in some of the C&MA churches nearby. We won’t get much time, but it should be a lot of fun.

John 10:31-39

Jesus had just claimed that He and the Father were one. Some today might try to say that Jesus merely meant He was fully devoted to the Father’s work and teachings. But that’s not how the Jews heard it, and they were there.

 

The Jews prepared to stone Jesus. When He asked them what He had done, they responded that what He had done was great; the problem was what He had said. “You, being a man, make yourself out to be God.”

 

Now Jesus could have smoothed this whole problem over very quickly. He could have apologized immediately, saying, “Oh, no. No. No! You did not understand what I was saying! I just meant such and such. Of course, I’m only a man! This is just a big misunderstanding.”

 

But that’s not what Jesus did. Instead, He defended His claim as the Jews understood it; Jesus defended His claim to be God! First, He went to Scripture and pointed out that people who had received the Word of God were called gods at one point. His argument from there said, essentially, “If normal men are called gods, shouldn’t it be clear that I can be called God, and the Son of God, since the Father Himself set me apart and sent me into the world?”

 

From there Jesus’ argument went to His actions, His good deeds. He claimed to be doing the works of His Father, so His question to the Jews was, “What do you think? Are these my Father’s works or not?” If the Jews agreed that Jesus’ works were good works, and if the Scripture makes it plain that mere men may be called gods, and if Jesus is greater than mere men because He was personally set apart by the Father and sent into the world, THEN… Jesus’ claim is not blasphemy! Even though the Jews had correctly understood Jesus’ claim to be God, Jesus proved by His argument that they had every reason to believe Him. Between the Scriptures, Jesus’ claim to have come from the Father, and the good works Jesus was doing, Jesus thought that He had every right to claim to be the Son of God – to be God Himself!

 

The Jews weren’t convinced and continued their efforts to seize Him (I’ve always wondered why it was that they couldn’t). But this is the question for us today: Is Jesus the Son of God? Is He God? He claimed to be, even defending His claim in the face of a lynch mob.

 

If Jesus was not God, then the rest of the gospel message is pointless. If Jesus was not God, then Jesus was a sinner. If Jesus was a sinner, then He could not be a perfect sacrifice. If Jesus could not be a perfect sacrifice, then His death on the cross could not free anyone from sins. If Jesus’ death could not free anyone from sins, then Jesus Himself was not freed from His sins by His death and we Christians are still viewed by God as sinners who will one day justly be cast into hell for our rebellions and willingness to accept whatever evils tempt us, along with our sinful and merely human hope, Jesus Christ.

 

But the point is that we do have hope, because Jesus is God. He was without sin, and He was able to offer Himself as the perfect sacrifice for our sins, freely offering salvation to all who would trust in Him. And I have trusted in Him, and therefore I have hope along with all who have confessed their sins, repented, and put their faith in Jesus Christ!

 

Father, thank You for hope! Thank You that Jesus made it so clear that He was Your Son, and that as Your Son, He was and remains God forever. Thank You for passing this truth on to us through Your servants the apostles. May we cherish it dearly, and proclaim boldly that Jesus Christ is not just our Master, but the Lord of all Creation!

 

John 10:22-30

The Jews at this time celebrated the Feast of Dedication, or Renewal, because Judas Maccabeus had cleansed and rededicated the temple (164 b.c.) after atrocities committed in it by Antiochus Epiphanes (167 b.c.), and the celebration of this rededication continued each year to Jesus’ time. Jesus was in Jerusalem for the celebration, and the Jews gathered around Him, asking Him directly whether He was the Christ.

 

Jesus’ answer begins by sounding as if He is avoiding the answer. “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness of me.” They could easily have been thinking, “Jesus, if you had actually told us plainly, we would know the answer, wouldn’t we? We know how amazing your works are; that’s why we are asking you just to give us the answer – Are you the Christ?”

 

Of course, many people have described the kind of Christ the Jews were looking for. They were looking for a savior – but they wanted a savior to overthrow the Romans so that they could be an unoppressed Jewish nation once again. Jesus was the Christ, the Savior – but He had a much greater goal in mind. Rather than freedom from Roman oppression, Jesus wanted to set men free from Satan’s kingdom so that they could be free from their sins, free to serve God. Perhaps this is why He doesn’t answer the people merely by saying, “Yes, I am the Christ.” They would have gotten the wrong message.

 

Regardless, Jesus points the people back to His works – works He has done in His Father’s name. And then He tells the people that they do not believe because they are not His sheep. He repeats some of what He taught earlier: His sheep know His voice; He knows them; they follow Him; He gives eternal life to them; they will never perish; and no one will ever snatch Jesus’ sheep out of His hand (though at times of danger the sheep might wonder whether they are being snatched away and give up hope!). This is the relationship between Jesus, the Good Shepherd, and His sheep. So these people are not Jesus’ sheep!

 

But then Jesus continues in such a way that He will both answer the question, “Are you the Christ?” and keep people from believing He’s there to save them from the Romans. He begins to identify Himself more closely with the Father. No one can snatch the sheep from Jesus’ hands. But then Jesus adds, “My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all (the Jews, understanding that He meant God, would agree with this!); and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand (and they would agree with this, too).”

 

But then the bomb – “I and the Father are one.” Period. Psalm 2 is a psalm describing the Christ. And in it, God says to the Christ, “Today I have become your Father, I have begotten You.” Jesus is claiming to be the Messiah by claiming to be that Son. The only-begotten Son of God. He does the Father’s works. He guards the Father’s sheep. He and the Father together protect them. He was claiming to be the Christ – yes, Yes, YES! That’s Jesus’ answer. I am the Christ! But more than that, I am God!

 

Father, thank You for sending Jesus, Your only begotten Son, the Christ. We trust Him, and we trust You, to guard us – Your sheep. We hear and believe that Jesus is the Anointed One, sent to save His people. Thank You for saving us. Thank You for saving me through Jesus Christ.

 

Romans 1:8-13

Since tonight’s Community Group discussion will center on this text, I thought I should look at it more carefully. Pastor Daniel’s introduction included this statement: Paul’s opening words in Romans give us an opportunity to reflect and ask, “Has the gospel changed us so that we think and act like that?” (A quote from Ligon Duncan).

 

First of all, Paul states how thankful he is to God for the Roman church. How often are we thankful – genuinely thankful for our brothers and sisters in Christ? Do we look at them as family? Do we even think of them as friends? Even if we do, how often do we tell people that we are thankful for them? Paul is not only thankful for the Roman church, but he tells them. This is a wonderful example for us. Often we are “too busy” or too lazy to take the effort to tell people that we think they are gifts from God to us. And not only does Paul tell them that he is, in fact, thankful for them; he also tells them why: their faith was being reported all over the world. That is a significant claim, a significant reason to be thankful. First, because they had faith. God had brought them into the same relationship with Himself that Paul had with God, a relationship of faith in Jesus Christ who died to save men from sin. Second, because their relationship of faith was being reported widely. Their faith was resulting in testimonies about God and His relationship with some men in Rome all over the place; how could such a widely-spread report help but encourage men in other regions to trust in the same Jesus Christ and know God? So Paul has some very legitimate reasons to be thankful. What if we don’t think of other believers as such lofty witnesses, though? Should we still thank God for them? Of course! How? Well, just the knowledge that others are believers is a reason to give thanks, because God has redeemed others and brought them into the family of faith, so we can thank God for His goodness and love in their lives as well as for their faith. Also, we know that Christ will complete the work He has begun in even the weakest of us, so even if there is not much to say about the reach of their testimonies, we can give thanks to God for them knowing that their ultimate transformations will prove God to be the all-sufficient God He claims to be!

 

Secondly, Paul notes that his heart is in line with their hearts. Their faith is being reported all over the world, and his whole heart is devoted to preaching the gospel of Jesus so that many will put their faith in Jesus. What is it about faith that makes Paul so excited? Well, it’s not just about optimism. Christians have a reason to be optimistic, but in today’s world a lot of people just “believe” that everything will end up all right. They put their best face forward and choose to hope that life will get better. They have a kind of a faith – in progress, in humanity, in things working toward the best possible outcome, or at least in things not getting worse than they already are. They cling to these beliefs, which produces optimism. But what happens when progress makes life more difficult, when computers crash and car’s won’t start, when electricity goes out and planes can’t fly? What happens when humanity lets you down, attacks you, turns away from your needs, abandons you? What happens when the “best possible outcome” just seems lousy, when things do get worse? What is left to hope in? What is left to believe in? Christians can stand firm in all these circumstances because of Jesus. Jesus does not change. Jesus tells us that we will face troubles in this world, but that He has overcome the world. We will overcome, too. Not through easy paths of optimism, progress, and human goodness – these will all fail! But in spite of the failures around us, and even in spite of our own failures, whether they are sinful failures or just our lack of ability to accomplish all we would like to accomplish – in spite of all these failures, Jesus stands firm and our trust in Him is well-placed. He will restore us and the world around us so that life will one day be glorious! It is imperative that we, the church, demonstrate this kind of faith to the world!

 

Paul continues by talking about how he is looking forward to spiritual community with the Roman believers. He prays for the opportunity to visit them. He longs to see them to impart to them some spiritual gift to make them strong. He longs that he and the Romans might be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. How often, as Christians, do we feel empty and beat-up and yet refuse to seek out other believers for mutual encouragement? How often, when all seems well, do we assume we don’t need this spiritual encouragement? Yet Paul looks forward both to bringing the Roman believers a spiritual gift and to receiving spiritual gifts from them; he longs for the opportunity to give and gain spiritual wealth, spiritual blessings. Encouragement. Reminders of the truth of Jesus’ death and resurrection (sound teaching). Generosity. Service. Evidences that God is at work among the Roman believers and in Paul’s own life. These evidences and mutual blessings are designed to strengthen the church so that each member is encouraged in faith – encouraged to continue putting hope and trust in Jesus Christ, the One who paid for our sins.

 

Lastly, Paul hopes to have a harvest among the Romans just as he has had among the other Gentiles. What would that harvest look like inside the church? Encouragement, stronger faith, stronger understanding of God’s Word, zeal for testifying to unbelievers, pure living, discernment, and more! What would it look like outside the church, among those who do not yet believe in Jesus Christ? The good news would be spread more widely, so that more people heard it, so that more people were challenged to examine it and find out its truth, so that more people would put their own faith in Jesus Christ and turn away from sensuous living and false gods, false faiths, false everything! May we all have such harvest mindsets. May we all seek a harvest of righteousness among those who believe, a harvest of faith among those who have not yet put their faith in the Redeemer Jesus Christ!

 

Father, thank You for encouraging my faith today. May these words encourage others to walk more closely with You. May we realize that there are many things we could be doing to build up Your church, to encourage greater faith in other believers and to draw unbelievers to faith in Jesus Christ. Thank You, also, that the church is built on the worthiness of Jesus Christ rather than on our own efforts, and on the spiritual gifts You send by Your Holy Spirit rather than on our own human talents. May each action we take and each word we speak serve to build up Your church as we thank You for each other and bless each other with spiritual truths.

 

John 10:11-21

Not only is Jesus the Door for the sheep; He is their Shepherd. What does He mean by this? First of all, the good shepherd lays down His life for His sheep. If a wolf or a lion were to come after a flock of sheep, it would be tempting to run away rather than to defend them. Better to save one’s own life than to die trying to save sheep, right? Not according to Jesus! Jesus says that the whole point of being the Shepherd is to save the sheep. Shepherding is not a comfy, cozy job when done right. There are plenty of times of peace. But watching sheep on a sunny afternoon is not the reason for shepherding. Shepherds watch sheep to defend them in times of trouble.

 

In contrast, Jesus looks at the hired hand. The sheep don’t belong to him. He’s there for the money. And he can find money elsewhere as long as he stays alive. So to him, the sheep are less important than his own life. When he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and saves himself. Of course, things don’t look good for the sheep when this happens. The wolf snatches sheep and scatters the flock. Unlike the hired hand, Jesus cares enough for the sheep to stay and defend them, putting His life on the line to save them from danger.

 

Another thing that is true of the Good Shepherd: He knows His sheep and His sheep know Him. They have a relationship. They are familiar with each other. Jesus says that this relationship is just like that between Him and His Father; the Father and Son know each other intimately, and Shepherd and Sheep know each other intimately. The relationship is one of mutual love and deep understanding (note: mutual love does not necessarily imply equal love. Even in this illustration it is plain that the sheep cannot love Jesus in the same way that Jesus loves them). Jesus continues this thought by saying, “and I lay down my life for the sheep.” That’s how much Jesus cares for His sheep!

 

Here Jesus takes a noteworthy diversion, saying, “And I have other sheep which are not of this sheep pen.” This refers, of course, to the Gentiles who would believe in Him. They are not Jews, but they also belong to Jesus; they are also His sheep! I am not certain that any of those listening understood at that point what Jesus was saying, because there is no immediate uproar about the abominable thought of making the Gentiles a part of God’s people. But Jesus will bring them, and just like the Jews who are in Jesus’ flock, He says that the Gentiles in His flock will hear/recognize His voice. The result? One flock, one Shepherd. Jesus makes the two into one and destroys the wall of hostility (Eph 2:14).

 

Back to the relationship between Jesus and the Father. The Father loves Jesus for a specific reason: Jesus lays down His life (for the sheep) in order to take up His life again. It sounds kind of weird, but perhaps this is because none of us can do the same thing. A part of this thought is that no one takes Jesus’ life from Him; He lays it down on His own, and the Father loves Him for this selfless act! Jesus has authority both to lay down His life and to take it up again. Authority implies that someone higher has either given a command or granted permission; Jesus says that He received the command to lay down His life and to take it up again from His Father, God. God commanded Jesus to lay down His life and take it up again. Jesus, obediently and voluntarily, obeys the Father. This obedience must also be a part of the Father’s reason for loving Jesus; the Father loves Jesus because Jesus lays down His life in order to take it up again. In all things, He honors His Father and submits obediently to His command, even in this matter of His own life and death.

 

Jesus’ teachings again resulted in a division. Some Jews believed Him to be demon-possessed and insane! They questioned the sanity of others who listened to such “nonsense”. But those who listened argued that Jesus was not insane or demon-possessed. They did not believe His words were the words of demons. And for further confirmation, they did not believe that demons could open the eyes of a blind man. Judging Jesus’ actions and words together, they felt that they had no choice but to believe Him.

 

For those who hear His voice, Jesus is the Shepherd – the Good Shepherd! He cares about us, and He put His life on the line for us. The Father commanded Him to lay His life down for us, and then to take it up again. Because Jesus obeyed the Father, He has led together His flock – one flock, made up of Jews and Gentiles who are together called Christians, with Jesus Christ Himself as our one Shepherd. He is our rightful Shepherd – not a thief or a hired hand – and He loves us enough to give up His life to save us. Let’s not stray from Him.

 

John 10:7-10

Jesus clarifies what He has been saying about the door. “I am the door of the sheep.” In looking back, this means that all those who tried to get to the sheep without going through Him were thieves and robbers. This should always be our test for Christian leadership: Do those in leadership promote Jesus Christ? Or do they promote their own ministries and methods?

 

But what does Jesus say here about being the door? He says that all who preceded Him were thieves and robbers, similar to what was stated above. How so? Well, if Jesus is the door, and those who seek to control the sheep without going through the door are thieves, it makes sense that those who sought to control the sheep before Jesus and apart from Jesus were thieves; they were trying to direct the sheep without going through Christ!

 

But what about the Old Testament? Is none of it valid? Christ Himself affirms the Old Testament, as we can see elsewhere. Then what is it that makes some people prior to Christ valid ministers, while others are thieves? 1 Peter 1:10-12 gives us a hint – “As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful search and inquiry, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven – things into which angels long to look.” First of all, the prophets of the Old Testament were guided by the Spirit of Christ in them. Though they did not preach Christ clearly, what Christ told them to proclaim was what they taught, and therefore their ministry came “through the door, through Jesus Christ.” Secondly, although the prophets searched eagerly to learn more clearly what they were teaching, they only taught what Christ taught them, rather than adding more, because it was revealed to them that they were serving US. Had they gone beyond the teachings of Christ and tried to control His sheep through their own systems of belief – even systems built upon what they did know and had received from Christ, they would have become thieves and robbers; their ministry would no longer have been through Christ, the door. This is a serious warning for those of us who teach other believers, Christ’s sheep. As we develop our theological systems, we need to be very careful to differentiate between what we know Jesus teaches through His word and what we believe ourselves to understand. If we make anything that is not Christ’s teaching a part of our requirements for His sheep, we run the risk of being judged as thieves of God’s flock!

 

Jesus continues by saying again, “I am the door.” But this time He is emphasizing something new. He is contrasting His ministry with that of the thieves and robbers. What does Jesus’ ministry look like? “If anyone enters through me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy. I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly.”

 

Jesus’ ministry gives life. Through Jesus, people may find both safety and pasture. Jesus is, in this sense, our Protector and Provider. As the door, Jesus is not only the exclusive way to become a part of the flock. Nor is He merely a way to distinguish between false ministers and true. Jesus is the means of our life! We go in through Him and find Protection and security. We go out through Him and find Provision for each day. Abundant life is found in Jesus, because He provides for all of life! Jesus is not merely the Protector who is unable to provide for His sheep. Nor is Jesus merely the Provider who is incapable of Protecting His sheep. Life is found through Him, because He both sustains us and makes us secure!

 

Father, thank You for sending Jesus to give us life! Protect us from those who seek to destroy us, and help us to trust always in Jesus, our door and our life!

Community Group and Witnessing

Last night during community group, we were discussing how the gospel changes our lives now that we’re Christians. One item that we discussed was witnessing. Several of us expressed some degree of fear – either of saying too much and seeming bigoted or of saying too little and not being faithful witnesses of Jesus Christ.

 

How does the gospel help us with this? His strength is made perfect in our weakness. Ultimately, Jesus our Lord will use our feeble attempts. Some people will respond to the gospel and give Him their allegiance. Those who oppose the gospel will be shown for the sinners they are, labeling us as “bigots” or “idiots” to justify their rejection of Christ; they will always find some excuse for not responding.

 

This frees us up! Our feeble, fearful attempts will accomplish Christ’s purpose! Some people will come to Jesus Christ, and others will not – and just as we know that Christ is to be glorified for those who are saved, we know that those who reject Him are rejecting Him, not us, no matter what excuses they use. So let’s take courage! Whether we say little or much, let’s be faithful to say something! Let’s share the Good News with those who need it. And let’s remind each other that the Good News is for us, now, today, just as much as it ever has been. His strength is made perfect in our weakness!

 

Proverbs 19:1

I haven’t had much time to continue through John, so I was reading Proverbs today. Just one verse. Proverbs 19:1 – A man who remains stiff-necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy.

 

What a picture of the unrepentant man! He refuses to turn away from his sin. But it is not as though he has been calmly considering the matter all on his own. No, others have rebuked him. Others have charged him with sin. Yet he continues doing what is wrong. And he has not been rebuked merely once, but many times. Each time he thinks about what he is doing, he chooses to ignore the many rebukes of those who are urging him to be righteous! Each time he is faced with the choice to turn from his sins and do good, he chooses sins! Knowingly.

 

The Bible consistently teaches that his life will end in destruction. Most of us have gone through times where it seemed as though everything was falling apart. Biblically, I think the best example is Job. He lost his flocks and herds, and even his children! But Job is not the example intended for this man, because Job’s losses had a remedy. God ultimately blessed Job again! This man, though, who refuses to turn away from sin – this man’s destruction will be total. Without remedy.

 

Father, protect us all from our own stubborn ways! It is more comfortable for us, less painful, to leave things the way they are. Especially with “little” sins, we want to bank on your grace to such an extent that we don’t want to give them up. But rebellion is rebellion. Father, may we submit to You, our King. May we serve You wholeheartedly, loving You with all our hearts. May we acknowledge that our inconvenience, our discomfort, and even our pain are not acceptable excuses! May we acknowledge that we have tried Your patience for far too long, and that even our best efforts require Your grace, and may we obey You to give You the joy You deserve.

 

John 9:39-41

When the seeing man worships Jesus, Jesus makes a statement: “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see; and that those who see may become blind.”

 

My first question is what judgment has to do with making people see or blind. But I’ll continue in the passage.

 

Interesting thing. It seems as if this whole scene has played out before the Pharisees – at least some of them. The encounter between Jesus and the formerly blind man, including Jesus’ claim to be the Son of Man, the now-seeing-man’s worship of Jesus, and then this last statement Jesus speaks – all of it seems to happen in front of others, even though it starts out looking like an intimate encounter.

 

And the Pharisees who are there, who hear Jesus say that He came unto/for judgment to make the blind see and the seeing people blind, react at this point. “We are not blind, too, are we?” And they expect Jesus to say, “No, of course not. You people can see clearly.” Or at least they are trying to lead Him to such a statement.

 

Jesus understands that they are claiming to have clear vision. But His response is this: “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.” Jesus seems to be saying, “You pitiful wretches! You believe you can see (even though you can’t). You think that because it is good to see, you should claim you can see. But that makes it so that you will be judged as if you could see. So all your sinful stumbling about due to your blindness will be judged as if it were due to your deliberate choices! You refuse to accept a “handicap,” so your scores will reflect your inability, and you will be judged harshly. You’re right. It is good to see. But when you are blind, it is better to accept that you are blind and seek all the help you can get. If you refuse the help offered to you, you have only yourselves to blame for the results.”

 

So now, back to the question at the beginning: What does judgment have to do with making people blind or giving them vision?

 

In the spiritual realm, the connection is very strong. 1. All of this vision/loss of sight comes because Jesus has come into the world. 2. Because Jesus has come into the world, those who did not “see” spiritual truths well may now “see” God in Jesus Christ! Though they did not grasp the intricate and abundant spiritual laws of the religious leaders, such people grasped Jesus. 3. Because Jesus has come into the world, those who did “see” spiritual truths were confounded and shown to be blind by their rejection of Jesus. Jesus did not fit their patterns and spiritual laws because, it turned out, they did not “see” as well as they thought they saw. Through the muddied lenses of their own spiritual reasoning, Jesus looked worthless to them. 4. Those who “saw” Jesus, accepting Him for who He is, received the spiritual handicap they needed because they received Jesus. They will be judged well because the judgment is tied to Jesus rather than to their own understanding. 5. Those who did not “see” Jesus, but rejected Him and claimed to have adequate spiritual sight already, will be judged harshly. They have rejected the One through whom they can be judged well, and their lack of true vision will be hideously displayed at the judgment.

 

When we claim to have great understanding, we put ourselves in a dangerous position (Note: Claiming not to have much understanding is not much better if we reject Jesus; such a rejection implies a claim to know enough not to need Him.). James warns, “Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.” At the same time, we are supposed to grow in our knowledge, understanding, and ability to teach. May we always do so with humility, recognizing that we truly are beggars leading other beggars to the source of all goodness. We need all the help we can get, and that help comes only through Jesus Christ!

 

John 9:35-38

Jesus found the formerly blind man who had been faithfully testifying that Jesus had made him see. He had been thrown out, and Jesus asked him whether he believed in the Son of Man. The man’s response was, “And who is He, sir, that I should believe in Him?”

 

Good translators have often translated this phrase, “that I may believe in Him,” so my take on it could be wrong. But if I am not mistaken, this is an aorist or future subjunctive verb (I know, for most of you this won’t mean much, but if anyone reads this and wants to know why I translated it differently, I want to be clear for them). “May” is a fine translation, but “should” seems like a fine translation, too. Both of them indicate a possibility of belief, but it seems strange that a Jew – even a Jew as “radical” as this man who has dared to oppose the religious authorities – would be so eager to believe in someone as to use the word “may” without knowing for sure that this person was God, or was from God. “Should” indicates a willingness to believe if there is a basis for the belief, and Jesus’ answer to Him seems to provide that basis.

 

So if I understand correctly, “Who is He, sir, that I should believe in Him?” is the question. Who is the Son of Man? Why should I believe in Him? These are the issues.

 

And Jesus answers with two statements. The Son of Man is… 1. “You have seen (perfect tense) Him.” In other words, the person who healed you, the person who opened your eyes – you have seen Him, and you have seen Him at work in your life! 2. “He is the One talking with you.” Jesus says, “I am the Son of Man. I am the one who opened your eyes, whose power you have experienced in your life.” With these two answers Jesus responded to the man’s question, “Who is He, sir, that I should believe in Him?” Jesus says to this man, essentially, you should believe in the Son of Man because He is the One who opened your eyes, the One you believe was sent from God (since God does not work through sinners this way). And you should believe in the Son of Man because He has come back to you and is talking with you right now. You know both who He is and why you should believe in Him. So the question again, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

 

The seeing man’s answer? “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped Jesus.

 

I don’t think that this man was ready to believe in just anyone. I don’t think he would have believed in the Son of Man if Jesus had tried to persuade him that one of the Pharisees was the Son of Man, for instance. This man was stubborn enough to get thrown out by the Pharisees; he didn’t believe in whatever people told him to believe.

 

The reason he believed in Jesus was that Jesus healed his eyes. Jesus convinced this man that He was from God. So when Jesus identified Himself as the Son of Man, this man believed in the Son of Man because He already believed in Jesus. If he had understood when Jesus first asked the question that Jesus was asking whether he believed in his Healer, this man would have said yes right away!

 

We need to be as discerning as this man was. He believed what He had the evidence to believe, and He did not believe anything or anyone else. The Pharisees came to him and tried to convince him that Jesus was a sinner, but he knew that Jesus had healed him, and his logic told him that Jesus must be from God. As a result, he opposed the Pharisees and they threw him out. But the seeing man believed in Jesus, because Jesus spoke with him and confirmed the truth.

 

We also need to realize what matters are worth being so stubborn about. This man was discerning and stubborn about the most important thing – his relationship with God and with the One God sent. Too often we get divisive over smaller matters. We need to ask God whether the issues we choose stubbornly to hold on to are the issues He wants us to hold so dearly, or whether we are destroying His work by what we fight over. Let us keep Jesus at the center of our attention! He is the reason that those who follow Him may unite, and He is the reason that we divide from all who oppose Him. That is a division worth holding to! Like this formerly blind man, may we align ourselves with the Son of Man because we know who He is and what He has done for us! Remember the cross!

 

John 9:24-34

The Jews continue to try to find something wrong with the blind man’s testimony about Jesus. They want him to stop glorifying Jesus, and they tell the blind man that Jesus is a sinner. They command him to glorify God instead, seeking to silence his testimony about Jesus’ work in his life.

 

The seeing man continues persistently, saying, “I do not know whether He is a sinner. I know one thing: Although I was blind, I see!” In other words, the facts remain true. And I’m not going to stop testifying that Jesus made me well just because you people say you know He’s a sinner.

 

So they ask the seeing man about what Jesus did again, trying to find some way to accuse Jesus and prove Him guilty of sin. By now the seeing man can tell that they don’t really care that he can see – all they want is to prove that Jesus is not worthy of honor and glory! He calls the shot as he sees it (paraphrased): “I’m not going to waste my breath telling you again. You really don’t want to become His disciples, do you?” In the Greek, it is perfectly clear that he expects them to say, “Certainly not!”

 

They play hardball, too. “You want to choose sides? Fine, you can be His disciple. We are Moses’ disciples! We know that God has spoken to Moses. Who knows where Jesus is coming from?” We’re with God, and you’re opposing us!

 

The seeing man retorts, “Here’s the amazing thing: Jesus opened my eyes and you still can’t figure out where He’s coming from! We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners; but God listens to anyone who is God-fearing and does His will. From eternity past no one has ever heard of anyone opening the eyes of a man born blind! If this man were not from God, He would be unable to do a thing!” Jesus must come from God! There is no other explanation!

 

They couldn’t attack his argument, so they attacked him! “You were born entirely in sins! How dare you teach us!” And they threw him out!

 

This man who was born blind – this man who could see – was faithful! He knew what had happened. He knew who had healed him. He knew what he believed. And he was not about to let any human authority – even religious authority – tell him that Jesus, his Healer, was anything other than God-sent!

 

We get leery sometimes of making the same arguments this man made. We reason that counterfeit miracles exist, and that we can’t trust miracles to tell us whether a person comes from God or not. And we have biblical reason to think that way (Deuteronomy 13:1-5). Probably the Pharisees were approaching this whole situation with this text, or similar ones, in mind! But this text does not teach us to distrust miracles! Rather, it counsels us to be aware of a teacher’s words and guidance. If a teacher is encouraging us to honor the God of our fathers, and if signs and miracles accompany his work, we ought to praise God! Miracles are intended to be an eye-opener, and a sign of God’s hand at work. The only times we should oppose a worker of miracles are when those miracle workers lead us to worship someone other than God.

 

The Pharisees couldn’t understand how a servant of God could work on the Sabbath; this really seems to be the main thing confusing them, at least in this instance. And because of this one thing, they rejected all the rest of Jesus’ miracles and teachings. Discernment has always been a scary thing. It means that we do not understand at least some of what is happening; otherwise, we really wouldn’t need discernment. The Pharisees were too afraid to venture beyond what they thought they understood, but we now know that their understanding was incorrect. How blessed they would have been if they had accepted Jesus’ teachings as the God-honoring sayings they were, if they had become Jesus’ disciples!

 

Father, this is certainly one of the areas I’m afraid of. I am both afraid of believing someone I should not believe because his teachings are so close to mine that I ignore the differences (and they turn out to be huge), and afraid of condemning the teachings of someone I ought not to condemn because I think I have detected flaws in his teaching – flaws that actually reflect my own misunderstanding! Father, protect me from both of these. And help me to remember that this seeing man was right to reason as he did – Jesus came from You, because Jesus did things that only someone connected to You could do! May this be my initial response when people are asking for discernment in these sorts of things, a response born out of a desire to glorify You for what You do! You are worthy of all glory and honor! All that is good comes from Your hand! You are able to do much more than we could ask or imagine! May I be bold, just like this formerly blind man, to say so!

 

John 9:13-23

It sounds as though the formerly blind man’s neighbors did not know what to think of his testimony. They took him to the Pharisees, probably hoping the Pharisees could figure out what happened.

 

A new detail comes out: Jesus had restored the man’s sight on the Sabbath. This is part of what concerned the Pharisees. They wanted to make sure that the Sabbath had not been violated. So they asked the man again exactly how he had been healed.

 

The seeing man again gave the same testimony: He (Jesus) applied clay/mud to my eyes, I washed, and now I see.”

 

The Pharisees were not sure what to think. Some of them heard the first part about making and applying mud to a man’s eyes. Making mud and applying it to a man’s eyes is a form of work. Work was done on the Sabbath. Therefore the Healer is bad, wicked.

 

Others heard the last part, the formerly blind man’s testimony: “Now I see.” Who restores sight? Satan has been known to afflict people, but health is from the LORD. This man was blind but now sees. This sounds like the work of God! Therefore the man who did this is not a sinner, for He works on behalf of God. The Pharisees disagreed among themselves. Jesus was always bringing disagreement between people.

 

With all this disagreement, they decided to ask the blind man for his impression. In his judgment, Jesus was a prophet. Now, Jesus was a prophet, and His followers knew Him as such (Mt. 13:57; Mark 6:4; Luke 24:19; John 4:44). This statement was intended to give Jesus great honor. A prophet was a man who did as God said and spoke God’s words. A prophet was in close communion with God and received his direction from God. So to call Jesus a prophet was to say that He was a true man of God, for God would not offer such a close relationship to a sinful man or honor a sinful man’s attempts to heal a man born blind if that man was sinning in the process. 

 

The Jews didn’t want to honor Jesus. They didn’t want to believe that He had actually healed the eyes of a blind man. They were looking for some way to demonstrate that this blind man’s healing was a deception. So they called in the blind man’s parents.

 

The man’s parents confirmed that he was their son and that he had indeed been born blind. But they refused to join their son in saying that Jesus had healed him.

 

John tells us why. The Jews had already agreed to exclude from the synagogue anyone who said that Jesus was the Christ, and the man’s parents did not want to appear to support Jesus. Their son was saying some dangerous things about Jesus, things very close to getting him kicked out of the synagogue. He was honoring Jesus in the face of men who had already decided to oppose Him.

 

The seeing man’s testimony was becoming more difficult. The reason he had to keep repeating his testimony was because no one would accept it. They heard his testimony, but they couldn’t believe it, so they would pass it off to another group for judgment. It was becoming like a trial, with the people sitting as judges and lawyers over the man’s testimony, examining it from every angle for evidence that the story was false. The seeing man would probably have been much more encouraged to re-tell his story if he’d had a receptive audience. But this was beginning to be more of an ordeal than a pleasure. No one would accept what he had to say.

 

On the other hand, no one could disprove his story. Every time they thought they might have found a way to prove the seeing man a liar, the Pharisees and the people found further evidence for its truth.

 

But there was certainly opposition. The seeing man’s parents, called in to testify that he was their son and had been born blind, refused to say anything more than the bare facts because they were afraid of being excluded from the synagogue. The Jews had already decided to oppose those who thought that Jesus was the Christ, and the blind man’s testimony wasn’t helping!

 

Too often we make our decisions before we have all the evidence. Of course, the Jews had a lot of evidence by this point that Jesus was the Christ. But they had refused to accept it. And now that further evidence was coming in, they couldn’t stand it! It galled them to see something else come along that might convince more people that Jesus was exactly who He claimed to be. But we do the same thing. We decide that something is unbelievable, and then we discredit it in the face of rising evidence until we are clearly in the wrong. Even then we stubbornly refuse to accept the truth. By that point we have too much at stake. We can’t admit we were wrong (even though that would be the humble, gracious, and honorable thing to do).

 

Father, keep me humble. Or make me humble. Whichever is required. Help me to recognize truth and to honor it as truth. May I not ignore truth, oppose truth, or do anything else that would keep me (and maybe others) from walking in the truth. May I encourage those whose testimonies support the truth, and may I take a stand on their side. Ultimately, may I stand for you!

           

John 9:8-12

When the people who knew the blind man realized that he could now see, they were quite confused. Some asked, “Is this the same man?” Others said that it was definitely the formerly blind man, and others rejected that thought entirely, guessing that this was just someone who looked like him.

 

But the man himself said, “I am.” I am the man who was blind from birth. I am the man you’ve seen begging out here all these years. I am.

 

Just for the sake of intellectual honesty, what does it mean that this man uses the same words, ego eimi, that Jesus used in John 8:58 as God? Is this man claiming to be God? No, the context makes it clear that he is claiming to be the man who was blind from birth and begging in the neighborhood. Well, then, if this man can use the same words as Jesus used and not be saying he’s God, how do we know that Jesus was claiming to be God?

 

It seems to me that only people who don’t want to believe Jesus’ claim to be God would believe this argument has weight. Ultimately, it is not only the words Jesus used that tell us He is God; God is not the only one who can use the words ego eimi, “I am,” as though they are exclusively God’s words. The context in which Jesus used the words tells us that He is claiming to be God, just like the context in which this formerly blind man is using the words tells us that he is claiming to be the man born blind. If the blind man were saying what Jesus said, “Before Abraham was born, I am,” then we would have legitimate reason to think he was also claiming to be God. Why? Because this statement says several things. 1. Jesus claims to have existed since before Abraham’s time, even though His earthly body is around 30 years old; 2. Jesus shifts verb tense. He doesn’t say, “Before Abraham was born, I was,” but, “I am.” Jesus’ abnormal use of the language indicates that He is trying to make a point. 3. The words “I am” have been used in the Hebrew Scriptures to identify God. 4. The context lets us know that Jesus is trying to demonstrate to the Jews that they should love Him and honor/glorify Him because that is what God the Father wants and because that is what Abraham did; in other words, the context teaches us that Jesus is claiming to be someone very special with a unique relationship with God. When Jesus says, “I am,” in a context where He is seeking to identify Himself, claiming that He has existed since before Abraham and changing the verb tense to make some point, it is legitimate in this context to understand that Jesus is claiming to be the same “I am” as God, the one in Exodus 3:14. So Jesus can use the words ego eimi in one context, claiming to be God; at the same time, the man born blind can use the words ego eimi in another context and merely claim to be the man born blind.

 

Back to the man born blind. Since he insists, even though he can now see, that he was born blind, his neighbors and those who recognize him want to know how his eyes were opened. A fair question? Certainly.

 

And the seeing man tells them what he knows: “A man called Jesus made mud/clay and anointed my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. I went and washed, and then I could see.” He identifies the healer. He describes the method. He testifies to the result. This now-seeing man is a faithful witness.

 

The neighbors wanted more. They wanted to know where the healer was. The seeing man did not know the answer, and said so. Again, he was a faithful witness. He said what he knew. He also testified to his own ignorance when necessary.

 

I must also be a faithful witness. Of what? Of what Jesus has done in my life. I think sometimes as Christians we have a hard time recognizing what Jesus has done in our lives, besides the inward work of salvation – especially if we were raised in a Christian home. We find it easier to tell the amazing stories we have heard from others. And so we give weak, second-hand stories of things we don’t really know. I’m not saying that second-hand knowledge is bad. Some of it is excellent. For instance, the main second-hand knowledge we ought to give people is what the Bible says, because then people can read it first-hand for themselves. But some of the second-hand stories we hear from other people are hard to verify, and if people doubt what we say, we have a very hard time being absolutely sure of the details because we didn’t experience the situation ourselves.

 

So what am I saying? As a Christian, I need to ask God to show me more and more clearly what He is doing in my life – and then I need to tell others what He has done! Personally, I have been realizing more and more than it is God who is providing for me and my family every day. We have been stressed about not having enough sometimes… but we have never come to the place where we don’t have enough! Someone might say, “Well, your wife has her own business and works hard to bring money in, and you work weekly at the Old Spaghetti Factory, so of course you have enough. Everyone who works hard has enough, whether they are Christians or not.” But this does not negate my testimomy, because when I go to the Scriptures I find out that God takes care of those who hate Him, so I should expect to see non-Christians being provided for, too! Matthew 5:44-45 says, “But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” My testimony is reinforced by the Scriptures, so that if someone says, “God isn’t providing for you; you are!” I can respond, “I know that God is providing for me. What you don’t realize is that He is providing for you, too. Stop rejecting Him. He’s taking care of you, whether you realize it or not!”

 

What else has God been doing in my life? He has helped me to let go of anger. With my friends. With my kids. With my wife. With my work situation. I could share exactly what I mean in each of these areas. How? By showing me that He is at work in the lives of fellow-Christians, so that the imperfections that frustrate me will one day be done away with. By showing me that this work is in His hands, not mine. By showing me that even the frustrating things in the non-Christian world will one day be dealt with, and that the people and situations I get angry with suffer from the same weaknesses I suffer from – weaknesses Jesus has died to heal or do away with!

 

What else? He has helped me to give up control of my academic career. I should say, He is helping me. I love control in that realm. But Jesus is showing me bit by bit that He has other priorities. Jesus is leading me toward those priorities (my family, kingdom work, etc.). At the same time, Jesus is showing me that I can trust Him with my academics. He gives me enough time to accomplish what needs done. Before I would have neglected other priorities to GUARANTEE that my schoolwork was done well (I still do, more than I should). But Jesus has helped me to keep my focus mainly on His priorities, setting aside my desire for control – and has shown me that He has my schoolwork under control, too.

 

I could go on. But this is the kind of witnessing we need to do, telling people what Jesus has done in our lives, what we have experienced and seen. It must, of course, match the Scripture’s testimony. If we claim that God is doing something that He says He doesn’t do, then we might want to rethink our claims. But Jesus is impacting lives now. In many different ways. People are similar, but our differences should be reflected in our testimonies. A businessman’s testimony will show how God is leading him in his business life, while my testimony is more about God leading a student. A homeless person’s testimony will demonstrate that God is faithful on the streets! As Christians share what God is doing in all our lives – directly, with our neighbors and co-workers – people will be unable to shut us up simply by telling us that we can’t be sure such-and-such really happened. We will know exactly what has happened, and our certainty will remain even when others refuse to accept our testimony. We will have reason to share the same stories with others.

 

May I – may we Christians – be faithful witnesses!

 

John 9:1-7

Back in John 5, Jesus healed a man who had been an invalid for 38 years, later telling the man to “stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” One must at least wonder whether the implication of the passage is that the man was an invalid because of his sins.

 

But here in John 9, Jesus encounters a man who was blind from birth. The disciples must have assumed that most such afflictions were God’s judgments. With such an assumption, the one question in this case is whether God was judging this man (had God counted him so sinful as to judge him at birth?) or judging his parents for their sins. And this is exactly the question they asked.

 

Jesus leaves no ambiguity in His answer: Neither this man nor his parents sinned – that is, this blindness was not God’s judgment on their sins (though both had, of course, sinned at various points in their lives – all have sinned).

 

So why was this man cursed with blindness? This man was blind so that God’s work could be displayed in his life. That is the answer, pure and simple. Of course, this answer raises other questions. Why would God make – or at least allow – a person to suffer just so that His work could be displayed? Couldn’t God find other ways to display His work? Essentially, is this fair?

 

That question is not answered here. But we do see God’s work in the man’s life.

 

Before reading the conclusion, though, I want to see what else Jesus has to say. “It is necessary that we work the works of Him who sent me while it is day. Night is coming, when no one is able to work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

 

First, God’s works must be done. “While it is day,” that is, while work can be done. As long as it is possible to do God’s works, Jesus and His followers must do them.

 

Second, there is a time coming when no one will be able to work. I’m really not sure what time this refers to. Jesus basically claims to be the daytime we need in the next statement. Was Jesus saying that God’s works could no longer be done after His ascension (now)? I don’t think so, because Jesus then sent His Holy Spirit to live in His followers, and we believe that we are doing God’s works now. If not now, does He mean merely the couple of days He was in the grave? That doesn’t seem likely, either, although the disciples certainly weren’t doing much during those days. It seems most likely that the time Jesus means is the time of tribulation at the end. Whether that implies that Christians would be removed from the world (otherwise, wouldn’t Jesus still be in the world?) or that Christians would stay in the world but be so persecuted that they could not carry out God’s work, either way I’m pretty sure Jesus was referring to the end times.

 

Last, Jesus says, “While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” As long as Jesus was among them, the disciples knew that there was work to be done… God’s work. He was the day. He makes God’s work possible. We believe that God’s presence in us by His Spirit enables God’s work to continue. Jesus later tells His disciples that it is good for them that He is leaving because the Holy Spirit will come in His place. We have the light of God shining in our hearts (2 Corinthians 4:6, 2 Peter 1:19). So let’s do God’s work.

 

The work of God didn’t look all that magnificent in this case. Jesus spit on the ground, made mud/clay, put it on the blind man’s eyes, and commanded him to wash in the pool of Siloam, the pool of the Sent One (a name worth noting!). The process wasn’t pretty.

 

But the work of God was plain. The blind man did this and returned with his sight restored! Jesus is the One who makes God’s work possible and does God’s work. No man can make God’s work possible. Only God can make God’s work possible. Other men may do God’s work as God enables us, but Jesus is God. He is the light, the day, so that men can do the works of God. Let us hold fast to Him so that we can do God’s work!

 

John 8:48-59

This passage has several interesting elements to offer. First is the whole glory and honor discussion. The Jews have a vested interest (it seems) in dishonoring Jesus. But Jesus claims that God the Father has a vested interest in giving Jesus honor and glory. One example of this glory the Father has given to Jesus is that those who keep Jesus’ words will never see death. Abraham himself recognized the honor and glory of Jesus! In verse 50, it could be debated whether the “One who seeks (glory) and judges” – obviously God – is seeking His own glory or Jesus’ glory. Both are true, since it is God who honors Jesus, so either way the Jews are getting on the wrong side of the One who judges by dishonoring Jesus. I must give glory to the One who deserves it!

 

Secondly, this passage contains another of Jesus’ obvious claims to be God. “Before Abraham was born, I am.” John writes Jesus’ statement using the exact same Greek words found in the Greek translation of Exodus 3:14: ego eimi, I am. This is the statement God told Moses to give to the Israelites as God’s name. When Jesus combined these words with the phrase, “Before Abraham was born,” He left no doubt that He was claiming to be God. Those who suppose that Jesus could have been an angel and still have existed before Abraham are right, but no angel would have dared to claim deity the way Jesus does here. Jesus is more than a creature; He is the Creator. Abraham honored Jesus. Though this would be a side track, I wonder if Jesus is referring to Abraham’s conversations with God, to the time when Abraham hosted three visitors, or to the time when Abraham met Melchizedek. Perhaps all three? Regardless, Abraham recognized Jesus’ divinity, and we should, too. Give glory to Jesus Christ, our God!

 

Thirdly, I found it interesting that this whole conversation took place in the temple. When the Jews picked up stones, Jesus left the temple. Let’s think about this. They’re in the temple, where God is to be worshiped. The Jews are dishonoring Jesus – God in the flesh! They are not worshiping. They are not listening. In fact, they get so upset at Him when He claims to be God that they prepare to stone Him! And then what happens? Jesus – God Himself – leaves the temple. Chilling. I won’t make too much of it since we see Jesus in the temple later in John. But it brought to mind the Ezekiel passage where the glory of God departs from the temple. Any time that God leaves the place where He is supposed to meet with men is a scary time. Praise God that Jesus came in the flesh! Jesus remained on earth obediently until His work was done, paving a highway to heaven with His body. He is “Immanuel,” God with us, and He has not left us alone. We can still meet God through Jesus. But once we reject Him, there is nothing left for us but fear. We must glorify Jesus. And we must glorify Him today, while there is still time.

 

John 8:37-47

Who is your father?

 

That’s the question Jesus is addressing as He speaks to the Jews. They claim that Abraham is their father, and later that God is their father. But Jesus disputes these claims. On what basis? On the basis of their actions and choices.

 

Abraham? Jesus acknowledged that the Jews were his descendants. But He goes on to say that Abraham is not their father, because Abraham did not try to kill men who brought him truth from God. The Jews, on the contrary, are trying to kill Jesus even though He has brought them the truth from God. If they were Abraham’s children, they would respond to God’s message the way Abraham did. Jesus says that the Jews are doing the things their father does. Who is their father?

 

God? This is the Jews’ next claim. But Jesus says that He came from God, and they would love Him if they were truly God’s children. If they were God’s children, they would comprehend Jesus’ speech because they would speak the same “language”. Jesus is speaking the truth, but they don’t accept it because they do not have the Father of truth, God Himself. So who is their father?

 

Satan? This is what Jesus says. Satan was a man-killer from the beginning, and the Jews want to carry out Satan’s desire by killing Jesus; this proves that they are not Abraham’s children because Abraham did not do such things, and that they are not God’s children because they do not love the One sent from God. Also, Satan is a liar and the father of lies. The fact that the Jews refuse to believe the truth that Jesus speaks proves that they do not speak that language of truth, but the language of lies; therefore, Satan must be their father. They want to do Satan’s will by killing Jesus, and they speak Satan’s language of lies rather than understanding God’s (and Jesus’) language of truth.

 

It’s interesting that they respond with a lie: “Aren’t we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon-possessed (verse 48)?” This is what they choose to believe, and provides evidence that Jesus’ testimony about them is true.

 

I remember when Christy did her internship with my parents in Guinea. Her response to having lived with them for a number of weeks was the comment, “Now I understand why you are the way you are.” For better or worse, children do live like their parents. Their thinking is influenced by their parents’ thinking. If you know a person’s father, you will very likely know what to expect from that person himself.

 

Father, thank You for adopting men and women into Your family, freeing them from the family of Satan! Father, may those of us who have been blessed to become a part of Your family learn to live like You. May we love the people and activities You love, and shun what You shun. May we speak the way You speak, offering truth in love. May we not listen to Satan’s lies, to our own lies, or the lies of others – all of them ultimately lead us away from You. And Father, may we be honest enough with ourselves to recognize when we are not following You in word or deed, and to question whether we are actually Your children or not. May we always seek a right relationship with You. Although there are other worthwhile things in this life, none of them is worthwhile apart from You. May our hearts’ desire be to have You as our Father!