Believe

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

BELIEVE

John 12:44-50

44 Then Jesus cried out, "When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. 45 When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me. 46 I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. 47 "As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. 48 There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day. 49 For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. 50 I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say." 

NIV

Jesus has said a lot here, but there is one point he is making. He was sent here by the Father to do exactly what needed to be done in order to redeem mankind, to reconcile himself to mankind. Although Jesus taught throughout the years of his public ministry his main focus was always about believing that he was sent from the Father and he and the Father are one. Jesus is divine even in the human form in which he came. He is the light showing the way. When we walk in the dark we cannot see the way, we are, in essence, blind to the way to live our lives. Jesus shed light on the way to live. When he said that a person who hears his words but does not keep them, he will not judge them. This is not about keeping all his commands as the context does not support that view. This is about accepting him as the light of the world, as the Savior, the Messiah. The idea of God being the judge regarding who accepts his words, is again not about be judged how well we obey every command of Jesus, for we would be judged guilty and condemned. None of us can keep all the commands of Jesus so no one would be saved according to that view. However, what God judges, is whether someone accepts Jesus as the light, or rejects Jesus and stays in the dark. We are either in or out based solely on faith in Jesus Christ. When Jesus speaks he is speaking as the Father speaks. All the words Jesus ever spoke, the Father told him to speak. Some would say the words of Jesus are the primary words in the bible, yet they are the words of God, as with all the words, as he inspired Jesus to speak, he inspired Noah, Moses, Abraham, Jacob, Isaac along with David, Solomon and the prophets. He inspired the Apostles to write all they did, everything is God-inspired which is written in the scriptures. All of it points to Jesus. We can live under a form of law attempting to obey all that is written, or we can live by faith. Jesus points to living by faith, believing in him and what he came to do, die on the cross for our sins. Sure because of loving him we want to please him, but the best way to please him is to accept his grace, his love for us. Faith believes.