Displaying the Work of God

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

DISPLAYING THE WORK OF GOD

John 9:1-5

9:1 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" 3 "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. 4 As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." 

NIV

Again, we are just at the beginning a long dialog between the man born blind and the Pharisees, after he received his sight because of Jesus. The question which his disciples asked has been one asked again and again through the ages and still seems to be one many would like to know the answer. Why are people born with defects or abnormalities? That is not to say blindness is a defect, yet in a sense, it is not how we were intended to be, as we were created with sight. If we are going to take the answer of Jesus regarding this man born blind, then should we be able to apply his answer to all people born with an abnormality? However, their question indicated there must have been a mindset in those days that anyone born blind, lame, or with some other infirmity was a result of sin, either the persons or their parents. How could a man born blind be the result of his sin? He was blind the moment he took his first breath. Yes, he, like all men, are born with original sin, but it is doubtful he had personal sin at birth, as that is something we learn. However, were all his disciples aware this man was born blind? The narrative tells us he was, but we are not sure they knew at that time. Still, their concern was as to who sinned that caused this man’s blindness. It appears they were thinking that sin manifests itself in the physical condition of the body. It is interesting that Jesus made it clear that neither this blind man nor his parents sinned. Was Jesus saying they both were sinless? Some scholars are of the opinion the man's blindness was of the providence of God, which is God caused this man to be born blind, so that his blindness would be the cause of his salvation and that God would receive glory through it. Was that just for this man at this time, or can we apply that type of thinking today? If we can apply it today then we would have to say all people born with infirmities, as well as those who become ill or have some defect later in life are a result of divine providence and they will at some point in life be saved as a result of their problem. We know it is the divine nature of God to heal. He says so. Why then are there so many illnesses in the world, and for that matter in the church? Healing needs to bring glory to God. Could the reason some are not healed is that they simply seek relief from their stressful condition? Could this be an application of that truth, “You have not because you ask not, or you ask with wrong motives”? This blind man did not even ask to be healed.  Jesus saw him as he was walking along. Of course, Jesus, being divine, had to know what he was going all along. Still, the questions continue. Why do we have infirmities if we are already saved? Why aren’t those non-believers healed so that they will be saved? The only answer which can be applied is being healed must bring glory to God, it is essential we give him all the praise, all the glory for everything in our lives. Certainly, our spirit has been healed, our soul has been healed, yet at times our bodies remain unhealed. Shouldn’t we expect God to heal our bodies as well? Maybe the problem is we actually do not expect him to heal us. We would like him to, but do we totally believe he will heal us? Again, we are not told this blind man requested to be healed, he just was, so God would be glorified, so the work of God would be displayed in his life. That is the answer, all that happens in our lives should be so the work of God is displayed in us.

Honor and Glory

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

HONOR AND GLORY

John 8:48-59

48 The Jews answered him, "Aren't we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon-possessed?" 49 "I am not possessed by a demon," said Jesus, "but I honor my Father and you dishonor me. 50 I am not seeking glory for myself; but there is one who seeks it, and he is the judge. 51 I tell you the truth, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death."  52 At this the Jews exclaimed, "Now we know that you are demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that if anyone keeps your word, he will never taste death. 53 Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?" 54 Jesus replied, "If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. 55 Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and keep his word. 56 Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad."  57 "You are not yet fifty years old," the Jews said to him, "and you have seen Abraham!" 58 "I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!"  59 At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.

NIV

As the late Paul Harvey used to say, “Page two, now the rest of the story”. We finish this confrontation between the Jews and Jesus with their finally insulting him with the greatest of insults, calling him a Samaritan and demon-possessed. It was thought the Samaritans were heretics and schismatic. Heretics, because they believed Mount Gerizim is the Holy mountain, not Jerusalem. Jacobs well is very near this mountain, if not on its slopes and where Jesus had that conversation with the Samaritan woman. The Samaritans were despised by the Jews for several reasons, this being one and another because after the division of Israel into the Northern two tribes and the Southern 10 tribes, the Northern Judea soon did not travel to Jerusalem but built two high places of worship and after their fall to Syria, they began to intermarry, thus being considered by the Jews as half-breeds. Calling Jesus a half-breed, a heretic was the worst thing they could say against him. Then to say he was demon-possessed, or out of his mind, making stupid and ridiculous claims, speaking nonsense. Jesus refutes their name-calling, and tells them all that he does and says brings honor to his Father, but they dishonor him. He tells them he is not seeking any glory for himself. The only one who does seek glory is the Father and He is the Judge. Let’s stop here for a moment and consider how we live. Does our life bring glory to God? Do we live seeking any glory for ourselves? Do we like having a title? Do we enjoy being honored by others? Do we seek to make a name for ourselves? Do people think us intelligent? Do they think we are spiritual? Do we want them to? When we are given a compliment, how do we respond? If we are insulted, how do we respond? In what practical ways can we live in order to have our lives honor God? Many questions to ponder on, and perhaps we should ponder long and hard. This is not about how many good deeds we do, or what restrictions we put on ourselves, for those in and of themselves may only result in bringing honor to ourselves among each other, showing how “Good” a Christian we are. No, there is far more to living in that manner, in order for our lives to give all the glory to God. One thing is for certain, every time we are acknowledged for something, we have to respond with giving all the honor to God. The rest is just a test of our lives, all that we say, all we do, all we are, is to bring glory to God and it is not just hoping someone will notice, but it is declaring it, professing that we seek no glory at all, but all the glory and honor belong to God.

Hear What God Says

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

HEAR WHAT GOD SAYS

John 8:38-47

38 I am telling you what I have seen in the Father's presence, and you do what you have heard from your father."  39 "Abraham is our father," they answered. "If you were Abraham's children," said Jesus, "then you would do the things Abraham did. 40 As it is, you are determined to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. 41 You are doing the things your own father does." "We are not illegitimate children," they protested. "The only Father we have is God himself." 42 Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me. 43 Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. 44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! 46 Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don't you believe me? 47 He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God." 

NIV

Now we are right in the crescendo of this confrontation between Jesus and the Pharisees, although it has not come to a conclusion. Both Jesus and the Pharisees have more to say to each other, but here is where it crests. In essence, Jesus tells these religious men, their father is the devil and his Father is God. How can religious men not belong to God? They appear to be following the Law of Moses. They appear to be righteous and pious in their religious activities. But if they truly worshiped God, they would know Jesus is telling the truth. So it would have to mean they actually worship their own religious behavior, their own form of righteousness. Basically, they worship their act of worship, which in essence is self-worship which is the reason Lucifer was cast from Heaven. He thought he was as good as God, or better than God, thus lied to himself regarding his own worth. Jesus tells them their father, the devil, is the father of lies, in fact, he cannot ever tell the truth. Is that why there are people today who cannot understand the truth of God’s word? Are all people who do not believe, children of the devil? How can people who appear to be good people who do so many good deeds for their fellow man, some who are even religious people, be children of the devil? It would seem if we do not worship God and God alone, we may be in danger of living, in some sense, a lie. This requires that we admit we have no righteousness, not even a smidgen, within ourselves. We are nothing more than sinners that have been saved through faith in Jesus Christ. Anything else would be a lie, and if we believe our own lie or lies, then who is our father? The Pharisees were guilty of sin, but they believed in their form of righteousness, their appearance of obedience to the Law. However, they manipulated the Law to suit their own needs, as they did with the distance of a Sabbath day’s journey. When we change or manipulate the word of God to suit our own needs are we any different than those Jesus accused of being children of the devil? The truth is the truth and Jesus spoke pure truth and He is the Word who became flesh and dealt among us. We have to take the word for the word, and not try to make it into what we want it to say, but simply be who he wants us to be. If we are going to worship God then we must worship Him in spirit and in truth and the truth is our only righteousness is in Jesus, for he is our righteousness. It is because of Jesus that God sees us as holy and blameless. In and of ourselves we have neither, for left on our own we are not holy and we are full of blame. Knowing and admitting this is the only way we will ever fully belong to God. We cannot be fence-sitters with one foot in the world and one foot in the kingdom. Again, we cannot have two fathers. If we belong to God then we must live fully in the truth. We must hear what God says. Now that leaves us with somewhat of a conundrum. The people of those days only had Jesus and his words to believe in. True they saw miracles and signs, but they did not have volumes of commentaries to explain in detail every nuance of each word he spoke. They did not have hordes of scholars all with opinions as to how we should interpret each verse. They had Jesus and the early church after Jesus ascended, was given the Spirit to lead them into all truth. If we are going to be followers of Jesus, rather than of our modern scholars and commentaries, then we need to hear from the Spirit. Does that mean we should ignore those scholars? We might learn a great deal from them, but when it comes to the truth, only the Spirit can lead us there. Even scholars can be guilty of lies, as they are nothing more than mere mortals. Let us live as children of the Light and hear what God says.

Set Free Indeed

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

SET FREE INDEED

John 8:31-38

31 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."  33 They answered him, "We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?" 34 Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know you are Abraham's descendants. Yet you are ready to kill me, because you have no room for my word. 38 I am telling you what I have seen in the Father's presence, and you do what you have heard from your father." 

NIV

There is far more to this conversation, or rather we should say, confrontation than what we have here, however, we need to park here for just a moment. Jesus is talking to those who believed in him as he tells them about holding to his teaching. In order for us to really be his disciples, or learners as in pupil, as a direct translation of the Greek means, then we will know the truth and the truth will set us free. When we stop to think about that, we must first be a learner, we must first be his pupil. That means we have to study under his teaching. It is not just saying we believe therefore we are free. We need to hold to his teaching, we need to study his teaching, learn from it. When we were students in school, especially in our higher levels of education, we needed to learn things and assimilate them into our being if we were going to be able to put that knowledge into practical application toward our career. We cannot be a doctor without knowing within the knowledge required, and to continue to grow in further knowledge. We cannot be a Minister of the Word without knowing the Word and continue to study and grow in the knowledge of the word. The same is true of being his disciple, his learner, his pupil. We have to learn and continue to learn. We can never say we have learned it all, that we have become as knowledgeable as our teacher. But the point is as we seat under his teaching we learn the truth. Later we will see this confrontation with the Pharisees when Jesus tells them their father is the devil, the father of lies. But Jesus is all truth, every word that comes from him is fully the truth. This should give us a clue as to who we need to learn from, Jesus or the world. The world, symbolizing all non-believers, non-learners, non-pupils of Jesus, is under the influence of the father of lies, the devil. They are not set free, their minds are imprisoned by a lie, an illusion set before them by the devil. Once we were like them, but we have heard the word and believed, we became learners, pupils of Jesus and we have learned the truth and that has set us free. That has to mean we no longer live by the lies of this world. We no longer are imprisoned by its standards or limitations, or chains. We have abdicated our citizenship in this world for we have become citizens of the kingdom of God. We do not, and cannot hold dual citizenship. That would be the same as having two fathers, which is impossible. Our Father is God, their father is the devil. We cannot have both God and Satan as a father, it is one or the other. At one time we were children of Satan, in a sense, but we have been adopted by God and as we are in Christ now we have the right to be called children of God. We are free indeed.  

Reliable

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

RELIABLE

John 8:25-30

25 "Who are you?" they asked. "Just what I have been claiming all along," Jesus replied. 26 "I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is reliable, and what I have heard from him I tell the world."  27 They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. 28 So Jesus said, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am [the one I claim to be] and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. 29 The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him."  30 Even as he spoke, many put their faith in him.

NIV

We have already considered their two questions, “Where is your father?” and “Who are you?” At least in the sense of being from above or below. Because we live above we know where His Father is and we know who He is. But we should look at the answer Jesus gave them in regards to their asking who he is. Has Jesus ever changed? No, nor has what he claimed as to who he was. He has always said that he was the one sent by the Father. If any Jew worth his own salt would know the one sent by the Father is the Messiah, the Christ. Jesus makes sure these Pharisees get the point that he has the authority to judge them and that is because the one who sent him, the Father, is reliable and that Jesus is only telling the world that which the Father has told him. It cannot be any plainer, God is truth, he only speaks the truth, he never lies, he is always right, never wrong, he is always reliable, and we can always count on his words and his reliability, unlike us. We cannot say that every word out of our mouth is always a truth, especially when we speak about other people, or for that matter, about ourselves. We all have some questionable attitude of behavior in our past or even the present that we do not reveal, thus hiding some truth. We also may or may not always speak the truth in our interpretation of the scripture. The proof of that is in the various denominational riffs over certain passages. Which one is speaking the truth, and which one is speaking non-truth? If there is a difference of opinion, then one could be true, the other could be false, or they both could be false because both of them cannot be true.  What we know is the Father is always true and thus Jesus is always true. Our salvation is true because of the reliability of Jesus. That cannot be denied. There is something else in these words of Jesus which may well cause a stir and go against traditional thinking. Jesus tells them that when they have lifted up the Son of Man, that has him crucified, they will then know who is really is. The statement Jesus makes about the Father who sent him has never left him alone gives us a clue as to the events on the cross. Tradition thinking is that God turned his back on Jesus when he became sin for the world because God cannot look on sin. We think that is not the case. Just because Jesus quoted one verse from Psalm 22 does not mean God forsook him. Jesus has always been about teaching the people, and even from the cross, he was teaching. We would have to read the complete Psalm to understand what he was saying. The people knew the Psalm, they sang them all the time, just as our modern songs by popular recording artists are sung throughout the day by many people. Jesus is reminding the people of exactly what is happening to him and that God is not far off. He reminds them the dogs surround him, that he is poured out like water, his tongue sticks to the roof of his mouth, that they divide his garments, casting lots for them. The Psalm goes on and on all about this moment in time, proving him to be the Christ. The other truth remains about God not looking upon sin. How can that be because we sin? Does that mean every time we fail God, he turns his back on us? He promised he would never leave us nor forsake us. We even have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. Does that mean when we sin, the Spirit picks up and leaves? We cannot say that we are sinless, that would be a lie. So then how do we deal with the fact God will never leave us nor forsake us even when we have sin in us? Is that any different when Jesus has all our sins upon him? The other idea which causes us to think about is whether Jesus left his divinity behind when he was lifted up on the cross. Jesus has always been divine. He was there in the beginning and nothing was made that was not made by him. He was sent by the Father to do exactly was he was doing on the cross. His very words that he always does what pleases the Father is the reason the Father never has left him alone. Here he is doing precisely what pleased the Father and so the Father still has not left him alone. What we learn is that even when we fail Him, He never leaves us because he promised he would never leave us nor forsake us. We can have confidence in Jesus because he is reliable.  

Above and Below

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

ABOVE AND BELOW

John 8:19-25

19 Then they asked him, "Where is your father?" "You do not know me or my Father," Jesus replied. "If you knew me, you would know my Father also."  20 He spoke these words while teaching in the temple area near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no one seized him, because his time had not yet come. 21 Once more Jesus said to them, "I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come."  22 This made the Jews ask, "Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, 'Where I go, you cannot come'?" 23 But he continued, "You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am [the one I claim to be], you will indeed die in your sins."  25 "Who are you?" they asked.

NIV

Two Iconic questions that have been asked over the centuries, “Where is your father?” and “Who are you?” Jesus makes it clear, that if we knew the answer to either of those questions, we would know the answer to the other. He told them because they do not know him, they do not know the Father. Interesting these men he is speaking to, the Pharisees, are religious men who are trying to follow the Law of Moses which was given to him by JHWH or Yahweh, whom we call God, or Father, whom Jesus called Father, yet he tells them they do not know JHWH. Jesus is the physical manifestation of God, showing the world the character of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. However, as far as these Pharisees are concerned, Jesus is simply telling them, “Look at me, see who I really am and you will understand who JHWH really is.” Is this not our life as well? We have never seen either Jesus or the Father in person, well maybe some believers have had visions, but the most of us have not actually seen either, but we have enough testimony of those who did see Jesus, recording both his life, his deeds, his words, and his death, resurrection and ascension and we have the testimony of the Spirit who dwells within us, so we can truly know Jesus. Therefore we can also truly know the Father. We have all his deeds recorded for us throughout the Old Testament, but that does not give us a complete picture of his character because it does not include the Son and the Spirit. So when people, like the Pharisees, accuse God of being a God of wrath, killing all who disobey him, they do not know the Father because they do not know Jesus. If they knew Jesus they would see a God who raises people from the dead, who healed the sick, who fed thousands when they were hungry and who died for their sin so they could have eternal life. Jesus and the Father are one, if we know one, we know both. The challenge we are presented with is that in order to know them we cannot be from below, we have to be from above. That is to say, our citizenship must be in the kingdom of God rather than of this world. What then is the difference? It is how we live. It is what or who we put our trust in. Although it is true that we are physically here in this world at this time, we do not live here, it is not our home or our homeland. We are just passing through, our treasures are laid up beyond the blue. The angels beckon us from heavens open shore, and we cannot feel at home in this world anymore. We are already from above, just temporally residing here. But those who are at home here, are from below, they do not understand anything but what they can see, taste, smell, hear and touch. They cannot sense the Spirit, and thus know who Jesus really is and therefore know who the Father truly is. What we have to remember is we need to live as though we are truly from above and not as one from below. This does give rise to the question as to why we try so hard to stay here, living in this place that is not our home when our home is in heaven, the place Jesus went to prepare for us. Are we truly living as one from above or as one from below? We realize that the Lord as certain things for us to do while we are here and that He has our days numbered. So as long as we are here, we need to be about our Father’s business, rather than our own. Again, we live as one from above, not below.

Religious or Spiritual

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

RELIGIOUS OR SPIRITUAL

John 8:12-18

12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."  13 The Pharisees challenged him, "Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid." 14 Jesus answered, "Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going. 15 You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. 16 But if I do judge, my decisions are right, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. 17 In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid. 18 I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me." 

NIV

Having considered Jesus’s statement about him being the light of the world, we now want to explore further this conversation with the Pharisees. What is interesting is the Pharisees are challenging Jesus regarding religious matters and Jesus is talking about spiritual matters. Although the Law of Moses, which was what God had instructed him to give to the people was supposed to be spiritual but was only perceived or evolved as religious. The chief priest, teachers of the law and the Pharisees or the Sanhedrin, had turned the temple into a self-serving business opportunity, which gave them authority over the people. Jesus was upsetting their apple cart, so to speak, and they were not happy about it at all. So whatever he said, they would challenge him using the law as their basis at finding fault with his words. They would not accept his words because the law requires a witness of two, so his statement is invalid. Jesus simply tells them, and of course, we see this in retrospect as believers, that he is God and he needs no other witness. But he goes on to tell them that the Father and the Son are two and therefore whatever he says is valid. It seems things have not changed too much in all these years. There are still people who challenge the authority of the Bible. unfortunately, some of them are considered religious people. There are scholars who want to date the epistles later than when the Apostles lived, thus saying others wrote those letters in their names, but it was second or third-hand knowledge and thus may not be completely accurate or valid. This is also said of the gospels. Of course, there are many, as we are, who believe they are valid and written by the those with first-hand knowledge of the life of Christ and the events of the early church. When we consider being born again and filled with the Spirit, we cannot consider it as religious but only spiritual. Of course, even many believers think in religious terms, thinking in human standards. They seem to be much the same as those Pharisees, thinking that observing religious activities brings a sense of righteousness, but in actuality it is self-righteousness. Because Jesus said that his testimony is enough alone, but just so we know for sure that the Father has verified that which the Son so states, Jesus tells them and us that both He and the Father are witnesses that all He says is true and therefor if we follow him we will walk in the light. Those who think in human terms or religious terms seem, according to Jesus, to still be walking in the dark. Let us shed religious thinking and live by the Spirit, according to the very Word of God.

Follow

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

FOLLOW

John 8:12

12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." 

NIV

Because Jesus was in the temple courts when the Pharisees brought that woman they say was caught in adultery, although we might be of the opinion it was all a setup because we wonder just how did all those men find this woman in the act of committing adultery. Did they have a co-conspirator who convinced this woman to commit this act with him, knowing his friends would show up at the exact moment they were engaged in the act? Who knows how it happened, and maybe that debate over the authenticity of those verses has something to do with that same reason. Whatever the case, Jesus is still in the temple courts and that engage with the Pharisees and the woman must have gathered a crowd. So after Jesus dealt with those hypocritical men who attempted to trap him, but instead he trapped them, he spoke to the crowd, which had to be amazed as who how swiftly and wisely he handled those Pharisees. Now, if in fact those verses 7:53 thru 8:11 were not part of the original gospel then Jesus would still be in the temple courts and he would have just said: “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within”. This statement was what caused the crowd to be divided over who he was, and that the temple guards when to the chief priests and Pharisees without having arrested Jesus. It had to be a nasty scene between the Pharisees, chief priests, and the guards. However, back in the temple courts where Jesus was, whether then the scene included this case of the woman caught in adultery happened or not, the next words Jesus spoke to the crowd were about him being the light of the world. Here we are again at the comparison between light and darkness. There is no middle ground, no grey area, we either walk in the light or we walk in the dark. This gives us another clue about all of the truth. There is no grey area in the scripture, it is either all true or all false, there is no middle ground. It is either/or, it is not both. It is a black and white case, open and shut, light or darkness. If we follow Jesus we will walk in the light. But what does that mean to follow Jesus? Can everyone who says they are a Christian be walking in the light? Does just saying we are Christians mean we are a follower of Jesus? Can people say they believe in God and still be walking in the dark? There has to be something more than just saying we believe and being a follower of Jesus. Again, no middle ground, no grey area. If we are going to follow Jesus, walk in the light, then we have to follow him, walk where he walks, not only listen but apply what he says. Yes, we confess our sins and ask Him into our hearts, and then we are saved. Yes, if we believe in our hearts and confess with our mouth, that Jesus Christ is Lord, we will be saved. But does that mean we then are no longer walking in the dark? There has to be some kind of transition we make once we believe and confess our faith in him. We become disciples, learners, changing our way of thinking about everything. His light exposes every aspect of our heart and life and as we are shown the truth, we make adjustments. If we refuse, being stubborn, sticking to what we always thought was correct, we may not actually be as much a follower as we think we are. So let us simply follow Jesus, walk in the light and have life.

Throwing the First Stone

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

THROWING THE FIRST STONE

John 7:53-8:11

53 [The earliest and most reliable manuscripts and other ancient witnesses do not have John 7:53-8:11.]

Then each went to his own home.

John 8

8:1 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."  8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"  11 "No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin." 

NIV

There is and has been much debate and investigation into the various ancient manuscripts and that which are the most reliable or earliest and which either include or exclude this narrative of the woman caught in adultery. The debate is so intense and it has many scholars at odds with each other over the centuries of time. So we will leave that debate to the debaters and simply look at the passage for what it is, another attempt by the Jews to trap Jesus by using the Law of Moses as their reason for this question. Without reiterating the whole of the passage, which is easy enough to understand, non-believers will attempt to test us, even using verses from the bible to see what we will do. The other point that Jesus makes clear within this passage is that no man is without sin. That is sometimes the trap non-believers use on us who believe. They will try to catch us in sin, and then accuse us of being hypocrites because we are Christians and we are supposed to be perfect or at least different from them. Although we do make every effort to keep from sinning, we are still subject to the frailty of this body. The difference is when we do fail, or fall, or sin, we repent. We know we have failed to live sinlessly. We know we committed a sin against God, and we seek his forgiveness which is an act of repentance. It would seem the non-believers do not even care if they are sinning against God, for they do not believe they sin is that bad, that basically they are good people, which in many cases they are good people, and they do good things for their fellow man. In the time of Jesus, there was almost a war between the classes of people. The leaders, the pious self-righteous Pharisees, teachers of the Law, the chief priests felt they were better than the average Jew, and certainly far better than any gentile, or those half breed Samaritans. There was hatred among those who confessed faith in God, in fact, they hated Jesus so much they conspired to have him killed. How different it is today, we believers love those who sin against us. We do not hold any grudges or judge those who sin. We do not have any resentment against those who have more than we do, or get jealous or envious or get greedy or lust after more and more, like those non-believers do. Of course, we are speaking tongue in cheek, for we are still subject to those temptations and we fall short of perfection all too often. This is why Jesus told those high-minded hypocrites that whoever is without sin, go ahead and throw the first stone. None of them could do it for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The difference between those of us who believe and those who do not believe is that we have repented, having guilt about our sin and seeking God, have been forgiven. Who is without sin, throw the first stone.  Can we cast a stone at anyone?  

Pride Comes Before the Fall

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

PRIDE COMES BEFORE THE FALL

John 7:45-52

45 Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, "Why didn't you bring him in?" 46 "No one ever spoke the way this man does," the guards declared. 47 "You mean he has deceived you also?" the Pharisees retorted. 48 "Has any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? 49 No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law — there is a curse on them." 50 Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, 51 "Does our law condemn anyone without first hearing him to find out what he is doing?" 52 They replied, "Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee."

NIV

The trouble with pride or being prideful is it blinds you to the truth, or we could say, pride is like a blindfold that keeps the mind from seeing. There might be another way to view the effects of pride. It is like a matrix which is nothing but an illusion to keep the mind from knowing the truth. This was the condition the chief priests and Pharisees would have been deceived by. Although they accused the guards of being deceived, they were the ones deceived by their pride. They were so upset because the guards had their minds opened by Jesus. Listen, you ignorant temple guards, have any of us smart intelligent ruling, better class, people believed in him? At least that is the impression their comment leaves us with. The mob, the ignorant mod, those uneducated, lazy, no good for nothing, know nothing mod, they have a curse on them, they are cursed, which means they must be under the control of demons, led by the chief demon. But hold on, just a minute, says Nicodemus. If you are toting the law, and your brilliance, your great knowledge of the law, how then can you condemn someone without first hearing what he has to say and what he is doing? Their prideful, puffed up, self-righteous attitudes lash out even at one of their own number. Come on, Nicodemus, check it out, look into it, you will find we are right and have been right in our interpretation of the law, the prophets and everything else, for that matter, all along. But the fact is they did not see the truth as they could only see Jesus as coming from Galilee and did not fully investigate the truth of his family’s lineage. Had they checked it out, they would have found that both Joseph and Mary were from the line of David and that during any census, by law, they would have to return to their hometown to be counted, which was Bethlehem, the city of David. The truth will always lead people in the right direction, but these men were so filled with their pride, they could not spend any time seeking truth, because they believed they were living the truth. It has not changed much in some two thousand years. There are still those who have such pride they cannot see how they are living in a fog, in a matrix, an illusion, having their minds blinded to the truth. We have to always be a disciple, a learner, always having the word of God opening our minds, revealing more and more truth, so we constantly are becoming more and more like Jesus. Solomon said in Proverbs 16:18, Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. He also spoke of the opposite of pride as being humble, or humility. This simply means we cannot afford to declare we are always right in our thinking but allow the Spirit to lead us into the truth. We always have more to learn, more to find out, more to grow. However, we also have to be careful in our learning, not to be deceived by the prideful. In our openness, we must be careful of the closedness of men. What this leaves us with is listening to the Spirit, he will not deceive us, but always leads us to the truth. The humble will learn, the prideful will fall.

Division

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

DIVISION

John 7:37-44

37 On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him."  39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. 40 On hearing his words, some of the people said, "Surely this man is the Prophet." 41 Others said, "He is the Christ." Still others asked, "How can the Christ come from Galilee? 42 Does not the Scripture say that the Christ will come from David's family and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?" 43 Thus the people were divided because of Jesus. 44 Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him.

NIV

There are still two truths that lie within these verses. First the truth about the Spirit, the second is about the division Jesus caused among the people. Having looked at the Spirit, we now turn our attention to the division. It would seem everyone, or at least the doubters, knew Jesus was raised in Nazareth in Galilee. This was the home of Joseph and Mary. It is the town Joseph had his business and where Jesus as a youth and young man learned the trade of carpentry. But what happened to all the witnesses of the shepherds the night Jesus was born in Bethlehem? We, of course, have that recorded for us, but how did that slip by the people? Did they not know that Joseph and Mary made the trip into Egypt to hide Jesus from Herod? Did they not put two and two together and realize Jesus was the one born in Bethlehem those years ago? It would seem people only see what they want to see. Why bother investigating the truth, let’s just take someone else’s word about where he was born. Still, some did believe Jesus was a prophet. That is interesting since the Jews had not had a prophet for some four hundred years, but they were willing to accept Jesus came as a prophet. They knew their ancient history, but not the truth about Jesus. There were others who did see Jesus as the Christ and they certainly voiced their belief but were shot down with false truths. There was division then and there still is today. Why does Jesus cause this kind of division? He told us that we think he came to bring peace, but he said:

Matt 10:34-36

34 "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn "'a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— 36 a man's enemies will be the members of his own household.'  

NIV

There will always be division about who Jesus is. We believers will argue that Jesus is the Christ, while non-believers will find any reason, no matter if it is correct or not to refute the truth about Jesus. It is also true that Jesus says they do not believe because they like the darkness because it hides their sin. We want the whole world to know Jesus is the Christ, but the fact is, it is not going to happen, no matter how much we want it, or for that matter, how much God wants it. Because he gave man the freedom to choose, there will always continue to be division. We just have to learn to accept that fact not all people will believe, some will refuse and thus condemn themselves. Although God knows who will and who will not believe, we do not and so we are still under the command to go into all the world and preach the good news. We still need to let the Spirit flow and his spring of living water flow from within us and let the division fall where it may.

Flow Spirit Flow

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

FLOW SPIRIT FLOW

John 7:37-44

37 On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him."  39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.

40 On hearing his words, some of the people said, "Surely this man is the Prophet." 41 Others said, "He is the Christ." Still others asked, "How can the Christ come from Galilee? 42 Does not the Scripture say that the Christ will come from David's family and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?" 43 Thus the people were divided because of Jesus. 44 Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him.

NIV

Two truths lie within these verses. The first is about the Spirit, the second is about the division Jesus caused among the people. Jesus was telling the people if they came to him and drank, which he is actually saying that whoever believes in him, will have streams of living water flow from within him. Well, actually there are three truths now that we just wrote those words of Jesus. That word, whoever implies that anyone who wants to, that it is up to the ‘whoever’ to come to him and believe. But we have beat that drum before so many times, let us concentrate on the streams of living water. Jesus once again quotes or rather paraphrases from the prophet Isaiah about the streams of living water.

Isa 58:11

11 The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.

Isa 44:3-4

3 For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. 4 They will spring up like grass in a meadow, like poplar trees by flowing streams.

NIV

There is no question that before we were infilled with the Spirit as a result of accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we lived in a sun-scorched land, a dry and thirsty land. However, there is something else that we should examine. Since we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior and since Jesus has been glorified, he has sent the Spirit to dwell within us. Therefore that means we should have streams of living water flowing from within us. This flowing from within us can mean only one thing. It has to mean that if it is flowing from within us, it has to be flowing out of us, which then also means it should be flooding over those around us. It would seem impossible to contain this stream of living water within us, holding it within, holding it hostage. That might appear as if we are squelching the Spirit. The Apostle Paul in his letter to the Thessalonians warns against squelching the Spirit. If we do not let him flow freely from within us, we might well be doing just that. What would allowing this stream of living water to flow from within us look like? What would allowing the Spirit full access to flow through us look like? It would seem we simply could not contain ourselves, we would be filled with excitement, enthusiasm, exuberance, and joy so that others who came near us would almost drown or be swept away by the current.  It would seem the opposite would be obvious, a life so drab, so withdrawn, so conservative, so lackluster or humdrum, it unenthusiastically muddles through the required activities of what is thought as Christian living. What it seems to come down to is whether we are going to let the Spirit have his way within us, or whether we have decided to have our own way be the major influence in our life. Flow Spirit flow through me, Holy Spirit flow through me and make my life what it ought to be. Holy Spirit rest on me and use my life win the lost to thee, Holy Spirit flow out of me that others may see you in me, Holy Spirit flow out of me. Flow Spirit Flow. 

Muck and Mire

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

MUCK AND MIRE

 John 7:30-36

30 At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come. 31 Still, many in the crowd put their faith in him. They said, "When the Christ comes, will he do more miraculous signs than this man?" 32 The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about him. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him. 33 Jesus said, "I am with you for only a short time, and then I go to the one who sent me. 34 You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come."  35 The Jews said to one another, "Where does this man intend to go that we cannot find him? Will he go where our people live scattered among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks? 36 What did he mean when he said, 'You will look for me, but you will not find me,' and 'Where I am, you cannot come'?" 

NIV

Here again, is evidence of his divine nature. How it is possible for a crowd to attempt to seize him and not a single person laid a hand on him? If the crowd was looking for a miracle they just were in the midst of one, but it appears they were blind to this miracle, yet were saying that when the Christ does come he will do more miracles then this man. They were most likely thinking of the words of the Prophet Isaiah.

 Isa 35

The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, 2 it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of the LORD, the splendor of our God. 3 Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; 4 say to those with fearful hearts, "Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution, he will come to save you." 5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. 6 Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. 7 The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs. In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.  8 And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that Way; wicked fools will not go about on it.   9 No lion will be there, nor will any ferocious beast get up on it; they will not be found there. But only the redeemed will walk there, 10 and the ransomed of the LORD will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away. NIV

We can see why they thought the Christ would be a whole lot more spectacular than this Jesus who did a lot more talking and fewer miracles then they expected. However, when we see those words of Isaiah we see Jesus, of course, that is in retrospect, which this crowd did not have that advantage. But think about it, because of Jesus being the light of the world and because he is in us and has declared that we are the light of the world and that we would do even greater things then he did, we can see how that would be. The world is a dark place and in the darkness, people are blind. Their ears are deaf to the truth, because of the blindness of their minds. They cannot and do not speak anything about the truth. They are crippled by living in sin and cannot walk on the highway of God. They live in dry and parched darkness. They are feeble and weak and so much more. But the point is that when we shine our light, the light of Jesus into their darkness, the blind will see, the deaf will hear, their voices will find joy and praise, the crippled will be able to get up and walk on the highway to heaven. They will be among the redeemed. The people were looking for all that and more from being in the presence of Jesus, but it appears they were not about to leave their darkness because of unbelief. They could not see with spiritual eyes or hear with spiritual ears. Jesus spoke plainly about what was going to happen, but they missed it. Jesus makes it clear that some will never find him and therefore some will never be able to go where he is going. They just did not get it. Anyone who stays in the darkness of their mind cannot see Jesus and if someone cannot see Jesus, they cannot go where he is. Our world is not different today than it was when Jesus walked the earth. People are still looking for the supernatural, but trying to find it everywhere other than through Jesus. People want signs and wonders, but they are blind to the truth. They want to hear supernatural stories, but they are deaf to the truth of Jesus. How can we shine our light, how can we improve their taste, if we are the salt of the earth? If Jesus cannot win some over, how are we supposed to? That may not be our concern. All we should be about is being that light and salt and let the Spirit do the rest. Sometimes it is difficult to know we are on that highway to heaven yet can see so many still stuck in the muck and mire of their darken life.

Being Sent

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

BEING SENT

John 7:25-29

25 At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, "Isn't this the man they are trying to kill? 26 Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Christ? 27 But we know where this man is from; when the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from."

28 Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, "Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, 29 but I know him because I am from him and he sent me." 

NIV

This is a somewhat strange comment by the people of Jerusalem, at least on the surface. First, the question about Jesus being the one the rulers were trying to kill. This translation uses the term authorities, the Greek word can be used like that, but it is more directly a ruler, commander or chief, leader. This would imply the authorities would be the Sanhedrin who was in charge of religious matters for the people. The people thought the Sanhedrin must have concluded that Jesus was the Christ because he was speaking publicly in the temple courts without any interference from the rulers. However, the people were also making a judgment themselves regarding whether Jesus was the Christ based on their knowing where he is from and the common perception of the Jews was that no one would know where the Messiah comes from, or where he would show up. It was also commonly known that from various scriptures they had concluded or believed the Messiah would show up, then be hidden, then show up again, be hidden again, then finally be revealed. Because they know Jesus was from Nazareth, it was questionable that he was the one. But, in retrospect, Jesus did show up, as a babe in Bethlehem, then was hidden in Egypt, then was shown again as a youth teaching in the temple, then hidden again, then shows up at the Jordon and is testified as to being the Christ, by the Spirit and the voice of God. Then it seems he has hidden again, not showing himself, then here he is revealing himself to everyone as the one sent by God. It seems even today, Jesus appears hidden to some people because of their blindness caused by their living in the darkness. No one can see in total darkness, but how then can they be saved. There is a light shining. Jesus is shining his light onto them and we know some of them will put their faith in him. He has told us we are now the light of the world, that because we are in Him and He is in us, that His light is shining into the darkness where people are blind. We also know the light always overcomes the darkness, that the darkness cannot overpower the light. Then it would make sense that we are supposed to shine our light into the darkness so the blind can see, so we can give life to the dead. The question is, how far from the darkness can we shine our light and they will see it? How close to we have to get to the darkness so the blind can see? Will they see it from our church pews? Will they see from our towers of isolation? No, it seems we might just have to get a little closer in order for the blind to see. We might actually have to walk among them, just as Jesus did. He tells the people he is from the Father and he was sent to tell them what is true. We have been commissioned or sent out into the world, and that does not mean just paying for someone to be a missionary to a far off place, but that we have been sent out into the world, into every aspect of the world and shine our light into that dark place. Some of the people will see and believe, some will not, but that is not up to us, but it is up to the Spirit. We are simply to shine our light because he sent us. Jesus said he was sent. So why would we not also be sent if Christ is in us? The fact is we are sent. We are being sent, it is a present tense verb. We are always being sent. It is not a onetime thing, it is always in the active sense, we are being sent.

Judge Rightly

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

JUDGE RIGHTLY

John 7:20-24

20 "You are demon-possessed," the crowd answered. "Who is trying to kill you?"

21 Jesus said to them, "I did one miracle, and you are all astonished. 22 Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a child on the Sabbath. 23 Now if a child can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing the whole man on the Sabbath? 24 Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment." 

NIV

We are just following the statement that Jesus said they were trying to kill him and so their response to that is to accuse him of being demon-possessed because they cannot understand who it is who is trying to kill him. It always amazes us that Jesus seldom actually answers a question, but speaks to the heart of issues. He did, however also accuse them of being sinners, as well as hypocrites. They claim to live by the Law of Moses, yet Jesus tells them not one of them keeps the law. We know, because of the truth that the law is powerless to save, so why bother trying to keep it. But we do have those today who have certain laws they believe they keep. But those laws, whatever they are, are also powerless to save. The difference in attitude may be that because we are saved, we need to adhere to certain laws. That too sounds a little strange, but it is the truth we should live in a manner that pleases God. Whether that translates into laws or rules, is the question. Well back to this next statement of Jesus. All this conversation stems from the fact Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath. The last time he was in Jerusalem he healed the man by the pool, telling him to pick up his mat and walk. The Jews were upset at the man because it was against the law to carry a mat on the Sabbath and when they found out the Jesus healed him on the Sabbath and instructed the man to break the law on the Sabbath, they were furious and decided it was time to kill this Jesus. Now Jesus speaks about the fact that although they have the law about the Sabbath, yet they circumcise a child on the Sabbath. The question he is posing is that in doing so, are they not breaking the law of the Sabbath. If by circumcision, they make the child a whole Jew, or then would it not be right to heal the whole man on the Sabbath, making him a whole Jew. What is it about the Sabbath? God said a man should keep the Sabbath Holy. There is more to that in that he instructed not a single person, free or slave should do any work and not even any of the animals should work, in other words, they could not have a donkey pull a cart, or turn a grinding wheel or a wine press, etc. No one is to labor on the Sabbath, keep it holy. It seems today some Christians believe we are to maintain the Ten Commandments, although they are part of the law Jesus fulfilled. One of those ten is regarding the Sabbath. Well, we sort of keep it holy, but not really, because Sunday is really not the Sabbath according to the law. But for the sake of saying it is our Sabbath, how then can the pastor preach? How then can the sound people move knobs? How then can the deacons carry a collection plate? How then can the singers hold a songbook or microphone? How can we do anything, drive our cars, or cook a meal, or cause someone to work at the restaurant so we don’t cook? This could get really out of hand if we were to start enumerating everything that would be considered labor on the Sabbath according to the law. So then do we cherry-pick the law? Maybe we should take Jesus as an example and say it is right to heal the whole man on the Sabbath. Then we would have to decide what kind of healing needs to be accomplished. Would it mean physical or spiritual? It seems we certainly do not follow his example very well, for we seldom, if ever, heal anyone on the Sabbath or any other day, for that matter. Then are we failing to keep the Sabbath holy? What about all the housework and yardwork we do on the weekends, including the Sabbath, which in the strict sense of the law is Saturday. There we are again making another day our Sabbath, because that is what we decided to do, or somebody did because that is the day Jesus was raised from the dead. By doing so, did he change the law regarding the seventh day, the Sabbath? Oh, this is a deep rabbit hole we could go down and keep going. Let us simply consider it is always good to do good things even on the Sabbath. Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath, if he can heal people, so should we, even on the Sabbath. It is not always the appearance that matters, but it is making the right call, the right judgment as to what is righteous, what is good to do even on the Sabbath. This would even include how we judge each other. We just have to judge rightly.

People of Truth

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

PEOPLE OF TRUTH

John 7:10-19

10 However, after his brothers had left for the Feast, he went also, not publicly, but in secret. 11 Now at the Feast the Jews were watching for him and asking, "Where is that man?" 12 Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about him. Some said, "He is a good man." Others replied, "No, he deceives the people." 13 But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the Jews. 14 Not until halfway through the Feast did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. 15 The Jews were amazed and asked, "How did this man get such learning without having studied?" 16 Jesus answered, "My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me. 17 If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. 18 He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself, but he who works for the honor of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him. 19 Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?" 

NIV

There is more to this exchange between Jesus and the Jews, who John most likely is referring to the Pharisees, the teachers of the Law, or the priests or all of them, which are the ones who think they are abiding, or at least hiding under the pretense of following the Law of Moses. However, first, we should consider this idea which John gives us about the discussion or whispering of the people about Jesus. We have the pros and cons. Some said that Jesus was a good man while others said he deceives people. That whispering has continued through the ages and continues to this very day. However, neither of those people who were whispering considered if Jesus was the Messiah. They were just considering if he was a good man or a deceiving man. There are many people today all over the world who think Jesus was a good man and maybe even a prophet, while there are also many who simply reject Jesus entirely, perhaps not giving him any thought or thinking his teaching is false therefore deceptive. Then there are some, maybe not as many as we think, that see Jesus as the light of the world, the Savior, the Messiah, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the Son of God, the truth, life, and the way, the one and the only way to eternal life. The second truth within this exchange is the Jews were amazed at his teaching, at the truth, the depth of his teaching because from their perspective, he had not spent years, as they did, in the study of the Law, the Torah, and the prophets. That is not much different today, in fact, many, if not all, denominations require years of study in order to give anyone their credentials to go into the temple, or church and teach, or preach. There have been men who are considered revelation knowledge preachers, but most mainline denominations do not give them any credence or see them as crackpots of a sort. Why do we have to rely on the words of man to teach us, rather than rely on the Holy Spirit? Although many people are very learned and have great knowledge about aspects of the scriptures, they still are only teaching their interpretations of the truth. They are not without certain bias, certain traditional views, such as those views of men of the past, like Wesley, Calvin, and Arminius. Great divisions have arisen between current believers over these teachings of these three men. Then there are people around the world who ascribe to the teachings of other men such as Mohammad, Gandhi, Buddha, and others. Still, the fact remains the truth of the Word of God remains the only source of pure teaching and the Word of God, in fact, the words of Jesus, tells us that it is the Spirit of truth who will lead us or guide into all truth. Unless we listen to the Spirit, which seems would require being baptized in the Spirit, as the disciples were, we cannot see the pure truth. This truth comes from God and as we teach or preach this truth has to always bring glory to the God, and not to self. So many men have glorified themselves even with a false glorification of God. The point Jesus was making is not to diminish study, but that study without the enlightenment of the Spirit is nothing more than study based on the traditions of men. So we need to make sure we are people of truth.

Perfect Timing

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

PERFECT TIMING

John 7:1-9

7:1 After this, Jesus went around in Galilee, purposely staying away from Judea because the Jews there were waiting to take his life. 2 But when the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles was near, 3 Jesus' brothers said to him, "You ought to leave here and go to Judea, so that your disciples may see the miracles you do. 4 No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world." 5 For even his own brothers did not believe in him.

6 Therefore Jesus told them, "The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil. 8 You go to the Feast. I am not yet going up to this Feast, because for me the right time has not yet come."  9 Having said this, he stayed in Galilee.

NIV

It is not that Jesus was afraid of the Jews that he would not go to Judea, but it simply was not his time to go and make a public spectacle of himself. We will see next that after his brothers went, he did go, not publically, but privately. For now, he is going to stay in Galilee, at least as far as his brothers knew. What is interesting in this conversation between Jesus and his brothers are how they were baiting him. It is also interesting John decides once again to reveal Jesus had brothers. There is no mistake John meant to use the word which denotes a brother of the womb, meaning that Joseph and Mary had other sons after the birth of Jesus. This would also then mean Jesus is the firstborn son and thus according to Jewish customs, he would inherit all his fathers’ wealth, business, land, and be the head of the family. Interestingly the Father has given all authority to His Son, the firstborn of many. Well, back to the baiting of his brothers, who at this time did not believe in him. It would seem having grown up in the same household as children with the only understanding of children that Jesus was no different than they were, a son of Joseph and Mary, it would take something extremely special to make them see him as their Messiah, the divine Son of God. Sometimes it requires something that special for some people to believe in Jesus. The response of Jesus is what we would expect as he is very aware of the exact time when he should make his move so that he would be arrested and crucified. This was not that time and so he tells them that for them any time is right, but for him, the time has not yet come. The timing of God is impeccable, perfect, without defect, or mistake. Sometimes we want what we want when we want it and for us, anything is right the right time for us to have it. It would be good for us to remember the timing of God with respect to every aspect of our lives, even the number of days. We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him and who are called according to His plan or purpose. We are also told that we may make our plans, but God orders our footsteps. It seems we want to control our own lives, our own plans, or desires. It seems we want to plan out our future, determine the course of our lives, as to what type of career, or profession we think would best suit our plans for living in the manner we want. We plan out our financial future so we can retire at a certain age and then do everything we always wanted to do, with all the freedom and carefree life we planned for. How foolish we mere humans are. All our timing, all our plans are so flawed, so fraught with difficulties, so inaccurately scheduled. God’s timing is perfect and until we learn to live according to his time schedule we are sure to experience frustration, anxiety, impatience, envy, greed, jealously, discontentment and maybe even a little depression because life is just not all we expected it to be. Even as believers we think we should be healed right now, or get whatever we pray for right now. It seems it always comes down to we want what we want and we want it when we want it. Let us wait on God’s timing. Let us live by perfect timing.

To Whom Shall We Go?

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

TO WHOM SHALL WE GO?

John 6:60-71

60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?" 61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, "Does this offend you? 62 What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him."  66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. 67 "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve. 68 Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God." 70 Then Jesus replied, "Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!"  71(He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)

NIV

This is a hard teaching, who can accept it? We have to go back to that teaching to understand why they would think it is a hard teaching and not easy to accept. That teaching was that whoever eats His flesh and drinks His blood will live. We already considered that Jesus was speaking metaphorically and not in a physical sense making those people the only ones who could live, for after they accomplished all that, there would be nothing left of Jesus to go to the cross to take all the sin of the world upon himself and salvation for us would not have been possible. So we have to understand no one has to actually eat His flesh and drink His blood, however through the doctrine of transubstantiation, those who practice it believe they are eating his flesh and drinking his blood. But it would seem that doctrine had not yet been thought of and those who were followers of Jesus just could not wrap their minds around his truth and so they turned back, left following him. Because John uses the term disciples to describe them, it only means they were learners, not that they were The Disciples or the twelve Jesus had chosen. We are also back to some words those who ascribe to the view of John Calvin would say it proves only the elect or specific people God chooses are saved.  Their interpretation of Jesus saying that no one can come to him unless the Father has enabled him would mean only those the Father chooses to enable are the only ones who can come to Jesus and be saved. That sounds sort of right and we can understand why some might believe that except these words of Jesus would have to be taken totally out of context to come up with that theological stance. Jesus had just said that the words he has spoken to them regarding his flesh and blood were spirit and they are life. He was speaking in the spiritual sense and some just could not grasp the spiritual, they could not, or would not allow the Spirit to reveal this truth to them. The Father was making the Spirit or the spiritual understanding available, but Jesus makes it clear that some of them did not believe. This turns it back into the heart of a man who chooses whether to believe or not to believe, not on the choice of God. We are sure of this because Jesus then asks the chosen twelve, ones who were in fact chosen, selected out of the crowd and told to come to follow him if they also wanted to leave, if they wanted to decide to turn away, to stop following him. He was giving them the choice. It was up to them, just as it is up to us, to either decide to follow him or to turn away and follow our own path, which is exactly what Judas did. Oh right, those who believe or follow Calvin’s view would say God chose Judas because he needed him to betray Jesus so he would be crucified. It was the plan of God that Judas was selected to betray Jesus and go to hell because of his betrayal and act of suicide. But do we not betray Jesus every time we choose to commit some act or attitude of sin? Did God select us just so we would betray Jesus in this way? Isn’t sin a form of betrayal? Isn’t sin a form of breaking our trust in Jesus? If we think about it, the root of all sin is our wanting to supply a need in our life rather than trusting in Jesus. All sin is in some way fulfilling some desire within us. But does that mean we do not believe in Jesus? We know he is the only way to eternal life, yet we still sin. How can that be? We have not turned back, we have not returned to our former way of life, or relocated back to the city of darkness and death. We are still living in the city of light and life, but we just have not been glorified yet and thus have to deal with this frail human condition. Sin is not our desire, we have decided to follow Jesus. Just as Peter said, who else would we turn to? Jesus has the words of eternal life. The fact remains we have to choose who we turn to, Jesus or ourselves, or by default the devil. We have turned to Jesus for we know he is the Holy One of God. To who else shall we go?