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.