2283.) John 11:1-37

In the Catacombs of Rome, more than 40 images of this event, the raising of Lazarus, have been found.

John 11:1-37   (NRSV)

The Death of Lazarus

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. ²Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. ³So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.”

⁴But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

Which is to say — Jesus knows that to go to Bethany and to cure Lazarus would be a step that would lead inexorably to the cross.

⁵Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, ⁶after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. ⁷Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.”

⁸The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?”

⁹Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. ¹⁰But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.”

This passage was meaningful to my mother. She took it to mean that while there are twelve hours of daylight, and plenty of time to get work done, there are only twelve hours, so time is not to be wasted, or the work may remain woefully undone. Mother wanted to hear her Master say, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” and so she was diligent in her duties. I have no doubt that she is now enjoying her eternal rest in heaven while at the same time joyfully serving her Savior there.

1. Work, for the night is coming,
   Work through the morning hours;
   Work while the dew is sparkling,
   Work ’mid springing flow’rs.
   Work when the day grows brighter,
   Work in the glowing sun;
   Work, for the night is coming,
   When man’s work is done.

2. Work, for the night is coming,
   Work through the sunny noon;
   Fill brightest hours with labor,
   Rest comes sure and soon.
   Give every flying minute
   Something to keep in store;
   Work, for the night is coming,
   When man works no more.

3. Work, for the night is coming,
   Under the sunset skies;
   While their bright tints are glowing,
   Work, for daylight flies.
   Work till the last beam fadeth,
   Fadeth to shine no more;
   Work, while the night is dark’ning,
   When man’s work is o’er.

¹¹After saying this, he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.”

¹²The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.”

To be, or not to be–that is the question:
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
And by opposing end them. To die, to sleep–
No more–and by a sleep to say we end
The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to. ‘Tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep–
To sleep–perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub,
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause. 

–William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act Three, scene 1

¹³Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. ¹⁴Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. ¹⁵For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”

I remember years ago reading a sermon by Peter Marshall, when he was Chaplain to the United States Senate. He told of a boy of 12 who knew he was dying. The boy asked his father, “What is it like to die?” His father said to him, “Son, do you remember when you were little how you used to come and sit on my lap in the big chair in the living room? I would tell you a story, read you a book or sing you a song and you would go to sleep in my arms, and when you woke up you were in your own bed. That is the way death is.” When you wake you are not where you were. You are in a place of security and safety and beauty and rest. That, Jesus declares, is what death is. All through the account of the gospels we get this, so that even the apostles pick it up later and say, “Them that sleep in Jesus will Christ bring with him when he comes” (1 Thessalonians 4:14).

–Ray Stedman

¹⁶Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

“There was not expectant faith, but loyal despair.”

–R. H. Strachan

Jesus the Resurrection and the Life

¹⁷When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. ¹⁸Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, ¹⁹and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. ²⁰When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. ²¹Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²²But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.”

²³Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

²⁴Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”

²⁵Jesus said to her, “I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, ²⁶and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

²⁷She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”

Jesus Weeps

²⁸When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” ²⁹And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. ³⁰Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. ³¹The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. ³²When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

Look at the icon above, and see Mary and Martha kneeling at Jesus’ feet.  Despite their profound sorrow at their brother’s death, they are worshiping the Lord.

³³When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. ³⁴He said, “Where have you laid him?”

They said to him, “Lord, come and see.”

³⁵Jesus began to weep.

Hebrews 4:15   (NLT)

This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.

³⁶So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” ³⁷But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”

_________________________

Music:

HERE  is Esther Mui and “I Am the Resurrection and the Life.” What a wonderful promise Jesus gives us!

_________________________

Reflections:

1)   Read John 11:1-16 again.  What clues foreshadowing Jesus’ own death do you see?

2)   How hard it is for us when God does not do what we want him to do, or what we think he should do!  What can Mary and Martha teach you about faith in Jesus through this story?

_________________________

The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

raising of Lazarus icon.  https://i.pinimg.com/736x/d8/1c/ee/d81cee9e9fab5bca2c3bd7fcd30c4f10–byzantine-icons-byzantine-art.jpg

Hamlet.  https://fluwiki.wikispaces.com/file/view/Hamlet-to-be-or-not-to-be.jpg/231647106/512×287/Hamlet-to-be-or-not-to-be.jpg

son in his father’s lap.   https://images.prod.meredith.com/product/5718e72db1f68dbe1e67f6f29c9593ac/1501253338949/m/close-up-of-a-son-sitting-on-his-fathers-lap-reading-a-book-poster-print

Jesus weeping.  https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/jesuswept1.jpg

2282.) John 10:22-42

John 10:22-42   (NRSV)

Jesus Is Rejected by the Jews

²²At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem.

This feast was Hanukkah, also known as The Festival of Lights, celebrating the cleansing and re-dedication of the temple after three years of desecration by Antiochus Epiphanes, king of Syria. He had wanted to eliminate Judaism entirely and replace it with Greek thinking and Greek gods. So he sold thousands of Jews into slavery, stole significant money from the temple, and made it illegal to circumcise a baby boy or possess a copy of the law. He finally offered a pig as a sacrifice to Zeus on the altar of the temple. That was too much! After a guerrilla war by folks known as the Maccabees, Jerusalem was freed and the temple was cleansed (around 164 BCE).

It was winter, ²³and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. ²⁴So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”

No doubt some of the questioners were genuine in their desire (hope?) to know. But doubtless there were others who were framing this question as a trap for Jesus.

²⁵Jesus answered, “I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me; ²⁶but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. ²⁷My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.

Jesus says, My words and my deeds show the truth!  And to those who believe, Jesus promises eternal life.

²⁹What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand. ³⁰The Father and I are one.”

³¹The Jews took up stones again to stone him. ³²Jesus replied, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these are you going to stone me?”

³³The Jews answered, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you, but for blasphemy, because you, though only a human being, are making yourself God.”

“In defending himself against the charge of blasphemy, Jesus does not deny his basic equality with God. Instead, he points to the validity of his work—a proof of his identity and his relationship with God. By doing God’s works, he validates his own work.  His works, his signs, point to his identity. In them he reveals his glory, his equality with God, and his status as Son of God.”

–Mark A. Matson

³⁴Jesus answered, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods’? ³⁵If those to whom the word of God came were called ‘gods’ —and the scripture cannot be annulled— ³⁶can you say that the one whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world is blaspheming because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? ³⁷If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me. ³⁸But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”³⁹Then they tried to arrest him again, but he escaped from their hands.

⁴⁰He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing earlier, and he remained there. ⁴¹Many came to him, and they were saying, “John performed no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.” ⁴²And many believed in him there.

Jesus knows his time is drawing close. So he returns to the place where it all started, the place where he was baptized and the Holy Spirit dove descended upon him. And there he prepares himself for what is to come.

_________________________

Music:

HERE  is Cliff Richard and “The King of Love my Shepherd Is.”

_________________________

Reflections:

1)  How can we learn to better hear the voice of Jesus, our shepherd?

2)  How can we better display to our family and friends that we listen to Jesus and try to obey him? Can you think of two specific things you will do today in order to honor our Lord?

_________________________

The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

 My sheep hear my voice.    https://biblia.com/bible/images/640×480/Jn10.27?extension=png&fallbackOnFailure=false

Hanukkah candles.   http://thepetrock.20m.com/images/hanukkah.jpg

I and the Father are one.   http://markryman.com/BLOG/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/john10-30.jpg

2281.) John 10:1-21

“The Good Shepherd” by Bernhard Plockhorst (1825-1907)

John 10:1-21   (NRSV)

Jesus the Good Shepherd

9 “Good Shepherd” statements 
Jesus makes about himself

1. I call my own sheep by name.

2. I lead them.

3. I gather my sheep.

4. I walk ahead of them.

5. My voice is familiar to my sheep.

6. I am the way of salvation.

7. I give a rich and satisfying life.

8. I am a good shepherd.

9. I sacrifice myself for my sheep voluntarily.

–RealinginLife.com

“Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. ²The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. ³The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. ⁵They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.” ⁶Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

In the common sheepfolds of ancient times, the shepherd merely gave his distinctive call and his sheep came out from the others, following him out of the sheepfold. Sheep are experts at discerning their shepherd’s voice.

During World War I, the story goes, some Turkish soldiers tried to steal a flock of sheep from a hillside near Jerusalem. The shepherd, who had been sleeping, awoke to find his flock being driven off. He couldn’t recapture them by force, so he called out to his flock with his distinctive call. The sheep listened, and returned to their rightful owner. The soldiers couldn’t stop the sheep from returning to their shepherd’s voice.

–David Guzik

⁷So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. ⁸All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them.

⁹I AM THE GATE. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. ¹⁰The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

¹¹“I AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹²The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. ¹³The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep.

The bad shepherd thinks the flock exists for his benefit, but the good shepherd lives (and dies) for the good of the sheep.

• The good shepherd sacrifices for the sheep
• The good shepherd knows his sheep
• The good shepherd is known by the sheep

The faithful pastor will, as an under-shepherd, display the same characteristics as the Good Shepherd. He will sacrifice for the sheep, know the sheep, and be known by them. He will be a shepherd and not a hireling who does not care about the sheep.

The title pastor translates the same ancient Greek word used here for shepherd.

–David Guzik

PRAY REGULARLY, FERVENTLY, FOR YOUR PASTOR!

¹⁴“I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, ¹⁵just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep.

  ¹⁶I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. ¹⁷For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. ¹⁸No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”

¹⁹Again the Jews were divided because of these words. ²⁰Many of them were saying, “He has a demon and is out of his mind. Why listen to him?”

²¹Others were saying, “These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

_________________________

Music:

There are not many pieces of music more beautiful than this one.  HERE  is Handel’s “He Shall Feed His Flock like a Shepherd.”  Blythe Gaissert, Mezzo-Soprano; Mary Petro, Soprano; Brian Paul Thomas, Conductor; Choir of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, New Canaan, CT.

_________________________

Reflections:

1)  How does Jesus differentiate himself from others who claim to be shepherds?

2)  The image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd is one of the most popular (if you’ll forgive that word) portrayals of Jesus. We have seen that image on everything from baptismal certificates to stained glass windows at church to  funeral bulletins. We are no longer an agrarian society, so why the love for this image of Jesus, do you think?

_________________________

The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

Plockhorst.  http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Bernhard_Plockhorst_-_Good_Shephard.jpg

flock of sheep.  http://www.cc.gatech.edu/cpl/projects/graphcuttextures/data/herd_of_sheep/herd_of_sheep.gif

Psalm 23.   http://meaningfulmama.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/The-LORD-is-my-shepherd-printable-1.jpg

2280.) Psalm 119:113-128

Psalm 119:113-136

New Living Translation

Samekh

¹¹³ I hate those with divided loyalties,
but I love your instructions.

“I hate the double minded, but I love your law,” the ESV has it.

Spurgeon says, “When we love the law it becomes a law of love, and we cling to it with our whole heart.”

¹¹⁴ You are my refuge and my shield;
your word is my source of hope.
¹¹⁵ Get out of my life, you evil-minded people,
for I intend to obey the commands of my God.

How careful we must be in the choosing of our friends! 

“It is better to be alone than in bad company.”
~George Washington

“My best friend is the one who brings out the best in me.”
~Henry Ford

“The only way to have a friend is to be one.”
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

¹¹⁶ Lord, sustain me as you promised, that I may live!
Do not let my hope be crushed.

Everything that is done in the world
is done by hope.
~Martin Luther

¹¹⁷ Sustain me, and I will be rescued;
then I will meditate continually on your decrees.
¹¹⁸ But you have rejected all who stray from your decrees.
They are only fooling themselves.
¹¹⁹ You skim off the wicked of the earth like scum;
no wonder I love to obey your laws!

The fall of the wicked is the work of God.
~William Cowper

¹²⁰ I tremble in fear of you;
I stand in awe of your regulations.

Ayin

¹²¹ Don’t leave me to the mercy of my enemies,
for I have done what is just and right.
¹²² Please guarantee a blessing for me.

The Psalmist cried out to God as Job did:
Now put down a pledge for me with Yourself.
(Job 17:3)

Don’t let the arrogant oppress me!
¹²³ My eyes strain to see your rescue,
to see the truth of your promise fulfilled.
¹²⁴ I am your servant; deal with me in unfailing love,
and teach me your decrees.
¹²⁵ Give discernment to me, your servant;
then I will understand your laws.
¹²⁶ Lord, it is time for you to act,
for these evil people have violated your instructions.

Some read it, and the original will bear it,
It is time to work for thee, O Lord!
It is time for every one in his place to appear on the Lord’s side
— against the threatening growth of profaneness and immorality.
We must do what we can for the support
of the sinking interests of religion.
~Matthew Henry

¹²⁷ Truly, I love your commands
more than gold, even the finest gold.

“Should I not love them? Can gold, yea, fine gold, offer to me blessings such as these? Can it heal my broken heart Can it give relief to my wounded spirit? Has it any peace or prospect of comfort for me on my death bed?”
~Charles Bridges

¹²⁸ Each of your commandments is right.
That is why I hate every false way.

_________________________

Music:

One of my favorite hymns and well suited to Psalm 119 — “How Firm a Foundation.”  Click  HERE  to hear an orchestral arrangement.

How Firm a Foundation

How firm a foundation, you saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He has said,
To you, who for refuge to Jesus have fled?

Fear not, I am with you, O be not dismayed,
For I am your God and will still give you aid;
I’ll strengthen you, help you, and cause you to stand,
Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.

When through the deep waters I call you to go,
The rivers of sorrow shall not overflow;
For I will be with you, your troubles to bless,
And sanctify to you your deepest distress.

When through fiery trials your pathway shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be your supply;
The flame shall not hurt you; I only design
Your dross to consume, and your gold to refine.

The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to its foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.

–London pastor John Rippon, 1787

_________________________

New Living Translation (NLT)   Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

light through the window.    https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/bethlehemblogentrycopy.jpg

hope candle.    https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/hope-in-focus.jpg

only with thine eyes.    http://slideplayer.com/slide/3517764/12/images/70/8Only+with+thine+eyes+shalt+thou+behold+and+see+the+reward+of+the+wicked..jpg

guarantee.   http://www.integrityinspection.com/images/guarantee.jpg

Psalm 37:9.    https://i.ytimg.com/vi/_AR859BnfKU/maxresdefault.jpg

2279.) John 9

“The Man Born Blind” by Henri Lindegaard, 2003.

John 9   (NRSV)

A Man Born Blind Receives Sight

As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. ²His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

³Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. ⁴We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. ⁵As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” ⁶When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes,

Not many people would appreciate having mud made with spit rubbed in their eyes! Some would look at how Jesus did this miracle and object, saying that it was offensive, inadequate, or even harmful to rub mud made with spit in a man’s eyes.

In the same way, some feel that the gospel is offensive. It is true that it offends man’s pride and human wisdom, but it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. (1 Corinthians 1:21)

In the same way, some feel that the gospel is inadequate. But have all the psychiatric and political and social programs in the world done more good than the life-changing gospel of Jesus Christ?

In the same way, some feel that the gospel is harmful, that the free offer of grace in Jesus will cause people to sin that grace may abound. But the gospel changes our life for the good and the pure, not unto wickedness.

–David Guzik

⁷saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see.

Psalm 146:8 (NIV)

The LORD sets prisoners free,
  the LORD gives sight to the blind,
the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down,
   the LORD loves the righteous.

⁸The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?”

⁹Some were saying, “It is he.” Others were saying, “No, but it is someone like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.”

¹⁰But they kept asking him, “Then how were your eyes opened?”

¹¹He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ Then I went and washed and received my sight.”

¹²They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”

The Pharisees Investigate the Healing

“The Blind Man Tells his Story to the Jews” by James Tissot, 1898.

¹³They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. ¹⁴Now it was a sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. ¹⁵Then the Pharisees also began to ask him how he had received his sight. He said to them, “He put mud on my eyes. Then I washed, and now I see.”

¹⁶Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.”

They ignore the wonderful healing and focus on the day that it happened. How silly we are when we major in the minors!

But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And they were divided.

¹⁷So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him? It was your eyes he opened.”

He said, “He is a prophet.”

¹⁸The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight ¹⁹and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?”

I am almost impressed by how thoroughly they investigate this situation, looking for holes in the story! How diligent we are when we seek to believe what we want to believe, against all evidence otherwise!

²⁰His parents answered, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; ²¹but we do not know how it is that now he sees, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.” ²²His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus to be the Messiah would be put out of the synagogue. ²³Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

²⁴So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and they said to him, “Give glory to God!

Shakespeare gave us a similar idea but with different phrasing:

“And I can teach thee, coz, to shame the devil
By telling truth: tell truth and shame the devil.”

from Henry IV, Part One, Act 3, 1597

We know that this man is a sinner.”

²⁵He answered, “I do not know whether he is a sinner. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”

²⁶They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”

²⁷He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen.

Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?”

²⁸Then they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. ²⁹We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.”

³⁰The man answered, “Here is an astonishing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. ³¹We know that God does not listen to sinners, but he does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. ³²Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. ³³If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”

³⁴They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?” And they drove him out.

My mother used to say, “There is none so blind as him who will not see.” How arrogant we are when we think we alone know the truth!

Spiritual Blindness

³⁵Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

³⁶He answered, “And who is he, sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.”

³⁷Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.”

Asking the question is more than half way to having the answer. How privileged we are when Jesus reveals himself to us!

³⁸He said, “Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped him.

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind but now I see.

³⁹Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.” ⁴⁰Some of the Pharisees near him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not blind, are we?”

⁴¹Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now that you say, ‘We see,’ your sin remains.”

Open our eyes Lord
We want to see Jesus,
To reach out and touch Him
And say that we love Him.

Open our ears Lord
And help us to listen,
Open our eyes Lord
We want to see Jesus.

_________________________

Music:

I once was blind, but now I see.  “Amazing Grace” is sung  HERE  by Nana Mouskouri.  This woman with the beautiful voice was born in Greece in 1934.  She has recorded music in fifteen languages over five decades and has sold more than 400 million discs.

_________________________

Reflections:

1)  Verse 3 could be rephrased to read:  You were born so that God’s works might be revealed in you. Look a moment at your own life. Thank God for where you see his works in you and through you. Ask him to show you more clearly what else he would like to do in your life. What else would you like to do for the Lord? Pray bold prayers to an infinitely loving, infinitely able God!

2)   The hymn “Amazing Grace” was written in 1779 by slave-trader-turned-clergyman John Newton. It is estimated that it is performed about 10 million times annually! What is it about that hymn which makes it so popular, do you think?

_________________________

The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

Lindegaard.    https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/lindegaard-l-aveugle-de-naissance1.jpg

Jesus puts mud in the blind man’s eyes.   https://tillchrist.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/lazfam-ru.jpg

Tissot.    http://truthbook.com/images/gallery/James_Tissot_Blind_Man_Tells_His_Story_to_the_Jews_525.jpg

I went and washed.    http://carolinasnalc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/John-9_11.jpg

healed man worships Jesus.   https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/john-9-blind-man.jpg

2278.) John 8:31-59

John 8:31-59   (NRSV)

True Disciples

³¹Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; ³²and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

from Experiencing God Day-by-Day,
by Henry T. Blackaby and Richard Blackaby

TRUTH SETS YOU FREE

God’s truth never restricts you; it always sets you free! Are you discouraged? Is there a sense of bondage in a particular area in your life? A lack of victory over a certain sin? A harmful addiction? It is possible that you do not yet understand a truth about God that can release you.

If you feel powerless to meet the challenges before you, take encouragement from the promise of Philippians 4:13 — I can do all things though Christ who strengthens me. If you are defeated by circumstance, hold on to the truth of Romans 8:28 that God can work your most difficult situation into His good. If you are enslaved to a particular sin, work the truth of 1 John 1:9 into your life, which promises that if you confess your sin, God is faithful to cleanse you from all unrighteousness. All of these truths await the Holy Spirit’s implementation into your life.

It is one thing to know about the truth. It is yet another thing to experience the truth of God being worked out in your life. God’s truth will have no effect upon you unless you accept it and believe it. Perhaps you have already read and heard accounts of God working mightily in the lives of others. But have you allowed God to implement those truths into your life? What truth about God would you like to be experiencing in your life? Ask Him to implement that truth into your life today.

³³They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, ‘You will be made free’?”

What?! They are forgetting the 400 years of slavery in Egypt, and the 70 years of exile to Babylon, and even the present occupation of their land by the Romans! By denying their enslavement, whether political or spiritual, they are denying their need for Jesus and the true freedom he can give them. And isn’t it amazing how easily we will believe a lie if it suits us.

³⁴Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. ³⁵The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. ³⁶So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.

_________________________

Music:

Praise God!  “I am Free!”  Click  HERE  and join in the celebration!

_________________________

³⁷I know that you are descendants of Abraham; yet you look for an opportunity to kill me, because there is no place in you for my word. ³⁸I declare what I have seen in the Father’s presence; as for you, you should do what you have heard from the Father.”

Jesus and Abraham

³⁹They answered him, “Abraham is our father.”

Genesis 15:5-6 (NIV)

He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”

Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing what Abraham did, ⁴⁰but now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. ⁴¹You are indeed doing what your father does.”

They said to him, “We are not illegitimate children; we have one father, God himself.”

⁴²Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now I am here. I did not come on my own, but he sent me. ⁴³Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot accept my word. ⁴⁴You are from your father the devil, and you choose to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

I love how the NIV puts it:  When he lies, he speaks his native language  . . .

⁴⁵But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me.

⁴⁶Which of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? ⁴⁷Whoever is from God hears the words of God. The reason you do not hear them is that you are not from God.”

⁴⁸The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?”

By calling Jesus a Samaritan, they are claiming he is not a true Jew, not a true son of Abraham. By saying Jesus has a demon, they are connecting Jesus with the devil instead of with God.

⁴⁹Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon; but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. ⁵⁰Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is one who seeks it and he is the judge. ⁵¹Very truly, I tell you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.”

⁵²The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, and so did the prophets; yet you say, ‘Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.’ ⁵³Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets also died. Who do you claim to be?”

⁵⁴Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, he of whom you say, ‘He is our God,’ ⁵⁵though you do not know him. But I know him; if I would say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him and I keep his word. ⁵⁶Your ancestor Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day; he saw it and was glad.”

⁵⁷Then the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?”

⁵⁸Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.”

This is the third time in this chapter Jesus uses the phrase I Am (John 8:24, 8:28), and here in John 8:58.

I Am: The ancient Greek phrase is ego emi, which is the same term used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament in Jesus’ day to describe the Voice from the burning bush.

In using the phrase I Am (John 8:24, 8:58, 13:19) Jesus used a clear divine title belonging to Yahweh alone (Exodus 3:13-14, Deuteronomy 32:39, Isaiah 43:10) and was interpreted as such by Jesus’ listeners (John 8:58-59).

–David Guzik

⁵⁹So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

_________________________

Reflections:

1)   Jesus says anyone who commits a sin is “a slave to sin.” Some of my readers may remember saying this confession in church: “We confess that we are in bondage to sin and cannot free ourselves.” Have there been times in your life when you have felt the weight of that bondage? Thank God for the gloriousness of his forgiveness!

2)   Galatians 3:26-29 says:  So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith,  for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. So through Christ, Abraham is your father, too! What does this mean? What fullness of blessing does this bring?

_________________________

The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

dove.    https://missionventureministries.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/john-8-vs-32.jpg

Continue in My Word.   https://i.pinimg.com/736x/29/0c/d2/290cd2f6983d96d2ee98fe0562b52c21–john–king-of-kings.jpg

Abraham and the stars.   http://www.preceptaustin.org/sites/www.preceptaustin.org/files/images/abramstars.jpg

the devil is a liar.    http://blogs.psychcentral.com/amazed-by-grace/files/2013/03/devil-liar.jpg

I AM.   http://www.mccahon.co.nz/sites/all/files/images/m000828_0.jpg

2277.) John 8:12-30

John 8:12-30   (NRSV)

The scene of this argument with the Jewish authorities was in the Temple treasury, which was in the Court of the Women. The first Temple court was the Court of the Gentiles; the second was the Court of the Women. It was so called because women might not pass beyond it unless they were actually about to offer sacrifice on the altar which was in the Court of the Priests. Round the Court of the Women there was a colonnade or porch; and, in that porch, set against the wall, there were thirteen treasure chests into which people dropped their offerings. These were called The Trumpets because they were shaped like trumpets, narrow at the top and swelling out towards the foot.

The thirteen treasure chests all had their allotted offering. Into the first two were dropped the half shekels which every Jew had to pay towards the upkeep of the Temple. Into the third and fourth were dropped sums which would purchase the two pigeons which a woman had to offer for her purification after the birth of a child (Leviticus 12:8). Into the fifth were put contributions towards the cost of the wood which was needed to keep the altar fire alight. Into the sixth were dropped contributions towards the cost of the incense which was used at the Temple services. Into the seventh went contributions towards the upkeep of the golden vessels which were used at these services. Sometimes a man or a family set apart a certain sum to make some trespass or thank-offering; into the remaining six trumpets people dropped any money which remained after such an offering had been made, or anything extra which they wished to offer.

Clearly the Temple treasury would be a busy place, with a constant flow of worshippers coming and going. There would be no better place to collect an audience of devout people and to teach them than the Temple treasury.

–William Barclay

¹²Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”

Since Jesus is the Word (John 1:1), it follows that he is also the light.

¹³Then the Pharisees said to him, “You are testifying on your own behalf; your testimony is not valid.”

¹⁴Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid because I know where I have come from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. ¹⁵You judge by human standards; I judge no one. ¹⁶Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is valid; for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. ¹⁷In your law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is valid. ¹⁸I testify on my own behalf, and the Father who sent me testifies on my behalf.”

Jesus can testify about Himself because He, not they, has view of eternity: I know where I came from and where I am going.

Jesus can testify about Himself because He, not they, judges righteously: You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one.

Jesus can testify about Himself because His testimony is fully supported by God the Father: My judgment is true; for I am not alone.

–David Guzik

¹⁹Then they said to him, “Where is your Father?”

Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” ²⁰He spoke these words while he was teaching in the treasury of the temple, but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.

²¹Again he said to them, “I am going away, and you will search for me, but you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.”

²²Then the Jews said, “Is he going to kill himself? Is that what he means by saying, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?”

²³He said to them, “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. ²⁴I told you that you would die in your sins, for you will die in your sins unless you believe that I am he.”

The word “he” is added by translators so the sentence will make sense in English. Jesus calls them to “believe that I am,” which the Jews would hear as a claim to deity, since that is the name God called himself when he spoke to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:14).

²⁵They said to him, “Who are you?”

This question of the Pharisees comes from a combination of willful confusion and contempt. Though Jesus has told them over and over who He is, they will continue to ask until they get an answer they can use to condemn Him.

Jesus said to them, “Why do I speak to you at all? ²⁶I have much to say about you and much to condemn; but the one who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.”

²⁷They did not understand that he was speaking to them about the Father. ²⁸So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own, but I speak these things as the Father instructed me.

When Jesus says he will be “lifted up,” he means “lifted up” off the ground on a cross. When Jesus is crucified, they will see the perfect obedience of the Son to the Father. And that obedience will lead to another elevation:

Philippians 2:5-11   (NIV)

 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

 Who, being in very nature God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
 rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.
 And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross!

 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
    and gave him the name that is above every name,
 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.

²⁹And the one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what is pleasing to him.” ³⁰As he was saying these things, many believed in him.

_________________________

Music:

HERE  is a Charles Wesley hymn — “Christ, whose glory fills the skies,” sung by the Washington Choral Arts Society. What a good prayer to sing every morning!

Christ, whose glory fills the skies,
Christ, the true and only Light,
Sun of righteousness, arise,
triumph o’er the shade of night;
Day-spring from on high, be near;
Day-star, in my heart appear.

Dark and cheerless is the morn
unaccompanied by Thee;
joyless is the day’s return,
till Thy mercy’s beams I see,
till they inward light impart,
glad my eyes, and warm my heart.

Visit then this soul of mine,
pierce the gloom of sin and grief;
fill me, radiancy divine,
scatter all my unbelief;
more and more Thyself display,
shining to the perfect day.

_________________________

Reflections:

1)   If an unbeliever asked you, “Who is Jesus?” — how would you answer? Would today’s passage help you explain more clearly who Christ is? How?

2)   Jesus and his opponents argue by often asking questions. Consider this statement about Judaism:

It is a faith based on asking questions, sometimes deep and difficult ones that seem to shake the very foundations of faith itself. “Shall the Judge of all the earth not do justice?” asked Abraham. “Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people?” asked Moses. “Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?” asked Jeremiah. The book of Job is largely constructed out of questions, and God’s answer consists of four chapters of yet deeper questions: “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? … Can you catch Leviathan with a hook? … Will it make an agreement with you and let you take it as your slave for life?”

If you and Jesus were to have a discussion today, what questions would you want to ask him?

_________________________

The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

 I AM the light.    http://www.armenhareyan.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/what-did-Jesus-mean-by-I-am-the-light-of-the-world.jpg

Psalm 119:105.   https://i.pinimg.com/736x/39/48/24/394824b02466e67ed71c02d36f7a134b–jesus-bible-jesus-christ.jpg

Be still and know that I AM.    http://www.basil-ltd.com/files/1764012/uploaded/WG-317BZ.jpg

Jesus on the cross.    http://cocorioko.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/jesus-on-the-cross-678×381.jpg

2276.) John 8:1-11

John 8:1-11   (NRSV)

Then each of them went home, while Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. ²Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him and he sat down and began to teach them.

³The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, ⁴they said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery.

They ignore the obvious question:  Where is the man who is equally culpable in this act of adultery?

⁵Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” ⁶They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him.

In the eyes of the Jewish law adultery was a serious crime. Leviticus 20:10 lays it down:  “If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife–with the wife of his neighbor–both the adulterer and the adulteress are to be put to death.”  So they are correct. The woman was liable to death by stoning.

The dilemma into which they sought to put Jesus was this. If he said that the woman ought to be stoned to death, two things followed. First, he would lose the name he had gained for love and for mercy and never again would be called the friend of sinners. Second, he would come into collision with the Roman law, for the Jews had no power to pass or carry out the death sentence on anyone. If he said that the woman should be pardoned, it could immediately be said that he was teaching men to break the law of Moses, and that he was condoning and even encouraging people to commit adultery. That was the trap in which the scribes and Pharisees sought to entrap Jesus.

–William Barclay

Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. ⁷When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” ⁸And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground.

⁹When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.

St. Augustine says, “There remained a great misery, and a great compassion.”

¹⁰Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

¹¹She said, “No one, sir.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.”

It is a challenge for each of us, every day — Go, and sin no more.

Romans 8:1 (King James Version)

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

_________________________

Music:

Oh, the kindness of Jesus Christ!  HERE  is “Forgiving Eyes” by Michael Card. The video clips are from a 1999 television film called Jesus.

_________________________

Reflections:

1)   What do you think Jesus may have written on the ground? Some scholars have suggested that he may have been writing down the sins of the very men who were accusing the woman.

2)   Jesus’ words in 8:7 — Let he who is without sin cast the first stone — are commonly used today. Have you used this phrase? Has anyone ever said these words to you? What do these words say to your heart, your life?

_________________________

The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

They kept demanding an answer.    https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/75401-john8-7.jpg

Jesus writing.  https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/jesussand.jpg

No condemnation.   https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/no-condemnation-101blog.jpg

2275.) John 7:31-53

John 7:31-53   (NRSV)

³¹Yet many in the crowd believed in him and were saying, ‘When the Messiah comes, will he do more signs than this man has done?’

³²The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering such things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent temple police to arrest him. ³³Jesus then said, “I will be with you a little while longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. ³⁴You will search for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.”

³⁵The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? ³⁶What does he mean by saying, ‘You will search for me and you will not find me’ and ‘Where I am, you cannot come’?”

³⁷On the last day of the festival, the great day,

At the Feast of Tabernacles, water was poured out daily at the altar to remind everyone of the water God miraculously provided for a thirsty Israel in the wilderness.

–David Guzik

while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, ³⁸and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’”

Shades of the conversation with the woman at the well. To her Jesus had said,  “…. Whoever drinks of the water I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” But what a different contest! With her, he was having a private conversation in Samaria. Here Jesus is speaking at the crowded temple during a very busy festival. What is this “living water” Jesus is talking about? The next verse is John’s explanation — the Holy Spirit!

³⁹Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive; for as yet there was no Spirit, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

⁴⁰When they heard these words, some in the crowd said, “This is really the prophet.”

⁴¹Others said, “This is the Messiah.”

But some asked, “Surely the Messiah does not come from Galilee, does he? ⁴²Has not the scripture said that the Messiah is descended from David and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?” ⁴³So there was a division in the crowd because of him.

Where is the fact checker?! They could have done just a bit of research — maybe ask him where he was born . . .

⁴⁴Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.

⁴⁵Then the temple police went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why did you not arrest him?”

⁴⁶The police answered, “Never has anyone spoken like this!”

⁴⁷Then the Pharisees replied, “Surely you have not been deceived too, have you? ⁴⁸Has any one of the authorities or of the Pharisees believed in him? ⁴⁹But this crowd, which does not know the law—they are accursed.”

They are so determined not to believe! They are so arrogant in their judgment of those who do!

⁵⁰Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus before, and who was one of them, asked, ⁵¹“Our law does not judge people without first giving them a hearing to find out what they are doing, does it?”

⁵²They replied, “Surely you are not also from Galilee, are you? Search and you will see that no prophet is to arise from Galilee.” ⁵³Then each of them went home.

Galileans were objects of Judean scorn, and the butt of Judean jokes. To the Jewish leaders from Judea, nothing good could come from Galilee. But in fact, a prophet had risen from Galilee. Jonah, who was a type of Jesus, came from Gath Hepher, which was three miles north of Nazareth in Lower Galilee (2 Kings 14:25).

–David Guzik

_________________________

Music:

Isaiah 55:1 —

“Come, all you who are thirsty,
   come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
   come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
   without money and without cost.

 John 4:13-14 —

Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

HERE  is “Come to the water”  sung by the Capital University Chapel Choir.

_________________________

Reflections:

1)   Verse 39 says that Jesus used the term “living water” to refer to the Holy Spirit. What additional understanding of the Holy Spirit does that phrase give you?

2)   Our friend Nicodemus shows up in verse 50. Judging from what he says there, what impact do you think his conversation with Jesus in chapter 3 has had on him?

_________________________

The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

mountain stream.    https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/09fe6-mountains2010093verse.jpg

verse 38 script.   https://i0.wp.com/margmowczko.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Living-Water-Tabernacles.jpg?resize=500%2C454

Come to the water.   http://www.livinggraceomaha.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/ComeToTheWater-Web.jpg

2274.) John 7:1-31

John 7:1-31   (NRSV)

The Unbelief of Jesus’ Brothers

After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He did not wish to go about in Judea because the Jews were looking for an opportunity to kill him. ²Now the Jewish festival of Booths was near.

The festival of Booths, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles, was a joyful, week-long celebration, when families camped out in “booths” made of branches and leaves to remember God’s faithfulness to Israel during the wilderness wanderings. I remember the year I lived in Jerusalem, little shacks of branches appeared on many of the apartment balconies!

³So his brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea so that your disciples also may see the works you are doing; ⁴for no one who wants to be widely known acts in secret. If you do these things, show yourself to the world.” ⁵(For not even his brothers believed in him.)

⁶Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. ⁷The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify against it that its works are evil. ⁸Go to the festival yourselves. I am not going to this festival, for my time has not yet fully come.” ⁹After saying this, he remained in Galilee.

Jesus at the Festival of Booths

¹⁰But after his brothers had gone to the festival, then he also went, not publicly but as it were in secret. ¹¹The Jews were looking for him at the festival and saying, “Where is he?” ¹²And there was considerable complaining about him among the crowds. While some were saying, “He is a good man,” others were saying, “No, he is deceiving the crowd.” ¹³Yet no one would speak openly about him for fear of the Jews.

¹⁴About the middle of the festival Jesus went up into the temple and began to teach. ¹⁵The Jews were astonished at it, saying, “How does this man have such learning, when he has never been taught?”

¹⁶Then Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine but his who sent me. ¹⁷Anyone who resolves to do the will of God will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own. ¹⁸Those who speak on their own seek their own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and there is nothing false in him.

from This Day with the Master,
by Dennis F. Kinlaw

TRUTH AS A PERSON

Jesus talked a lot about truth. Note how often the word occurs in the gospel of John. When he spoke about truth, Jesus spoke in personal terms. You will remember that he refused, much to the dismay of many people, particularly the philosophers, to speak of truth in abstraction, as though it existed in itself. He wanted to relate truth to himself and to his Father in an existential way. He even went beyond that; ultimately he identified truth completely with himself and his Father.

The temple authorities, troubled by Jesus and wanting to know the truthfulness of his message, challenged him. He responded, “If anyone chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God” (John 7:17).

Jesus thus affirmed the truthfulness of his own teaching in terms of a relationship to his Father. Sometimes we would like to translate that answer into, “Anyone who does the truth will certainly know it.” But that is not the way Jesus spoke or thought. We should never be fooled. There was no truth for Jesus apart from the Father. Truth was simply the Father’s will. Thus personal categories are appropriate when we speak of truth because the ultimate categories are all personal. Ultimately, Jesus is the truth.

If we develop a love affair with the truth and pursue it far enough, we will find the truth. When we find it, we will have found Jesus and that he is the one we need. 

¹⁹“Did not Moses give you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why are you looking for an opportunity to kill me?” ²⁰The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who is trying to kill you?”

²¹Jesus answered them, “I performed one work, and all of you are astonished.

See chapter 5, verses 2 through 18.

²²Moses gave you circumcision (it is, of course, not from Moses, but from the patriarchs), and you circumcise a man on the sabbath. ²³If a man receives circumcision on the sabbath in order that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because I healed a man’s whole body on the sabbath?

If it is permitted (even commanded) to do a negative work (such as cutting away the flesh in circumcision) on the Sabbath, why not a positive work (healing a man) that brings wholeness?

²⁴Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”

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Music:

HERE  is “Give Me Faith”  from Elevation Worship.

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Is This the Christ?

²⁵Now some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, “Is not this the man whom they are trying to kill? ²⁶And here he is, speaking openly, but they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Messiah? ²⁷Yet we know where this man is from; but when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from.”

²⁸Then Jesus cried out as he was teaching in the temple, “You know me, and you know where I am from.

I wonder what tone of voice Jesus used when he said this sentence. Was he being a bit sarcastic — “Yeah, right, you think you know me and where I come from, but in reality, it would blow your mind!” Or was he being instructive — “Let’s start with what you know and move on so I can teach you what you don’t know.” Either way, he was, as he always is, speaking the truth.

I have not come on my own. But the one who sent me is true, and you do not know him. ²⁹I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.”

³⁰Then they tried to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him, because his hour had not yet come. ³¹Yet many in the crowd believed in him and were saying, “When the Messiah comes, will he do more signs than this man has done?”

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Reflections:

1)   Had I lived in Jesus’ time — would I have believed in him? What would have convinced me — or caused me to doubt? Lord, help me to believe with all my heart and mind and soul now!

2)   Jesus speaks often about what is true. Later in John he will declare, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” What does it mean to you that Jesus is truth? How does that fact impact how you think and act?

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The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Images courtesy of:

Give me faith.  https://dwellingintheword.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/givemefaith1.jpg

family celebrating the festival of booths.   https://jscotthusted.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/sukkot20painting.jpg

man on his way to festival of Booths.    https://i1.wp.com/jamestabor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Sukkoth-2.jpg?fit=484%2C400&ssl=1

Jesus is the truth.   https://quotesthoughtsrandom.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/jesus-truth.jpg

Who is He?    https://www.churchofthehighlands.com/images/content/series/_series_hero/who-is-he.jpg