Posts
From intimacy to violence: Jesus and his disciples take a walk east to west across the southern part of Jerusalem, they live the town proper and hike through the Kidron Valley so that Jesus may go to place that has brought him comfort in prayer before. We move from the warm atmosphere of praying with Jesus in the upper room to the cool darkness of a moonlit garden. Jesus begins his descent to darkness.
Not before Jesus gives away one more shot at his identity. In the garden, when they ask for him, Jesus again uses the words, referring to himself, “I AM.” “I AM” is the literal, English translation of the Hebrew name for God that was revealed to Moses as Yahweh (some translate Jehovah). Our Bibles will translate it often in the Old Testament at The LORD. When Jesus speaks these words, something about them has a physical impact upon the soldiers that cause them to fall back over each other.
Throuh the gospel of John Jesus has declared himself as follows:
“I AM the Bread of Life” (6:35)
“I AM the Light of the World.” (8:12, 9:5))
“Before Abraham was born, I AM” (8:58)
"I AM the gate” (10:9)
“I AM the Good Shepherd” (10:11)
“I AM the Resurrection and the Life” (11:25)
“I AM the Way and the Truth and the Life” (14:6)
“I AM the True Vine.” (15:1)
“I AM he” (18:5)
The weight of the collective revelation that Jesus has brought to the people is overwhelming not just physically, but Spiritually. His presence pressurizes the environment to the point that those who will not follow him choose all out opposition. So Annas, Caiaphas and Pilate all line up to figure out what to do with Jesus. Annas and Caiaphas lead the opposition. Pilate represents the passively ignorant--the just as guilty third party. His declarative question, “What is truth,” is supposed to relieve his conscience and guilt.
They cannot oppose Him. Peter cannot even follow Him. Who is this man?
To comment on this article or to look at the other postings and comments, click http://21daysinjohn.blogspot.com/
Showing posts with label truth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label truth. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Day 14, John 14
Blogger: Aaron Martin
In verse 6 we have all of God’s revelation to mankind summed up in one verse: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Those words say it all.
Jesus is the way to the Father who is the giver of life, the sustainer of all things, the great I AM, the merciful, gracious, righteous, just and loving inhabitant of heaven.
Jesus is the truth. He speaks no falsehood. He shows the world what is right and what is wrong. He is incapable of contradiction by other truth.
Jesus is the life. Everything that might under any teleology (end-game philosophy) be considered the supreme good—the ne plus ultra of existence—is found in Jesus. He revives mankind from death. He breathes life into his believers through the Comforter while they are in this world. He greets them into a glorious Paradise when they cross Jordan. He is indeed the end of all things.
This verse is the very test of true faith. In true religion, there is simply nothing but Jesus. He is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. Moses gave the law to the Jews, but without the Messiah, it was simply the “ministry of death” (II Cor. 3:7). Mohammed claimed no authority of his own but merely served as the oracle of a distant, unknowable god. Zoroaster, Mani, Siddhartha, Confucius, Plato, Hegel, Nietzsche, Kant, Sartre—all of them spoke of ways, of truths or of lives, but none of them WAS the way, the truth or the life. Jesus IS the way the truth and the life! He rose from the dead without external physical cause—without even so much as a holy man performing a miracle! What more evidence of divine personality or truth could there be?
We should be encouraged by Jesus’ unequivocal claim to truth, but also be spurred on to evangelize our post-modern-American-I’m-okay-you’re-okay-don’t-challenge-my-theology-that-I-claim-not-to-have relatives, friends and neighbors. Without Jesus they won’t see the Father. That’s what Jesus said. So what is our response?
If you would like to comment, view other comments or postings, go to http://21daysinjohn.blogspot.com/
Study Notes: John 14 begins what is commonly known as the Upper Room Discourse, culminating in John 17 with Jesus' high priestly prayer. This is probably the most intimate conversation between Jesus and disciples that we have recorded.
In verse 6 we have all of God’s revelation to mankind summed up in one verse: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Those words say it all.
Jesus is the way to the Father who is the giver of life, the sustainer of all things, the great I AM, the merciful, gracious, righteous, just and loving inhabitant of heaven.
Jesus is the truth. He speaks no falsehood. He shows the world what is right and what is wrong. He is incapable of contradiction by other truth.
Jesus is the life. Everything that might under any teleology (end-game philosophy) be considered the supreme good—the ne plus ultra of existence—is found in Jesus. He revives mankind from death. He breathes life into his believers through the Comforter while they are in this world. He greets them into a glorious Paradise when they cross Jordan. He is indeed the end of all things.
This verse is the very test of true faith. In true religion, there is simply nothing but Jesus. He is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. Moses gave the law to the Jews, but without the Messiah, it was simply the “ministry of death” (II Cor. 3:7). Mohammed claimed no authority of his own but merely served as the oracle of a distant, unknowable god. Zoroaster, Mani, Siddhartha, Confucius, Plato, Hegel, Nietzsche, Kant, Sartre—all of them spoke of ways, of truths or of lives, but none of them WAS the way, the truth or the life. Jesus IS the way the truth and the life! He rose from the dead without external physical cause—without even so much as a holy man performing a miracle! What more evidence of divine personality or truth could there be?
We should be encouraged by Jesus’ unequivocal claim to truth, but also be spurred on to evangelize our post-modern-American-I’m-okay-you’re-okay-don’t-challenge-my-theology-that-I-claim-not-to-have relatives, friends and neighbors. Without Jesus they won’t see the Father. That’s what Jesus said. So what is our response?
If you would like to comment, view other comments or postings, go to http://21daysinjohn.blogspot.com/
Study Notes: John 14 begins what is commonly known as the Upper Room Discourse, culminating in John 17 with Jesus' high priestly prayer. This is probably the most intimate conversation between Jesus and disciples that we have recorded.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Day 10, John 10
Guest Blogger: Dave Wilks
Throughout the last few chapters, Jesus has been openly revealing his identity in sometimes rather cryptic ways. Some of his listeners were able to understand; some were not. Some could understand, but chose not to believe, clinging instead to their own performance-based system of self-salvation that denies the true nature of God and man.
Here, Jesus provides perhaps the clearest metaphor yet of who he is and what he has been sent to do. It was an easy metphor to understand for those living in an agrarian culture and it is still easy for us to understand today. But those who heard Jesus' words were divided: some were willing to accept that the law and the prophets pointed only to Jesus as the sole means to gain salvation. Others chose to accuse Jesus of madness and demon-possession.
How do we react to the passage today? Are we overjoyed that our creator is a longsuffering God who bestows infinite and unmerited grace upon anyone willing to acknowledge his sovereignty? Are we endlessly grateful that we have been granted salvation and an eternal place in God's house, because of Jesus' infinite sacrifice made on our behalf? Do we allow that gratitude to transform us and re-order our lives?
Or do we find this passage offensive and intolerant, because it teaches that Christ is the only way? Might we get along better with others if we say that Christ is just one of many good ways?
It is easy to fall into that post-modern trap of placing all philosophies and teachings on equal footing. There is, however, no room in the truth for any untruth. No room in the light for darkness. No place in heaven for even a drop of hell. Either we accept who Jesus is and become transformed by the beauty and majesty of the gospel or we should simply reject him as a demon-possessed madman. There is, thankfully, no in-between.
To view the rest of the postings, view comments or make a comment click here http://21daysinjohn.blogspot.com/
Throughout the last few chapters, Jesus has been openly revealing his identity in sometimes rather cryptic ways. Some of his listeners were able to understand; some were not. Some could understand, but chose not to believe, clinging instead to their own performance-based system of self-salvation that denies the true nature of God and man.
Here, Jesus provides perhaps the clearest metaphor yet of who he is and what he has been sent to do. It was an easy metphor to understand for those living in an agrarian culture and it is still easy for us to understand today. But those who heard Jesus' words were divided: some were willing to accept that the law and the prophets pointed only to Jesus as the sole means to gain salvation. Others chose to accuse Jesus of madness and demon-possession.
How do we react to the passage today? Are we overjoyed that our creator is a longsuffering God who bestows infinite and unmerited grace upon anyone willing to acknowledge his sovereignty? Are we endlessly grateful that we have been granted salvation and an eternal place in God's house, because of Jesus' infinite sacrifice made on our behalf? Do we allow that gratitude to transform us and re-order our lives?
Or do we find this passage offensive and intolerant, because it teaches that Christ is the only way? Might we get along better with others if we say that Christ is just one of many good ways?
It is easy to fall into that post-modern trap of placing all philosophies and teachings on equal footing. There is, however, no room in the truth for any untruth. No room in the light for darkness. No place in heaven for even a drop of hell. Either we accept who Jesus is and become transformed by the beauty and majesty of the gospel or we should simply reject him as a demon-possessed madman. There is, thankfully, no in-between.
To view the rest of the postings, view comments or make a comment click here http://21daysinjohn.blogspot.com/
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Day 8, John 8, Bonus Blog
Guest Blogger: Bruce Panasuk
In the eighth chapter of John, our Lord once again squares off with the great enemy of the truth—religion. In this chapter we see the Light of the world doing battle with the powers of darkness garbed in religiosity. The Pharisees, who were supposed to be the defenders of the truth, had become instead self-righteous, pious, legalistic guardians of their own self-serving traditions, to the point that they nullified the Word of God for the sake of their traditions (Matt 15:6), and although they had the façade of righteousness, they were inwardly full of hypocrisy and wickedness (Matt 23:28). It is against these individuals that our Lord wages an intense all-out battle—a battle for a woman’s life and a battle for God’s truth.
These religious elite bring to the Temple a woman caught in adultery, and in a harsh and humiliating fashion, make her stand before the entire group (v. 3). They then surround her like a pack of vicious, bloodthirsty wolves that have cornered their prey. But she wasn’t their prey. Jesus was. They came to trap him (v. 6). She was only the bait—expendable, inconsequential, worthless to them as a person, only useful to them as a piece of human bait. The powers of darkness have challenged the Light of the world, and a life hangs in the balance. They then foolishly pit the Word of God against the Son of God—a very bad idea (v. 5). So he bends down to write in the ground (v. 6), and in so doing, draws a line in the sand. He defiantly stands between the hunters and the hunted. He backs off the wolves with the perfect response to their twisted question (v. 7), allowing what was left of their own numbed consciences to convict themselves of their evil intent (v. 9). Then, in perhaps the greatest display of his mercy, grace, and compassion, he sets the woman free (v. 11)—not only free to leave (“Go now”), but more importantly, free to change (“leave your life of sin.”).
Their intentions in using the woman having been exposed and defeated, they now turn directly on Jesus (v. 13)—and the battle continues; a battle now of truth vs. error, of light vs. darkness, of good vs. evil, of the Son of God vs. the religion of man. And once again, a line is drawn in the sand. Carefully note how the Lord Jesus Christ describes these Pharisees, and in so doing, defines religion at its core, and exposes the darkness of their hearts to all those present:
You have no idea where I came from or where I am going (v. 14)
You judge by human standards (v. 15)
You do not know me or my Father (v. 19)
You are from below…You are of this world (v. 23)
You have no room for my Word (v. 37)
You are unable to hear what I say (v. 43)
You belong to your father, the devil (v. 44)
You do not belong to God (v. 47)
You dishonor me (v. 49)
The result—darkness is once again defeated, for, “Even as he spoke, many put their faith in him” (v.30).
The world doesn’t need religion. The world needs Jesus Christ. Since we are called to be conformed to the image of God’s Son (Rom 8.29), let us stand in his stead as we compassionately fight for peoples’ lives and courageously fight for the truth of God’s Word.
In the eighth chapter of John, our Lord once again squares off with the great enemy of the truth—religion. In this chapter we see the Light of the world doing battle with the powers of darkness garbed in religiosity. The Pharisees, who were supposed to be the defenders of the truth, had become instead self-righteous, pious, legalistic guardians of their own self-serving traditions, to the point that they nullified the Word of God for the sake of their traditions (Matt 15:6), and although they had the façade of righteousness, they were inwardly full of hypocrisy and wickedness (Matt 23:28). It is against these individuals that our Lord wages an intense all-out battle—a battle for a woman’s life and a battle for God’s truth.
These religious elite bring to the Temple a woman caught in adultery, and in a harsh and humiliating fashion, make her stand before the entire group (v. 3). They then surround her like a pack of vicious, bloodthirsty wolves that have cornered their prey. But she wasn’t their prey. Jesus was. They came to trap him (v. 6). She was only the bait—expendable, inconsequential, worthless to them as a person, only useful to them as a piece of human bait. The powers of darkness have challenged the Light of the world, and a life hangs in the balance. They then foolishly pit the Word of God against the Son of God—a very bad idea (v. 5). So he bends down to write in the ground (v. 6), and in so doing, draws a line in the sand. He defiantly stands between the hunters and the hunted. He backs off the wolves with the perfect response to their twisted question (v. 7), allowing what was left of their own numbed consciences to convict themselves of their evil intent (v. 9). Then, in perhaps the greatest display of his mercy, grace, and compassion, he sets the woman free (v. 11)—not only free to leave (“Go now”), but more importantly, free to change (“leave your life of sin.”).
Their intentions in using the woman having been exposed and defeated, they now turn directly on Jesus (v. 13)—and the battle continues; a battle now of truth vs. error, of light vs. darkness, of good vs. evil, of the Son of God vs. the religion of man. And once again, a line is drawn in the sand. Carefully note how the Lord Jesus Christ describes these Pharisees, and in so doing, defines religion at its core, and exposes the darkness of their hearts to all those present:
You have no idea where I came from or where I am going (v. 14)
You judge by human standards (v. 15)
You do not know me or my Father (v. 19)
You are from below…You are of this world (v. 23)
You have no room for my Word (v. 37)
You are unable to hear what I say (v. 43)
You belong to your father, the devil (v. 44)
You do not belong to God (v. 47)
You dishonor me (v. 49)
The result—darkness is once again defeated, for, “Even as he spoke, many put their faith in him” (v.30).
The world doesn’t need religion. The world needs Jesus Christ. Since we are called to be conformed to the image of God’s Son (Rom 8.29), let us stand in his stead as we compassionately fight for peoples’ lives and courageously fight for the truth of God’s Word.
Day 8, John 8
“I must be an acrobat, to talk like this and act like that.” U2
All the tensions come to a head here. Jesus is teaching at the temple. The Jews test Jesus with an immoral woman. The more Jesus teaches, the more they get angry. Jesus throws down the gauntlet with them declaring that He is the Light of the world (a term which was supposed to identify the nation of Israel, (Isa 42:6, 49:6, Lu 2:32, Ac 13:47, 26:23).
In response to this, the Pharisees challenge his authority. The only one who could genuinely testify to his previous place in heaven would have been the Father. So those who listen are forced to respond to Him, not based upon the testimony of an eye witness, but rather based upon his own words about himself. To those who believe in Him, the truth sets them free (32). Yet the Jews insisted that they were accepted because they were united to Abraham through bloodline. They were family, and their blessing would come through being a part of the family.
8:39-40 "Abraham is our father," they answered.
"If you were Abraham's children," said Jesus, "then you would do the things Abraham did. 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.
Jesus leaves them no room. Either he is from heaven and speaks the truth from heaven, or he is a Samaritan and is demon-possessed as they say he is (or something else very strange). Why can’t they understand him and just receive the truth? It is because they have no room for his word (37). They know that if they accept that what he says is true, they will have to radically reorient their lives. It is easier for them to make Jesus into something else than to accept the truth for who he really is.
Yet, the truth is the one thing that can set them free.
That moment comes at the end of the chapter. Jesus is speaking out of an overflow of the union he has with the Father. From the sense of that union and in a certain understanding of his deity he pushes the patience of the Pharisees to the brink with the statement, “Before Abraham was born, I AM”
I AM is another way of saying Yahweh. It was a double entendre both pointing to his own eternal existence and his divine nature and provoking the Pharisees to respond in the only way their law could for the greatest of blasphemies--by stoning him.
This is true for us. It is hard to accept the truth sometimes. The truth might be that we need to change, submit, rest, or obey. It is easier to do the mental gymnastics of rewriting reality than to do the plain things we know we need to do. Jesus does not allow the Pharisees to play those games with him and he will not allow us to either.
All the tensions come to a head here. Jesus is teaching at the temple. The Jews test Jesus with an immoral woman. The more Jesus teaches, the more they get angry. Jesus throws down the gauntlet with them declaring that He is the Light of the world (a term which was supposed to identify the nation of Israel, (Isa 42:6, 49:6, Lu 2:32, Ac 13:47, 26:23).
In response to this, the Pharisees challenge his authority. The only one who could genuinely testify to his previous place in heaven would have been the Father. So those who listen are forced to respond to Him, not based upon the testimony of an eye witness, but rather based upon his own words about himself. To those who believe in Him, the truth sets them free (32). Yet the Jews insisted that they were accepted because they were united to Abraham through bloodline. They were family, and their blessing would come through being a part of the family.
8:39-40 "Abraham is our father," they answered.
"If you were Abraham's children," said Jesus, "then you would do the things Abraham did. 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.
Jesus leaves them no room. Either he is from heaven and speaks the truth from heaven, or he is a Samaritan and is demon-possessed as they say he is (or something else very strange). Why can’t they understand him and just receive the truth? It is because they have no room for his word (37). They know that if they accept that what he says is true, they will have to radically reorient their lives. It is easier for them to make Jesus into something else than to accept the truth for who he really is.
Yet, the truth is the one thing that can set them free.
That moment comes at the end of the chapter. Jesus is speaking out of an overflow of the union he has with the Father. From the sense of that union and in a certain understanding of his deity he pushes the patience of the Pharisees to the brink with the statement, “Before Abraham was born, I AM”
I AM is another way of saying Yahweh. It was a double entendre both pointing to his own eternal existence and his divine nature and provoking the Pharisees to respond in the only way their law could for the greatest of blasphemies--by stoning him.
This is true for us. It is hard to accept the truth sometimes. The truth might be that we need to change, submit, rest, or obey. It is easier to do the mental gymnastics of rewriting reality than to do the plain things we know we need to do. Jesus does not allow the Pharisees to play those games with him and he will not allow us to either.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Day 4, John 4
“…grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”
This is a quintessential portrait of Jesus and his ministry. He goes where no one wants to go (Samaria); to a group of people hated by his own (Jews hated Samaritans as half-breed traitors—long story); to meet a person whom no one else wants to meet (a woman going for water at mid-day suggests that she is excluded from the female community in the village, probably because of the circumstances around the five-plus husbands/lovers that she has had).
Jesus reaches across racial, gender, and religious boundaries and offers her unmerited favor in his gracious pursuit of her. He explains the truth to her in a way that draws her in, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty…” (v15). Along the way, he reveals more truth regarding his identity to this immoral, rejected, Gentile woman than he does to even the Jews. The contrast between Jesus’ interaction between Nicodemus, the religious leader, and this Samaritan woman is breathtaking. And to top it all off, he completely overlooks her sin.
Well, actually he doesn’t. Grace AND truth come through Jesus Christ. Moving towards her in grace isn’t gracious unless he treats her as a whole person. This means addressing the longings of her heart as well as the failures in her life.
From here, this woman’s experience of meeting Jesus becomes a revival. No miracles in this part of the chapter. This is just grace and truth and a person’s story of meeting Jesus in the middle of the day.
Study Notes: It is helpful to look at a map in order to understand this passage. Jesus was making a trip from the Judean countryside (3:22) to Galilee. Jewish people usually went far out of their way, crossing the Jordan River, in order to avoid the hated Samaritan population that dwelled between Judea and Galilee.
To see the full blog, click http://21daysinjohn.blogspot.com/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)