John 8:12-59 is so full of information it would take a large manuscript to fully do it justice. In these passages Jesus reveals many things about Himself. He calls Himself the Light of the World though not of this world; that He did nothing except what the Father instructed Him to do; that His father is God and their father (referring to the crowd) is the devil. He tells them that the truth would set them free, that who the Son sets free is free indeed, and that no one who believes on Him would die. He calls Himself I AM, the very name God the Father called Himself at the burning bush with Moses. To the crowd these were a mouthful of blasphemes and makes them so angry they actually try to stone Him.

What’s also abundantly clear in these passages is Jesus’ foreknowledge of His death. He knew His time was nearly up and He was desperate to make the people understand, to have them come into the Light, to be set free, to know the Truth and thus escape eternal damnation. He’s still trying to do that today, to make people understand, to bring them out of darkness into His marvelous light. But the tables are reversed. It’s our time that is nearly up. We don’t know from one minute to the next when that time will come, but we know that our life is but a vapor that quickly passes. Anyone over fifty understands this all too well.

The best thing we can do with what’s left of our time is to examine these claims of Jesus. To prayerfully study them and ask God to give us revelation knowledge so we can take them to heart. Time is running out for all of us. We need to settle these issues before it’s too late.

Until next time,

Sylvia

Jesus was not one to be intimidated. Even when the religious sect took exception to His healing the man at the Pool of Bethesda and they began plotting to kill Him, Jesus knowingly added fuel to the fire by boldly asserting things like: He only did what He saw the Father do (John 5:19 Amplified), and that “the Father dearly loves the Son” and just as the Father gives life, the “Son also gives life to whomever He wills” . . . and that “all judgment has been given into the hands of the Son.” Jesus went on to speak of the resurrection and judgment of sinners, and ended John 5 by telling these religious people that they didn’t know God at all; that they were blind to both God’s voice and the vision of God. And then the kicker. He told them that God’s love was not in their hearts and that they were only interested in receiving praise and accolades from each other rather than God.

The thing we have to understand is that Jesus left no wiggle room. There could be no fence-sitters in His camp. He made very definite claims about Himself and we have to come to a place where either we believe them or not. And we can’t pick and choose, either. We can’t say, “yes I believe Jesus gives life” but I don’t believe He’s ever going to judge sinners. And here’s the tougher reality, if only one of the things Jesus said about Himself is not true then all the rest, like a house of cards, must, of necessity, come tumbling down, for then He would be a liar, and can a liar be trusted or believed?

I believe Jesus is exactly who He said He is. I climbed off that fence long ago to align myself with His camp. So when I hear Christians, and especially ministers, picking and choosing what they want to believe, I find it disturbing. As Christians we are to proclaim God’s Word, His entire Word. And yes, some of that Word can make us uncomfortable. It can be inconvenient and even downright painful. But to do less would make us like the “religious” crowd in John 5, blind to God’s voice and vision, lacking God’s love in our hearts, and only interested in receiving the praise of man rather than God’s.

Oh God, may we not be fence-sitters.  “Create in us a clean heart and renew a right spirit in us.”

Until next time,

Sylvia