Category Archives: Bible Study

JOHN’S GOSPEL – THE WORD REJECTED – 4

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John 1:10-11 NIV
[10] “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.
[11] He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.”

Some of the saddest words ever written …and yet, a continuation of Israel’s tragic history.

Rejection! What is rejection…the implications of rejection?

Rejection is the worst form of insult and cruelty one person can inflict on another. Rejection implies, “You are nothing and worth nothing. What you say is worthless lies. I want nothing to do with you!”

Even worse is the implication, “I am and will always be better than you. I know more than you. You will never meet my standards for you!”

How is it possible that mere humans, made of dust and returning to dust, alive only by God’s mercy, could reject the gracious appearance on earth of their very own God who came to rescue them from the mess they had made? Sounds crazy, doesn’t it?

Imagine humans saying that to God! Yet, they did!

How many are the newborn babies, cradled in their mother’s womb for nine months, then dumped as worthless in some trash can or left on someone’s doorstep as worthless!

How many people are violently eliminated because they are rejected and unwanted. Yet, terrible as it is, what His people did to Jesus was far worse. They tried to eliminate Him from time and eternity, to obliterate the God who gave them life, the God who cared for them for many centuries, the God who made a covenant with them to be their God forever, the God who loved them and saved them from eternal death.

It doesn’t seem possible, and yet they did.

Many are the reasons for the Jews rejecting Jesus.

They did not recognise Him. Jesus was not like anything they expected as their Messiah. They expected a powerful, majestic, godlike conqueror, probably breaking into history by arriving on a mighty steed. They wanted one who would act like their God, sovereign and strong, driving out the Romans like frightened dogs with their tail between their legs.

Instead, He came as a frail human baby, grew up as a village kid, and set forth to conquer, not Romans, but sin buried deep in the human heart. He was humble, gentle and kind to all, loving and merciful to sinners…and just too nice to be God.

  1. They rejected Him because their expectation was faulty.

God had promised them a Messiah, one who would deliver them and reign over them, returning them to a peaceful and prosperous life. Deliver them from what?

Uppermost in their minds was the oppression of Roman occupation. They wanted to be free from Rome, so they centred their hopes on a mighty deliverer who would drive the Romans out and set up a kingdom as glorious as David’s kingdom of old. Even His disciples were confused. Just before His ascension,

Acts 1:6 NIV
[6] “They gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

Jesus didn’t fit the bill for the religious leaders. He had another purpose far bigger and far more important than their expectations. He came to set them free from their own self-destructive selves, but they failed to understand His purpose and they were blind to their real peril.

John 8:34-36 NIV
[34] “Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. [35] Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. [36] So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

  1. The relgious leaders rejected Him because they were afraid of losing their power over the people.

Of course, power was the crux of their wicked hearts. They were on the payroll of their oppressors. They knew how to play the game. As long as they kept the people quiet by manipulating them through fear, their Roman overlords were happy. So, they punted a seriously strict religious system and an overly disciplinarian God to keep them in fear and stop them from thinking for themselves.

  1. The religious leaders rejected Him because they were hypocrites.

They won the admiration of the people and therefore their loyalty, by posing as, “obedient and holy” leaders. They hated Jesus for reading and exposing them accurately…

Matthew 23:27-28, 33 NIV
[27] “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. [28] In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness…
[33] “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?”

… and for getting the better of them in every altercation.

Matthew 22:15-22 NIV
[15] “Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. [16] They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. [17] Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?” [18] But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? [19] Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, [20] and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?” [21] “Caesar’s,” they replied. Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” [22] When they heard this, they were amazed. So they left him and went away.”

  1. The religious leaders rejected Him because they refused to consider the evidence.

Jesus’ miracles were not primarily a campaign of mercy but a witness to His identity. However, His claims to be God’s Son were met with stubborn unbelief.

John 10:33-39 NIV

[33] “We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”
[34] Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are “gods” ’? [35] If he called them ‘gods,’ to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be set aside—[36] what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? [37] Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father. [38] But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.” [39] Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp.”

So, John’s record confirms the words of the prophet Isaiah, wrieen centuries before the event…

Isaiah 53:2-3 NLT
[2] “My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. [3] He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care.”

JOHN’S GOSPEL… THE SOURCE OF LIGHT – 3

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John 1:3-9 NLT
[3] Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
[4] “The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. [5] The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. [6] God sent a man, John the Baptist, [7] to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony. [8] John himself was not the light; he was simply a witness to tell about the light. [9] The one who is the true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.”

Genesis begins with “In the beginning…”, describing, in verse 2, the condition of the earth before God began to work on it… darkness! Then in verse 3, He speaks light into the darkness without disclosing its source. The Bible only introduces the source of visible light in verse 14.

Genesis 1:4-5 NIV
[4] “God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. [5] God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.”

Genesis 1:14-18 NIV
[14] And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, [15] and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. [16] God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. [17] God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, [18] to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good.”

So, what was the light that lit up the dark earth? John fills us in. It was Jesus, the Aleph and Tov of Genesis, who was both Creator and the source of light (illumination) before the physical lights began to expose what the darkness of the corrupted earth had hidden, and to function on the earth to sustain life.

There is a correlation between physical and spiritual darkness. Just as physical darkness conceals the objects in a dark room, so spiritual darkness is the condition of humans that hides the corruption in the heart. No one can understand how evil the human heart is until the light of Jesus reveals what is inside.

So, John endorses Jesus’ signature in Genesis 1, the identity of the Aleph Tov, the One who was not only present but is both active in the preparation of earth for its human inhabitants, and gives and sustains the life He has given us. We need physical light to see our environment and spiritual illumination to understand our connection with and disconnection from our Creator.

However, light is not only the source of illumination but also the source of life. Without light, nothing can continue to exist. Light is the energy that powers the earth, all plant, animal, and human life dependant on its life-giving properties.

The second person of the Trinity, who became the Jesus of history, was God’s agent in creation. God spoke and the Word acted. John identified Him as the personification of God’s words, and the subject of all Scripture.

Psalms 33:6 NIV
[6] “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.”

John 1:3 NIV
[3] “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”

As mysterious as this may seem to us, this is the declaration of the infallible Word of God. Among the many official titles given to the Son of God, this one emerges as the title of His functions, wisdom clothed in words.

The Word was God’s wisdom, present at creation…working with the Father.

Proverbs 8:27-30 NIV
[27] “I was there when he set the heavens in place, when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep, [28] when he established the clouds above and fixed securely the fountains of the deep, [29] when he gave the sea its boundary so the waters would not overstep his command, and when he marked out the foundations of the earth. [30] Then I was constantly at his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence”…

The Word created the universe and restored the corrupted earth.

John 1:3 NIV
[3] “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”

The Word is at work in His creation…

Hebrews 1:3 NIV
[3] “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word…”

Through the Word, we are saved.

Romans 10:17 NIV
[17] “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.”

Through the Word, we are born from above.

1 Peter 1:23 NIV
[23] “For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.”

The Word will judge all people at the end of time…

John 5:22 NIV
[22] “Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son…”

…who will judge by His words…

John 12:47-49 NIV
[47] “If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. [48] There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day. [49] For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken.”

The Word will conquer and destroy all evil.

Revelation 19:11, 13, 15-16 NIV
[11] “I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war…
[13] He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God…
[15] Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.” He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. [16] On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: king of kings and lord of lords.”

Jesus is the light that reveals all of God’s work… His plans for creation, redemption, and restoration, all centred in Him…

He enlightens us concerning our condition…

John 3:19-20 NIV
[19] “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. [20] Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.”

… our plight…

John 3:18 NIV
[18] “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”

… and His solution…

John 8:12 NIV
[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.”

Let this be our story…

John 3:21 NIV
[21]” But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.”

The outcome is out of this world…

1 John 1:7 NIV
[7] “If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”

John, therefore, connects and explains both the story of Genesis and the story of Jesus by his statement, “In the beginning…” From this starting point, he moves into the unfolding of his theme, Jesus, the Word of God in eternity and in time.

JOHN’S GOSPEL…THE WORD WAS WITH GOD -2

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John 1:1-2 NIV
[1] “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [2] He was with God in the beginning.”

If we don’t pause to think, for a minute, we will miss the significance of the little word “with”.

Why did John write, “The Word was with God”?

“With” can have the simple meaning of “in the presence or company of …” or it can mean something more than that.

To be “with” another person can mean that one person is “in full agreement and participation with” another. We have examples of this meaning in Scripture where God gave His full support, with favour and power, to His servants…

Genesis 39:2, 5 NIV
[2] “The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master…
[5] From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the Lord was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field.”

God’s presence “with” Joseph had major consequences – favour and blessing on all his endeavours in Potiphar’s household. Likewise, while he languished in prison, Joseph was blessed and elevated to a position of authority because God was “with” him.

Genesis 39:20-22 NIV
[20] “Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined. But while Joseph was there in the prison, [21] the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. [22] So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there.”

David experienced the same favour because of God’s presence “with” him.

1 Samuel 17:37 NIV
[37] “The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.”

1 Samuel 18:14 NIV
[14] “In everything he did he had great success, because the Lord was with him.”

2 Samuel 5:10 NIV
[10] “And he became more and more powerful, because the Lord God Almighty was with him.”

So, of Jesus, Peter could confidently proclaim…

Acts 10:37-38 NIV
[37] “You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— [38] how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.”

In the Godhead, the relationship between Father and Son is reciprocal. As the Father is “with the Son”, so the Son…the Word…is with the Father.

John 10:30 NIV
[30] “I and the Father are one.”

Says Google…

“Yes, the New Testament, particularly the Gospel of John, presents Jesus as being “one with the Father,” a statement understood by theologians to signify unity in essence, purpose, and power, and a core concept within Trinitarian theology. This declaration in John 10:30 led to accusations of blasphemy by the Jewish leaders of the time, who perceived Jesus as claiming equality with God.”

Jesus often claimed oneness with Father as a testimony to His opponents of His identity as the Son of God, challenging them to find anything that would refute this claim.

John 8:29, 42, 46 NIV
[29] The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.”…
[42] Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me…
[46] Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me?”

For the Word to be with God, as John proclaimed, meant a relationship far closer than mere casual acquaintance or association. This was a declaration of unity so deep that the Father and the Son, as the Word, the visible and spiritual expression of the Father, always acted together in perfect harmony.

Hebrews 1:1, 3 NIV
[1] “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways,
[3] The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.”

As the visible representation of the invisible God, Jesus was simultaneously in the presence of the Father and in the world, representing Him by word and action so that the people in the world would believe in Him and return to the Father through Him.

JOHN’S GOSPEL…IN THE BEGINNING – 1

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Of the four gospel records of Jesus Christ’s life and death on earth, John’s gospel was known, in the early church, as the “spiritual” gospel. Why the spiritual gospel?

John doesn’t only present the story of Jesus’ life on earth. He also weaves into the story his understanding that Jesus, the man, was far more than a man. He was God incarnate, clothed in a human body, fully God and fully man, with all the attributes of God and man, yet completely submitted and obedient to the Father as a son.

Each of the four gospels tells the story of Jesus from a different perspective and for a different purpose. Together, they present a comprehensive picture of Him as the king of Israel, (Matthew), the Servant of Yahweh, (Mark), the Son of Man, (Luke), and the Son of God, (John).

Each story begins with and at the point of its purpose. For Matthew, Jesus was born to be king of the Jews. For Mark, as a servant, Jesus’ origins and birth were not recorded. His story begins with His arrival on the public scene to carry out His servant role. For Luke, as the Son of Man, Jesus was fully human, the son of Mary, with all the attributes and characteristics of a human. Yet, He was more than human. He was the Son of Man, the Messianic figure of Daniel 7.

However, to John, Jesus was first and foremost, the Son of God, existing eternally with the Father before time. He was sent from the Father to live as an obedient Son, always connected and accountable to Him, doing the Father’s will, revealing the Father’s true nature to His people, and fulfilling His mission as sacrifice and redeemer.

So, John begins to write… “In the beginning…”

John 1:1-3 NLT
[1] “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. [2] He existed in the beginning with God. [3] God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him.”

In the beginning…the beginning of what? Echoing the first words of the Bible…

Genesis 1:1-2 NLT
[1] “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. [2] The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.”

John presents Jesus’ presence as the bridge between the Father and His creation. In a perfect expression of the unity between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the Three persons function together to produce the universe in all its splendour and detail. Assuming that the triune God created everything, the story of Genesis begins, not with nothing but with an earth that was created, then corrupted. This planet needed intervention to prepare it for human habitation.

In the Genesis 1 account of this process of restoration, the writer slips in two Hebrew letters, “aleph” and “tov”, in the middle of the first verse which are both untranslatable and seem to make no sense. The same two mysterious letters reappear many times throughout the original text of the Old Testament. The ancient rabbis, despite years of study, could not find a solution to the puzzle… until John reveals its secret to his readers.

Google says…

“In some interpretations, particularly within Messianic Judaism, the Aleph Tav is seen as a divine signature or placeholder, indicating the presence and authority of God or Yeshua throughout Scripture. This is often linked to passages in Isaiah and Revelation where God declares Himself to be the First and the Last.”

In the book of Revelation, which of course, John also wrote and which presents all of history as the unfolding story of Jesus, Jesus identifies Himself, at the beginning and the end of the book, as the Alpha and the Omega.

Revelation 1:8 NLT
[8] “I am the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and the end,” says the Lord God. “I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come—the Almighty One.”

Revelation 21:6 NLT
[6] “And he also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life.”

Revelation 22:13 NLT
[13] “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”

The writer to the Hebrews, likewise, presented Jesus as the initiator and completion of our faith, the Alpha and Omega…

Hebrews 12:2 NLT
[2] “We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith…”

So, the secret of the “aleph” and “tov” is hidden in plain sight.

Jesus, the main character in the Bible story, was present and active in creation, directing the preparation of God’s people in history, and active in redeeming His people from the consequences of their rebellion. His signature, “Aleph Tov” puts Him in the centre of the book as the driver of the story.

Jesus was a Hebrew and would have spoken, in the main, in Hebrew. The Hebrew equivalent of “apha” and “omega”, the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, are “aleph” and “tov”, the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet. John wrote in Greek, the common language of the Roman world. He would, therefore, have written aleph and tov as alpha and omega.

The implication is huge. Jesus’ signature, “Aleph Tov”, is repeatedly written into the pages of Scripture, reassuring God’s people throughout the ages that it He who is both author and subject of the book.

So, with confidence, John could begin his gospel record with the indesputable truth that the Jesus of history is, first, the God of creation. He was present and active with the Father and the Spirit, bringing forth the universe and shaping the earth to be the stage on which He played out the glorious plan of redemption.

The second person of the Trinity in eternity became the Son of God in history to put into action in history what the Trinity had planned in eternity.

TURN AROUND AND COME HOME

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There’s a word in the Bible that I think many of its non-Hebrew readers sadly misunderstand. The Hebrew word is “shuv” or spelt, alternatively, “shoob”, often translated “repent”.

TURN BACK/RETURN/RESTORE/REPENT: Shuv. Verb. (Strong’s 7725).

“The Hebrew word שׁוּב (shuv) primarily means “to turn back,” “to return,” or “to go back.” It can also signify repentance or turning away from sin. The noun form of “shuv” is teshuva (תְּשׁוּבָה), which is commonly translated as repentance.
Here’s a breakdown of the different aspects of “shuv”:

Return/Turn Back:
This is the most basic meaning, referring to a physical or metaphorical return to a place, state, or condition.

Repentance/Turning Away from Sin:
In a spiritual context, “shuv” signifies turning away from a sinful path and returning to God. This is a key concept in Jewish tradition, especially during the High Holy Days (Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur).

Movement:
The word can encompass various forms of movement, including turning, returning, going back, or even changing direction.

Source/Origin:
“Shuv” can also imply a return to one’s source or origin, as seen in Genesis 3:19 where God tells Adam he will return to the dust from which he was taken.”…

“No one and no thing in this universe can turn back what God has done. YHWH moves forward and creation moves forward. There is no turning back. YHWH is the Creator, the Rescuer, and the Saviour, and no one can take that from Him.

Nevertheless, YHWH gave humans the gift of choice. We can choose to follow after Him and we can choose to turn away from Him. No one can reverse what God has done, but we can certainly ignore it.”…

“Turn Back to God: Repent and Return
Shuv was a well used word for the prophets. It was the core of the repeated  message: Stop the way you are going and turn back to YHWH! If you continue on the bad path, no good will come of it:”

“Let the wicked abandon his way, and the unrighteous person his thoughts; and let him return [w-ya-shov] to YHWH, and He will have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” Isaiah 55:6-7

“All through history humans have done things to upset YHWH, but He has always been merciful to those who make an effort to follow Him. The message was quite simple. For those who turned back to Him, YHWH would turn His anger away from them:”

Hosea 14:1-4 (see also Isaiah 9:12-21)
“Return [shuva], Israel, to YHWH  your God, for you have stumbled because of your wrongdoing.”
“Take words with you and return [w-shuvu] to YHWH. Say to Him, “Take away all guilt and receive us graciously, so that we may present the fruit of our lips. Assyria will not save us, we will not ride on horses; nor will we say again, ‘Our god’ to the work of our hands; for in You the orphan finds mercy.”
“[YHWH:] I will heal their apostasy, I will love them freely, because My anger has turned away [shav] from them.”

(Sourced from https://hebrewwordlessons.com article “Shuv, restore, TURN BACK,” dated 30 May 2021)

The word “shuv” and its derivatives are used throughout the Old Testament in many contexts to convey the idea of returning to the Lord. Like sheep, His people continually wandered from the path, forsaking the Lord and His covenant and turning to the idols of their neighbours…and so He called “Come back to the path. Come back home.”

The concept of “shuv” in Scripture is bound up in the history of Israel’s journey from Egypt to the Promised Land. For forty years, God’s people journeyed through a vast, hostile, and uncharted wilderness, dependant only on the presence of God in the pillar of fire at night and cloud by day. There were landmarks along the way which also aided their passage through the unknown territory.

These Hebrew people understood language according to their experience, not abstract but from what was experiential, visible and tangible. So, they understood life as a journey through an uncharted wilderness, full of dangers and the unknown. To navigate their way, they would need to follow the landmarks and stay on the path, guided by the One whose presence was with them.

God had given them His covenant, His “Torah”, His instructions which were the “landmarks” they were to follow if they were to stay on the path. If they strayed from the path by disobeying His instructions, they were in danger of dying in the wilderness, lost and without provisions or directions for the journey.

A common misunderstanding of repentance in the western mind has an emotional content not found in the Hebrew word, the idea of feeling sorrow for sin, almost apologising to God for what we have done, as if that were enough to set the record straight.

To “shuv” then, was not to say sorry to God for being lost but to return to the path of obedience from which his people have strayed. This is the background to God’s plea through Isaiah’s words…

Isaiah 30:15 NIV
[15] “This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.”

To complete our Biblical understanding of repentance, we must also examine the Greek word, “metanoia”, translated “repentance”, used in the New Testament writings.

“In Greek, metanoia (μετάνοια) primarily means “a change of mind” or “repentance”. It signifies a fundamental transformation of one’s perspective, a turning away from old ways of thinking and acting, and a reorientation towards a new way of life. In a theological context, it often refers to a spiritual conversion or a turning towards God.” (Google definition)

Before we can return from the wilderness of rebellion and disobedience, we must be convinced that God is right and we are wrong. This demands a choice, a deliberate change of mind about our state before God…then follows our return to the path of obedience to God’s instructions, a return from darkness to light.

So, on the day of Pentecost, Peter called the Jews assembled from every part of the Roman Empire to celebrate the ingathering of the harvest, to “shuv” by giving attention to the truth about Jesus, their Messiah, changing their minds about Him, and returning to the full revelation of God’s mercy through Him.

Acts 2:37-38 NIV
[37] “When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” [38] Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Since, in the course of life from early childhood, we have gathered ideas and beliefs about ourselves and God that are wrong and misleading, repentance isn’t just a once-off decision but a lifestyle of change. Every time we encounter a conflict between error and truth, we return to the path by exchanging our false beliefs for the truth we learn in Jesus. It’s an ongoing process as we grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Sometimes, the revelation of truth and the joyful transformation it produces may be the reason for a flood of tears but tears are not repentance. They are the fruit of repentance, a grateful response to God’s mercy that has not condemned but redeemed the reoentant heart.