Monthly Archives: February 2014

Knowing The Father

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 KNOWING THE FATHER 

“Then they asked Him, ‘Where is your father?’ ‘You do not know me or my Father,’ Jesus replied. ‘If you knew me, you would know my Father also.’ He spoke these words while teaching in the temple courts near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no one seized Him because His hour had not yet come.” John 8:18-20 (NIV).

“If you knew me, you would know my Father also,” is a loaded statement.

Of course. There are levels of knowing. Acquaintance is the first and most superficial level — “Do you know so-and-so?”  “Yes, I met him at the…” That person is no longer a total stranger. I have met him, seen his face and been introduced to him. When someone speaks of him, I know who they are talking about. I know him.

The second level of knowing goes much deeper. I get to know someone when I spend time with him. Perhaps he is a work colleague or even a friend. We talk; we share information about one another; we see one another’s reactions in various circumstances and can even predict how that person will respond when this or that happens.

But not even friends know me in my home environment. I am able to conceal things from them that my family know about because they do not see me in my most vulnerable moments. My family and I live together in much closer and more intimate contact. I cannot hide the quirks and idiosyncrasies of my personality and behaviour from them. They know me and I know them.

The deepest of human knowing happens between a husband and wife. They live together in the most intimate union that humans can share. According to Genesis 2:25, it is God’s intention that the union between husband and wife be the most intimate union possible to human beings. “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife and they become one flesh.” Genesis 2:25 (NIV).

The Hebrew word yada, translated know, has several different meanings depending on the context. In the context of Genesis 2:25 it means “dedicating ourselves to a person so that we can engage them with our love and affection.”

Now look at Proverbs 12:10: “The righteous know (yada) the needs of their animals but the mercy of the wicked is cruel.” In this context the word yada conveys the idea of the good person “understanding the needs of the people around them and taking care of them.”

In Jeremiah 22:15-16 the prophet delivers a scathing rebuke on King Shallum, the son of the good king, Josiah of Judah. Shallum had acted selfishly, neglecting the poor and needy and exploiting others to build his kingdom. Here the prophet blends the meanings of the word yada into one.

“‘Does it make you a king to have more and more cedar? Did not your father have food and drink? He did what was right and just, so all went well with him. He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?’ says the Lord.”

The Lord tells the king what it truly means to know (yada) Him; to do what is right; to show mercy to the poor and needy; to exemplify good and righteous character. To know God is faithfully to live out our covenant relationship with the Lord in every area of our lives. ( www.yadadrop.com/about/what-does-yada-mean).

Is it any wonder, then, that Jesus emphatically told these humbug religious leaders that they did not know God? How could they when they were the opposite of everything that knowing God meant? They refused to recognize in Jesus a visible replica of His Father. His goodness infuriated them. They saw Him only as a threat to be eliminated, but their hands were tied until it was His time!

Do you know God?

Truth Is Its Own Witness

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TRUTH IS ITS OWN WITNESS 

“The Pharisees challenged Him, ‘Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid.’ Jesus answered, ‘Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I came from or where I am going. You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. But if I do judge, my decisions are true because I am not alone. I stand with the Father who sent me. In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true. I am the one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father who sent me.'” John 8:13-18 (NIV).

The Pharisees must have learned their lesson well. They had tried to catch Jesus out by bringing a woman caught in adultery and demanding that He authorize her to be stoned. According to the Law of Moses, stoning was the penalty for adultery. Jesus applied another law to rescue the woman from their cruel plot — the very same law that they were now appealing to, the law of two witnesses.

They pointed fingers at the woman while they were equally guilty of sin. When Jesus allowed their consciences to speak against them, they left and the woman was without witnesses against her and He was able to show her mercy and set her free. Now they accused Jesus of being His own witness.

Jesus was not fazed by their accusation. He knew that truth did not need witnesses. Human beings can never claim to know the truth in absolute terms because our witness is flawed by our faulty understanding and opinions. At best we can only judge by what we think we know or have seen. Jesus, on the other hand, IS the truth — His judgment is perfect, based on perfect knowledge because He is the embodiment of truth. Therefore His witness is true.

Jesus knew both His origin and His destiny. He knew that He had been sent by the Father and was returning to the Father. Because the Pharisees rejected Him, they did not believe that He had come from God. Therefore they kept asking, ‘Who are you and where do you come from?’

Jesus had many witnesses that testified to the validity of His claims. John the Baptist bore witness to Him as “the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” The Father audibly acknowledged Him at His baptism; the Holy Spirit visibly descended on Him; and His miracles testified that He was from God. Only Nicodemus, of all the Pharisees recognized that there was something different about this rabbi. He had both authority and power that no other rabbi had ever displayed. His conclusion was that God was with Him.

Unbelief is a powerful and effective block against the truth. On the other hand, faith is the only link we have with the knowledge of the truth. Faith opens the highway between us and God. Our faith is so precious to God that He continually tests us to strengthen and verify that our faith is genuine.

“In all this you greatly rejoice, though for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith — of greater worth than gold, which perishes ever though refined by fire — may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed.” 1 Peter 1:6, 7(NIV).

How often, in our ignorance of God’s ways, do we attribute our trials to the devil instead of recognizing the hand of the Father working in us to strengthen our confidence in Him. How else can faith grow and become strong if we have no opportunity to exercise our trust in God when we cannot see one step ahead of us?

Because of the Pharisees’ hidden agenda, they refused to receive the witness to Jesus that was all around them if they had only wanted to believe. It comes down to one thing again — choice. They chose not to believe because Jesus interfered with their unholy ambitions.

We are also faced with the same choice. We do not need more proof that Jesus is the Son of God. We need to choose whether we want to be part of His kingdom or continue to be part of the kingdom of this world which is destined to perish along with everything that is not eternal.

Water And Light

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WATER AND LIGHT 

“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.'” John 8:12 (NIV).

Although the interlude which records Jesus’ encounter with the woman caught in adultery doesn’t seem to fit, it apparently happened in the temple while He was teaching the people. The water ceremony which we spoke about in a previous post, was part of the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles. The lighting of the candelabras took place on the second day of the feast.

“According to the Mishnah (part of the oral tradition of the rabbis), gigantic candelabras stood within the court of the women. Each of the four golden candelabras is said to have been 50 cubits high. A cubit is somewhere between 18 and 22 inches, so we’re talking about candelabras that were about 75 feet tall! Each candelabrum had four branches, and at the top of every branch there was a large bowl. Four young men bearing 10 gallon pitchers of oil would climb ladders to fill the four golden bowls on each candelabrum. And then the oil in those bowls was ignited.

“Picture sixteen beautiful blazes leaping toward the sky from these golden lamps. Remember that the Temple was on a hill above the rest of the city, so the glorious glow was a sight for the entire city to see. In addition to the light, Levitical musicians played their harps, lyres, cymbals and trumpets to make joyful music to the Lord. What a glorious celebration! The light was to remind the people of how God’s Shekinah glory had once filled His Temple. But in the person of Jesus, God’s glory was once again present in that Temple. And He used that celebration to announce that very fact. He was teaching in the court of women just after the Feast, perhaps standing right next to those magnificent candelabras when He declared to all who were gathered there,”

(http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/BibleStudyAndTheology/jewishroots/Feast_of_Tabernacles_Jews_For_Jesus_David_Brickner.aspx?option=print)

Although many of the Jewish leaders were scathing about Jesus’ apparent origin in Galilee (although they failed to realize that He was born in Bethlehem as the Scripture had predicted), God had promised that a great light would shine out of Galilee (Isaiah 9:1,2).

The people were unwittingly using ceremonies and symbols which they did not understand while the fulfilment of their symbolic expectation was right there among them! They were celebrating their Messianic hope with physical light while Jesus was offering them a new life of freedom from the demands of selfishness and sin (darkness) so that they could live the lives He intended for them, living lovingly and generously towards others (light).

“‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.'” John 8:12 (NIV).

There was pain in the heart of Jesus over the spiritual leaders of the nation who refused to recognize and come to Him as the light. He was inviting the people to set aside all their efforts to please God by following rules and rituals. God had set out His teaching (torah) in His law but they had found it impossible to fulfil all His requirements. The leaders laid a heavy burden on the people through their yoke of legalism.

Jesus offered them a better way. ‘Follow me,’ He said, ‘and you will never walk in darkness.’ He told them that He had not come to do away with the law but to show them how to fulfil it. In His offer of “living water” there was a promise that the Holy Spirit would be in them, like the water they drank every day to quench their thirst, to give them life and enable them the follow Him.

If they followed His way of life, living for others instead of for themselves, their lives would be filled with His light, the joy and peace of God that would bring them satisfaction and fulfilment instead of dissatisfaction and discontent.

He still invites us to follow Him!

 

Guilty!

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GUILTY!

“They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing Him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with His finger. When they kept on questioning Him, He straightened up and said to them, ‘Let anyone who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.’ Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left with the woman still standing there.” John 8:6-9 (NIV).

Jesus was in a sticky situation again, so they thought. He needed time to work this one out

In spite of all the speculation, no one knows why Jesus wrote on the ground or what He wrote. Does it matter? Perhaps He didn’t write anything. Perhaps He was practising His letters? Perhaps He was just doodling to let the woman’s accusers hear the sound of their own voices. Perhaps He was planning His defense. Perhaps a little bit of everything.

The religious leaders waited with baited breath to hear His response. They thought they had Him. They were gearing up to arrest Him on the spot for being a law-breaker. They had rocks in their hands, ready to carry out their ruthless sentence against the woman. They were not ready for His response!

Jesus stood up and looked at each one. He caught the gloating, blood-thirsty gleam in their eyes. He spoke directly to them. ‘Fair enough,’ He said, ‘go ahead and hurl your stones if you are not guilty.’ Then He bent down and carried on writing. He heard the crunch of sandals in the dirt. He heard the swish of robes as they slunk away, one by one. Then it was quiet.

He looked up. The woman was still lying on the ground, shielding her face with her arms.  He stood up and lifted her to her feet. “Jesus straightened up and asked her, ‘Woman where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ ‘No one, sir,’ she said. ‘Then neither do I condemn you,’ Jesus declared. ‘Go now and leave your life of sin.'”  John 8:10-11 (NIV).

What had Jesus just done to save the day? He did the one thing the religious experts had forgotten. The law demanded that there be two or three witnesses to validate an accusation against an offender. He knew that He was bound by the Law of Moses to have her stoned if there were at least two witnesses who could corroborate her accusers’ story. But He also knew that, without witnesses He could show mercy and set her free.

He simply made the witnesses go away! How better to get them at their own game than to let their consciences do the work. He was willing to let them carry out their sentence if they were without sin or even perhaps just this sin. Who knows but that they were all part of the conspiracy and their consciences would not allow them to throw their stones at her knowing that they were just as guilty as she. As “holy” as they thought they were, they could not bring themselves to claim that they were without sin. That would make them liars to compound their guilt. They had no option but to leave!

Very smart, Jesus! How long would it take for these guys to learn that they were taking on more than they could handle when they took Jesus on. No matter what strategy they tried, they could not outwit the Son of God because He stood for truth and truth can never be overcome.

Jesus and the woman were left alone. It was His opportunity to apply His yoke to her as well. Many others had learned, through His compassion, mercy and forgiveness that the God He represented was full of kindness and love. There was no accusation, condemnation or rebuke — only forgiveness and counsel. ‘Woman, I am giving you a brand new start. Take your opportunity and don’t blow it.’

The woman must have gone home, washed up, cleaned up and looked up, free from her burden of guilt and energised by the power of a great love to start a new life. Her encounter with Jesus would never be forgotten. She shed her old life like a butterfly sheds its cocoon, determined to live up to the words of her deliverer.

What about you?

Caught In The Act!

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CAUGHT IN THE ACT 

“But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn He appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around Him, and He sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?’  John 8:2-5 (NIV).

How convenient! Just when they needed some way of catching Jesus out on some (perceived) breach of the Law, one (or some) of them “happened” to come across this woman in a little liaison. Would these guys stop at nothing to nail Him? Makes you wonder, doesn’t it! Was this woman part of their trap? Were they willing to sacrifice her to get their way? And what of the male member of the conspiracy? Where was he? It takes two to tango.

In this whole debacle, what kind of a god were the religious leaders representing? Was this the God who rescued them from slavery in Egypt; the God who led them; cared for them; protected them; fed them and entered into a marriage covenant with them in the wilderness and gave them the Promised Land? Is this the God who taught them about loving Him and loving their neighbour as themselves? Was God’s Law intended to turn them into monsters or to show the world what kind of God He really is, gracious, compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love and faithfulness?

Jesus was, along with rabbis Hillel and Shammai, a rabbi with authority. How often did the common people not wonder at His authority because He showed, them by His words and works, the true nature of God, and they marvelled. The other rabbis perpetuated the tradition of a God of law and justice who wreaked vengeance on those who stepped outside the Law, especially the way they interpreted the Law. They made a fetish of the Law and twisted the nature of God to suit their distorted version.

Jesus’ yoke was different. He portrayed a God of mercy and compassion, one who was on the side of the poor and oppressed. He was not out to destroy but to restore. He had forgiveness and mercy for those who repented and healing for the sick in body and mind. His kingdom was built on love, God’s limitless and unconditional love for all people, and man’s love for each other because all barriers had been removed.

The Jewish leaders hated Jesus because He made God too nice. It didn’t suit them because a “nice” God took away their power to control the people through fear and stripped away their cloak of hypocrisy.

How insensitive these men were! Imagine them dragging this poor, half naked, wretch  in front of Jesus, flinging her down on the ground and loudly demanding that He pronounce His “Guilty!” verdict on her or else…! ‘Come on, Jesus. We caught her IN THE ACT! Moses said we must stone her. What do you say?’ They were confident that they had Him. If He showed mercy to her, He would be deliberately acting against the Law of Moses. If He agreed to their stoning her, He would be applying their yoke, not His own. He would be going against His own authority and bowing to theirs.

Was Jesus caught off guard? Would He have an answer that would vindicate Him and be merciful to the poor victim who lay trembling on the ground, waiting to hear her fate?

I can imagine the self-satisfied grins on the faces of these men as they looked at one another in triumph. ‘We’ve got Him now,’ they must have thought. ‘There’s no way that He can wriggle out of this one!’ In full view of their audience of people eager to listen to the gracious teaching of the rabbi whom they admired and followed with expectation and enthusiasm, they waited for their answer.

But they didn’t know Jesus. He knew exactly how their minds worked. There was one small part of the Law they had forgotten….