Monthly Archives: July 2021

AN EFFECTIVE BARRIER TO TRUTH

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AN EFFECTIVE BARRIER TO TRUTH

“Finally, the temple guards went to the chief priests and the Pharisees, who asked them, ‘Why didn’t you bring Him?’ ‘No one ever spoke the way this man does,’ the guards replied, ‘You mean He deceived you also?’ the Pharisees retorted. ‘Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in Him? No, but this mob that knows nothing of the law – there is a curse on them.’

“Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, ‘Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?’ They replied, ‘Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.'”

“Then they all went home.” John 7:45-53 (NIV).

Ugh! These men are obnoxious!

They sent temple guards to arrest Jesus, but the guards could not bring themselves to do it. His words fascinated and mesmerized them. They had never heard anyone speak as Jesus spoke. They returned to the religious rulers and Pharisees empty-handed who were so sure of themselves that they dismissed them with withering contempt.

These men held themselves up as the measure of truth. Since none of their number had believed in Jesus (perhaps Nicodemus had kept his night-time visit to Jesus a secret), of course Jesus was a trickster and a fraud! The temple guards were taken in by Him because they were just part of the gullible mob, according to them

Nicodemus put in a rather weak protest, appealing to his colleagues at least to give Jesus a hearing, but his was a lone voice trying to get a fair deal for Jesus. His plea was swept aside with the same arrogant dismissal as the guards received.

Why did these men stick so tenaciously to their opinion of Jesus that they were not even prepared to give Him a hearing?

Their first argument was the typical everybody’s-doing-it reason. Since all of them (except Nicodemus, and he was of no consequence to them), dismissed Jesus as a fraud, that made them right. Their confidence was based on the flimsy premise that majority opinion must be the truth.

Unfortunately, in God’s eyes this kind of reasoning does not hold water. Even if the whole world chooses to believe lies, that does not make it the truth. Billions of people follow false religions, sincerely believing that they are right and even being willing to murder to defend their beliefs but that still does not make lies the truth.

Secondly, they clung to their superficial reason for rejecting Jesus because they refused to investigate the evidence. What were they afraid of? Would they have changed their minds about Him if they found out the truth? I don’t think so. This was not about Jesus; this was about them. It would take honesty and humility to listen to Jesus and to take Him seriously and they were not prepared to do that because they would have to forfeit their status in the community and bow to Him.

We may not think we are like the Pharisees but deep in every heart there lurks the pride that cuts us off from God. “God opposes the proud but shows favour to the humble.”  Humility is the only attitude that opens the door to revelation from God. Jesus told His hearers that, if anyone genuinely wants to know the truth, he will be able to discern the source of His teaching – from God or from Himself.

Once again, this conflict opens up new understanding about God, about us and about the depravity of our own hearts. My plea is that we put aside our right to be right and examine the evidence. We have only one source of truth – the Word of God. He has graciously given us an infallible point of reference to keep us on track. If we are humble enough to say, ‘I don’t know,’ we will be on the way to finding out the truth.

Let’s use it!

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

ASSUMING IS DANGEROUS

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ASSUMING IS DANGEROUS

“On hearing His words, some of the people said, ‘Surely this man is the Prophet.’ Others said, ‘He is the Messiah.’ Still others asked, ‘How can the Messiah come from Galilee? Does not the Scripture say that the Messiah will come from David’s descendants and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?’ Thus, the people were divided because of Jesus. Some wanted to seize Him, but no one laid a hand on Him.” John 7:40-45 (NIV).

Just as Jesus said it would be!

He once asked His disciples what people were saying about Him. It was the same there as here – divided opinions. Some said this, some said that and others said something else. There were those who recognized that there was something different about Him and were willing to go as far as to acknowledge that He could be the Prophet Moses spoke about in Deuteronomy 18:15, “The Lord will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to Him.”

Others saw someone greater than just a prophet. They were prepared to go as far as to say that He was the Messiah. Did that mean that they understood the nature of the Messiah? I don’t think so. Like the disciples, they had their hopes pinned on someone who would rid them of the Romans and ease their load of everyday struggles just to make a living and survive.

The majority dismissed Him as a fake and a deceiver and would have grabbed Him and handed Him over to the authorities if they could. Their argument was that He did not measure up to Old Testament prophecy, or so they thought. Had they only dug a little deeper, they would have been shocked to learn that He was the perfect fit to the prophetic blueprint which they thought they knew so well.

Their reason for dismissing Him was that He came from Galilee. Wrong! That may have been where He grew up, but it was not His birthplace as we all know so well. And, unknown to them, He was of the royal line of David. Galilee also featured in the prophetic blueprint. “Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past He humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphthali, but in the future He will honour Galilee of the nations, by Way of the sea, beyond the Jordan.” Isaiah 9:1 (NIV).

In Isaiah’s magnificent prophetic vision ,he saw the coming of a child (Isaiah 9:6) who would bring light to His people as far afield as Galilee, the northern province that bordered on Gentile territory and was constantly subject to invasion from the north. He would bring in the righteous rule of God, carrying the government on His shoulders and bringing light and peace where there had been darkness and war.

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.” Isaiah 9:6, 7 (NIV).

O yes, they knew the Scriptures. They knew what the Messiah would do, but they just could not connect Jesus to that glorious expectation and make a match! How tragic that they set their sights on a political deliverer and failed to see in Jesus someone much greater than that.

It is unfortunate that many believers have the same tendency to see Jesus as the panacea for all their ills. Instead of going to the Bible for an accurate picture of who He is, they make assumptions and place expectations on Him that He will not fulfil. This perspective is dangerous because it leads to disappointment and disillusionment which hurts them and reflects back on Him.

Jesus did not come to give us cushy lives. He came to reveal the nature of the Father and to reconcile us to the Father through His shed blood so that we can get back on track with the Father’s cosmic plan. The ultimate end is that the whole universe will, in union with Him, reflect the Father’s glory.

It’s all about Him, not about us.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

CHANNELS OF LIVING WATER

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CHANNELS OF LIVING WATER

“On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within him.'” John 7:37-38 (NIV).

What an invitation! What a promise!

On the Great Day of the feast, the seventh of eight days, when the Water Ceremony was being carried out by the priest (water drawn from the pool of Siloam was poured into a basin as a drink offering to the Lord in thanksgiving for life-giving water and a prayer for rain to water their crops), Jesus shouted out, ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. As Scripture has said, rivers of living water (mayim chayim) will flow from within him!’ 

The focus of the worshippers was on the water that was always scarce and was vital for life. Once more Jesus, with His attention on the hearts of men, was offering them a source of living water which would satisfy their unconscious inner thirst and connect them to the perennial Source of real life. What He offered was not only for them but through them to quench the thirst of others around them as well. They would become a conduit of life, not just a reservoir.

Imagine the reaction of the people! This roaming rabbi was at it again, trying to draw the people’s attention away from their physical lives and refocusing on their broken connection with their Source. Like all of us, the people of Jesus’ day were more interested in getting their own needs met than in doing what God wanted them to do – to be channels through whom He could meet the needs of others.

Whatever our needs are, God’s way to meet them is for us to look for someone else to bless. Jesus assured us that our Father knows our needs before we ask Him. Why does He allow us to have needs? It’s His way of creating a current of resources that will keep circulating instead of our becoming a reservoir that will, like the hoarded manna, become stale and polluted. 

Jesus put it in a nutshell like this: “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured to you.” Luke 6:38 (NIV).

It takes a powerful work of God, through the Holy Spirit to change us from self-centred, selfish people to people who care about the needs of others more than their own. What was Jesus offering His people?

“By this He meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not yet been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.'” John 7:39 (NIV).

This is not about being baptized in the Spirit so that you can become a spiritual “giant”, wowing people with your power and “holiness”, drawing attention to yourself as some privileged super-saint with supernatural ability to do spectacular things.

How tragic that in many streams in the church today, the Holy Spirit has been reduced to magic and goose bumps. Jesus insisted that the greatest person is the one who can come down to the level of a child and treat him with respect and dignity because of his potential; the one who can go to the tap and give a drink of water to a thirsty beggar because he was also created in the image of God.

It takes the power of the Holy Spirit to remove a stony heart and replace it with a heart of flesh. Satan can counterfeit miracles, but he cannot counterfeit the character of Jesus.

If we are hungry to become a truly righteous person, one who is generous towards others, and thirsty for a new heart of mercy and compassion instead of selfishness and greed, Jesus is the bread of life and the living water. He will give you in abundance what you crave!

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

HIS YOKE IS EASY

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HIS YOKE IS EASY

“The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about Him. Then the chief priests and Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest Him. Jesus said, ‘I am with you for only a short time, and then I am going to the one who sent me. You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am you cannot come.’ The Jews said to one another, ‘Where does this man intend to go that we cannot find Him? Will He go where our people live scattered among the Greeks and teach the Greeks?’

“‘What did He mean when He said, ‘When you look for me you will not find me,’ and ‘Where I am, you cannot come’?'” John 7:32-35 (NIV).

Jesus was such a cool customer and the religious leaders were so flustered! They did not realise that they couldn’t arrest Him; try as they may, because His time had not yet come.

His cryptic words had them really confused. They did not like the people’s interest in Him. The situation was getting dangerous and they were losing their power and influence over them. It had to be stopped and yet they could not get Him into their clutches.

What was Jesus telling these spiritual leaders of Israel? Compare His words with the words He spoke to His disciples in the Upper Room on the eve of His death.

“‘I am going to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you may also be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.'” John 14:2b-4 (NIV).

Why did He say to the Jews, ‘Where I am you cannot come,’? And yet He told His disciples that He would come and take them to where He was? It all sounds so confusing unless we understand the difference between the reception the Jews gave Jesus and the attitude of the disciples.

It’s about that little word, “believe” again. Believing is more than giving intellectual assent to a fact. In Hebrew thought, to believe something intellectually without acting on it was a useless and meaningless exercise. To believe meant to take seriously and act on what one believes. To believe what Jesus said was to take Him seriously and do what He said.

How many “believers” are there who give intellectual assent to Jesus as Lord but continue to live their lives as though He does not exist? This attitude has sullied the credibility of the church and misrepresented what it is, a living organism, the body of Christ, not an organisation. Jesus gave us two criteria for credibility in the eyes of the world; the love we have for one another that proves that we are His disciples and our unity which witnesses to the fact that He was sent by the Father.

Jesus did not call us to be rigid followers of doctrine but loyal followers of our Master. He gave His life rather than break the unity between Himself and the Father and yet so many of us are too busy fighting to be right than following Him. There are three responsibilities of the believer that will make us credible followers of Jesus:

1. To protect love;

2. To preserve unity;

3. To promote contentment.

I yearn for a return to the simplicity of Jesus’ invitation: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew11:28-30 (NIV).

He is telling us, the young, inexperienced “oxen” to join Him, the old, experienced “ox” in His yoke (His way of doing life) so that He can teach us how to live burden-free in a relationship of loving union and submission to Him!

The Jews refused. Will you believe and be joined to Jesus?

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

THEY SHUT THE DOOR!

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THEY SHUT THE DOOR!

“At this point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, ‘Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill? Here He is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to Him. Have the authorities really concluded that He is the Messiah?'” John 7:25, 26 (NIV).

No, they have not! They still intended to kill Him but when He appeared in public, teaching in the temple; they had no excuse and no way to arrest Him without discrediting themselves. It appears that the people feared the Jews (John’s name for the Jewish religious authorities), and the Jews feared the people!

“‘But we know where this man is from; when the Messiah comes, no one will know where He is from.'” John 7:27 (NIV).

These people thought they knew the origin of Jesus, but did they? He may have been born in Bethlehem and raised in Nazareth but that was not His origin. John has already informed his readers that the Word was from God, but these people refused to believe Jesus’ testimony about Himself. All the evidence points towards an origin beyond His human birth but they were left with questions that they could not answer.

“Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, ‘Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own authority, but He who sent me is true. You do not know Him, but I know Him because I am from Him and He sent me.'” John 7:28, 29 (NIV).

Such is the power of self-deception that, although His hearers knew deep in their hearts that He was speaking the truth, they refused to acknowledge it.Since they refused to acknowledge Him, their spirits were unable to connect with the Father and to receive the confirmation that Jesus was telling the truth. All their accusations only served to harden their hearts even more and shut them out from “knowing” the Father.

“At this they tried to seize Him, but no one laid a hand on Him because His hour had not yet come.” John 7:30 (NIV).

“His hour had not yet come” is a recurring phrase in John’s Gospel. John was acutely aware that Jesus’ times were in the Father’s hands. He came close to being killed on many occasions during His public ministry, but each time He simply walked away unscathed because there was an appointed time for Him to die, and that time was not yet.

How comforting to know that our times, too, are in His hands! Our destiny may not be the same as Jesus’ destiny but each of us has our allotted time, already written in God’s book (Psalm 139:16), and it is up to us, in obedience to God’s ways, to live out our time in order to fulfil our destiny.

Of course, we can cut our time short through foolish choices and destructive behaviour, but that is not God’s fault. Submission to Him and obedience to His instructions will qualify us to have the physical stamina to complete His plan for our lives.

“Still, many in the crowd believed in Him. They said, ‘When the Messiah comes, will He perform more signs than this man?'” John 7: 31 (NIV).

At least there were a few sensible people in the crowd! Their faith may have been superficial at this stage but they were on the right track. Before the end of His life, many more would fall by the wayside, offended because they too, like His disciples, refused to pay attention to what He was telling them.

People walked away because He did not live up to their expectations. How unfair is that! But it happens all the time. We put expectations on other people of which they are unaware and which are often beyond their capabilities to fulfil, and then we are disappointed and we judge them because they were not or did not do what we expected of them. How much better to give people the benefit of the doubt! This is part of the generous spirit which Jesus calls us to show towards people because we are to be mirrors of Him.

One of the reasons for being comfortable and safe with the Father is because of His generosity towards us. We can never disappoint Him because He knows us completely. It’s up to us to treat others like He treats us.

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.