Monthly Archives: July 2021

RELIGION OR RIGHTEOUSNESS

Bible Study, ,

RELIGION OR RIGHTEOUSNESS

“Whoever speaks on his own does so to gain personal glory, but He who seeks the glory of the one who sent Him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about Him.

“‘Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?’

“‘You are demon-possessed,’ the crowd answered. ’Who is trying to kill you?’ Jesus said to them, ‘I did one miracle, and you are all amazed. Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a boy in the Sabbath. Now if a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you so angry with me for healing a man’s whole body on the Sabbath? Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.'” John 7:18-24 (NIV).

Jesus had them! He saw right into their hearts and put His finger on the real issue. These people had their own agenda for “keeping” the law of Moses. In other words, the law of Moses was their excuse for following a religion that was to their own advantage.

Let’s look at it carefully. The first thing He exposed was their motive. It was definitely not to do God’s will. Had that been their intention, they would have recognized Him as God’s Son and representative and His teaching as the truth from God. What was their motive, then? They enjoyed the limelight and the accolades they received from their admiring followers. They loved being put on a pedestal to be honoured for their “holy” lives!

They were not interested in the real reason for God’s teaching – to replicate Him on earth so that the surrounding nations would have a picture of their God. They hated Jesus for exposing the falseness of their claims to be followers of Moses. If they were true followers of Moses, they would not have hatred and murder in their hearts.

They vehemently denied His accusation that they were out to kill Him, even accusing Him of being demon-possessed. They resorted to character-assassination to cover up their own evil intentions.

Jesus went right to the core of their wicked hearts. They circumcised a baby boy on the Sabbath because it was what the law required and they did no count it as “work”. However, when Jesus rescued a paralysed man from the misery of his imprisonment and gave him back his life, they pounced on Him for breaking the Sabbath. What was the difference?

They saw circumcision as a requirement of the law but they ignored the equally important requirement of showing mercy to those in need. Circumcision was not as powerful a revelation of God’s character or as demanding of themselves as was kindness to a fellow human being. It was the goodness of God revealed by Jesus through His compassion for people that they could not stomach.

There are two things that offend people — goodness and wickedness. Goodness offends evil people and wickedness offends good people! Behind the rage that was stirred in the hearts of these Jewish religious leaders was the real reason for their were so offense at Jesus’ action; He was good and they hated Him for it because they were self-deceived.

Self-deception is the worst form of deception because people believe their own lies and live according to what they believe. The Jews believed that it was more important not to do what they classified as “work” on the Sabbath, which took on ridiculous and petty proportions, than to show mercy to someone in need. This was a complete reversal of the law and the heart of God.

Herein lies the difference between religion and the kingdom of God. Religion focuses on performance even to the point of killing others if they do not comply. Jesus showed us that the kingdom of God is about living in unity with God in loving and caring for all of creation, including all people, even our enemies. True righteousness is doing the right thing to everyone in need regardless of colour or culture.

Jesus did! And so should we!

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.

IT’S THE CHOICE THAT COUNTS

Bible Study, ,

IT’S THE CHOICE THAT COUNTS

“However, after His brothers had left for the festival, He went also, not publicly but in secret. Now at the festival the Jewish leaders were watching for Jesus and asking, ‘Where is He?’ Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about Him. Some said, ‘He is a good man.’ Others replied, ‘No, He deceives the people.’ But no one would say anything publicly about Him for fear of the leaders.” John 7:10-13 (NIV).

Jesus was certainly the centre of attention and the talk of the town!

He knew what He was doing when He made it clear to His taunting brothers that He would not be going to Jerusalem at the same time as they were. He knew the Jewish leaders were looking for Him. It was not wise to make a public appearance because there was no knowing what they were planning.

Not only were the leaders against Him but the crowd was also divided. Those who had received ministry from Him in one way or another would definitely have spoken well of Him. Those who were influenced by their leaders would have echoed their misgivings. They muttered among themselves, not daring to make their opinions public in case they fell foul of the big shots who had spies everywhere.

Jesus went to Jerusalem when the crowds on the road had dispersed, but He kept a low profile in the city until the appropriate moment when He would reveal Himself. He was not afraid but He was wise. He didn’t want to start a riot prematurely.

“Not until halfway through the festival did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. The Jews there were amazed and asked, ‘How did this man get such learning without being taught?'” John 7:14,15 (NIV).

It was the rabbi’s job to teach. There was nothing unusual about Jesus gathering a crowd around Him as He began to speak about the kingdom of God. Perhaps there were other rabbis teaching in the temple as well. What the Jews could not understand was the authority with which He spoke compared with the other rabbis’ constant reference to the ancients. ‘Rabbi So-and-so said this and Rabbi So-and-so said that,’ and so it went on.

Jesus simply said, ‘This is what the ancients said, but I say…’ and they could not understand the difference. What right had He to speak with such authority so that what He said put paid to all debate? They assumed that as a village lad from Nazareth in Galilee of all places, He would have had minimal education and yet He had the status and recognized authority of a rabbi and carried out the function of a rabbi. It was His authority they could not get over because no other rabbi spoke as He did.

The reason they could not fathom His authority was that they refused to believe its source. Jesus constantly affirmed His connection with the Father. “Jesus answered, ‘My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me. Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.'” John 7:16 (NIV).

That’s it! It all comes down to choices, once again. Jesus was saying, ‘What is your heart attitude towards God? If you sincerely desire to be connected to Him and to do what He wants, you will have no trouble discerning who I am and what my source is.’ 

God promises that He will “reward those who earnestly seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:6b). The Father does not reveal Himself to curiosity seekers. He is not building a fan club. He gives His attention to those who put aside their own interests to listen to Him and to find out His mind for their lives. He leaves the initiative to us to make the first move towards Him in response to His drawing. There is no value in waiting for God to draw near to us when He has done all He can to pave the way for us to approach Him.

8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. James 4:8

The Jews who constantly confronted and discredited Jesus would never experience the wonder of God’s revelation of Himself to them. It was their unbelief that effectively shut the door in their faces to the possibility of knowing God. They had religion but they did not know God.

Faith in God’s word opens the door to everything He has made available to us in Christ.

Have you drawn near to Him?

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.

THE RESURRECTION IS COMING!

Bible Study, ,

THE RESURRECTION IS COMING!

“After this, Jesus went around in Galilee. He did not want to go about in Judea because the Jewish leaders were looking for a way to kill Him. But when the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles was near, Jesus’ brothers said to Him, ‘Leave Galilee and go to Judea, so that your disciples may see the works you do. No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.’ For even His own brothers did not believe in Him.

“Therefore, Jesus told them, ‘My time is not yet here; for you any time will do. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that its works are evil. You go to the festival. I am not going up to this festival because my time has not yet fully come.’ After He had said this, He stayed in Galilee.” John 7:1-9 (NIV).

It must have been tough for Jesus to have been rejected by His own brothers!

However, it was to be expected because they were part of “His own who did not receive Him.” It was probably the old story of being offended by His goodness. They grew up with Him. He was their flesh and blood. How could they accept that He was not a mere human being like they were?

Their words were not a suggestion but a taunt. One can read their hostility between the lines. Their words were accusing, revealing and a challenge to Him. ‘If you are who you say you are, go public and prove it. You have a golden opportunity to go to the festival in Jerusalem where everybody who is anybody will be gathered.’ Every word was full of venom and unbelief.

Jesus did not seem to be offended. He simply explained why it was not appropriate for Him to go to Jerusalem then. The Jewish leaders would be looking out for Him. Perhaps they even hoped to grab Him and assassinate Him before the crowd arrived so that He would have no opportunity to wow the people and win them over.

His brothers were free to come and go as they pleased because they were not controversial public figures. They were not living according to a strict timetable as He was. No one was watching out for them with murderous intent. They were not hated for exposing evil.

Jesus was smart. He knew that if He arrived in Jerusalem before or during the festival, His enemies would either waylay Him or stir up a riot against Him. Lynching was not God’s plan. Jesus had to be tried, found guilty and offered publicly as a sacrifice at the exact moment when the slaughtering of the Passover lambs began. His guilt and execution had to be a decision of the representatives of both the Jewish and Gentile world. He had to be offered up for the whole world.

Jesus confined His ministry to Galilee for the moment where He was out of sight of the members of the ruling party. The Pharisees were everywhere, no doubt spying on Him and reporting back to their superiors, but the common people were happy to have Him around as long as He ministered to the sick and demon-possessed and taught them about the kingdom of God.

Contrary to the undertones of His brothers’ accusation, Jesus was not seeking fame or popularity. He was not trying to make himself a “public figure”. It was unfortunate that the works He did forced him into the limelight. He often cautioned the people He had healed not to tell anyone about it. He did not want fans, but followers; people who accepted His yoke and committed to being His disciples because they believed in Him, not because of what He could do for them.

How unfortunate that many people “follow” Jesus today because of what they think He can do for them! How much better to be like His brothers who were at least honest about their scepticism. It took the resurrection to convince them that He was the Son of God and, once convinced they wholeheartedly threw in their lot with His disciples and were part of the group on whom the Holy Spirit fell in the day of Pentecost.

We may judge Jesus’ brothers for not recognizing who He was, but it was part of the process by which they came to faith in Him. Their attitude was not set in concrete. Thank God that even the attitude of our loved ones, which may cause us concern, is only a part of the process by which many of them may yet come to faith. The resurrection and Pentecost are still coming for them!

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.

BOTH LORD AND CHRIST

Bible Study, ,

BOTH LORD AND CHRIST

“From this time many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him.’You do not want to leave too, do you?’ Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.’ Then Jesus replied, ‘Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!’ (He meant Judas Iscariot who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray Him).” John 6:66-71.

Good old Peter! For once he got it right!

For all their blundering, misunderstandings, prejudices and misperceptions, of one thing the Twelve had become convinced, that Jesus was the Son of God. They did not fully understand all the implications and they certainly clung tenaciously to the hope that He would deliver them from Rome, but they never abandoned their conviction that He was someone far more than human.

John was careful to identify and isolate Judas Iscariot as the traitor, but that did not mean that Judas was not also convinced of His identity. Why he betrayed Jesus is not absolutely clear. It could have been purely for money or it could have been his way of trying to force Jesus to do what he thought He would do — move supernaturally against the Romans during the Passover when Jerusalem was filled with Jews from in and outside Israel.

John made a clear distinction between two groups of disciples — the ones who were following Him for opportunistic reasons and the Twelve whom He had chosen. The first group was obviously fascinated by and drawn to Him because of the possibilities of what He could do for them. He healed them; He got rid of tormenting demons and He even fed them supernaturally from very little. If they could have a king like that, their troubles would be over.

The problem with this kind of faith is that it places false expectations on Jesus which He is under no obligation to fulfil. It is unfortunate that He is often presented to people as the solution to all their problems. Prayer and faith are a way to get what we want. When He does not meet to our expectations and capitulate to our demands, we either do what we can to appease Him, as though He were some pagan idol, or we become disillusioned and walk away like these fickle “disciples” did.

The Twelve followed Jesus because they were chosen. He selected ordinary men from many walks of life; fishermen, tax collectors, political activists, nobodies who were not already fashioned by the religious system to have fixed ideas about God and His Messiah.

When He began to speak about things they could not understand; about suffering and dying, which made no sense to them, they were sufficiently convinced about His identity to wait it out. Their expectations might have differed, even from one another’s but they were prepared to give Him a hearing because they had bonded with Him as a person even if they did not understand everything He said.

Peter voiced the thoughts of the group, and they agreed with him by sticking with Jesus when the others left. It must have heartened Jesus to know that He had a loyal group, even if it was only His intimate group of disciples whom He had personally invited to be His followers. They were not part of the “anyone” and the “whoever”. He called them by name and that meant a lot to them.

The fact that He lost only Judas from the Twelve is also surprising, given the harshness of His words. They may have trembled with fear, abandoned Him and run for cover, hidden in the Upper Room and lost all hope when He died, but that was only part of the process. Resurrection day changed all that. His words, falling on deaf ears then, took on explosive meaning when their implications burst on their understanding.

No doubt, the Twelve must have remembered Peter’s expression of their collective faith: ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.’ How glad they must have been to have stuck with Him then! Their faith had paid off. It was not about what He could do for them. It was all about who He was — both Lord and Christ to whom every knee shall bow.

Have you bowed to Him as Lord, your supreme authority?

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.

HE IS THE WORD

Bible Study, ,

HE IS THE WORD

“Aware that His disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, ‘Does this offend you? Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where He was before! The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you — they are full of the Spirit and life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe.’ For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray Him. He went on to say, ‘This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him.'” John 6:60-65.

Sobering words!

If there were among His disciples those who were offended by the talk about His death and the effect it would have on them, how would they swallow the reality of His return to the Father. They were already grumbling because He insisted that He had come from the Father but, to go back to where He had come from would be just too much for them. Little did they know that they would be witnesses of that very event!

Jesus brought these men to the heart of what He was all about — His Word. He and His Word are inseparable. John introduced Him to his readers as the Word who was with God in the beginning and who was God. According to Hebrew understanding, God’s Word is a manifestation of Himself in another form. Jesus was God in another form — in the flesh and the Word.

It is difficult for the human mind to understand the intimacy between the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit and the Word. What the Father speaks and what the Son speaks are the perfect expression of who they are. The Spirit equally participates in and energizes the Word to speak and make effective what they say.

Faith in God’s Word is equal to faith in God. To believe what Jesus said is to stake one’s life on the one who said it. It was John’s purpose to present all the evidence necessary to authenticate Jesus’ claim to be the Son of God so that His readers would have confidence in His Word and therefore in Him.

How difficult it is for human beings to take the words of Jesus seriously! We are conditioned by the fickleness of our nature, to mistrust one another’s words because of experience. The word of human beings has proved so untrustworthy that we have to record on paper, sign and have witnessed every agreement for it to be believed.

“When God made His promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for Him to swear by, He swore by Himself, saying, ‘I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.’ And so, after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.” Hebrews 6:13, 14.

Nowadays, not even an oath is trustworthy. It has to be recorded with ink on paper and signed for it to be binding.

“Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of His purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, He confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged.” Hebrews 6:15-18.  

If Jesus is God and His word is the essence of who He is, then His promise is infallible and unbreakable — “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.”

What anguish, what sorrow, what frustration went into the words He spoke. His constant refrain was, ‘You will not believe.’ Judas walked with Him for more than three years and he chose not to believe and walked away. What will it take for us who have all the hindsight we need to be convinced that He is who He said He is, to believe and to respond to what He had promised?

Do you believe?

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.