Thursday, January 10, 2013

The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ

(Seed Sowers Christian Book Publishing House. http://www.seedsowers.com/)

Thursday, January 10, 2013        I Was Sent by My Father  

Page 159-161         John 8:12-59

Jesus said he does not judge anyone. He doesn’t have to because he is the light of the world. Jesus, as the light of the world, brings God’s holy presence into the world. Inherent within the light is judgment because the light exposes sin.

The people Jesus addressed in today’s passage were in desperate need of a reality check and Jesus held out hope and promise to them: the truth will set you free. They had lost sight of reality because the most compelling nature of sin is its capacity to blind you to the truth. The people were living under the yoke of the oppressive Roman occupation of their country, yet they had the audacity to tell Jesus they weren’t slaves. If they couldn’t grasp that reality, was there really a hope they could see their slavery to sin and death? Jesus thought so.

The first step in a reality check is to ask God to give us eyes to see the truth. If they would have asked God to open their eyes, they could have seen that just being descendants of Abraham did not automatically win them favor with God. Abraham was justified by faith, and they too could only be reconciled to God by faith. Jesus was calling them to a faith that invites God to change their lives.

Many people call themselves Christians and want all the benefits that favor with God brings, but do not want to embrace the truth that faith in God is evidenced by a willingness to invite God to change our lives. God doesn’t want us to just believe in Him. God wants us to become like Him.

God had called Israel to be bearers of His light. Instead, they had become bearers of darkness. God has called the Christian church to be bearers of His light. This may be a good time for a reality check, to ask God to give us eyes to see the truth. Are we, and our Christian community, bearers of light, or darkness?

Jesus closes this episode with his third ‘I am’ statement: “Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58 NRSV). This assertion was astonishing to the people. To say of himself that he is ‘I AM” was to take for himself the sacred name for God that the Jews would neither write nor speak. Instead, they inserted four consonants into their manuscripts; YHWH. In English translations that word is rendered YAHWEH, or as LORD.

Such a claim was blasphemy to the Jews and they were ready to stone Jesus to death. Jesus’ claim is awe-inspiring to me as he affirmed in his own words the opening lines of the Gospel of John: “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God” (John 1:1-2).

Sē’lah

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What word or phrase in today’s reading attracts your attention?

Reflect on that word or phrase.

What insights come to you?

How does this passage touch your life today?

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

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The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ

(Seed Sowers Christian Book Publishing House. http://www.seedsowers.com/)

Friday, January 11, 2013   I Healed a Blind Beggar    

Page 161-163         John 9:1-41