This week on the blog, we are talking about a disputed story in the life of Jesus. Disputed? What does that mean? Open a Bible to John 7, and look between verse 52 and verse 53. There’s something important written there we need to talk about. If you are reading from the New International Version, 2011 edition, do you see the horizontal line? Below the horizontal line there is a text note, and this is what it says:
“[The earliest manuscripts and many other ancient witnesses do not have John 7:53–8:11. A few manuscripts include these verses, wholly or in part, after John 7:36, John 21:25, Luke 21:38 or Luke 24:53.]”
The editors of the 2011 edition of the New International Version (NIV) wrote that. All the major English versions of the Bible include a similar note, except one: the King James Version (KJV).
What does the note mean? Simply put, it means that biblical scholars are uncertain if John wrote this story, because the story is not in the earliest known manuscripts of the Gospel of John. So the editors of our English Bibles bracket it, alerting us.
Why doesn’t the KJV bracket it? Because the KJV is very old, translated in 1611, using one of the later manuscripts that included the story as a normal part of the text of the Gospel of John. Earlier manuscripts were not available to the translators of the KJV. In other words, when they published the KJV, they didn’t know it was an issue. Now we do.
So why is John 7:53-8:11 included in the major English versions of the Bible if we’re not sure that it is authentic? Because the KJV was nearly ubiquitous for centuries in the English world, all following English versions of the Bible have continued to follow it’s lead, such as the chapter and verses divisions it used (which in most cases predate the KJV), for the sake of consistency. It would be odd if John chapter 8 began with verse 12, and there was no text note explaining what happened to verses 1-11.
But that is a pragmatic reason. I think there are at least two other more important reasons for teaching this story, and those two reasons get at why I am blogging about it this week. First, while we don’t know if John 7:53-8:11 is authentic, we also don’t know that it is not authentic. We just don’t know. It might be, it might not be.
But maybe you’re wondering, “Isn’t it dangerous to focus on a story that is even possibly inauthentic to the Bible?” That is a very important question. It could be dangerous to teach any story for which we do not have a high degree of confidence that it is genuinely biblical. We should be cautious.
In my opinion, though, it is not dangerous to teach this story. Why? The answer leads to my second reason why I’m blogging about it this week: this story utterly sounds like Jesus, and it is incredibly similar to how he behaves in other Gospel accounts that we are confident of their authenticity.
To contrast, there are other disputed passages in the Gospels that do not sound like Jesus. The ending of the Gospel of Mark, for example, is one of those disputed passages, and its content is theologically bizarre. If I were preaching through Mark, I would skip it. But this story in John 7:53-8:11 is right in line with the character and style and personality and genius of Jesus.
Every May my denomination, the Evangelical Congregational Church, has a conference for all pastors and for one representative from each church. At the conference we attend worship gatherings, business meetings, and hear reports about what God is doing throughout the life and ministry of the denomination. From what I have heard from other denominations, our EC National Conference is quite common.
What is not common is that the EC Church also asks each local EC church to have their own conference, called, not surprisingly, Local Conference. Each church is supposed to convene a meeting of the Local Conference at least once per year. Members of the Local Conference include the members of the church’s leadership team, any EC pastors who are members of the church, and that church’s District Field Director (a part-time employee of the denomination, having oversight of a geographical region of about 10 churches). The Local Conference is a confidential meeting, as the agenda includes approval of the pastor’s salary package, and a spiritual examination of each member the church family.
Yes, you read that right. An examination of the church family. Does it sound creepy? In fact, the Local Conference, according to EC Church guidelines, is to examine whether or not there are any situations in the church family for which a member of the church should be excluded from taking communion. The heart behind this examination is to help people overcome sin and brokenness and become more like Jesus.
If you’re reading this and wondering if Faith Church’s Local Conference meets and does this examination, the answer is No. We have chosen not to follow the denomination’s guidelines about Local Conference. In fact, in my 20+ years at Faith Church, not once have we held a meeting of Local Conference precisely like the denomination asks us to.
Years ago, during each December Leadership Team meeting, we’d take five minutes to convene a session of Local Conference to approve the salary package already approved by the congregation at the November annual congregational meeting. In more recent years, we’ve skipped that Local Conference meeting entirely, as the congregation, at our annual congregational meeting, has already approved salaries by voting on the annual budget.
While there have been times when our Leadership Team has entered into a confidential session to address matters of church discipline, we have never had a discussion about the entire congregation, person by person, to evaluate whether or not they should be barred from taking communion. Instead, we allow individuals to make that choice, between themselves and God, at each celebration of communion. At at nearly every celebration of communion there are some who abstain.
So why do we choose not to follow the EC guideline about Local Conference’s examination of members? We discussed this many years ago at a Leadership Team meeting. While we definitely have a heart to address sin in our congregation and help people restore broken relationships, the majority of Leadership Team members at the time felt that they could not judge others in their church family.
Those Leadership Team members reasoned that they themselves were not perfect, and therefore, who were they to judge others? Didn’t Jesus himself say, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you”? Yes he did. That is a direct quote from Jesus in Matthew 7:1-2. In the end, our leaders, based on Jesus’ teaching, chose not to have Local Conference evaluations of our members before communion.
You might be wondering, then, why the EC Church asks Local Conferences to hold these evaluations. Is the EC Church wrong? Is the EC Church unbiblical? Should we try to get the denomination to change its way and become biblical? Should we be concerned?
While we should always be concerned about whether our denomination is following biblical teaching, in this case, they are. Wait…didn’t I just say above that our leaders, based on Jesus’ teaching, chose not to have Local Conference? Yes, I did. In other words, our leaders were saying that the EC Church was not following biblical guidelines in that specific situation. But now I am also saying that the EC Church is following biblical teaching in that specific situation. Can it be both ways?
Maybe…Maybe not. As we will see in our continuing study of the life of Jesus, as told by his friend John, we’re going to observe Jesus’ fascinating interaction with a person who had been judged and was on death row. What will he say to this person? Will he also judge? What Jesus chooses to do is genius, and we would do well to learn from him. It should affect how we interact with all the people in our lives.
Read the passage ahead of time, John 7:53-8:11, and then we’ll discuss it further on the blog next week.
What happened when the religious leaders sent the temple police to arrest Jesus? Jesus was out in the open there in the temple courts. The police should have no problem arresting him. But in the previous post, there is no mention of the police. You’d think they would have shown up and put Jesus in chains. But they didn’t. Where are they? We find out what happened in John chapter 7, verses 45-52,
“Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and the Pharisees, who asked them, ‘Why didn’t you bring him in?’ ‘No one ever spoke the way this man does,’ the guards replied. ‘You mean he has 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’.”
The temple police return from their mission empty-handed! Their reasoning is curious, “No ever spoke like Jesus does.” You cannot put Jesus in a box. He shatters the box. It should be a simple thing, a bunch of police arresting a noncombatant. But they don’t or won’t or can’t. No one could. All we read multiple times in John chapter 7 is that when people wanted to seize him, they couldn’t. They couldn’t even put Jesus in a literal box, let alone the figurative one. He exceeds all expectations. He will only be put in a box when he allows himself to, when the time is right.
For now, the leaders are really angry at their temple guards. It is nice to see Nicodemus speak up on Jesus’ behalf, kind of, at least arguing for a fair trial, but the other leaders are completely blinded by their anger. They are so certain of their Messiah box, and so desperate to hold on to their power and position, they refuse any other viewpoint or opinion. They cannot accept even the tiniest possibility that they are wrong. They demonstrate the heights of hubris, arrogance, pride, and in so doing they show they are not only wrong about Jesus, but they do not have a desire to live the way of God. A prophet sometimes does come out of Galilee.
Do you have a box for Jesus? I suspect we all do. I’ve had Jesus boxes myself over the years. Long ago it was the “Say a pray to Jesus, accept his as your personal Lord and Savior, and you’ll go to heaven” box. But in time I learned he couldn’t fit in that box. He shattered that box, teaching me that his heart is that all people would experience not just eternal life one day, but abundant flourishing life now, actively working to bring his Kingdom of justice on earth now.
Then I had the “reading your Bible is the only way to interact with God box”. He shattered that box by teaching me that he wants us to listen to his Spirit, and hear what he is saying through the community of disciples.
At other times I had the “study the end times prophecy box, to learn the signs of the times.” He shattered that box too, teaching me to dig deep into developing the Fruit of the Spirit and seeking to help other people become his disciples who also develop the Fruit of the Spirit in their lives now.
Who knows what other boxes I have now that he’ll shatter. I hope and pray that in 5 years, 10 years, and every 5 years or so, I’ll have a new list of ways that my understanding of Jesus has grown.
Shatter the box. Come to Jesus, asking him to take away any misinformed, misconceived notions of who he is. Ask the Spirit to help you see Jesus for who he really is. Then look for Jesus where he said to look or him, in the sick, the hungry, the prisoner, the stranger, the lonely. Get out of your comfort zone, get away from the ease of the norm where Jesus is comfortable and affirms you, and start following him into a place that might feel scary, risky. There Jesus says, “I am with you, love like me. You’re going to get to know me in a whole new way. And you’ll find it is better by far.”
Have you heard about the Asbury Revival of 2023? The university has chapel services, and students are required to attend a number of chapel services each semester. At one particular service recently, something happened. The manifest presence of the Holy Spirit was like a stream of living water in the lives of the students. The service kept going, and kept going. Read more here. What is the purpose of revival? Is it just a prolonged worship service? Or is there more? In today’s post, we’re going to learn about God’s heart for revival, as we continue our study of John chapter 7.
In John 7, Jesus is attending one of the Jews’ religious feasts in the city of Jerusalem. There he has a testy conversation with both people in the crowd and with the religious leaders. In the previous post we learned that some in the crowd were furious at Jesus, even attempting to seize him, while others placed their faith in him. The religious leaders, though, remain steadfast in their opposition to him. Look at verses 32-36,
“The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about him. Then the chief priests and the 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, ‘You will look for me, but you will not find me, and ‘Where I am, you cannot come’?”
The discussion between Jesus and the Jewish leaders and the people in the crowd grows ever more conflicted. It seems the chief priests and Pharisees have had it with this situation, and they send police to arrest Jesus.
Meanwhile, Jesus and the people continue their back and forth conversation. Jesus is semi-cryptic, and the people don’t seem to understand him. The conversation is a kind of a mess.
Then the scene changes in verse 37, where we read, “On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice…” Let’s pause there. Jesus is in the middle of what would have been a large crowd who had traveled to the city for this important festival. When Jesus calls out in a loud voice, did the noise of the crowd quiet down? Could most people hear him? What will he say?
He says, continuing reading verses 37-44,
“‘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 them.’ By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. 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 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.”
More confusion, more disagreement. Who is Jesus? He’s the Messiah! No, he’s not! Yes, he is! No, he’s not. On and on it goes.
But look at what Jesus says in verse 37. I wonder if anyone in the crowd understood this important teaching. Jesus says, “Whoever believes in me will have the living water of the Spirit flowing from within him.” We need to give careful attention to what Jesus says. In the middle of a conflicted situation there in Jerusalem, when people have tried to seize him, and when the temple police are looking to arrest him, Jesus gives us a powerful principle. Jesus desires all people to have an inward experience of his Spirit, and that leads to an outward explosion of his Spirit.
John tells us Jesus is referring to an encounter with his Spirit that came later, and which we can read about in Acts 2, when the Holy Spirit descended upon and filled Jesus’ first followers. Then the Spirit continued to do so throughout the stories in the book of Acts and in the letters. Throughout history there have been other outpourings of the Spirit, just like the one is happening right now on the campus of Asbury University.
Here’s what I believe is important about revival and the work of the Spirit. It is never meant to be contained within a person. It will start there. Lots of wonderful interior work might need to be done in the life of a person. But then revival breaks out. God’s heart for revival is to see changed people change their societies.
A survey of the book of Acts will show what happened when the Spirit came. Revival broke out and transformed society. The sick were healed. People stopped hoarding resources and gave sacrificially. No one saw their property as their own, but gave it up to help those in need. They crossed cultural and ethnic boundaries. They crossed gender boundaries, so that in Christ there was neither male nor female, neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, but all were one in Christ.
Revival begins as a work of God’s Spirit in individual lives, and the living water of the Spirit gushes up like a fountain and spreads the Fruit of the Spirit all around. Spirit-filled, fruit-flowing Christians continue the revival by standing against and tearing down the structures of injustice in society. This is why Jesus said in the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats (Matthew 25:31-46) that when we reach out to the sick, the homeless, the prisoner, the hungry, we are reaching out to him. He loves all. He gave his life for all. All are made in his image. A Spirit-filled life will have a heart growing more and more like Jesus’ heart, which equally reaches all.
You cannot put Jesus in a box, and you cannot put the Spirit in a box. The religious leaders especially tried to put Jesus in box. Meaning they had a very specific opinion about him. In their minds, he was not the Messiah because he didn’t act how they thought the Messiah should act.
So they sent the temple police to arrest him. Remember that back in verse 32, which we read above? Jesus was right out in the open there in the temple courts. The police should have no problem arresting him. But where are they? You’d think by now they would have shown up and put Jesus in chains.
They show up, but in a most unexpected place. We’ll find out about that in the next post.
Remember the famous episode from Jesus’ life when he is being nailed to the cross, which had to hurt terribly, after he had already been beaten to a pulp, and Jesus prays, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing?” It’s a wonderful account of grace, mercy, and love. And self-control, quite frankly. Many other people would be angry, cursing, or spewing a whole host of other negative emotions. Jesus is forgiving.
But there was another time when people were out to kill him, and instead of speaking forgiveness, he speaks something else, something surprising, something gutsy.
In the previous posts (here and here) on John chapter 7, we learned that Jesus was having a very testy interaction with his siblings, with people in the crowd in Jerusalem, and with the religious leaders. In John chapter 7, verse 16, Jesus responds to the scholars who are amazed at his teaching, because he was not formally trained in the Scriptures. Here’s what Jesus says,
“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. Whoever speaks on their 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’.”
In this response, Jesus is bold. Think about the location of this. He knows the Jewish leaders are out to kill him, so where does he choose to reveal himself? In the temple courts! (See John 7:14.) That’s their headquarters. Jesus’ move is gutsy. He goes right into the lion’s cage, giving a teaching that leaves no wiggle room. He is saying that he has come from God. This is a claim to be divine, and it made the Jewish religious mad, as we will see.
But that’s only the beginning of Jesus’ boldness. In verse 19, he takes it up a notch, or maybe up ten notches!
“Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?”
That is some wild boldness on Jesus’ part when he says not one of those leaders keeps the Mosaic Law. The prided themselves on being perfect or near-perfect keepers of the Law. On top of that, Jesus also publicly calls them out for their plot to kill him. Jesus’ serious confrontation of the religious leaders, during a religious Feast, in front of a huge crowd, is a thing to behold. It’s a wonder they didn’t lose their minds, rush over and start attacking him.
We can learn something here from the boldness of Jesus. Notice who received his boldness. He is confronting those who thought they knew God, but who couldn’t see God when God in the flesh was standing right in front of them. Jesus, in other words, was bold to the religious people. He confronts those who arrogantly thought they had God figured out.
Who might that be in our day? If Jesus was alive now, who would he confront? Who has a reputation for being the ones who have the authoritative truth about God? We do. We evangelicals have a reputation for being arrogant in our view of God. It seems to me that if Jesus was here today, he just might have cause to confront evangelicals. Have you ever thought about that? How might Jesus confront us?
As so often happens when people are confronted, they clap back. The crowd, as we read in verse 20 makes a bold claim of their own, “’You are demon-possessed,’ the crowd answered. ‘Who is trying to kill you?’”
Jesus responds to them in verse 21 by talking about what got this all started in the first place. A few weeks ago we studied John chapter 5, verses 16-18, where John tells us that the Jewish leaders were persecuting Jesus, following him, plotting to kill him? Why? What sparked their rage was the fact that Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath.
That’s the “one miracle” that Jesus refers to in John 7, verse 21, “I did one miracle, and you are all amazed.” Jesus then goes on to some biblical and theological analysis in verses 22-24,
“‘Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a boy on 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 angry with me for healing a man’s whole body on the Sabbath? Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly’.”
Simply put, Jesus is telling them to stop being so legalistic about the Sabbath. Good deeds, like healing someone, are absolutely in line with God’s heart for the Sabbath. In other words, Jesus is calling the religious leaders out. He is saying, “You are misinterpreting your Bibles, you are wrong, and you should actually be supporting me when I healed a lame man on the Sabbath. You should not be out to kill me.”
He has made a powerful argument, as you would expect Jesus to do. Has he won them over? Will they say, “OK, you’re right, Jesus. We were wrong. Sorry. We’ll stop trying to kill you now.” Look at verses 25-27,
“At that 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? But we know where this man is from; when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from’.”
Some people in the crowd are wondering if Jesus is the Messiah. He seems like it, but he doesn’t fit the mold as precisely as they would have liked. They believed that when the Messiah came, it would be a miraculous appearing, out of the blue so to speak, so that no one would be able to know where he came from. A total miracle manifestation from God, of God. Jesus could not be the Messiah, therefore, because they knew where he was from. Nazareth. They knew his family. They could talk with his family, visit his mother, and his handyman shop. He did not appear miraculously, or so they thought.
Of course Jesus’ did have a miraculous origin story, but most of the people in the crowd didn’t know his birth story. They thought they had Jesus sized up, and they concluded, “Nope. Not the Messiah.”
Jesus responds to the crowd in verses 28-29, making a claim that could be misconstrued as vague. No doubt there are times when Jesus is mysterious. Here’s what he says,
“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.’”
From our vantage point, we know that Jesus is making yet another divine claim, assuring them that he is the Messiah. It seems the crowd gets it too, because they take drastic action, as we read in verse 30,
“At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.”
When the people try to seize him, it is not to protect him. Not to help him. This is a seizure bent on murder. Why? Because they correctly surmise that he is making claims to be the Messiah. That group, at least, is not convinced by Jesus, and they believe he is committing a sin punishable by death.
But something miraculous happens. No one could touch him because his time had not yet come. Must have been very frustrating and confusing to the people trying to seize him. Like being in a vivid dream when you are at the beach, and the tide is coming in, so you attempt to move your towel and belongings farther away from shore, but your arms and legs are so heavy, and they’re not working right. Slowly the tide gets closer, and you can’t move. Ever had a dream like that? I wonder if that’s how the people who wanted to seize Jesus felt.
Maybe because people couldn’t seize Jesus, maybe for other reasons, we learn in verse 31 that there are some in the crowd who have an entirely different perspective on Jesus,
“Still, many in the crowd believed in him. They said, ‘When the Messiah comes, will he perform more signs than this man?’”
Jesus is left unharmed, and, amazingly, we read that many put their faith in him. They make the level-headed argument of “Really, people? How many miracles do you need? This guy Jesus has done a ton of miracles. Do the math. He’s the Messiah.” Many people are convinced!
The religious leaders, though, are not convinced. In the next post we’ll find out how they respond.
In the previous post, Jesus’ brothers heckle him and then leave for Jerusalem to attend the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles. After his brothers leave, Jesus comes up with a plan. Look at verse 10.
“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.”
I wish I could see what Jesus did to disguise himself? Did he just wear a hood? Did he cover a scarf around his face? It had to be something like that. Why the secrecy?
First, we already know that he wants to avoid controversy, because his time has not yet come. Second, when his brothers say, “Show yourself to the world,” he does the opposite and hides. As we have seen in the past, Jesus does not behave like people want him to. There is good news in that, but there is also bad news. There is good news in Jesus’ small rebellion against his brothers, because in so doing he is choosing to follow the mission of the Kingdom of God, not caving-in to a selfish mission to grow a big crowd by enticing them with miracles. For Jesus the mission of the Kingdom is not about performance, so it is very good news that Jesus does not behave like people want him to.
But this might also be bad news because it means that Jesus might not behave like you and I want him to. In other words, we can believe that we have Jesus figured out. We can assume that we understand the Jesus way, the way he wants us to do things. But do we actually have him figured out? We shouldn’t assume that we have him figured out. More often than not, when we think we have Jesus figured out, we have made him into our likeness and image, rather than we ourselves striving to be made in his.
We might have to do some hard work of scraping away the corrosion that we have allowed to build-up on our image of Jesus so that we can little by little see him for who he truly is. And what we find might be shocking, and maybe even difficult for us to accept. But it will be good, because he is good. How do we do that work of scraping away the corrosion and see more of Jesus?
Jesus himself gives us a clue in Matthew 25, when he told the parable of the Sheep and the Goats, one of my favorites, because in it he shows us how to grow our knowledge of who he is. By serving others, by interacting with people on the margins of society, there we find him, there we see him in a new way. Jesus specifically mentions that we will find him when we feed the hungry, clothe the naked, encourage the sick, welcome the stranger, and visit the prisoner.
This is why we avoid being enamored with the rich and the powerful and the celebrity and the influential. Of course, they need Jesus too. But we do what Jesus himself did, and we find him in the least of these. This is why we have a heart for organizations striving to reach those on the margins in our community. As we serve those on the margins, just as Jesus describes in the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats, we do so asking God to show us his heart, not assuming we already know his heart, not assuming we are the savior of the people we serve, but looking for Jesus in them, because he is the savior.
Back to the story, we read that the people at the Feast of Tabernacles were not sure about Jesus’ identify. Look again at verses 12 and 13 and notice that the people were wrestling with who Jesus really was. Was he good? Was he a deceiver? No one wanted to go out on a limb, because the Jewish leaders had an iron grip on society. The people were afraid of them. Even if the people thought that Jesus really was a good man, they were scared to say so publicly because they knew the religious leaders were trying to kill Jesus, and the people were afraid to cross the religious leaders.
So there’s Jesus in Jerusalem, in secret, probably overhearing the talk about him, knowing there is a plot to kill him. What does he do? Look at verses 14-24,
“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 having been taught?” 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. Whoever speaks on their 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 on 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 angry with me for healing a man’s whole body on the Sabbath? Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.”
I love that the Jews are amazed at his teaching, because, as they state in verse 15, he didn’t have training in ministry or Scripture, beyond what would have been customary in his childhood. So here is Jesus once again schooling the scholars.
I am not saying that education is unnecessary. Remember that you and I are not Jesus. Even if you or I could school the scholars, then I still think we would be wise to consider education to help us study the Bible, theology, culture and ministry. I think it is safe to say that while we strive to be as much like Jesus as possible, let’s not get arrogant about it and think that we don’t need education.
That’s why I’d like you to consider taking courses in the Institute for Church Leadership (ICL). Run by my denomination, the EC Church, the ICL is a series of twelve courses anyone can take. We offer an ICL certificate if you complete each course. For our pastors not in an ordination track, that ICL certificate is their educational credential. If a person doesn’t want to pay for the credit and do course assignments, they can pay a much cheaper rate and participate in courses as an auditor. How about getting out of your comfort zone and taking a class? The next one coming up in May is Old Testament Survey. More details are at the ICL webpage (though if that link doesn’t work, it is because the page is soon being moved…just comment below and I’ll be in touch.)
If you aren’t interested in those classes, that’s okay. But still think about how you can push yourself in another way, to dig deeper, have more understanding, learn more about the one who loves you so deeply. Do you like podcasts? I can give you suggestions. There are Bible reading plans, on apps, on audio, online.
In this post, we have seen two ways to get to know the real Jesus. First, we serve those on the margins of society, because in them Jesus says we will find him. Second, we study his word to know him better. What step will you take to go deeper?
What does your Jesus box look like? You all have one. In fact, it is something that you created. It has a unique shape and size, based on what you think Jesus is like. Take a moment and think about it. What do you think Jesus is like?
Is your perception of Jesus correct?
As we continue learning about the life of Jesus, as told by his friend John, we’re going to how easy it is to be wrong about Jesus. In John chapter 7, verse 1 we read,
“After this, Jesus went around in Galilee. He did not want to go about in Judea because the Jewish leaders there were looking for a way to kill him.”
Kill him? Is it shocking to you that the Jewish leaders wanted to kill Jesus?
On the one hand, there is the sick reality that people who were supposed to be God-lovers were thinking about murdering another person who was also a God-lover. Which actually should be shocking to us.
On the other hand, maybe it is not shocking because we’re used to the idea that, while very popular with the people, Jesus was hated by the religious leaders. We’ve already seen this in our study of the Gospel of John. Turn back a few pages to John chapter 5, verses 16-18.
“So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. In his defense Jesus said to them, ‘My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.’ For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.”
The religious leaders had an iron grip on society, controlling the religious, cultural and political lives of the nation. If you tried to buck the system, it usually didn’t go well. Jesus bucked the system, and he did so often, right in the leaders’ faces, even right on their front door. In chapter 2, we learned in the series of posts starting here that he set off a riot in the temple. In chapter 5, in a series of posts starting here, he did not abide by their Sabbath rules. Other times, he confronted the religious leaders, besting them at their biblical knowledge.
He also did miracles, and he had huge crowds following him, so the religious leaders, though they wanted to take him out, couldn’t. That doesn’t mean, though, that they gave up trying. When John says that they persecuted him, that means not that they threw him in jail or did bodily harm to him, it means they hounded him, following his every move and word, ready for him to slip up, so they could swoop in and arrest him. But he never slipped up.
He also took precautions. Here in John 7, verse 1, John tells us that Jesus laid low in the northern part of Palestine, his home region of Galilee. He purposely stayed away from the capital city of Jerusalem in Judea in the south, because that’s where the Jewish religious leaders’ HQ was.
But he couldn’t avoid the leaders forever, right? Look at verses 2-5.
“When the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles was near, Jesus’ brothers said to him, ‘Leave Galilee and go to Judea, so that your disciples there 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.”
Have you ever been in a situation where it seems like the world is out to get you? It could be that your boss is on your case, then a family relationship blows up, then you have a friend call you out for something. You meant well, but it didn’t work out as planned.
Think about what Jesus is going through right now. Last week we learned that many of his disciples (not the Twelve) left him. Then today we read that the religious leaders want to kill him. Now his brothers are slamming him. “Oh, so you want to be a celebrity, do you? Why don’t you go down to Jerusalem and do your magic tricks there? What are you hiding up here for? Go do your miracles for the whole world to see, big guy.”
Our families can be some of the most difficult people to express our faith to, can’t they? At Faith Church, I have the role of pastor, and that colors how people think of me. But at home, I’m just dad who sometimes says or does something stupid, and my kids make fun of me.
When you and I think about Jesus, we think of someone who is perfect and amazing and likeable and hilarious and personable and wonderful. But when Jesus’ brothers thought of Jesus, they scowled, rolled their eyes, and they certainly didn’t believe he was the Messiah, the savior of the world.
How will Jesus respond to his younger siblings? Look at verse 6,
“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.”
Jesus is having a difficult interaction with his brothers who aren’t too happy with his popularity. In their minds, there is no way he could be the Messiah. He’s just their older brother whose life has taken a very uncharacteristic turn. He always seemed like the homebody, never married. Now he’s out there preaching to massive crowds, doing miracles, and saying he is from God? This was too much, improbable, and even impossible, given the box they had created for Jesus.
Therefore, Jesus’ relationship with his brothers was tense. If you have a difficult family relationship, you know the feeling. Do you have your family members stuck in a box of your own making? Is it possible that God wants to shatter that box? Is it possible that God is able to do more than you could think or imagine in your family members’ lives? It is possible, isn’t it? Therefore, shatter your box, and support the work God wants to do in their lives, praying for them, encouraging them, helping them become all he wants for them.
Some family members, however, do not want to be all that God wants them be. Some family members are hurtful, and it can be very wise to impose boundaries on them, so they don’t continue to hurt you. Family relationships are often messy and complex. In this post, I don’t want to come across though it will be easy to heal all broken family relationships if we just see people like God sees them. You might have a broken family relationship that will never be restored. But no matter the complexity or messiness of a relationship, strive to see people as God’s sees them. Jesus’ brothers refused to do so, at least in this story. We know from other stories that at least some of them would have a change of heart. In fact, two of Jesus’ brothers became leaders in the Christian church, including authoring two New Testament letters: James and Jude. With God there is always hope for people. Is there someone you have given up hope on? Ask God to change your heart and mind to see them like he sees them.
Back to the story, after his brothers leave for the festival, Jesus comes up with a secret plan. We’ll find out what his plan is in the next post.
How well do you know Jesus? Pretty well? Maybe you would say that you know Jesus, but you also admit that you could certainly know him better. I suspect most Christians would say something like that.
I wonder, though, if we met Jesus if he might shock us. I wonder if our conception of Jesus is wrong in at least some ways. What I’m getting at is the feeling many people experience when they watch a dramatic presentation of Jesus, such as The Chosen TV series. Often our preconceived ideas about Jesus, what he would say, the way he would respond, are different from what we seen on screen.
That difference between our perceptions and the dramatic presentation can be unsettling. We can think, “Can that be right? I’ve always thought of him differently.” That dissonance is important to think about, especially when our perception of Jesus conflicts with a fictional presentation of Jesus. Notice that both our perception and the fictional presentation are based in biblical truth. Both we and the writers, directors and actors in The Chosen are making an interpretation about what Jesus might have been like.
But we don’t actually know. We must admit that what we know of Jesus is filled with our perception, interpretation, and filtered through our personality, experience and opinion. That means if we met the real Jesus, we might be shocked. It seems to me, therefore, that it is important that we take a position of humility as we think about our ability to know Jesus. I’m not saying that we can’t know him. We can truly and deeply know him because he has revealed himself, primarily through the pages of the Gospels, and because he has given us his Spirit.
But we need to hold our ability to know him with what has been called Comic Theology. Comic Theology says that we humans, in our attempt to know God, should be able to laugh at ourselves and our attempts to know God. In other words, be willing to be surprised, to be shocked, to be confronted with Jesus in new and different ways.
I’m saying this because some people in Jesus’ day had a very hard time seeing Jesus for who he really was. Take a look at John chapter 7, verses 1-52, the passage we’ll be studying next week. Those people insisted their Messiah Box was the only right one, but when the Messiah actually showed up, he didn’t fit nicely into that box. Because Jesus was different from their conception of who or what the Messiah should be, instead of breaking their box and embracing Jesus, some people kept the box and said, “Jesus cannot be the Messiah.”
Are we so different? Though we say, “I believe Jesus is the Messiah,” have we created a box of understanding Jesus, to the point that we are missing out on who he really is? I think it is very possible. As we’ll learn in John 7, Jesus cannot be contained by the boxes we create in our feeble attempts to know him. So let’s destroy the box.
Read the passage ahead of time, and then we’ll discuss it on the blog next week.
Do you ever wonder if you are a true follower of Jesus? Do you wonder if you could or should do more for Jesus? Do you ever have that internal conversation where you weigh the evidence of your life? On the one hand you list the ways you are a faithful Christian. On the other hand, you can list ways you are apathetic, the bad choices you make, when you are selfish, and even unfaithful. We don’t usually like to think of ourselves negatively so we can justify our lives by thinking, “I’m pretty good…at least I’m not a _____.”
As we conclude our study of John 6, verses 52-71, it seems that Jesus’ followers were wondering about themselves. And Jesus was wondering about them too.
Jesus’ twelve disciples were his closest followers, the ones he spent the most time with, but he had many other disciples. Apparently this whole “eat my flesh, drink my blood” (read about that here) thing was too much for a bunch of those other disciples. The crowd thins out when Jesus won’t perform for them. When he calls them to give control of their lives to him, they choose to keep control of their lives and not trust in him. What about his inner circle? What about the Twelve? In the previous post, we learned that Jesus wondered if they would leave him too. Look at John chapter 6, verses 68 and 69, where one of Jesus’ twelve disciples responds,
“Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God’.”
I love Peter’s response: “Where else can we go?” I think Peter is saying, “Jesus, you are The One. You’re the top. Why would we go to something lower? You’re the truth! Why we would go to something false?” Peter, in other words, is saying, “We’re in. We believe you are who you said you are. We’re not here for free food. We’re with you, come what may.”
Peter’s is a powerful confession of saying, “We believe not just in our minds, but we are going to show you we believe by sticking with you. We are have been doing what you said, and we are going to keep doing what you said. We are eating your flesh and drinking your blood. We are remaining in you, giving you control of our lives. We choose your way of life. We trust you.” What is especially amazing about Peter’s confession is that the disciples were following Jesus when they didn’t fully understand him. They followed him when he said really bizarre things, when he called them to give up control, and when the crowds started leaving him. It is really, really difficult to go against the crowd. Yet they did. They gave up everything to follow him. Financial stability. Personal safety. Peace. Those disciples were all in.
Except one. Look at verses 70-71.
“Then Jesus replied, ‘Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!’ (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)”
There is one who would betray him, and we’ll get to that story in the coming months. For now, Jesus just hints at it. He also says, “Have I not chosen you?” which seems to be Jesus exulting in hearing Peter’s confession. Almost like he saying, “Yes! That’s right, Peter. That’s why I chose you twelve. You are the ones who are faithful. Well, except one of you.” Which had to create a stir among them. “What??? One of us is a devil? What does that mean?” The chapter ends abruptly, leaving us wondering if the disciples were concerned about which one of them was a devil.
As I started this post, it is natural for any follower of Jesus to likewise wonder about the quality of our discipleship to Jesus. While we would do well to live in the gracious love of Jesus, knowing that he loves us no matter what, we would also do we to evaluate our lives, as we don’t want to be satisfied with complacency or apathy. So I encourage you to consider the following questions:
Is there an addiction you need help to get rid of? Is there a way you can serve Jesus more in the life and ministry of the church? Is there space you can open up in your life to spend more time with him, studying the Bible, listening to his Spirit in prayer? Have you been hoarding control of your life? Has your pattern of seeking Jesus been primarily for what you can get out of him, rather than following him for his sake, and for the mission of his kingdom? Choose Jesus now, grateful that God has made a way for us to make that choice.
Would Jesus say that you are giving him control of your life? What is your basis for how you live your life? Is it his heart, his ways and his actions that are guiding your decisions? When things seem too difficult, do you go to him for the strength to choose him anyway? That’s remaining in him in the middle of the difficulty. When he says, “Love your enemy,” when all you want to do is gossip about them, cut them down, undermine them, or give them the silent treatment. Instead we actually give up control and love them.
In nearby Harrisburg, PA, Ralph Rodriguez’ doorbell camera alerted him that an intruder was trying to break into the building of his nonprofit. Rodriguez immediately went to the scene and confronted the intruder. The man ran off, but the next day Rodriguez received a message online from the man. What happened next is a wonderful example of loving your enemy. Rodriguez, rather than condemn the man, sought to help him, and they struck up a friendship. See the CBS News report here. Is there someone you need to love that way?
Jesus will say in John 13, “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, that you love one another.” Sometimes giving Jesus control of our lives means not only loving our enemies, but it also means loving one another in a church family. Christians can sometimes be the most difficult people to love. Have you ever been hurt deeply by another Christian? Maybe by someone in your church family? What will you do to give Jesus control and love one another? Not that you need to be best friends with everyone in the church family. That’s not possible. But what can you do to reach out in love to even the difficult people in your church family?
Would he say that we are remaining in him? Here’s the thing, remaining in him is by far, the best way to live. To have the life of Jesus in our lives, empowering us? There is nothing better. While there is nothing better, please don’t hear me saying, “There is nothing easier.” Choosing to give Jesus control of your life and follow the way and mission of his Kingdom is not necessarily easier. But because it is God’s way, it is good, and it is the best way.
Jesus has just told a crowd of his followers that they need to eat his flesh and drink his blood. How did the crowd feel about this bizarre teaching? I think they felt disappointment, confusion, frustration, and maybe some disillusionment. Just the day before he had miraculously fed a crowd of 5000+ people, and they want more. I can imagine the people, after hearing Jesus say “eat my flesh and drink my blood,” thinking, “What?!?! This is not what I came to the synagogue today hoping for.” Look at verse 60.
“On hearing it, many of his disciples said, ‘This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?’”
Disciples? Yes, followers, learners. Does this mean any of the Twelve disciples were upset? Probably. Wouldn’t you be? No matter if you take Jesus literally or figuratively, this is a hard teaching. If you take him literally, he’s either a zombie, a vampire or a cannibal. But he is not speaking literally; he is speaking figuratively. Jesus is saying that abundant life and eternal life are only possible by a belief that shows itself through giving him control of your life, through choosing his ways, not our own. That’s a hard teaching too!
How will Jesus respond? Will he say, “Well, just take a baby step toward me. I’ll make it easy for you. I’ll make it comfortable. Really, it’s not a big deal.” Uh…no. Look at verses 61-65.
“Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, ‘Does this offend you? 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 are spirit and they are 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’.”
Again in verses 62 and 63, Jesus is somewhat mysterious and theological. He makes no bones about the fact that he, The Son of Man, can ascend to heaven. Did the people understand what he was talking about? I think they at least had a clue, as we’re about to find out in their reaction to him.
Before we hear their reaction, notice that Jesus talks about the Spirit. The Spirit gives life, he says, and the flesh counts for nothing. Now Jesus is decoding his previous seemingly bizarre comments for them. He is giving them a major clue that when he said, “eat my flesh, drink my blood,” he was not talking about his actual body and blood. He is saying that it is the Spirit who gives life. We, therefore, need his Spirit in our lives, and then we will have the life of Jesus in us.
As we read in verses 64 and 65, Jesus already knew that his disciple Judas would betray him. But he makes a statement about how no one can come to him unless the Father has enabled him. He already said a few things like this last week, and I didn’t talk about them.
Look at verse 37, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.”
Also verse 39, “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.”
Finally, verses 44-45, ““No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me.”
While there are certainly numerous opinions about how to interpret his teaching, I understand Jesus as referring to the reality that our salvation is not something that we alone, by ourselves, in our own efforts, can achieve. God is involved. We believe that, and thus we show that our belief is genuine, by choosing to give him control of our lives. By releasing our desires to him and aligning our hearts, minds, and choices to him. We believe God has acted to enable all people to believe in him that way. We then respond by choosing to give our lives to him.
How will the people in the crowd respond? Jesus has attempted to clear things up for them, giving them an opportunity to respond by believing in him and giving him control of their lives. Look what some of them do in verse 66.
“From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.”
Many of his disciples no longer followed him? Does this mean some of the Twelve turned away? It seems Jesus is wondering. Look at verse 67:
“’You do not want to leave too, do you?’ Jesus asked the Twelve.”
How will they answer? We’ll find out in the next post.
Engaging Scripture 