Whom the Son sets free is free indeed
Whom the Son sets free is free indeed.
Jesus, the light of the World
The Validity of Jesus’ Testimony
12When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
13The Pharisees challenged him, “Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid.”
14Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going. 15You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. 16But if I do judge, my decisions are right, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. 17In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid. 18I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.”
19Then they asked him, “Where is your father?”
“You do not know me or my Father,” Jesus replied. “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” 20He spoke these words while teaching in the temple area near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no one seized him, because his time had not yet come.
21Once more Jesus said to them, “I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come.”
22This made the Jews ask, “Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, ‘Where I go, you cannot come’?”
23But he continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be,[a] you will indeed die in your sins.”
25″Who are you?” they asked.
“Just what I have been claiming all along,” Jesus replied. 26″I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is reliable, and what I have heard from him I tell the world.”
27They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. 28So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am the one I claim to be and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. 29The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” 30Even as he spoke, many put their faith in him.
Anyone who has ever toured a cave knows there comes moment of absolute darkness when the tour guide turns off the lights, and suddenly you are in the darkest place you have ever been. But then, just as suddenly, a match is struck, and the darkness is no longer absolute, for even the smallest light can overcome the darkness. So, imagine if a match can dispel the darkness in a cave, what Jesus, the light of world can accomplish when His light overcomes the darkness.
The men to whom Jesus spoke were in the darkest of caves, but they did not know it. When Jesus spoke it was almost as though He was speaking in some foreign language, because there was no comprehension, no understanding. And indeed, I suppose it could be said Jesus was speaking in another language. After all, He clearly states the ones to whom He spoke were from this world, below; He is from above. The words of heaven must certainly overwhelm any words spoken while in the earthly realm.
We catch another glimpse in this verses of how legalistic Jesus’ audience was. A witness was required to validate a testimony according to Deuteronomy 19:15
New International Version (NIV):
“ 15 One witness is not enough to convict a man accused of any crime or offense he may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.”
As far as the crowd understood, Jesus had no such witness, therefore, what He said had no validity. Yet we are told that some in the crowd put their faith in Him
Why do some hear and understand the words of God, while others walk away? There is no easy answer to this question. But I do have some advice. If you have heard the words of Jesus, but have not understood, or have not allowed them to penetrate your heart, there is still time. Bow your head to the Most High God, recognize the Alpha and Omega for who He is, and the Son as the Messiah, sent to redeem a lost and dying world; repent of your sins (ask forgiveness, and then turn away from your sinful lifestyle) and ask Jesus to be your Savior and your Lord. Once you have done this, Jesus’ language will no longer be foreign to you, and His light will shine upon you from this day forward.
Go and sin no more
John 8
1But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
11″No one, sir,” she said.
“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
I have always been inquisitive. I am seldom satisfied just learning what is on the surface, I want to dig deeper to find the underlying meaning in things. So, when I read this account, the first thing I want to know is, “What was Jesus writing on the ground?”
The Pharisees, in their unending attempt to find fault with Jesus, brings a woman guilty of adultery to Him to see if He will disagree with the law of Moses. Jesus, instead of attending to their questions, bends over and with His finger writes on the ground. The immediate image that comes to mind is God writing the Law on the tablets of stone with His finger. Is that what Jesus was doing–writing the law on the ground? Or, could He have been writing the sins of which these men were guilty to show them their sin was not any less than this woman’s?
We are not privileged to know more than the Scripture reveals. What we can discern is that Jesus showed both the woman and the men who accused her the difference between law and grace. Whereas the law was given to man to show him his sin, the law could not save anyone from that sin. But grace–ahh, grace, the unmerited favor of God, given to us when we least deserved it but most needed it–grace covers a multitude of sin.
Have you been plagued with trying to live according to the Scriptures, but you just can’t seem to do it? The One who wrote in the sand also dipped His finger in the blood and wrote your name in the Book of Life. If you are in the Book of the living, there is no reason, no excuse, to live in sin. As Jesus said, “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
We lost a friend today
We lost a friend today.
Connecting in Community
May we take the concept of community out into the world today.
Seeking Holiness 