John 8:12-30

How thankful I am to be back in God’s Word this morning! In this long passage from John 8, Jesus has just dealt with the Pharisees seeking to trip Him up with the woman caught in adultery. These men, who were supposed to be leading their people to God, were in darkness themselves - the blind leading the blind. So in the next passage, Jesus turns from the Pharisees and speaks directly to the people again:

When 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.” (John 8:12)

Oh my goodness! There is darkness all around us - people unable to see where they are headed, wandering around completely lost. Jesus claims here to be the Light that will dispel all darkness; He is the Light that gives life. This statement confounds the Pharisees, who argued that Jesus’ testimony about Himself could not be valid, because the Law required the testimony of two witnesses (Deut 19:15). Throughout this long cross-examination by the Pharisees, Jesus calmly made claims that would be outrageous if not true:

Jesus 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... I stand with the Father, who sent me. (vs.14,16)

In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid. I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me... You do not know me or my Father,” Jesus replied. “If you knew me, you would know my Father also” (vs.17-18)

Once 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.” (vs. 21)

“I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins.” (vs. 24)

What remarkable statements! What did Jesus mean when He said, “you will indeed die in your sins?” If people have not received the gift of salvation from sin by receiving Christ as their Savior, they have no remedy before God for their sins. They are not cleansed of sin and forgiven except through the blood of Christ, the Lamb of God. And should they die in this state, they would be dying in their sin. The Bible tells us “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment...” (Hebrews 9:27 KJV) That’s the bad news! You have only one go around at this. Today is the day of salvation. What a scary thought that people die without Christ! It is that thought that should compel us to share our faith. We can’t know what state others die in for sure, but we can make sure of our own state before God! And the GOOD news is that when we DO believe in Christ, we immediately receive eternal life.

The Pharisees found Jesus’ claims incomprehensible.

So 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. The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” Even as he spoke, many put their faith in him.  (vs.28-30)

So when Jesus was finally lifted up on the cross, when the earth shook, when the veil of the temple was torn in half from top to bottom (Matt 27:51), some would finally understand that Jesus is the I AM, the Son of God and God the Son. Some would come out of the darkness into the Light.

On overload, but thankful God never is!

Some of you have received the email I quickly sent out by phone late Sunday night as Don and I raced out to Palm Desert to be with his mother, Evelyn, who was in ICU at Eisenhower Medical Center in kidney failure. We got the news Sunday evening that she had coded, they had brought her back with CPR, but she was unresponsive, on a ventilator, and the doctor did not think she would last more than a few hours. So we packed up and headed out at 11:00 p.m. Don’s brother, Dave, and his wife, Nancy (who is the angel in our family) met us there from San Diego. We arrived there at about 12:30, which was a miracle in itself, as it is a 2 1/2 hr. drive and Don usually drives like an old lady.

We were at her bedside until 4:00 a.m., then decided to grab a couple of hours of sleep. So we all checked into a hotel and literally got two hours of sleep, showered, ate a quick breakfast, and went back to her bedside. They removed the ventilator and we stayed by her bed until she died at 11:00 a.m. It was a very sad moment, but we are grateful that she did not suffer and that it went quickly. What made it a particularly sad moment is that there were so many unresolved issues with my mother-in-law... Not a good ending... I’m sure many of you can relate.

We spent all day Monday and yesterday taking care of business, finding papers, bills, etc. and making arrangements. Our two girls, Molly and Emmy, came to the desert to be with their dad and help, which was amazing. Much was accomplished and we headed back home late yesterday afternoon to tell Don’s dad about her passing. You may remember that Frank, Don’s father, is living near us in an assisted living home. He has not seen his wife for any length of time for nearly two years (another long story). He was devastated, but we spent a long time with him and Dave and Nancy reminiscing about happier times.

So, I’m on my way to school this morning, very tired, but glad to be back to some semblance of normalcy. Still much to do and lots of emotions to work through. God was so faithful to allow us to accomplish much, but especially to be with Evelyn at the end. Your prayers for Frank, Don, Dave, and the rest of the family as we make arrangements for burial and a service would be so appreciated!

Wanted to also let you know that Royce will be having his heart surgery sometime this week. I’ll keep you informed. That is just a miracle, as they expected to have to wait for six weeks! Pray for his surgeons and for strength and peace for this family. May God fully restore this little guy’s heart!

Bridget is doing well after her eye surgery. Keep praying that there will be no infection during this healing period.

Finally, the funeral services for Megan Gerhard will be this Saturday. Her baby boy, Tosh, is still in intensive care at Children’s Hospital of Orange, which is a half hour from home. Pray that he will be released to the local Children’s Hospital this week. This family is in such shock! Please keep lifting them up!

So grateful we have a God Who can bear all of our burdens!  We will be back to John tomorrow... Love you all!

 

More prayer needs ... so thankful for our BIG God!

I already sent out the following prayer request to some of you yesterday via email, but I wanted it to go to those of you on the blog to solicit your prayers for this dear family:

We received such shocking news at our school today, that I just need to ask for your prayers for this family.  Dave Gerhard was the founding principal at my school, and he is the one who hired me.  His daughter, Eryn, works at our school as a special ed teacher.  Today Dave's other daughter, Megan, was delivering her second son when she died of a pulmonary embolism!   Megan was only 32, and she has an older son who is about 10.  The whole family was up at Mission Hospital (where Don worked for 38 years) waiting for the birth, when they received this news.  It is just so tragic and devastating.  Karen Gerhard, Megan's mother & Dave's wife, who is also a principal in our district, has non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.  It is more than we can comprehend.  Don happened to be up at the hospital this afternoon visiting and he told me that the whole lab was talking about it.  They are all in shock, too.  The baby boy is in intensive care.  


As stunned as all of us who love them are, we know that God was not taken by surprise.  And because God loves Megan and this family so much more than we could imagine, we know that He will lift them up.  Please be part of that by praying for them all!  

It is the one-year anniversary of the death of my nephew, Justin, who died at age 35 of sudden cardiac arrest. You may remember that he left a beautiful wife, Stephanie, twin five-year old boys, a three-year old boy, and Stephanie was pregnant at the time with their fourth - their girl, Johnna, who was born this past August. The day before Justin died, my sister Jodi, his mother, learned that she had multiple myeloma, a bone cancer. It was more than we could wrap our brains around!

And the sudden death of Megan on the day that should have brought great joy to her family, reminded me of what an enemy death is. It devastates those left behind! It intrudes into our plans and rips out our hearts. As I heard a pastor once say at a funeral, “Death sucks!” As Christians, we know that death ushers us into the presence of the LORD, so for those who have gone through that portal there is great joy - and we would never convince them to return to this place of pain and sorrow. But for us on the other side their is such grief!

Jesus came to destroy that final enemy! His death on the cross guaranteed our eternal life. And that eternal life starts NOW - we don’t have to wait for it. Satan comes seeking to kill and destroy - but Jesus came to give us ABUNDANT life. In Him we find our joy and our hope. May He continue to surround my sister’s family and Stephanie and her sweet babes, and may He cover the Gerhard family with His grace and love in the days, weeks, months, and years ahead.

Thank you to all of you who lift all of these needs up to our Father.  And praise to our LORD who has miraculously healed my sister, Jodi, who is completely cancer free!

 

John 8:1-11

Isn’t it amazing how we love to point out the sins of others? We almost take delight in their failings. Witness the obsession the public has with figures like Lindsay Lohan or Charlie Sheen. We all love a train wreck when we’re not in it! This begins at a very early age! Having taught first grade years ago, I can tell you there is nothing children love more than to tattle on another! Why are we like this? I believe it’s because we want to take attention away from our own faults. If we can keep people distracted by the sins of others, maybe they won’t see ours! In today’s passage we witness men eager to pounce on a woman caught in adultery.

But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. (John 8:1-6a)

After preaching to the crowd at the temple the day before, Jesus sought some quiet time on the Mount of Olives. But he returned the next day to teach once again. The religious leaders show up dragging a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery with them, hoping to trap Jesus. They bring up the Law of Moses which required that BOTH the man and the woman caught in adultery must be put to death (Lev. 20:10). So where was the man? If she was caught in the act, he had to have been there, too!
They wanted Jesus to decide her fate, knowing that if He agreed she must be killed, all those He came to save, those He hung out with, the prostitutes, tax collectors, etc., would probably be afraid to be around Him. If He brushed it off, He would be denying the Law. Only Jesus could have been wise enough to silence them without a word:

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When 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.” Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
At 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. (vs. 6b-9)

I love that John doesn’t tell us what it was that Jesus was writing on the ground. If, as most speculate, He was writing down in the dirt the many sins that those accusing the woman had committed, it reminds me that while He wants us to confess our sins and be cleansed, He doesn’t desire to make a public spectacle of us and have us wear scarlet letters on our chests announcing our sins. Whatever He wrote, it was enough to stop the hypocritical outrage of these religious leaders and send them home to contemplate their motives. And after they had left, one by one, the woman remained with Jesus.

Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”


“No one, sir,” she said.


“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.” (vs. 10-11)

I love the quietness that is in this ending. You can imagine the noisy scene as they initially brought her out of that bed (most likely screaming), dragged her through the streets to the temple, and shouted accusations as they brought her before Jesus. Jesus brought calm and peace to the situation. He did not resort to yelling at them because of their obvious hypocrisy. He calmed everyone down by His own demeanor and was able to allow the woman some dignity. In fact, Jon Courson points out that when He called her woman in verse 10, it was the same term He used later for His mother when she was at the foot of the cross. Rather than condemning her, He exhorts her, “Go and sin no more.” (KJV)

Doesn’t this just make you adore our Savior even more? There is such a sweetness here! Jesus’ point here is just like the point He made in Matthew 7:3-5, where He reminds us that, before we try to point out the tiny speck in someone else’s eye, we need to first remove the log from our own! Our response to someone else’s fall should be one of compassion, one that compels us to pray for the redemption of that person. We have all been there - on a daily basis! How grateful I am for a Savior who died to silence the accusers in my life!

 

John 7:37-53

Our passage today shows us Jesus still at the Feast of Tabernacles:

On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” 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. (John 7:37-39)

This is an interesting picture of Jesus, because is tells us that He basically shouted out to the people there. We usually think of Jesus humbly going about in a quiet way, but He knew the desperate need and longing of these people and He wanted to get their attention. Jesus came to seek and save the lost - those who were weak, weary, hungry and thirsty. He wanted people to know that what they were seeking to fill that need was met fully in Him. And it’s not just that He offered a cool drink - He promised overflowing refreshment that would come from within the deepest part of our souls. The indwelling Holy Spirit would be a constant source of satisfaction to us - filling us so full that our joy would spill over to others.

I read somewhere that older people have a greater danger of dehydration, because they don’t recognize thirst. I think that is the spiritual condition of most of us. We have tuned out the desire for spiritual things because we are so distracted by the world - and we have no awareness of our need. Surely there are times in our lives when Jesus has to shout to get our attention! “Come to me and drink!”

Once again, the response of the crowd was mixed:

On hearing his words, some of the people said, “Surely this man is the Prophet.”


Others said, “He is the Christ.”


Still others asked, “How can the Christ come from Galilee? Does not the Scripture say that the Christ will come from David’s family 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. (vs.40-44)

Now this reminded me of the whole “birther” thing. If Jesus could have just produced a birth certificate from Bethlehem, He could have settled this whole identity thing right there! :) But for most, there is never enough evidence. It’s not that they CAN’T believe - it’s that they WON’T! And that leads us to the next scene when the temple guards, who had been sent to arrest Jesus, return to report:

Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him in?”


“No one ever spoke the way this man does,” the guards declared.


“You mean he has deceived you also?” the Pharisees retorted. “Has 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.” (vs.45-49)

Talk about spiritual pride! Hey, if the Pharisees don’t put their stamp of approval on Jesus, forget about it! It would be funny if it weren’t so serious. These leaders were the religious authority over God’s chosen people - and they were contemptuous of Jesus - calling him a “deceiver!” They even turned on one of their own who sees the need to investigate Jesus’ claims:

Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, “Does our law condemn anyone without first hearing him to find out what he is doing?”


They replied, “Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.” (vs. 51-52)

Those who are in leadership positions are held more accountable for what they model. These leaders were making it more difficult for their “sheep” to know the truth! This reminds me of the serious position we hold as parents and grandparents to spiritually lead our children and grandchildren. If we aren’t modeling for them a strong commitment to the Savior, we will be held accountable.

Years ago, when I was the head of Sunday School for the church my girls grew up in, it amazed me how parents looked to the Sunday School teachers to be the ones to teach their children everything about God and the Bible. It was as if they just wanted to drop their kids off and assume that all of their spiritual instruction would take place for an hour a week. Just taking your kids to church and signing them up for mid-week programs is not the spiritual instruction God requires of us. Deuteronomy 6:6-7 is very clear that spiritual instruction is a 24/7 job:

These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

We need to be making our life with God visible to our kids every day. They need to hear our stories of His faithfulness; they need to be taught His Word from an early age. I’m feeling convicted about that as a grandparent!

Off to teach!

 

John 7:14-36

I’m making a confession here! When I read this passage yesterday morning, I could not get excited about it. I dug in, however, but got to the point where I knew I couldn’t go forward. It was time to rely on the Holy Spirit big time! John tells us at the end of his gospel that there were MANY other things which Jesus did that John did not include. In fact he wrote, “If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.” (John 21:25) And in John 20:31 he wrote, “These were written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

Therefore, whatever John included in his gospel, he did with this purpose in mind. So, as I reflected on that yesterday afternoon (having given up in the morning), I decided that John included this passage in chapter 7 to show us the build up of the opposition of the religious leaders to Jesus. Because there are people who deny that Jesus claimed to be God, it is really important that we see exactly what it was that lead to his death. They did not crucify people who just claimed to be teachers. Nor did they crucify someone for working on the Sabbath. So what was is that got the religious leaders’ panties in a twist to the point that they HATED Jesus and plotted to KILL him. John will show us how this animosity increased. With that in mind, let’s now look at today’s verses.

Not until halfway through the Feast did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. The Jews were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning without having studied?” (John 7:14-15)

According to Jon Courson, at the time Jesus lived there were more than 30 seminaries in Jerusalem, and Jesus had not attended any of them. The crowds marveled that He was such a great teacher without any formal training. Jesus didn’t need training in the Word, because He IS the Word! In the verses that follow this passage Jesus affirmed that His teaching came from God, and that if anyone were willing to do God’s will, they would understand that (we saw in John 6:28-29 that the will of God is that we believe in His Son). Instead, they were seeking to kill him ostensibly because he had healed the lame man on the Sabbath.  However, the real hatred arose from His claim that God was His Father (John 5:18).

Jesus said to them, “I did one miracle, and you are all astonished. Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a child on the Sabbath. Now if a child can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing the whole man on the Sabbath? Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment.” (verses 21-24)

Basically Jesus pointed their hypocrisy, saying, in essence, “You are fine with causing pain to a newborn on the Sabbath, but you are upset that I healed a man and made him whole on the Sabbath!” In the rest of this passage the people debated among themselves about whether or not Jesus could be the Christ.

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 Christ? But we know where this man is from; when the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from”... many in the crowd put their faith in him. They said, “When the Christ comes, will he do more miraculous signs than this man?” (vs. 25-27,31)

There was great confusion among the people in Jerusalem. Some were looking to their religious leaders to make a judgment about Jesus, others were convinced by His miracles. This upset the Pharisees. They did not want their power usurped. So they sent the temple guards to arrest Jesus (vs.32). Again, Jesus stirs controversy wherever He shows up! It’s clear from this passage that feelings about Jesus were strong. The people understood that knowing His true identity mattered - whether or not He was the Christ had major implications. The Pharisees understood that, as well, but it’s revealing that they were not interested in getting at the truth if it led to a lessening of their own authority.

We, too, all have to come to a decision about Jesus’ identity. And we instinctively know that the ramifications of our decision will be huge. Making that leap of faith is a scary thing! We know that if we decide that He is, indeed, the Christ, the Son of God, our lives will be forever changed. For some, unfortunately, that is asking too much...

 

John 7:1-13

In John 7 we get a quick peek at Jesus’ family. After the crowds walked away, Jesus continued to stay in the region of his home. Then the Feast of the Tabernacles came. This was a time when the Jews commemorated God’s faithfulness to His people during their years spent wandering in the wilderness. The people would camp out in tents. Jon Courson calls it the “Jewish equivalent to Family Camp.” :)

After this, Jesus went around in Galilee, purposely staying away from Judea because the Jews there were waiting to take his life. But when the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles was near, Jesus’ brothers said to him, “You ought to leave here and go to Judea, so that your disciples may see the miracles 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. (John 7:1-5)

It seems here that Jesus’ brothers were almost challenging Him here, for we’re told that they did NOT believe in Him at this point. It was not until after the crucifixion and resurrection that they were actually numbered among the disciples. Jesus’ brother, Jude, would write the book that bears his name, while James was one of the church leaders in Jerusalem and wrote the Book of James. At this point in Jesus’ ministry, however, they did not believe.

Courson speculates about what it must have been like to have Jesus for an older brother. He was the most loving brother ever! Yet, they did not believe! He reminds us that while, we may be the kindest neighbor or friend or parent, there will be many who will reject our message about Christ.

Jesus tells his brothers that they can go on up to the Feast if they want to, but it’s not yet His time. The opposition of the Jewish leaders was strong because of His healing of the lame man on the Sabbath (chapter 5). Nevertheless, He did follow His brothers. While it would have been safer to wait in Galilee, Jesus was here to obey His Father, so He followed them to Judea:

Now at the Feast the Jews were watching for him and asking, “Where is that man?”


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 Jews. (vs. 12-13)

It’s interesting that the crowds had the same response to Jesus as we hear today. “He’s a good teacher. He does nice things - after all He gave us the Golden Rule.” Most of the world today would at least grudgingly acknowledge that. Others, even though they might not say it so bluntly, would have to conclude that He was deceiving or tricking the people. And, surely, if what He was saying about Himself was not true, if He was NOT the Son of God, if people could not attain eternal life through Him, then He would not be a good teacher, but a liar in open rebellion against God. He would be a blasphemer!

Jesus draws these kinds of strong responses. He doesn’t leave you with any other option but to either fully accept Him as LORD, or to completely reject Him. And if you reject Him, you really can’t claim Him to be a “good teacher.” “Good teachers” don’t purposely lead people astray. And if He were just delusional and honestly believed He was the Son of God, but wasn’t, then He would have been crazy, even psychotic! What’s it going to be: liar? lunatic? or LORD?