“Where Is Your Father”

Posted on by korgrocker

“Your own law says that if two people agree about something, their witness is accepted as fact. I am one witness, and my Father who sent me is the other.” “Where is your father?” they asked. Jesus answered, “Since you don’t know who I am, you don’t know who my Father is. If you knew me, you would also know my Father.” Jesus made these statements while he was teaching in the section of the Temple known as the Treasury. But he was not arrested, because his time had not yet come.”
John 8:17-20 NLT

From these four verses we learn something significant about Jesus’ Father. Firstly, He had sent Jesus on His mission of salvation to Planet Earth, and secondly, Jesus’ Father would be instantly recognisable to anyone who knew Jesus. Of course, in our Western minds, we immediately think of two separate and individual people – a Father and a Son – but their relationship was more than that. They were, and still are, two members of the Trinity, and we know that the third person would soon be coming to the lives of those early believers and disciples, because Jesus said so. Regarding His relationship with His Father, Jesus later said in John 10:30, “The Father and I are one”. Regarding the third member of the Trinity, Jesus said in John 14:16-17, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognise him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you”. We pilgrims worship a triune God, and in the Old Testament we can find references to all three members of the Trinity, who appeared at various times.

This unique relationship between the three Persons of the Trinity is even more amazing when we understand that the third Person, the Holy Spirit, lives within us. He is a Gift sent by God. Peter preached, “ … Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This promise is to you, to your children, and to those far away—all who have been called by the Lord our God” (Acts 2:38-39). The Holy Spirit within us brings us right into God’s domain, allowing us access to His thoughts – 1 Corinthians 2:10-12, “But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us”. We know from John 10 that the Holy Spirit will never leave us and will lead us into all the truth we need about God and His Kingdom. The Holy Spirit will also point to Jesus – John 16:14-15, “He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me. All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, ‘The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me’”. 

The relationship between the three Persons of the Trinity is much closer than we might think. The old hymn ends with this line, “God in Three Persons, blessed Trinity”. Jesus often referred to His Father While He was here on earth. Many times He went away into the hills, especially early in the morning, to spend time with Him. Throughout His ministry, the Holy Spirit was in Jesus, empowering and supporting Him regardless of His circumstances. And to think that we pilgrims have the same opportunity is mind boggling.

When people look at us, do they see what God sees? A child of God, righteous and blessed, who has been saved through Jesus’ sacrifice at Calvary? Would other people get a glimpse of Father God in us? Nevertheless, we shine as beacons of hope in our world, bringing God’s message to those around us. Perhaps our friends and family will see something of Father God as we witness to all we have seen and heard. Jesus had a simple message to those people around Him. “Believe in Me and you will live forever”. Too good to be true? Too good not to be.

Dear Lord Jesus, we once again declare our love for You, acknowledging all You have done for us. We worship You today. Amen.

Personal Testimony

Posted on by korgrocker

“Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” The Pharisees replied, “You are making those claims about yourself! Such testimony is not valid.” Jesus told them, “These claims are valid even though I make them about myself. For I know where I came from and where I am going, but you don’t know this about me. You judge me by human standards, but I do not judge anyone. And if I did, my judgment would be correct in every respect because I am not alone. The Father who sent me is with me. Your own law says that if two people agree about something, their witness is accepted as fact. I am one witness, and my Father who sent me is the other.””
John 8:12-18 NLT

The Pharisees seem to have been abandoned by the other Jewish religious leaders because John stopped mentioning them. But regardless, the Pharisaical attacks on Jesus continued, and they now start another approach. The Pharisees decided that Jesus was making claims about Himself that could not be substantiated by independent witnesses, so how could they be proven? Where was the testimony of others? Without it, the Pharisees said, Jesus had no right to make the claims He did. Claims like we read in John 6:35, “Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty”. And in our verses today we read another claim that Jesus made – “I am the light of the world”. Of course, to the Jews, the use of the two words “I am” was highly contentious because they were the name of God and many Jews wouldn’t even mention it. Exodus 3:14, “God replied to Moses, “I Am Who I Am. Say this to the people of Israel: I Am has sent me to you””. 

Jesus told the Pharisees that what He said about Himself was valid, because there were two witnesses – Himself and His Father in Heaven. Jesus said His claims were true because He knew where He had come from and where He was going. His mandate couldn’t have been any higher. He was on a mission ordained by His Father. Effectively, He was saying to the Pharisees that He was the Son of God, able to make valid claims about Himself, so get over it!

Jesus also pointed out that the Pharisees were using human values to judge Him, something that did not apply in His situation. There was no higher authority than God and His Son, so human jurisdiction did not apply. Jesus then said that He didn’t judge anyone. We remember that He had previously mentioned this in His conversation with Nicodemus, recorded in John 3:17, “God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him”. At the time of His first coming, Jesus was not going to judge anyone – that occasion was still to come, as we read in Revelation 20. 

So, what do we pilgrims think of Jesus and His claims? They are all recorded in the Gospels and elsewhere in the New Testament. The people of His day were divided in their opinions of Him. Many believed in Him because of the miraculous signs that he did, and because of His teaching. But still more, including the Pharisees and the other religious leaders, did not. However, two thousand years on, we are followers of Jesus, disciples of the Son of God, believers in the God-Man who had the words of eternal life. The Messiah who was the bread of life, sustaining those who believed in Him. We don’t stumble around in the darkness of a sinful world, but we have the light of Jesus illuminating our every step. We worship a loving Saviour, who gave His life that we might live.

Dear Lord Jesus. We believe in you, and will follow You all the days of our lives. In Your precious name. Amen.

Jesus the Light

Posted on by korgrocker

“Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.””
John 8:12 NLT

In a spiritual sense, light refers to holiness, righteousness and purity, while darkness refers to sin, evil and wickedness. Jesus said that He is the ultimate Light, the Light that came into this world and imparted “the light that leads to life”. We know that in a physical sense light is necessary so that all the organisms of this world can survive. Plants cannot survive without light. Our human eyes are incredible organs that can detect light with amazing clarity and with all of its constituent colours. Right back in Genesis 1:3-5 we read the act of God’s creation on the first day, “Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day” and the darkness “night.” And evening passed and morning came, marking the first day“. So physical light is fundamental to God’s creation. 

But spiritually, there is only one source of light and that is Jesus Himself. There is no other way to illuminate our spirits, though many attempt it with a variety of methods, all of which ultimately fail. We find Yoga classes, and mindfulness and so on, all of which make spiritual claims, but which all fall far short of the light that Jesus was referring to. Only by believing in Jesus will we find the light that illuminates our very souls. As we pilgrims journey through life we find our way illuminated by the Word of God. “Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path” (Psalm 119:105). The words of illumination come from none other than Jesus Himself. John 1:1, “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God”.

Jesus has delegated to His followers the responsibility of sharing His light with the world around us. Matthew 5:14-16, “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father“.

It is a tremendous invitation from Jesus. If we believe in Him, we will never have to suffer the consequences of sin, and be beholden to the dark world in which we live.

Dear Lord Jesus. You are the Word that illuminates our ways through a dark and dismal world. Those around us may be stumbling through the darkness of sin but You promised to be our light that leads to life. Thanks Lord. Amen.

Adultery (2)

Posted on by korgrocker

“Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them. As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd. “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?” They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust. When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” “No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.””
John 8:1-11 NLT

Imagine the scene. The crowd of people around Jesus moved back to allow a group of religious leaders – we don’t know how many – to enter the space in front of Jesus and publicly display a woman who they accused of being “caught in the act of adultery”. Hands full of stones, they dragged the poor woman into Jesus’ presence, right while He was teaching the crowd. They were trying to trap Jesus and draw Him into their legalistic and unloving world, a world where laws and rules were the only arbiter of human behaviour. A world where more and more rules were invented to attempt to cover all eventualities. We pilgrims can only look on through the lens of time and feel sorry for the woman. The public humiliation. The fear gripping her heart. Surrounded by cruel and brutal men. Knowing that she had committed a forbidden act. No opportunity to present a mitigating defence. No mercy available.

The religious leaders demanded an answer from Jesus, but He was doodling something in the dust on the Temple floor. They were persistent, probably thinking we’ve got Him now, but Jesus stood up and, in a few words, put His finger on the real issue. He acknowledged what was written in the Law, but He then went on to expose the leaders’ hypocrisy. How many of them had been involved in a similar situation to the adulterous man, conspicuous by his absence from the scene? How many of them had sins committed in the past that were still hanging heavily on their consciences? Jesus said, “let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone“. Perhaps the religious leaders realised that they too deserved punishment for the sins that they had committed.

We read about what happened next. Jesus had returned to doodling in the dust. The crowd was quiet, mesmerised by the scene before them. Those at the back straining to see what was going on. Perhaps in the quiet the woman’s sobbing would have been heard by all. But then a series of thuds were heard, the sounds made by rocks being dropped on to the Temple floor. Footsteps then shuffled off into the distance. Jesus looked up and saw that only the woman remained. Her accusers, those brutal and harsh leaders, had disappeared. “Where have your accusers gone”, Jesus asked the woman. “Are there any left who condemn you?” What follows shows the incredible love that Jesus had, and still has, for sinners. He showed His love to the woman by the word “Go”, and then told her to stop sinning. She was free to return to wherever she had come from. I wonder what was going on inside of her? Relief must have flooded over her. The tears that had previously been running down her face started to dry. The crowd parted to let her go about her business.

We pilgrims know that God loves sinners but hates the sin, and He provides the opportunity for everyone to be reconciled to Him by believing in His Son, Jesus. Jesus refused to condemn the woman, instead giving her an opportunity to embrace His grace and love.But do we pilgrims sometimes look on at another sinner and adopt a holier-than-though attitude? Do we forget that we too are sinners? It is no good thinking that our sins are not as bad as someone else’s. Paul wrote in Romans 3:23, ”For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard“. But with grateful hearts we echo what Paul wrote next, “Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins” (Romans 3:24). Thanks to Jesus, we can stand before God with confidence that He died for us in our place, as a punishment for our sins.

Father God. On our knees in worship before You we express our gratitude for Your grace and mercy. Amen.

Adultery (1)

Posted on by korgrocker

“Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them. As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd. “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?” They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust. When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” “No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.””
John 8:1-11 NLT

Jesus returned to His accommodation on the Mount of Olives after His eventful last day at the Feast of Tabernacles. A day in which He had declared an invitation, “ … Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart’” (John 7:37b-38). A day during which He had nearly been arrested for blasphemy. A day when many in the crowd in the Temple started to declare that He was the Messiah. But John recorded that He was soon back in the Temple the next day and a crowd gathered around Him. In accordance with the Rabbinic custom of His day, Jesus then sat down and started to teach them. But the religious leaders had a disruptive plan, hoping to trap Jesus into committing an error that would give them another reason to arrest Him. How they managed it we don’t know, but somehow they found a woman “who had been caught in the act of adultery”, and they displayed her publicly right there in the Temple in front of Jesus.

As an aside, one person was conspicuously absent from the Pharisees’ plans – the man. The act of adultery takes two people, a man and a woman, to be accomplished, so where was the man? The Pharisees and the other religious leaders present quoted the Law of Moses from Deuteronomy 22:22, “If a man is discovered committing adultery, both he and the woman must die. In this way, you will purge Israel of such evil”. There is another verse in Leviticus 20:10, “If a man commits adultery with his neighbour’s wife, both the man and the woman who have committed adultery must be put to death”. The misogyny of the religious leaders was symptomatic of an age when women were considered little better than the farm animals in a man’s stable.

The religious leaders were trying to catch Jesus out, by putting Him in a no-win position. If He recommended that the woman was released, then He could have been accused once again of treating the Law of Moses with contempt. On the other hand, if He agreed with the leaders that the woman should be stoned then the Roman authorities, who exclusively had the mandate to administer a death sentence, might be upset and arrest Him. But what followed was a moment of reality to the accusers. They realised that they were all sinners, and had no mandate to judge another sinner. So when Jesus said to them that only the sinless had the authority to stone a sinner, they dropped their stones and walked away. Something powerful happened that day, even in the lives of the religious leaders who liked to display their personal righteousness before the people. Because of their public humiliation they now hated Jesus even more. But they had encountered the Son of God Himself, and perhaps received a glimpse into God’s heart of love and grace, contrasting their rigid and legalistic faith. Jesus said that His Kingdom was close at hand, and sadly the religious leaders possibly missed an opportunity to enter it.

Father God. We pray that Your Kingdom will come to this devil-ruled world. And soon. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Is It legal?

Posted on by korgrocker

““Is there a single one of us rulers or Pharisees who believes in him? This foolish crowd follows him, but they are ignorant of the law. God’s curse is on them!” Then Nicodemus, the leader who had met with Jesus earlier, spoke up. “Is it legal to convict a man before he is given a hearing?” he asked. They replied, “Are you from Galilee, too? Search the Scriptures and see for yourself—no prophet ever comes from Galilee!” Then the meeting broke up, and everybody went home.”
John 7:48-53 NLT

There appeared to be a meeting of the Pharisees and the other religious leaders, possibly convened to follow the attempt to arrest Jesus and bring Him before them to face charges of blasphemy. The dynamic of the meeting is interesting, in that there appears to be one person speaking for all those present. But there was dissent from a man called Nicodemus. We remember him as the man who went to Jesus by night for a meeting. We read in John 3:1-2, “There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you””. But from what Nicodemus said, it appears that the Jewish leaders were going to kill Jesus without a trial. John 5:18, “So the Jewish leaders tried all the harder to find a way to kill him. For he not only broke the Sabbath, he called God his Father, thereby making himself equal with God”. How they were going to kill Him in the Roman-governed province was unclear.

To the religious leaders, the Law of Moses, as they interpreted it, was of paramount importance. It must have been a nightmare for the Romans, because there was effectively two legal systems in operation. But the Jews walked a tightrope between the demands of the Law and restrictions placed upon them by the Roman occupiers. They knew that if they stepped too far out of line then the Romans would brutally deal with them. But as we can see from Jesus’ trial, the Romans were quite happy to allow the Jews to judge religious matters, though with restrictions when it came to capital issues. John 18:31, ““Then take him away and judge him by your own law,” Pilate told them. “Only the Romans are permitted to execute someone,” the Jewish leaders replied”. 

It is interesting that so much of our legal system here in the UK is based upon the Law of Moses, and it is only in the recent past that more radical changes have been made. For example, the mandatory death sentence for crimes such as murder was only repealed in living memory. But sadly, the UK is becoming increasingly secular with the Christian witness and influence slowly dwindling away. The gap between the state and the church is ever widening, with our politicians introducing laws that would have been unheard of in the mid twentieth century, and with negative consequences resulting. Abandoning God’s laws and replacing them with modern Godless ideologies is a dangerous strategy that will increase the devil’s influence on our societies bringing chaos and strife.

Nicodemus asked, “Is it legal to convict a man before he is given a hearing?” Having to ask that question is a long way from the intent of the Law. Jesus was later asked about what was the greatest commandment, and His reply was to love God with all your heart, and to love your neighbours as yourself. Such a message seemed a long way from the venom and anger of the Pharisees, intent on upholding their interpretation of the Law regardless of God’s plan for human decency. But before we pilgrims make any comment we have to ask ourselves the question about our own responses to others, particularly when we start using Bible verses in judgement of another. God has a higher law based on love, and when that becomes the starting point, a journey can be commenced that will eventually bring resolution in times of conflict. Jesus is recorded as saying in John 3:17, ”God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him“. Instead of bringing judgement and punishment Jesus said, ”For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost“.

Jesus’ teaching and message was a long way from that dispensed by the Jewish leaders, which was probably why they hated Him so much. God has a law much higher than that followed by the Pharisees and it is based on love and grace. He is not a stern figure with a policeman’s hat and a truncheon leaning over the banisters of Heaven reaching down to beat us at every sinful opportunity. He is a loving Father, who corrects us when we stray and who affirms us when we do well. The question “Is it legal” doesn’t apply in the courts of Heaven.

Dear Heavenly Father. We thank You for Your love, grace and mercy. Where would we be without You? We worship You today. Amen.

Ignorant of the Law

Posted on by korgrocker

“When the Temple guards returned without having arrested Jesus, the leading priests and Pharisees demanded, “Why didn’t you bring him in?” “We have never heard anyone speak like this!” the guards responded. “Have you been led astray, too?” the Pharisees mocked. “Is there a single one of us rulers or Pharisees who believes in him? This foolish crowd follows him, but they are ignorant of the law. God’s curse is on them!””
John 7:45-49 NLT

The arrogance of the Pharisees, and the others who made up the religious leadership, is breath-taking. With their words they sealed their own fate and accused those in the “foolish crowd” of being ignorant of the Law even when it pointed, through prophecies, to the coming Messiah. Worse, they then cursed the people in the name of God. A very sad situation that ultimately led to Jesus’ execution at Calvary.

There are men and women today, in positions of church leadership, who claim to know better than ordinary “foolish” people. In fact, every generation since Jesus walked on this planet has had more than its fair share of people who preach a message based on their own construction rather than God’s intent. They may even use Scriptures, like the Pharisees, to justify their position. But in 1 Corinthians 1, Paul contrasted the “wise” of this world with the “foolishness” of the message of the cross and the people who are being saved by it. He wrote, “The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18). Paul went on to quote a verse from Isaiah 29, “As the Scriptures say, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and discard the intelligence of the intelligent””. And Paul, a lapsed and repentant Pharisee, then wrote, “This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength. Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful” (1 Corinthians 1:25-27). 

The wisdom and knowledge of the Pharisees and the other religious leaders was ultimately exposed for what it was by the ordinary people in the crowd who came to believe in Jesus. The “wise” religious leaders journeyed on to their ultimate fate. I can just imagine one of these arrogant leaders standing before God trying to explain why they refused to believe in His Son, Jesus. Perhaps they even angrily shook their fists in God’s face, accusing Him of letting them down. A quote from C S Lewis (the Great Divorce), “But, beyond all these, I saw other grotesque phantoms in which hardly a trace of the human form remained; monsters who had faced the journey to the bus stop—perhaps for them it was thousands of miles—and come up to the country of the Shadow of Life and limped far into it over the torturing grass, only to spit and gibber out in one ecstasy of hatred their envy and (what is harder to understand) their contempt, of joy”. But perhaps God will lovingly say to them that by sending His Son He was fulfilling the intention of the Law. Jesus said in Matthew 5:17, “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose”. And then, before God, the light suddenly dawned on those arrogant men as they, too late of course, realised their error. 

Paul was a very learned man, and considered a Pharisee above all others, but he wrote in Philippians 3:7-9, “I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith”. 

We pilgrims believe in Jesus. We have faith in Him and His words of eternal life. The message of the cross has led us astray, away from the “wisdom” of the world into the Kingdom of God. There is no better place to be.

Dear Father God. The message of the Cross is fundamental to our faith in Jesus, and we are eternally grateful for Your plan for the salvation of mankind. Amen.

No Arrest

Posted on by korgrocker

“Some even wanted him arrested, but no one laid a hand on him. When the Temple guards returned without having arrested Jesus, the leading priests and Pharisees demanded, “Why didn’t you bring him in?” “We have never heard anyone speak like this!” the guards responded.”
John 7:44-46 NLT

The Temple guards had a dilemma. They had been sent to arrest Jesus, but they had no legal mandate to do so, other than the instructions of the religious leaders. But in Jesus’ presence they were overcome by His gracious and life-giving words, in some way touched by God. I picture a group of the senior clerics, the leading priests and the Pharisees, meeting together, and deciding to send the guards to arrest Jesus. So, the guards were called in and given their instructions. Off they went and found Jesus in the Temple teaching the people. He wouldn’t have been hard to find, because of the crowd who were probably standing there silently and listening to what Jesus had to say. In other places in the Gospels we read about how Jesus spoke with an authority they had never experienced from their own teachers. But the guards paused for a few moments, taking in the scene and starting to listen to Jesus as well. Mesmerised, they forgot their mission, and when the session came to a natural end, they returned to the meeting of clerics without Jesus. I wonder why they returned, but I suppose they had to report back to their employers. I also wonder what story they started to form in their minds to excuse their lack of action? But in reply to the question, “Why didn’t you bring him in?” they replied,  “We have never heard anyone speak like this!”.

In the Temple, Jesus was communicating God’s message to His people. This was a brave thing to do because the religious leaders claimed that right for themselves, but early on in His mission, Jesus came up against the traditional religious environment of His day. His message was forgiveness and life, much more attractive than the Pharisaical message of laws and rules. He performed miracles and signs, and gave the glory to God, who subsequently touched those Temple guards with a message of hope and a future with Him. More than anyone else, those guards would have been well aware of the hypocrisy in the religious lives of their leaders, so it is no wonder that they were refreshed by an encounter with Jesus.

We pilgrims can have such an encounter with our Lord and Saviour at any time, through the power of the Holy Spirit within us. But we too must beware of becoming fixed and hypocritical in our faith. We worship the living God, who has made available to us the “living water” Jesus offered to the temple crowd that day at the end of the Feast of Tabernacles. We drink at every opportunity, so that the water of life will flow around us and touch all the sceptics in the “crowd”, with God’s gracious words of forgiveness and life.

Dear Heavenly Father. We thank You for the water of life that perpetually pours from Your throne in rivers of blessing. We praise You today. Amen.

Prophet or Messiah

Posted on by korgrocker

“When the crowds heard him say this, some of them declared, “Surely this man is the Prophet we’ve been expecting.” Others said, “He is the Messiah.” Still others said, “But he can’t be! Will the Messiah come from Galilee? For the Scriptures clearly state that the Messiah will be born of the royal line of David, in Bethlehem, the village where King David was born.” So the crowd was divided about him. Some even wanted him arrested, but no one laid a hand on him.”
John 7:40-44 NLT

There were obviously some people in the crowd who knew their Bibles. The reference to the “Prophet” came from verses in Deuteronomy 18, “Moses continued, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. … I will raise up a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites. I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell the people everything I command him” (Deuteronomy 18:15,18). And the prophecy about the “Messiah” came from Micah 5:2, “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel, whose origins are in the distant past, will come from you on my behalf”. Still others didn’t rate Jesus at all, presumably considering Him to be a fraud, so they wanted to arrest Him. It was not a time in history when you would want to make claims of divinity, it seems.

But the three-way schism in the crowd that had gathered in the Temple came to nothing, because “no one laid a hand on Him”. Jesus’ presence, and His teaching and miracles, started many people off on a spiritual journey by confronting their beliefs and behaviours. If Jesus was in fact the Prophet or Messiah, then what should they do? But their religious leaders had publicly rejected Jesus because He didn’t pander to their religiosity and because He didn’t behave in the way they, the religious leaders, expected. They were perhaps expecting a Jesus such as we read about in Revelation, coming on a white horse at the head of an army, ready to do battle with the forces of evil. So the people were indeed left, as Jesus said later, like sheep without a shepherd. 

Perhaps the question for today is what do we think about Jesus? At His first coming was He the Prophet or the Messiah, foretold by the ancient prophets? We pilgrims have the benefit of hindsight, and know the truth. Jesus came as the Son of God, fulfilling the Old Testament prophecies, and offering Himself as the Saviour of everyone who believes in Him. Most people in our Western societies today will have very different views, even if they have any views about Jesus at all. But there has never been anyone born in this world who has impacted history as much as Jesus did. 

In the Temple that day, the people were not aware of the importance of the occasion. They knew Someone significant was before them but that was probably as far as it went for most of them. But there would have been a few people that God had called who listened to Jesus and then went away changed by an encounter with Him. People who desired more than anything else the “living water” that Jesus was offering. These were people who became the bedrock of the early church, and to whom we should be grateful. In the generations since, there have been a significant minority of people who have heard God’s call and who have followed Him, often in difficult and life-threatening circumstances. One day we will all meet up, and be with our Saviour for ever, rewarded for our faith and belief in Him.

Dear God. Thank You for Your Holy Spirit, so available to all who ask. We thank You for refilling us every day, and for keeping us close to You. Amen.

Living Water

Posted on by korgrocker

“On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’” (When he said “living water,” he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him. But the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet entered into his glory.)”
John 7:37-39 NLT

It was the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles. For the previous seven days, water had been poured out at the base of the altar in the Temple, but on this day it wasn’t. So perhaps symbolically, Jesus stood up and offered to the people “living water”, with one proviso – the people had to believe in Him. Once again Jesus was talking about spiritual water, not the physical water so sought after in that dry and dusty land. Helpfully, John explained this for the benefit of the people reading his Gospel; the spiritual “living water” was the Holy Spirit, the giving of whom was a gift from God following a person’s salvation. In Acts 2:38, in the middle of Peter’s sermon on the Day of Pentecost, he said, “ … Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit”. There is no other way of receiving the Holy Spirit, although we read about someone called Simon who tried. Acts 8:18-19, “When Simon saw that the Spirit was given when the apostles laid their hands on people, he offered them money to buy this power. “Let me have this power, too,” he exclaimed, “so that when I lay my hands on people, they will receive the Holy Spirit!”” As we read on in Acts 8 we see how he received correction for his erroneous demands.

There are many references to “water” in a spiritual sense in the Bible. For example, Isaiah wrote, “With joy you will drink deeply from the fountain of salvation!” (Isaiah 12:3). And there is Isaiah 58:11, “The Lord will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring”. Once before, Jesus mentioned living water. To the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well He said, “ … If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water” (John 4:10).

The Holy Spirit is a gift from God, and He brings to our spirits all the benefits that physical water brings to our bodies. So just as our bodies need water to survive, so does our spirits. But the “living water” for our spirits is alive and active, not stagnant and dead. It refreshes us and satisfies our thirst and leads us to eternal life. The “living water” within us refreshes those around us as well, as we make available God’s gift in our families and communities. And every day we can request a fresh infilling of the “living water”, the Holy Spirit, to help us face into the day and its challenges. 

Father God, we pray for a fresh supply of this living water, for the refreshment of our spirits in this dry and dusty land. Thank You. Amen.