Jesus Tells the Truth

Posted on by korgrocker

“I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.”
John 5:24 NLT

This must have been an astonishing statement in the religious context of those days. Standing in the Jewish leaders’ shoes, we would have heard this ordinary looking man making the assertion that He had been sent by God and claimed that all who believe in Him “will never be condemned for their sins”. We know there was nothing special about Jesus’ appearance from Isaiah’s prophecy, “My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him” (Isaiah 53:2). However, Jesus was a divisive figure. He challenged the status quo and left the people of His day with a choice to make. They either had to believe that he was who He said He was, the Son of God, or they had to reject Him as yet another person to be pitied, a person deluded and mentally deranged. But what about the miracles? Could a person making these false claims have healed a man who had been paralysed for thirty eight years? A dilemma both for the Jewish leaders and the ordinary people.

We often think that God is omnipotent, i.e. that He can do anything. But there are in fact some things that He cannot do. One of them is to tell a lie. Everything God says and does is truthful and righteous. And the same applies to Jesus because He was, and is, the Son of God. So when Jesus said that what He was about to say was truthful we who believe in Him need to sit up and take notice. Jesus said that we must listen to His message, and believe in God, who sent Jesus to this world. And if we do, then the result is that we will pass from death to life. Eternal life. 

We pilgrims have an opportunity to echo what Jesus said to those around us. Witnessing about Jesus and all He has done for mankind is something that I am passionate about, and do at every opportunity. The message is simple but takes a lifetime of application as we start to live out the reality of moving from a kingdom of death to God’s Kingdom of life. But Jesus was focused on why He came, as we read in John 10:10, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly”. More truths from Jesus’ lips. 

One difficulty Christians can experience is what to do about people who make certain claims about their mission in life. Jesus Himself warned about such people in Matthew 24:24, “For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones“. Earlier in Matthew, Jesus said, “Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act ….” (Matthew 7:15-16a). And yet, if we reject someone, there is the possibility that we have rejected a messenger sent by God. Thankfully the Holy Spirit will help us discern who is right, and who is to be avoided. One question I ask is about who the person in question is accountable to. A man or woman only accountable to themselves are in danger of being in error, no matter how sincere they are.

Jesus backed up what He said by constantly asserting that He was accountable to His Father in Heaven. And the words He said, His teachings and parables, were supported by miraculous signs and wonders. His selfless and sinless life spoke for itself. No appeals for money. No lavish lifestyle. No mansions and private jets. Jesus came from Heaven and returned there after His death and resurrection. There is only one Messiah and He is our Lord Jesus Christ.

Dear Father God. Thank You for sending Jesus to this world, to fulfil Your plan for the salvation of mankind. We praise You today. Amen.

The Second Sign

Posted on by korgrocker

“This was the second miraculous sign Jesus did in Galilee after coming from Judea. Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days.”
John 4:54-5:1 NLT

A miracle happened when Jesus turned water into wine, and here John records that the healing of the government official’s son was the second that had taken place in Galilee. Both events were, as John wrote, miraculous occasions, inexplicable to anyone taking them at face value, but there will always be someone who attempts to explain them away by attributing to them some natural cause. Perhaps, such people say, the healing of the official’s son was a coincidence. The boy might have been very sick when his father decided to journey to find Jesus, but in the meantime he became well through the normal course of an illness, in which some people get better and others died. Perhaps the water turned into wine was some form of hoax perpetrated by the bridegroom or someone else at the wedding reception. We will always be able to find the sceptics and deniers, people who don’t want to believe what they see or hear, because to do so would result in them having to abandon their world view and take on board something that will change and even transform their lives. These people are very comfortable with their sinful lives, for now.

Jesus said, as recorded in John 4:48, “ … Will you never believe in me unless you see miraculous signs and wonders?” What was there about the Galileans that seemed to indicate that they didn’t believe Jesus’ message on its own? Was Jesus a bit exasperated that His words of eternal life were rejected until He reinforced them with a miracle or two? After all, He had a tremendous reception in Sychar, and the people there believed what He said, not what He did. John 4:42, “Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not just because of what you told us, but because we have heard him ourselves. Now we know that he is indeed the Saviour of the world.“”

The people in Jesus’ day had the benefit of the Son of God living with them. He walked amongst the Jewish people spreading His message of hope about the Kingdom of God. He preached in their synagogues, He taught in the fields and educated His disciples as they journeyed from one place to another. And yet, most people He met had a problem believing what He said. But before we condemn them, we need to walk in their shoes. If someone came to our societies today, even Jesus Himself, preaching the message that Jesus preached, what reception would they get? It would be even more difficult today, because the spirit of the age promotes any message, any ideology, that feels good. Anything that satisfies the sinful yearnings within human beings. So people today will reject any message that confronts their sin, even if their rejection of it comes with a warning that hell beckons, just over the horizons of their lives. There is a man who lives close by who I shared the Gospel with, and his response was that he would be taking part in the “big party downstairs”. Not for him a life with God in Heaven. Such a response staggered me, because its intensity in its rejection of the love of God was basically a self-imposed death sentence.

Do miracles happen today? There are many that have been documented, but still most people choose to reject the Gospel. They reject even the resurrection of the Man who was cruelly put to death on a Roman cross, perhaps the biggest miracle that this world has ever seen. But miracles or not, there is only one way to Heaven and that is through repentance and believing in Jesus. Our Heavenly Father loved the people He created so much that He was prepared to sacrifice His only Son to save them from the consequences of their sins. The people of Galilee had a choice, and that same choice is still hanging in the air, for now. It won’t be there for ever, because one day we will die and the option of believing in Jesus will die with us. We pilgrims have an opportunity to tell others about the wonderful future people can have, both in this life and beyond. And every time someone we tell about Jesus decides to believe in Him, they hold a party in Heaven. There is nothing more important in this life than the Good News brought to this world by the Son of God.

Dear Father God. All we can do is to worship You, with grateful hearts. Amen.

Believing Jesus

Posted on by korgrocker

“The official pleaded, “Lord, please come now before my little boy dies.” Then Jesus told him, “Go back home. Your son will live!” And the man believed what Jesus said and started home. While the man was on his way, some of his servants met him with the news that his son was alive and well. He asked them when the boy had begun to get better, and they replied, “Yesterday afternoon at one o’clock his fever suddenly disappeared!” Then the father realized that that was the very time Jesus had told him, “Your son will live.” And he and his entire household believed in Jesus.”
John 4:49-53 NLT

Perhaps the government official, the civil servant, was worried that Jesus wouldn’t heal his son. So he begged Jesus a second time to go with him to his home to heal his “little boy”. We don’t know the lad’s age but the impression was that he was much loved and in a family that obviously was fairly wealthy, because there were servants. But this was another example of Jesus’ compassion. He saw the man’s distress and immediately responded with the instruction to “Go back home”, followed by the reassurance “Your son will live”. 

But we should note the civil servant’s response. In spite of his begging, we are told two things about the man – he believed in Jesus and he was obedient to Jesus’ command. We read, “And the man believed what Jesus said and started home”. No more begging Jesus to come to his home. No more emotional pressure. We don’t know how he heard that Jesus was back in Galilee but he journeyed to meet the Master. The urgency of his son’s illness spurred him on. He was probably thinking about where he could find Jesus. What would his reception be? Would Jesus go with him? What if he said “no”? Doubts would have pressed in on his thoughts. But regardless of all of this he kept going, ignoring anything that would have made him turn back. That’s faith in action.

The man was hurrying home, desperate to see if his son was better. What was he expecting? A small improvement? Total healing? Would he find his son back to normal, playing with the other children? What did he think when he saw some of his servants coming towards him? Were they bringing bad news? Or was it the answer to a father’s desperate encounter with Jesus, the answer he yearned for? And then, the joy when he found out that his son was well, with the fever not present anymore, and it all happened at the very moment Jesus had said, “Your son will live”. 

We pilgrim believers are a people of faith. But do we have faith like that government official? Faith that will persevere through difficulties and troubles? God will always reward the faith of His children. We don’t have to beg, but believe what Jesus said, as we read in Matthew 7:9-11, “You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him”. The problem is that we “people of faith” fail to ask God for what we need. We often try every other avenue until desperation or lethargy kick in and spoil the opportunity. Or as a last resort we fall to our knees in prayer and ask God to help us. I keep a prayer diary and often find myself writing in the answers to prayers offered up days before. It’s faith building to know that God not only hears my prayers but answers them as well.

This cameo of the encounter between Jesus and the government official ends with more joy. We read, “And he and his entire household believed in Jesus”. What a tremendous outcome to find that the whole household, presumably servants and all, came to a belief in Jesus. All through a few gracious words from Jesus and the father’s faith.

Dear Father God. It must grieve You so much to see Your children struggling with issues that You have the answer to. Please forgive us. For Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Living Water (2)

Posted on by korgrocker

“Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” “Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me this water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get water.””
John 4:13-15 NLT

In John 4:10 we read, “Jesus replied, “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.”” Tantalisingly and perceptively, Jesus had put His finger on an important, if not the most important, aspect of the woman’s life. Drawing water was a daily and menial task for women in those days and it was an unceasing demand that could not be avoided. But Jesus seemed to be offering the woman a way out of her drudgery. All the woman could focus on was the water lying at the bottom of Jacob’s well, but Jesus had something better for her. The “living water” Jesus was talking about was the Holy Spirit – He could not remove the harsh and repetitive demands of fetching water from the woman’s daily schedule, but He could give her something meaningful in her life instead. Sadly, even by this stage in the conversation, the woman could still not see beyond water pots, wells, ropes and the water she and her dependents needed for their natural lives.

As we fast forward to 21st Century Planet Earth, we notice that in certain parts of the world, water supplies are extremely vulnerable. In fact, it has been calculated that over half the world’s population (4 billion people) suffer some form of water stress for at least one month every year. Even here in the UK, climate change has brought times of drought leading to water shortages, stunted crops, and hosepipe bans. It was no different in the Western Mediterranean countries in Biblical times – the scarcity of water was a constant concern for the people who were growing crops and tending livestock. 

But Jesus was concerned about His Kingdom, the Kingdom of God. In His Kingdom, then as now, spiritual water was and is an essential commodity, and there is no limit to the life-giving Spirit that is accessible to all. There are no hosepipe bans in Heaven! However, there is one essential caveat. In John 7:38 Jesus said, “Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’” No-one can drink the Heavenly water unless they embrace, and believe in, the Saviour, Jesus Himself. The word “believe” implies an intimate trust and faith in the God-Man Jesus, and a personal relationship with Him that will never die. It is so sad, though, that many believers fail to drink deeply of the life-giving spiritual water so freely available to them, preferring instead to soldier on in their own strength. We need to drink Jesus’ living water every day. Sometimes several times during the day. Just as physical water needs replenishing in our physical bodies, so does the spiritual water in our souls. 

So today, right now even, let us open up our hearts and ask the Saviour to fill us anew. And “Rivers of living water” will flow, and flow, and flow. Until we are overflowing. We may still have to do the menial equivalent of going to draw water, but we will do it with joy and gratitude, full of the Holy Spirit.

Dear Lord Jesus. We do believe in You. Please fill us afresh with Your Living Water again today. Amen.

Living Water (1)

Posted on by korgrocker

“Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.””
“The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?” Jesus replied, “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 4:7, 9-10 NLT

‭‭Jesus was sitting by Jacob’s well near Sychar in Samaria, when a woman came out of the village to draw some water. And we read that the woman was surprised when Jesus asked her for a drink, because Jews don’t have anything to do with Samaritans. They hated them but I wonder if that feeling was reciprocated? Jesus told a parable about a Good Samaritan, which we can read in Luke 10. As a summary, an expert in Jewish Law asked Jesus a question about the greatest commandment, and according to the Law, after making God the first priority, Jesus said that we should treat our neighbours as well as we treat ourselves. The lawyer asked a loaded question about who the neighbours were, trying to be clever I suppose, or trip Jesus up. The example in parable form that Jesus gave him turned a Jewish custom on its head. A Jewish man had been attacked by robbers and left for dead. Two Jewish religious officials came by but refused to help. But then a Samaritan man treated him, continuing to care for him in a local inn for the rest of the day. The next morning, the Samaritan gave some money to the innkeeper to care for him until he was better, promising to provide more money the next time he passed, if necessary. Then came Jesus’ question – who was the best neighbour to the Jew robbed by bandits? The lawyer would not even say the dreaded word “Samaritan”, but just said “the one who showed him mercy” (Luke 10:37). 

But Jesus wasn’t fazed by the woman’s frosty response to His question “Please give me a drink”. He immediately took hold of the narrative and turned the conversation around from one about a drink of water from the well, to one focused on the Living Water that was a gift of God. Jesus spoke about this “Living Water” again, when He attended the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles. We read in John 7:37-39, “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’s explanation about the living water being the Holy Spirit was very clear, but such “water” was a spiritual element not understood by the natural people of His day. But we pilgrims know the living water of the Holy Spirit as it infuses and refreshes us. We are indeed a blessed people, who have benefitted, and continue to benefit, by the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. So the question is to Christians everywhere – have you received this gift? Jesus offered it to the Samaritan woman, and offers it to everyone today. But there is a catch – the prerequisite is that to access living water, we have to believe in Jesus. There is no other way.

Father God. I pray for a new infilling of Your living water today. In Jesus’ name. Amen.