90 Days with Jesus, Day 35: John 45-52: We're Only Safe with Jesus

John 7:45-52

45Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, "Why didn't you bring him in?" 46"No one ever spoke the way this man does," the guards declared. 47"You mean he has deceived you also?" the Pharisees retorted. 48"Has any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? 49No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law—there is a curse on them." 50Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, 51"Does our law condemn anyone without first hearing him to find out what he is doing?" 52They replied, "Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee."

Merrill Tenney makes a good point about the cooperative work between the Sadducees & Pharisees: “Since the high priest belonged to the Sadducean party, the coalition of the Pharisees and Sadducees was significant. The two groups were strongly opposed to each other in doctrine (Acts 23:7). In spite of their differences, their common animosity toward Jesus induced them to combine for action against him” (The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, John, 88). Isn’t it amazing how people from such divergent positions can unite together against a common cause, in this case Jesus? I’d be willing to bet you could do the same thing with conservatives and liberals in our government: as long as Jesus is the object of their scorn, united they will be. We see this taking place at the end of every Gospel story. Jews and Romans, notoriously hateful of one another, working together to see Jesus crucified. The world had grand designs on itself and Jesus is not a part of those plans: he must be ruthlessly eliminated, purposely cut-off, permanently disabled.

Still it is difficult not to see the courage of those guards who were commissioned to arrest Jesus and yet came back sans Jesus, empty-handed. And what were they impressed with? “No one, no man, has ever spoken the way this man does.” He is unique in instruction, singular in his prophecy, unparalleled in his revelation. No one speaks like he does. This does not mean that Jesus was far more eloquent than anyone else (although, I’m not saying he wasn’t). It means that his teaching was remarkable for its content. It’s what the people said after he preached the Sermon on the Mount: “When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law” (Matthew 7:28-29). Or in Mark 3:27: “The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, ‘What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him.’”

They were overwhelmed by Jesus’ teaching—the content of his teaching. No one compared to him and these guards had never heard anything like it before. I suspect that the religious authorities were a bit perturbed by this sort of ‘compliment’. “You mean he has deceived you too? Has any one of us believed in him? That is supposed to be a sign of authority or intelligence. In other words, “Look, you hayseeds, us smart folk haven’t believed in him, and those folks who have are accursed. Why, then, would you want to be associated with a group of cursed people? Wouldn’t you be wiser to be on our side and do what you are told since we, obviously, are smarter and not cursed?” Well that cinches it for me! I’m gonna follow the smart folk of this world because the obviously know much more than I do. They are far better equipped to handle all the details of who and what we should believe in. Right?
Nicodemus has a little courage too. Who knows what his intent was? I don’t, but at least he was willing to stand up to general decency and give a curtsy to the law: Does our law condemn anyone without a trial? But these folks did not even want to listen to Nicodemus or the guards let alone Jesus. Jesus was not going to get a fair trial in that town—and the end of the Gospels bear this out in full force. I cannot help but notice, however, that Nicodemus (this time) allowed those who opposed Jesus to have the last word. Maybe it was by design. Maybe he said just enough to allow those in opposition to Jesus to indict themselves and show their true colors?

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So where does a prophet come from? Their last words are: “Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.” In a sense, Jesus did not come from Galilee because he was, in fact, sent from the Father. He points this out several times. That is clearly not their point; it may be mine.

What they did was this. They worked with their avowed theological enemies in their opposition to Jesus, they resorted to snooty condescension and intellectual hubris, and they were about to commit an illegality by denying someone the full scope of the law’s protection (condemnation without trial). You can see they were going out of their way to oppose Jesus at every turn, every twist, every point they could. And they did so quite apart, it appears, from any pangs of conscience whatsoever. They wouldn’t listen to the guards. They wouldn’t listen to their own (Nicodemus). They wouldn’t listen to the Law (which Nicodemus invoked).

Sadly, folks do the same sort of things today. I hate to keep saying it, but that was the overall point of chapter 7 of John’s Gospel. What shall we do? What shall we say? How shall we respond? Shall we respond with bewildered fear like the guards? Shall we respond to citing technical aspects of the Law as Nicodemus did? Shall we respond in silence when insulted as Nicodemus did? At some point we are all going to have to say something about Jesus. I don’t think indifference, apathy, or silence is going to cut it. Those who speak the loudest, and those who hold the power of intimidation, and those reputed to be intellectual giants will not always be the ones to win or hold sway over the majority. What is required is someone brash enough to testify to what they believe in the presence of uncontrolled outrage and hatred.

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Chapter seven took quite a while to traverse. There’s a lot of important theological material in this chapter. I’d like to leave you with a couple of important observations as we finish this chapter and proceed to chapter 8 of John on our 90 Days with Jesus journey.

First, Jesus does not move according to our time schedules. We can no more make God adjust his plans than we can extinguish the sun. He has his own purposes, his own plans, his own time-table for how and when things on this earth will be accomplished. To be sure, we are a part of that plan, but we are not privy to all the details. So while we pray, we bear in mind his sovereignty and wisdom. And while we live, we continue to have faith that God has not abandoned us or forgotten us. We lovingly trust and obey and have confidence that even when our plans fall to pieces and fail miserably His do not.

Second, Jesus expected much opposition from those who opposed him. That sounds a wee bit redundant but what else can I say? Opposition from those who oppose Christ does not lessen as time goes on but in fact increases and grows more vehement. There is a great deal of tension in chapter 7. There are those who can’t make up their minds, there are those who have already decided they are opposed, there are his brothers who think he’s a kook, and there are the disciples who silently follow Jesus. There is much violence and a lot of tension and maneuvering in this chapter. I don’t think Christians in the West have clearly marked this in their lives. We enjoy relative peace and comfort in our lives. I wonder if we are fully prepared for the sort of opposition that we can certainly expect at some point? Those opposed to Jesus will not long tolerate those who follow Jesus.

Third, Jesus said that his teaching was not his own, but that it came from the one who sent him, namely, God. If this is true, and I assume beyond doubt, that it is, then what is the response of people who hear these words? More, what is the content of those who profess to be prophets for the church? If the content of our preaching is not in line with that of Jesus’ preaching then how can it possibly be in line with message of God the Father? The reason we have the Scripture is precisely so that our preaching and teaching remain orthodox. More preachers would do well to put away their books on purpose, secrets, best lives, and prayers of obscure OT characters and open their Bibles and see exactly what Jesus preached and taught. If our teaching and preaching does not line up with His, there is reason to believe that we are not preaching orthodox Christianity.

Fourth, Jesus said that if we have thirst we should go to him and drink. Scarcely can I imagine this means anything other than that Jesus is the only way to salvation and that what he means to give us is the means of our preservation and sanctification (viz., the Spirit). I must be critical again of what I see in this world of churchianity. There is a mass exodus away from serious theological thinking and deep, passionate, committed study of God’s Word in favor of some short term psychological feel-goodism. Peruse the shelves at the local Christian bookstore and you will find they resemble the self-help section of Barnes & Noble with the only exception being the word ‘Christian’ affixed to the dust jacket somewhere. If Jesus gives the Spirit then we should be in pursuit of Jesus and the Spirit will create the life in us that we lack. In my estimation, this is tied directly to the Jesus’ words that his teaching is not his own but from the One who sent him. Our problem is that we have are profoundly suspicious of God’s Word and we are highly concerned as to whether or not it is reliably sufficient to create in us the new life God has promised. And if we cannot trust the Bible’s reliability, how can we preach it? Thus we resort to preaching from the books of popular authors who make Scripture palatable and easy, but no more reliable.

There’s much more to say about these matters. I submit to you that it is a theological problem we have in our churches. Too many are concerned with bread and milk—not many want to dig deep and unravel the complexities and perplexities of the real, biblical Jesus. What ends up happening is exactly what we see in John 7: A bunch of people who can’t make up their minds who Jesus is, what he is about, whether to arrest him or not, whether he is a prophet at all or The Prophet in fact. This is the problem we are faced with in our world. There is not enough teaching on what the Bible says about Jesus. The violence increases. The hostility does not abate. The animosity continues supplanting the popularity. It should be no different now. When Christ again is being truly preached from pulpits in the Church we will see the opposition rise. So long as we are content to be popular among the world’s inhabitants we will be ‘safe’. Safe, however, is always a relative term. What is better? Being safe from the world and caught in the hands of angry God or being in constant mortal peril and yet being guarded by the Lamb who is the Lion?

“What have been the eras of the Church’s greatest influence? What have been the moments of its most powerful impact on the world? Not the epochs of its visible might and splendour; not the age succeeding Constantine, when Christianity became imperialist, and all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them seemed ready to bow beneath the sceptre of Christ; not in the days of the great medieval pontiffs, when Christ’s vicar in Rome wielded a sovereignty more absolute than that of any secular monarch on the earth; not the later nineteenth century, when the Church became infected with the prevailing humanistic optimism, which was quite sure that man was the architect of his own destinies, that a wonderful utopian kingdom of God was waiting him just around the corner, and that the very momentum of his progress was bound to carry him thither. Not in such times as these has the Church exercised its strongest leverage upon the soul and conscience of the world: but in the days when it has been crucified with Christ, and has counted all things but loss for His sake; days when, smitten with a great contrition and repentance, it has cried out to God from the depths” (James S. Stewart, as quoted by David F. Wells in Above All Earthly Pow’rs, p 310).

There you have it. I’m sorry about the length of this post. I hope that does not deter you from reading and taking to heart what I have to say. Until chapter 8 I remain, affectionately yours in Christ.

Soli Deo Gloria!

90 Days with Jesus, Day 25: John 6:30-40: The One Loaf

John 6:30-40

30So they asked him, "What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'" 32Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." 34"Sir," they said, "from now on give us this bread." 35Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. 36But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."

Michael Horton wrote in his essay Christless Christianity, "The Greeks love wisdom, so show them a Jesus who is smarter at solving the conundrums of daily living and the church will throng with supporters. Jews love signs and wonders, so tell people that Jesus can help them having their best life now, or bring in the kingdom of glory, or drive out the Romans and prove their integrity before the pagans, and Jesus will be laureled with praise. But proclaim Christ as the Suffering Servant who laid down his life and took it back up again, and everybody wonders who changed the subject. The Church exists in order to change the subject from us and our deeds to God and his deeds of salvation, from our various ‘missions’ to save the world to Christ’s mission that has already accomplished redemption."

He also wrote, "If the message that the church proclaims makes sense without conversion; if it does not offend even lifelong believers from time to time, so that they too need to die more to themselves and life more to Christ, then it is not the gospel. When Christ is talked about, a lot of things can happen, none of which necessarily has anything to do with his doing, dying, rising, reigning, and return. When Christ is proclaimed is in His saving office, the church becomes a theater of death and resurrection, leading to genuine lives of witness, love, fellowship, community, and service—yet always requiring forgiveness and therefore always coming back to the good news concerning Christ." (Issue: "Christless Christianity" May/June Vol. 16 No. 3 2007 Page, 14)

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They want signs. Many today want signs too. I have been writing about such folks for a few days now. Church buildings are filled with people who are astounded at the fancy building where they sings songs and go to McD— in the front lobby after the worship. Card sliders collect the offering on Sundays as if people were standing in line at Giant E—. Before you know it, we will be able to have virtual communion where we only imagine eating the loaf and drinking the cup. It’s a funny thing, in an ironic, terrifying sort of way, what the church has become. It’s not that all these modernizations are necessarily evil. It is that they signify a greater change in the church which is the lack of theological depth and appreciation for the things of God. I happen to be familiar with a congregation that is currently in the process of what appears to be a major expansion of their building. I also happen to know that this congregation does not have a baptistery and does not serve communion except in a private out of-the-view-of-everyone-room. I don’t know if there are any crosses inside or not. A new building is not evil; a shortened Gospel is. And in my estimation there is a correlation between the two.

Realistically speaking, we are much like the people in this story. They forgot that it was God who provided bread (manna) for them, not Moses; we have forgotten that is was Jesus who died for us, not some super preacher.

Jesus here says that these people did not recognize one very important aspect of life: It was God who provided for them and not Moses. They placed far too much value on Moses because they did not know the ultimate source of their own sustenance. If they knew where the manna came from, or rather who it came from, they would not be so hung up on Moses. As it was, however, they were hung up on Moses. Notice what else Jesus says: For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. There is a better source of nourishment that gives life not just to a few people scattered around Israel, but to the entire world. I wonder if we have such a grand conception of the Messiah?

Look, people today are no different: "Sir, from now on give us this bread." Just like the woman at the well, "Sir, from now on give me this water so I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming back here to draw water." The difference is that she got it and these ones did not. She won’t go thirsty; they won’t go hungry. It’s all the same meaning: Jesus provides what this world cannot which is a satisfaction beyond this earthly life. Believing in Jesus results in hunger pangs abated, thirst slaked, and the death sentence rescinded. And what can stop Jesus’ work? Nothing. He says, all that the Father gives him he will never drive away. He will lose none of those whom God has given him. He will raise them up at the last day. I know that not too many Restoration Church type of people believe in the doctrine of eternal security, but here in John 6 a pretty good case can be made that one you are saved, there is nothing anyone or anything can do to snatch you from Jesus. I like that idea much better than the idea that somehow I can be lost after being saved.

Finally Jesus says that it is the Father’s will that everyone who looks to the sun and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. Sadly, not everyone will look to him, even fewer will believe in him, and I image that what Jesus said about the way being straight and narrow is true: Even fewer will be raised up at the last day. But for all those who hope and believe and put their faith in Jesus, there is this promise: Eternal life. It is a sad, sad reality that some will never look to Jesus. There is security with him, unrest without him. So what I cannot figure out is why more churches are not preaching this Jesus who saves. Why are so many preaching things that are bound not to last, things that cannot save, things that are simply, irredeemably, meaningless for the human condition? Jesus said that the will of God is that everyone look to Jesus for salvation. The work of God (v 29) is to believe in the One God has sent; to recognize who gives life and who does not. Jesus said: Even the mighty Moses is not the giver of something so simply as daily bread. Now if Moses could not do that, how can any other human give bread for eternity?

My hope is that those who read these words will look to Jesus. We who preach the Gospel must stay on task and preach Jesus. The church must stay on task and demand that their preachers preach Jesus Christ Crucified. There is no excuse for not doing so; and there is no substitute for Jesus. God has given one Loaf to all of humanity. His Name is Jesus.

I hope this 2 day of 90 is Blessed for you and yours in Jesus.

Soli Deo Gloria!

90 Days With Jesus, Day 24: John 6:22-29: Vending Machine Jesus

John 6:22-29

22The next day the crowd that had stayed on the opposite shore of the lake realized that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not entered it with his disciples, but that they had gone away alone. 23Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus. 25When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?" 26Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval." 28Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?" 29Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."

Later some folks from Greece will come to Philip and say, "We want to see Jesus." And Jesus, rather than rush right over to them, launches into a short sermon about his impending crucifixion. Eugene Peterson wryly notes that Jesus is not a tourist attraction.

Well here in these verses some other folks are looking for Jesus. John recounts for us the great hysterics that arose the next morning when all those well-fed folks woke up and couldn’t find Jesus. They go on a great search for him, but do not find him. They look at the docks. They look on the beach. These people keep coming to realizations that Jesus has fled the scene. I suspect they still have designs on making him a king too, but he is not there. When they realize Jesus is not on land they get into boats and head out to find him—maybe on the water, maybe in Capernaum. They go looking.

I think at this point we can say that there should be a certain amount of admiration for these folks. They are really looking hard for Jesus. They really want to find him and Jesus is playing a game of hide and seek with them. Rich Mullins sang a wonderful song about this very thing, this God who ‘plays hard to get.’ I read the other day that people in this world are very spiritual and are on a great spiritual search. In fact, let me quote a little of what I read from a radio broadcast transcript of Luis Palau:

Hello, this is Luis Palau. Americans today are more interested in matters of faith than at any other time in the past four decades. While interest in spirituality is rising, however, it's often experimental. Americans are dabbling in all things religious, often more concerned about how they feel than what is true an attitude …

What about you? If you knew you had only one week to live, what would be your claim to faith? The bottom line is you can be any religion you want to be, as long as what you believe about God corresponds to reality. After all, God isn't Buddhist, Catholic, Jewish, or Methodist. The question ultimately isn't who owns God, but who God is. This is Luis Palau. (Source, http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/09-11-97.html, September 11, 1997 original broadcast date; italics added.)

Many people are, in fact, searching nowadays. We see it too in churches around the country as people flock to them in droves each week. No doubt people are searching. I don’t happen to think, however, that they are searching for anything that is remotely close to the Biblically revealed Jesus. This is essentially what Palau is saying when he says, ‘you can be any religion you want to be.’ Uh, sure. A spiritual experience they may be seeking; Jesus they are not. This is the same problem we see in the verses we are looking at today.

Eventually these people who are looking for Jesus find him. And, they go to him and sheepishly rebuke him with a question, "Rabbi, when did you get here?" Or, maybe they are feigning surprise like: "Wow! Imagine you being here too!" sort of thing. Perhaps they thought Jesus didn’t really know what their motives were. But the first words out of Jesus are not ‘Hey, I’m glad you’re here!’ or "Hey, good to see you!’ or ‘Hey, where you been?’ but instead, he cuts them deep by identifying their motives, "I tell you the truth you are not looking for me because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill." In other words: You’d be better off not to even be here because your motives are impure.

In other words, if Jesus is not a tourist attraction then neither is He a vending machine! Too many folks just don’t get that at all.

Jesus essentially told these people what they wouldn’t tell themselves: They were not interested in the one who made the bread, just the bread. Jesus tells them flat out: "You people who come here looking for bread are wasting your time because you are looking for the wrong thing, the wrong stuff, the wrong bread. You’ve got it all backward." I don’t believe that Jesus can be much clearer in his line of reasoning. The people were coming to him not because of who he was, but because of what they thought he would do for them: Give them bread.

To many people today Jesus is a Vending Machine Messiah and ATM Messiah or National Health Care Messiah. To many people life with Jesus is all about what He can give them. To many people on a great spiritual search Jesus is merely the answer to all their problems. As such, there is very little stability in disciples any more. If they don’t like the Jesus they encounter at one church then they up and go to another church. Eventually they will find a Jesus that suits them: I just wasn’t getting thing out of my last church. (Sometimes I want to respond with something smart like: Well, why don’t you go back and put something into that church. It seriously grieves me to here people say that as if Jesus is merely a social security net or something along those lines. I wonder how many preachers have the nerve to stand up on Sunday’s and say, "Many of you have come here today looking for Jesus not because he died for your sins but because you want your bellies filled." How many preachers have the nerve to preach what is true, in other words, about human nature?

Someone has to have the nerve or else people will continue to go around searching for a Jesus who is not their eternal Savior but merely someone who gives us this day our daily bread. Now this is not to say we shouldn’t recognize where our bread comes from, but Jesus says our lives have to be about more. Man, he said elsewhere, does not live on bread alone; therefore, it is pointless to go around from day to day only looking for that scrap that will keep us going from day to day. We need something more Jesus said and our lives ought to have a little more ambition that mere bread. So, "Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you." In other words: Set your sights a lot higher.

This seems rather plain to me and the comparisons between Jesus’ day and ours are unmistakable. Given a choice in the matter, I sadly think most people would take bread for today and miss eternity than to miss bread for today and gain eternity. And I hate to keep putting the blame on pulpit ministers (i.e., preachers) but I think in their haste to acquire a flock they (we) have largely compromised this message of the Gospel. We have substituted a Vending Machine Jesus for The Bread of Life; junk food for The Bread of Life; artificial flavors for the Real Deal. Oh, and one more thing: Jesus said, ‘On Him (i.e., himself) God has placed his seal of approval.’ You know what this means right? It means that God has approved only Jesus to speak thus, and that only Jesus can give this eternal life. It comes from no other source: Not Nickels, not Schwebels, not Wonder. None. Only Jesus.

And the great work we are to do? Believe in the One God sent. It could well be that there is someone reading this right now who has never given it a thought. Perhaps you are running from place to place trying desperately to find a Jesus who will do what you want him to do and fix all your problems. I think what Jesus is telling you is that you are missing the bigger picture. It is not that you come to Jesus to get your problems fixed as much as it is that you come to Jesus regardless of the status of your problems. Jesus says there is a greater search in this life than just the daily grind or hunt for food for the belly. There is a greater search for Jesus himself who is, as we will see, the Very Bread of Life. We are, or should be, searching for Jesus. That is the Work God has called us to: Search for Jesus.

Michael Horton wrote:

"To preach the Bible as ‘the handbook for life,’ or as the answer to every question, rather than as the revelation of Christ, is to turn the Bible into an entirely different book. This is how the Pharisees approached Scripture, however, as we can see clearly from the questions they asked Jesus, all of them amounting to something akin to Trivial Pursuits: ‘What happens if a person divorces and remarries?’ ‘Why do your disciples pick grain on the Sabbath?’ ‘Who sinned--this man or his parents--that he was born blind?’ For the Pharisees, the Scriptures were a source of trivia for life's dilemmas. To be sure, Scripture provides God-centered and divinely-revealed wisdom for life, but if this were its primary objective, Christianity would be a religion of self-improvement by following examples and exhortations, not a religion of the Cross. This is Paul's point with the Corinthians, whose obsession with wisdom and miracles had obscured the true wisdom and the greatest miracle of all. And what is that? Paul replies, ‘He has been made for us our righteousness, holiness and redemption’ (1 Cor 1:28-31)." (Source: http://www.modernreformation.org/ "What Are We Looking For in the Bible", Modern Reformation Online, italics mine.)

I hope this 24th Day of 90 is truly blessed for you and yours.

Soli Deo Gloria!

[I have a lot more to say about this subject of the content of our preaching, but I’ll not tarry on it here. Suffice it to say that Christ must be the focus of our preaching, which is the point of the above quotation. I’m not suggesting that I am perfect, but I do have to wonder what would happen to the church in America if Christ were truly proclaimed in His glory, His Cross? What would happen if the Biblical Jesus were actually proclaimed from America’s pulpits? More preachers ought to try. The one’s I’m referring to know who they are. For now, the role of the preacher is to point to people the real reason they ought to be seeking Jesus and disabuse them of the idea that their motives are entirely pure. They need to be told that He is no Vending Machine or Tourist Attraction, but the Savior, the King, The Bread of Life. He's not just or merely a provider of bread, He is the Bread we should be searching for. That's what we ought to be proclaiming.]

90 Days With Jesus, Day 21: John 5:31-47: In Whom Do You Hope?

John 5:31-47

31"If I testify about myself, my testimony is not valid. 32There is another who testifies in my favor, and I know that his testimony about me is valid. 33"You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth. 34Not that I accept human testimony; but I mention it that you may be saved. 35John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light. 36"I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the very work that the Father has given me to finish, and which I am doing, testifies that the Father has sent me. 37And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, 38nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. 39You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, 40yet you refuse to come to me to have life. 41"I do not accept praise from men, 42but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. 43I have come in my Father's name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. 44How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God? 45"But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. 46If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. 47But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?"

Yesterday, I ended by noting that we need to understand how we can trust what Jesus was saying to be the truth. Let me begin today by saying the most obvious answer to the question: Everything that God did through Jesus he did in the context of history. In other words, it is verifiable. There were eyewitnesses. For example, the apostle Paul said one time that the Resurrected Jesus appeared to more than 500 people at one time (1 Corinthians 15). So God did not do something in secret, or behind a rock, or magically in the the hearts of a few. He did not send secret messages to individuals (as with Joseph Smith or Muhammad). He sent His Son, His One and Only Son, His Only Begotten Son, into the world of history. John said, ‘he camped among us’ (1:14). John also says something revealing in 1 John 1:1-4:

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our joy complete.

He is saying that Jesus was real, that he heard what Jesus said, he saw what Jesus did. Jesus was so close that John and the others could touch Jesus with their hands. In John’s other words, "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us."

But, as important as history is, Jesus does not end with history. No, in fact he says that there are more witnesses who testify to him. He says as much, "If I testify about myself, my testimony is not valid." However, he says, my contention is that I’m not the only one testifying about myself. "There is another who testifies in my favor, and I know that his testimony about me is valid." He begins to lay out his case. First he says, "You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth. Not that I accept human testimony; but I mention it that you may be saved." John the baptizer was the first testimony that Jesus mentions. Remember John’s testimony: "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." This is what John said to people when he saw Jesus.

Second, Jesus says, "I have weightier testimony than John." In other words, ‘If John’s testimony to you is not good enough, how about this: The very work the Father has given me to finish, and which I am doing, testifies that the Father has sent me.’ I do not happen to think that this merely refers to the miracles and the teaching and the breaking of the Pharisees’ Sabbath laws. Only later, when Jesus was on the cross dying for the sins of the world, did he say, "It is finished." That was the primary work that Jesus was sent to finish. He tells us, that work I am doing, testifies that the Father sent me. This does not exclude [miraculous] signs, teaching, and breaking Sabbath rules, but these are certainly not the main idea. Still, it is important to note the very nature of the work that Jesus did on earth. Maybe it was not evident to them at the time, but I would think at the cross it would be. And there is certainly no excuse for such ignorance now.

Third, Jesus says, "And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me." Jesus will spend significant time discussing the Father’s testimony in chapter 8. Perhaps here Jesus is referring to his baptism when the dove descended and the voice of God spoke. In John’s Gospel, this is only alluded to (1:32-34). FF Bruce suggests that John’s readers would, not his present hearers in the story, would be sufficiently familiar with the account of his baptism to ‘fill in the details.’ He also remembers Hebrews 1:1: "In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways…" God has then testified about the coming Messiah and about Jesus in particular.

Fourth, Jesus says, "You diligently study the Scripture because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life." The Word of God testifies about Jesus. This makes sense and helps us understand the nature of the written word, and also the purpose of the written word. When we read through those canonical Old Testament books we are reading the story of Jesus. Jesus himself said so in Luke 24 as we read of his Post-resurrection appearance to a couple of disciples, "‘How foolish you are, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?’ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself" (Luke 24:25-27). He said again, "‘This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms.’ Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures" (Luke 24:44-45).

This is why it is so imperative that those of the Faith spend time in the Scripture. This is why it is so imperative that those of the pulpit preach what is written in Scripture and not what is in books and self-help manuals. Listen: The Scripture is about Jesus. When we study, when we learn, when we teach, when we preach, when we testify we do so from Scripture, and about Jesus. Too much time is wasted from pulpits in America because the preacher is too busy preaching about dreams, visions, the ‘end-times’, prophecy, purpose, new buildings, this, that, the warp and the woof, then, now, here and there. Preachers ought to be preaching and testifying about Jesus Christ. He’s who the Bible is about: Front to Back, side to side, Alpha to Omega, Beginning to the End.

Probably the reason we are so unprepared as Christians to testify about Jesus and to give evidence that He is the Only Way to Salvation is because we don’t have preachers who preach the whole counsel of God. But what if preachers, when they preach, got up and preached Jesus Christ and Him Crucified instead of how to have a Christianized version of the American dream? PT Forsyth is insightful on this very matter, "The church has lost much moral tone even in its occupation with ethical subjects. And why? It has lost power to guide the instinct of self-sacrifice when it reduces the cross to nothing else. Has it not lost religious weight in the weightiest matters with the weightiest people? And the deep cause is its moder failure to understand the cross, to see in the judgment of the cross God’s righteousness, God’s holiness, coming finally to its own, and to realise this as the one object for which man exists or the world" (The Cruciality of the Cross, 72). But that is not what is preached in most churches and if you need proof of it note Forsyth’s words again. The church has lost much of its moral authority in this world. Who listens to the church as a guiding voice? Now the church is reduced to a mere gad-fly that must be placated and appeased every other year by politicians who are soliciting her votes. All because preachers will not preach the hard truth of Scripture. Forsyth was right, in 1908!

Here then is the complaint of Jesus: These people he was speaking to did not really love God because they accepted none of the testimony of God who testified about Jesus. I know it is popular nowadays to say something insipid and stupid like ‘there are many paths to God, but only one god.’ Well that is just plain nonsense. There is only one path to God and God has testified to that path through John (not that Jesus accepts human testimony, 34, or needs praise from men, 41), through the Cross, through his own mouth, and through the Scripture. Jesus came in the Name of God, did the Work of God so when people rejected Jesus they were rejecting the One who sent him; it is no different now. The people of this world who reject Jesus or put him on an equal footing with their local deities are rejecting God altogether. There is no Muslim path, Hindu path, Buddhist path, Spiritism path, Christian Science path, Scientology path or any other such nonsense. Jesus says the only path is through Himself. It is in vogue to seek the praise of people now and find some alternate path because no one wants the hard life that Jesus calls us to, or, as he says, that Moses called people to. "If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me." That is specific. Moses wrote about Jesus. Look it up: The crossing of the Red Sea, the Passover, the Plagues, the Sabbath rules, the Tabernacle, the Sacrifice, the Bronze Snake, the Water from the Rock, the Ten Commandments. It all spoke of Jesus.

Now remember this. Jesus said these words to Pharisees and other people that day. John preserved them for the church. What, then, do you think Jesus is saying to the church in these words? Well, these folks Jesus spoke to originally found their accuser in Moses. I wonder who is our accuser? They placed all their hopes in Moses, whom Jesus says they did not believe. In whom have we placed our hopes? Have we placed our hopes in the dreams and visions cast for us by marketing specialists wrapped in the garb of evangelists or prophets? Have we put our hope in popularizers of the offense of the cross? Have we put our hope in gurus, actors, yogis, imams, secularists, writers, monks, or some other such non-authoritative person? Or have we put our hope in Christ who preaches the Word of God, who is the Word of God? This is the question the church faces right now at this hour. Our greatest threat in the church is not global warming, Armageddon, the destruction of America by terrorists, the loss of wealth or even the lack of space because our buildings are not big enough (I actually read about a church going to court over such a travesty!). Our greatest threat, right now, today, is preachers who will not preach Christ Crucified. I ask again: In whom have you put your hopes?

I Hope this 21st Day of 90 with Jesus is Blessed for you!

Soli Deo Gloria!

90 Days With Jesus, Day 11: John 3:22-30: Finding Joy in Being Less

John 3:22-30

22After this, Jesus and his disciples went out into the Judean countryside, where he spent some time with them, and baptized. 23Now John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water, and people were constantly coming to be baptized. 24(This was before John was put in prison.) 25An argument developed between some of John’s disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of ceremonial washing. 26They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan—the one you testified about—well, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.” 27To this John replied, “A man can receive only what is given him from heaven. 28You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him.’ 29The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. 30He must become greater; I must become less.

Here we are on Day 11. It is now 12:21 AM, Monday Morning, June 11, 2007. I really should be sleeping. I’m not tired though. I just looked over some of the ‘statistics’ for my blog—Life Under the Blue Sky—they seem a bit low, but I forgot some people read at the Life in the Aquarium blog too. But I digress. I sometimes forget that its not quite about me. Bonhoeffer wrote, “Jesus has graciously prepared the way for this word by speaking first of self-denial. Only when we have become completely oblivious of self are we ready to bear the cross for his sake. If in the end we know only him, if we have ceased to notice the pain of our own cross, we are indeed looking only unto him” (The Cost of Discipleship, 88).

Here is an interesting passage of Scripture that begins with a quiet and serene setting. A flowing river, disciples gathered around baptizing eager converts or penitents, harmony all around—except for that fight that broke out among some of those baptizing. The argument sort of gets dropped, but John’s disciples do use it as a pretext for asking their master why he doesn’t seem more concerned about this Jesus fella who is gaining more disciples. But John does not seem to care; in fact, he seems downright elated: I have done my job, my joy is now complete. (I think too that John’s statements concerning Jesus the Lamb of God were also John’s way of saying, “Look! There’s the One you should be following.” That’s why he said it twice. He wondered why people were still hanging around him.)

John then says the most astonishing thing a human being has ever uttered: He must become greater; I must become less. John doesn’t get involved in the argument. John does not care that more people are going to Jesus. John does not go out of his way to attract attention to himself. He always points to Jesus and is not jealous when Jesus begins to rise in stature. How could he? John, in my estimation, perfectly understood his role. He accepted what God gave him and did not throw a fit that it was not more. Really, that is about it for these verses. John was doing all he could to get out of the way so that people could see Jesus.

So here’s what I’m thinking about this. We need to get out of the way too. It’s no wonder, isn’t then, why God chooses us to be his messengers? Who else but us could so adequately make the case that this message is from God and not us? And that is precisely why we must continue to preach the gospel! That is precisely why we must continue to preach Christ Crucified! That is exactly why the treasure is hidden in dirty vessels like John the Baptist, me, and many others just like us. God hides his message in us and says: Point away to Jesus. I can’t emphasize this enough. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of Jesus, the Supremacy of Jesus, the Above-all-there-is-Jesus, the Son of God Jesus, the Lamb of God Jesus.

I don’t even want to tell you today what I think the problem is in most preaching, but it has something to do with preachers being far too concerned about their job security and the approval of parishioners and the respect of their peers and colleagues. Hey, I’m a preacher, I’m most likely part of that problem to some extent so I think I’m safe to criticize my own. But I have to say something about: Preaching, preachers, prophets nowadays are far too self-centered. They know too much about too many things and so instead of preaching the simple Gospel of Jesus Christ and Him Crucified, the Whole of the Scripture, preaching takes on new shapes and dimensions and rises to new levels of oratory and rhetoric and psychology. But preachers are to be more like John and get out of the way. God doesn’t need us to stand up and glorify ourselves. God needs preachers to point to Jesus. There is something to be said about preachers not being so smart about so many things and instead being prophetic geniuses when it comes to the cross and the Crucified Lord.

David Wells, writing about the place of Scripture in the church, wrote in God in the Wasteland, “The fact that this Word is now so silent, that it has so small a part to play in the church’s worship, understanding, and spiritual nurture, goes a long way toward explaining why God, in his holiness, is also a stranger to the church…And so it is that God is disappearing from his church, being edged out by the self, naked and alone, as the source of all mystery and meaning” (149). Wells has much more to say about this, but let me sum up the main idea which is this: When the church becomes so full of us, it becomes emptied of God (there’s not room for both in the Body). When preaching, that means by which God has ordained his Gospel to be announced, is less filled with, constructed from, and centered on Scripture, what else is left to preach but the self–and many are profound exegetes of their culture, themselves, and films but not of Scripture. And I submit to you that man’s life, man’s experience, man’s wisdom is not sufficient enough to guide the lost or the redeemed through this life; and it cannot even come close to leading people to that Place where the Houses are build by the Hands of God. Wells concludes, “Without this transcendent Word in its life, the church has no rudder, no compass, no provisions. Without the Word, it has no capacity to stand outside its culture, to detect and wrench itself free from the seductions of modernity. Without the Word, the church has no meaning” (150).

All of this is an example of what happens in the church when we become more and Christ becomes less. When Christ becomes less then we don’t even have ‘use’ for the Scripture let alone reverence and dependence upon it. When we become more and Christ becomes less then the mission of Christ is less about the Cross and more about our ideas which are decidedly cross-less. My encouragement to you today is this: Make it your ambition, or not your ambition just your life, to become less. It’s hard to want to not be all things to all people at all times. It’s hard to be the moon and not the sun. It’s hard to get out of the way, but do it anyhow. Be a servant. Accept what God has given you and find joy and satisfaction in seeing Jesus exalted, lifted up, gaining, growing, becoming more. Become less so that Jesus can become more. When what matters most in your life is Jesus and not you…well, then what matters most will matter most. And that matters. It seems to me that Scripture is convinced that God can do far more with less than He can with more. Ours is a culture of more, and to a great degree this pathetic philosophy has penetrated the hearts and minds of church folk. The Way of Jesus is counter-cultural: Narrow ways, foolishness, weakness, and, surprisingly, less.

Church Membership, Grace & Sin, Preaching

PT Forsyth wrote, in 1908-1909, the following words concerning Church membership in his day:

“The reports that come in are clear about the cooling of that interest as they are about the drop in membership of the churches. The decay in membership of the Church is due to a decay of membership in Christ. Our social preoccupation has entailed real damage to personal and family religion For even among those who remain in active membership of our Churches the type of religion has changed. The sense of sin can hardly be appealed to by the preacher now, and to preach grace is in many (even orthodox) quarters regarded as theological obsession, and the wrong language for the hour, while justification by faith is practically obsolete.”–The Cruciality of the Cross, 33-34 (emphasis mine)

He said this nearly 100 years ago and I cannot believe he is less relevant today. The church needs a good dose of Christ and biblical religion. We need to learn again why Christ died on the cross: It was for our sin. Too much preaching in today’s pulpits simply disregard the issue of sin in favor of preaching about ‘your purpose’ or ‘your best life now’ or the ‘believer’s voice of victory’ or ’sowing your financial seed’ or some such other nonsense. Notice how it’s all about what is ‘yours’? Why is it there are no preachers, at least at the popular television, megachurch level, reminding people also of ‘your’ sin? But do we make light of God’s grace when we never broach the subject of sin? So many know so much about so much; too few know about the price Christ paid for our sins.

jerry