Author: Jeff Englund

John 8: 31-32

“To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’”

So what did you decide it means to “hold to the teachings of Jesus?” One of the questions that come to my mind is whether or not my salvation is dependent on my ability to hold to the teachings of Jesus. Jesus does not say, however, that if you hold to his teaching you are saved. He says instead that if you hold to his teaching you are a disciple.

Can the power of Christ on the cross save someone who is not able to hold to the teaching of Jesus? I hope so! Like Paul, in his writings to the Romans (chapters 7 & 8) I find that “Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me.” (Romans 7: 21) He then adds, “Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7: 25a) Jesus himself says, “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” (John 3: 14-15) Continue reading “Being Discipled”

John 8: 31-32

“To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said,  ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.'”

I appreciate this opportunity to walk through the Gospel of John with you. Each time I sit down to look at the next passage, whatever it is, I find myself challenged in new ways. In this passage we see Jesus setting out a causal statement ending with three promises. He begins with, “If you hold to my teaching…”

What does it mean to hold to the teachings of Jesus? What does that look like? I suppose this question could be considered the essence of Christianity.  Continue reading “Holding On”

John 8: 27-30

” They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. So Jesus said, ‘When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.’ Even as he spoke, many believed in him.”

They did not understand…

How often has this phrase been repeated? How often was it true? Is it still true today?

Christianity can seem complicated if you are getting your information from one of those who likes to impart rules on others. Christianity can seem offensive when a person is accosted by a practitioner of the faith who demands your obedience. Christianity can seem irrelevant in a world where there are so many other things to occupy our time.

Yet, at the moment when we are faced with our own mortality, whether it is one of those “near misses” or it is at the end of our life, we are confronted with the question, “What next?”  Continue reading “Plans”

John 8: 25 – 26

““Who are you?’ they asked.

“Just what I have been telling you from the beginning,’ Jesus replied. “I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is trustworthy, and what I have heard from him I tell the world.'”

If you have ever seen the movie, “Princess Bride,” you probably remember the part where the Spaniard Inigo Montoya is fencing with The Man in Black. At one point Inigo asks him, “Who are you?” The Man in Black defers and refuses to answer. Inigo asks again, “No really, I must know!”  Continue reading “Who Are You? (II)”

John 8: 21-24

“Once more Jesus said to them, “I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come.’

This made the Jews ask, “Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, “Where I go, you cannot come”?’

But he continued, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins.”

 

Once again Jesus gives us a clue to the dual existence that we all lead. We obviously have a physical body, but the body is not all we are. We are also spiritual in nature. When the body dies, the spirit continues. The difference for Jesus was that he had come from the place called Heaven before being born on earth, and he knew where he was going after his body here stopped working.  Continue reading “Duality”

John 8: 19-20

“Then they asked him, “Where is your father?’

“You do not know me or my Father,’ Jesus replied. “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.’ He spoke these words while teaching in the temple courts near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no one seized him, because his hour had not yet come.”

 

Jesus was raised by Joseph, but Joseph was not Jesus’ biological father. In a sense, Joseph was a “stepfather” to Jesus. However, it would probably be more accurate to say that Joseph was a “stand-in father” because God picked him to “stand in” for Him in raising His Son.  Continue reading “Fathers”

John 8: 13-18

” The Pharisees challenged him, “Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid.’

Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going. You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. But if I do judge, my decisions are true, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is true. I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.'”

 

Back in chapter 5, we did a series on how many witnesses were required to establish something according to the law. In this passage, Jesus takes another approach to the question of testimony. One of the things he points out is that he knows where he came from. Interestingly, the Pharisees could not get their head around the facts. In the first place, Jesus “came from” Nazareth only in the sense that that is where he lived when he started his ministry. He was actually born in Bethlehem. Then there is the fact that Jesus originally came from heaven to be here on earth. This concept totally blew past the Pharisees.  Continue reading “Traveler”

John 8: 12

” When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’”

 

There are a lot of things Jesus says that might be considered subtle. Take his parables for example; you have to think about them to discern their meaning. They are often quite subtle. Of course, some of them were less so, but at the very least their meaning was veiled in metaphor. Not so in this verse.

Here Jesus says quite bluntly and plainly: “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  Continue reading “Unsubtle”

John 8: 9 – 11

” At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’

‘No one, sir,’ she said.

‘Then neither do I condemn you,’ Jesus declared. ‘Go now and leave your life of sin.'”

Imagine, if you will, that you have been hauled before the judge and accused of a horrible and heinous crime. The evidence was twisted to make what seemed like what you did was worse than it really was. Instead of condemning you, the judge looks at your accusers and tells them that whichever one of them has never broken a law of any kind may be the one to cast you into prison. Continue reading “Uncondemned”

John 8: 6b-8

” But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, ‘Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.’ Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.”

God is definitely one very cool dude. I apologize if that sounds disrespectful. It is not meant that way. It is a little lingo from my youth. (Yes, I’m getting to the “Older Than Dirt” end of the age spectrum.)

Confronted with what amounts to an unsolvable puzzle meant to trap Jesus into either (A) Confirming the Covenant Law given by Moses and being guilty of breaking the Roman law, or (B) choosing to honor the Roman law governing Judea and disavowing the laws given by Moses under the Covenant Law instituted on Mt. Sinai, Jesus bends down and ignores the whole situation.

Talk about cool! Continue reading “Let ‘Em Sweat”