John 10:22-42 He SAID It!

About two and a half months passed between verse 21 and verse 22, my commentary said.  It was now December and the Feast of Hanukkah was underway.  The Jewish leaders surrounded Jesus in the Temple, demanding that He clearly tell them whether or not He was the Christ.  He said, “I told you already, but you did not believe.”  The reason?  “You are not My sheep.”  Jesus knew that the men surrounding Him had not been chosen by God to be saved!

My commentary discussed this mystery:  “ …why they did not understand His words or grasp the significance of His works:  they were not His sheep.  From the human standpoint, we become His sheep by believing, but from the divine standpoint, we believe because we are His sheep.  There is a mystery here that we cannot fathom or explain … God has His sheep and He knows who they are.  They will hear His voice and respond.  The lost sinner who hears God’s Word knows nothing about divine election.  He hears only that he may receive the gift of eternal life by trusting the Savior.  When he trusts the Savior, he becomes a member of God’s family and a sheep in the flock.  Then he learns that he was ‘chosen in Him [Christ] before the foundation of the world’ … In the Bible, divine election and human responsibility are perfectly balanced, and what God has joined together, we must not put asunder.”

It went on to show us our security as God’s sheep – “We have eternal life, and that cannot be conditional and still be eternal.  Second, this life is a gift, not something that we earn or merit.  If we were not saved by our good works, but by His grace, then we cannot be lost by our bad works.” 

So did He give them the plain answer they were seeking?  In verse 30, He said, “The Father and I are one.”  You can tell that they knew that He was saying that He is God, because they considered such a confession to be blasphemy, and they immediately picked up stones to kill Him.

Why did they not instead immediately believe?  He’d already told them.  “You are NOT My sheep.”  They had not been predestined by God to be saved, so they could not and would not believe.

Father, how that thrills my heart!  You tell us here that we cannot believe unless You preordained it.  And I believe, so that means that before the foundation of the world, You chose me, warts and all, to be Your child.  Thank You for that gift, Father, and thank You for making it possible through Your Son.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

John 10:1-21 NOW I See It!

It’s pretty easy to see how the people became confused by Jesus’ words here.  For us, this very Middle-Eastern imagery is even tougher to fathom, but my commentary really fleshed it out.

First, it said to keep in mind that “this sermon grew out of our Lord’s confrontation with the Jewish leaders, following the excommunication of the beggar.”  The man born blind who was healed on the Sabbath was kicked out of Judaism.

The sheepfold was usually a large rock-walled enclosure where one or more flocks of sheep were kept during the night.  A porter slept in the gateway to keep the sheep in.  In the morning, the shepherd would come and call out to his flock and only his sheep would come at the sound of his voice and follow him out to pasture. 

It continued:  “Jesus made it clear that the fold is the nation of Israel (v. 16).  The Gentiles are the other sheep not of the fold of Israel.”

Jesus describes Himself as the Door.  “He is the Door of the sheepfold and makes it possible for the sheep to leave the fold (the religion of Judaism) and to enter His flock.  The Pharisees threw the beggar out of the synagogue, but Jesus led him out of Judaism and into the flock of God!  But the Shepherd does not stop with leading the sheep out; He also leads them in.  They become a part of the ‘one flock’ (not ‘fold’), which is His church.”

Jesus then contrasted Himself as the Good Shepherd with the hireling shepherd (the Pharisees) who was only concerned about himself and not his sheep.  As the Good Shepherd, He died for the sheep, He knows His sheep, He brings other sheep into the flock, and He takes up His life again (resurrection) after giving His life for His sheep.

This explanation certainly helped me to understand His words at the first of this chapter.

Father, thank You for caring enough for Your sheep to not simply lead us, but also to help us know You and Your Son better.  In these verses, Jesus says, “And My sheep know Me, as I know the Father.”  That’s what I continue to want to do, Father – to know You more.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

John 9 -- So Who's Really Blind?

Seeing a man they all knew had been born blind, the disciples asked (clearly expecting Jesus to know the correct answer), “Whose sin caused this?”  They’d been raised in a society where physical impairments were seen as punishments from God.  Jesus said, “This man was born blind so that God’s power could be shown in him.”  Only God would know that, and it was so contrary to public belief!  If the man had heard their conversation, I imagine his entire perspective might have changed instantly!

Jesus spat on the ground, stirred in some dirt, and placed the mixture on the man’s eyes.  These actions, to the Pharisees, would be work, and it was the Sabbath.  He then told him to go wash it all off in a pool.  Keep in mind that he’d not yet seen Jesus – only heard His voice.

Healing someone born blind had never happened before.  Rather than being amazed, the Pharisees were incensed.  It didn’t fit their rules.  They started an investigation, not to declare it a miracle, but to trap Jesus!  “There are none so blind as those who will not see.”

The man’s parents, afraid of the Pharisees, evaded their inquiries.  The son, however pretty much told them to stuff it.  He wasn’t going to let rule-following get in the way of God-worshiping.

Amazingly, the Pharisees told him, “You should give God the glory by telling the truth.”  And he did, just as Jesus told the disciples that this was the reason for his blindness.

Father, please keep me from ever trying to get in the way of what You are doing.  If I’ve allowed myself to be blinded spiritually, open my eyes and show me what You’re doing.  I don’t want to be like these men.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

John 8:31-59 Made Me Think Of A Movie I Just Saw

Jesus said, “If you continue to obey My teaching, you are truly My followers.  Then you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

They didn’t like what He was implying:  that they were slaves to something or to someone.  In fact, they denied that the Israelites had ever been slaves, even though their country was occupied by the Roman army as they were speaking!  But Jesus had other, more important, slavery in mind.  “Everyone who lives in sin is a slave to sin.”  The literal translation is, “Whosoever keeps on practicing sin is a slave to sin.”

I was reminded of a scene from the new movie Jack Ryan:  Shadow Recruit where Jack is in military rehab learning to walk again following a helicopter crash.  Having just fallen again during rehab, he makes a deal with his doctor that he will get back up and finish if she will get him two pain pills.  She gets them (he starts trying to walk again, too), but she asks him to wait 2 minutes before taking them.  “Why?” he asks.  “To prove to yourself that you can.”  She didn’t want him to become enslaved to the pain pills.

Those who don’t truly know God and accept His teachings and His Son’s sacrifice for their sins cannot see their own enslavement.  My commentary said, “The worst bondage is the kind that the prisoner himself does not recognize.  He thinks he is free, yet he is really a slave.  The Pharisees and other religious leaders thought that they were free, but they were actually enslaved in terrible spiritual bondage to sin and to Satan.  They would not face the truth, and yet it was the truth alone that could set them free.

Father, I have to admit that the title for this section in my Bible – “Freedom From Sin” – sure catches my attention.  Who wouldn’t want to be forever free from the effects of sin and the temptations to sin?  How wonderful to live with no regrets, no shame, no feelings of hypocrisy, and no sadness over disappointing the One who loves us so?  I know that this side of heaven my flesh will fail me, but I don’t have to practice sin, for Your Spirit is inside me, helping me to say no and to live victoriously.  Thank You for always offering me a way out.  Help me not to be too stupid to take it.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

John 8:12-30 Jesus Talking About Himself

My commentary said that during the Feast of Tabernacles, “a huge candelabra was lighted in the Temple at night to remind the people of the pillar of fire that had guided Israel in their wilderness journey.”  Jesus was speaking just after this feast concluded, so He quite possibly was using this imagery as a type of Himself.  “I am the light of the world.  The person who follows Me will never live in darkness but will have the light that gives life.”  Following Him meant believing in Him and trusting Him, and the results are life and light for the believer, according to my commentary.

Unbelievers prefer the darkness and walk in darkness because they do not know God and they do not want God knowing what they are doing, although nothing can be hidden from Him. 

In the following section, Jesus plainly spoke of His divinity:  “I am from above … I don’t belong to this world.”  There were several “I am” references in here, lots of references to the Father, reminders that He would be lifted up, as well as His assurances that the Father had sent him.  But what spoke volumes to me were His words about His relationship with His Father:  “I say only what the Father has taught Me.  The One who sent Me is with Me.  I always do what is pleasing to Him, so He has not left Me alone.”

We have to have a relationship that close to Christ as well.  As my commentary said, “We either walk in the light and have eternal life, or walk in the darkness and experience eternal death.”

Father God, keep me close to You.  Help me to do what is pleasing to You.  Stoke up our relationship.  Help me to let others see Your Son living through me.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

John 8:1-11 Convicting The Judges

Just enough of this story is untold to pique our curiosity.  A woman caught in the very act of adultery  -- how did they manage to find her in the first place?  And where was the man?  It does take two.

The setting is the “court of the women” on the Temple grounds.  “All the people” had come to hear Jesus teach after the Feast of Tabernacles concluded.  The poor woman, certainly in deep shame, was dragged by the Pharisees right into the middle of all this – to be put on display and used by the Pharisees in yet another attempt to discredit Jesus!  They wanted Him between a rock and a hard place.

“The law of Moses commands that we stone to death every woman who does this.  What do You say we should do?”  they asked Him.  It’s important to see where they were at fault before trying to answer the question.  They’d conveniently altered “the law of Moses”.  It didn’t say just “every woman”.  Both participants were to be stoned.  They were violating the law by not bringing in the man as well!

Their plan was to catch Jesus no matter which way He answered.  If He said, “No, don’t stone her,” then they had Him for openly breaking the law of Moses.  If He agreed with them, He’d likely lose most of His following, who valued His message of grace and forgiveness.  Jesus used Jewish law to solve the problem.  It required the accusers to throw the first stones.  He simply said, “Anyone here who has never sinned can cast the first stone at her.”

Of course, He was the only one there qualified to do so.  He’d just forced them to examine their own hearts.  He’d made it clear that adultery could take place in the heart without taking place in the bed.  No doubt those accusers who’d caught her in the act had also harbored quite impure thoughts over the scene while arresting her!

Knowing that they’d be branded as hypocrites, the older men dropped their stones and walked away.  Seeing what was happening, the younger men were also convicted and gave up.  Soon it was only the woman and Jesus.

He asked her, “Has no one judged you guilty?”  “No one, sir,” she humbly replied.  Knowing that the Pharisees had judged themselves guilty by the fact that they’d left, Jesus forgave her but also commanded her not to sin again.

My commentary said we have to be careful not to “misinterpret this event to mean that Jesus was easy on sin  … For Jesus to forgive this woman meant that He had to one day die for her sins.  Forgiveness is free, but it is not cheap.”

It also reminded us, “We must be condemned by the law before we can be cleansed by God’s grace.  Law and grace do not compete with each other.  They complement each other … There must be conviction before there can be conversion.”

Father, I am such a sinner, but thankfully I am forgiven and cleansed.  Thank You for offering Your Son to die for my sins.  Help me not to “condemn Him again” by adding to the large list that shows what You’ve forgiven me of already.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

John 7:37-53 They Just Don't Get It

It was the final day of the seven-day Feast of Tabernacles – the day when the priests would march seven times around the altar chanting Psalms 118:25, according to my commentary, which reads, “Please Lord, save us!  Please Lord, give us success!”  During the other six days, those priests had dipped water from the Pool of Saloam and poured it out, as a reminder of God providing water during the wilderness trek.

Standing right in front of them was the Son of God and they didn’t even know it.  In response to this chant, He answered, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to Me and drink.  If anyone believes in Me, rivers of living water will flow out form that person’s heart, as the Scripture says,”  He was talking about the Holy Spirit.

The Temple guards had been sent to arrest Him, yet watching all of this, they returned empty-handed, saying, “The words He says are greater than the words of any other person who has ever spoken!”

The leaders and Pharisees condemned them as fools.  Only Nicodemus was brave enough to say, “Our law does not judge a man without hearing him and knowing what he has done.”  They hopped on his words, saying, “Are you from Galilee, too?  Study the Scriptures and you will learn that no prophet comes from Galilee.”

All Nicodemus had to say was, “Jonah did.”  Of course, if they’d bothered to ask, they’d have discovered Jesus’ birthplace was Bethlehem of Judea.  But they didn’t want to hear that.

Father,  Satan does his best to put blinders on us.   He wants to hide inconvenient truths from us that would point us back to You.  One way he does so is by making us proud of our intelligence to the point that he makes us feel that we’re above all that.  But pride goes before a fall.  Keep us humble and willing to hear more from You each day.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford