Tag: Salvation

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Who are “the Dead?”

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Who are “the Dead,” in John 5:25-29?

© 2022 C. O. Bishop

John 5:25-29

Introduction:

Some of the passages we have read in the Gospel of John have required some thought, and even some “digging into the rest of God’s Word,” to arrive at a reasonable level of understanding. Some are very straightforward and clear. (John 5:24, which we read last week, is one of the “very clear” variety: No one need have any question about his or her eternal destiny, or how to have assurance of Eternal life.)  But: the next five verses do give cause for some careful thought and for asking some questions:

John 5:25-29

25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. 26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; 27 And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. 28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

What is happening, here?

Taken as a whole, that passage could be pretty confusing: It rather sounds as though Jesus is planning a “preaching tour among the graves,” that some of the dead would hear him and live, that ALL would hear and exit the tombs and that the “good people” would have eternal life, and the “bad people” would have eternal condemnation.

There are several problems with that assumption:

  1. Hebrews 9:27 says, “It is given unto man once to die, and after this, the judgment.”
    1. (That pretty much excludes a “second chance.”)
    1. Luke 16:19-31 tells of a man who clearly “believed” from the tomb, and it did him no good at all! There was no “second chance.”
  2. Romans 3:12 says “there is none that doeth good: no, not one!”So, whatever we think about “good and bad” people means very little.
  3. Luke 23:42, 43 tells of a man who definitely did evil with his life, and was in the process of being executed for his crimes. But he placed his trust in the living Christ, and was given eternal life, as a gift.
  4. Ephesians 2:8, 9 says we are not saved by good works: that it is always a gift, and
  5. Galatians 2:21 says, if it were possible  to be justified (declared righteous) by works, then Jesus died for nothing!

So, perhaps there is more than one type of “dead” in this passage. Perhaps the preaching is not done “among the tombs,” but among the “dead.” That alone would make the last verse easier to understand, but there is still a problem with the “Works” issue. So, let’s examine the passage:

Who are the Dead?

The first question we really need to answer, then is “Who are the dead, to whom Jesus was calling at that time (and to whom He still is calling today?) The best place to find answers about questions in God’s Word is in God’s Word!  So, let’s see what we can find out about the “dead” to whom Jesus is “calling:”

  • Ephesians 2:1, speaking to the Gentile believers at Ephesus (and us!), says “You hath He quickened (brought to life) who were dead in trespasses and sin.”
    • They were dead in sin (spiritually separated from God. (Ephesians 2:11, 12)
    • Jesus brought them to life.
    • They were living believers when Paul’s letter reached them.
  • Colossians 2:13, speaking to another Gentile church, says, “And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
    • They once were dead, but now were alive, through the forgiveness of all sins.
    • And we already saw that Ephesians 2:8, 9 says it was by Grace, through Faith.

So, from these passages, what answer can I give to the question, “Who are the Dead to whom Jesus called?”

25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.

We Were Dead in our Sins

The “dead” to whom Jesus calls are the unbelieving people of the whole world. We were all dead in sins until we heard the Gospel: we somehow heard the call of Jesus, over the noise of this dying world, and we placed our faith in Him, at whatever level of understanding we then had.

The Example of the Thief on the Cross:

The thief on the Cross was surrounded by the howling, mocking crowd, and filled with his own agony, as well, but he somehow saw the Holiness of Jesus and His Forgiveness and Love, and he repented of his earlier arrogance against God. He cast Himself upon the Mercy of the Living Christ. He died a short time later, just after Jesus did, and he entered Paradise with His Savior.

He was (literally) dead in his sins, and being executed for his crimes! He was dying as a condemned criminal. But: he heard the voice of Jesus, and lived! The only sense in which his condition differs from each of ours is the degree of immediacy: he knew he was dying and he had no hope of respite or reprieve. He was looking at Jesus face-to-face. He cast his only, desperate hope on someone he had only moments before been mocking along with the crowd. So, how does that compare with my own experience?

My Own Example:

  • Had I seen Jesus face-to-face? (Nope!)
  • Did I know for sure when I was going to die? (No, but I was pretty sure that I would die.)
  • Was I aware of my sin and the consequences of sin? (Theoretically, yes, but certainly not to the same degree as that man was. I had a growing conviction that I was a condemned sinner, and unable to please God.)
  • Did I know what Jesus could do for me? (In some ways I knew more than the thief on the Cross, but not much more: I knew that I was lost, and that Jesus was my only hope.)

How Did Jesus Call us to Himself?

Our individual stories vary a little, from person to person, but really only in the “details.”

For example, Abraham believed God and God declared him righteous (Genesis 15:6.) That is the core truth: God speaks, we place our faith in Him, and He declares us righteous.

In the New Testament, the believers heard the Gospel (the good news of the substitutionary sacrifice Jesus made for us: His death, and burial and resurrection,) and they believed God, that He was the true Savior, promised from the beginning of the world. And they were not only declared righteous (“justified,”) but were assigned a permanent position in the Body of Christ.

The only thing God names as His power to save us, the sinners, the spiritually dead of this world, is the Gospel of Christ. Romans 1:16 says “I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the Power of God to save them that believe!” And it is the only thing so described in Scripture. He offers no other hope.

How does He call?

In Abraham’s case, He evidently called in an audible voice. (Abraham never saw a Bible.) In other biblical cases, He sometimes called in a vision, sometimes in person, face to face.(None of those people had a Bible, either, though some had seen the Torah scrolls.)

But after the apostolic age, increasingly, the primary way has been through the written Word of God. The epistles circulated widely during the first century, and there were tens of thousands of copies made, during the first few centuries. Each was laboriously hand-copied onto Papyrus sheets. Some of the copies were pretty poor quality, as the people who painstakingly wrote them out were only barely literate. But they valued the written Word enough to risk their lives for it, so they certainly were trying to be very careful. And, overall, the record is very good, partly because of the many thousands of surviving copies still extant today.

How did He call You?

So…in your case; did you hear the Gospel from a friend? Perhaps from a neighbor, or a family member? They were quoting (or at least referring to) the authoritative Word of God. They were not “making things up as they went.” Perhaps you believed on the spot: perhaps you required dozens of repeated contacts (as I did,) before you changed your mind (that’s called “repentance“) regarding who Jesus is and was.

Regardless of how the message came to me, it was through the Word of God. Romans 10:17 says, “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” And, of course, when we began this study in the Gospel of John, in the very first verses we found that Jesus is the Word! He is the Living Word. And, how you respond to the Written Word reveals the reality of how you respond to the Living Word.

How do we Respond?

Pastor Richard Banham once attempted to share Christ with an older woman, but she angrily replied, “I don’t care what the Bible says! I have my experience!” Her response to the Written Word was utter rejection. Specifically, she utterly rejected the Gospel of Christ.

And God says that the Gospel, being believed in, is His only power to save sinners. Jesus calls, and they who “hear His voice” shall live. What does it mean to “hear his voice?” In John 15:3 Jesus told the eleven remaining disciples (Judas had already left) “Now ye are clean through the Word which I have spoken unto you.” But two chapters earlier, in John 13:10, 11, He had said they were not all clean, and it says he was referring to Judas Iscariot.

Judas “heard” all the same words the other disciples had heard: why was he not clean? Because he rejected what he was “hearing.” He heard the sound and understood the words, but he rejected the message. The other eleven “heard Him,” and received what He said as being from God. Jesus had “called to the spiritually dead” and some had responded in faith. Those who responded in faith were made alive. Those who did not believe, simply remained dead, unless (as in my own case) they later repented (changed their mind) and believed.

The Authority of Life and Judgment

26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; 27 And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.

Philippians 2:5-8 shows us that Jesus was the eternal God: He was God the Son, but He did not cling to that position with all its privileges. He was born into our world as a baby, grew up as a man, and lived out a perfect life before God. But, through all that experience, He never set aside His Holiness as God, nor did He set aside His wisdom.

He mostly chose not to use His limitless power, but He occasionally revealed it through the incredible miracles He performed. Though I am usually most impressed by His stopping the storm, the greatest miracle, of course, was when He raised the dead. He physically raised the dead on several occasions. The most exciting example was Lazarus, in John 11. In all these things he proved the truth of this verse. He has the authority of life, and of Judgment. He is specifically our Judge, because of His Humanity.  We are being judged by a righteous God who has lived with all the restrictions of a human life, and has been victorious. But He also is our Savior, offering a free pass through the judgment, by His Grace, through Faith.

But, What about the Graves?

Remember, He also mentioned “those in the Graves:”  What about them? He said, “28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”

So, all those in the graves when Jesus gives that final call, will come out! We can read in the book of the Revelation how that will happen: the call will first involve the righteous dead. The Old Testament saints are already with Jesus, today, but at that time, their old physical bodies will be raised, perfect and incorruptible.

The same goes for all the New Testament believers as well: their bodies are currently wherever they ended up. Some were buried, and were consumed by various creatures of the earth. Some were lost at sea, and digested by various types of marine life, large or small. Some were burned, and their ashes were blown away by the wind. But God will bring all of them back to life, to face eternity!

Job knew all about this!

In Job 19:25, Job said that he knew that “after his death, though worms would consume his old body, yet he would see his Redeemer face-to-face, with his own eyes and not another.” The fact is, at the resurrection, ALL those who are physically dead WILL come out to face Jesus, either as their Savior or as their Judge. All their bodies will be restored, regardless of what had become of them, and regardless of whether they are saved or lost. There are no exceptions.

But, the resurrection of the unrighteous dead is described in Revelation 20:12-15 They will receive their old body, eternally renewed, just in time to spend eternity separated from God! Jesus spent a fair amount of time and effort warning about this resurrection. In fact, He spent more time warning about the coming Judgment and the Lake of Fire, than He did telling us about what Heaven will be like.

(Christian preachers are often accused of “spending too much time preaching about Hell.” But, if they want to follow Jesus’s example, they will do it more, not less!) The Good News of the Gospel would not be good news at all, if it were not for the bad news of human sin and the coming judgment. (What do you think we are being saved from?)

But, What about the “good deeds?”

Jesus did say, “…they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” What “doing good” was he referring to?

In John 6:28, 29, the people asked Jesus, “What shall we do that we might work the works of God?” He answered, “This is the Work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent.”

That is the only “good work” that results in salvation: placing your faith in His Sacrifice: Jesus’s finished work at the Cross.  In John 3:18, Jesus said, “He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

Don’t We Need Good Works?

Are there “Good Works” subsequent to salvation, which might apply, here?  In a way, yes! Ephesians 2:10 says “For we are His workmanship, created unto good works which He hast before ordained that we should walk in them.”

As long as we recognize that the only “good work” which can result in salvation, or affect it in any way, is the work which Jesus did for us at the Cross, then we can talk about the eternal rewards God promises for our obedience to Him after we are born again. But those rewards are not a gift: they are rewards. Salvation is truly a gift, given freely by Jesus.

Conclusion

We will talk about rewards at a later time. For now, I think it is enough that we understand that we were the “dead, who heard the voice of the Savior and responded in faith.” As we share the Gospel with others who also are dead in their sins, Jesus continues to call them, through His Word, inviting them to eternal life and to peace, and to joy.

And, eventually, (if the Lord’s return does not come first) we all will be among “those in the graves,” who answer the call to the resurrection of the just: to see our Redeemer face to face! We have that Blessed Hope, by His Promise!

Lord Jesus, fill us with Your Joy, as we contemplate the absolute security we have in You. Fill us with the knowledge that you have called us to be your voice, on earth. We are to call to the spiritually dead, and to offer them eternal life. Fill us with Your compassion for the lost, and send us to do Your will.

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Eternal Life, Now!

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Eternal Life is Available “Now!”

© 2022 C. O. Bishop

John 5:24 etc.

Introduction:

Last week we delved extensively into the fact that Jesus is the Judge of all the Earth: We camped out on the scriptural evidence that this statement is not “hyperbole,” nor a misunderstanding of Jesus’s words. He really is the Judge!

But we also pointed out what had gone before: in John 3:14-19, we saw that He is also the only Savior offered: and that faith in Him was the only requirement for salvation.

There is a persistent pattern of human thought, however, suggesting that the “eternality” of “eternal life” is somehow dependent upon me, rather than depending on the Eternal truth of the Eternal Word of the Eternal Judge of all the Earth. Do you see the flaw in that reasoning?

There is nothing eternal or even reliably “long-lasting” about my works, my attitude, my thoughts, or my “Aptitude for Good.” If my eternal destiny is in any way dependent upon my persistence, my faithfulness, or any other human attribute, then I literally have no hope.

What Does Jesus Say?

Ultimately, I want to depend upon what Jesus says, in this and any other concern. Even in the Old Testament, we are instructed to set aside “self-help”, and our “do-it-yourself” plans and schemes, because “All of our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.” We are told to “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding.”

So, it was no great surprise to hear Jesus tell Nicodemus (who was a good man and a righteous man, by all human standards, and specifically by Orthodox Jewish standards) that he could not hope to enter heaven without being born again. But it was quite a shock to Nicodemus! He needed some explanation: and that explanation is what we read in John 3:14-19.

We saw Jesus standing as God’s only solution for the Sin of the Human Race, just as in Numbers 21, the bronze serpent on the pole stood as God’s only salvation from the deadly snake-bites.

We saw that whoever places their faith in His sacrifice at the Cross will not perish, but have eternal life. Finally, we saw that the faith was not only the requirement for eternal life, it was the only hope for eternal life: that those who do not believe in Him are already condemned: but they still have the option to change their minds (that is what “repent” means) and believe in Him.

What else does Jesus Say?

In John 6:29, Jesus says the only “work” God is looking for in regard to salvation, is to believe in Him. And He said this in answer to people who were definitely looking for something They could do to please God. They were not looking for what seems to us an “easy way.”

But Jesus completely “leveled the playing field” for all people, by making faith the only requirement: You see, Faith is a choice! Faith is a choice that anyone can make, and it is always by the person’s own free will. I cannot force anyone to believe anything: they have to choose. Nor can I prevent anyone from making the choice to believe something. This is the ultimate in “Human Rights and Freedom:” The right to believe.

Who draws us to believe?

In John 6:44, we read that “No man can come unto me except the Father draw him.”  That is what Jesus said, and I believe it without question. But I join with it what He said in John 12:32, regarding His own agency for faith: “And, I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me.”

This passage, along with a variety of verses in both Old and New Testaments, teaching that the Father and Son are at least on the same team, and evidently so nearly the same person that we can’t tell the difference, collectively assure me that every single human is being “drawn” to believe.

Does Jesus “Reject” Anyone?

Well, there are plenty of human commentators who adamantly insist that “if we sin enough or if we sin badly enough” (or some other such failing) then, in spite of His ‘gift of eternal life,’ God will definitely kick us out!” Odd…that does not seem to reflect well on the nature of either a gift, or the integrity of the One who gave it, since He describes it as “eternal.” (Last time I looked, the word, “eternal” meant, “It will last forever!”) But what does Jesus say about this idea?

John 6:37 says, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.” “In NO WISE…” If you have come to Him in faith that His blood is the full payment for your sins, then under no circumstances will He cast you out!

Personal Example:

I had a long-running conversation with an elderly woman who absolutely believed that if she failed to “hold up her end of the bargain,” then God would renege on all His promises and condemn her. I knew she had a number of children, some adopted, so I asked her under what circumstances would she quit caring for and renounce her children. She was adamant that her love for all of them was unconditional, and that under no circumstances would she disinherit or disown her children. So, I asked “Why do you think that you are a better parent than God is?”

She was shocked, and insisted that she had said no such thing. I reminded her that she had said that if she wasn’t “Good” enough, or if she “Sinned” too much, then God would deny her a position in His family. That seemed to silence her for a while…she had to reconsider what she believed. Sometime later, she affirmed that God’s promises were solid…and that her salvation was secure. She died in peace, knowing that Her Savior was with her.

In John 10:27-30 Jesus says, “27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. 29 My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and my Father are one.”

That is quite a statement!

What truths can we find in this short passage? Here are seven to consider:

  1. My sheep hear my voice (faith? Romans 10:17)
  2. I know them (regardless of what other people think of them. Romans 14:4)
  3. They follow me. (This is what should characterize all believers. There have been and will continue to be exceptions.)
  4. I give unto them eternal life and They shall never perish.
  5. Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
  6. No man can pluck them out of My Father’s hand.
  7. The Father and I are One.

Possibly someone might see this differently, but, let’s have a look at those seven statements:

  1. Jesus counts His sheep as those who hear His voice…those who believe Him…take Him at His Word. I can see this in Genesis, where it says that Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. And, in the New Testament, we find that his nephew, Lot, was also counted righteous: Why? Surely not for his works: he was such a mess that even his sons-in-law didn’t believe him. Evidently it was also by faith.
  2. Jesus knows His sheep, even when others do not. Lot, again, is a prime example; but there is a whole list in Hebrews 11, which, taken one by one, turn out to be a fairly rough bunch of people.
  3. As a rule, these people follow Jesus. To one degree or another, they see Him as their true Lord. There are so many counterexamples, that it is actually hard to find one which really fulfills this. The best two I can come up with are Daniel and Joshua. But, in Romans 7:17  and in Ephesians 4:22-24, we get a hint of how God may see this: In Romans seven, Paul points out the sharp distinction between the old and new nature… and that God no longer sees your old nature as “you.” He is only working with the new nature, making no attempt to straighten out the old nature: it is incorrigible, irreparable and unredeemable. God says so.
    In Ephesians 4:22-24, we see how God sees your new nature: It is created in His likeness, in righteousness and true holiness. From that viewpoint, every single one of His sheep “follow” Him! It is just that every single one of them also has an old sin nature, and that old sin nature will never follow Jesus!
  4. Jesus gave us eternal life, and He says that means we will never perish. Whatever “ifs, ands, or buts” people try to add to this promise, it all adds up to “I don’t believe Jesus!” If I try to add, “so long as you keep walking with Him.” then I am negating His promise. If I even add “So long as I keep believing.” I am negating His clear promise. Think carefully before you try to change His words. This is a serious issue.
  5. No man can pluck them out of my hand. (That includes you, my friend: I have heard people say, “They can’t ‘pluck you out,’ and He won’t ‘cast you out,’ but you can surely ‘jump out!’” (Sorry: Romans 8:39 says “no created thing can separate me from the Love of God that is in Christ Jesus.” I’m a created thing. I can’t do it, either!)
  6. No man can pluck them out of my Father’s hand. This sounds redundant, until you consider the mental image of two hands, enclosing the otherwise helpless soul. We are completely enclosed in the Grace and the Faithfulness of God!
  7. The Father and I are One. There’s the bottom line: Jesus, as God the Son, is so completely in unity with God the Father, that their purpose is completely united…and both of them insist that we are safe in Christ!

What relief and what peace, I can feel, knowing that my security in Christ is not dependent upon my feeble attempts to walk with Him!

 When is it available? NOW!

So, here in John 5:24, Jesus makes an amazing promise which covers my past, my present, and my future. The question may still arise as to when that promise will be fulfilled. I have actually had people read this promise out loud and (whether consciously or unconsciously,) add a word, changing the tense: They read it, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my voice and believeth on him that sent me, will have everlasting life and will not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life.”

How very different that is from what the promise actually says! Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my voice and believeth on him that sent me, has everlasting life and will not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life.”

Do you see the difference? One idea promises “pie in the sky when we die.” That leaves open to the imagination all the possible restrictions and caveats and possible failures on our side. The actual promise offers eternal life now. It goes on to guarantee that that person will never be condemned by God. And it concludes that this person, through that single act of faith has permanently been transferred from death into life! And the person who is making the promise is the Eternal Judge of all the Universe! He just got done explaining that one, in the last verse!

Just in case you think I am “stretching the scriptures,” here in John 5, let’s turn to the back of our Bible and read 1st John 5:11-13.

“11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. 13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

Not only did He make the promise that you can have eternal life now, but He states that He wants you to know you have it! We have frequently heard it taught that “you can ‘hope,’ but you cannot ‘know‘.”

Jesus says you can know that you have eternal life and that He wants you to know it!

Believe His Promise and Rest in Him!

Lord Jesus, teach us to rest in You, knowing that Your righteousness has been imputed to us, and that Your Grace is what saves us, and that our faith, regardless of how weak and faltering, was all you required in order to begin walking with You. Give us the faith to rest in your promise and to follow you more faithfully.

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Jesus: The Judge of All the Earth

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The Judge of All the Earth

© 2022, C. O. Bishop

John 5:15-23

Introduction:

We have been studying through the Gospel of John, and we have come to a place where a fairly heavy doctrinal question is posed: “Who are we really dealing with in the Person of Jesus?”

In the context, here, Jesus had healed the man at the Pool of Bethesda, and the man had responded by “turning Jesus in” to the Jews…probably the religious rulers. So, in verses, 15 and 16, we catch the initial sense of “what is happening.”

15 The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole. 16 And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.

The man identified Jesus as being the one who had healed him (more specifically, the one who had told him to take up his bed and walk) and we see that the immediate response of “The Jews” was to persecute Jesus and seek to kill him. I always have inferred that the passage referred to the religious leaders, but, as I read it over again, I see that it does not specifically say that. It just says, “the Jews.”

However, we want to remember that this happened in Jerusalem, and the Jews in Jerusalem seem to have had a different response than did the Jews of smaller cities and villages, as a rule. And Jerusalem was ultimately the key response for the entire nation. Bethany received Jesus as the Promised King and Savior, but Jerusalem clamored for His death!

The Initial Accusation

So, the first accusation they made was that Jesus was breaking the Sabbath. This is apeculiar thing, as He seemed to deliberately heal on the Sabbath to further challenge His accusers. The word “Sabbath” means “rest!” And Jesus was giving the sufferers Divine Rest, through the healing He provided.

He delivered them from the bondage of their illness, paralysis, or demon-possession, and He gave them rest! In Hebrews chapter 4, we will eventually see that Jesus is our Sabbath: And, having received Him as our deliverer, we now “labor to enter into His Rest,” on a day-by-day basis.

Jesus did not try to explain any of this to His accusers. He simply stated His claims and continually demonstrated His authority. What incredible authority; to speak and cure paralysis! To speak and cast out demons (who recognized Him and called Him by name!) To speak, and raise the dead! To speak, and calm the storm! And their only response was to try to kill him! What an amazingly wrong-headed response! It was bad enough that they continually argued against Him, but to want to kill the only one who had the power of life seems incredibly short-sighted!

Jesus’ Reply, and the Second Accusation

Jesus’ spoken reply to His accusers made them even more determined to kill Him:

17 But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. 18 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

You see, now they really thought they had him cornered: He was convicted by His own words! They correctly understood that He was claiming Deity. He was not saying, as a person today might say, “My Heavenly Father (in contrast to my biological or human father) is watching over me.” They correctly understood that He claimed to be the Heir, God in the flesh!

The odd thing to me, there, is that in their own Scriptures they had that express promise made to them. In Isaiah 7:14, God said that “The Virgin shall be with Child and shall bear a Son and shall call His name Immanuel.” The name, “Immanuel” literally means “God with us!” That sounds like a pretty precious promise, to me!

So, if someone came along, claiming to fulfil that promise, wouldn’t the logical response be to “check His credentials?” There were lots of prophecies they could turn to, to check Him out, but they did not bother to do that. They just assumed He was lying, and they attacked Him.

19 Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.

He pointed out the illogical character of their response, saying, in effect, “Look at the Works!” He later said, “if you don’t believe my words, believe for the sake of the works!” He showed that the works themselves had to come from the One who had the authority to heal! At the very least, they should have been able to see that He was sent from God.

In John chapter 9, we see that this precise argument was raised by the man who had been born blind, and whom Jesus healed. He said, “No man can do such things unless God is with Him! From the beginning of the world, it has not been heard that a man received sight who had been born blind!” And, again, the response of the Jews was only to accuse the man who was healed, and to cast him out of the temple, rather than confess the strength of his argument. They were not willing to see Jesus for who He truly was, even when confronted with irrefutable truth.

Jesus went on to describe the relationship between the Father and the Son:

20 For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel. 21 For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.

He described the Love relationship between the Father and the Son, and further said that the miracles were about to increase, specifically so that they should “marvel”—be filled with amazement. And raising the dead was what he said was coming up.

Now, they had not yet seen Jesus raising the dead, but He offered a preview, of what was going to happen: speaking to those who were His sworn enemies, He offered the resurrection! He claimed the authority to raise the dead at will. What proof could He give of that authority? They would see the proof, but, so far, He had not done such things. In John 11, he publicly raised to life someone who had been dead long enough to begin to decay. And, in John 12, their response was still to want to kill him!

If someone who has already demonstrated that He could heal people who were completely wrecked by disease, makes the claim that He can raise the dead, He should at least be given the opportunity to prove His claim. But that was not their response. Nor is it the usual response today. I have had someone declare to me that if they saw someone raised from the dead, they would have to believe. But, in Luke 16:31, Jesus said that is not true, either: He said that “if they will not believe Moses (God’s prophet…God’s Word) then they would not believe, even if they saw someone raised from the dead.”

The Universal Response

So, what is the usual response of Humanity to God? We see in scripture that the Jews’ response was not unusual for the rest of the World either. So, we should be cautious about condemning the Jews for their response. Jesus taught that very few would actually enter in by faith…that most people would choose the path toward destruction.

Keep in mind that their response is by their own choice. Even in the Old Testament, God says that the voice of Wisdom calls to the simple and the foolish, to turn from their ways, and also that God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. But the depravity of the Human race is universal. Our egos war against God, by nature.

In Psalm 14:2, 3, God said, “The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”

We want to “re-write” such a passage to say, “…not very many…” but God says, “No, not one!” Collectively, we have rejected God. He has pursued us with His Grace and Love and Kindness and attempted to reconcile the World to Himself. Also, that passage from Psalm 14 is quoted verbatim in Romans 3:9-12.This is not an “Old Testament problem.”

God’s Solution

God saw that Human reasoning and Human “wisdom” would never result in a right relationship with God. (1st Corinthians 1:21 says, “for after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.” ) So, He chose, before the foundation of the World, to receive a specific group: those who would respond in faith to the Good News of God’s Grace.

Jesus said in John 12:32 “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” He gave Himself as the “magnet” to which people would either respond in faith or not. Some may respond with indifference. Others may be “attracted,” but still unwilling to believe, because of the offensive nature of the Cross. Some may respond in ridicule, saying that the entire message is utter foolishness. Still others may respond in anger, claiming that they are “Good People!” They see no need for a Savior and are insulted that we would suggest they need one!

But, still others will respond in faith, choosing by faith to lay their hands upon God’s chosen sacrifice, and see Him as their only hope. Faith is a choice. To those few who choose to believe God, He gives eternal life and eternal forgiveness of their sins.

So, Jesus has named Himself as the one through whom the resurrection is to be had. He has named Himself (back in John 3:16-18) as the only Savior, and said that the only requirement is faith. He said that those who believed in Him (as their Savior) would not be condemned, but that those who refused to believe were already condemned, specifically because they do not believe. But what else does he say, here in John 5:22, 23?

Jesus, the Judge of all the Earth

From Human perspective, we have been told that God is the eternal Judge: and so He is! But we frequently fail to consider the triune nature of the Godhead. John began to investigate this truth, way back in John 1:1 – he said that “the Word was with God and the Word was God.” Now, in any other context, that statement alone is contradictory—paradoxical: Something (or someone) cannot be with another being, and simultaneously be that other being.

So, we had already begun to see that this “Word” who was later identified as Jesus, was in some mysterious way to be seen as being God, Himself. That is an important point to grasp. Later on, Jesus brought it to everyone’s attention that only God can forgive sins, and that, while a human may say “your sins are forgiven,” it becomes the ultimate in “cheap talk” unless they can prove that they have the authority to forgive sins. So, He proved His authority to forgive sins by demonstrating His authority to heal a paralyzed man. (He simply spoke, and healed him!)

But what else does that suggest about Jesus? If He has the authority to forgive sins, does He not also have the authority to not forgive? That makes Him the Judge! And Jesus confirmed that truth, in the next two verses; also warning the hearers of the consequences of unbelief:

22 For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: 23 That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.

Here are four points to grasp from that statement:

  1. God the Father does not judge.
  2. God the Son does judge…and all judgment has been committed unto Him.
  3. The goal of God is that people will honor the Son as they honor the Father who sent Him.
  4. Whoever does not honor Jesus in the same way as the Father, does not honor the Father!

Where does this leave the people who say that they believe in Jesus, but see Him as somehow less than God in the Flesh? Many people say they believe Jesus is the Son of God, but deny that He is God. This is a stumbling block to all the cults: they want to appear to honor Jesus, but they balk at admitting His deity. And, the person they are dishonoring is the one who is their Judge.

Old Testament Evidence

What evidence do we have that I am not just misinterpreting Jesus’s words? Genesis 18:25 sees Abraham pleading with God in the Flesh (to whom he had just served lunch…beef, bread, butter and milk…and who had eaten it) and addressing Him as “the Judge of all the earth!”

Well, so long as I see that person as God (and it is) there is no information there to support what Jesus said…except that, there is one more New Testament passage that caps it: John 1:18 says “No man has seen God at any time: the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him.” So, yes, that was God, but not God the Father!  Abraham called God the Son “Judge of all the Earth!”

If I compare the two passages, where Jesus claims to be the only Judge, and where Abraham called Him that to His face, then I begin to see that the person the Jews were hating and seeking to kill, was literally:

  • God in the Flesh
  • The only Savior who would ever be offered on their behalf, and
  • The Eternal Judge before whom they would stand if they rejected His offer of peace.

It is hard to imagine being so hard-hearted as to not see the joy of the people Jesus healed, and to not hear the pure wisdom He taught. But to be confronted with the reality of His authority, and to deny it as though he were only a political rival, seems insane. And yet, that is where we all have stood, originally, and it is where the vast majority of the world still takes its stand, today.

How can we apply this truth?

So, what can we do with this knowledge? If we have already received Him as our Savior, then perhaps it will remind us of the importance of daily seeing Him as our Lord: our Master. Perhaps it can give us greater drive to share with others our hope of redemption, our only hope of forgiveness and eternal life.

Remember that evangelism is nothing greater (nor less than) one beggar telling another beggar where to find free food and shelter. We came to Christ as beggars, condemned and unclean. He gave us a new life, completely holy before Him. But we still have nothing, outside of what He gives us. So, we offer that gift freely, without any condescension… we are just saved sinners ourselves. We aren’t looking down our noses at anyone. But the one we serve is the true Master of all things…the only Savior and the Eternal Judge. Take it seriously and pass that Grace to others!

Lord Jesus, change our hearts to truly see You as the only hope for the world, and more specifically, the only hope for every individual sinner in the world. Help us to see through Your eyes, and care with Your heart. Make us to serve as Your hands and feet and to speak as Your voice.

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Finding Comfort and Joy in Christmas

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Finding Comfort in Christmas Throughout the Year


© C. O. Bishop

All in reference to Luke 2, comparing with other scripture.

How do we really feel about Christmas?

To those of us who have recently lost loved ones, and to those of us who suffer from depression, or have experienced the loss of a job, etc., Christmas is not “the most wonderful time of the year.” It’s the very worst. Our society has taught us to expect sunny feelings of joy and happiness, and to expect to give and receive wonderful gifts, and that everyone will love one another, and politicians will all tell the truth… and that “Santa Claus is coming…” and it is all these unfulfilled expectations that cause the feelings of disappointment, grief and depression that frequent the holiday season for many people; especially those grieving the loss of loved ones. There is a reason why police and emergency medical personnel refer to this season as the “suicide season.” There are more self-inflicted deaths in the country during this season than at any other time of year. And it is increasing as our nation has turned it’s collective eyes away from the Christ who is the person of Christmas, and the source of real joy.

To those of us who hurt, or who have suffered loss, all of the above seems a cruel hoax. And in some ways it is, even if those who are responsible really meant no harm. We have been given false expectations, and we have been taught to turn our eyes away from the real truth. Let’s see if we can turn that around, just for a moment, today….

The Birth of Christ:

Let’s go back and consider the first Christmas…the real one…the one no one really noticed except some farmer types…shepherds, in fact. It happened in a barn; a stable, if you want to be specific. There was no tree, no tinsel, no eggnog. “No crib, for a bed…” the only “gift” in sight was a baby. “For God so loved the World, that He gave his only begotten son…” (We don’t think of it very often, but the wise men showed up quite some time later—not that day…probably not that year. But when they did arrive, remember; they brought gifts to HIM, and not to one another.) But those who were there—those shepherds— were overwhelmed with joy. Why?

How is it that without any of the things we think ought to be there, the partakers of that first Christmas were filled with joy? Mary was having her first baby…do you think maybe she would have liked to have her Mom, or an Aunt, or someone like that to help her? How do you suppose Joseph felt about the accommodations? Do you think a stable would have been his first choice as a place for his young wife to give birth? And the shepherds? They still had to go back to those sheep, and the smelly, hard job that was their whole life. They got no day off for Christmas…no bonus; no free turkey, or whatever. Just… great joy. Why??

Do you suppose they understood a little about what had happened? They were all orthodox Jews, and they, with their forefathers, had been waiting for the Messiah for thousands of years. The promises were there, for anyone to read. And the angels that showed up clearly told them that this was it: The real fulfillment of God’s real promise. Did they understand all of it? Nope. They almost certainly did not. In fact, they may have had some real disappointments a few years down the road. They thought he was come to be a king (He was!), and a deliverer (He was!). But they also thought he would throw the Romans out of Israel, and reign there in Jerusalem in their lifetimes. (He did not, and He never said he would.)

Their later disappointments were based on false expectations, just like ours. But those who remembered could look back with wonder and recall the voices of the angels, praising God, and announcing the Holy birth. They did not cease to believe in the goodness of God, and his faithfulness.

So, What was the Promise?

We have forgotten what was really promised, and how we are to take part in it. There is no promise to us, that we will “live lives free of pain.” Quite the opposite: God says that it is given unto us “…on the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on His name but also to suffer for His sake.” (Philippians 1:29) Not what we really hoped to hear, is it?

So what really was promised, and how do we take part in God’s real Christmas? How can we find Comfort in Christmas?

To begin with, immediately after Adam and Eve fell into sin, as recorded in Genesis, God prescribed a plan of redemption. He said that a person would come, called the “Seed of the Woman”, and this person would undo Satan’s work, done through the serpent. We discover later, in the New Testament, that the plan was actually laid before the Creation: God knew what was going to happen, and He prepared in advance.

The promise was repeated, with more and more details, until just before the time of Christ (actually, the last detail was given right about 400 years before his birth), so that if they were actually reading and studying God’s Word, they pretty much knew all that was supposed to happen regarding the Messiah. They did not understand it all, any more than we can claim to understand it all today, though (as we do) they had all the information.

But the believers, mostly Jews, had come to believe in the character of God, and they believed His Word was true. They believed his promises. When he told them to place their trust in His redemptive plan, and it involved a blood sacrifice, they brought that blood sacrifice, as directed. Did they understand it? Did they really know that all those little lambs were “pointing forward” to the One True Lamb of God? Somehow I doubt it.

When John the Baptist introduced Jesus, saying, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” some understood the intent; though most did not. But many believed that He was the fulfillment of God’s Promise. We can look back and see that they were right. He fulfilled God’s Word to the letter…even that thing about being the “Seed of Woman”. (Who else in history has only one human parent?)

Jesus was born in obscurity, with shepherds rejoicing, and few others even taking notice. He preached in a tiny nation, for three years or a bit more. He had twelve devoted followers, about ten times that number who were part-timers, and thousands who claimed allegiance to him. But he was betrayed by one of those “inner-circle twelve” (Judas Iscariot) and he died a criminal’s death, condemned by Jew and Gentile alike. He was attended at His death by only one of his twelve disciples, and a few women, including his mother. (We don’t know the names of the few who stayed and watched, but He does.)

He was lent a tomb by a rich man (Joseph of Arimathea) who secretly believed. It turned out Jesus only needed it for three days and three nights, just as predicted. He was physically resurrected that third day, in spite of efforts aimed at preventing such an occurrence, and he showed himself to all his close disciples, and on one occasion to 500 people at once. He ascended back to God, physically; bodily. And He promised to return in the same manner: Physically…Bodily.

We, who do find comfort in Christmas, whether Jew or Gentile, do so because that day was the beginning of all that was to follow. We find hope in the Christ, in the Cross, and in the empty tomb. We find hope in his resurrection, and in his promised soon return.

We find hope in His written Word, where He promised, personally, that “Whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16)

We look back to that first Christmas and the unspeakable gift of God’s Son, and we find comfort in the Goodness of the God who gave the Gift. When we suffer losses, we look back to what our redemption really cost our Lord, and our Heavenly Father. We trust in Him to do all things well. We trust in Him to give what is best, even when we think things ought to proceed in a different way.

How do we Receive that Promise?

How can we take part in God’s real Christmas? Jesus said “He that heareth my word, and believeth on Him that sent me has everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but has passed over from death into life.” (John 5:24)

Notice the tenses there—he covers my present, saying that because I have heard his Word, and believed the promise of God, I have eternal life now…I don’t have to wait ‘til I die to see if I got “good enough grades”. He covers my future, promising that I will never be condemned by God: He is never going to give up on me, even if I fail miserably in my attempts to serve Him. He covers my past (perfect tense), saying that I have permanently crossed over from being spiritually dead, to being spiritually alive.

This is the hope of all believers. And those of us who believe, and who have lost one or more believing loved ones, have the sure hope of seeing them again. There are some we are not sure of, because we can’t see their hearts, but God knows, and His justice is perfect. He loves them more than we ever could; and we rest in hope, assured that he has done right by them.

Christmas, the way the World presents it, can be very depressing, quite honestly. But the way God presents His gift it is a never-ending source of joy—it is not “seasonal” at all. We simply have to choose to rest in that gift, rest in His character, and to experience the peace, hope and joy He brings.

So, to each of you, in the name of the Christ of Christmas, I wish you a truly joyous Christmas season that will last throughout the year.

Blessings upon you all.

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This is the Condemnation

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This is the Condemnation

© 2021 C. O. Bishop

John 3:17-21

Introduction

We have been studying through the Gospel of John, as most of you know: Last week and the week before, we twice read that Jesus paid for the sins of the whole world. And, we saw, briefly, that most people would reject Him anyway.

But the question comes to mind, “If all their sins are paid for, how can anyone be condemned?”

A partial answer, in the form of an analogy, was proposed last week, pointing out that Jesus wrote out a “check” in the amount of “Eternal Life,” to be deposited to the account of “Whosoever Will.” And we pointed out that, in order to have that eternal life, one does have to “endorse that Check” by faith. Each person has to respond personally, believing that Jesus’s blood is the sacrifice for their own sins…it is not just “generic.”

So, the next few verses (17-21) explain why people can still be condemned, even though Jesus truly has paid for their sins:

17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

God’s Will: Restoration and Reconciliation

Verse 17 clearly states the purpose of God toward man at large: He sent Jesus “…that the World through Him might be saved.” The invitation is to “whosoever will!” (God so loved the world!) This is not a selective Grace, except in the sense that only those willing to “endorse the check by faith” will enter in. The invitation is there, but many refuse to heed the call to faith.

2nd Peter 3:9 supports this idea, saying that the Lord “…is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

1st Timothy 2:3, 4 says “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God, our Savior, who will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.”

As members of the Body of Christ, we have the general assignment to function as ambassadors of Christ. 2nd Corinthians 5:20 says that we are to function “…as though God did beseech you by us…be ye reconciled to God!” That is our collective job! That is our Job! We may all have different tasks, but the job is evangelism and discipleship.

During all the years when I worked at Gunderson, Inc. our collective goal, or “job” was to build high-quality railcars and barges. The Engineers, the supervisors, the forklift drivers, the painters, the welders, and even the janitors had that collective “job.” We all made our living by the successful pursuit of that one collective “job.” But all those different people had completely different tasks.

I’m pretty sure the nurses in the medical office did not really see their job as “producing rail cars.” The medical staff probably saw their job as being “to provide medical oversight and triage, to keep the crews healthy, and avoid liability lawsuits.”

(Well…yeah!) But, had the company not been producing railcars, then their goal of providing medical oversight would have been a moot point. They would have had no one for whom to provide care! And the same is true for every other skill or discipline within the company. We did not sell paint—we sold painted railcars. We did not sell pieces of steel: we sold steel railcars, and we did not get paid for just shuffling pieces of steel around in the plant with cranes and forklifts: we were paid for the completed, painted, inspected and fully functional, brand-new, flawless railcar that went out the door after all the shuffling, welding and painting was done!

If anyone forgot that main goal, they rapidly descended into non-productive and even counter-productive behavior, squabbling amongst themselves, supervisor against supervisor, and department against department. That was highly unprofitable behavior, but it frequently went on for years, uncorrected.

We need to keep God’s purposes in mind: we do not want to be counterproductive, or unprofitable as believers. We want to behave in a manner that is profitable for the cause of Christ.

This is the Condemnation

So…if God’s will really is “…to save everyone,” why isn’t it happening? It turns out that God has an eternal standard: though He desires to save the world, His standard has always been to save “through faith in Him.” There has never been an exception. Every single person who has ever been salvaged from the wreckage of the Human race has been saved through faith in God’s plan of redemption. All the way from Adam to the thief on the cross, and all the way to the end of time, the statement Jesus made is true: “No man cometh unto the Father but by Me!”

Jesus made it very clear, in verse 18, that “He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

We may balk at what seems to be such a limited, narrow path, but in reality, this is the most “equalizing” prerequisite possible. It has to do only with a personal choice, not one’s personal ability or character. Gifting, skills, intelligence, physical strength, or emotional fortitude are not on the table: Wisdom and philosophical stance are not a factor. Wealth, health, or moral purity are never considered. Being perceived as “good” is not a requirement (again, witness the Thief on the Cross, or the Woman at the Well.)

One thing only has been required: that we “believe in Him whom God has sent.” The people asked Jesus, in John 6:28, “What shall we do that we might work the works of God?” Jesus replied, in the next verse, “This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent!” Had there been any other prerequisite or any other agenda, He could have stated it right there; But He did not! The way was open to whoever would believe.

As the saying goes, this “levels the playing field,” more than anything else could do. Anyone can enter; because no one can “forbid you to believe.” And no one can force you to believe, so it is always a matter of coming by your own free will.

But there’s the rub: not all are willing! Jesus went on to say, “This is the condemnation, that light has come into the world and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”

How do we respond to Light?

How we respond to the light of God simply shows the state of our heart. Even a true believer, if they are out of fellowship with God, may turn from that light, because it shames them: it hurts them to hear God’s voice, because they know they are not in fellowship.

On a human level, we may choose to avoid contact with someone whom we have wronged…or who has hurt us. I once was avoiding a man who I thought had behaved treacherously toward me, but he noticed my behavior and sought me out, saying, “Chet, are you avoiding me?” I confessed that I was, and I expressed my observation that he had been part of a group that had wrongly condemned me. But he explained that while he had been there, by invitation, he had not agreed with what was going on, and really wanted my fellowship. I accepted his words as truth, and fellowship was restored, at least to the point that I did not feel the need to avoid him.

J. Vernon McGee shared how the different animals in the barn at night responded differently to the light of the lantern when he walked in. The livestock knew they were about to be fed: they were the servants of the light, and the man who brought it. The rats on the barn floor ran for cover, fearing the light and the man who carried it, because they recognized him as an enemy. But the birds in the rafters mistook the light for sunrise, and began to sing! They knew nothing about the man who carried the lantern. They were responding to the light itself. Each response revealed character of the animal as it revealed their relationship with light.

20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.


Adam and Eve fled from the voice of God: they fled from the Living Word as He walked in the Garden in the cool of the day! They fled from the One True Light of the World. Why? Because they had sinned, and had instantly become spiritually dead! They fled the Light of God because they had become creatures of darkness…just like us! They regained a secure position with God through faith, as we see in the rest of that chapter. But we are their progeny by nature: every one of us was born with a sin nature, inherited from Adam.

Romans 5:12 confirms that, saying, “…through one man, sin came into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned…” The result is that, by nature, we were children of the darkness and, by nature, we fled the light.

But there came a moment in each of our lives where the light broke through upon us and we actually understood that light enough to consider the claim of Christ on our lives. John 1:4, 9 show not only that Jesus is that light, but also that He “…lights every one who comes into the world.” The light is for everyone, but we can’t see their hearts. We don’t know when they might respond, nor whether they ever will respond. That is something only God can see.

Drawn to God by the Cross

In John 6:44, Jesus said, “No man can come unto me except the Father which hath sent me draw him,” and, in John 12:32, speaking of His impending crucifixion, He said, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” He is the “magnet,” if I may use that illustration: all we see is a “pile of dust” on the floor. Some looks metallic, as it reflects light: some looks like dirt, and some is in particles so small they are impossible to characterize: but Jesus passes the “magnet of the Cross” over that dust, and regardless of all other properties, metallic or nonmetallic in appearance, only the “iron content” of faith responds to the magnet.

In general, other metals will not respond to magnets. Brass, tin, gold and lead have zero attraction to a magnet. Copper can affect the behavior of a magnet, but the magnet cannot pick it up. Plain dirt may have sufficient iron content to be picked up by a magnet, without our recognizing it by other means. Stainless steel, on the other hand, may have enough nickel in it to completely nullify the magnetic quality of the iron, though it still has very high iron content.

Only Jesus can see the hearts of people and know “who they really are” inside. All we can do is to present the “magnet” of the Gospel, and shine the light of the Word, and pray for God’s Spirit to make an impact in their hearts.

Coming to the Light as Believers

Coming to the Light is not a “one-time” experience: Initially, we “came to the light,” because we were drawn by Jesus, and we placed our faith in Him. Perhaps some portion of His Word shined on our lives and made us see a need. Perhaps initially all it did is make us angry, as we thought “Well, who are you to judge me…”

But then the Word continued to echo in our minds as we saw the truth of our guilt reflected in our own behavior, or, we saw it in someone else’s life, and finally realized that what we saw in their life was also true in our own. In every case, eventually we had a decision to make: we would either respond in humility and confession, seeing that God’s Word was true, and that we were truly lost sinners, or, we would reject the truth and turn away, perhaps claiming to have our “own” truth, or simply declaring that God’s Word is irrelevant.

But, as a believer, who has once come to the light, being drawn by the Savior, and having once been born again into the household of God, our position in Christ is secure. However, we still must choose how to respond to His light: We can see the green plants reaching for the sunlight: will we daily, moment by moment, seek His face, just as they so? Or will we treat His Word casually, indifferently…still preferring to stay in darkness, for the most part? We want His blessing, but not His dominion, and we fail to see that the one is not accessible without the other.

How we respond to God’s Word as believers is an indicator of our spiritual condition. God says we should hunger for his Word as a newborn child hungers for milk: He says, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby.” (1st Peter 2:2) Milk does not make a baby a baby: It makes a baby grow! They desire that milk as part of being a baby…if they reject it, we know there is something wrong!

We may be uncomfortable with some portions of God’s Word, because it points out things in our lives that are not pleasing to God.

Conclusion:

There is a story about a man who was very proud of the huge old oak tree in his front yard: It was centuries old, and was admired by all who passed by. He felt very privileged to have such a treasure near his house. But one day, he saw a squirrel run partway up the trunk and disappear: He was puzzled, so he walked closer to get a better look. Then he saw the hole into which the squirrel had vanished. He became worried, and called an arborist to tell him what was wrong. It turned out that his precious tree was hollow, and completely rotten inside: it was not only no longer an asset, but it threatened to fall and destroy his home. Finally, he sadly said, “I wish I had never seen that squirrel!”

That is “rejecting the light!” That is what we are doing when we are offended by God’s Word. We wish we had not seen that light. But ultimately, like the man with the tree, we have to make a decision: Will we cut out the rotten parts of our life, which threaten all that is of eternal value, or will we go on enjoying the very temporary pleasure of cherishing that sin, whatever it is.

You see, we can do that same thing as the man with the tree: As a believer, you are secure in Christ. That is not the issue! Your position in Christ is secure forever: but your condition requires constant attention from God. He has to continually correct and “prune” our lives so that they do not develop fatal flaws which can render us useless to His service. We are in no danger of being rejected by Him, but we can certainly become unprofitable.

So, by faith, we make a choice to feed on His Word, respond in obedience, even when it is uncomfortable or runs counter to our natural inclinations and desires. And the result is that we grow in Godliness, as He re-shapes us into His likeness.

I’m grateful to see the Lord at work in each of your lives. I rejoice to see people voluntarily feeding of God’s Word, and growing closer to Him as a result. Let’s press forward together, and be transformed by His Word.

Lord Jesus, we see Your face in the scriptures, and we see our own faces reflected in its light. We realize that apart from You, we have nothing to offer a Holy God. Pour out your Spirit in our lives, and supply us the will and the ability to serve You.

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In this Manner God loved the World

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In this Manner God loved the World

© 2021 C. O. Bishop

John 3:16, 17

Introduction

Last week we considered Nicodemus, and the first teaching Jesus offered to anyone in the Gospel of John…we stopped with the story of the bronze serpent on the pole, from the account in Numbers 21:5-9. Jesus made it clear that the bronze serpent on the pole was a prophetic image of Himself, as He was offered up to take the judgment for our sins, and to give us eternal life.

In the next verses, possibly the most frequently memorized and recited verses among evangelical believers, Jesus reiterates the concept of salvation by faith, but this time He focuses on the source of that redemption: the Love of God.

John 3

16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.


“God So Loved:” What does it mean?

Our first problem, here, is that we have a wrong idea of what constitutes love. We nearly always associate the idea with an emotional response, or a passionate response, or a tender feeling. But the Love that God commands and which He demonstrates in His actions toward us is actually none of the above: It is a practical response to the need of the Human Race. Yes, it is described and tender and compassionate, too, but the fact is, God’s Love is supremely practical. His Love is one of His two primary attributes, secondary only to His Holiness, as demonstrated in Isaiah 6:1-8 (Remember, the angelsdid not cry out, “Love, love, love, God is Love!” They cried out, “Holy! Holy! Holy is the LORD of Hosts! The whole Earth is filled with His Glory!”)

In fact, part of our problem in understanding this passage is in how we interpret the word “so:” in modern English, we think of this verse as saying, “God loved you soooo much!” …as if it were a statement of quantity or magnitude, when in fact, the meaning of the word “so” in this passage is “in this manner.” In fact, in Spanish, that is how it is actually translated: “Porque de tal manera amo Dios al Mundo…” (Meaning, “…in this manner God loved the World….)

So, let’s back up and see what we know about how God has continually manifested His love for the Human race, and how it culminated in His death at the Cross in the Person of Jesus Christ.

How does God show Love?

In the Creation?

In Genesis chapters one and two, we saw that God created a perfect world for the human race to live in, before He created the Humans. He didn’t just “fall in love with the baby chicks at the feed store” and buy a dozen of them, only to go home and realize He had no chicken-house. Nor was He as someone who “buys a St Bernard puppy,” and goes home to a tiny apartment, where no pets were allowed in the first place. He made perfect, complete preparations for our existence before He brought us into existence. That is wise, thoughtful, kind, and imminently practical!

In our Sin?

But it goes further: When His creation fell into Sin, His Holiness and His Righteousness had to be satisfied, so Judgment fell: it first fell upon the Serpent (whom we are told later was actually Satan, indwelling the physical snake), then upon the woman, and finally upon the man.

But within the curse upon the Serpent, in Genesis 3:15, there was a deeply-veiled promise of deliverance, The Prophecy was made by God that a Person would come, called the “Seed of the Woman,” who would undo the damage caused by the Serpent, and, in so doing, would complete the judgment on the Serpent. Adam believed that promise, and God responded to his faith by clothing Adam and Eve in the skins of slain animals…which was the first blood sacrifice.

We may think, “What a gory solution to the problem of sin!” But in Revelation 13:8, we find that God’s “preparations” went deeper than we could ever have imagined: Jesus is described as “The Lamb Slain from the Foundation of the Earth.” Notice that it does not say, “from the fall of man,” or anything similar. God, the Creator, knew before He created us, that we would fall into sin, and before he laid the physical “foundation of the earth,” He had laid the spiritual “foundation” for our redemption!

In fact, according to Ephesians 3:9-12, His eternal purpose included our redemption, so that before any portion of the Creation was begun, the plan was made for the redemption of believers, for the express purpose of demonstrating to the Holy Angels the manifold wisdom of God.

In the Flood?

Then He followed through on the promises, and maintained the Human race through all the attempts of Satan to destroy us through our own sin, corruption and violence. He showed His faithfulness and wisdom in the Flood, designing the perfect vessel in which to provide the salvation of the world: the Ark. We saw in our study of the ark and the flood of Noah’s experience that there were numerous ways in which the Ark was a picture of Christ, prophetically pointing, out in some detail, the character of the salvation He would provide. Meanwhile, the blood sacrifices had continued, all pointing forward to the Cross.

In the Passover?

The Passover underscored God’s Solution for sin, again, this time describing rather graphically the coming crucifixion of the Savior. And it forever separated the believers of Israel from Egypt. We have been forever separated from the World, by the Cross…and Egypt, in Israel’s experience,  was a picture of the World, for us to learn by it.

The blood of the Passover covered the sins of the believers at that time, but our Passover, the fulfillment of the object lesson of the Passover, is Jesus Himself, who completes the work of all the blood sacrifices of the Old Testament, taking away the very sins that the animal sacrifices could only cover. Jesus is our blood sacrifice for sin. And Jesus said that God’s Love was best demonstrated, right there at the Cross.

In 1st Corinthians 13:4-8, we see God’s description of the Character of that specific Love…what we call the “agapé” love. And when we read that passage, we see that every single descriptor, used there by God, is a verb: they are all action words. They have nothing to do with feelings: They have everything to do with acting on the behalf of another. In John 15:13, Jesus said, “Greater Love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” And then He went, and He did just that!

At the Cross

So, what did Jesus actually accomplish at the Cross?

To begin with, He fulfilled what John the Baptist predicted: He took away the sins of the World. Not just the Jews, not just the Christians, not just “good people:” He took away the sins of the World! 1st John 2:2 assures us that “He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for our sins only but also for the sins of the whole world!”

But, if that is really the case, then why is the world in such horrible shape? Do you recall what people had to do when they brought a blood sacrifice to God? They laid their hands on the head of the sacrificial animal, identifying themselves with that animal. They knew and admitted that they were guilty before God. And by faith, they transferred their own sins to the animal, so that the animal was to die in their place, as a substitute for the guilty sinner.

In the case of the Passover, every person in the household had to eat of that Lamb: It had to be a personal choice to believe in that lamb! The sins were taken away by Jesus’s blood poured out at the foot of the cross, outside the city gate. The way into the Holy Place was opened, shown by the fact that God tore the veil in the temple in half, from top to bottom, opening the way for anyone to see into and to actually enter the Holy of Holies. We are told in Hebrews 10:19, 20, that that physical veil actually depicted the body of Jesus, and that we are to voluntarily enter in, through that torn veil: His flesh!

This is why Jesus was able to say, in John 14:6, “No man cometh unto the Father but by Me!” He was describing the open way for all believers: “whosoever will, let him come!” But, since most of the world rejects His sacrifice, for various reasons, the rest of the passage follows:

The Rest of the Story

 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

Jesus clearly states that the purpose for His coming was so that the World could be saved through Him. But almost in the same breath, He explains that many would reject His offering, reject His blood sacrifice, and would still be condemned.

Notice He says that whoever believes is not condemned (as He stated in John 5:24, they will never be condemned.) but that those who do not believe are (present tense) condemned already, because they do not believe in the Son of God.” (Not because they are such terrible, corrupt people, or because they are dishonest, or they swear a lot, or practice abominable things….but, because they do not believe.)

Jesus wrote a Personal Check

When Jesus died for you, He “wrote a check,” in the amount of “Eternal Life,” payable to “Whosoever Will!” And He signed it with His own Blood, at the Cross. That check is good! His divine account as “God the Son” has “eternally sufficient funds” to cover Eternal Life for anyone willing to receive it. But, just as a paper check has to be endorsed and cashed or deposited, the “check” Jesus wrote for you and signed with His own blood must be endorsed by faith, or it has zero effect on you.

If I never endorsed my paychecks (back before automatic deposit) they were still good, but their value had no effect on my life or the lives of my family: I could not spend their value, nor use their value, in any way, until I made it personal, and endorsed those checks. I did so by faith. The check was just a piece of paper with numbers and letters, until I signed it, and handed it to the person who could give me its value in money. But it worked, every single time!

Jesus’s “check” is good…it is not a paycheck, but rather, a gift! You cannot earn it or deserve it. And it still requires that you endorse that check by faith, today…in this life, and receive that value. It is not something you are to “just hold onto until you die, hoping you won’t lose it:” It is something for you to have today, and which, having once received it, you can never lose it! Jesus made the Promise, “He that heareth my word, and believeth on Him that sent me, hath everlasting life (present tense) and shall not come into condemnation (future tense,) but has passed from death into life!” (Past perfect tense: “ It happened at a past point in time, and has permanent effect on the future!”) And once you believe, it IS “automatic deposit!”

In Redemption

One of the things that happened at the Cross is that our sins were taken away. But another thing that happened is that we were eternally taken out of the Marketplace of Sin, with the intent that we are to be set free. That is what “redemption” means.

And the other side of that is that the Righteousness of Christ has been permanently deposited on our accounts. God now sees us as being literally “as Righteous as Jesus!” This is called the “doctrine of imputation.” It literally means the same thing as “posting to one’s account.”  You are no longer “spiritually bankrupt,” even if there may be times when you feel that way! The full value of the righteousness of Christ has been deposited to your account: imputed to you, as it says in Romans 4:1-25.

We have become the literal children of God: not as though we were some homeless waifs He pulled in off the street and cleaned us up a bit, and told us to “…just try to stay clean until suppertime.” No! He has made us His legitimate children through the New Birth in Christ, and we are eternally clean before Him! And, as we need a sense of purpose and direction, He has given us a job to do, working side-by-side with Him as His ambassadors, to lead others to Him!

In our Daily Lives

As we learn to walk with Jesus, and learn to trust His Grace, and learn to expectantly look to Him for our sustenance and care, we learn to see His Love in our lives.

He has “big hands,” and as we learn to look to Him, we begin to see “His fingerprints” in every aspect of our lives. We call this “learning to walk by faith.” We see His supply of “extra handsfuls” of blessing, just as Boaz ordered his servants to drop for Ruth. God supplies more than just what we “have to have to survive.” And He offers His Peace and Joy, along with His Grace by which to live.

Believers all across the world, in deepest poverty, and under heavy persecution, still find His Joy and Peace in their lives, because they are trusting in His character and His faithfulness, not their own precarious circumstances.

We need to learn that practice, here, as well, while there is still time for us to learn it.

Lord Jesus, train us up in faith, and teach us to learn your Peace and Joy, so that we can shine as lights in this ever-darkening world. Make us faithful servants and ambassadors of the eternal King.

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Whatsoever He saith unto you, Do it!

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Whatsoever He saith unto you, Do it!

© 2021 C. O. Bishop

John 2:1-11

Introduction:

We have looked at the Wedding Feast at Cana a couple of times now… we have examined God’s Purpose in Miracles, and we have examined what God has to say to us about marriage…but we still haven’t touched on two other important things. Verse 5 has a treasure for us, and verse 9 has a related treasure.

John 2:1-11

1 And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: 2 And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. 3 And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. 4 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.

5 His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.

6 And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. 7 Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it.

9 When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew😉 the governor of the feast called the bridegroom,

10 And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.

11 This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.


We briefly pointed out, two weeks ago, that this is the only command Mary ever gave in Scripture. She is granted no special authority, though she enjoys a most blessed status as the Mother of the Lord: Even before Jesus was born, Mary’s older cousin, Elizabeth, recognized her as the Mother of her Lord. And the baby in her womb, six months along, leaped for joy at the sound of Mary’s voice. (Now, how do we know that he wasn’t just kicking? Or that he wasn’t startled by the noise, or something else that is commonplace and mundane? The way we know that it is true, is that when Elizabeth made this statement, she was filled with the Holy Spirit—under the Holy Spirit’s direct control: she was not speaking of her own accord! Luke 1:41-45 tells us the story:

41 And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: 42 And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.

43 And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. 45 And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.

All these things really are special, and joyful, but Mary also experienced great tragedy in her life. She was prophetically warned of that coming grief, when Jesus was only a few days old, by an old man named Simeon, in Luke 2:34, 35.

My point is that, in spite of all the blessedness and uniqueness of her position, she was never given any special “pull” with God, and no authority. She herself admitted her own need for a Savior, in Luke 1:47…She was a sinner saved by Grace, same as each of us. She did have the privilege of bearing Him, nursing Him, and watching Him grow to adulthood, to emerge as the Lamb of God! But no one prayed to her…no one crowned her “Queen of Heaven,” or any other such thing, and she would have been horrified to know that such things would one day be said of her. So, when she “nudged” Jesus, telling Him the party had run out of wine, she was banking on her special relationship with Him, but He let her know that the choice was His, not hers. So, she turned to the servants of the household and issued her only Command: “Whatsoever He says to you, do it!”

Whatsoever He says to You

Could that have any application in our lives? “Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it?” Have you heard His voice? Can you read His Word, and not “hear His voice?” He is speaking, still today, if we are willing to listen. The Bible is literally the written Word of God. Jesus is literally the Living Word of God, and He is given that label more than once in the New Testament.

The Person with whom Abraham chatted while he fed Him beef, bread, butter and milk was Jesus, in one of His preincarnate appearances! Hebrews 11:3 confirms that the Word of God created the World. And Hebrews 1:10 records God the Father, speaking to God the Son, and confirming that God the Son created the Heavens and the Earth! How does that make you feel about the Bible, which is the black-and-white written representation of the Living Word of God? If Jesus is speaking to you (and He is) through the Word of God, doesn’t it follow that you should be deliberately taking time to read it, and to learn to understand it, so that you, like those servants, can do whatever He says?

Mary’s only command happens to also be the most frequent command in the Bible: “Obey God!” So, what might happen if we learned to walk with Him in obedience? Would everything just be happy and easy, like some people teach? Not necessarily!

Those servants obeyed: they hauled the water…a lot of it! And water is heavy! Scholars tell us that those stone pots each held between 20 and 30 gallons…and there were six of them: that means they hauled between 120 and 180 gallons of water, not knowing why they were doing it. Water weighs 8.33 pounds per gallon, so those poor servants, already tired from their work, were called to haul between 1,000 and 1,500 pounds of water, not even counting the weight of the jars or water skins or buckets, they used to haul it.

And then, they dipped the water into the wine containers that they were to carry out to the ruler of the feast: they obeyed! But the next morning they were still lowly servants. Except that, something had changed: Those servants, and Mary, and the disciples, were the only ones beside Jesus who knew what had happened. There was a special blessing for them: a secret joy they shared. They had hauled the water, all right, but He had changed their water into wine!

Turning our Water into Wine

There are going to be some people who have a problem with this passage: I have personally known people who vehemently insisted that “It was grape juice! Jesus would never have created wine!” Their reasoning included the supposition that He was a Nazarite (as was John the Baptist), and couldn’t drink wine…but He said, “John came neither eating nor drinking, and they said he was demon-possessed: the Son of Man comes eating and drinking, and He is accused of being a winebibber and a glutton!”

Besides, in Psalm 104:14, 15 the scripture tells us that God provides food for us, and wine that makes glad the heart of Man” So, that is what Jesus was doing! The word here in John 2 is “oinos:” exactly the same word as in Ephesians 5:18 where we are warned not to be drunk with wine. (It was wine! Deal with it.) Now, I can’t easily relate to any of that because I can’t stand the taste of alcoholic beverages, for which I am grateful, as it means it is never a temptation to me. And there are many in our society and elsewhere who overindulge in alcohol and it is a huge social problem. And it has been since the beginning of time. Noah started a great tradition almost 3,500 years ago: He went for a long cruise on a ship and when he got off the boat, he got drunk…on wine! Sailors have been doing that ever since! (By the way, the Hebrew word for what Noah drank is “Yayin:” the exact same word used in the Psalm we just quoted.) So, the wine isn’t the problem: our propensity for misusing it is the problem.

Water to Wine?

So, how can this part apply in our lives? If we are a bunch of teetotalers (as I am) is there any application for us? Or is this verse just for people who like wine?

Let’s consider: Is Wine necessary for our survival? Of course not: it was given by God as something special to “make glad the hearts of men.” It is one of the thousands of things that God did not need to do for us, but He did it as a gift. (Yes, I understand the danger therein! Many of His gifts can be wrongly used…but we aren’t going there today.) But Water is absolutely necessary for our survival. So, why didn’t He just leave it at water? Why provide alcohol at all? He already explained that! It was to “make glad the heart of Man!” And that fits with the party Jesus attended.

Let’s back up to another story: In the Book of Ruth, Ruth and others were gleaning in the field of Boaz. They had a legal right to do so. The Law required that if the reapers dropped stalks of grain, they were not allowed to pick it up: it was left for the gleaners. And they could not reap the corners of their fields…that also was for the gleaners. But Boaz commanded his servants that when Ruth was near them, they were to drop extra handfuls of stalks of grain on purpose, so that she would have a good harvest! That was pure Grace! Was it necessary? No! The story of Boaz and Ruth is a picture of Christ and the Church! And Jesus does not just give us the minimum: He pours out His Love and Grace to those who love Him and who walk with Him.

That is what Romans 8:28 is about! 28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

If we walk with God, and are looking for His “fingerprints” in our lives, we will learn to find them: He has big hands and He leaves His “fingerprints” everywhere for us to find, in answered prayer, in special Grace by which to overcome the trials of Life, and in the secret Joy of simply walking with Him in Fellowship. He turns our “water” into “wine!”

We thank Him for our daily bread, and humbly trust Him for our sustenance: but He invites us, in Isaiah 55:1, 2, saying “1Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk, without money and without price. 2 Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.”

He says this is not going to be a barren relationship: He will provide joy to the believing heart and grace by which to live…even in hardship, in famine, in disease and even in death.

All we have to do is take personally the command, “Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it!”

Walk with Him…that is pretty much the bottom line. Micah 6:8 says, “He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”

John 13:34, 35, Jesus gave us a new commandment by which to walk: “Love one another, as I have loved you!”

If you want God to turn the “water” of your survival needs into the Wine of His Joy, you need to learn to walk with Him, in faith and obedience. That is what those household servants did, hauling a half-ton or more of water, by faith. They filled those pots to the brim, it said. And their reward was the secret joy of having seen the first Miracle Jesus did in His earthly ministry.

The Joy we receive can often be shared…but still, only believers will receive that joy. You can share it with unbelievers and it will be a very strange thing to them. They may be attracted to that joy in your life and become believers, or they may accuse you of hypocrisy, as the pharisees did toward Jesus and the disciples. Either way, the Joy can be yours, if you are willing to patiently walk with Him.

Lord Jesus, lead us into a transparent walk with Yourself, and teach us to look for the Joy You supply in life. Open our hearts to the teaching of Your Word and the leading of Your Holy Spirit. Draw us along to see the transformation You have promised.

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What do we Know about Marriage?

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What do we Know about Marriage?

© 2021 C. O. Bishop

Genesis 2:22-24; John 2:1-11; John 4:17, 18; Ephesians 5:21-23; 1st Peter 3:1-9; etc.

Introduction:

In light of the fact that we “just happened” to be studying John 2:1-11 (the Marriage feast at Cana) at the same time as Brennan and Addie were getting married, it seems appropriate to talk about Marriage as a concept. But not much is really said about the subject, here, in John 2:1-11.

There are certain passages which are “traditionally” quoted in regard to marriage as a concept, pointing out the fact that it is not only designed by God and ordained by God, and blessed by God, but that it is Holy to God. It is important to Him! I’d like to explore why that is the case: Why is marriage so important to God?

Origin of Marriage

One of the passages frequently cited is the actual origin of marriage, as part of the Creation. It was not a simple “mating” of two members of the “animal kingdom,” as humanists would have us to believe: there was something special that God ordained, here in Genesis 2:22-24. KJV

22 And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. 23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. 24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

That passage is cited in virtually every Christian wedding, as evidence that marriage is God-ordained, and blessed by God, etc. But we seldom discuss why it is something special to God.

Examples of Marriages…Good and Bad

We also tend to cite John 2:1-11 as evidence that Jesus honored marriage, and we correctly point out that He performed His first public miracle at a wedding feast.

What about the example cited in John 4:17, 18…”the Woman at the Well?”

17 The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: 18 For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.


You see, just “living together” does not constitute marriage. Jesus did not say, “you have had five husbands and you are working on a sixth:” He said, “the one you have now is not your husband.” So, we see that there is a standard for marriage, and apparently it varies wildly across the thousands of different cultures in the World. Some cultures require lots of ceremony: others require a simple statement of intent. Some have laws protecting women, whereby, if you spend the night with them, you are married, like it or not. Some are even more strict…if you lure her away with you, and she goes, you are married, even though you never even got out of sight of the girl’s family!

I remember reading of a missionary’s account of such a situation: A young man was interested in a young lady, and evidently believed she was also interested in him. The young fellow crept through the underbrush of the jungle, to the edge of her family’s garden and beckoned the young girl to follow him: and she did, but before they had escaped into the jungle the girl’s mother spotted them and furiously ran to catch up with them. She raged at them, and beat both of them savagely with her digging tool, but she finally went back to her field alone: they were married! So the standard exists everywhere, but it varies a great deal, in appearance.

A Hidden Purpose for Marriage

The Genesis passage is also quoted by God, in Ephesians 5:21-33, almost as a footnote, as the Apostle Paul gives revelation as to how husbands and wives are to relate to one another:

21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. 22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. 24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. 25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. 28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. 29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: 30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. 31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. 32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. 33 Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.

We usually use this passage along with other similar passages, to teach about the marriage relationship. That is a good thing to do, and that is the intentof those verses. But look more closely at what was said, here: Remember that this is God’s Word, not just Paul’s opinion: and He says that the verse He quoted from Genesis demonstrates that marriage is supposed to be a picture of Christ and the Church! We know that; it has been taught many times over. But look at when that pattern was given: it was given before sin entered into the world!

God knew ahead of time that humans would fall into sin, and that Jesus the Messiah would die for the sins of the whole human race, and that those who trusted in Him would enter into a relationship that is unmatched anywhere in the Universe: That the Holy God who created them would actually indwell those who trusted in Him; that they would become one with Him, as a body is One with the Head. And we can see that He was already committed to that relationship before sin became an issue. He is the “Lamb slain from the foundation of the World.” (Revelation 13:8) And, we knew that! But He was also already committed to being the Bridegroom, long before the Bride existed!

In 1st Peter 3:1-9, we see an amplification of the commands given in Ephesians 5, along with a warning to the husbands that if we ignore this command, it will affect our relationship with God.

1 Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives; 2 While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. 3 Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; 4 But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. 5 For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands: 6 Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.

7 Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered. 8 Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: 9 Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.

A Two-way Relationship

So, when we choose to respond to one another rightly in marriage, as God teaches, we are demonstrating that Holy relationship between Christ and the Church. Consider the implications of that statement. It goes two ways: it means that the love and respect spoken of here are supposed to be in our relationship with our spouse; but it also gives some insight as to what is available in our relationship with Jesus! It means that, as we learn to walk with Him, there is a partnership being built with Him: one which can actually be enjoyed on a daily basis, and one which we can be excited about, as we work with the Bridegroom, doing His work.

Wives working with their husbands to build a physical house are excited to see it growing into a habitation for the two of them and their family. And usually, they are excited about decorating it, furnishing it, and making it a home, not just a well-built structure. That is why we sometimes refer to such a person as a homemaker…Most men do not naturally think in terms of “making a house a home.” They want it solid, functional, code-compliant, attractive, etc., but they frequently have little imagination beyond that. I do not think I am unusual when I say that, without Ann’s touch, our house would not be nearly so much a “home” as perhaps a “cabin,” or a “hunting lodge,” or something. Possibly even just a “workshop with living quarters attached.” But Ann works constantly to make it a pleasant habitation for us: because of her, and her work, it is a home.

Proverbs 14:1 says that “every wise woman builds her house.” She works to strengthen her household, her home, her family. It goes on to say that a foolish woman “plucks it down with her hands.” She behaves in such a way as to tear down the relationships that make for a secure home environment for all of her family.

Proverbs 31:10-31 describe a woman who is wisely, diligently building up her household. But, if we consider the fact that the Church is compared to the Bride, and that the Marriage relationship is specifically called out as a picture of Christ and the Church, then we can gain some insight as to how the Church is supposed to be carrying on the business of God, here on earth, and pursuing the agenda He has laid out for us.

God says that He is building His Church, and that He involves us in the building process. He says “That which every joint supplieth” is what is strengthening and building up that “Habitation of God” that He has designed us—The Church—to be, for Him.

So, Why is Marriage Holy to God?

Marriage is Holy to God, because it is a living demonstration of the relationship He wants with every believer. So, we need to think about what we are demonstrating: He says we are to Love one another, and that we are to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. We see one another as fellow-heirs of the Grace of Life in Him. We love one another with the Agapé Love, in Him. God describes that Love in 1st Corinthians 13:4-8.

4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; 6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; 7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. 8 Charity never faileth:

Please notice that not one word in this passage has anything to do with “feelings:” this is not about romance; it is not about emotions, or how we feel, at all. Every single descriptor in that passage is an action word: a verb. They are things we can choose to do. That also means they are things we can fail to do. Every moment, we either choose to do them or we fail to do them. And it is a choice, whether a conscious choice, or not.

Ephesians 4:1-3 tells us how to relate to one another, knowing that we are not perfect. It says we are to “Forbear one another in Love.” It says we are to “endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” God created that unity: all we can hope to do is to keep that unity. We are to accept one another as the imperfect humans that we are, looking through the veil of human frailty to see the beauty of the Person of Christ within. God has chosen to set aside our sin, nailing it to the Cross with Jesus. He no longer sees us as sinners, but as His precious saints: holy, and members of His Bride. We need to see one another in that light as well.

Marriage is Permanent, just like our Salvation

Jesus assures us over and over in the Bible that our position in Him is secure forever: His Blood at the Cross has forever made us holy to God. In light of that, your marriage is to be secure for life. Never leave one another, nor even “threaten to leave:” that is a gross denial of Christ.

We may be angry with one another sometimes (hopefully it is quickly resolved, and peace is restored,) but we are never to even imply that we might sever the relationship as a result. That is what our vows are about in marriage. That is why we say, “as long as we both shall live.” Jesus will never abandon his saints. We are never to abandon our loving commitment to one another.

Jesus Himself addressed the permanence of marriage in Matthew 19:4-6.

4 And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, 5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? 6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.


Jesus made that pretty clear, didn’t He? But, are there exceptions?

Exceptions

There are passages that seem to make exceptions: Jesus said “Except for the cause of fornication…” Well, there are two different words in Greek, just as there are in English, for premarital sexual sin, and extramarital sexual sin. One is called “fornication” in scripture, the other is called “adultery.”

You see, in their culture, “betrothal,” or “engagement” was such a serious agreement that it required a divorce to break an engagement. (We take engagement pretty lightly by comparison.) Sexual sin during the betrothal period was called fornication, just as it would have been without that engagement. This was the only exception Jesus gave.

This, by the way, is the reason Joseph was about to seek a quiet, secret divorce from Mary, when he found out she was pregnant: He thought she had committed “fornication.” And, he would have been behaving correctly, as Jesus said; but God sent the angel Gabriel to clear up the matter: Mary had not sinned.

Joseph believed God and, by faith, he went ahead with the wedding. (Faith is an obedient response to a revealed truth.)  Joseph lived the rest of his life with others believing he had sinned. Mary lived the rest of her life with others thinking she had sinned. Only the two of them knew the real truth.

Conclusion:

How you view marriage as a concept will affect how your marriage actually functions. If you (both Husband and wife) see it as God sees it, you will find it a total blessing, as you work together in partnership with the Living Christ. If you do not see it that way, nor choose to live that way (and, yes, it takes two,) then, to whatever degree you vary from His plan and purpose, the marriage will suffer accordingly. The World has long abandoned God’s values, and rejected them wholesale: so, marriages and husband-wife relationships suffer, everywhere in the world.

We are to demonstrate the reality of Christ to the World through our marriages, as well as through our spoken testimony and our overall behavior. This is a key example of what it means when Jesus said, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have Love one to another.” The love that others can observe in action between you and your spouse is one of the two criteria Jesus gave to the World, by which to judge the church. Love is one, and Unity is the other. How you respond to your husband or wife will proclaim to the world the nature of your relationship with Jesus. Give that some thought!

Lord Jesus, all of us desire to have fruitful lives and peaceful, joyful, loving marriages. Grant us the wisdom to apply Your Word to our lives in such a way as to build that reality in our lives. Make us the men and women You have called us to be, and enable us as Your ambassadors.

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A Triumphal Procession

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Triumphal Procession

© 2021 Rick Flemmer

What is a procession?

Procession:
COUNTABLE NOUN

A procession is a group of people who are walking, riding, or driving in a line as part of a public event.

…a funeral procession. 

Synonyms: parade, train, march, file   More Synonyms of procession

Can we remember any processions in our history?  I think of my daughter Addie getting married soon.  She has a wedding dress and part of the dress is what we call the train an extra-long portion of fabric proceeding down the aisle for the purpose of showcasing or displaying her beauty.

How about in scripture? Can we think of a time when there was a precession?

Matthew 27:27-32 (New American Standard Bible) Jesus Is Mocked
27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole Roman cohort to Him. 28 And they stripped Him and put a red cloak on Him. 29 And after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and put a reed in His right hand; and they knelt down before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 30And they spit on Him, and took the reed and beat Him on the head. 31And after they had mocked Him, they took the cloak off Him and put His own garments back on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him. 32 As they were coming out, they found a man of Cyrene named Simon, whom they compelled to carry His cross.

Satan wants you:

Do you think there is an enemy out there?  Yes! And he wants to parade you around as one of  his captives, trophies, and show how he conquered you.  Paul gives us warning about this.

Colossians 2:8 (English Standard Version)
8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.

Jesus wants you:

John 3:16 (New American Standard Bible)
16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.

Romans 6:22-23 (New American Standard Bible)
22 But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

John 4:14 (New American Standard Bible)
14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never be thirsty; but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up to eternal life.”

John 14:2-3 (New American Standard Bible)

2 In My Father’s house are many rooms; if that were not so, I would have told you, because I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I am coming again and will take you to Myself, so that where I am, there you also will be.

Questions of a nonbeliever to believers:

How do you protect yourself from becoming captive to philosophy and empty deceit?

2 Corinthians 10:3-6 (New American Standard Bible)
3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not wage battle according to the flesh, 4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. 5 We are destroying arguments and all arrogance raised against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, 6 and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.

Our king is the conqueror and triumphantly parades us around as “spoils” to show the world that we have eternity with him. 

Ephesians 4:8 (New American Standard Bible)
8 Therefore it says,

“When He ascended on high,
He led captive the captives,
And He gave gifts to people.

What do you mean “Ascended on high?”

Ephesians 4:9-10 (New American Standard Bible)
9 (Now this expression, “He ascended,” what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.)

What is meant by “all things?”

Ephesians 1:21-23 (New International Version)
21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

How did he conquer? 

By beating death on the cross and ascending to heaven.

Matthew 16:21 (New American Standard Bible) Jesus Foretells His Death

21 From that time Jesus began to point out to His disciples that it was necessary for Him to go to Jerusalem and to suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and to be killed, and to be raised up on the third day.

Revelation 1:17-18 (New American Standard Bible)
17 When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, 18 and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.

Ok, so he parades you around as a Conqueror and he beat death: So, what are the gifts?

Ephesians 4:1-14 (New American Standard Bible) Unity of the Spirit
4 Therefore I, the prisoner (or captive)of the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 being diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you also were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. 7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.

 8 Therefore it says,

“When He ascended on high,
He led captive the captives,
And He gave gifts to people.”


9 (Now this expression, “He ascended,” what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.) 11 And He gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ; 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. 14 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of people, by craftiness in deceitful scheming;

(The gifts are you!)

Another part about a procession from a triumphal standpoint is: the conqueror will also display the shame that is associated to the defeated.

Colossians 2:14-15 (English Standard Version)
14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.

Conclusion:

As I read and understand scripture there is no mention of Satan triumphantly parading around his spoils in a procession or a train for display. You see, Satan loses!

So now the question is:  How do I get to be one of those beautifully displayed captives that Paul was speaking about in Ephesians? You know, the kind he puts on display, where he is proud to show them in victory from the battle as Conqueror and King. You know… the kind who have eternal life with the King.  You know…the kind who receive gifts from the King.

How?  The answer is so anti-climactic, because everything is done! The battle has been won, and all the glory goes to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! We just need to believe in it.

Acts 16:30-31 (English Standard Version)
30 Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

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Nathanael: An Israelite indeed

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Nathanael: An Israelite indeed

© 2021 C. O. Bishop

John 1:45-51

Introduction:

We have been studying through the Gospel of John and have seen Jesus through a number of different viewpoints: we have seen Him as the Living Word: we have seen Him as God, the Creator; we have seen Him as the Light of the world, and the only source of life. We have seen Him as the Word made flesh…the incarnate God. We saw Him as the only source of Grace and Truth. We have seen Him as the Lamb of God: God’s chosen sacrifice for sin. We have seen Him as God the Son, specifically the “Only Begotten Son.”

These are just the introductory views that the Gospel presents. As He begins interacting with the disciples and others, we begin to see more things that deepen our understanding of Who Jesus really is. In John 1:45-50, we have His initial meeting with Nathanael. Starting in verse 43, we see:

43 The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me. 44 Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. 46 And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see. 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! 48 Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. 49 Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel. 50 Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these. 51 And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.

Geographic Context

There are some “peculiar” things said in this passage, by both Jesus and Nathanael, as well as a number of other unanswered questions. Perhaps we have some answers, perhaps not. Let’s take it idea by idea: First, remember where they were: they were at a place called Bethabara, beyond Jordan, (John 1:28) This is at least six weeks after Jesus had been baptized by John the Baptist, and about sixty miles north, as John’s continuing ministry moved him from one end of the country to the other. Jesus was baptized near Jericho, at the closest point to Jerusalem (still 20 or thirty miles away…east of Jerusalem, near Jericho.)

They were not far from Galilee, now: They were right across the Jordan, in a province called Peraea, which just means “Beyond,” and about 13 miles south of the sea of Galilee, where most of these men worked as fishermen.

In verse 43, it says that Jesus planned a trip back into Galilee, where His hometown of Nazareth was. He already had called Andrew, and Peter, as well as one other disciple, who was almost certainly John, later to become the Apostle John. (John never referred to himself by name in his Gospel.)

Calling Philip

Jesus found Philip and called him to follow Him as a disciple. We aren’t told much about that exchange, either. Why would Philip want to follow Jesus? Had he heard of Him? Was there some background that we are not given? I can’t be sure…but somehow, Philip knew who Jesus was and was not only willing to lay aside everything else and become his disciple, but he went and found a friend, Nathanael, and invited him to join him, in following Jesus.

Philip was from Bethsaida, the same village where Peter and Andrew lived. Bethsaida means “House of fishing.” We might surmise that Philip was also a commercial fisherman, though we are not told so. We might even assume that he was already friends with Peter and Andrew, and that possibly this was part of why he was easily able to choose discipleship.

Nathanael is named as one of those who followed Peter back to the boats and the fish, in chapter 21. However, Nathanael was not from the same town, but rather from Cana, where Jesus would be going in the next chapter. Cana was about sixteen miles from Bethsaida, as far as I can tell.

(Part of the problem in determining where Bethsaida is in relation to the other places, is that the city of Bethsaida was abandoned after about AD 65, because an earthquake had filled the north end of the Sea of Galilee with silt, putting the fishing village too far from the water, not to mention possibly having buried all the boats. We simply have to accept that things have changed a bit, over the last 2000 years in that area. We have similar occurrences, here: the Salton Sea of southern California is part of what was once a giant inland sea of 2,200 square miles, which today is called “Cahuilla Lake,” But that lake had filled and emptied many times over the preceding millennia, and had been desert again, for centuries, until about 1905, when an accident caused by human meddling diverted the entire Colorado river into that area for about two years, filling it again, flooding towns and much of the local Indian territory. It has dried up again, mostly, but the event significantly changed geography for more than a century.)

But all of these men (Andrew, John, Peter, Philip and Nathanael) were in Peraea, at the village of Bethabara, when Jesus called them: they were 25 miles (or more) away from Bethsaida, and around 20 miles away from Cana or Nazareth, in a different direction. My supposition is that all these men probably had specifically come there because of the preaching of John the Baptist, and all probably had been baptized by him, identifying with his message of the coming Kingdom. And now, in Jesus, they were meeting the King!

Calling Nathanael

Philip either already knew a fair bit about Jesus, or he picked it up from the others very quickly, because he told Nathanael that they had found the predicted King, prophesied by Moses and the prophets, and Philip referred to Him as “Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Joseph.” It is interesting, too, that Philip used the Greek form meaning the heir (huion) of Joseph, not the common “bar-Joseph” which simply means “son of Joseph.” I can only guess that the difference might have specified that Jesus was the eldest Son: the heir. If that isn’t it, then Philip was simply mistaken, as Jesus was not actually Joseph’s son, at all, though He truly was his “Heir-apparent.”

But Nathanael’s response is interesting, too: He asked, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” We might assume that he simply didn’t think much of Nazareth, and that is certainly a possibility. Even today, people scorn certain towns as being unimportant and even contemptible. (Consider the various towns called “Podunk”—Podunk, MA; Podunk, NY; Podunk, VT; etc.)

But it seems more likely that Nathanael knew the prophecy regarding Bethlehem as being the birthplace of the Messiah, and the bloodline of David being the ancestry. He may simply have been questioning the possibility of the Messiah originating in Nazareth at all. In that case, he would have been correct, but he simply would not have known that Jesus actually had been born in Bethlehem, and was of the lineage of David, fulfilling that portion of the prophecies. But, Philip’s only answer was “Come and See!”

Come and See!

“Come and See” is a good invitation! We can invite a friend to “come and see the promise of Jesus” in John 5:24, and invite them to deal personally with the promise of Eternal Life: Life to be experienced now, not as a vague, “pie-in-the-sky” hope, but as a present knowledge of the Risen Christ. Philip invited Nathanael to come and meet Jesus personally.

As they approached, Jesus saw Nathanael, and said, “Behold: a true Israelite, in whom there is no guile.” (“Guile” is phoniness: sly trickery, deception.”) Jesus was saying that Nathanael was honest, and that he presented no “false front.” No false “show” of religious piety, as the Pharisees were known to do.

And, Nathanael was startled that Jesus (whom he had never met) was making a statement regarding his character. He asked, “Where do you know me from?’ Jesus answered, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”

What about the Fig Tree?

So…what did He see? Was it just that Nathanael “happened to be” under a fig tree before Philip called him? And, did Jesus simply mean, “Yes, I saw you sitting under that fig tree when Philip called you,” Or did he mean, “before Philip called you, back when you were sitting under the fig tree, I saw you.”?

In either case, what was Nathanael doing there, under the fig tree? Was he praying? Was he meditating on God’s Word? Or was he just having a nap? We aren’t actually told, and if it were not for the following exchange, it might not have mattered:

Nathanael completely capitulated on the idea of whether anything good could come out of Nazareth: He blurted out, “Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.”

Now, how could he come to that conclusion with the extremely limited information he had to work with? Jesus asked essentially that very question: He said, “Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these.”

And then He said something really strange:

Prophecy

He said “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.” I had a hard time following Nathanael’s “jump” to faith, but I have an even harder time following Jesus’s prophetic response! What does one statement have to do with the other?

Is Jesus simply stating something special in Nathanael’s and the other disciples’ future? He didn’t say “You will see Me coming in clouds of Glory and setting up My kingdom here.” He did tell others some things of that sort…but what He said to Nathanael is only matched in one place in the scriptures, as far as I can tell:

Jacob’s Ladder

It matches Jacob’s vision in Genesis 28:10-17, where Jacob was at Bethel, andsaw a vision of a “ladder,” whose top reached to heaven, and he saw “the angels of God ascending and descending upon it.” What a strange vision! The only thing that cleared it up (a little) was that The LORD was at the head of that ladder, and He used that vision to reiterate to Jacob the promises given to Abraham and Isaac. Is that, perhaps, what Nathanael was pondering and wondering about, when he was under the fig tree? I really have no idea.

But much has been made of that “ladder.” People have gotten the idea that we are somehow to “climb” that ladder: Songs are written about it, saying “We are climbing Jacob’s ladder…every step goes higher, higher…etc.” But that is simply not true!

Believers do not “Climb” into Christ

The day you trusted in Christ as your Savior, you were placed in Christ, and you already have been seated with Him in the Heavenlies, according to Ephesians 2:6. There is no hint of our “climbing into God’s presence,” or somehow by our works gaining worthiness to enter in. Jesus paid our way, and He has entered in, and we enter in by faith… in Him.

So, for what cause are the angels going up and down? (They aren’t doing home renovation, or maintenance work. They aren’t changing lightbulbs!) If I look at Job, the first two chapters, I see that Satan had to get permission to do all the terrible things he did to Job. God permitted it for two purposes: our edification and Job’s education. But angels (both holy and fallen) do have access to this world.

If Satan had to have permission to act, perhaps the vision of Jacob’s ladder and the comment Jesus made, together allow us a peek at a spiritual truth: angelic intervention on earth is only possible through Christ. So, even the holy angels only work on earth as God’s messengers: they are not free to come and go, and just do whatever they think of. And it is further evidence that the fallen angels have no power over us, except as God allows testing in our lives.

And what else did we see…or not see…regarding that ladder? Were there people climbing that ladder? Nope. There were not. Even the Old Testament makes it fairly clear that when a wicked person confesses his guilt and repents, his sins are forgotten. (Ezekiel 33:14-16, compare Psalm 103:12) And in the New Testament, far from our “climbing” into God’s Grace by our works or piety, we are placed into the Body of Christ by the Holy Spirit at the moment we trust in Him; and as a result, we are already fully accepted by God and we are permanently His children.

Transparency and Honesty

I don’t know all that Jesus saw in Nathanael, beyond what He told us: “an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile” Apparently Jesus really likes transparency in His relationship with us. He is most certainly not impressed with man-made “piety” and “shows” of “righteousness.” He pretty strongly condemned the Pharisees for that particular behavior:

In Matthew 23:25-27, He said “25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. 26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. 27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.


The English word “hypocrite” comes from the Greek word “hupokrites,” meaning “an actor:” specifically, the kind of actors they had at that time, who literally held up a false-face mask from behind which they read their lines. If they played a “nice guy” they held up a smiling benign-looking mask: if they played a villain, they held up a nasty-guy mask, to show the audience who they were supposed to be. A person who simply fails to do what they really believe is right, is failing, not “acting.” We don’t call a child a hypocrite for falling down when they are trying to learn to walk, nor do we call an adult who has a wreck on a bicycle, a “hypocrite” for failing to maintain his balance…we know he failed. He was in no way “pretending” to ride a bicycle.

The ones Jesus called “hypocrites” were pretending to be Godly men, and hiding a false, evil heart. Nathanael was evidently the opposite of a hypocrite: he was completely transparent, both about his doubts (“How can anything good come out of Nazareth?”) and his faith (“Master, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”) He suffered the same failings as everyone else, but he called them as he saw them. He was not trying to impress anyone. Jesus evidently liked that!

What about us?

Can we be transparent with God, to begin with? Can we then grow in that faith, enough to be transparent with one another? Can we abandon our “Company and Church Face,” and replace it with a Christ-like heart, so that what comes out in the sight of everyone else is genuinely the kind of person Jesus calls us to be?

Believe it or not, people pretty easily see through our “fronts and facades, and fakes” anyway: why not just give up the pretense, confess our faults, and humble ourselves enough to honestly walk with Jesus? Only in that way are we free to love one another, and to help one another, and not suffer shame for who we really are. I may not know, for sure, the connection between Jesus and Jacob’s Ladder; but I can at least lay hold of what Jesus said about Nathanael and try to apply it to my own life. I want to be transparent with God and with my fellow humans, so that the charge of “hypocrite” will never be appropriate.

Lord Jesus, we ask that you open our eyes to the realities of our own lives and allow us to be honest with you and with those around us, about who we are, and the changes that need to happen. Help us to shine as your lights in this world.

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