JUDGE JESUS: SO CLOSE, YET SO FAR
2,000 years removed from when Jesus walked the earth, many persons alive today think that he led a charmed life, filled with ease & absent of hardship. Because he was perfect, folks assume his life was equally good. They forget that everyone around him was imperfect, & that made for problems. John chapters 7 & 8 highlight how difficult some of his days were.
A second misconception we have today is believing that the issues we face are new. It is difficult to turn people on to the truth of Christ, to convince others of the need for God’s forgiveness & the blessings of eternal salvation, to help them make Jesus the leader of their lives, rather than thinking they are solely in charge. John 7 & 8 make it clear that Jesus faces identical problems in convincing persons to make a life-altering decision for him.
In fact, there was a conflict brewing, a conflict that was being plotted behind the scenes in an organized & insidious fashion. Hints of it appear only occasionally in minor ways in chapter 7. By chapter 8, the conflict breaks into the open in major ways. So, yes, Jesus had bad days. Those bad days were due to the fact that persons did not believe who he was, did not believe that he was sent by God, & did not believe that he was in full possession of the Holy Spirit. They did not believe Jesus.
The setting in our lesson is the Feast of Tabernacles, also known as the Feast of Booths. It was an ancient Jewish harvest festival in early fall celebrating God’s graciousness & the promise of the Messiah. The desert Hebrews prayed to God for rain to water their crops. If God brought rain during the feast, there would be a great harvest. The rituals for this feast, then involved water offerings. Beginning at the pool of Siloam’s fountain, the priest would fill a golden pitcher with fresh water. Then, with a series of elaborate rituals, symbols, & the singing of psalms, proceed up to the
One of the purposes of John’s gospel is to show Christians how Jesus replaces each of the major Jewish festivals. Jews do not need to relate to God through their Hebrew rites & priests any longer. And these festivals & rituals were how the Jews related to God. They can now relate to God directly – personally - through Jesus. God gives Jesus this authority. God sends Jesus for this purpose. Indeed, God becomes incarnate human flesh in Jesus. Relating to Jesus is relating to God. We know that. They did not. Many of them don’t buy it. So, the real question was whether persons correctly believed who Jesus was.
Throughout his gospel,
I’m not one for repeating email forwards, but there was one I received this week that made an apt illustration for our lesson.
It’s the story of a rock-climber enthralled with the glory of his own accomplishments, who, after years of preparation, decides to take on the most challenging climb known. Wanting to see the sunset from this lofty perch, he deliberately sets out late, but miscalculates the time. He ends up under the cover of darkness before reaching his destination. As night falls, a snow squall develops, as is typical in such elevations. Light from the moon & stars is non-existent. The climber is in zero visibility. He correctly surmises that he’s near the summit, however, so he keeps climbing.
Only a few feet from the pinnacle, he slips & falls. Careening down the dark abyss, the athlete realizes that death is imminent. Luckily, his safety harness is still attached & brings him to a jolting stop. The harness breaks under the strain, however, forcing him to hold fast to the rope so he doesn’t fall any farther. In total blackness, hanging in mid-air, he cries, “Help me, God!”
A voice answers, “What do you want me to do?”
“Save me!” the climber responds.
“Do you really think I can save you?”
“Of course, I believe you can.”
“Then cut the rope.”
After a momentary silence, the climber decides to continue holding onto that rope with all his strength.
The next day, a rescue team finds him dead & frozen, clinging from the broken harness, his hands in a death-grip around the rope … less than 10’ from the ground. So close, yet so far.
The conflict that Jesus creates in his day is the conflict persons still wrestle with today. Will we believe him & his words? Let’s be frank about the choices. --- Is Jesus the Son of God, or is he a deluded pretender to the heavenly throne? Does Jesus speak with God’s authority, or is he only another wise, moral teacher, akin to other great spiritual leaders & gurus? Is Jesus God’s Anointed, whose nature is to accomplish the supernatural, or is he merely a grand magician, or someone whose exceeding intelligence understood the secrets of the universe centuries before science began unlocking its mysteries? Is Jesus raised from the dead, or is that belief only so much myth -- the stuff of fantasy & wishful thinking? Is Jesus fully God & fully human, or some fictional character made up by a collection of well-meaning (or not so well-meaning!) religious writers?
The question, the issue, the conflict come(s) down to one of belief. Do we believe that Jesus is exactly who he claims to be? Is he, not some literal or metaphorical creation of certain interpreters of scripture, but the fullness of God who is knowable, but not completely known?
If you have a genuine thirst to know Jesus, open your life & soul. Come to believe him when he passionately cries out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, & let the one who believes in me drink…. ‘Out of the believers’ heart (then,) shall flow rivers of living water” (John 7: 37b-38).
Like our gospel-writer, John, I, too, invite you to judge Jesus for who he says he his. Do like countless others over the centuries: conduct your own investigation into Jesus.* Don’t come to a conclusion about the truth of Jesus’ identity because I say so, or any preacher’s persuasive words say so, but because Jesus says so, & you believe & seek to love him with your “heart, soul, mind, & strength” (Mark 12:30). Believe, as he announces four chapters earlier, “that God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in him should not die, but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
We’ve heard those words. We’ve seen them hanging in the end zones. Many of us know them by heart. Many have come so close, but still feel so far away from God.
Cut the ropes that hold you back, that have entangled you, that leave you hanging in doubt & despair, that are best cut loose. Fall into God’s arms.
Make a decision for Jesus Christ. Let the rivers of living water flow into your life & be poured through your life. Let his Spirit come to life in your new life.
[Prayer of Christian discipleship.]
In the Name…. Copyright 2008 by G.D.Knerr at
* - See C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity, or Lee Strobel’s Case for Christ, or Josh McDowell’s Beyond Belief to Convictions (more oriented to youth & parents of youth).