You have likely heard the phrase uttered about someone who makes bombastic statements, “Give him enough rope, and he’ll hang himself.”  That is essentially what is going on in the controversial dialogue between Jesus and the Jewish leadership in chapter 8 of John’s Gospel.

Notice the generally short remarks of the Jews with Jesus as compared to his longer responses. They are attempting to lead him forward with a series of questions and statements in order to have him condemn himself in his responses. The effort was to get Jesus to come right out and say that he was God – a blasphemy punishable by stoning according to the Law in Leviticus 24:16 which says, “The one who blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death; all the congregation shall certainly stone him” (NASB).

The heat is rising throughout this chapter as Jesus makes some very strong statements such as:

1)      “I am the light of the world” (8:12)

2)      “I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.” (8:18)

3)      “You are from below, I am from above” (8:23)

4)      “… if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins.” (8:24)

5)      “I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me.” (8:28)

6)      “I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence.” (8:38)

Add to the mix the very frontal statements of Christ that these unbelieving Jews are from their father the devil. Obviously Jesus is not building a consensus here!

And it finally all boils over in verse 58, “Before Abraham was born, I am!”   At this point, they pick up the rocks to stone him. Why there? Why not before that point?

Up until verse 58 they are essentially giving him the briefest sliver of a benefit of doubt. You can almost hear them thinking, “Wait for it … wait for it.”  AH – there it is! He said it! Those two little words – I AM – were the final evidence of him equating himself with God.

The Greek helps us here just a bit – most likely. The words are “ego eimi.”  The verb “eimi” in the Greek language is first person singular and contains the pronoun “I” in it … the only reason to add the “ego” is for the purpose of giving it extra emphasis.  It was like saying, “Before Abraham was born, I am!”

But you might still wonder why this riled them up so much at this specific moment. That is because there was NO DOUBT what Jesus was saying. He was identifying himself with the very commonly known and central, prominent passage of Exodus 3:14 – the definitional statement of who the God of Israel is. When Moses is arguing with God about the assignment he is being given, he says to God …

13 “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”

14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”, “So who shall I say sent me?”  And God answers, “I am has sent me to you.”

By this, God was saying that He, the one true God of Israel – the self-existent One – was the one who was sending Moses.

The “ego eimi” left no doubt whatsoever as to what Jesus was claiming and saying. The only thing saving Christ from being stoned to death at this moment was his divinely-enabled escape, as again, it was not the time for the sacrifice.

The question of the Jews in today’s reading in verse 53 – Who do you think you are? – is a timeless one that raises the question as to the exact identity of Jesus Christ. We are hitting on this same application over and over in this section of the Gospel of John. But it is timeless. Even in protestant churches today there are pastors and parishioners who do not see Jesus above the level of a divinely-inspired man like any other man … merely a great teacher and moral example. But they do not see him as God in the flesh, one with the Father – the Son of God as the second person of the Trinity. But he is God Up Close; and because of that, he is able to take our sins upon himself, pay the price as the perfect sacrifice, and having defeated death is able to genuinely offer us his eternal life with him.

It makes all the difference in knowing and believing that Jesus is EGO EIMI – God.

John 8:31-59  More Disputes with Religious Leadership

³¹ To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. ³² Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

³³ They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”

³⁴ Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. ³⁵ Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. ³⁶ So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. ³⁷ I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me, because you have no room for my word. ³⁸ I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence, and you are doing what you have heard from your father.” 

³⁹ “Abraham is our father,” they answered.

“If you were Abraham’s children,” said Jesus, “then you would do what Abraham did. ⁴⁰ As it is, you are looking for a way to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. ⁴¹ You are doing the works of your own father.”

“We are not illegitimate children,” they protested. “The only Father we have is God himself.”

⁴² Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come here from God. I have not come on my own; God sent me. ⁴³ Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. ⁴⁴ You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. ⁴⁵ Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! ⁴⁶ Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? ⁴⁷ Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.”

Jesus’ Claims About Himself

⁴⁸ The Jews answered him, “Aren’t we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon-possessed?”

⁴⁹ “I am not possessed by a demon,” said Jesus, “but I honor my Father and you dishonor me. ⁵⁰ I am not seeking glory for myself; but there is one who seeks it, and he is the judge. ⁵¹ Very truly I tell you, whoever obeys my word will never see death.”

⁵² At this they exclaimed, “Now we know that you are demon-possessed! Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that whoever obeys your word will never taste death. ⁵³ Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?”

⁵⁴ Jesus replied, “If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. ⁵⁵ Though you do not know him, I know him. If I said I did not, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and obey his word. ⁵⁶ Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.”

⁵⁷ “You are not yet fifty years old,” they said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!”

⁵⁸ “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” ⁵⁹ At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.

Our passage today of Jesus dealing with the accusers of the woman caught in adultery is among the dearest of stories about the Lord. Depicted beautifully in a myriad of film portrayals, we have seen the fearful and disheveled woman with terrified eyes and tears rolling down a dirtied face. The angry men in robes drag her before Jesus who does not even look up from his preoccupation with a tic-tac-toe game in the sand. Surely the framed question is, as intended, inscrutable for answering; yet Jesus stands and says that those without sin should toss the first stone. The camera closes in on the hands holding rocks, as the audio goes suddenly silent apart from the fearful wails of the accused woman. One by one the stones are heard to hit the ground with a thud as the men turn and walk away. And the scene ends with an intense stare of Jesus into the soul of the broken and contrite woman who, in the absence now of accusers, is told to go and sin no more.

It is a great story. And perhaps that is all that it is.

At the risk of you concluding that Pastor Randy is wantonly ripping sections out of the Bible, let me tell you that the bulk of biblical scholars do not believe this passage belongs in the text. And I agree with that assessment. Along with it oddly breaking up the flow of the narratives before and after this section, the oldest manuscripts do not contain the passage. (Remember also that chapter and verse references are not original either.)

Evaluating the textual evidence surrounding the variant readings of thousands of manuscripts is a very academic exercise. I’ll not go into it deeply, but will simply say from my evaluation of this evidence – this being the heart of my major as a seminarian – that the argument for this passage being original to the pen of John is exceptionally weak. The differing style of writing is more profoundly obvious in Greek than it is in English. None of this is to say that anyone should lack any confidence in the Scriptures you read. These sorts of debated passages are really quite rare, and the disputed sections of the Bible do nothing to change the meaning or interpretation of any truth.

The likely scenario as to why this is included is that there was an oral tradition passed along that this event occurred, and it was eventually written and included at this point, being copied over and over by scribes. The Bible says, even in John’s Gospel, that Jesus did many more deeds than are recorded. So it is quite probable that this event did indeed happen, though it is very unlikely that John wrote these words and intended them to be in his account.

However, the event is truly totally believable and consistent with Christ. There is the turning upside-down of the efforts of the religious leadership to catch Jesus in his words or beliefs. The Lord is seen as a person of mercy toward lost sinners, who more readily respond to extended grace than the allegedly “righteous” accusers. The account affirms the accurate theology that we are all sinners … that we are all guilty and imperfect people.

Even folks who are not very religious will quote this story with a glib “let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”  I sometimes wonder if they really even know where that saying originated. And it has often struck me that the quotation is employed to say something like, “Well, none of us are perfect, so, we should just overlook this situation and forget about it.”  Well, the “none of us are perfect” part of the sentence is true for sure, but the concept that sin is no big deal is terribly wrong in light of the rest of the story of the Scriptures. It is a big deal … big enough to put Christ on the cross as the only way it could ever be rightly atoned (covered) and forgiven. Such grace and sacrifice is the biggest part of the bigger story that is surely true – that Jesus is God Up Close.

Our passage for today’s reading depicts the crowds and the religious leadership in Jerusalem struggling with a couple of questions about Jesus: Exactly who is this person, and where has he come from?

I am going to use a risky modern illustration here – not to render any sort of opinion or make any current affairs point, but to rather pull to the surface the feelings, questions, and debates centering around Jesus in this passage.

There is and has been, as everyone knows from the daily news, a debate about President Obama relative to his background and his intentions. Where is he from? Well, we know he is from Illinois, yet we also know he had an extensive background in Hawaii in his early life. And then there is the question of the Africa connection of his father.  Where was he born? Well, it appears to have been affirmed it was in Hawaii, though that assertion and evidence has not fully satisfied quite a number of people.

Beyond that, what are his intentions and true vision for America? He said at the beginning that he was going to “fundamentally change America.”  Is he a good and honest man who loves the country and simply has a sense of an electoral mandate to push through a very different agenda than has historically been true? Or is he, as his most critical opponents assert, a radical/socialist who wants anarchy to prevail in order to establish a more powerful central government than could ever be imagined in America?

My point by use of this illustration is not to speak at all to substance of this debate, but rather to draw forward the vehement nature of it that we witness and hear every day. There is a great divide in America; there are two largely irreconcilable visions and philosophies. Passions and arguments run deep. Tempers and emotions flare on talk radio and in the broadcast and print media.

Likewise, in Jerusalem as Jesus attended the Feast of Tabernacles, the crowds were passionately divided. Where was Jesus from? Well, clearly they all knew he was immediately from Galilee – that was obvious. To hear Jesus speak however, the perceptive listener might almost conclude that he was speaking about being from heaven! How silly! And we see some ask the question in verse 42 … Does not Scripture say that the Messiah will come from David’s descendants and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?”  But those asking it do not seem to know that Christ was indeed born there.

And then the second question: Exactly who is this guy? He sure could talk and teach! Wow, it was impressive. On hearing his words, some of the people said, “Surely this man is the Prophet.”  And thinking as well about the deeds he performed … “When the Messiah comes, will he perform more signs than this man?”

The crowds were initially surprised that the authorities did not seize him – did that mean they were believing he was the Messiah? Some of the crowd desired to lay hands on him, but Jesus was divinely protected, in that his time had not yet come. And at last, when the Pharisees sent out the Temple Guard to arrest him, they were rather “arrested” by his teaching and came back empty-handed. And when I write my book on the all-time most humorous passages of Scripture, I’m going to include this story! The leaders essentially say, “So where is he?”  And the guards answer in what I picture as a stammering response of “Ah … well … hey … umm … we sorta got caught up listening to him and forgot our assignment … like … wow … you’ve never heard anybody talk like this guy!”

The Pharisees at this point surely threw their hands into the air in frustration, asking the guards if anyone smart (like only themselves of course) has believed in him? No! Only the stupid people in the cursed crowd would be that ignorant!

And then Nicodemus raises a probing question about the technicality of their laws. And we can imagine every Pharisaic head turning incredulously in his direction as they asked him, “Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.”

The two questions raised today are timeless, and the answers provide the essence of the great divide of humanity on the issues of faith and salvation. Where Jesus has come from and who he is form the basis of … well … everything. If he is God in the flesh who has come from the Father to save lost mankind, he must be believed upon and obeyed for the work he has accomplished. If he is just another of a series of great men and teachers over the centuries and millennia, he can be appreciated as just another of multiple fountains of good advice.

The evidence demands the verdict that Jesus is God Up Close!

Division Over Who Jesus Is

²⁵ At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill? ²⁶ Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Messiah? ²⁷ But we know where this man is from; when the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from.”

²⁸ Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own authority, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, ²⁹ but I know him because I am from him and he sent me.”

³⁰ At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.³¹ Still, many in the crowd believed in him. They said, “When the Messiah comes, will he perform more signs than this man?”

³² The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about him. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him.

³³ Jesus said, “I am with you for only a short time, and then I am going to the one who sent me.³⁴ You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.”

³⁵ The Jews said to one another, “Where does this man intend to go that we cannot find him? Will he go where our people live scattered among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks? ³⁶ What did he mean when he said, ‘You will look for me, but you will not find me,’ and ‘Where I am, you cannot come’?”

³⁷ On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. ³⁸ Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them. ³⁹ By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.

⁴⁰ On hearing his words, some of the people said, “Surely this man is the Prophet.”

⁴¹ Others said, “He is the Messiah.”

Still others asked, “How can the Messiah come from Galilee? ⁴² Does not Scripture say that the Messiah will come from David’s descendants and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?”⁴³ Thus the people were divided because of Jesus. ⁴⁴ Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him.

Unbelief of the Jewish Leaders

⁴⁵ Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and the Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him in?”

⁴⁶ “No one ever spoke the way this man does,” the guards replied.

⁴⁷ “You mean he has deceived you also?” the Pharisees retorted. ⁴⁸ “Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? ⁴⁹ No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law—there is a curse on them.”

⁵⁰ Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, ⁵¹ “Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he has been doing?”

⁵² They replied, “Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.”

Some people seem to really enjoy conflict and a good fight or argument. Like most folks, I generally hate it and avoid it as much as possible. But it is inevitable that times will come when a stand must be taken relative to a belief or action.

Conflict will particularly happen when one is identified with Christ. Sooner or later there will be the need to take a stand against something that is wrong; or perhaps the conflict will arise out of an action taken to promote something that is right – though against the accepted flow of culture or society.

While our faith in Christ and the gospel unites us with him and with the Father, it will lead to some measure of division with the people of this world and of the kingdom of this world. That divide hurts particularly when it involves people we love – friends, and often even family.

At the end of the previous chapter six of John’s Gospel, you will recall that even in Galilee where miracles had been seen by so many, it is recorded that many chose to no longer follow Christ – because his teaching called for serious life change and commitment. His Twitter account and blog page were losing followers at a precipitous rate.

As we open chapter seven, it is now six months later …

7:1 After this, Jesus went around in Galilee. He did not want to go about in Judea because the Jewish leaders there were looking for a way to kill him. 

The events of chapter six were preceding the April feast of Passover. Jesus continued in Galilee for the following six month, as the events to now be highlighted occur just prior to and during the October season and feast of Tabernacles. Because of his words and works, Jesus was a polarizing lightning rod in Jerusalem where the religious establishment hung their robes and egos. He had to choose wisely when to be there and for how long. It was safer, until the right time, to stay in Galilee … even around the disbelieving multitude that included his own brothers …

² But when the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles was near, ³ Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave Galilee and go to Judea, so that your disciples there may see the works you do. ⁴ No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” ⁵ For even his own brothers did not believe in him.

What a sad note! There are no coattails of faith. If even the brothers of Jesus were not given an “automatic waiver,” then there is truly no hope for any today who trust in the faith of parents or spouses to have a redemptive spillage upon them. And along with verse 18 in today’s passage, neither is a big crowd and apparent human success a necessary mark of truth and God’s presence and pleasure.

But honestly, the observations of the brothers were correct, and that was the problem! Yes, in Jerusalem is where the Messiah would be revealed in power and majesty (ultimately upon a cross). But Jesus must await the right time, and it was not now. The feast of Tabernacles was a joyous seven-day commemoration of remembrance for God’s provision through the dessert wanderings, as well as a celebration of the harvest. Jesus is going to pull a fast one on his brothers …

⁶ Therefore Jesus told them, “My time is not yet here; for you any time will do. ⁷ The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that its works are evil. ⁸ You go to the festival. I am notgoing up to this festival, because my time has not yet fully come.” ⁹ After he had said this, he stayed in Galilee.

¹⁰ However, after his brothers had left for the festival, he went also, not publicly, but in secret.

RED ALERT:  Liar, liar, pants on fire – Jesus just told a deceptive fib!

No, not translated properly … at that moment when the brothers departed, he was not YET going to the week-long event. Seven days in public would overheat the situation, so Jesus delays just a bit before also going to Jerusalem. Since the brothers were essentially functioning and living on “Team This World,” it did not matter when or where they went – the world was not going to hate them.

¹¹ Now at the festival the Jewish leaders were watching for Jesus and asking, “Where is he?”

¹² Among the crowds there was widespread whispering about him. Some said, “He is a good man.”

Others replied, “No, he deceives the people.” ¹³ But no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the leaders.

One can almost picture here a dramatic film – where the camera brings the viewer up into the whispering faces of individuals in the crowd. The tension in the air was palpable. The Jewish leaders were not simply annoyed after Jesus pops in again with his populist, yet incendiary rhetoric. No, they were actively looking for him in a manner that bespeaks espionage and intrigue … in the shadows and behind the pillars and around corners of buildings.

And like any teacher/preacher even today, there is a mixed report based upon the heart and condition of the hearers – some saying he was a good man, others that he was a deceiver. But clearly neither group wanted to be involved and get into the middle of this spat. But, again, the conflict is ultimately inevitable …

¹⁴ Not until halfway through the festival did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. ¹⁵ The Jews there were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning without having been taught?”

¹⁶ Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me. ¹⁷ Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. ¹⁸ Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him. ¹⁹ Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?”

²⁰ “You are demon-possessed,” the crowd answered. “Who is trying to kill you?”

²¹ Jesus said to them, “I did one miracle, and you are all amazed. ²² Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath. ²³ Now if a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing a man’s whole body on the Sabbath? ²⁴ Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.”

The people, including the religious authorities, were amazed at the depth and penetrating quality of Jesus’ speaking. The authority and high caliber excellence of it did not square at all with any normal expectations. He was from Galilee. He was not a graduate of any rabbinical education. Where did it come from?

Jesus’ answer is that it came from his Father – from God … a truth that would be verified if they would follow God’s Word.  God had given them the Law through Moses; but Jesus points out to them that they did not keep the law, no matter how much they told themselves that they did.

As an example of their messed-up thinking, he points out a fact about the issue of circumcision … a law they got from Moses (though as John also points out in parentheses that circumcision actually predated Moses several hundred years to the time of the Patriarchs – to Jacob, etc.). This was done on the 8^th day after birth, meaning that generally 14.3% (one-seventh) of all boys had it done on the Sabbath. Jesus had healed the paralytic on the Sabbath, and for this they wanted to kill him! So, if one act was allowed – a simple act in the flesh – why not the whole act of affecting a man’s entire body and life? Their thinking – their judgment – was wrong.

Of course, the underlying issue was not one of truth or messianic expectation. Those in power did not want this rabble-rousing preacher dude to upset the status-quo that had them in a “PPPP” = a pretty place of power and position.

It is inevitable that we too, when we stand with Jesus and God’s eternal truth, are going to face times where our values offend others in this world – maybe even family, maybe even brothers. It will be sad; it will be difficult. But we must stand, and we must proclaim the truth with love, compassion … and yes, Christ’s authority.

This issue and this application will return over and over in the Gospel of John.

Few things are as polarizing as faith.  Conviction has its own way of drawing a line in the sand.  Jesus, standing among His followers in the local synagogue, had now thrown down the gauntlet.  The people had been impressed that the son of a carpenter had been able to perform miracles.  But now He was making strange statements about eating His flesh?  Drinking His blood?  Being equal with God?

John 6:60 – 7:1   ⁶⁰ When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?”

In today’s world, spirituality is assumed to exist on a spectrum.  I can dial it in as my circumstances demand.  The only forms of spirituality I avoid are the extreme ends of this spectrum.  No one wants to be a fanatic.  “I’m a Christian,” we might say.  “But I don’t force my religion down other people’s throats.”  In other words, I’m not comfortable making others uncomfortable. Jesus doesn’t allow His followers to remain in the safety of this Nerf-gun faith.  He plays with live ammo:

⁶¹ But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this?  ⁶² Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?  ⁶³ It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.  ⁶⁴ But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.)  ⁶⁵ And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”

We don’t need to get lost in debates over “free will” to understand what Jesus is saying here.  It’s harder to believe than not to.  Jesus isn’t concerned about whether His message is hard or easy; He’s concerned about a message that’s true.  Jesus’ words remind us that we need not be surprised that many in our world choose not to believe.  Instead, we should be grateful that God’s Spirit has granted us the ability to believe at all.

⁶⁶ After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.  ⁶⁷ So Jesus said to the Twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?”  ⁶⁸ Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life,  ⁶⁹ and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”  ⁷⁰ Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the Twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.”  ⁷¹ He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the Twelve, was going to betray him.

It amazes me that Jesus was so willing to allow the crowds to walk away from Him.  He made no attempt to regain their affections through clever words or side-show performances.  Surely it must have broken His heart—but His followers wouldn’t be based on entertainment or experience.  His closest followers understood that it wasn’t bread that they truly needed, but the “words of eternal life.”

We do ourselves—we do God—a great disservice by treating faith too lightly.  One of the most prominent themes of the Hebrew scriptures is the “fear of the Lord.”  Have we lost this understanding?  Have we turned the God of the Bible into something safe, tame, domesticated?  In his beloved Narnia series, C.S. Lewis gives us a picture that closely resembles the scene of John 6.  Jill is looking for water when she comes across a stream:

“Although the sight of water made her feel ten times thirstier than before, she didn’t rush forward and drink. She stood as still as if she had been turned into stone, with her mouth wide open. And she had a very good reason; just on this side of the stream lay the lion….

‘If I run away, it’ll be after me in a moment,’ thought Jill. ‘And if I go on, I shall run straight into its mouth.’ Anyway, she couldn’t have moved if she had tried, and she couldn’t take her eyes off it….

‘If you’re thirsty, you may drink.’

…the voice was not like a man’s. It was deeper, wilder, and stronger; a sort of heavy, golden voice. It did not make her any less frightened than she had been before, but it made her frightened in a rather different way.

‘Are you not thirsty?’ said the Lion.

‘I’m dying of thirst,’ said Jill

‘Then drink,’ said the Lion.

‘May I—could I—would you mind going away while I do?’ said Jill.

The Lion answered this only by a look and a very low growl. And as Jill gazed at its motionless bulk, she realized that she might as well have asked the whole mountain to move aside for her convenience. The delicious rippling noise of the stream was driving her nearly frantic.

‘Will you promise not to—do anything to me, if I do come?’ said Jill.

‘I make no promise,’ said the Lion.

‘Do you eat girls?’ she said.

‘I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors, cities and realms,’ said the Lion. It didn’t say this as if it were boasting, nor as if it were sorry, nor as if it were angry. It just said it.

‘I daren’t come and drink,’ said Jill.

‘Then you will die of thirst,’ said the Lion.

‘Oh dear!’ said Jill, coming another step nearer. ‘I suppose I must go and look for another stream then.’

‘There is no other stream,’ said the Lion.”

There is no other stream.  No other path, no other source of life.  “To whom shall we go?” the disciples ask.  It’s a good question for each of us.  If all we want is “bread,” all we want is external satisfaction, our world offers endless supply; an abundance of means but a lack of ends, of real meaning and significance. But if we want something else—something deeper, more substantial—we find it at the feet of a God that makes mountains quake and oceans roar.  Before Him, there is no other.

Jesus was one of the most controversial and misunderstood men who ever lived.  We’d already seen Him stir up trouble among the religious leaders.  Now He brings the controversy to the level of the common people.  Jesus provided bread for the 5,000 in a dramatic retelling of the exodus.  He would provide freedom, He would provide nourishment for the journey ahead.  Having crossed the sea the previous night, the crowd is confused to find that He arrived ahead of them.  Verse 6:58 tells us that at least part (maybe even all) of this lengthy speech happened in a synagogue at Capernaum.  It was there that Jesus’ massive following revealed their underlying motivation: they were after another miracle:

John 6:25-59   ²⁵ When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?”  ²⁶ Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.  ²⁷ Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”  ²⁸ Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”  ²⁹ Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”  ³⁰ So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform?  ³¹ Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'”  ³² Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.  ³³ For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”  ³⁴ They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

They want bread.  More bread.  In the 1700’s, a great movement of religious revivals swept the country—or at least the original thirteen colonies.  One of the most prominent leaders was a revival preacher named Jonathan Edwards.  Edwards believed that “the grace of God may appear lovely and beautiful in two ways: as bonum utile, or what is most useful or profitable to me…[or] as the bonum formosum, which is a goodness and beauty in itself.”

The crowds that surrounded Jesus worshipped Him as bonum utile.  Jesus was useful.  He provided bread.  An impressive miracle.  They would return home with stories to tell.  Even today there are times when we worship God for being “useful.”  We serve a God who best serves us.  I am most content in God when He helps me with my finances, my relationships, my day-to-day problems.  For me, He’s not a Savior, but a sidekick.  Edwards goes on to explain why this can be so damaging:

“If we merely serve God as the ‘Bonum Utile’ or for what He can do for us…then we are not truly living consistently with ‘Thy will be done’ and so we can undermine His sovereignty. This may be the reason why many who profess Christ cannot fathom a God who is completely holy and sovereign.”

Imagine if you only loved your spouse, your friends, or your kids when they served you best.  That’s not real love; that’s just another form of selfishness.  “Give us this bread always,” the crowds demand.  The gift was more important than the Giver, and the same could be true of you and me.

 ³⁵ Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.  ³⁶ But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe.  ³⁷ All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.  ³⁸ For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.  ³⁹ And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.  ⁴⁰ For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

⁴¹ So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”  ⁴² They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”  ⁴³ Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves.  ⁴⁴ No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.  ⁴⁵ It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me–  ⁴⁶ not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father.  ⁴⁷ Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.  ⁴⁸ I am the bread of life.  ⁴⁹ Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.  ⁵⁰ This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.  ⁵¹ I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

Jesus now gives voice to His earlier action.  Moses provided bread.  Jesus is the bread.  Moses pointed Israel to God.  Jesus is God.  The religious leaders had objected to such claims on theological grounds.  The crowds are a bit more practical.  They knew His family; they knew where He came from.  He wasn’t fooling anyone with this claim to be God.

To follow Jesus is to actually feast on Him.  It’s easy to think He’s referring to the bread and wine of communion—but surely we can see the whole scene as symbolic.  Jesus is saying that to follow Him means to digest His teachings.  To let Him become a vibrant, living part of us.  In Edwards’ terms, to love Him not just for being “useful,” but for being truly beautiful:

“If we serve God as the ‘Bonum Formosum’ or for Who He IS as the holy and beautiful and sovereign God…then there is nothing he cannot ask of us. We must recognize that God is Most Holy, Beautiful, and His Sovereign will is the best for us, come what may, as hard as it may seem, because we can confidently cry: ‘Thy will be done!’” (Jonathan Edwards, The Religious Affections)

No wonder the crowds are growing weary of Jesus’ cryptic metaphors.  Beauty isn’t terribly useful.  “What’s to be done with all this useless beauty?” sings rock star Elvis Costello.  But beauty needs no use; beauty is its own reward.  And that’s what Jesus is saying: Don’t follow me expecting me to be a means to your ends.  I am the end.  I am the true Bread.  Don’t come to me expecting more blessing.  Come to me expecting more of me. 

⁵² The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”  ⁵³ So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.  ⁵⁴ Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.  ⁵⁵ For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.  ⁵⁶ Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.  ⁵⁷ As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me.  ⁵⁸ This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”  ⁵⁹ Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.

Are you satisfied with God?  Do you find that you love Him more when He does what you want?  Our spiritual lives become transactional: we ask for things, and thank Him for things He gives us.  When was the last time we thanked Him not for what He does, but for who He is?  Take some time today to do just that.  Take some time to encounter a God of tremendous power and useless beauty.

No one likes disruptions.  Routine is the nectar of the civilized man.  But the gospel isn’t very civilized, nor is it reserved for the dignified.  Jesus had just healed a man’s lifelong illness.  But the religious community was outraged that in doing so, He violated the carefully manicured Sabbath traditions:

John 5:16-47   ¹⁶ And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.  ¹⁷ But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”  ¹⁸ This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

When Jesus faces His accusers, things go from bad to worse.  Not only is He violating their Sabbath traditions, He is claiming to be equal with God Himself.  The religious community was incensed over such arrogance.

There are some people who thrive in an environment of order.  In many ways, this is how the religious leaders had come to view God’s Law.  By carefully adhering to their traditions—those of God and a few they made up—they hoped to maintain some measure of order and civility in a fragile political and religious climate.  Jesus threatened all of that.

As much as we like to think we’d be on the side of Jesus, there’s a good chance we’d join His opponents.  We’ve come to rely on law expecting order to follow.  We deeply desire a society of morals, of righteousness—and rightly so.  Problems emerge when we—like Jesus’ opponents—hope to engender morality through our own obedience.  Years ago a Christian leader posed the question: “What would it look like if Satan took over a city?”

“Over half a century ago, Presbyterian minister Donald Grey Barnhouse offered his own scenario in his weekly sermon that was also broadcast nationwide on CBS radio.

Barnhouse speculated that if Satan took over Philadelphia (the city where Barnhouse pastored), all of the bars would be closed, pornography banished, and pristine streets would be filled with tidy pedestrians who smiled at each other. There would be no swearing. The children would say, “Yes, sir” and “No ma’am,” and the churches would be full every Sunday…where Christ is not preached.” (Michael Horton, Christless Christianity: The Alternative Gospel of the American Church)

The gospel isn’t just an assault on our immorality.  It’s also an assault on our righteousness—or, more specifically, our self-righteousness.  The gospel tells us that no sin is so great that the cross cannot cover it, but it also proclaims that no sin is so small that our religious obedience alone can cover it.  So, in a way, the paralyzed man had an advantage over the religious crowd: he knew he was sick.  The religious community had spent so much time clothed in their own self-righteousness that they failed to recognize that they were afflicted with a profound spiritual sickness.

Jesus responds with an extended speech designed to defend His right to perform miraculous works on the Sabbath.  There are three distinct elements to this speech.  First, Jesus insists that His authority comes directly from God.  This means that He can grant healing and life to those He wishes:

¹⁹ So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.  ²⁰ For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel.  ²¹ For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.  ²² The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son,  ²³ that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.  ²⁴ Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

²⁵ “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.  ²⁶ For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.  ²⁷ And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man.  ²⁸ Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice  ²⁹ and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

Second, Jesus brings forth “witnesses” to testify on His behalf—including John the Baptist, but most significantly God Himself:

³⁰ “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.  ³¹ If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not deemed true.  ³² There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true.  ³³ You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth.  ³⁴ Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved.  ³⁵ He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.  ³⁶ But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me.  ³⁷ And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen,  ³⁸ and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent.

Finally, Jesus turns the tables on His opponents.  The problem isn’t with Jesus; the problem lies with them:

³⁹ You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me,  ⁴⁰ yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.  ⁴¹ I do not receive glory from people.  ⁴² But I know that you do not have the love of God within you.  ⁴³ I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him.  ⁴⁴ How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?  ⁴⁵ Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope.  ⁴⁶ For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me.  ⁴⁷ But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”

Do you see what Jesus is saying?  The Bible isn’t a moral code.  It’s a story about Jesus.  Everything they’d been searching for is now standing among them: this is God up close.  If we treat the Bible as if it is a rulebook, we become angry when those rules are threatened or broken.  Jesus says that the book is about Him, about His power to save.

Jesus is therefore more than just another teacher.  Other religions have holy books: the Qur’an, the Gita, the I Ching, etc.  But whether or not I find their poetry moving, the books offer little more than moral guidance.  Jesus is saying that the Bible is more than that.  Other religious teachers point to the authority of the book.  In Christianity, the holy book points to Jesus Himself.  While religion is largely about “teachings,” Christianity is about a person.  This is why, as C.S. Lewis so famously insisted, we can’t simply dismiss Jesus as another moral teacher—another Ghandi.

“A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic-on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg-or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.” (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, p. 56)

Jesus can never just be your “teacher” because that’s simply not what His life was ultimately about.  He came instead to reveal God’s character, and pay the penalty for our sins so that through His guidance, we can be conformed to this same character.  That’s a goal that good intentions can’t meet.  That’s the power of the gospel.