The One who sent me stays with me (Jn 8:28 Msg)

The One who sent me stays with me

I love that! What a promise!

The One who sent me stays with me. He doesn’t abandon me. He sees how much joy I take in pleasing Him.

When Jesus put it in these terms, many people decided to believe! Amazing, wonderful.

But what of Jesus’ vision?
He turns to the Jews who claimed to believe in Him … promising they would experience
‘this’ for themselves. This…? That the One who sent Jesus stays with them? That the One who sent Jesus doesn’t abandon them? That the One who sent Jesus would show His pleasure -would see them for who they were and for the joy they too took in pleasing Him?

What this passage then goes onto show is what that life looks like. A life of freedom to follow. A life of freedom to submit. A life or freedom to hang out with the Holy One.

Jesus doesn’t condemn them for not knowing the Father – but he does speak the truth in love.  And that truth is stark. Anyone who is on God’s side listens to God’s words. You are not listening. You are not on God’s side! (Jn 8:47)

picking up where I left off … John 8

Time to resurrect a good habit – reading John looking to learn to see through Jesus’ eyes

Jn 8 (the Message)

The Pharisees objected ‘All we have is your word on this …’

Jesus replied -‘you’re right you only have my word. But you can depend on it being true. I know where I’ve come from and where I go next. You don’t know where I’m from or where I’m headed. You decide according to what you can see and touch. … I [don’t make judgements] out of the narrowness of my experience, but in the largeness of the One who sent me

We don’tknow the tone of Jesus’ word
We don’t know how the Pharisees received them in their hearts
Words are tricky in the best of circumstances aren’t they?
Jesus’ statement “I [don’t make judgements] out of the narrowness of my experience” could have the subtext “but you do!”  but it doesn’t …  one of the things I think we learn from John’s Gospel is how to speak truth. We own who we are. Jesus models that for us.

blunt or patient ?

I’m finding it hard to read John looking for clues as to how Jesus SAW people … and then I am reminded that Jesus was so in tune with teh Father, that He only did what He saw the Father doing, and only said what He heard the Father saying – it was a natural overflow from father to son (the same relationship you and I are called to have)

When I remind myself of this the whole task becomes a whole lot easier!

I no longer wonder about the tone of  Jesus’

But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going (Jn 8:14b)

It becomes clear.
He’s not saying it (as I might) as a loaded statement, with the intent of goading the other. No. I see it as being given as a factual statement. ‘You don’t know …. That grieves me’

Jesus goes on to say

I pass judgment on no one.

Again  this is not  loaded statement. It is not said to provoke. Though it is said to challenge.

Jesus is painstakingly trying to explain.
He takes time to describe the indescribable a relationship that is unlike any that they have ever known, heard about. The God the Jews (the pharisees and saducees) had worshipped, the one true God they were devoted to serving, was indeed true. But He was so much more than they had understood and more than they could understand. At this point the same applied to the disciples of course. They didn’t know, they couldn’t work it out (yet) because it hadn’t been revealed to them. They were simply ordinary men who were compelled by the Spirit to follow Jesus – but who on the surface did it because they saw something different in Jesus, something holy, that they just longed deep within to have. Jesus had a relationship with Father God that spilt out into his everyday life. It enabled Him to see with eyes of love.

He sees the people as lost and therefore speaks not only with patience rather than frustration, but is patient. That makes all the difference.

 

freeing love

Jn 8 the woman caught in adultery

Jesus doesn’t debate her crime, or get into the nitty gritty of the situation – what we see here is that Jesus sets her free -not only free from the guilt and the shame – free from the fear of being stoned to death too – but also free to follow a new way of life

Jesus gives her that

What kind of eyes does Jesus have for those who would have condemed her?
Those two are eyes of love
He offers the scribes and Pharisees (and all the onlookers too) a reality check, that they too are not without sin and thus had no grounds to condemn another.

What is interesting is that sinlessness is what the scribes and Pharisees longed for. Their theology was that if all could live without sin for just one day the Messiah would come. Jesus’ words set them free from that illusion … in response they crept away, no doubt pondering His words and His teaching.

Later in the scriptures we read Jesus saying that that he/she who has been forgiven much, loves much. The woman in the story was saved from immanent death. Her sins were forgiven. She was given new life by Jesus. That’s His gift to us too. Freeing love.

all knowing

“Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. (Jn 7: 37-38)

Jesus knew we are all thirsty
And that all who came could drink to overflowing

But He also knew that many wouldn’t recognise their thirst, or turn to Him as the source of watert that would satisfy

Didn’t stop Him though

“You’re crazy! Who’s trying to kill you? You’re demon-possessed.”

Trying to seeing people through Jesus’ eyes using the gospel of John isn’t that easy – we are given so little information, most of what we read is how Jesus was seen by others.

Jn 7 is a good example of this – the people thought he was crazy and self-deluded, the Pharisees through he was dangerous.

Jesus wasn’t deflected from His mission
He didn’t run away when the going got tough – He stayed at the feast of tabernacles for three days and on the last day he said

On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart^[l] shall flow rivers of living water.’”

I think the ‘anyone’ (everyone) is crucial here.
In some ways Jesus wasn’t partisan – His mission was for the whole of humanity –  but what he did – as we see elsewhere – was focus on the few. He called the many but worked diligently with the few God gave.

I love it that this passage that the faith of some of the people began to be stirred.
Seeds were planted – and nurtured
That so many did follow Jesus – not only the 12 – we know of 72, we know of the 120 in the upper room etc –  inspite of his coming from Galillee shows that the people recognised something special about Him.

How did He view them? – in this passage we see patience and commitment, that speaks of love.

running late

Jesus was urged to go the feast by his brothers.
They wanted Him to declare Himself.
He wasn’t ready – He knew HIs time hadn’t come
So he said he wasn’t going …

“You go ahead, go up to the Feast. Don’t wait for me. I’m not ready. It’s not the right time for me.” (Jn 7:8 Msg)

Then He went.
Without having attention drawn to Himself He began to teach …

I’m not sure what this teaches us about the way Jesus saw others  – but it is clear He wasn’t hurried by ‘peer’ pressure. He took His time to discern.

“And are you too wanting to go away?”

(Didn’t do this over Easter – then a week at a conference with NO wifi! grr)
Finding my rhythm again

John 6

Jesus could see that the closest followers – the 12 – were perplexed, distressed even – by His teaching.

What interests me is He didn’t explain more or try to persuade – but rather asks a direct somewhat abrupt question.
“And are you too wanting to go away?”

Peter gives a statement of faith – at that point he truly believed that Jesus was ‘the Holy one of God’  …  no affirmation from Jesus, at least outward words – does His body language show it, does He pat Peter on the back or walk down the dusty road with His arm round him? We dont’ know … only that Jesus reveals that He knows one of His closest had let the enemy in his heart ….

honest conversation

There was mutterings amongst the ranks
The disciples – not just the 12 – but the greater mass were muttering

⁶⁰ When many of his disciples heard it, they said, ‘This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?’

They didn’t say it to Jesus directly. I am not suprised. We often do this don’t we – we reflect outloud and with others.

Jesus didn’t wait for them to come to him though.
Did He overhear? Did someone ‘leak’? Was there discernment from God? Or all three?

What we do know is

⁶¹ But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, ‘Does this offend you?

Did He want to nip it in the bud? Or what?

What we do no is that Jesus didn’t pretend there wasn’t a problem. He didn’t stick His head in the sand. He didn’t get angry or go off in a huff.
No there was honest dialogue. He lost some fickle followers as a result, but was left with a core band – ever aware that there was one who would betray Him in that gang – and a few adherers. The start of a movement

you are looking for me

Jesus sees the people
Jesus meets with them
He says to them

you are looking for me not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.

It’s rather an odd thing to have said.
First He seems unhappy that they were looking for signs, and now because they’d eaten and got a taste of Heaven.

But I’ve started to see this in a new way
I wonder if it is Jesus’ eyes

But I am starting to think Jesus could see their hunger – not for physical bread, not for more signs (for the signs themselves) but because they wanted more of what the Spirit was stirring , there was a hunger for the things of God.

I see compassion in Jesus
He give them (again) a taste, a glimpse, a partial explanation – they don’t get it but Jesus doesn’t give up on them, and explains more.