Joh 10:30  "I and the Father are one." 

Jesus was direct and clear it was unmistakable that He was claiming to be Yahweh. He was "One" with God. 

The religious elite wanted to kill Him.

Joh 10:31  "The Jews picked up stones again to stone him." 

Jesus said; "What is it I have done so wrong to deserve your wrath and judgment?" "What of my actions are deserving of death?" " Everything I do is doing good for others and following after The Fathers' will."

 I am amazed at how cool and in control Jesus is in these confrontations. Full of grace and truth. 
The religious leaders full of vitriol and discord.

Joh 10:32  "Jesus answered them, "I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?" 

The religious leaders said they were not angry about anything He did, but only because of what He said. He said He was God.

Joh 10:33  The Jews answered him, "It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God." 


Psa 82:6 - 8  "I said, "You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless, like men you shall die, and fall like any prince. Arise, O God, judge the earth; for you shall inherit all the nations!"

Jesus trumped them on every step. He was the author of "The Law". They were trapped in their self-justification. They said they weren't wanting to kill Jesus because of His actions. The very "Law" they referenced called messengers of God's word "elohim" (gods). 

Jesus said, "If you don't believe what I say, when I say I Am the only begotten Son of Father God. You should believe what your eyes have seen. I Am doing the very works of God. The things I do should indicate to you that the Fathe is in Me and I Am in the Father. I Am God. I Am Yahweh." 


Joh 10:34 - 38 "Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your Law, 'I said, you are gods'? If he called them gods to whom the word of God came--and Scripture cannot be broken-- do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'? If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father." 

They tried to arrest Jesus, but He slipped away. Jesus went back to the place where He and John had been baptizing. Calling people to repentance and faith. 

Joh 10:39, 40  "Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.  He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained." 

Many were coming to Him. They said, "John didn't perform any signs like Jesus had, but Jesus fulfilled all that John had said about the coming Messiah." They were believing and following after Jesus. He is Absolute Love. 
Only conditions for coming to God, repentance and faith. "Not unconditional" It is clear the religious leaders were condemned by their arrogance and disobedience." 

Joh 10:41, 42  "And many came to him. And they said, "John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true. And many believed in him there." 


Only conditions for coming to God, repentance and faith. "Not unconditional" It is clear the religious leaders were condemned by their arrogance and disobedience." 

Joh 9:41  "Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, 'We see,' your guilt remains." 

Joh 10:7 - 10 "So Jesus again said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.  The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." 

Jesus kept trying to say in as many ways as He had opportunity; "I Am". "I Am Yahweh." I Am the entrance to the presence of God" I Am the way to find sustenance, life, peace and joy." "I have come to give everlasting life." 
"The thief is the one who kills, destroys and steals." 

"I Am the good leader, follow Me." 

"I Am the Son, the owner." "I know who belongs to Me, and I lay down My life for My own people, like a shepherd puts His life on the line for the sheep." " There are pretenders who only care about their own safety and preservation." "They abandon the care of the sheep when they are threatened." 

Joh 10:11 - 15 "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep." 

Jesus continued; "I have children that are My brothers and sisters, they are children of God, but they are not children born to this country or race." "I have to bring all of God's children into the fold of God's love." God is Absolute Love. "God the Father loves the that 'I Am' is about the gathering of God's children and giving them life, love and forgiveness." "The Father Loves the Sacrificial Love that 'I Am' provides, giving My life as  a offering to The Father and taking it back up again to be with The Father eternal." " "I do this completely out of My sovereign grace." "No one can take My life from Me, 'I Am' life eternal." " 'I Am' the highest authority, this is given Me by The Father."   

Joh 10:16 - 18 "And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father." 

This discourse by Jesus completely split the religious leaders apart. Some argued, Jesus is insane or possessed by an evil spirit.  Other said, the things Jesus says are measured and coherent and He heals people from disease. What Jesus says and does are not in line with what happens when a person is demon possessed. He doesn't act or speak like He is insane. 

Joh 10:19 - 21 "There was again a division among the Jews because of these words. Many of them said, "He has a demon, and is insane; why listen to him?  Others said, "These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?" 

"This confrontation with the religious leaders took place during the feast of dedication, right in the Temple, in a large courtyard. The religious leaders tried to corner Him saying; "Tells us in plain talk, are you the Messiah?" "Don't keep talking in riddles and metaphor." "Give it to us in plain talk." 

Jesus said directly, " I have told you many times, but you don't want to believe in Me." " I do everything in God the Father's Name. " "You don't believe because you don't belong to My flock." "You are not children of God." 

Joh 10:22 -26 "At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon.  So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.  Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock." 

Jesus went on; "My flock, children of God hear and listen to Me." "They follow Me into the presence of the Father and I give them he position of brothers and sisters for all eternity." "The children of God will never perish and no one will take them out of God's family." 

It was so clear that the Jews claimed that Jesus blasphemed, they wanted to stone Him to death. There was no mistaking that He claimed the authority of God. Jesus left no room to the option of His authority. He was Yahweh. 

Joh 10:27 - 31 "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one. The Jews picked up stones again to stone him." 

Joh 9:39 - 41 "Jesus said, "For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind. Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, "Are we also blind? Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, 'We see,' your guilt remains."

Jesus is the judge and His verdict is just. The judgment of God is that, looking away from Him and setting ourselves up as having the final say for our lives, is a death sentence. Walking away from the live and love of God is the equivalent of walking toward a sharp precipice to a unending chasm of pain with our eyes unable to detect the edge. 
The only way to safety and have unending life is by keeping focus on Jesus. If we believe we are blind without God's leading, there is a path opened up to forgiveness and life. The path is listening to the voice of Jesus as a sheep listens to the shepherds guidance.


Joh 10:1  "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber."

Thieves and robbers are the enemies of the shepherd. Shepherds guard against and drive out or kill the threats to the flock. The robbers and wolves are kept out of the sheep pen. 

The shepherd knows the sheep by name and they hear and understand the shepherds commands. When the shepherd gathers all the sheep together, they all follow after the sound of his voice and the commands that he gives.

Joh 10:2 - 4 "But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice."

The sheep are obedient, they are not deceived though. They know only to obey the voice of the shepherd. 

Jesus talked like a master of language and knowledge. His teaching was unmistakable. Using metaphors and    analogy as a way to bring meaning to everyday people. He was simple, direct and emphatic. 

For the religious elite, it was as though Jesus was talking to a blind and deaf person. They were so full of opinion and hubris that their sense were not open to a different paradigm. They were trapped in their own arrogance. No matter how masterful the presentation of God's Glory and truth in Jesus, they couldn't understand. 

Joh 10:5, 6  "A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers. This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them." 

So Jesus said it plainly as matter of fact; "I Am the door, I Am the entrance, I Am the only way to finding life and peace and fulfillment, I Am Yahweh." "Anyone else is an impostor and the people of God, those who belong to God, do not listen to them." 
"All the children of God can discern the difference." "They come to Me and find unending life and fulfillment." 
"I Am Absolute Love." 

Joh 10:7 - 9 "So Jesus again said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.  All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.  I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture."

It is because of God’s triunity that we have communion with God in prayer. Once we understand that the Christian life is constituted by the Trinity, we have an opportunity to pray in a way that is consistent with that constitution. If the Spirit unites us to the Son and reconciles us to the Father, we have an invitation to pray accordingly: to the Father, through the Son, by the Holy Spirit. This is not just the “theologically correct” way to pray but a way of praying that draws real spiritual power from being aligned with reality. The reality is that Christian prayer is already tacitly Trinitarian, whether we recognize it or not. Aligning with it means praying with the grain instead of against it. Wood has a grain to it. The long fibers that make up a piece of wood all run in one direction, and a wise woodworker will always find the direction of that grain before starting to work. He can work along the grain or cut across it, but he avoids planing or sanding against that grain because that is to invite a clash with the directionality built into the piece of wood. Paper has a grain to it as well, which is why you can tear straight lines down the page but not across it. Cat fur has a grain, and if you stroke a cat against that grain, the results are not good for felines or humans. When you work with the grain of the wood, or the paper, or the cat, things go well. When you go against the grain, either because you are oblivious to the structural forces involved or because you consider them negligible, things do not go as well. The act of prayer has, metaphorically speaking, a grain to it. Prayer has an underlying structure built into it, complete with a directionality that is worth observing. This grain is Trinitarian, running from the Spirit through the Son to the Father. It is a built-in logic of mediation, designed that way by God for reasons deeper than we are likely to fathom. But we do not need to understand it in order to benefit from its solid structural integrity. Nor do we need totake special lessons in praying in a properly Trinitarian fashion. The possibility of praying in a more Trinitarian way is all promise and no threat, all invitation and no danger. Christian prayer is already thoroughly, pervasively, structurally Trinitarian whether you have been noticing it or not. The only thing you have to add is your attention, to begin taking notice of what’s Trinitarian about prayer. Prayer is a great blessing, but it can be daunting and difficult when you stop to think what is involved in a finite, sinful creature reaching out to an infinite, holy God. When we recall the distance and dissimilarity between us and God, it is easy to wonder whether we have the ability to pray and whether coming into God’s presence is a good idea anyway. Perhaps it is that pressure that leads us to behave so poorly in our attempts at prayer: mouthing thoughtless clichés that even we don’t know the meaning of; tongue-tied; repetitious; distractible; with wandering minds that only succeed in coming back to self-centeredness as a reliable point of departure. Not only does God know that prayer is daunting, but it is even a biblical doctrine that we are not in ourselves equipped for: Romans 8:26 says, “We do not know what to pray for as we ought.” That same passage goes on to say that “the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” And within a few verses, a second intercessor appears: “Christ Jesus is the one who died— more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us” (Rom. 8:34). Christian prayer has double intercession built into it. The Father not only welcomes prayers, but he has provided mediation and perhaps even mediation of the mediation. Your prayer life is secure in the two hands of the Father. That built-in logic of mediation is the grain of prayer. We are directed to pray to the Father in the name of Jesus, and it is customary to do that by ending prayers with the formula “in Jesus’ name.” But there is a thought experiment that you can do to see more clearly the direction of the grain of prayer. If you try praying backwards, you will find yourself beginning with the formula, “in Jesus’ name,” as an introduction to set up everything you are about to say. This calls attention to the fact that all Christian prayer is offered under this sign: “Not by my authority or according to my fitness or deserving of a hearing, but on the basis of the finished work of Jesus Christ I approach God.” Now consider that even if you were praying to Jesus, you would still be approaching God the Son on the same basis: not by your own authority but on the basis of the finished work of Christ. Even when you pray to Jesus, you pray in Jesus’ name, because Christian prayer has a built-in logic of mediation, a directionality, a grain. That grain becomes more evident when you do something that runs a little bit against the grain, like petting a cat from tail to head. But when you are alert to the direction of the grain you can intentionally work along it. It is possible to pray with the grain, observing the directionality and the logic of mediation built into the Christian approach to God.

Sanders, Fred (2010-08-31). The Deep Things of God: How the Trinity Changes Everything (Kindle Locations 3607-3644). Good News Publishers/Crossway Books. Kindle Edition.

Blogs to return Monday

"UNION WITH CHRIST Being properly Christ-centered always entails being Trinity-centered. Everyone who receives the salvation described in the New Testament is saved by being joined to Christ as the incarnate, atoning second person of the Trinity. But when we go on to work out our understanding of that salvation, we need to keep the full scope of the economy of salvation in place. When it comes to soteriology, the doctrine of salvation, there is a watershed that marks some as believers of one type and some as believers of another type. The watershed is a Trinitarian grasp of union with Christ. The New Testament idea of salvation UNION WITH CHRIST Being properly Christ-centered always entails being Trinity-centered. Everyone who receives the salvation described in the New Testament is saved by being joined to Christ as the incarnate, atoning second person of the Trinity. But when we go on to work out our understanding of that salvation, we need to keep the full scope of the economy of salvation in place. When it comes to soteriology, the doctrine of salvation, there is a watershed that marks some as believers of one type and some as believers of another type. The watershed is a Trinitarian grasp of union with Christ. The New Testament idea of salvation joined to him or united to him, or as Paul says succinctly: being “in Christ.” God apparently has two steps for saving people: (1) accomplish salvation in Christ; and (2) put people into Christ. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:30, “because of him you are in Christ Jesus,” which could be rendered “by God’s doing you are in Christ,” or as the KJV has it, “of him are ye in Christ Jesus.” This fact of union with Christ is the core of Christian soteriology. John Calvin put it classically when, having finished a thorough treatment of the work of God in Christ, he opened the third book of The Institutes with these words:   We must now see in what way we become possessed of the blessings which God has bestowed on his only-begotten Son, not for private use, but to enrich the poor and needy.And the first thing to be attended to is, that so long as we are without Christ and separated from him,nothing which he suffered and did for the salvation of the human race is of the least benefit to us.To communicate to us the blessings which he received from the Father, he must become ours and dwell in us. Accordingly, he is called our Head, and the first-born among many brethren, while, on the other hand, we are said to be ingrafted into him and clothed with him, all which he possesses being, as I have said, nothing to us until we become one with him.3 Note the Trinitarian contours here: the Father puts all the blessings of salvation onto the incarnate Son, and the Spirit unites us to that. It is not enough to say that faith links us to the benefits of Christ, because we must “climb higher and examine into the secret energy of the Spirit, by which we come to enjoy Christ and all his benefits.”


Sanders, Fred (2010-08-31). The Deep Things of God: How the Trinity Changes Everything (pp. 172-173). Good News Publishers/Crossway Books. Kindle Edition.

Blogs to return Monday

Joh 9:18 - 24 "The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?  His parents answered, "We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself. (His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.)  Therefore his parents said, "He is of age; ask him. So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, "Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner." 

The essence of unbelief is holding onto falsehood, believing you are right, even if it is clear, you're deceived. Self-deception is the essence of not believing in God. The evidences are everywhere. 

 Rom 1:19, 20  "For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse." 

It was clear the man was healed, everyone knew. It is not that the religious elite didn't want to believe this man. They didn't want to believe that Jesus had the power of healing. 
They questioned the former blind man. They questioned his parents. They threatened. They demanded that their twisted way of spinning lies as truth remained the norm. 

They wanted this man to paint Jesus as sinful and evil.

He told them, "I only know that He healed my sight after a lifetime of blindness." They pressed in, "What did you say He did?" "What did He do that you attribute healing to Him and not to God." 

The man was fed up with this. He retorts, "Why do you keep asking me, expecting a different answer. If you keep hearing about what Jesus says and does, will that cause you to follow after Him?"

"You follow this impostor, we are followers of God's law, given by Moses", the religious leaders said. We know God spoke to Moses on the mountain, but we don't know where Jesus comes from."

Joh 9:25 -29 "He answered, "Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.  They said to him, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes? He answered them, "I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples? And they reviled him, saying, "You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.  We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from." 

It was amazingly evident. They knew, they saw, they heard, they didn't acknowledge, they didn't listen, they wouldn't believe what was right before them. They would believe only their version of what God must be like. They thought God must be like them, for they put themselves in the place of God. 

They also believed that the man was born blind because of sin. Because God was punishing him. The truth God was going to use the man's blindness to demonstrate His love, mercy and grace. To instill faith. God is Absolute Love. 

They threw this man out, they refused to believe.


Mat 13:14, 15  "Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: "'You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.  For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them." 

Joh 9:30 -34  "The man answered, "Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him.  Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind.  If this man were not from God, he could do nothing. They answered him, "You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?" And they cast him out." 

Jesus heard about the confrontation this man had with the religious leaders. He sought the man He had healed out. He wanted to seal the faith established in this man. 

"Do you believe in Me, that I Am, Yahweh? I Am 'The Son of Man' Daniel prophesied of ages ago?"; Jesus asked." 

The man understood and acknowledged Jesus as God. The man born blind from birth worshiped Jesus giving Him honor as God. 

This was why Jesus had come, not for final judgement. Not for the verdict to be carried out on men. No it was for the verdict to be read to men. Jesus would carry out the verdict, declare the verdict and pardon those who deserved the judgement of the verdict, if only they would repent and accept the grace and pardon offered. 

Joh 9:35 -39  "Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man? He answered, "And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?  Jesus said to him, "You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you. He said, "Lord, I believe," and he worshiped him.  Jesus said, "For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind." 

Some of the very elite religious leaders heard Jesus talking about the verdict. "Are we also guilty of not seeing God's truth;" these religious leaders wanted to know. 

Jesus said; "If you didn't see the truth of God's Word you wouldn't be under the verdict." "Because you put yourself in the place of knowing the entire truth of God, the guardians of God's truth; you are under the verdict." "You eliminate yourself from being pardoned." 

You only receive the pardon by faith!

Joh 9:40, 41  "Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, "Are we also blind?  Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, 'We see,' your guilt remains." 

2Ti 3:1-5  "But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,  heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people." 

I am sorry I had to miss my blog post on Johns Gospel yesterday. I hope you maybe took the chance to read Tuesday's post again. 

I was away on a business trip and working on my computer in my hotel room. It was on a connection reserved for hotel guests only to connect their computers. 

While on my computer, beginning to write my blog, I noticed that a device was trying to download a driver for an outside mass storage device. 

I shut down immediately before it could connect. 

The next day in the same hotel where meetings were being held. I looked and deleted a device driver that didn't belong. I disabled my bluetooth. Then I was on a secure network reserved for conference attendees.

 A bit later it began again someone trying to download a remote storage device driver to my computer. 

I shut down and did not use my computer the rest of the trip. 

It is a good reminder of two truths.

1. People do selfish, deceitful and unloving things. Harmful things. We are sinful and need the grace of a loving God to defeat sin in our hearts. Why is there so much pain in this world it is us not God who inflicts the pain. We are responsible.

2. In these last days we have a savior, who is active to seek and to save. He is Jesus Christ the only begotten Son of God. He is creator of the universe and holds all things together by His glorious might. He reigns over all but His reach touches and changes the sinful hearts of those who put their faith in His amazingly gracious gift of taking on our punishment. He is Yahweh. He is Absolute Love. 

To Him belong Glory and honor and praise. Through Him we can have a thankful and open heart of forgiveness , peace, hope, faith and love. 

Heb 1:1-13  "Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets,  but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. For to which of the angels did God ever say, "You are my Son, today I have begotten you"? Or again, "I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son"? And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, "Let all God's angels worship him."  Of the angels he says, "He makes his angels winds, and his ministers a flame of fire. But of the Son he says, "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.  You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions. And, "You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands;  they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment,  like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end.  And to which of the angels has he ever said, "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet"?" 

Blogs to return Thursday. 

Joh 8:56 - 59 "Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.So the Jews said to him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham? Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am. So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

Jesus declared Himself to be I Am. He was before Abraham, Abraham had faith in Him and looked forward to His rule and reign. Abraham had seen by faith and acted in belief at Yahweh's commands.

The religious elite wanted to kill Him by stoning.

Jesus left and they were dumbfounded, He had slipped away and they didn't know where He went or how He had slipped away.

Jesus was walking away, He, Father God and The Holy Spirit had prepared a teaching opportunity. 

A man born blind from birth was sitting there. 

The disciples, as was common, thought that physical malady was a punishment from God. Not so, all things are meant in each persons life to draw them to rely upon God. God is Absolute Love. 

Jesus had been teaching them about the nature of faith and the grace, forgiveness and love of God. Through healing, through turning water to wine, through His confrontations with the religious elite, through the woman brought to Him accused of adultery. 

So all of it, all things are used by God to display the Glory of His infinite grace and righteousness. Jesus is the illumination the light of God's character and purpose. Look to Him and you will be fully illumined. Look away from Jesus you will be in the dark. 

Joh 9:1- 5 "As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?  Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."


Rom 8:18 - 28 "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.  Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." 

 

The man obeyed and He was healed. Faith culminates in obedience. Disobedience and sin flow from unbelief.

Joh 9:6, 7 "Having said these things, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud and said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing."

Everyone knew this man was blind from birth, they knew his family. They were awestruck that He could now see. 

The focus of the religious elite was rules and regulations. They did not understand the Spirit of God or the spirit of the law. 
They were angry. They saw healing on certain days as breaking of the rules. They were looking for a way to convict and do away with Jesus. 

Joh 9:8 - 14 "The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, "Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?  Some said, "It is he." Others said, "No, but he is like him." He kept saying, "I am the man.  So they said to him, "Then how were your eyes opened? He answered, "The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, 'Go to Siloam and wash.' So I went and washed and received my sight.  They said to him, "Where is he?" He said, "I do not know. They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes."

The religious elite wanted to discredit Jesus. To counteract His witness and glorious displays of authority. 

They declared, "This man Jesus of Nazareth cannot be from God. For God rests on the seventh day." How petty and without understanding. "God declared the seventh day as a day of receiving the entire attention of people so that He could revive and restore them.

They wanted the blind man's opinion. How desperate could they be to question a man's understanding just after Jesus had healed the man from a lifelong malady. 

The man blind from birth could say nothing else. "He is a voice direct from God, telling us about God and God's will!" 

Joh 9:15- 17 "So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, "He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see. Some of the Pharisees said, "This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath." But others said, "How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?" And there was a division among them.  So they said again to the blind man, "What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?" He said, "He is a prophet."

Joh 8:28 - 30 "So Jesus said to them, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him." As he was saying these things, many believed in him." 

When Jesus is lifted up on the cross as "The Lamb of God" who takes away the world's sins. It will be clear to all even a Roman guard that Jesus was the only begotten Son of God. He and the Father and Spirit interacting in "humble self-exaltation" victorious over death, sin and Satan, now Jesus exalted to a name above any name. Jesus is lifted to the highest place of exaltation, fully pleasing the Father. 
His authority standing in the Temple challenging the religious elite, caused many to believe in Him. 

Jesus said to those who believed, "Your home, your abode of comfort and acceptance, is found in Me  and My Word. If you stay grounded living in the truth that I speak, the truth of Me with set you free. This abiding makes you My student follower."

The unbelievers thought. "We are not slaves and have never been." (Had they forgotten about Egypt, Assyria, Babylon? Did they not remember the Greeks and Romans holding political and personal authority over them?" They couldn't see their enslavement, though Jesus wasn't talking about politics, He was talking about spiritual slavery to Satan, rebellion and disobedience to God. 

Jesus replied making it clear. "Your sinful actions enslave you to walking further and further away from the Life and Love of God. You can't remain as the household of God if you don't become a child of God. Children belong in the house forever. So if the only begotten Son of God sets you free to become a child of God, your adoption is sealed.    

Joh 8:31 - 36  "So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." They answered him, "We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, 'You will become free'?"  Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." 

I know your human lineage is from Abraham, but your spiritual lineage is not from Abraham as you have lack faith in the Lord. I Am He. I Am Yahweh. If My Word finds no place in you you don't know Father God. You would worship Me, not be plotting to kill Me. Jesus was very direct. 
You are doing the works your spiritual father did, he was a murderer from the beginning. 
They still had no spiritual understanding. They said; "We are not illegitimate children!"

Joh 8:37 - 42 "I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father." They answered him, "Abraham is our father." Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing the works Abraham did,  but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. You are doing the works your father did." They said to him, "We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father--even God." Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me." 

"If your spiritual lineage was that of Abraham, you would love Me and accept Me"; Jesus told them. "You cant even stand to hear Me talk." Your sin is evident to all, the pride of Satan, the desire to set yourselves above God and Hid law, lying, slandering, murder, unbelief." 
"Even when I tell you things are true, you don't believe, you have already decided in your heart to commit false witness and murder." Jesus kept up the pressure. "You are not of God!"



Joh 8:43 - 47 "Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God." 

The lies and deception from the religious elite continued. They said Jesus was a Samaritan, no He was not from Samaria, He was from Galilee. They claimed He had a demon, they blasphemed the very Spirit of God who had fallen upon Jesus at the river Jordan. They openly dishonored Jesus and Father God. 
Jesus said; "You can dishonor and slander Me, it isn't of consequence to who I Am. All I care about is the honor God gives and honoring God in all My ways." Jesus declared; "There is Only One judge, if you keep My Words you wouldn't face final spiritual death for I have the right to be your judge. In My judgment you can live forever if you accept Me." 

"Even Abraham died; "The religious elite declared. "All the prophets died, are you greater than anyone?" Though Jesus had made it clear, they said; "Who are you claiming to be?" 

Joh 8:48 - 53 "The Jews answered him, "Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?"  Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge.  Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death." The Jews said to him, "Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, 'If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.'  Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?" 

"It is not My purpose to lift My worth up in your eyes; Jesus answered." "My worth and glory come from God The Father." "He is the God of this world, you leaders of religious acceptance here don't even have a clue as to who God is and what He requires."

Jesus pushed them to their limits; " I Am not going to fall into your lies and deception." "I have all knowledge of God the Father and I Am the arbiter of His Word." " You claim that Abraham is your Father, Abraham rejoice when He saw Me and wanted to be around to celebrate My coming to establish forgiveness."  

They wanted to kill Jesus. They picked up stones to throw at Him. They were beside themselves with anger because Jesus declared; "Before Abraham, I Am." "I declare Myself to be Yahweh, I stood before Abraham and He was justified because He had faith in Me!" 

He disappeared and they couldn't find Him as He slipped away from the Temple. 

Joh 8:54 - 59 "Jesus answered, "If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, 'He is our God.' But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad. So the Jews said to him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?" Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.  So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple." 

"It is possible to talk about adoption in a way that obscures the necessity of the atonement, as if God had only to reach out and embrace us with fatherly love and no costly sacrifice involved. It is also possible to emphasize adoption in a way that bypasses justification with its legal categories and its concern for righteousness. Again, it is remarkable how consistently successful the evangelical tradition has been about praising adoption without detracting from these key ideas. One example will have to suffice here. J. I. Packer has called adoption “the highest privilege that the gospel offers: higher even than justification.”47 Packer is aware that “this may raise eyebrows,” so he defends his view by saying that justification is the primary blessing and even the fundamental blessing of salvation. But it is not the highest blessing. “Adoption is higher,” says Packer, “because of the richer relationship with God that it involves.”48 Since he obviously does not want to denigrate justification or to propose anything novel, Packer goes on to quote from the classic work on justification by Buchanan: “According to the Scriptures, pardon, acceptance, and adoption, are distinct privileges, the one rising above the other in the order in which they have been stated. . . . The privilege of adoption presupposes pardon and acceptance, but is higher than either.”49 In fact, Packer proposes that the New Testament could be summed up in the three words “adoption through propitiation.”50 

Sanders, Fred (2010-08-31). The Deep Things of God: How the Trinity Changes Everything (pp. 164-165). Good News Publishers/Crossway Books. Kindle Edition.

 "We have seen, in this line of thought, that the Trinity is the gospel. More expansively said: the good news of salvation is that God, who in himself is eternally the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, has become for us the adoptive Father, the incarnate Son, and the outpoured Holy Spirit. God the Father sent the Son to do something for us and the Spirit to be something in us, to bring us into the family life of God. God, who is eternally triune in himself in the happy land of the Trinity, gives himself to us to be our salvation, giving the economy of salvation a triune shape that reveals who he is, and making the Father, Son, and Spirit present in our own lives."

Sanders, Fred (2010-08-31). The Deep Things of God: How the Trinity Changes Everything (p. 165). Good News Publishers/Crossway Books. Kindle Edition.

Blogs to return Monday

"Adoption is a central biblical description of how God saves. It emphasizes the quality of the new relationship that God brings us into, a relationship of having been made into his children. In explicitly Trinitarian terms, this means that God brings us into the relationship of sonship that has always been part of his divine life. When we become sons of God, we are joined to the sonship of the incarnate Son, which is in turn the human enactment of the eternal sonship of the second person of the Trinity. Sonship was always within God, and it came to be on earth as it is in heaven, in the person of the incarnate Christ. Every time we hear the biblical proclamation that we have been made God’s children, we should hear the deep incarnational and Trinitarian echoes of this good news: “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are” (1 John 3:1). Paul declares, “God sent forth his Son . . . so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’” (Gal. 4:4–6). Paul’s way of putting it is especially helpful because it also refers to the work of the Holy Spirit in bringing about our sonship. The Spirit is the one who baptizes us into Christ, forms us into sons on the pattern of his sonship, and even takes up residence within us as the principle of sonship that enables us to call on God as Father. When the eternal Son becomes the incarnate Son, his eternal, filial relation to the Father takes on a human form. He does not become a different person but remains the Son. His procession from the Father extends into a mission from the Father. Thus divine sonship appears among humans, in Christ. The Holy Spirit, as we have already seen, is involved in this mission of the Son to be incarnate. He brings about the conception of Jesus and empowers Christ in his ministry, among other things. But the role of the Spirit is especially important in incorporating believers into this sonship of Christ. It is the Spirit of adoption (Rom. 8:15), or the Spirit of the Son (Gal. 4:6), who makes us children of the Father. He puts us into the place of sonship. This is how “the two hands of the Father” work simultaneously to bring us into fellowship with God: the Son opens up the path of human sonship, and the Spirit puts us into it."


Sanders, Fred (2010-08-31). The Deep Things of God: How the Trinity Changes Everything (pp. 157-159). Good News Publishers/Crossway Books. Kindle Edition.

Blogs to return Monday

"When I accept Christ as my Savior, my guilt is gone, I am indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and I am in communication with the Father and the Son, as well as the Holy Spirit—the entire Trinity." 
FRANCIS SCHAEFFER

"The Father’s love gave Christ to them, Christ’s love gave Himself for them, and the Holy Ghost’s love reveals and applies to them the salvation of God."  MARCUS RAINSFORD

Sanders, Fred (2010-08-31). The Deep Things of God: How the Trinity Changes Everything (p. 167). Good News Publishers/Crossway Books. Kindle Edition.

Joh 8:7 - 12  "And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her. And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground.  But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more."]] Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." 

A light is shed on an old misinterpretation of God's Law. It was meant to be a means of grace and life. There were always provisions for forgiveness and repentance. The Law was to be a means of reflecting upon ones own guilt before God, not to cover over one's own sin by pointing to the sins of others. The Law was to drive one back to God. To repent of looking to self. To highlight the need for a sacrifice. To be light shining to God's character. He is full of mercy and full of justice. Overflowing with grace and calling to repentance. 
Lawlessness and self righteousness are equally two results of unbelief and walking away from the true God!
Jesus came as a light to the pathway of coming back to God as loving Father. He is Absolute Love. The light was never so bright. "Let him without sin cast the first stone."
This is God speaking, following Jesus is walking out of darkness, to having your lifes' lamp fully on fire. Give vision and warmth and purpose and vitality. 

The religious leaders were taken off guard, put back on their heels, but they still were seeking a way to make Jesus appear unstable. 
They said that Jesus was always bearing witness about Himself but there was no one besides Him that could verify what He claimed. This is amazing that the claim for God to prove who He was and that He really was God would come from religious leaders. (The proof for God's existence s the very creation itself and His care for keeping it and caring for that creation.) So here is Jesus making provisions, healing, forgiving and creating yet they do not recognize Him. 
Jesus simply states; "My witness and life are the verification, I was before all creation, I Am going back to the Father, My judgement is from a knowledge of all things. I Am Yahweh. Your judgement is limited in knowledge and understanding, finite and temporal.My judgment is infinite and eternal."

Jesus clearly told them there are more witnesses than myself, The Father, The Spirit and the Scriptures all testify to who I Am. I Am Yahweh. 

Joh 8:13 - 18 "So the Pharisees said to him, "You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true. Jesus answered, "Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one.  Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me.  In your Law it is written that the testimony of two people is true. I am the one who bears witness about myself, and the Father who sent me bears witness about me." 

There come back was; "Where is your Father?"
Jesus was in the treasury area of the temple. He blasted the religious leaders. He told them they thought they knew God. They neither had no understanding of God otherwise they would recognize Jesus. Jesus was Yahweh the incarnate God, the only begotten of the Father. 
He said all this in the open in front of the religious elite, but no one arrested Him for He remained in control of the timing of the fulfillment of all things. Sovereign Lord, Faithful Servant. 

Joh 8:19, 20  "They said to him therefore, "Where is your Father?" Jesus answered, "You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also. These words he spoke in the treasury, as he taught in the temple; but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come." 

He told them again, where He was going when He left they could not go. They couldn't understand. "Your place is in this world of rebellion and sin;" Jesus told them. "You can't come to heaven and be with Me and The Father because you don't believe and you would be out of place." 

They questioned; "Who Are You?" They couldn't believe that Jesus was talking to them this way. Their pride was raised to being indignant. 
Jesus calmly said; "I've already told you who I Am." "I've been saying it from the beginning, I Am the creator of all things."

Joh 8:21- 25  "So he said to them again, "I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.  So the Jews said, "Will he kill himself, since he says, 'Where I am going, you cannot come'?  He said to them, "You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.  So they said to him, "Who are you?" Jesus said to them, "Just what I have been telling you from the beginning." 

Jesus had a lot more to say and a lot more to declare in judgment upon the keepers of religious power it all came from God The Father through Him. 

"When you have lifted Me up on a cross of crucifixion, you will see me as The Son of Man, as foretold by Daniel. You will know I Am Yahweh. My authority is supreme. All my life and sacrificial death is to please The Father and reconcile all of God's children to full acceptance."

As Jesus was saying these things many believed in Him.

Joh 8:26 - 30 "I have much to say about you and much to judge, but he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him. They did not understand that he had been speaking to them about the Father. So Jesus said to them, When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him. As he was saying these things, many believed in him." 

Joh 7:43 - 46 "So there was a division among the people over him. Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him. The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, "Why did you not bring him? The officers answered, "No one ever spoke like this man!" 

The people were divided over Jesus identity. Some wanted Him arrested- He was dangerous, for sure! Especially to those who didn't believe and wanted Him to be quieted. Those who were sent as representatives of the religious leadership to arrest Him and turn Him over couldn't follow through. They knew that the things that Jesus said were the words of truth. 

The religious elite were indignant. "Have you been taken in by Jesus, none of the leaders and those who had a place of power believe what He says! " "This crowd does not realize that the law of God bears the curse of death upon all who do not follow perfectly." Nicodemus who had come to Jesus at night in secret questioned; "But doesn't the law allow a man a chance to speak and learn what He means before judging him?" The religious leaders were incredulous; "Are you on standing up for this man, do you have some loyalty to him/" "You search the Scriptures and see that no prophet of God is said to come out of Galilee."

Joh 7:47 - 52 "The Pharisees answered them, "Have you also been deceived? Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him?  But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed. Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, "Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does? They replied, "Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee." 

They all went home, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives to commune with His Father. Early the next day Jesus was back in the Temple. Many came to hear His teaching as He sat there in there midst.

Joh 7:53 -8:2  "[[They went each to his own house,  but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. 

So the religious leaders thought they would trap Jesus and turn the people against Him. They brought a woman who had been unfaithful to her husband. 
What would you do? They wanted to know if Jesus would say to stone her for lawbreaking. If the penalty of death was prescribed then they would be able to make a case for killing Him, they thought. If He prescribed leniency they thought they could claim He set aside the Law of Moses, turning the people against Him. 
Jesus did not say a word, He bent down and wrote in the dirt.
"Do not bear false witness"
"Do not kill'


Joh 8:3 - 6 "The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say? This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground." 

They continued to press Jesus to answer there question; "Should she be stoned?" Jesus said; "If you are without guilt of breaking the commands, then go ahead and throw the first stone!" Then He began to write in the dirt again.
"Have no other God before Me!"
They were taken completely away from there sense of vengeance by the answer Jesus gave. They knew that it would be indefensible to the people to stone this woman under the circumstance. The people would not go along with their condemnation of Jesus. 
They all left one by one- the show was over and the woman was left there with Jesus. 

Jesus looked up; "Where are the ones who accused you?"  "Has no one condemned your actions?" She answered; "No one, Yahweh!" 
"I offer you forgiveness, go a be free from sin!" 

Joh 8:7 - 11 "And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her. And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?  She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more."]] 

Joh 7:25 - 27 "Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, "Is not this the man whom they seek to kill? And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ?  But we know where this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, no one will know where he comes from." 

When the people heard Jesus they recognized that He had the authority and presence of God. They saw Him   take on the religious leaders and outmatch them even though they knew He was the carpenters son. He grew up poor without opportunity to be educated but He knew and understood everything better than the religious elite. Even though they all recognized that He was the Messiah they could not give up their authority, power and pride. 
So Jesus was there teaching in the house of God. He clearly taught them that even though He grew up as a boy in Nazareth, He was sent by God The Father. He said He was from God and came from God. He was Yahweh. 
They were furious, and they wanted to kill Him, but they couldn't. He was in charge of giving and taking away life. 

Joh 7:28 - 30  "So Jesus proclaimed, as he taught in the temple, "You know me, and you know where I come from? But I have not come of my own accord. He who sent me is true, and him you do not know. I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me." So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come." 

Even though the religious elite were against Him, many of the people believed in Him. They knew that the Messiah would act like Jesus and do the things Jesus was doing. When the religious leaders got wind of the thoughts that the crowd had they sent authorities to try to arrest Jesus. They were more afraid of losing their power than looking at who Jesus was and what His coming meant to them. 

Joh 7:31, 32  "Yet many of the people believed in him. They said, "When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?" The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent officers to arrest him." 

So Jesus told them, they would only have the gift of His presence for a little while. He was going back to heaven, to the Father and they didn't have the ability to get to heaven. 
They only thought about this world and they couldn't understand His message about heaven. Their spiritual senses were crippled. They thought He was going to go to the people of God who were outside of Judea. 

Joh 7:33-36 "Jesus then said, "I will be with you a little longer, and then I am going to him who sent me. You will seek me and you will not find me. Where I am you cannot come." The Jews said to one another, "Where does this man intend to go that we will not find him? Does he intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks? What does he mean by saying, 'You will seek me and you will not find me,' and, 'Where I am you cannot come'?" 

So at the end of the celebration Jesus made a final appeal to their thirsty souls. He knew they were looking for answers, for fulfillment. He said you've got to believe in Me and come to me for fulfillment. If you do come to Me for fulfillment full life will overflow from me into and through you. 
Jesus was talking about after He left He would pour out God's Spirit on those who believe. 
The people were divided some were sure He was the Messiah others couldn't get past their senses of the here and now to see to the eternal and spiritual reality. 
Some wanted Him arrested, they saw Him as crazy or a threat, but they were kept from laying a hand on Him. 

Joh 7:37 - 44 "On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. When they heard these words, some of the people said, "This really is the Prophet." Others said, "This is the Christ." But some said, "Is the Christ to come from Galilee?  Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?"  So there was a division among the people over him.  Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him." 

Joh 7:1  "After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He would not go about in Judea, because the Jews were seeking to kill him." 

When Jesus had declared Himself to be Yahweh come to earth, One with The Father, the Jews began to seek a way to kill Him. 

Everyone was gathering for a great traditional religious feast, but Jesus was staying away from there. Jesus' own brothers didn't believe what He was saying about Himself. They said; "If you want to be known and make these crazy statement you've got to go out and make a name for yorself." 

Joh 7:2 - 5 "Now the Jews' Feast of Booths was at hand.  So his brothers said to him, "Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, show yourself to the world." For not even his brothers believed in him." 

Jesus spoke about something they could not understand. He had come for a specific purpose and it would come about in perfect timing. Your time for unbelief is here and because the world is shrouded in unbelief they don't hate you. The world hates me because I declare their unbelief to be evil and condemn-able. So Jesus' brothers left for the celebration without Him. 

Joh 7:6 - 9 "Jesus said to them, "My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil. You go up to the feast. I am not going up to this feast, for my time has not yet fully come." After saying this, he remained in Galilee." 

Jesus left after His brothers to go privately to the festival. After all, these religious celebrations were all to celebrate what He had done. 
The religious leaders were looking for Jesus, they wanted to be sure that He didn't have a chance to displace them in authority and power.
The people were divided they could't make up their mind as to Jesus real identity. One thing they knew they couldn't talk about Him in the open for the religious leaders wanted to squash Him and His reputation. 

Joh 7:10 -13  "But after his brothers had gone up to the feast, then he also went up, not publicly but in private.  The Jews were looking for him at the feast, and saying, "Where is he?" And there was much muttering about him among the people. While some said, "He is a good man," others said, "No, he is leading the people astray.  Yet for fear of the Jews no one spoke openly of him." 

So right in the middle of everything Jesus is there teaching in he Temple. The religious leaders again want to know where He learned all the things He was saying and teaching. They were dumb founded at His knowledge and authority. 
Jesus said; " here is is, I only teach from God My Father." "All I know is from being with Him in the beginning." "If you want to do God's will you know that I Am speaking on the authority of God." "You religious leaders want glory for yourselves so you take your authority from yourselves not God." "Me I want My Father to be glorified so you know I Am the truth." "There is nothing dark or false in My Words." 

Joh 7:14 - 18 "About the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching.  The Jews therefore marveled, saying, "How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?"  So Jesus answered them, "My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me.  If anyone's will is to do God's will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own authority. The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood."

Jesus went on, He told the religious leaders that though they are the recipients of The Laws given to Moses and have studied them extensively, they are lawbreakers. Moses said do not kill, but you are seeking to kill Me. 
I healed one man on the day of rest and you are all nonplussed. The children of God were taught to make a sign of consecration of circumcision, which you do on the eighth day of a little boys life, even on the day of rest. If you establish The Law of Moses by circumcision on the day of rest why do get angry about a man's entire body being healed on the day of rest?
You only have a judgement on exterior things, but if you take up the authority of judging on purely physical knowledge make sure your judgement is not skewed but rightly drawn. 

Joh 7:19 - 24 "Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why do you seek to kill me?" The crowd answered, "You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?" Jesus answered them, "I did one work, and you all marvel at it.  Moses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.  If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man's whole body well? Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment." 

The people were watching and hearing all of this and hey knew the religious leaders wanted Jesus dead. They said; " I think they really know He is the Messiah, otherwise would they let Him go on like this? He is making them to look like fools and fakes!" 

Joh 7:25, 26  "Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, "Is not this the man whom they seek to kill? And here he is, speaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that the authorities really know that this is the Christ?" 

Joh 6:57  "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." 

I live through the life giving authority of God the Father, He and I are One. Whoever gains their strength from Me will live because of their connection to Me. I Am- Yahweh. I Am the Messiah. I Am Absolute Love..

This strength and sustenance is eternal and all powerful. It will cause everlasting life to flow into you. I Am the fulfillment of the Shew Bread that is always present here in God's House. 


Exo 25:30  "And you shall set the bread of the Presence on the table before me regularly." 

Metahorically; My presence here is the coming of the Presence of God among you. Not like the bread fed to you in the wilderness that had to be eaten that day or disappeared. No I Am eternal sustenance, you find your fullness and fulfillment in Me you won't be hungry for anything else, you will be satisfied. 

Joh 6:58, 59  "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.  Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum." 

The students  following Jesus couldn't understand this, they said; "who can hear this and believe what you say". 

Jesus knew everything that was thought and that they were all complaining and questioning His Words. Jesus said" If you can't believe My Words and they are offensive to what you understand, what will happen when I have accomplished this mission a go back up to the Fathers' side. I will be the ruling Son of Man, the One who Daniel spoke about in his visions. 

Joh 6:60 -62 " When many of his disciples heard it, they said, "This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?"  But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, "Do you take offense at this? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?" 


Dan 7:13, 14  "I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed." 

It is The Spirit of God who gives life, flesh does not generate life it is a vessel, a container- of no use if empty, devoid of The Spirit. My Words are given to you as spirit and life- if you receive them you will have life everlasting. 

Joh 6:63 " 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." 

Jesus said; "I know that there are some of you who don't believe." Jesus knows the heart of every man and He knew when He chose Judas that he would be the betrayer. I have said before and this is the way of God, He is Sovereign over all. He gives life and takes life away. Nothing happens outside of His purpose. 

Joh 6:64, 65  "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.) And he said, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father." 

After Jesus laid it out so clearly and forcefully some decided following Him was not what they were called to do. Jesus asked the His closest followers, those He had personally hand picked; "Do you want to look for a different calling yourselves?" Simon, who Jesus had renamed Rock answered; "We belief You are The Word  of Life, we have seen and know that are The Holy One of God."- You are the Messiah. You are Yahweh. 

Joh 6:66 - 69 "After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the Twelve, "Do you want to go away as well?"Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life,  and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God." 

It is as I said you were chosen, called and sealed. You believe because God granted belief. Not all of you though, have been chosen in the same way. 
Jesus said this because e knew Judas was a fake, a pretender. Judas did not have faith but was chosen as a means to God's purpose by being a betrayer. 

Joh 6:70,71 " Jesus answered them, "Did I not choose you, the Twelve? And yet one of you is a devil."He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the Twelve, was going to betray him." 

"The present method is this: the reporter sits listening to a tide of words which he does not try to understand, and does not, generally speaking, even try to take down; he waits until something occurs in the speech which for some reason sounds funny, or memorable, or very exaggerated, or, perhaps, merely concrete; then he writes it down and waits for the next one. If the orator says that the Premier is like a porpoise in the sea under some special circumstances, the reporter gets in the porpoise even if he leaves out the Premier. If the orator begins by saying that Mr. Chamberlain is rather like a violoncello, the reporter does not even wait to hear why he is like a violoncello. He has got hold of something material, and so he is quite happy. The strong words all are put in; the chain of thought is left out. If the orator uses the word "donkey," down goes the word "donkey." If the orator uses the word "damnable," down goes the word "damnable." They follow each other so abruptly in the report that it is often hard to discover the fascinating fact as to what was damnable or who was being compared with a donkey."

Chesterton, G. K. (Gilbert Keith) (2004-03-01). All Things Considered (pp. 190-191). Public Domain Books. Kindle Edition.

Blogs to return Monday

"This is the whole danger of our time. There is a difference between the oppression which has been too common in the past and the oppression which seems only too probable in the future. Oppression in the past, has commonly been an individual matter. The oppressors were as simple as the oppressed, and as lonely. The aristocrat sometimes hated his inferiors; he always hated his equals. The plutocrat was an individualist. But in our time even the plutocrat has become a Socialist. They have science and combination, and may easily inaugurate a much greater tyranny than the world has ever seen."

Chesterton, G. K. (Gilbert Keith) (2004-03-01). All Things Considered (pp. 188-189). Public Domain Books. Kindle Edition.

Blogs to return on Monday