APRIL 18 READING… JOHN 8
Chapter 8 begins with the occurrence of the woman who was “caught” in the act of adultery. Jesus was teaching the people about God’s truth and the scribes and pharisees come up to Him bringing a woman caught in adultery. They claimed that she was caught in the very act of adultery. They tried to corner Jesus to decide her fate according to the “law of Moses” …this is a misnomer, its not Moses’ law, its God’s law. There is a question that has to be asked, if this woman was caught in the act of adultery, where is the man also guilty of adultery? Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with His finger, no one knows what Jesus wrote, but I believe it had to do with the personal sins that these religious leaders were guilty of. I say this because when He was done writing He said, “Let him without sin among you, let him cast the first stone”. I believe Jesus just revealed that there were none among them without sin…their sin was exposed. Jesus again began to write on the ground and one by one they walked away, convicted of their own sin. Finally, only Jesus and the woman were left. Jesus asked the woman about her accusers and those who would condemn her. When she said there were no accusers left, the Lord said that He would not accuse her. Then notice something real important…Jesus did not excuse her sin, nor did He act like it never happen, nor did He act like it wasn’t dangerous to her…Jesus told her to go and sin no more. Sin is real, it is dangerous…God does not excuse sin, but Jesus died for the sin we were guilty of…with His forgiveness He calls us to go and sin no more.
The rest of this chapter is filled with Jesus making declarations about Himself, that the religious leaders would not receive and finally leads them to a fury to want to kill Jesus. Jesus begins by saying that He is the light of the world. Jesus tells them that His Father bears witness to who He is. Jesus tells them that He is from above, while they are from the earth. The Lord tells them directly that if they refuse to believe in Him, they will die in their sins. They asked Jesus who He was, though they did not understand His answer. Jesus tells them that in Him they can know the truth, and that truth would set them free. For those who commit sin, is a slave to sin…and only Jesus can set us free from that slavery. Then Jesus brings Abraham, and the people’s heritage into the discussion. He tells them that though they claim to be the descendants of Abraham, they don’t act like Abraham. He actually calls them the children of the devil. Then Jesus makes an incredible statement of how Abraham desired to see Jesus and His Day, Abraham rejoiced to see it. They were confused and said to Jesus that He was not even 50 years old, how could Abraham see His day? Here Jesus declares and eternal truth that even today some religious people deny He ever made…Jesus said, “Before Abraham was, I AM.” Jesus claims the holy name of God, He revealed to them who He eternally is. This caused them to become enraged and pick up stones to kill Jesus, but it was not His time, so He walked right through them untouched. It is at this point we have a decision to make about Jesus…what say you…is Jesus just a prophet, miracle worker, teacher; or is Jesus God? Your answer impacts your eternity.
Please share your thoughts from today’s reading.
HERE IS THE READING FOR TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, AND THURSDAY…I WILL BE OUT OF TOWN AND WILL NOT BE WRITING FOR THE NEXT THREE DAYS…JOHN 9, 10, 11.
Comments