Who do you think you are?

"Are you greater than our father Abraham? He died, and so did the prophets. Who do you think you are?" Jesus replied, "If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing. My Father, whom you claim as your God, is the one who glorifies me. 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 keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad." "You are not yet fifty years old," the Jews said to him, "and you have seen Abraham!" "I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!" At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds. John 8:53-59

REFLECTION
Who do you think you are? The Jews who are questioning Jesus know exactly who he is claiming to be, but they demand an answer and they get an answer! “Before Abraham was born, I am!” Here Jesus identifies himself as the I AM revealed to Moses in Exodus 3:14 – in other words, Jesus clearly states that he is the ageless, eternal God!
If his listeners had paid good attention, they would have heard Jesus saying just moments before, “If you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins” (v. 24). From the reaction his I AM words provoke, it is clear that Jesus’ opponents got the point and didn’t like his answer at all. They picked up stones to stone him, because they thought this was a clear case of blasphemy. But Jesus knew that his time had not yet come and that this was not the moment to give his life. So he hid himself and slipped away unnoticed.

PRAYER
Lord, your opponents didn’t know where you were coming from and they couldn’t see where you went. You came and left the temple unnoticed, like an agent on a secret mission. But you revealed yourself clearly, and told your opponents nothing but the truth. And when you left the temple, truth left the temple. As a matter of fact, the great I AM left the temple on that very day!
Thank you for this authoritative self-revelation, Lord Jesus. You clearly show us that you are in complete control of every situation. You alone decided when and where you wanted to lay down your life for us. You appeared and disappeared whenever and wherever you liked. And we know and confess that you came from the Father and went back to be reunited with the great I AM. And now we, your children, eagerly wait for you to return. Come, Lord Jesus, reveal yourself again!

Free indeed

Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. I know you are Abraham's descendants. Yet you are ready to kill me, because you have no room for my word. I am telling you what I have seen in the Father's presence, and you do what you have heard from your father."
John 8:34-38

REFLECTION
The Jews were a proud people. As descendants of Abraham they were the chosen ones, God’s own favourites. John often writes about ‘the Jews’ - as a reference to the religious elite of rabbinical Jews that opposed Jesus. John was a Jew, the other disciples were Jews and Jesus was a Jew (let’s not forget that!), but many Jewish leaders and believers rejected Jesus because of his hard sayings and ‘outrageous’ claims. In this chapter we are watching a powerful confrontation between a group of smug people and the humble One who came down from Heaven to reveal himself as the Way, the Truth and the Life. Jesus’ words were hard to understand and his teachings difficult to grasp, but pride, stubbornness and unbelief were the greatest obstacles for true understanding. All it took to recognize truth was a sincere attitude of humbleness and repentance. But these religious people were so blinded by their false pride and so deafened by their ignorance, that they wouldn’t recognize an eye, ear or heart healer even if he was standing right in front of them.

PRAYER
Dear Jesus, I want to be a son of the Father of lights and not a child of the father of lies. There are so many things in your Word that are hard for me to understand, but I want to trust and follow you all the same. If the truth is puzzling me, if your words of wisdom are provoking and challenging me, I don’t want to turn away from you like so many pseudo-disciples did and still do. I need patience, humbleness and an obedient heart and I must come to you with true faith. Here I am, Lord, your not-so-good follower, please change me from the inside out and turn me into your true disciple. I don’t want to kill the truth, I want to be saved, shaped and liberated by it! Yes, truth can be as painful as love, but I have come to trust myself to you, my capable healer, because I don't want to live a lost life in darkness, sin and captivity. Yes, Jesus, I accept you as the Truth and because of you I’m free indeed!

Sand Writing

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. John 8:6-8

REFLECTION
All eyes were fixed on Jesus – which normally is a good thing. Nobody was looking at the woman, who stood there, crying, humiliated, desperately frightened, waiting for the verdict.
The Law was strict, the Law was clear and she probably knew that too. According to the Law this adulterous woman had to be killed by stoning and Jesus was granted the honour of speaking the final judgement…
Why were these men interested in Jesus’ opinion? John tells us they were only using their question 'Now what do you say?' as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing Jesus. These hypocrites just couldn’t care less about the poor woman who was only a means to an end.

PRAYER
Dear Lord Jesus, I am so thankful that the final judgement will be spoken by you and by you alone. We all would be as frightened and as desperate as this humiliated woman if the hypocrites of this world were to judge us. We are safe with you, because from you we receive pure righteousness, love and grace.
Look at the hypocrites, leaving the scene with their tales between their legs. Look at the woman, relieved, restored and saved by the only one who was in the position to judge her, because you are blameless. Your finger was not pointing at her and your voice was not going to bury her under a pile of accusations. I don’t know what you were writing in the sand, but I do know that you cared for this woman and spoke words of grace and forgiveness. "Go now and leave your life of sin." That’s my Jesus!

Stunning the crowd

On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." 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. John 7:37-39


REFLECTION
I have to limit myself and can only give you some verses from this wonderful Bible chapter, but please read this quote in its context if you want to be challenged, intrigued and inspired by the Word of God!
Jesus didn’t go to the Feast of Tabernacles with his brothers. He told them, “You go to the Feast. I am not yet going up to this feast, because for me the right time has not yet come. ”
Jesus didn’t want to go to the feast publicly, because he knew his enemies were out to get him. He waited for the right moment and made an impressive surprise appearance. Everybody was puzzled by his teaching and knowledge. Yes, there he was, the promisd Messiah, surrounded by friends and foes, claiming their exclusive attention and confronting them face to face. What a Lord we have!

PRAYER
Dear Jesus, I love you. I just can’t imagine what it was like for you to walk among sinful people. Well, I know what it is to walk among sinners, but I am a sinner myself, so I feel quite at home here. But you came down from heaven and you are perfect, blameless, pure, untarnished, holy! And I guess that’s why your enemies couldn’t stand your company. These self-righteous people hated to hear the truth about themselves but now the Truth was visiting them, exposing them and looking them straight in the face!
Your enemies just couldn’t stand you. They were a pathetic bunch of people who desperately needed to be saved by you, the source of life. But other people did recognize you as the Messiah and they must have been so impressed by your words!
You were stunning the crowd with your surprise appearance and public proclamation on the Feast of Tabernacles, and you picked the perfect moment to make your announcement in a loud voice at the summit of this feast. I love that! Yes, the Word became flesh and 'tabernacled' among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the unique-one from the Father, full of grace and truth. I love you, Jesus. Or did I already say that?