Is Jesus The Christ?

Does the title sound like a silly question to you because you are a follower of Christ and therefore have no problem saying , "well, of course, He is the Christ?" But this IS the question for today, and in light of our culture and the direction that some of Christian faith is turning, it is a question of great impact. Today's scripture poses this question throughout the text of John 7:1-29. In this part of the Gospel of John,  we see Jesus deciphering how people are deciding who He is, while He teaches the crowds. He hears their debate, He listens to their thoughts and notes their confusion. Then He declares who He is, but still many  cannot seem to understand. Their hearts are not ready. Their ears refuse to hear. Their eyes are still covered and their minds are in a tunnel of what they have expected the Christ to be. They seem to want their own version.

 

This question – Is Jesus the Christ?—is still being asked by many in 2007. Just in the last year, we have witnessed the book and the movie The Da Vinci Code become popular and  touted by the media. Indeed, they could not seem to get enough of it. The book lays claim to a very different Jesus then the one in the book of John. This one fakes death on the cross, and escapes to France to live out his life with Mary Magdalene and their child.  Then there was the book called The Gospel of Judas, which was a supposed account by Judas about Jesus and an explanation of why Judas did what he did.  And just recently, James Cameron the director of Titanic fame, was sure that he and some half-baked journalist, had found the tomb of Christ's family, including Jesus.

Never mind that the Da Vinci code is a novel, for some it has been treated as fact. Never mind that Judas more then likely did not have time to compose his account of why he did what he did before hanging himself, some saw it as truth. Never mind that most credible archeologists on the planet have debunked the notion that the tomb that Cameron found could be Jesus' family with Jesus himself buried in this spot, the Discovery Channel ran a documentary of it as scientific drama. Needless to say, for each of these sensationalistic, nonsense pieces, the hullabaloo has died down. The last one especially fizzled like a short sparkler. 

But of  much greater concern, is what is occurring in real churches and real denominations that claim Christ, but who are moving further and further away from scripture as they re-invent Jesus to their own liking. When Jesus says something tough and hard for us to hear, as he does many times, there are denominations who are now ignoring these parts of scripture and Christ's words so that they will not offend anyone.

Moreover, for the last 20 years the famed Jesus Seminar,  has met twice a year with a team of 135 New Testament scholars whose purpose is to use methods to determine what Jesus, as a historical figure, may or may not have said or done. From what I understand, they have thrown out most of what Jesus said and left little intact. Which leaves us a very thin faith. The seminar's reconstruction of Jesus portrays him as a "wandering wisdom sage who did not found a religion or rise from the dead, but preached in startling parables and aphorisms." Incidently, several churches in Eau Claire banded together two years in a row to bring information about the Jesus Seminar to our populace. In reviewing the promotion, it would appear that they were in agreement with the findings of the Jesus Seminar.

Which raises the question about truth, reliability and conviction. With every chink out of the divinity of Jesus, we lose the center. It is a slippery slope. Is Jesus the Christ? Johns words are breath taking as he begins his Gospel account of Christ. They are God-driven. He leaves no room for us to sway to doubt. He is a witness who has seen with his own eyes the savior.  He has heard His words. He has known the light of the world.  Sometimes we live in ignorance and conclude it is bliss, but only until we hit the wall of truth.  God is not deaf to those who tear at the center.

And blessed and merciful Jesus hears our debate.  He listens to our thoughts and notes our confusion. His words continue to declare who He is and, yet, there are many who cannot seem to understand. Their hearts may never be ready. Their ears may always refuse to hear. Their eyes will remained covered and their minds will be shut forever in a tunnel of what they expect the Christ to be. They will continue to search for  their own version, and will remain in darkness because they have rejected the light that was given. 

Laurie Erdman

 

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Bread From Heaven

John 6:43-71

Many of the people who had been following Jesus from place to place said, “This is a hard teaching,” and deserted Him. So Jesus turned to the 12, and said, “You’re not going to leave, too, are you?”

Peter declared, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God.”

In their journey through the wilderness, God sustained the Hebrews with bread from heaven. Each morning they woke up and found bread on the ground for them to eat that day. Jesus says, as wonderful as that was, all those people still died. Jesus, too, had demonstrated that He had the power to provide “bread from heaven,” as He fed over 5,000 people. It was exciting for the people to get free food and to be part of that historic moment. Still, Jesus challenged the people then and challenges us today to consider that there’s a greater need than satisfying our stomachs. Jesus tells us that there’s a hunger in us more desperate than our hunger for food. We have a greater need than surviving or being satisfied one more day. More consuming, though more difficult to define, we have a desperate hunger for life, a life greater than earthly life, a life that doesn’t end.

It’s an interesting picture, isn’t it? Wouldn’t you be tempted with me by a free pass at Old Country Buffet, the chance to come and eat ‘til we’re satisfied? At the feeding of the 5,000, in John 6:11b, it says, “And they all ate as much as they wanted.” But here they are, chasing Jesus around, in hope of getting more. We’re so easily consumed by our hunger for food. As a kid I said it all the time, “I’m starving! When are we going to eat?” And yet, soon after filling up, I would be ready to eat something more. God has given us this incredible picture that we have an almost insatiable need. Even miraculous bread isn’t enough to sustain us, only our Savior can. Only Jesus satisfies. Only He can forgive us, redeem us, and give us life.

As we trust in Him, He satisfies us, sustains us, and provides for us. To whom else would we go?

Just Believe

The people are following Jesus everywhere...fascinated by His miracles and intrigued by His teaching. Reading their interactions with Him, I'm quite sure my questions would have sounded a lot like theirs - naive, demanding, and a bit too self-sufficient.

I especially relate to the question asked in Verse 28: "We want to perform God's works, too. What should we do?" More and more, I want to be used by God for His glory and in His Kingdom. But, like the undertone that I sense in that question, I also fight the same temptation to try to earn God's favor and look good in front of others.

The people who asked that question of Jesus must have thought that they were perfectly capable of performing "God's works". Maybe they thought there was a formula that went something like this:

Desire + Performance = Pleasing God= Eternal Life

They knew they already had the desire, so perhaps they just needed to figure out the right "work" to do, and then God might be pleased.

Are we so different? We are inundated by cultural messages which teach us that love is fickle and conditional. If earthly love is not completely performance-based, then it is certainly performance-enhanced. Not surprisingly then, we ever-so-slightly incorporate our experiences with human love with the love that is transcendent and divine, and we sometimes end up wondering what we can do for God to make Him love us more.

But Jesus said, "This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the One He has sent (vs. 29)." The simplicity of the gospel and God's message of unconditional acceptance was God's reminder for me today. God is already pleased with me....and He is pleased with You. Not because of what we can do for Him, but because of what Jesus has done for us.

Jesus said, "For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will. And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them up on the last day( vs. 38-39)." Whether or not we will be with him "on the last day", does not depend on our performance in this life -- thank God. For you and me, for our friends and our families, it simply comes down to this: Believe in the One He has sent.

Why Follow?

Sea of Gailee (also called Sea of Tiberias).  Locate is on a Bible map.  Vs. 2 – Notice the Gospel writer tells us WHY so many folks followed Jesus…because of His miracles.  Let’s ask ourselves – just why do I follow Jesus?  Is it based too much on what I want Him to do for me?  Maybe?  Vs. 4 – Passover.  Recall the historic setting for this Jewish feast (Exodus 12).  Vs. 5-15 – Feeding of the 5,000 (actually, that figure is for the men alone, so you need to add a whole lot more folks to that figure).  Think about this: why did Jesus perform so many miracles during the time He was living on the earth in human form?  Vs. 15 – Folks wanted to make Him King!  Remember the hymn: King of My Life I Crown Thee Now.  Vs. 16 – Try to visualize this scene in your mind just now.  Ever been in big trouble?  Have you heard Jesus say to you, “Don’t be afraid!  I am here!”  Whatever trouble or difficulty we are having now, let us listen for those words of Jesus and make them personal – Don’t be afraid.  I am here!

 

Donald E. Pardun

 

...Like Son

John 5:1-23

We watch for a successful launch. Like Cape Canaveral observers positioned at a distance with cameras and watchful eyes to see if preparations and conditions will all combine to give boost to the space shuttle from the ground, overcoming gravitational Law to send shuttle and occupants on toward the targeted destination.

Yesterday, with 36 other families, Bee and I were such observers, watching our eldest child's confirmation class 'launch'. We hope all preparations and conditions will combine for them to be aimed and released into lives Sent by Him and for Him and unto Him. Yet, we fear dastard gravitational Law. We hope against hope that the flawed example of parents, our better telling than consistent living, the sheer hard reality of original sin we have inherently infected them by -- will not combine to abort this launch. We pray that these sons and daughters will deny the spiritual equivalent of the 2nd law of thermodynamics -- that entropy of generations in which too common each generation accentuates the fallenness of the preceding.

God, help my son live far better for Christ than I!

Jesus knows the power of generation. He explains (v. 19) the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does. Jesus declares His Father's perfect love, and apprenticing guidance (v. 20a). His Father will show Jesus how to accomplish miraculous good beyond imagination (v.20b).

But what will astonish all launch observers of the universe most of all is how this perfect & powerful Father will endue to the Son His ways of resurrection, raising to life those who were dead. For just as the Father gives life to the those he raises from the dead, so the Son gives life to anyone he wants (v. 21).

And by that blessed 'launch' of Jesus the Son from God the Father, all my failings as human parent, and all deadly liability I pass on to my son, are covered.

Dear Father, be truest father to my son. Jesus, be perfect son by grace in his stead at every turn!

PPaul