February 11
JOHN 8
21 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.” 22 So the Jews said, “Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” 23 He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.” 25 So they said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning. 26 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.” 27 They did not understand that he had been speaking to them about the Father. 28 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. 29 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.” 30 As he was saying these things, many believed in him. – John 8:21-30
JOHN 8 DEPENDING ON GOD ALONE
A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses
When Jesus came on earth, it was to fulfill God’s will
Everything he did was to follow and obey his beloved Father
He never spoke anything that did not come from him
All He did was to make sure that his Father was pleased.
This account shows us an incoherent exchange of views on the part of the Jews. Of course, Jesus knew what was in their minds and hearts, but they didn’t understand what Jesus was uttering. Because of their unbelief and obsessive motive to arrest and kill him, they were so blind and unable to receive the truth of Jesus’ claim about his identity and purpose for being on earth. They didn’t comprehend that Jesus was speaking of his death on the cross and the benefit of such sacrifice for the salvation of man from sin.
In verse 23, he made clear the boundary between his divinity and the humanity to the Jews. “You are from below and I am from above” this is that divide between God and man. In verse 28, we witness God’s obedience and dependence on God alone. He will never do anything out of his Father’s will. His purpose is to obey his will and carry out his plan.
REFLECTION
• How is being independent against God’s design for humans?
