pickledilly

Romans 6:16-17…if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey… obedient from the heart… Titus 3:3…slaves to various passions and pleasures… 2Peter 2:19 Whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. The NT concept of being a slave/servant is based on the Greek word doulos, which was often used in that day to describe someone who willingly indentured himself as a bond-servant to another in order to pay off debt, for example. It was also used to honorably describe believers who willingly live under Jesus’ authority. These uses suggest voluntary submission. John used this word in 8:34 to metaphorically describe a person whose heart is given to sin, someone willing to sell himself to unrighteousness, who yields to personal passions and pleasures without conscience. The word translated “commits” is poieō, which has the sense of being the author of something, making plans and preparation to form or construct or acquire or produce something for one’s own self. Jesus was talking about someone who is mastered by his own sinful nature and desires because he has given himself to them and rejects the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Whatever you harbor in your heart and yield yourself to or allow to take control of your thoughts, words, and actions becomes your ruling authority. This becomes what you are bound to, enslaved by. In this context, Jesus was talking about self-righteous religious people who choose to yield to the sin of their own desires and understanding of truth. We cannot follow 2 masters (Matt.6:24), so being mastered by sin separates us from God. Jesus was talking about the blindness that even “religious” people can have to this truth. The only way to experience genuine freedom from this captivity to sin begins with knowing the truth of the Word of God given to us through Jesus the Word made flesh and also through the written record of God’s words in the Holy Bible. They are God’s revelation of Himself and His truth that reveal who we really are. Jesus the Son of God sets us free from the bondage of sin when we believe on Him as Redeemer and Lord. On the cross, He cancelled out the record of debt caused by our sin that each of us owes God and possesses no ability to ever satisfy on our own. When we believe this and place our trust in Him, He releases us from the bondage of our natural sin nature that can only lead to death, and He gives us a new spiritual nature that is free from sin. Then, through the presence of the Holy Spirit within us, we possess the only power that can help us live victoriously over sin and help us grow in the new nature of Christ we’ve received. Do we live this new nature out perfectly all the time? Goodness, no! Our old flesh nature may have been defeated, but it’s not dead. So the rest of our life is one of conflict as the old nature resists the new spiritual nature. That means we will still struggle with sin and will sometimes (often?!) yield to the old master. But our new nature, through the Holy Spirit, will constantly be tugging us in the direction of holiness. We won’t be able to freely sin against God without conscience anymore. We won’t want to deliberately choose sin as a lifestyle any longer. I think one of the greatest keys to recognizing and overcoming habitual sin can be found in Romans 12:1-2. “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” It’s through the process of renewing the mind, done by the Spirit through the cleansing power of the Word, that we ultimately gain those victories and step-by-step become more Christ-like. Abide in the Word because that’s where we find the Truth that sets us free! In practical terms, that requires study in the Word, time spent in prayer as we seek discernment and strength, and active humility before God. It’s also helpful to make yourself accountable to a trusted, spiritually wise friend who can provide support and counsel.

In these verses Jesus defined the mark of a real, authentic disciple as one who abides, remains, dwells, continues in His word. I think this is the practical picture of what it means to abide in Him, since Jesus Himself is the Word. Consistent and diligent time and study in His Word is the crucial starting point, but not what it fully means to abide and continue in it. That comes as we listen to Him, internalize what we've learned (“eat” and “drink” of Him), and submit to the Spirit as He leads us in obeying the Word. We learn to apply the Word to real life. We rest our faith in the Word. The action of continuing in the Word in this way is not what saves us, as some would take verses 31-32 to say. It is the outward evidence of the authentic transformation that has occurred within. The truth that sets us free is the truth that Jesus is the Truth! He is the Holy One sent from God who would pay the price for our salvation from sin to set us free from its bondage and consequences. He came so that He could then extend mercy and forgiveness to any and all who believe on who He is and what He has done. It is the truth that there’s no other way to be received in to the Father heaven except through Jesus. When used in a secular context, “the truth will set you free” can only refer to what humans perceive as true from our transient perspective of life on earth. The context of Jesus’ statement is very different and much broader because it refers to God’s spiritual truth that comes from His own character and His enduring perspective of real life in eternity.

To die in your sins is the complete opposite of dying in Christ. It means that you will stand alone before God to bear the responsibility, accountability, and eternal consequences of your sins. And that is a fearsome place to stand because there can be no forgiveness, no redemption, no pardon from transgression at that point – no Savior to step in, stand before your Judge, and take on your sentence in your place. The opportunity to repent, receive acquittal in Christ, be cleansed from sin, and have your record expunged will have passed. It will be too late. Because of His great love and compassion, God has forewarned us of His wrath against all sin that will be brought on all who face Him naked in their own guilt, not robed in the holiness and righteousness of Christ. The penalty is eternal separation from Him because the unrepentant, unsaved, unforgiven person cannot go where Jesus has gone – to the Father in the glory of heaven (vs.21). The religious leaders who set their hearts as enemies of Jesus could not receive forgiveness from Him because they refused to see the Truth right in front of them and turn to Him in repentance. They were blinded by worldly philosophies and personal interpretation. That rejection cost them permanent loss in eternity. Yes, I know someone like this. Please pray for my brother, Doug.

Jesus is the Light of the World in the sense that He, and only He, illumines God the Father to us. Apart from Jesus, humanity is essentially in total darkness, unable to see the spiritual realm of God because of our blindness in sin. Messiah came like the brilliant rising sun at dawn that breaks the darkness of night to reveal God and make Him known. To His followers, Jesus promises that when we follow Him as the Way to God we won’t constantly flounder and stumble in darkness, always agonizing and wondering if we’re on the right path to eternal life or going the right way in the search for truth or taking the right steps at the right time as we seek to please the Father. In Jesus, we can know that we know that we know we're headed in the right direction, even with our missteps and hesitations along the way. For me, this means that as long as I have my eyes set on Jesus and His Word, I will have enough light at the right time to see where and how to go. I may not know what’s around the next curve or over the next hill in this journey, but I’ll be able to see Him right in front of me leading my way. Even facing so much unknown ahead, this is a confident and joyful place to be! And as my Light, Jesus is the only One who can give precise illumination to my spiritual discernment and understanding. He’s the completely accurate Truth with no shadows and variances that is the only One who can set me free from sin’s control both now and eternally. So my focus must be Him in order to walk in His light and live in victory over sin. This wonderful old hymn comes to mind. The Light of the World is Jesus, Philip Bliss 1875 1. The whole world was lost in the darkness of sin. 3. Ye dwellers in darkness with sin-blinded eyes, The Light of the world is Jesus! The Light of the world is Jesus! Like sunshine at noonday His glory shone in. Go, wash at His bidding, and light will arise; The Light of the world is Jesus! The Light of the world is Jesus! 2. No darkness have we who in Jesus abide. 4. No need of the sunlight in Heaven we’re told; The Light of the world is Jesus! The Light of the world is Jesus! We walk in the light when we follow our Guide. The Lamb is the Light in the city of gold, The Light of the world is Jesus! The Light of the world is Jesus! CHORUS Come to the Light, ‘tis shining for thee. Sweetly the Light has dawned upon me. Once I was blind, but now I can see. The Light of the world is Jesus!

Jesus didn’t condemn the woman, who was guilty. The demands of the Law had not been satisfied to rightly do that. But also, and maybe more importantly, “God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.” (John 3:17, ESV) John 12:47 records Jesus’ declaration that He “did not come to judge the world but to save the world.” Condemnation and judgment by Jesus are for a day yet to come. Debased religion had charged the sin against her, not Him. At the same time, Jesus didn’t ignore the fact of her sin. His charge was for her to recognize the wickedness of her own heart and respond to His mercy with repentance that would deliver her from sin to restore her life. There is no salvation from sin apart from repentance, which is a change of mind about the iniquity in us that estranges us from God that leads to a change of behavior and actions. It’s not really a mere attempt at “turning from sin” (a common definition), but a turning of the mind away from rejecting Jesus toward embracing Him in faith, which is salvation. When we judge people (as opposed to discerning the sin), we actually drive them in the opposite direction of repentance and acceptance of grace as they’re backed into a loveless legalistic corner. The heart of the Gospel of Christ is salvation by God’s love and grace for every repentant person, not judgment.

I used to think Jesus was probably writing pertinent Laws the religious leaders were violating or personal secret things that convicted them as they read His words. Now I’m not sure that was even necessary, as I’ve understood that His insistence that the first stones be thrown by someone without sin may have been directed to a leadership that was corrupt with the same sin. They would have completely gotten His unstated point as He invited any sinless eye-witness to step forward. So the action of His writing may have been more effective than the actual content of His writing. It stilled the volatile moment and shifted the spotlight onto these corrupt men who perverted God's justice. He silently forced a pause while they awaited His answer, and then awaited their response after they heard it (vs.8). What a lesson to calmly seek the Spirit’s words and beware of being a hot-head!

Jesus insisted on unbiased, righteous witnesses to cast the first stone because that was detailed in the very Law these religious enemies were trying to use against the woman. The actual witnesses were to throw the first stones of judgment. But I also think Jesus insisted on this because there were no unbiased, righteous witnesses. These religious men had probably paid someone to find them a compromised woman, and weren’t eye-witnesses at all. Or maybe one of them had even lured her into the situation, willing to violate God's moral law for a supposed "higher good". They had an agenda that had nothing personal to do with the accused woman, and Jesus’ insistence that an eye-witness step forward unveiled their own hypocrisy to the Law. Verse 7 truly is often misused to say that no one has the right to judge anything! But Jesus certainly doesn’t require the complete purity and sinless state of those called on to judge because there is no such person. We are to seek the righteousness of God in our own lives and then do our best to rightly follow His discernment in making judgments. But what I’ve read is that His comment in verse 7 was likely directed toward the scandal of adultery that was rampant in that era, apparently even within the religious leadership (cf. Romans 2:22; Matt. 12:39). With that one statement, He would have been addressing their hypocrisy at hiding personal sin of the same nature while condemning someone else because of it. This seems completely plausible in light of Jesus' strong rebuke of hypocrisy in Matthew 7:1-5 where He warned that those who judge others invite their own judgment according to the same standards. And there’s also the quiet defeated departures of the accusers who had nothing more to say (although I’m certain they were absolutely fuming!). Jesus was not there to condemn the woman, and none of those religious leaders could. What a lesson to beware of self-righteous tirades against others!

Even with the dispute about this passage, it’s interesting to me that, here, this account immediately follows the disdain of the Pharisees as they challenged Nicodemus, who had defended the right of the accused to a hearing under Jewish Law. The corrupt leadership appears to have been quite selective in who got to claim that right or about upholding the Law at all! These religious enemies were trying to entrap Jesus with an impossible legalistic game in order to confuse, embarrass, and disgrace Him in front of all the “common people” who they considered nothing more than ignorant and foolish. They set Him up to look bad no matter which way He went with an answer to their question of what to do with the adulterous woman. If He said she should be stoned, He would be acting as a Judge against her. But Jesus did not come as a magistrate of the Law (that is for the coming day of His return!). If He judged her, He could not be true to His mission of compassion and mercy, and would violate the glory of His own message of grace to the captive and downtrodden – grace that He brought into the world to ultimately supercede the Law. He’d be unable to do anything greater than what the Law already did – convict and execute judgment. And the woman would have died unjustly, as they did not even bring the charges against her accurately according to the Law. If Jesus said she should not be stoned, He would have been accused of despising and betraying the Law, and would have been discredited as an unreliable sham who couldn’t be trusted.

Jesus invites anyone who thirsts to come to Him and drink. Anyone who thirsts for truth, purpose, and meaning in life. Anyone who thirsts for acceptance and validation of worth. Anyone who thirsts for love and merciful compassion. Anyone who thirsts for a faithful Friend who will never abandon or turn away. Anyone who thirsts for a clean heart healed of shame, remorse, and sorrow. Anyone who thirsts for an ability to overcome our persistent human weakness and failures. Anyone who thirsts for an ultimate deliverance from the bondage and oppression of evil. Anyone who thirsts for something greater than what our temporary earthly existence can ever offer. He says, “Come and drink.” Jesus’ promise in these verses is that rivers of living water will flow from the heart of anyone who believes in Him. Our thirst won’t just be satisfied; the presence of the Spirit of God within will make every believer a fountain of life! This promise could not be fulfilled as long as Jesus remained on earth in a physical body. The giving of the Spirit would be fulfilled after Jesus died, rose from the dead, and ascended back to His place of glory with the Father. This happened on the glorious day of Pentecost and continues to this day at the moment of conversion for every new believer who repents of sin, professes Jesus Christ as Savior, and follows Him as Lord. Yes, I have been given the living water of the Spirit to flow from my heart! The problem comes from the obstacles of the flesh I allow in the way and the dams of worldly pursuits I construct that restrict the free flow of this spiritual river. Yielding to the work of the Spirit to clear the path and make me an open channel is the ongoing process of sanctification in my life. May all my lameness be made sound, my blinded eyes healed to see, and every chain of captivity be broken in my life so that His living waters might pour out of me onto every thirsty soul I meet!

No, we can never truly know God’s will if we are not honestly and sincerely willing to obey the truth we already know. God does not overwhelm us all at once with a deluge of truth that we could never process. Growth in the Christian life comes step-by-step, layer upon layer. When we receive any degree of truth, we must be willing to fully accept it and then act on it so that it’s incorporated into our system of belief that shapes thoughts, words, and deeds. As we step into that truth we step further into the will of God that we be led into freedom by it (8:31-32). Then we are ready to progress to the next unveiling of truth that will lead us even deeper into that divine will for our lives. As we grow in this process of doing God’s will of obeying truth and its commandments, Jesus promises to manifest Himself to us (14:21). And of course, Jesus is Truth personified.

After the basic elementary education every boy would receive, some particularly bright students were given invitations for “higher education” by rabbis who saw potential in them. These young men would leave home to follow after their rabbi, to live and observe and study with this esteemed man. The goal was to know all their rabbi knew about Jehovah, about the Scriptures, and about how to live a practical and spiritual life pleasing to God – to become like their rabbi. After several years, around age 30, each man could be considered qualified to be a rabbi who could then take on students of his own. Jesus never formally studied with a rabbi. I’ve long thought he must have stayed home to run the family business and care for his mother and siblings because Joseph had passed by the time Jesus would have been an eligible student. Again, God’s timing was perfect. This situation prevented any possibility that Jesus would be associated with any particular man’s understanding or philosophies. His learning and discernment came from being taught by His own Heavenly Father (8:28; 14:10). Jesus was a highly qualified rabbi who issued invitations to “Come!” to men He observed and desired as students. They left home to live, travel, and study with Him, just as any other student would do. I’m certain they had many theological discussions, but their primary education was in observing and assimilating how to live the spiritual life that pleases God. Of course, their education with Jesus was unexpectedly radical, as it challenged everything they thought they knew as God's chosen people. Formal theological training is certainly of great value and today is seen as a must for most anyone who desires a vocation that involves teaching the Word. Those who aren’t led in that direction can still become skilled students of the Word. But all the knowledge and certification in the world aren’t the most important element. What God desires and uses most in us is our submission to listen, hear, and obey the voice of the Spirit. I can personally attest that He can do some amazing things through “unqualified” laymen who are simply willing to follow where He leads. And the Spirit is the only One who can give us the spiritual discernment we need to apply wisdom to our knowledge so we can rightly walk in the Spirit and grow in the character of our Rabbi, Jesus.

Verse 1 reveals that Jesus avoided Jerusalem because His physical life was in danger. He didn’t come to earth to die in some kind of senseless ambush by the Jews, who would have killed Him with their bare hands if they could have. And as He said at other times, His “hour had not come”. He knew from Psalms and Isaiah that He would die as the Redeemer by crucifixion at the very hour declared by God - and not before. Jesus trusted His Heavenly Father with the timetable of His life on earth. God has a personal plan and will for each of us with individual timing, just as He did for Jesus. We are to trust ourselves into God’s leading and care, but we are not to be reckless with the lives He has given us. The Holy Spirit will prompt, compel, and give peace when it’s time to move. In the meantime as we wait on Him with faith, we have a responsibility to use common sense and be responsible – but not obsessive - about our safety. We need to avoid choices and decisions that we know would put us in harm’s way if we are not being led in that direction by the Spirit.

The Twelve were learning to recognize the Truth and surrender to it by abiding in Him. They didn't understand everything, but they (all but one of them) believed in Jesus as the Holy One of God. The crowd of superficial disciples had no such faith or any degree of spiritual discernment that would lead them to hold fast to that Truth even in crisis. To them, Jesus was just a great miracle-worker who could feed the masses. According to John 8:31-32, true disciples are those who receive and abide in the words of Jesus that lead to eternal life. Through Him, they will discern spiritual truth and be set free by it from sin - and darkened understanding.

“Eating the Bread of Life” is a metaphor of taking and believing in Jesus as the One sent from heaven by God to be the “food that endures to eternal life” (vs.27, 33). He is the spiritual “food” that gives us spiritual life. “Eating the flesh of the Son of Man” is a metaphor of taking in and believing the truth that the literal flesh of Jesus’ own physical body would be given as the sacrifice that would provide the resurrection and eternal life that God promised. They couldn’t just agree that Jesus was this Living Bread from heaven; they also had to believe in His death – a Messiah who would die. That concept was contrary to the Jewish expectation. The metaphors are similar in that they both dealt with how God would establish eternal life for humanity through sending His Anointed One, the Living Bread of Life. The first metaphor identifies Jesus as that One; the second identifies how that One must be received. These metaphors were directly linked to what the Jews already knew and honored about the manna given in the wilderness. But the Jews were blind and resistant to what Jesus was revealing about His identity as the True Bread of Life and about God’s ultimate plan for their deliverance to eternal life. As they grumbled and debated and disputed in the synagogue about what they’d heard, there is no telling what distorted ideas they were coming up with. Jesus went hard-core with this very intense metaphor to emphasize the necessity of His death with the giving of His body and blood that would secure eternal life. His gruesome death given for our redemption is the only thing we can take and receive within that will ensure that we belong to the Father and won't ever be cast out.

To eat of something means to put it in your mouth, chew it, and then swallow so it can be digested to fill and nourish the body. As a metaphor for salvation, to “eat of the Bread of Life” follows that word picture very nicely. First we allow Jesus, the Living Bread, in as we listen to the truth of who He is and take a bite. Then we generally have to “chew on” things as we ponder what we’ve heard to consider what it means and come to terms with how it affects us. As we begin to realize the bitter, destructive effect of sin on our spiritual health, savor the taste of Truth, and embrace how vital it is for our well-being, we decide to swallow it down in faith. That internalized presence of our Living Bread within us brings with it eternal Life in Him that cannot die, Truth to equip and guide us, and the Way to grow and thrive as we journey through earthly life toward heaven. Jesus was primarily speaking to blinded Jewish people about the initial acceptance of who He is as their Messiah sent from God. He was drawing a parallel to what they already knew about the manna given in the years of their ancestors’ journey from Egypt to the Promised Land, which wasn’t meant just as the physical sustenance they needed but also as a symbolic picture of what God would do through their Messiah who was to come. Many who heard Jesus took tiny bites and “nibbled” around the edges. They liked what they saw/heard and enjoyed the benefits as long as these fit into their preconceived ideas about who He should be. Yet in the end, they weren’t willing to release their biases, traditions, preferences, and law-keeping. In general, they ended up spitting Him out and never swallowing. In terms of salvation, we don’t have to continually eat of this Living Bread. Once we believe on Jesus as we take in the Bread of Life, the Father presents us to His Son and nothing can change or alter that position in Christ. But in terms of spiritual growth and strength, we desperately need to consistently “eat of Jesus” through His living Word that sustains us. Nibbling and pretending to eat won’t cut it. We need to dive in and “stuff our faces” with His Word! And always set the table with prayer and time with Him before the meal. We need to seek His presence and get to know Him more and more intimately. We need to listen to His Spirit and give over more and more of self as the Spirit works to transform us into the likeness of Christ. May we receive His Word as delicious food, with a willingness to grow spiritually healthy and strong like Him.

Such a profound concept that only God fully understands and can explain! The context of this teaching was 1)that Jesus had identified Himself as the bread of God who had come down from heaven and given life to the world (vs.33), and 2)that the people didn’t understand that He was talking about something permanent, something eternal and unchangeable (vs.34). Though we can’t entirely grasp what His teaching fully means, it is significant in being able to grasp the truth that eternal life is not something that humanity can produce, attain, or secure by our own effort. It is a work of God the Father, who is the only One who can draw a person to Jesus, the Bread of Life. And eternal life isn’t something that has to be continually resupplied, like the manna given in the wilderness. It is a gift forever given and secured in the ever-living Person of Christ. The concept of being drawn to Jesus by the Father has been interpreted by many to be predestination, which may seem understandable at first glance. But predestination ultimately says that every individual is specifically created by God either for heaven or for hell and there’s nothing we can do to change our lot. That isn’t what Jesus was saying at all. God has designed His plan of salvation to begin for each person with the Holy Spirit’s work of confronting us with the truth of who Jesus is, specifically named here as the Bread of Life from heaven. The Spirit most often uses other people to deliver that truth, but only He can touch the heart with it to reveal our sin and teach us the way to permanent forgiveness and eternal life through Jesus. But God’s plan is also designed to require our response of faith that leads us to come to Jesus voluntarily – an opportunity for every person who believes and responds in faith. I believe the Spirit enables, not forces, us to yield and come. The predestination isn’t about who can come, but about the outcome for whoever responds to the Spirit’s call by believing and coming to Jesus. That predestined outcome includes being forgiven of sin and redeemed from its penalty of death, being adopted as a child of the Father, being given a spiritual inheritance that’s permanently sealed by the Holy Spirit as we’re spiritually baptized into the Body of Christ and consecrated as the Bride of Christ who will be united with Him for all eternity!

Keeping religious laws and faithfully observing church doctrines are common works people often pursue in an attempt to please God. Many religions are built on a doctrine that you must do more good than bad or you must do the very best at whatever it is you believe. Some people of the Christian faith think they just need to faithfully be at the church “whenever the doors are opened”, or give enough money or serve on enough committees. These works are most often motivated by the legalism of “doing” what we think God wants rather than by the grace of “being” who we are in Christ. They actually focus on the self-effort of what an individual can/must do rather than on responding in love to who Christ is and what God has already done for us through Him. These legalistic mindsets completely miss the point of the personal redemptive relationship God desires and provides for us through Jesus. The only “work” that pleases the Father is that we believe, not in doctrine and self-effort of keeping ordinances, but in the One He sent from heaven as our Redeemer and Savior – the Person of His Son, Jesus the Christ. The type of belief here isn’t just intellectual agreement. It’s a belief of the heart that shapes one’s thoughts, words, deeds, desires, motives, attitudes, outlook, perspective, etc. – the entirety of a person.

Many of these people merely believed in Jesus as a miracle-worker who could magically produce food to meet their physical needs. This was a superficial, misdirected belief. They were looking to Him to stop the hunger pangs in their bellies and make their lives more comfortable. It seems He wasn’t much more than an amazing side show to them. They were missing the primary point of the miracle, that Jesus was indeed the promised Messiah, the divine Son of God. In comparison, a true disciple of Jesus seeks Him as the One who provides for a need far deeper than the temporal one of hunger and physical sustenance, a need that transcends the life of a bodily existence. A person who recognizes and confesses that Jesus is God’s approved and anointed Son seeks Him as the One who provides the sustenance required for the spiritual life that endures into eternity. Christ is the only Way!

Jesus discerned the heart of what was going on in the temple. There was no problem with discreetly providing the opportunity for travelers to purchase animals needed for their sacrifices, but that service had morphed into a huge money-making enterprise. Greed and self-interest had replaced humility and focus on God. Even the fact that John called this “the Passover of the Jews” is telling. What God ordained as “the LORD’s Passover” (Exodus 12:27) was now an empty religious feast for the people, and Jesus was offended at this insolence and insult to the Father. The temple was not a reverent or worshipful place. With the launch of His earthly ministry and in exercise of His rightful authority, the time had come for Jesus to address these wrongs. There was to be no compromise or blind eye or excuses made for this sin against God. He made a whip of cords and physically drove out the sellers and the animals. He overturned the tables of the money-changers and emptied the containers of coins. The more humble pigeon sellers were told to take the birds away. And then He told everyone they were not to make His Father’s sacred dwelling place a house of commerce.

Andrew and the other unnamed disciple of John the Baptist immediately began to share the good news that the Messiah had come once they found Him for themselves. Andrew wasted no time in finding his brother and bringing him directly to Jesus. Today, I think most people would rather invite someone to church rather than bringing them straight to Jesus themselves. This is probably rooted in fear, insecurity, feelings of inadequacy, or never having truly encountered Jesus for themselves in a personal way. And then, they may hear from the pulpit, as we do in my own church, “Just get them here so we can get them saved” (which is a dreadful and negligent attitude, in my understanding). Jesus, and later the disciples, taught His Word of truth to very large crowds, and bringing someone to church will expose them to God’s Word. But no one was personally introduced to the Savior and the salvation He offers that way. The Holy Spirit can work in whatever way He chooses to convict and convince, but I think there’s far more impact through a one-on-one relational conversation (that doesn’t have to wait for a formal setting) where a believer introduces his/her Savior to someone who’s never met Him before.

Jesus invited these men to immediately begin the journey of experiencing and learning from Him, rather than planning a specific teaching or discussion time. This did not require an address or specific place to go. We are also to learn from Him as we walk with Him through life. That’s far more intimate, authentic, and effective, like a child learning language, knowledge, and skills from parents in their ordinary daily walk through life together. This method, in fact, was exactly that of a rabbi. Every rabbi had disciples who lived and traveled with him wherever he went for years, not sitting in some formal classroom or waiting for lectures. They received instruction and learned their rabbi’s head and heart step-by-step as they spent the hours of their days together. They saw how knowledge was applied with wisdom in everyday situations. They modeled their lives after his example. Being with Jesus today means the same thing for us! We must spend time with the Scriptures, God’s Word given to us in written form that reveals who Jesus is and all that He wants us to know about Himself and about how to live as He lived on earth. That Word speaks the truth of God to our spirit just as faithfully as Jesus spoke audibly to His disciples in that day. We must spend time in joint conversation with Him as we go along. It's in a different way, but just as genuine and real as what the disciples had. His Holy Spirit resides within to open our understanding, communicate His heart and mind, and guide us into faithful application of truth. In other words, He is developing the character of Jesus in those who set the desires of their own lives aside and follow after Jesus with all their heart as we spend time with Him in walking together.

Andrew and the other unnamed man (could have been John, the writer??) immediately began to follow and seek Jesus as their Rabbi on the recommendation of John the Baptist. As their current rabbi who recognized that the Greater One he had been teaching about had arrived, John was willing to step aside and release these men from discipleship with him so they might pursue Jesus. What a humble, wise, and obedient servant John the Baptist was! Teachers tend to love big groups to teach, but John didn’t cling to any type of self-preservation. His desire to magnify Christ far outweighed any human tendency to promote self.

John the Baptist’s water baptism signified preparation of the Jews through repentance that made them ready for the revealing of Messiah. As Son of Man, Jesus identified Himself with humanity’s need for purity and repentance by coming to John for baptism. That event signaled the active onset of His earthly ministry and released heaven’s confirmation that He is the Son of God as the Holy Spirit descended like a dove to remain on Him. This revealed Messiah’s identity to John and to the world. Jesus’ baptism signifies transformation for all humanity through repentance and acceptance of the Word, the Light, the Son of God who takes away the sin of the world. “Baptizo” has about it the sense of being changed from what was into a new creation as one’s life is submerged into Christ. Other ancient texts used this same Greek word “baptizo” to describe how a cucumber immersed in brine is transformed into a pickle with different qualities, purposes, and shelf-life. This pictures the baptism of the Holy Spirit for us, as a believer is transformed from deadness to spiritual life when Christ immerses us in/with the Spirit upon receiving Him and believing in His name for salvation. The Spirit is a holy deluge that brings new spiritual qualities, purposes, and eternal life – effecting transformational change throughout (like the pickle). This immersion of the Spirit is then symbolized for us in following Christ’s example and command for water baptism as we identify with Him in His death, burial, and resurrection to eternal life. Our task then is to learn to live out the spiritual life that has been poured into us, in all its fullness. Beautiful.

Jesus set aside His deity and took on human flesh for the purpose of atoning humanity's sin and redeeming us from God’s judgment of sin. Before the foundations of creation were laid, the plan was set that He would be the Lamb of God - the ultimate sinless, blameless, spotless, innocent who would stand in our place of judgment and offer His own blood as our payment of debt created by our transgressions. A picture of this was given to the Jews when God delivered them from His final judgment on Egypt via a lamb’s blood applied to the doorway of each household [Exodus 12:3]. God also declared that once Israel entered the land God promised them, each family must bring a lamb for sacrifice each year to the Passover commemoration of that deliverance [Exodus 12:21-27]. He explained in Mosaic law that atonement for sin required blood sacrifice as one life (the innocent animal sacrifice) was offered in place of another (the one whose transgression against God created a sin debt) [Leviticus 17:11; Hebrews 9:22]. This was all to demonstrate what was required to atone for sin before God and to picture the final sacrificial Lamb who would complete and end the need for continual offerings every year. Jesus came to die for our sins, to pour out His innocent blood on heaven's altar of God to secure our eternal pardon from sin. Although first offered to the Jewish people, John 1:29 makes it clear that this forgiveness of sin was not just for them. It is an atonement secured for the whole world, valid for eternity since the day of Christ’s resurrection (which proved God's acceptance of the blood sacrifice as payment in full for the debt of sin). The words of Isaiah 53:5-6 were given as prophecy by immortal, timeless God, the Alpha and Omega who already sees all from the beginning to the end. God revealed to us what Jesus would endure and accomplish for all mankind. Innocent Jesus willingly bore the pains, sick-ness, wounds, bruising, chastisement, and blows that all originate in our transgressions and iniquities that result as we all stray from the righteousness of God and seek our own way. And God struck Jesus with the full weight of the consequences that were due to us. When the world saw this, rather than understanding that Christ suffered all of this as our Mediator and Deliverer, it interpreted that He was personally reviled and afflicted by God. In spite of all this, what have we gained because Christ was willing to be the Lamb of God? He secured and now offers what the angels foretold at His birth – the peace and favor and wholeness of heaven extended from God toward man, something we could never have gained ourselves. Hallelujah, what a Savior!

John didn’t set his attention on himself, but on the One he knew he represented - One who was divine and superior in every way. That is the key to keeping anyone from becoming proud of self. He was humbled by the very mission of fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah and understood his role was actually very simple. He was to bear witness about the Light who shines in the darkness. John knew the call was God-ordained and it was of great importance, but he also knew that it was only for the purpose of magnifying the Christ. Yes, humility and powerful confident speech can certainly co-exist. But that balance requires the same kind of consistent focus on God and humble acceptance of our proper place and role that John had. It’s never about us; it’s always about Jesus.