Tuesday, March 26, 2013 -- What Do We Do With Jesus? (2)
Tuesday March 26, 2013
14 Not until halfway through the festival did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. 15 The Jews there were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning without having been taught?” 16 Jesus answered, “My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me. 17 Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. 18 Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him. 19 Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?” 28 Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own authority, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, 29 but I know him because I am from him and he sent me.” (John 7:14-19, 28-29 NIV)
Where does Jesus get His authority? What kind of authority does He have? In a world where each person is encouraged to be the master of their own destiny and to sort truth out on their own understanding, it is quite a challenge to hear Jesus assert His unique authority. One of the reasons Jesus has been hated by so many down through time and the Christian faith sidelined by so many, is that Jesus makes the claim to be from God, to speak as God, and to actually BE God. Jesus challenges us to believe Him for who He is, the Son of God who has come into the world He created. He also stated that He is the way, the truth, and the life. Some time ago someone reflected on Jesus' claims and asked the question, "Is Jesus a liar, a lunatic, or Lord?" It's a fair question that demands an answer from all of us. Did Jesus know he was NOT God and yet claim to be God -- that would make him a liar? Did Jesus BELIEVE he was God but was wrong about that -- which would make Him a lunatic? Or, does Jesus affirm what is true, that He is the one and only son of the living God, fully God and fully man, who loved us so much that He came to our broken world, suffered and died on our behalf and now offers us fullness of life that no one else can?
What do we do with Jesus today? Rationalize about who he is and is not? Reject Him as irrelevant to our lives in 2013? Receive Him as the wonderful loving Saviour and King he actually is?
Audio for Tuesday, March 26, 2013 -- What Do We Do With Jesus? (2)
Recent Meditations
Giving Hope
Partners in Hope is supported wholly by our friends and community. We are thankful to everyone who partners with us to help bring hope to the discouraged, hurting, and hopeless.