Who Is Jesus To Me?

 John 8: 21-30

Dispute Over Who Jesus Is

²¹ Once more Jesus said to them, “I am going away, and you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come.”

²² This made the Jews ask, “Will he kill himself? Is that why he says, ‘Where I go, you cannot come’?”

²³ But he continued, “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; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins.”

²⁵ “Who are you?” they asked.

“Just what I have been telling you from the beginning,” Jesus replied. ²⁶ “I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is trustworthy, and what I have heard from him I tell the world.”

²⁷ They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. ²⁸ So Jesus said, “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 but speak just what the Father has taught me. ²⁹ The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” ³⁰ Even as he spoke, many believed in him.

Even as we watch the on-going struggle to accept Jesus, to believe in him, that bogged down the Jews in these eternal questions, we also see the frustration in Jesus as he tries to explain who he is in simple language, but in terms that challenge their mindset.  He was and always will be demanding a big "leap of faith", something not easy to do when it seems it will disturb our comfort or crumble our way of looking at him.  That leap is risky, especially where faith is thin, but once taken, brings a peace and strength that is life-giving. Verses 23-24 are key to the argument of Jesus.  May we take them to heart, accept and believe what Jesus is saying of himself.  "Lord, I do believe, help my unbelief!"

Bro. Rene

 

..