A Contrast in Perceptions ...

12 men had followed Christ for nearly three years, right up till now, the night of His doom.  We don’t know where all of them were, with what was to transpire, because it is not explicitly documented in the gospels.  Perhaps they blended into the various crowd scenes that took place, perhaps they ran and re-grouped in the upper room they had just had dinner in.  Perhaps they simply remained at a distance away from prying eyes and probing questions, close enough to see, but not close enough to be dragged into it.  When on that great day, we join them in the heavenly courts, perhaps we can ask them; though it may be a great while before our curiosity of what took place overwhelms our senses with what heaven will have to offer us.  In any case, while we do not know the story of all of his followers, we have a pretty good idea about the story of some of them during this time.  We imagine Mary and Martha, seeking out Mary Jesus’ mother to bring her and comfort her with what was happening.  Not much is said of Lazarus from this point forward, but the conspiracy to kill Christ, had added Lazarus as well; for the priests could not abide leaving one alive who was raised from the dead.  Lazarus was living proof of the divinity of Christ, should he be called as a witness at the trial of Christ, things might go badly for the religious leadership.  But again we do not know exactly what happened to Lazarus, or where he was at this point in time.

John however, who is reluctant to refer to himself directly by name in his own gospel, does state where he was, and where Peter was when these events began to unfold.  In chapter 18 of his gospel, John records in verse 15 … “And Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple: that disciple was known unto the high priest, and went in with Jesus into the palace of the high priest.”  It was John who was known to the high priest.  And as the high priest recognized John, he let him inside.  This, to me, represents such a dichotomy in perceptions between one true follower of Christ and another.  John followed Christ right into the place where men intent on killing Him had what looked like full power over Him.  John went there without representing a threat to these men (or they would not have let him in).  And He went there knowing he was likely risking his own life in doing so.  He had seen Christ submit.  He now must have truly feared that the mission of the Messiah was going to be one of sacrifice, not of liberation from Rome.  Yet John goes right in seemingly without thinking about it.  He continues in verse 16 … “But Peter stood at the door without. Then went out that other disciple, which was known unto the high priest, and spake unto her that kept the door, and brought in Peter.” 

Peter however, hangs out at the outer door.  It seems while John was recognized and allowed entrance, Peter was not.  So John has to go back and tell the door maid, Peter is with him, and to let him in.  She complies.  And then John records in verse 17 … “Then saith the damsel that kept the door unto Peter, Art not thou also one of this man's disciples? He saith, I am not.”  What a difference in perceptions between John and Peter.  John is openly known by the enemies of Christ and is allowed entrance, he further has to vouch for Peter to get him in.  Now Peter is asked about being a disciple of Christ, by merely a door maid, and his first thought is to deny it.  It makes little sense.  John just vouched for Peter with that same door maid.  John is clearly a disciple and is not trying to hide that fact.  Peter is guilty by association with John.  Yet Peter decides it is better to keep his allegiance to Christ a secret, rather than allow it to be made public.

And we modern Christians sit in judgment of Peter on this topic, believing ourselves to be above this kind of denial and shenanigans.  If “we” had been asked by the door maid, surely “we” would have acted like John, NOT like Peter.  But how many of us are so open with our peers, our work associates, or creditors, or our customers about our own relationship with Christ?  Do we bow our heads in prayers of thanks over our meals in expensive restaurants or do we tend to “forget”, offering rather silent prayers so as not to “offend” others nearby.  Do we mirror the language spoken around us, when others swear, so do we, in order that we keep everyone comfortable and not offend them by restraining from words our Lord would not use?  Do we often choose to mirror the world around us, rather than allow ourselves to be marked as different because of who we believe in?  And in electing to keep our relationship secret with Christ, do we not simply mimic the behavior of Peter in the very same situation?

And these situations present themselves to us every day, in our everyday lives.  What about those Christians who dare to take the good news of love of the gospel into hostile lands; when these brothers are asked if they are Christian it is often at the point of a gun, where the “yes” answer is not the one the questioner is looking to hear.  Peter knew the stakes and may well have believed the door maid was an active agent or spy for the high priest looking to get Peter to confess to his earlier impetuous actions with the sword.  If nothing else, being associated with Christ right at that moment might end his own life early, and never allow him to carry the awesome ministry he had planned.  Or is that more of our own logic, than the thoughts of Peter?  Better to lie to those who intend us harm, and live to witness another day, than to openly declare for our Savior, and lose our earthly lives and ministries as a result.  Peter believed himself under the gun, and so elected to deny Christ openly, and keep his love a secret.  Do we really do anything different?

The interesting dichotomy in this situation is with John.  John makes no effort to hide his relationship with Christ at all, and further seems to have no fear for himself throughout the very same events.  Peter fears discovery and with it, a horrible death.  John seems perfectly oblivious to the threats all around him, it seems John is completely focused on what is happening to Christ, and that has become so important to him, he does not even perceive a danger to himself.  How interesting that what we focus on can so completely consume us.  Peter was focused on himself.  Like the time when he briefly walked on water, and lost sight of Christ in order to show off to his friends.  Now he had lost sight of Christ, and was focused on his own self-preservation.  John was looking to stay as close to Christ as he could get.  As such he was fully focused on Christ, and the horror which Christ was permitting Himself to endure.  John had no thought for himself, because Jesus was the sole focus of His mind.  It was the same event.  It was the same followers of Christ, with similar experiences with their Lord.  But it was a remarkably different perception between one and the other.

John continues the events in verse 18 … “And the servants and officers stood there, who had made a fire of coals; for it was cold: and they warmed themselves: and Peter stood with them, and warmed himself.”  Peter now thinks to himself, perhaps it is better to just hang out with these guys by the fire.  He does not have to get too close to Christ.  He can view Christ at a distance, where it is safer, where it is warmer, where it is more convenient.  Sound familiar?  How often do we choose to view Christ from a safer distance?  Were we to submit all of ourselves to Christ, He might take away the one thing we value most (our cherished sins).  Better to view Christ at a safer distance, give Him some of us, but not all of us.  Better to offer Christ the parts of our lives we are not happy with, and keep the parts of our lives we like.  But what we do not realize; is that the danger is from the distance with Christ, not the closeness.  The danger is what we hold on to, and it is that which makes us unhappy.  The things we give to Him, are the things with which He brings us happiness, transforming us from our addictions to pain, into freedom from pain.  Peter was putting himself more at risk, by moving away from Christ.  He would have been safer nearer to Him.  The same is true for us today.

Now John turns his attention away from Peter and back towards the sham of a trial that Christ has found Himself in.  In verse 19 the high priest begins … “The high priest then asked Jesus of his disciples, and of his doctrine. [verse 20] Jesus answered him, I spake openly to the world; I ever taught in the synagogue, and in the temple, whither the Jews always resort; and in secret have I said nothing. [verse 21] Why askest thou me? ask them which heard me, what I have said unto them: behold, they know what I said.”  Jesus offers a striking contrast to the heart of the high priest who has conspired to kill Christ and Lazarus in private.  Murder is now the official policy of the Pharisees when counter ideas cannot be defeated on merit.  Jesus contrasts the secrecy required for hypocrisy with the open ability to speak words of truth that do not differ by day or by night.  Truth needs no cover of darkness, rather truth brings light into darkness.  Christ is happy to have his “doctrines” repeated by those He has taught.

Even now, the High Priest is wondering if there is some deep secret Christ has to manipulate power and miracles; that He might be willing to share with them.  The High Priest seems almost willing to accept rituals and witchery rather than love that marks the will of God the Father.  If Christ had been a devil, he might have been able to open up a new church right then and there.  The priest was looking for the secrets to power.  He had no interest in humble love or submission.  But Christ tells him, there are no dark secrets that are the key to His power.  There are no secret words, or rituals that give one control, there is only submission that allows the will of the Father to be seen in our lives.  The teachings He has offered can be recited by those who have heard Him.  The love He has brought to the world, is His only mantra, His only secret, His only key to success, His only reflection of His Father.  And so John records the response of evil in verse 22 … “And when he had thus spoken, one of the officers which stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, Answerest thou the high priest so?”  The officer was offended that the simple truth of Christ showed no deference to the office of the High Priest.  It was un-nerving to hear such an authoritative response to the question of the High Priest.

Jesus answered him in verse 23 … “Jesus answered him, If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil: but if well, why smitest thou me? [verse 24] Now Annas had sent him bound unto Caiaphas the high priest.”  Notice Love does not respond to hatred with more hatred, Christ makes no attempt to hit the officer back in return.  Further notice, Christ does not condemn the man who just struck Him unjustly.  He does not “judge” this man and condemn him, dooming him to eternal punishment and second death from which there is no escape.  Revenge is not the goal or offspring of love.  Redemption is.  So instead Jesus asks the man who has just struck Him, to examine “why” he has done what he has done.  Instead Jesus asks him to carefully look at His words, and see, if they are truly worthy of being hit for, or perhaps invite more investigation towards redemption, light, life and truth.  So often we Christians believe there is a “limit” to our patience, a “limit” to the grace and love of God, and once someone crosses that line, they are forever doomed.  But the life and example of Christ shows us that love was here to reach EVERYONE, there was no-one beyond redemption, and no act that would forever doom us to separation from God, short our daily refusal to be reconciled.  Christ was living proof that there are no limits to His love.

John then returns his attention to Peter still warming himself by the fire and continues in verse 25 … “And Simon Peter stood and warmed himself. They said therefore unto him, Art not thou also one of his disciples? He denied it, and said, I am not.”  This is now the second inquiry into the loyalty of Peter.  He is past the door maid, and while he perceives a threat from association to Christ by being one of his disciples this is really only a perception.  John after all, is right there, close enough to hear what is going on, recognized by the high priest and allowed entry, and close enough to Christ to hear his conversation as well.  John is not hiding his discipleship and appears to be in no immediate danger.  But Peter is focusing more and more on himself, and his own self-preservation.  As he does so, he feels the need to affirm his earlier lie with yet another one.  John continues in verse 26 … “One of the servants of the high priest, being his kinsman whose ear Peter cut off, saith, Did not I see thee in the garden with him? [verse 27] Peter then denied again: and immediately the cock crew.”

It is now much worse for Peter.  He has lied twice, but at this point the brother of the servant whose ear he cut off was a witness to the event and is asking him the same question.  He might have gotten away with his lies to the first two folks, but this questioner had a basis for his beliefs.  Peter’s denials now could only be empty.  Peter had boasted to Christ that his loyalty would be true to the point of death.  Now his loyalty had failed 3 tests of mere association.  When we trust in our own spiritual strength instead of depending on all our strength coming from Christ, we too find ourselves failing.  Our victories are NOT our own.  They belong to Christ.  The only thing we own is our failures.  We deny the strength of Christ, trusting to ourselves, and finding only failure.  When it is Christ alone in whom we trust, we can make no boasts, for we realize how little we do.  If we boast at all, it is only directed at the true source of love, victory, wisdom, truth and life.  In ourselves, in our own spiritual understanding, in our own scriptural interpretations we find only error, weakness, failure and loss.  But when we follow Christ, and find ourselves wholly consumed with what He is doing, what He is saying, how He is loving, we find ourselves undeterred by selfish perceptions and fears that have no basis.

Our perceptions are colored by the intensity with which we look at Christ.  Our realities reflect the failures of self-trust, or the victories He alone can bring.  Our similarities to Peter’s failing choices are stunning when our priorities have not been altered through submission to Christ.  But having submitted, only Christ becomes important to us, only love reflected and redemption revealed are the things that matter …

 

The Origin of Light (witness number fifteen) ...

It is said that Light has properties of both particles and waves, it is both.  But to determine the origination of light, not just the source it appears to emanate from at the moment, but its universal genesis, is a more difficult proposition.  How, when and where did light separate from darkness?  Trying to determine the origin of thought is equally perplexing.  While we understand the mechanics of how our brains work, how a thought is constructed is another matter.  And for as much as we have learned about life, we remain unable to prevent its demise, or bottle it, or use our knowledge to bring about something that was dead.  We can use life to make life, but remain unable to create life from something that does not already have life within it.  So to the scientific mind, that does not accept the premise of divinity, there are a great many things that remain an undiscovered mystery.  And for those who refuse to share a commonality of belief, even the language we use to communicate is less clear, and makes it harder to share concepts and ideas.  A refusal to believe makes it much harder to learn.

As the trap to kill Christ for His refusal to condemn Mary Magdalene caught in adultery before the people had failed; the conspirators had left, but the crowd remained.  It was the perfect opportunity for Jesus to continue speaking to this crowd of witnesses, about the origin of things that would change their lives.  John’s gospel account continues in chapter eight and verse 12 saying … “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”  If this had been all that Jesus had said to His listeners it may have been enough.  For His central point had been revealed, most of what would follow was a response to the Pharisees who remained in the crowd and had kept silent during the failed attempt to trap Christ with His love for redeeming Mary over following their ideas of the law’s requirements. 

Jesus had told His listeners, “I am the light of the world”.  The origin of light, the thing that drives darkness away, the focal point upon which we focus and find only light, life and truth is in fact Jesus Christ.  Notice that Christ did not hold up the scripture and say “these documents” are the light of the world.  Nor did Christ hold up the laws of Moses, or the Ten Commandments, and offer them as the light of the world.  It is not because those documents are any less “true”.  It is not because they had lost their relevancy.  It was because ALL of them were testimonies of “who” was to come, of “who” was to fulfill them, of “who” was to meet the hopes and dreams of everyone contained in them from Adam to the people sitting in the Temple on this day.  All of scripture pointed to a “who”, and that WHO was Jesus Christ.  It is NOT to be your understanding of scripture that will be the source of the light you encounter.  It IS to be your understanding of Jesus Christ that will determine the light you find in your life.  The Bible is a supporting document for the truth of Jesus Christ, not the other way around.

If we are to find light, so that we can “see”, we must follow not after our own understanding and our own wisdom, or scientifically proven conceptual ideas, but instead we must follow after Jesus Christ.  ONLY through the illumination of Jesus Christ, can the scriptures be understood.  ONLY through the prism of His light, through the lens of perfect love, can the words recorded and ideas presented in the written word begin to make perfect sense.  Trying to read the Bible without first “following” Jesus Christ and submitting our wisdom to His, is like trying to read a book in the dark.  The eyes cannot see, and the brain cannot interpret.  In point of fact, the God of the Bible, is more important than the testimony of the Bible.  This was never more poignantly true, than when that testimony has been misconstrued and misunderstood.  The Pharisees present in this crowd had misapplied the scriptures to keep power and wealth reserved to themselves.  In so doing they had abandoned love, and the God of love, who now stood before them, offering to re-open their eyes from the darkness they chose to wallow in.

From the Pharisees point of view, nothing was more important than the law Moses had brought down from Mt. Sinai.  This was the basis of study they had spent their lives engaged in.  Scripture had been long debated among them, though some ideas were not universal.  Some of their number believed in the literal resurrection at the end of days, while others believed when you died you slept forever, never to exist again.  These kinds of divisions over understanding are common, even today, when the most important premise of love is not sought first.  In any case, Christ, by all indications, valued love over the law.  So from their point of view, He could not be source of light, because He was in conflict with the “light” they believed they already knew.  In verse 13 they challenge Him saying … “The Pharisees therefore said unto him, Thou bearest record of thyself; thy record is not true.”  First, they point out to the listening crowd that the religious leadership of the organized church of the day, has NOT sanctioned what Christ is saying about Himself.  And then they further state, that “what” Christ is saying about Himself is not the truth.

In verse 14 Jesus responds … “Jesus answered and said unto them, Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true: for I know whence I came, and whither I go; but ye cannot tell whence I come, and whither I go.”  In effect the Pharisees were blinded because they sought to use scripture to accomplish an end, and did not love first.  In looking away from Christ as the Messiah, they looked away from both Christ and His Father.   So to know the perfect love that existed in heaven and was the foundation of scripture was not something they were going to perceive.  Jesus continued in verse 15 … “Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man. [verse 16] And yet if I judge, my judgment is true: for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me.”  First of all Jesus says to them, that they evaluate life based on what it looks like to them.  How things appear to the Pharisees is how they are, including all their predispositions and prejudices, not unlike us.  Second Christ says to them, that His role and His mission is NOT about judgment.  It is about redemption.  But thirdly, if He were to judge, His judgments would be true, not because He is alone, but because He is ever in concert with His Father in ALL things.  This means that Father and Son work together for our redemption, and that our redemption was the primary goal of both of them, not just of Christ.  It also means that if we are to be evaluated by God, we will be evaluated by both Christ and His Father, not just the one or the other.  Those today who believe God can be found outside of Christ are ignoring that Christ is also God.  There is no path to God, outside of God.  This was a concept the Pharisees would refuse to believe or accept.

Jesus now turns the tables on His accusers and quotes their laws back to them beginning in verse 17 … “It is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true. [verse 18] I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me.”  Jesus offered Himself as one witness to the truth of what He said.  So far, they had never caught Him in a lie, nor would they.  Nothing He had ever said could be disproven, or even factually disputed using the scriptures as a basis.  Christ disagreed with their interpretation of scripture, but they did this among themselves for centuries.  As His second witness, Jesus offers His Father, as evidenced in the miracles He performed, that would have been impossible without Divine blessing.  After all, none of them had fed 5,000 men plus women and children.  None of them had ever restored a crippled man completely to full health and vigor before.  None of them had turned water to wine.  These deeds bore the witness of the Divine.  None of these deeds had been done to enrich Christ, or make Christ more wealthy or powerful.  All had been done as gifts to those who received them.  The facts were in evidence.

So the prosecutor decides to ignore the facts that were common knowledge and demand a personal appearance answering in the start of verse 19 … “Then said they unto him, Where is thy Father? …”   If Jesus was going to claim to be the Messiah sent of God the Father, let Him produce God the Father in person as a witness.  They did not see Him in the crowd that day.  Nor would they.  Had God the Father appeared in that instance to testify of His son (as He did in the form of a dove descending on the head of Jesus at His baptism, and stating in a plain voice from heaven about how loved His Son truly was); the Pharisees would have still refused to believe.  They did not believe it the first time.  This is the same cry for “proof” that Atheists demand today, that even if answered would never be enough.  The Pharisees of His day would have claimed it was Satan that appeared masquerading as God.  The Atheists of our day would claim it was some sort of mass hysteria or mass hallucination or CGI trickery if merely seen on TV.  When one refuses to believe, no amount of “proof” will ever shake them from their refusal.

Jesus offers his response picking back up in mid verse 19 … “Jesus answered, Ye neither know me, nor my Father: if ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also.”  This was more than a statement about the parentage of Christ.  This was a statement about where their lifelong study of scripture had led them to the wrong conclusions because their motives and premise were not the right ones.  If they had understood the love of the Father as revealed throughout the Old Testament, they would have seen this love reflected in the person of Jesus Christ.  Every story of redemption throughout the Old Testament showed that when man recognized and admitted that he could not save Himself, God intervened and saved Him.  Every story that chronicled man’s attempts at saving himself, ended badly, or worse ended violently.  When man attempts to get involved with his own salvation the results are horrific.  But when man allows God to handle it, the outcome is assured.  This lesson was lost on the Pharisees.  They saw only their own importance.  And so those who should have been most alert to the Messiah, and should have been the first to recognize Him and follow Him, looked away from the source of light, preferring to wander in darkness.  They did not know God the Father, so they did not recognize God in the person of Jesus Christ.  All their accumulated study and knowledge did nothing to alert them to the light that stood before them now.  Power was more important to them.  Humility was absent from them.  And missing the light of the world was the result.

John footnotes his story at this point, noting that Christ was teaching in the treasury, to those who were there.  The leaders were none too happy with Him, and would have killed Him on the spot, but the divinely appointed hour was not yet come.  So they left Him alone.  But His sermon was not yet over …

Doubt and Division ...

The setting remained at the Temple during Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem.  Jesus had come here to teach his doctrine of love and salvation, and had already convinced some that were there listening that He truly was the Messiah.  This knowledge reached the Pharisees and His ability to reach the minds and hearts of the people could not go unchallenged.  To maintain their hold over the people, to maintain their authority to teach truth and doctrines as its only source, the Pharisees must see this young upstart removed from "their" Temple and brought to them to answer for His crimes.  Sometimes for church leaders, the preservation of the hierarchy is more important than the dissemination of truth and love.  The preservation of church authority is more important than a true conversion which might turn leaders into servants.  And so using the “muscle” of the church at the time, in chapter 7 and verse 32 of John’s gospel account, the Pharisees send their officers to forcibly take Christ and bring Him to them, to answer for His deeds.

When a church must rely on the power of force or compulsion to insure its own preservation, it has lost sight of any truth it may have once known.  The God of both Old and New Testaments has never compelled mankind to love and serve Him, for it is impossible to “force” love.  Love must always be a choice if it is to be love.  Our God of love “chose” to save us, and take on our punishment in order to redeem us.  Our God offers us the “choice” of being saved from the pain we inflict on ourselves and others.  Our God longs to save us from the fate of death that inevitably accompanies the evil we embrace.  But He does not force us to make this choice.  He cannot.  He can only offer.  We are free to accept or reject.  It is our freedom to choose hate and death; that makes it a true choice when we pick love and life. 

It was this same freedom that allowed Lucifer to break trust with God, and choose to pursue his own wisdom instead of God’s; and evil which had never been known, was born into the universe.  Up until that time, Lucifer had chosen to follow God and trust in God as had every other sentient being in the universe.  But up to that time the choice was natural and logical.  No one had ever put themselves or their own wisdom ahead of God’s.  No one had ever challenged love or its motives.  No one had ever looked to themselves as a source of wisdom that might match or rival God’s; until Lucifer made that choice.  He broke trust with God, and decided to follow self, and the negative spiral that ensued defines the evil that now lies in the hearts of the Pharisees, who lead the church of His day.

But the doctrine of Satan is nothing like the doctrines of God.  Where God would offer us a choice to be free from self, Satan would gladly compel us to serve self with an addiction we are unable to break.  Satan is uninterested in freedom, but keenly happy to enslave any who even briefly look away from God.  The doctrine of Satan is most happy when it is able to compel others to submit to its authority.  It is happier still when it can compel truth to be silent, mix it with error, and present it as the “will” of God.  The Pharisees had abandoned truth for power, and in so doing were now doing the will of the father of evil.  The doctrine that would compel the conscious of others is authored and preserved by Satan himself.  When a church adopts compulsion, it adopts with it, Satanic doctrine from which it will be powerless to escape.  Power and control have a high allure to unconverted minds that know not what it means to truly love.  This was the lot of the Pharisees in the days of Christ, this was the path they had chosen.  I wonder, if the Catholic and Protestant churches of today, that claim the name of Christ, would also be willing to completely abandon the power and influence they seek to exert in the halls of governments around the world, opting instead to offer only truth and love to all who have need?

But Jesus was not there to compel, He was there to make an offer of freedom to His listeners.  And Christ knew something the people there did not: He would not always be with them.  There was a limit to the time He would be permitted to spend with them.  His offer to them bore a sense of immediacy.  He had a sense of urgency.  There was a real need, that required a real solution, and it required it now.  To those sent to take Him, Jesus responds in verse 33 … “Then said Jesus unto them, Yet a little while am I with you, and then I go unto him that sent me. [verse 34] Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, thither ye cannot come.”  God longs to be with mankind, His creation.  Love longs to be with its object.  Every precious minute spent with Christ, was one that Christ wanted to spend with us, and one we should have treasured to spend with Him.  The life of Christ was not to be one that would last indefinitely with His people.  His work required an end to His earthly life, and a return to the Father who sent Him.  Once removed physically from our presence, we would be unable to follow Him where He was going.

The offer of Christ was not that we should be saved from evil within us, only at the last great day.  It was an offer of salvation that could begin immediately.  Our pain does not delay, our cure must not either.  Christ had come to meet our need of salvation, and meet it in the here and now.  He does not defer His offer until a last great day of judgment.  He does not require us to live in the pain of self-service the entirety of our lives, die, and only then be resurrected to finally know the freedom from serving self that His offer truly brings.  He offers it here.  He offers it now.  He offers that a belief in Him is able to meet our most immediate need, it is able to end the pain we inflict on ourselves and others in the here and now.  This is why He was so passionate with what time He had left among us.  It is why He so longed to free us, because He saw that our need was so great.  He knew we would want to simply be with Him, for when we are in the presence of Christ our pain is taken away.  He knew that when we seek Him, we find relief when we find Him.  And He knew, that soon the punishment justice would require would remove Him from our lives in a physical way. 

Only Christ would transcend death, and be reunited to His Father.  Only Christ, being God, could be something more than mortal.  Christ knew that even when we die, we do not escape our graves, we do not follow Him to heaven.  We sleep.  If it were otherwise, His words that day may have been different.  He may have said, fear not, when you die believing in me you will be instantly reunited with me in heaven just after your death.  Instead He says … “where I am, thither ye cannot come”.  We are not immortal.  We are not transcendent.  We do not enter the door of death, only to re-emerge in some other higher state of being.  We are dust, and to dust we return.  We sleep when we die, knowing nothing.  We sleep awaiting the last great day of resurrection, and in that hope, but our consciousness ceases to exist.  It is this truth that Christ knows, and His listeners do not.  Time for us, is not without limits, at least not yet.  We have only the limits of our mortal existence in which to choose to be made free from our pain and sin.  We have only now to choose to embrace life, and let go of the path of death that follows trusting to self, instead of to God.  Jesus preaches with an urgency, to reach those that are listening.  His would-be kidnappers are stopped in their tracks, the urgency with which love calls to them, reaching into the innermost parts of their hearts, causes them to completely lose track of the mission they have been assigned.

But the leaders present at His sermon are not so moved, they are puzzled.  Beginning in verse 35 they begin to wonder aloud where Christ might go that they could not find Him.  Is He going to teach the Gentiles maybe in some far off land?  What on earth could He mean that He is going somewhere they cannot go?  This saying makes no sense to them, as once again, they are thinking in physical terms and not in spiritual ones.  This is often the case when unconverted minds who trust not in any wisdom outside of their own, attempt to interpret truth.  When we decide it is our job to “tell” God what truth is, we rarely get it right.  What we do instead, is attempt to “tell” each other what truth is, in no uncertain terms, and use this as a basis to form an organized church.  What Christ told His listeners did not make sense to those who were not there to follow, but to lead.  Leaders could make no sense of this.  They had the means and power and influence to track Christ down, no matter where He tried to run from them.  But frankly to be rid of Him, was not an unpleasant idea anyway.  It was the concept that having been rid of Him, they would only then want to actually find Him that perplexed them.  Why would they want to find Him, after they had won?  This idea was troubling.

Time though, was growing short.  The Feast was nearly over.  People would be returning to their homes, some of them may never have the chance to hear the author of truth and love ever again.  And so the urgency increases even more, in verse 37 it states … “In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. [verse 38] He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. [verse 39] (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)”  Again Jesus quotes the scriptures of His day, again Jesus ratifies that the Old Testament spoke truth despite what misinterpretations the people of His day, or ours, had associated with it.  Again Jesus speaks of “living” waters that spring from “within” us.  This is the gift He is here to offer and His Holy Spirit will see fulfilled.  We are not the source of this blessing, we are the recipient of it.  It is something that will be placed within us, not grown there of our own deeds and intentions.  We that “believe” on Him will see this transformation take place in our lives.  We that “believe” on Him and not ourselves, truth His wisdom and not our own, will see a river, not just a trinkle, but a flowing river of living water flow out of us.  For it is His power, His love, and His truth that can flow through us, when we submit ourselves out of His way.  When we submit to Christ, we can be a vessel for His Spirit; instead of predisposed to wish credit for His actions, and fame for our part in His service.  But because Jesus was not glorified yet, and was still with us personally, His Spirit had not yet been poured out on His followers.

The words of Christ, like seeds on the ground, encountered a variety of responses in the ears of His listeners.  There were some who heard and did not fully understand, but they knew His words had the ring of truth to them.  Perhaps they could not fully understand them, but they knew them to be true.  These would gladly call Him “the prophet”.  Others heard the love in Him, others knew that the source of love was in Him like in no other man that had ever been, or would ever be.  And so they gladly called Him the Messiah, the Christ, the long awaited hope of Israel.  These were even more blessed.  But there were some, who though they were convicted He was the Messiah, could not reconcile their own prejudices with what they knew of His background or origin.  They perceived Him to be from Galilee and from Nazareth, not from Bethlehem of the house of David.  After all, Herod had slaughtered all the male children of Bethlehem about the time which Christ was born, no one had survived to their knowledge, so even based on the scriptures they knew – the perceived the facts could not line up with this Jesus being the Messiah.  And verse 43 pens the painful reality of His age, and of ours … “So there was a division among the people because of him.”

How painful it must be to Jesus our Lord, that so many people who claim His name, are so divided from each other “because” of Him?  For He is one Lord, so why do we divide ourselves from each other, while all still claiming our method of following the one Lord is the only “one” He would approve of?  It was not the Old Testament that was in error in the day of Christ, nor the prophecies of His place of origin that were mistaken, it was the understanding of the people who simply did not know, or refused to accept, the truth of Him.  Christ was born in Bethlehem from the lineage of David, as the prophets foretold.  It was true.  Whether people knew, or chose to believe it, was the only question at issue.  There was no “real” need for division over the truth, for the truth was true, and did fit the facts.  It was us, in the error.  It was again when we applied “our” knowledge of scripture and the facts, that “we” drew a different conclusion and division arose.  It is the same today.  We look at scripture and attempt to teach, rather than to learn.  We apply our “knowledge” of the facts, and draw conclusions different from each other.  And we allow these differing conclusions to become so important to us, that we separate ourselves from each other over them.  Instead of cherishing the uniting principle and motive of love, that could supersede all other ideas of truth; we allow our pride in our “understanding” of doctrine to keep us from free association with fellow believers so as to keep “pure” our ideas of doctrine, over simple love.  The division of His listeners is little different than the division of hundreds of protestant churches who color the landscape of Christianity today.

Verse 44 continues … “And some of them would have taken him; but no man laid hands on him.”  Some of the officers sent to take Him, now gave it careful consideration.  But all in all, His passion, His love, and His truth touched them deep in their minds and souls.  The power of love in the message of truth was so compelling, that men under orders who knew the penalty for failure, decided they could not fulfill their mission.  Instead they return empty handed to the eagerly awaiting Pharisees, who expected to judge Christ, condemn Him, and see Him killed in their presence.  They were to be disappointed.  When the soldiers appeared without Him, the Pharisees demand to know why they did not bring Him?  They could have lied.  They could have simply told the truth that there were so many there who did believe, it might have caused a riot to attempt to grab Him then.  The Pharisees would have believed that answer, and likely been satisfied with it.  But instead they told a different truth, the real truth in verse 46 … “The officers answered, Never a man spake like this man.”  The power of truth in love had reached the hearts of those sent to take Him.  To this the furious Pharisees ask … “are ye also deceived?”  They add in verse 48 … “Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him?”  This they offered as “proof” He was not the Messiah.  Since none of the church leaders of the day had endorsed Him, He could not be the one.  As if truth and love, require the endorsement of the leadership of the church, before they can be “truth and love”.

In verse 49, in order to further prove their point about leadership knowing what is best, and simple parishioners not knowing that facts they add the commentary … “But this people who knoweth not the law are cursed.”  Simpletons.  These idiot guards are cursed for not knowing the truth the exalted leadership knew.  But in his account of this incident, John did not go with allowing this unjust idea to stand.  Instead it was debunked in real time.  Nicodemus, a venerated leader, and one of the Pharisees was in attendance that day.  Nicodemus, unbeknownst to any of them, had sought Christ out at night and learned directly from Jesus the words of truth, love, and light.  None of these men knew it.  But Nicodemus did, and he was educated.  Nicodemus then calls to their attention the hypocrisy of claiming a curse on the uneducated guards based on the law, when attempting to use the law to condemn a man without trial, and without even hearing from Him?  In verse 51 … “Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth?”  Salt in a wound there my friend, salt in a wound.  The stunned Pharisees hardly could recover from this, one of their own just called them out on their shenanigans.   Now they are just plain mad at Nicodemus for this humiliation and respond in verse 52 … “They answered and said unto him, Art thou also of Galilee? Search, and look: for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet. [verse 53] And every man went unto his own house.”

To the truth of the words of Nicodemus in exposing their hypocrisy they offer further “prejudice” as proof.  Asking if Nicodemus too was from Galilee (knowing he was not), they ask him to ever disprove the notion that Galilee was not a place from where great prophets ever came from.  Of course this idea too, ignores that Bethlehem was the place of His birth, and that He descended from the lineage of David.  But to keep this argument from coming up, in verse 53 they take an immediate action – meeting adjourned.  Better to go home disappointed they did not get to judge Christ that night, than to have further conversations that may reveal the truth of His heritage and origin of birth.  If ever forced to confront the truth of Him, they would be forced to admit they had no leg to stand on in regards to their hatred of Him, other than He threatened their power over the minds of the people.  Satan HATES losing control over his subjects.  So too, do religious leaders hate losing influence over the minds and hearts of their flocks.  But truth needs no guardian.  Love needs no army.  The true power of the gospel is found in humility.  The transformation that follows a real encounter with Christ, cannot be stopped by edict, or any other device of Satan.  So it was in His day, and in ours …