#John7 - Lord, Liar, or Lunatic

Click here to read John 7:

1. What stood out to me from this chapter?

Throughout this chapter, people are trying to figure out who Jesus is. Some said he was a good man. Others say he was a deceiver. Other's said he was crazy or demon-possessed. Others believed that he was the Messiah, the chosen one sent by God. The book Mere Christianity is a composition of teachings by C.S. Lewis. One of the propositions he makes is that it is not logically possible to think that Jesus was just "a good teacher." If he was not God, but claimed to be, he was not good. He was either a liar or a lunatic. He goes on further to say, "You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronising nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to. ... Now it seems to me obvious that He was neither a lunatic nor a fiend: and consequently, however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem, I have to accept the view that He was and is God." To me, this chapter points out this "Trilemma", that Jesus was either Lord, liar, or lunatic, as well as any other in Scripture.

2. How does this relate to any other Scripture I know?

It's also interesting that the temple guards who went to arrest Jesus ended up being amazed by him and couldn't bring themselves to go through with it. There are other similar examples of this happening in the Bible. The centurion standing at the cross said, "Surely this was the Son of God." The jailer who was keeping Paul and Silas in Acts 16 came to believe in God and he and his household were saved.

3. What does this mean for my life?

"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." (John 7:18) I want my life to be for God's glory. If I am called to speak, may it be not so people would think more highly of me, but of God.
4. What questions do I have about this passage?

Multiple people were asking the question, "Shouldn't the Messiah come from Bethlehem instead of Galilee?" Wasn't there anyone that knew that Jesus was born in Bethlehem? What about his parents? Wouldn't his parents have said something? Wouldn't his brothers have said, "Actually he was born in Bethlehem when our mother was a virgin, after she received a vision from an angel and confirmation from shepherds and foreign dignitaries." You'd think that might have made a difference.

Those are my thoughts for this chapter. I'd love to hear yours. God's blessings to you and KEEP DIGGING IN!

In Christ,
Dan

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#John6 - The Most Wonderful Bread

Click here to read John 6:

1. What stood out to me from this chapter?

Almost the entire chapter was about bread. First Jesus feeds the 5,000 with five loaves and two fish. Then when the crowds find him again on the other side of the lake, they ask for more bread. Jesus calls them out on their fickle dependence on him for actual food, when they should be seeking him for eternal life. Jesus says, in essence, "God sent bread down from heaven to keep you alive from day to day, but now he has sent me so that you can be alive for all eternity. Get your eyes off the ground and your stomachs, and look up to see what God is really doing here. Even WonderBread still spoils eventually despite the added preservatives. Get some of the most wonderful bread, that will never spoil - me."

2. How does this relate to any other Scripture I know?

When Jesus talks about eating his flesh and drinking his blood, it sounds a little creepy and weird. It seems at first like symbolism, and then he keeps using the same language and carries it to a point where it has to still be symbolism, but doesn't sound much like it anymore. But it did make me think of Holy Communion and the Last Supper. Jesus broke the bread and said, "Take and eat, this is my body given for you." He also took the cup of wine and said, "This cup is the new covenant sealed in my blood...drink of it." It sounds very similar, and reminds us that we need Jesus at every turn.

3. What does this mean for my life?

For this question, I look at the scene at the end of the chapter where many disciples desert Jesus. He then turns to the twelve remaining and asks why they haven't left yet. Peter (often the first to reply) said, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God." As I have experienced more of life and simultaneously become more acquainted with the Bible, I find myself thinking the same thing. "Where else am I going to go? God is the only thing that actually makes life make sense. Life as revealed in the Bible is the only one worth living."

4. What questions do I have about this passage?

How do the two concepts Jesus teaches about those who believe have eternal life, and that God is the one who draws them in make sense together? It sounds a little contradictory, but I'm just curious how they really fit together.

Those are my thoughts for this chapter. I'd love to hear yours. God's blessings to you and KEEP DIGGING IN!

In Christ,
Dan

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#John5 - Testify!

Click here to read John 5:

1. What stood out to me from this chapter?

This chapter was again filled with directives to believe in Jesus. It's amazing how much that word has come up in just five chapters of this gospel. But besides that this piece about Jesus having testimony about him really intrigued me. In the culture of that day, there weren't news camera's on every corner. There wasn't Facebook or Instagram or Twitter to spread the word about something. There weren't camera's on everyone's cell phones to capture visual proof of events. Instead, people relied almost entirely on the witness and testimony of others. Jesus is saying that there are really three major testimonies verifying that Jesus is the Son of God. John the Baptist verbally testified that Jesus is the Messiah, God the Father testified about him through the obvious and miraculous work Jesus was doing, and the Scriptures even testified about him. He is trying to use human reasoning to convince the hard-hearted that he really is who he says he is.

2. How does this relate to any other Scripture I know?

When Jesus healed the invalid by the pool, the man went away and obeyed Jesus fully. Despite the Jewish leaders who were appalled that this healing happened on the Sabbath, Jesus meets up with this guy later and tells him, "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." This reminds me of how Jesus handled the situation with the adulterous woman. After he restored her dignity, he said, "Now go and sin no more," or "Go now and leave your life of sin." Jesus doesn't condone sin. He doesn't just dismiss it as okay. But he still offers healing, hope, and salvation to all of us despite our sin. The question is, will we repent, believe in Jesus, and live our life for him?

3. What does this mean for my life?

The way Jesus describes his relationship with God the Father made me realize that I need to let go of some things and really let God have control of my life. "...the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does." I want to be able to say of my life, "Dan can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does Dan also does." That would be the ultimate aim of our sanctification, the process God uses to transform us more and more into his image.

4. What questions do I have about this passage?

What was Jesus talking about when he said he was going to the dead, and that the dead would hear the voice of God and believe and live. Was he speaking of his death? Like apostles creed "he descended into hell," stuff? That was a little confusing.

Those are my thoughts for this chapter. I'd love to hear yours. God's blessings to you and KEEP DIGGING IN!

In Christ,
Dan

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