Meeting Jesus can sometimes be an uncomfortable
experience.
This part of John begins with a group of people who had
begun a journey of belief in Jesus.
Jesus points out that applying the brain (belief) needed to include a
change in behaviour (obey). The inward change needed to have an impact on
external actions, and this combination of belief and obedience would lead to
truth and freedom. Following Jesus
involved transformation, inside and out.
But this call to commitment took these new believers out of
their comfort zone. They responded by retreating into pride in their heritage
and became limited by their own preconceived ideas of what freedom might look
like. Imprisoned by the past, they were unable to let go and move forward and
when challenged, this blinkered view drove them away from God and brought them
into direct conflict with Jesus. Jesus’
response is to stand his ground, and he repeatedly offers them revelations of
himself – he is sent from the Father, brings eternal life, he is honoured by
God and finally at the end, they are left with no uncertainties that he is God,
the ‘I am’. Yet, they still could not
move forward into freedom.
This passage took my thoughts in two directions.
One more personal – are there times when I hold back God’s
transformational work in my life because of pride, being locked into the past
or failing to grasp the bigger, wider perspective that God offers me?
The other, a reflection on the occasional response of
friends, family – who might reject and actively resist the truth and the person
of Jesus. How I need to pray for them,
that they might experience repeated revelations of Jesus, and the realisation
that truth brings freedom.
Response
This passage may have
created a desire in you to release more of God’s transforming power into your
life, or you may long for this for a friend/family member. Ask God to do this, or find a trusted friend
to pray with you.
Louise
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