already & not yet

Reading for Monday, Jan. 16: John 11

John 11 stands as one of the most powerful promises in Scripture. V25-26, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” Ultimately, this is the most important question of our lives.

Martha’s response of faith acts as the fulcrum that sets everything else in motion in this chapter. Listen to her heartfelt response, even as she’s grieving: “Yes, Lord,” she told him, “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.” What follows is probably the greatest demonstration of the power of faith that John has recorded for us so far.

v35 — “Jesus wept.” There aren’t any shorter verses in Scripture, but few are as profoundly deep as this one. The image of a heartbroken, weeping Messiah might be a bit unsettling to us at first. It might be a little like seeing your Dad or your grandfather cry; as children, we don’t know what to do with that because we expect those parents and grandparents to always have the answers. We’re not accustomed to seeing some of these figures like this, overwhelmed to the point of tears. Yet, this is where we find Jesus, utterly heartbroken. The text indicates that Jesus knows how this little episode is going to end, in God being glorified (v4) and with people coming to faith (v15). Yet, this does little to assuage the hurt and the pain Jesus feels when he sees his friends mourning the loss of their brother.

In our own brokenness and grief, we can turn to Jesus as one who understands what we’re feeling. He knows how overwhelming the pain can be. He remembers standing outside that tomb, longing for his friend once more. He stands now as OUR high priest, fully capable of representing the human experience — with all of its emotions and feelings and experiences — before God the Father. In Jesus, we have one who knows how we feel, how we think, and what we need.

One point of clarification: there are some who argue we should refer to this as the “resuscitation of Lazarus” rather than the “resurrection of Lazarus”. This seems like a minor point until we recognize that although Lazarus was brought back from death, he later died again — at least as far as we can tell. The resurrection of Jesus is characterized by unending and eternal life. As miraculous as this story is, the fact remains that Lazarus awaits the fullness of the final resurrection along with all the rest of the believers. However, this miracle stands as a powerful promise of the kind of life — life to the full — that we can find in Christ.

Chapter 9 brings us to a man born in blindness and his healing encounter with Jesus. Although I wouldn’t want to push the causal implications of v3, Jesus indicates that the man’s condition is occasion for God’s power to be demonstrated. The elements of this healing are pretty ordinary: saliva, mud, water. But it is this man’s obedience — the sign of true vision — that restores his sight. This blind man can see what the Pharisees can not; he “sees” who Jesus is, even without the aid of his eyes.

The Pharisees seem to only be looking for reasons NOT to believe. In this case, despite the once-was-blind-but-now-I-see man right in front of them, they decide Jesus can’t be a prophet because the healing occurred on a Sabbath. Their fear-mongering is effective; the man’s own parents are afraid of testifying about Jesus for fear of being put out of the synagogue (v22). The Pharisees’ refusal to both see and listen (v27) point to their need for Jesus. (John is careful, though, to give us the example of Nicodemus, a Jewish leader who seems open to understanding Jesus on His own terms.) The story ends with the healed man being thrown out of the synagogue (v34).

I love what happens next: Jesus seeks out the man again. He asks, “Do you believe in the Son of Man? (v35)” and the man replies, “Lord, I believe” (v38). Through faith, this man experiences the full healing Christ comes to extend to blind humanity. Through his humble reception of Jesus, this man — displaced, rejected by his own faith community — is received hospitably by Jesus.

Praise God that through Jesus He has taken us in as well! He receives us in our spiritual blindness and gives us Jesus, the lenses we need to see the world and ourselves properly. Remember Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5.3). The first step to receiving the Kingdom is a posture of humility: recognizing our need for what only Christ can provide. Jesus’ words to the Pharisees serve as a warning against spiritual haughtiness: “If you were blind, you would not be guilty; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.” (9.41)

Jesus seeks those with humility to recognize the blindness of their own lives. Jesus seeks those who are willing to admit they can’t make it on their own. And Jesus promises a place for those who experience rejection for His sake, culminating in a home of eternal life with God.

Reading for Wednesday, Jan 11: John 8

This is probably my favorite chapter in John so far. It’s so rich with teaching: the contrast between truth and lie; the belief that Jesus is the light of the world; the hope that in Him we have eternal life. These are themes that John puts on full display here in this chapter.

I could write pages and pages on the opening scene with the woman caught in adultery. The Pharisees conceived this perfect plan: if Jesus condemns her for her sin, He stands in violation of Roman law — because the Jews, under Roman occupation, were incapable of carrying out their own death sentences. But if he concedes to Rome, He’s in danger of violating a greater law in their eyes: the law of Moses.

But Jesus has a perfect plan of His own: grace. They drag this woman before Him and demand a verdict, but Jesus won’t dishonor her by even looking at her shameful state. Instead, he stoops down and begins writing in the dirt. When they press Him for an answer, He acknowledges her sin and the just punishment: death. But He adds a crucial caveat: if you’re going to play judge and jury, you’d better be sure you’re without sin first. This calls to mind His teaching from the sermon on the mount re: the speck in your brother’s eye and the plank in your own.

I love what Jesus says to her: “Where have your accusers gone? Has no one condemned you?” When she looks around and tells Him they’ve gone, His reply is dripping with mercy: “Then neither do I condemn you.” As Paul will tell us later, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, (Rom 8.1)”. But Jesus doesn’t just leave her where she is; He calls her into a new life. “Now go, and sin no more.”

As we wrestle with sin, we can take courage that our relationship with Christ secures for us this same graceful position, a place devoid of condemnation before God. However, we should also heed Jesus’ words here; grace should never be abused. Paul reminds us of this, too, in Romans 8.

V12 – Jesus declares to be the light of the world. In Isaiah 49.6, Israel was commanded to be a light to the Gentiles. “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant, to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” Where Israel fails at this call, Jesus is successful. Through Jesus, people of every tribe, race, nation, and tongue can enter into covenant relationship with God. But the religious leaders of Jesus’ day have difficulty with this. They perceive Jesus as a threat to the establishment — and more pointedly, as a threat to their position. But v30 tells us “Even as He spoke, many believed in Him.”

Chapter 8 gives us a full understanding of the relationship between grace and obedience. Jesus says we are all slaves to sin (v7, 34), yet through obedience to Him, we might taste eternal life (v51). This is the truth that sets us free (v32).

What are your thoughts as you read through chapter 8? What questions emerge for you as you reflect on what we’ve read so far?