Freedom From the Power and Penalty of Sin
To Those who BELIEVED in Him, Jesus said…
“If You Hold To My Teaching, You are Really My Disciples. Then You Will Know The Truth And The Truth Will Set You Free” John 8:31-32 NIV
If we do not get anything else out of chapter 8, we need to at least get this. If we hold to Jesus teaching, we are really His disciples. If we truly BELIEVE, then we must be FAITHFUL. I looked up a few words in the dictionary to get a grasp on what it means “to hold to His teaching”. To hold is to maintain my position. The King James uses the word ‘continue’. To continue is to maintain without interruption in a condition, or on a course. Other synonyms are ‘endure’ ~ to remain firm without yielding; ‘abide’ ~ endure without yielding and accept without objection. Wow! Hold To ~ even through difficult times, persecution….and even though yes….as some of Jesus disciples told Him in chapter 6 verse 60, ’this is a hard teaching’. But, ‘Be of good cheer, Jesus has overcome the world’ (John 16:33).
Now, we’ll go back to the beginning verses of John 8. Even in this matter, of the woman caught in adultery, Jesus tends to the work about which He came for. This woman, who is being publicly persecuted for her sin (pretty dirty of the ‘Pharisees to try to trip up the Lord, at the expense of this woman), is treated with mercy and compassion by Jesus. Yet, when Jesus sent her away, he did so with a caution…‘Go now, but leave your life of sin’ (John 8:11). Matthew Henry’s commentary says, “Christ’s favour to us in the forgiveness of past sins should prevail (become effective and continue) with us, ‘go then, and sin no more’.
If you have read Chapter 8, you know that Jesus’ persecutors are becoming more aggressive. The hearts of those persecuting Jesus are so closed, that they cannot see the truth right in front of them. It is so hard for me to imagine this. Everything Jesus says to them, is interpreted in the physical realm. I can’t understand how their hearts can be so closed to the Spirit and the Scriptures. I guess just because you can memorize the entire written Word, doesn’t make you a hearer of the Word.
Even thought Jesus is telling it exactly like it is, no one trys to lay a hand on him….that is until He says (verse 58), “I AM”. (see Exodus 3:14) Okay, them thar’ was fightin’ words to these people, because Jesus just declared His deity. He ranked Himself with God. They take his claim as blasphemy (strong irreverent behavior). Then, (I love this part…I can just imagine Jesus sort of fading away) “He hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds” (verse 59).
Magician?…NO!……The ‘I AM’?….YES!
More of Jesus Testimony Of Himself
“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life”. John 8:12
“I stand with the Father who sent me”. John 8:16b
Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am the one I claim to be, and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” John 8:28-29
This entry was posted on Thursday, February 25th, 2010 at 11:46 pm and is filed under Bible Studies, Sharing The Gospel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
