This morning I am continuing my reading out of John's Gospel, turning back a few chapters from where I have been recently. I was once again struck by the straight-forward language Jesus uses here - John 12:44-50 NIV:
[44] "Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. [45] The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me. [46] I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness."
[47] “If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. [48] There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day. [49] For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken. [50] I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”
There is much to reflect upon here, and I will start with the first two sentences - where Jesus speaks about His representation of the Father. If we have seen Jesus, if we meditate on His words and actions, we will see and understand the Father. Believing Jesus, is the same as believing the Father, because Jesus is saying exactly what the Father told Him, and doing everything as the Father directed. The author of the Letter to the Hebrews, captured this in their opening statement calling Jesus the exact representation of the Father (Heb 1:3), and we would do well to take notice and let our heart receive this significant truth. The Father is just like Jesus, or Jesus is just like the Father. Let our hearts resonate with this truth!
Furthermore, Jesus didn't come to judge, but rather He came to save the world! (verse 47 above) So often God is portrayed as wanting to judge, waiting to judge, bringing judgment on the earth, etc., and yet here is Jesus saying the exact opposite. This is one of those verses that we need to make a bed-rock of our theology and practice. If Jesus didn't come to judge, then who do we think we are setting ourselves up as judges of those who are lost, those who have different opinions, those living under deception, those who have been wounded?
Jesus came to save the world, and He did just that! He laid His life down, to pay the price for our sin, that we wouldn't have to be judged. When God looked down on the earth and saw our condition, He chose to save us rather than judge us. This is the perfect revelation of the Father, spoken from the mouth of the Son, anything else is a wrong understanding, or partial revelation.
I can't imagine the impact these words would have had on the Jews who lived under the law, with its rules an judgments. It must have been freeing and at the same time disconcerting to have to change their understanding of God. We find that many just couldn't adjust or adopt what Jesus was saying, and instead embrace a salvation with the addition of the Law. Paul spent quite a bit of time, trying to correct this wrong perspective, devoting much of his letter to the Galatians to this topic. He penned the the following statement - Galatians 5:1 NIV: "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery (speaking of the requirements of the Law)." Peter and James both wrote about this freedom in Christ, and it was a clear message.
All wrote that there were dangers in this freedom, for there were those that completely misunderstood the purpose. The purpose of Jesus was to open the way once again to relationship with the Father, which exactly what He accomplished. He pointed to the Father constantly, was directed by the Father, and spoke what the Father asked Him to speak. He was urging all to embrace relationship with the Father, rather than rules, which don't require relationship. He wanted to establish us as sons and daughters, not slaves and servants.
Finally, looking at verse 50, Jesus says, "I know that His (Father's) Command leads to eternal life." When we read this our modern mindset tilts a bit, because we don't associate commands with relationships. We think that commands are rules (10 Commandments) and we don't see this as a relational statement (at least that is how it works in my mind). The original Greek word that is translated command is the word "entole" and it is defined as follows:
1) an order, command, charge, precept, injunction
a) that which is prescribed to one by reason of his office
Now if I read this from a law and judgment perspective, it sounds like it is affirming that approach. However, if we read this with an understanding that the Father doesn't want to judge, but rather save us, then maybe it can be understood differently. I like the a) part of the definition, because I can understand that from the perspective of my doctor. She is a great doctor who only wants to help me. She will sometimes give me a prescription to take, to help me with a certain condition or situation. The prescription is up to me to take, she doesn't force me! The choice is mine to make whether I take the prescription or not. There are natural consequences to my choice, but her motivation is simply trying to help me. If we change the word from command to prescription in verses 50, it certainly takes on a different coloring. Add to that change of wording, the knowledge that the Father loves us and wants to extend eternal life to us, has made the way, and is now guiding us towards that path, and we can see the heart of the Father, and it is to invite us into relationship that leads us to eternal life!
Thank You Lord for Your revelation! Thank You for revealing the heart of the Father! Thank You for inviting us into relationship, that we might have eternal life! Thank You for saving us! Thank You for setting us free from the Law, that we might experience freedom! Thank You for not judging me in my human weakness and sin, but rather extending to me salvation and mercy!
Amen!
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