Is Jesus the Christ?

Monday, March 16

Psalm 77
Jeremiah 7:1-15
Romans 4:1-12
John 7:14-36

The opposition to Jesus is mounting among the Jewish authorities and people at large are whispering in speculation. Who is this man? Is he the Messiah, or is he demon posessed- a blasphemer?
If we read this chapter from the beginning verses we see that even his brothers did not believe in him, but were attempting to force him to present himself publicly in Jerusalem at the feast of Tabernacles in much the same way as his mother had expected him to at the wedding in Cana.
His answer to them was that his time had not yet come. He knew that in order to fullfill the purposes of God in his life that he must also be obedient in relationship to the time and nature of his choice to proceed to Jerusalem. He chooses to travel separately and doesn't arrive until halfway through the feast.
He challenges the reactions that he receives to his teaching, and the fact that they are seeking to take his life because of his breach of the sabbath laws in healing the invalid at the pool of Bethesda six months before.
Jesus addresses the true essence and content of the law in justifing his actions. His learning and insight came not from the Pharisaic study of the law, but from the source of the law, - from God himself.
His teaching and insight, indeed his claims concerning himself provoke a furor of reactions. "Is he the Christ?", or "is he demon posessed?" Perhaps the most puzzling to them was that this man who amazed them did not meet with their prior expectations as to whom the Christ would be.
It seems as thought the Jewish authorities were also at a loss as to what to do in relationship to the claims he made about himself, the depth of his teaching and insight, and the power revealed in his miracles.
We meet the same type of reactions to our own confession of Christ as Lord today. We can be met by people carrying assumptions concerning Jesus and the Christian faith that are not built on the truth. If we meet others with the embodied truth of Christ in our lives, and reveal a wisdom and grace not from ourselves but from He who sends us, we will be able to help others to find Him, because he can indeed be found. The time came for his journey to Jerusalem culminating in his crucifiction, death and burial. It also resulted in his resurrection and salvation for all who place their trust in him as their Lord and Savior. Let us live lives that challenge pre-conceived ideas of what it means to be followers of Christ. Let us live in the generosity of love and grace in the power of the Holy Spirit, obedient to the law written not on tablets of stone but on the flesh of our hearts. It will create a reaction!

Pastor Linda


Jesus Teaches at the Feast

14 Not until halfway through the Feast did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. 15 The Jews were amazed and asked, "How did this man get such learning without having studied?"

16 Jesus answered, "My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me. 17 If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. 18 He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself, but he who works for the honor of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him. 19 Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?"
20"You are demon-possessed," the crowd answered. "Who is trying to kill you?"

21 Jesus said to them, "I did one miracle, and you are all astonished. 22 Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a child on the Sabbath. 23 Now if a child can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing the whole man on the Sabbath? 24 Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment."

Is Jesus the Christ?
25 At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, "Isn't this the man they are trying to kill? 26 Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Christ? 27 But we know where this man is from; when the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from."

28 Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, "Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. I am not here on my own, but he who sent me is true. You do not know him, 29 but I know him because I am from him and he sent me."

30 At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come. 31 Still, many in the crowd put their faith in him. They said, "When the Christ comes, will he do more miraculous signs than this man?"

32 The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about him. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him.

33 Jesus said, "I am with you for only a short time, and then I go to the one who sent me. 34 You will look for me, but you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come."
35 The Jews said to one another, "Where does this man intend to go that we cannot find him? Will he go where our people live scattered among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks? 36 What did he mean when he said, 'You will look for me, but you will not find me,' and 'Where I am, you cannot come'?"