A Daily Devotional – Personal Faith – Personal Meditation (19)

A Daily Devotional – Personal Faith – Personal Meditation

Comment: Many people of good intention, never end up achieving their goals. We do not need to add much more to that statement, do we? Since all of us feel good about ourselves even though many of our goals are never met. I am equally sure that ‘religion’ like that of the Sanhedrin in the days of the ministry of Jesus felt that their goals to preach, teach and observe their way to the kingdom of God was right. They defended their faith of ‘works’ even to the crucifixion of their Messiah, the LORD Jesus. Now we can say that this is all God’s Plan, and it most assuredly is, yet this reveals the evil results of man using his fleshly mind to seek to understand the way of God, rather than coming to God, ‘God’s way’; By God’s way, is by Faith in God, and not by the works of man.

Devotional: Our discussion in this series of devotionals is ‘personal faith in the Son of God’ that is nothing added and nothing taken away. This morning the following verses of scripture will reveal (that is if we care to meditate on these) will reveal that the LORD Jesus in His ministry to the Jewish leaders of His day was focused faith in God alone and not on achievement of human goals to gain the kingdom of God by human works.

John 8:13-20 – The Pharisees therefore said to Him, "You bear witness of Yourself; Your witness is not true." Jesus answered and said to them, "Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from and where I am going. You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. And yet if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me. It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true. I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me." Then they said to Him, "Where is Your Father?" Jesus answered, "You know neither Me nor My Father. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also." These words Jesus spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and no one laid hands on Him, for His hour had not yet come.

Their judgment and evaluation of Jesus was from the flesh; that is from the natural mind. The judgment of the LORD Jesus was from the Spirit of God (see John 4:24), one could say that the Jews were already at a disadvantage since the Spirit of God had not yet been given (John 7:39) but this would be a false assumption; Nicodemus and the woman at the well understood that the Messiah is Jesus, as well as many others. Blindness to the truth always comes by a lack of faith in God, while expressing faith in one’s own works.

A Daily Devotional – Personal Faith – Personal Meditation (18)

A Daily Devotional – Personal Faith – Personal Meditation

Comment: I reckon that some; even most of us are waiting for this upcoming section of John 7:53 through 8:11 where we have the record of a woman caught in adultery. I believe we all like this event because we are all sinners, we may not be adulterers, but we do identify with those who brought the woman to Jesus. They all came with stones, to stone her to death, but they all dropped their stones and left because they realized; by the Words that Jesus spoke, that they too were sinners. 

If I were the pastor of a New Testament church and thoroughly understood such things as I am about to write, I would be like the many who regard this text as added, since this section does not appear in any manuscripts before the sixth century. Dr. Tom Constable, whom I am referencing and consider as one whom understands these things refers to this section as added by a scribe to the gospel.

Devotional: Well what can we say about this? Dr. Tom Constable refers this section of the Bible, to events that may have happened but were not recorded. In this case, he refers to John 21:25 – “And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one. I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen!”

The question now arises, how does an event such as John 7:53 through 8:11 appear some 4 or 5 hundred years later? It is very possible that the event did take place and that the story was passed down through the Christendom. Some well-meaning scribe decided to add the event to show that the Jewish leaders were also as sinful as the crowd as recorded earlier in chapter 7.

So, another question develops! Are the words of John 7:53 through 8:11 inspired by the Holy Spirit of God? My answer is simple! If you read this section of scripture (which it is today) and you are inspired to turn from SIN and come to personal faith in the Savior, Jesus the Lamb of God, who died for your sin and rose again for your redemption, then it is God the Holy Spirit who directed your soul to this passage and approved it for your salvation. Amen!

A Daily Devotional – Personal Faith – Personal Meditation (17)

A Daily Devotional – Personal Faith – Personal Meditation

Comment: It is one matter to reject authority as we looked at yesterday, but when authority rejects authority, it is entirely a different problem. I am not focused, at the moment, on the political corruption within our own government here in the United States of America; but I could not let this opportunity go by without making that comparison. Reminding us that our current matters of freedom are not controlled by the Constitution of the United States, but by a certain sect of leaders (not those currently in office) who reject the given law of our ancestors and create for themselves laws that seek a new or enlightened wisdom, but who are fools.

Devotional: Okay, back to our text in John 7:45-52. “Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees” This statement requires the reader to question who these officers are. Are they Roman soldiers, the answer is ‘no’, if they were Romans, they would have arrested Jesus and completed their mission. These officers are Levites who knew the Law given to Moses. They also heard Jesus speaking to the crowd. 

These men returned to the chief priests and Pharisees without Jesus because Jesus spoke “spiritually” to the crowd within the context of the Law. One brief look at John 7:16-24 which are the words that Jesus spoke to the crowd reveal this truth that the Law was given to Moses by God, but Grace and Truth came by God through Jesus Christ, His Son. The Levite officers of the guard heard this message and said to the unbelieving leaders (The Sadducees and Pharisees) “No man ever spoke like this man!” 

The discourse between the unbelieving leadership and Levite guard goes critical. “Are you also deceived? Have any of us (Sanhedrin Counsel) or us Pharisees believed Him? Yet, you along with the crowd that does not know the law is accursed.” We need to notice… religion is always deceptive in that it uses the Law of God to establish the law of man. Religion also overlooks Truth, but those who seek to know the Truth, will be set free from religion, notice!

Nicodemus, who being a Pharisee and a leading Rabbi, came to Jesus during the night (see John 3:1-21) said. “Does our law (Mosaic Law) judge a man before we, the leaders hear Him and understand what He is doing?” This question stunned his colleagues (the members of the Sanhedrin counsel) and their reply to Nicodemus is a bit absurd. “Are you also from Galilee. Search and look for no prophet has risen out of Galilee.” Their response is emotional and incorrect for Jonah, Hosea and other prophets came out of Galilee.

The Prophet (Teacher) and Priest (Sacrifice) came out of Galilee to preach that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, the Christ/Messiah/King came out of heaven, born of the seed of David, born in Bethlehem. The Christ/Messiah died and rose again, He returned to heaven and one day soon; THE PROPHET, THE PRIEST, THE KING will return. To see Him Come Again, you must believe that He is, who He says He is and that He had you in mind when He died for the sin of all mankind.