Who do You think You are?

I am supremely conscious this morning of the fact that I am here because Jesus has invited me. I am conscious of the very fact that Jesus has taken every initiative in our relationship, that He wants to meet with me and appreciates my response. Yet that response is so important – I cannot just be a passive spectator. After his invitation in Matthew 11:28 to come to Him He then instructs the listeners, “take my yoke upon you for my yoke is easy and light”. I am to become part of his team as he draws alongside me.

”It is My pleasure to experience and see My beloved one’s responding to my call and coming to Me, seeking a continued and deeper relationship. Yes and it starts in the quiet where we can just be together – where I can speak to you and you can listen and respond, but it goes on through the whole day all the time I am there walking with you as you negotiate the many ups and downs of your life, helping you many times without you even being aware of it. Drawing you closer and helping to build your faith as you see and experience Me more clearly. It is a joy to Me to have this relationship with you, especially as you respond to Me “.

As we continue in John 8 from vs 48, we are still among those who are walking the dusty roads of Palestine following the path of this One who appears to be so unique. John, calling us all the time to decide from the evidence who He is. This journey almost reaches a climax in this passage as the Jews call out derisively, “Who do you think you are?” (v53b). The power and significance of Jesus’s reply in vs 56 cannot be overestimated.

It is clear that the Jews have recognised that Jesus is exercising supernatural power in His miracles. However they refuse to accept that He is from God the Father and seek an alternative explanation. They conclude that it must be by a Satanic power that He is performing miracles. To add to the insult they call Him a Samaritan for which there is no evidence at all. Then the derisive challenge, “Who do you think you are?” v53

Much of Jesus’s dialogue that follows is aimed at pointing out to them that by suggesting these things they were not only insulting Him but they were also insulting the Father which was much more serious. He points out that it is actually the Father who is doing the miracles through Him and He is doing them to demonstrate His own glory in Jesus. As they sought to call on Abraham as a witness Jesus points out to them that even Abraham had foreseen the day that He would arrive on earth, but actually He was around long before Abraham appeared on the scene.

Then He makes the climactic statement in v58. “Before Abraham was born, I AM”. This is clearly a reminder of the name God called Himself when he met with Moses in the desert. So in the mysterious way of the Trinity Jesus is in fact claiming to be God Himself. This is a mind boggling claim which deserves our full surrender and worship.

Woven into the passage John has included two statements which continue to demonstrate how to become a full disciple of Jesus. Throughout his gospel John has repeatedly said that the key ingredient to inheriting eternal life is faith. Here He rounds this out with two further statements. Firstly in v51b, “if anyone keeps My word, he will never see death “. Then the proof of true discipleship is “knowing God”. v 55

Drawing this all together the fundamental way to grow in faith is getting to know Jesus better and better. These passages in John should be helping us all to grow in knowledge and understanding of Him, helping our faith to grow in leaps and bounds. May you be blessed as these wonderful truths strike home. Till next week then.