Water walking with Jesus

In Matthew 14 we read the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 and the story of Peter walking on water. Jesus just found out his cousin was murdered and several of the disciples learned their previous mentor/leader was murdered. They wanted some alone time to grieve but the crowds found Jesus. Instead of disbanding the crowd early in the day he continued teaching and healing. The day wore on and evening came. Stomachs growled and attention spans waned. The disciples wanted to send the people away, but Jesus continued to care for the crowd. He provided the food and had the disciples feed the people. 

 

After a long day Jesus sent the disciples ahead of him while He dismissed the crowds. He then spent some time with His Father. The disciples, also tired from grief and a long day, began to sail across Lake Galilee. When they were far from the shore, a storm hit. These experienced fisherman fought the storm in an attempt to stay afloat and reach the shore. 

 

By now it's early morning and the disciples are beyond exhausted. Through the rain and the crashing waves they see a ghostlike figure making his way toward them. They freak out and Jesus tells them they don't need to worry because it's Him. Peter, either more rash than normal because of his circumstances or more calm than the others and seizing an opportunity for adventure, steps out onto the water toward his Saviour. 

 

By the time he ecstatically realizes he's walking on the water, he rationally realizes he's walking on water. 

 

But the story does not end here. There are three immediately's in this story. Immediately Jesus sent the disciples in the boat once they fed the people. Immediately Jesus told them not to be afraid. Immediately Jesus grabbed Peter when he started to sink. 

 

The point of this story is not that Jesus put his friends in a storm so He could see how they would react. I believe the point is that they were in a storm and Jesus was with them every step of the way. They were tired and grieving so He let them head out early. They were tired and afraid in a storm so He walked out to them. Peter realized he was doing something only the Son of God had done previously and started to sinkt, so Jesus grabbed him and helped him do it again. 

You may be surrounded by the miraculous but Jesus does not leave you with ministry stories to keep you afloat. He comes to you in the storm, walks with you on the water and climbs into the boat with you. 

Who is the Father? pt II

In the last post I talked about forgiveness and the role of the Father. Now, I want to talk a little about his roles. (Check out the 1 Peter series for more).

Jesus is talking about the Father in the Sermon on the Mount and is telling the audience the Father is a good provider. Look at creation and see how God provides for the animals. The birds don’t farm yet God feeds them. The flowers don’t make clothes yet Solomon wasn’t dressed as gloriously as any of them. These things weren’t made in His image. Imagine how well the Father takes care of those made in His image! We don’t need to worry about anything. We will be provided for. Then Jesus says this, “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom” (Lk 12:32). I can worry about being provided for but the Father one ups me. He wants to give me the kingdom. In fact, He is pleased to give me the kingdom.

Our Father is also a king. A king has unlimited resources and reach beyond that of anyone else in the kingdom. He has authority to declare life and death, to imprison and set free, to bring peace and justice. He runs and is responsible for everything within that kingdom. He can give this authority to anyone he chooses as well. As the child of a king, we have access to the kingdom’s resources. It’s the concept of an ambassador. Never will you see a shabby consulate. Even the poorest countries have lavish consulates. The ambassador has the backing of that country and is a representative of that country.

But guess what, as a child of a king, we have access to his emotions as well. We can know not only the Father’s insight into a situation but we can also know his heart on it. Father God shares His emotions with us. Sometimes, all we have to do is ask.

As a child of the king we can spend time in the throne room anytime we want, not just in select times as a townsperson or even an ambassador can. He loves talking with us. There isn’t anything too small or too big that we cannot talk to him about. He loves talking with us. He has so many good things for us and longs to tell us how He sees us.

One of the things I love to ask Him is How do you see me right now? He sees all good things. There may be things I need to work on but it isn’t a negative thing. The Father isn’t disappointed in me if I doubt that He is faithful to fulfill His promises. He gets to prove himself faithful and through the process grows me in faith. Abraham is a good example of this. In the Old Testament, we see Abraham doubted all the time but in Hebrews it says he never wavered in his faith. God didn’t count the wavering. It was irrelevant. There was a time that Abraham believed God to be true and that is what God looked at. The times he missed it wasn’t what God focused on. It’s like a kid learning to walk. We don’t look down on them for falling down. It’s when they are walking that we count it and focus on it.

We don’t have lack in the Father. 2 Peter 1:3-4 says He has given us everything we need for life. He even gives us promises of what He wants to be for us and who He is making us into. We have the joy of getting to discover these. It’s like a treasure hunt. The promises are already there and our true identity is already there, we get to discover them.

Who is the Father?

If you know who God really is, trust is a non-issue. It is easier to take that step needed to turn a dream into a reality when you can trust the person who promised that dream. Corrie ten Boom tells a story of crossing a rickety bridge by car. By sight it did not look strong enough to hold a car. However, the driver inspected the bridge, not their faith in the bridge. The bridge was stronger than it looked, and they passed without trouble. “Very often, we tend to look at our faith, and we know our faith is big and strong, or weak and small. But we shouldn’t investigate our faith; we should investigate the Bridge.” (I stand at the door and knock, pg 38).

The last post focused on Jesus, and this time we are going to look at Father God. This is where we often put a lot of false perspectives on God. When we are hurt or there is a lack of a father in our lives, we often portray this onto Father God because we haven’t experienced anything else. However, Father God wants to give us a true view of Himself. He wants us to see Him as He really is.

Our Father is gentle. He is a shepherd over his people. He watches out for us and cares for us. He fights for us and comforts us. He speaks our identity over us. It is up to us to accept His good gifts. He wants to bring healing to our past hurts and free us to see Him as He truly is and others as He sees. I’ve learned that if it sounds too good to be true about the Father, it is probably true.

I recently heard a good teaching on Matthew 18 and the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant. The king calls in one of his servants who has a monstrous debt of 10,000 talents. This was the largest number in Greek and the largest denomination of coin. Basically, the servant owed a billion zillion dollars. The first question is why did the king let it get this far. However, the king decides to forgive the servant.

Out of gratitude the servant goes out and tries to get his friend to pay him back. Instead of enjoying the gift he was just given, he decides to work his way out of it. He chokes his friend (a huge humiliation) to try to get him to pay. He humiliate his friend in an attempt to force him to pay back his debt. The servant knew that the debt does not go away. Someone has to take the hit. What he did not fully realize was the massive hit the king took on his behalf. He did not trust the king’s justice. Maybe he thought he would change his mind later. Because of this, the servant was handed over to the torturers. Jesus ends the story by saying this is what the Father will do if we don’t forgive from the heart. Wow.

So how do we forgive? The best way I have learned to do this is to imagine I’m in a court room. My Father is the judge, and Jesus is my lawyer.

Accuse the offender before my Father who is Judge. I accuse that person of everything my heart is screaming, no matter how illogical my brain says it is. When I have accused them of everything my heart screams, I choose to forgive that person. I ask Father to bring His perfect justice on my behalf and I give up my right to rehearse my lines against this person in this situation again. Then I walk out of the courtroom.

1. I ask for justice on my behalf and give up y right to accuse the offender of these things in this circumstance again.
2. I have to trust that the Father will bring justice on my behalf and that the justice will be enough. How do justice and forgiveness go together? Romans 12:19 says, “’It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the LORD.” This is why I ask Father for justice.

If I choose not to forgive the person, I am tortured by it. That unforgiveness, that sense of injustice, eats at me. It affects me in ways I don’t realize until I’ve forgiven that person. I am speaking from experience on this.

3. After I’ve forgiven the person, I then get to confess my part in it. I ask for forgiveness and the Father always forgives. It does not matter what I’ve done. He always forgives. Jesus paid my debt in full. There is nothing that He did not pay for.

Ultimately, forgiveness comes down to a trust issue. How much do you trust your Father?  

This next part will take some time. Sit down with a journal (and coffee) and spend some time talking with the Father. Ask Father to show you who He really is. Ask Him if there is anything standing in the way of you seeing Him as He really is. If there is a particular memory and you are angry that the Father did not show up, ask Him where He is in that memory. You may need to grab a friend to help you walk through this. Know that the Father loves you so much. It is so easy to walk away because of hurt but what if there is more? He wants to talk with you, snuggle with you, tell you how much He loves you. We only need to take the time to sit with Him and listen.

Do you know who you trust?

In Luke 4:14 Jesus is in Galilee and goes to His home church. He goes up front to read and the attendant hands him the scroll. However, instead of reading where they left off last week- as was customary- Jesus instead searches out one of His promise verses. He finds Isaiah 61 and begins reading his mission statement.

 

The Spirit of the LORD is upon me because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the year of the LORD's favour...

 

The rest of the chapter beautifully describes the healing and restoration He will bring and the restoration we get to bring because He has restored us.

 

When Jesus says He is coming to restore, it would remind them of the year of Jubilee. Jesus came to release us into the year of Jubilee. Take a look at Leviticus 25. The 50th year was a year of Jubilee. It was a year of celebration. You would not plant or harvest this year because it was a year of rest as well. God promised the 49th year would produce enought for three years.

 

You would also return property. If someone sold property, it was because of financial hardship. You did not move around in those days. You had your town and your family had been there for generations. When you sold land, you took away from your sons' inheritance. God wanted that returned to the seller so His people were not dispossesed and homeless.

 

Go back to Luke 4 and look at the power of Jesus' words. They create life. There are multiple times in chapter four where His voice and words are emphasized:

 

• 4:22- "All spoke well of him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from his mouth."
• 4:32-"[the people] were astonished at his teaching for his words possessed authority."
• 4:36-"For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits and they come out!"
• 4:41- In contrast, Jesus would not let the evil spirits speak. He only wanted His voice to be the one that speaks over us.
 

Jesus only needs to speak and things are created. He is, after all, His Father's Son. Back in Genesis the Father spoke and the world was created. Now, the Son is walking on Earth and His very words have healing power. another name for Jesus is the Word (Jn 1). Jesus follows His Father's example in this too:

 

John 14:10-14-- The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves. Truly, truly I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am giong to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name this I will do that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. If you love me, you will keep my commands. And I will ask the Father and He will give you another Helper to be with you forever, the Spirit of Truth...

 

John 15:7-12-- If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments you will abide in my love just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full. This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you...

 

John 16:23-24-- Truly, truly I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask and you will receive that your joy may be full...

 

Take a look at those chapters. There is a lot of good stuff there.

 

 

 

Jesus came to bring us freedom. His words have creative power. Where do you need to ask Him to bring you into freedom?

Put off the Old, Put on the New

Pt. VII

Continuation of Seeing with the Father's Eyes

 

The first way to do this is to put off the old self and put on the new. Romans 6 says to present yourselves as alive from the dead. You are no longer the dead person but the new person which means we no longer need to think as the old person but rather as the new. Ephesians 4:22-25 says, “Be made new in the attitude of your minds and to put on the new self created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” We do this by taking off lies and speaking truth to those around us for we are all members of one body.

Colossians 3:9-10 says the same thing. Do not lie to each other for you have put on the new self which is renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 2 Corinthians 3:18-4:2 says the same thing. If what we are saying over someone doesn’t pull them up into their new nature and the new way of thinking, then don’t say it. We aren’t to speak lies over each other but rather truth.

The more we see God, the better we can become more like Him and mirror him (1 Jn 3). One of Jesus’ names is Truth. The more we focus on Truth, the less we focus on the non-reality. Jesus came that we may live life to the full (Jn 10:10). Jesus took care of sin so we could walk in the fullness of life. This means there is no more lying. No more complaining. No more pity parties of I’m not good enough. He took away stress and anxiety. Jesus took all that negativity away from us at the cross. He died so that we would no longer have to live in that.

Ramsomed from Darkness into Light

Pt IV

 

continuation of Promises of Restoration in the Prophets

We are now in the Kingdom of God. We were ransomed from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of Light (Col 1:13).

And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God (1 Peter 1:17-21).

 

The first thing Peter does is calls God Father. Our Father is our judge and he is impartial. We were ransomed from the kingdom of sin. To require ransoming means that we were stolen. We were taken from the Kingdom of God and enslaved in the kingdom of darkness. The highest price was paid for us, Jesus’ blood. Our worth was so high that Jesus’ blood was the cost for our ransom. That is how valuable the Father says we are.

If God sent Jesus to die for us while we were still sinners, imagine all that he has for us now that we are saints in his kingdom (Ro 5:8-10). That is what God did for us while we were enemies. We were in an opposing kingdom. Take some time and revel in that fact.

If you want more on this, see my previous posts Call on Him as Father, Impartial Judge, Ramsomed, The Precious Lamb We Did not Buy, to name a few.

Promises of Restoration in the Prophets

...Pt. III

Continuation of Redemption Promised

All throughout the OT, we see Israel turning from God and God imploring them to return. The books of the prophets are some of the most beautiful writings on this. They do contain warnings and list Israel’s offenses against God but they also have the most beautiful promises of restoration.

You have Hosea, whose life is a living picture of how God pursues his unfaithful bride. She continues to walk away and commit adultery but Hosea keeps seeking her out and bringing her back even when she has children by other men.

Isaiah has the most beautiful promises of what God will do for his people and how he sees his people—chapters 40-66 especially. He tells the end story there of how He will restore His people and restore to them more than what they lost.

Isaiah 43:4, 5—Because you are precious and honored in my sight and because I love you, I give men in return for you and peoples in exchange for your life. Fear not for I am with you.

Isaiah 57:18-19—I have seen his ways but I will heal him; I will lead him and restore comfort to him and his mourners, creating the fruit of the lips. Peace, peace to the far and to the near, says the LORD and I will heal him.

Isaiah 61:7—Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion.

 

Isaiah 62:1-5— For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet until her righteousness goes forth as brightness and her salvation as a burning torch. The nations shall see your righteousness and the kings your glory and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will give. You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. You shall no more be termed Forsaken and your land shall no more be termed Desolate but you shall be called My Delight is in Her and your land Married for the Lord delights in you and your land shall be married. For as a young man marries a young woman so shall your sons marry you and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.

Jeremiah talks about what will happen to God’s people if they do not turn back to Him.

It talks about how He will restore them even though they won’t repent.

Jeremiah 29:10-14 – For thus says the LORD: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you declares the LORD and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you declares the LORD and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

Jeremiah 33: 8-9—I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, and I will forgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against me. And this city shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and a glory before all the nations of the earth who shall hear of all the good that I do for them.

Then we have Ezekiel. God tells the story of Israel as a faithless bride in Ezekiel 16. He saw her cast out as an unwanted child left to die in the wilderness and he saved her. He gave her beautiful clothes and jewelry and food. But she trusted in her beauty and paid people to sleep with her. Because of this Israel was exiled but God promises to establish an eternal covenant with his people. He continues to list the things they have done but concludes with I will restore you. This is what you have done but I will restore you.

Ezekiel 36:24-30— I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. And I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. And I will summon the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine upon you. I will make the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field abundant, that you may never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations.

Then right after this God brings Ezekiel to a valley of dry bones and tells him to prophecy over them life. The valley of bones would come from a great war. Man fought against God and lost and died. But God promises to bring life and to restore so he has Ezekiel be part of his picture example. He speaks life over the bones and restores the bones to people. No longer is it a valley of dead bones but now it is a valley of people restored to life. In the New Testament we get to see this more clearly with salvation. Jesus came to restore life to us. We fought against God and died. But Jesus came and raises us to life so that we may live in Him.

The amazing thing is that Jesus was never Plan B. Man’s sin did not surprise God. He did not have to scramble for a Plan B. 1 Peter 1:20 says Jesus was chosen before the foundation of the world. Before Genesis 1:1 the plan was already set to save mankind. Before Adam was even created God already had a way to restore him. Talk about amazing love!

Redemption Promised

... Pt. II. 

A continuation of A Tale of Two Kingdoms.

It is in this perfect paradise that Satan enters as a serpent. He sows deceit into the pure sanctuary and brings forth death. As a result, all of creation is cursed. The woman saw the fruit was pleasing and desirable. She was being tempted to find pleasure outside of God. She is being told she does not have full pleasure in God. They turned from the Pleasure-giver and tore from Him. They were no longer filled with Him. Instead, they feel shame. They both hide in the trees that were to bring them pleasure.

However, it is at this bitter time that God makes a promise to restore his people back into his kingdom made clear by the appearance of His Son. Imagine that moment. You are full of shame, God curses things, you watch God kill and skin an animal and you are kicked out of the Garden, your home, the place you know you are meant to belong because you are with God and in a right relationship with Him. God tells them to get in this dead and bloody thing and they will be okay. Their shame will be covered. Later, God tells us to get in a dead and bloody thing that is now risen and alive and our shame will be taken away. We get the upgrade, the new and improved. Just as a lamb was slaughtered in the Garden to clothe the man and woman and cover their shame, so the final Lamb was slaughtered to remove their shame.

God curses the serpent and says one day you will be crushed by the descendant of a woman. Jesus was the descendant of a woman. He did not have an earthly father. Romans 16: 20 says, “And the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” We are one with Christ and get to take part in crushing Satan under our feet.

Fast-forward to Exodus. God brings His people out of the land of slavery and into the desert where He gives them a new identity as children of God. They are no longer slaves. It is in the desert that he washes away the identity of slavery and restores to them to their proper identity as children of God. They definitely don’t get it all the time and God gives them a picture example. He has them make the tabernacle. The tabernacle was made to look like the Garden of Eden—fruit everywhere, vines, cherubim covering the walls (Ex 36:8). He has them make the Ark of the Covenant. The base wood of the ark and the tabernacle is acacia, a thorn bush. It was not originally part of creation. God covers it with gold. The thing that was a curse is now covered in gold and used for something royal instead of firewood.

On top of the Ark of the Covenant are two cherubim, just like there are cherubim guarding the way to Eden. God will meet us between the two cherubim (Ex 25:22). Every year a priest was to put blood between the two cherubim on the ark on the Day of Atonement (Lev 16). This was when they offered a sin offering and a burnt offering and did the scapegoat. The amount of blood between them would look like someone tried to enter Eden and was slaughtered. Fast forward to the New Testament for a moment. Jesus did meet us between the cherubim and took the first blow to make a way. He was massively obedient and made a way.

The veil covered with cherubim was torn at crucifixion. Where cherubim once kept us from entering the garden of pleasure, the garden of fellowship, they could no longer do so. Before, only the high priest could only enter the Holy of Holies once a year. Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil (1 Jn 3:8). The first thing God does is remove the veils with the cherubim; a way to God and the tree of life in Eden is reopened. The Garden of pleasure is where people can fellowship with God. A way back into the kingdom of God was made.

God Will Confirm His Words

The book of John opens with John the Baptist stating this is who I am and this is who Jesus is. Then Jesus says this is who I am. In John 8, Jesus talks about who He is and almost point for point confirms what John the Baptist said about Him.

John 3—John the Baptist’s statements about Jesus    John 8—Jesus’s statement about who He is

Jesus came from heaven, we are from Earth (31)	I am from above, you are from below (23)
Jesus is above all (31)	I am judge (23, 26)
Jesus tells what he has seen and heard	I have much to say and judge, I declare God’s word (26)
We do  not believe Him (32)	We do not believe Him, specifically the Pharisees (13)
God gives words to those He sends (34)	I declare what I have heard from him  (26, 28)
God gives a limitless amount of His Spirit (34)	I am not alone (29)
If you obey the Son, you’ll have eternal life, if you do not obey, the wrath of God remains on him (36)	If you believe in me, you’ll live; if you don’t, you will die in sin (24)

Jesus confirms the words John spoke about Him. Remember that John said, “[H]e whom God has sent utters the words of God” (3:34)? Guess what, when we speak the words that God gives us, He will confirm them.

Now, we do need to be careful. This doesn’t mean we speak every thought that pops into our head and declare it as the word of the Lord. Be careful about this. God gives a stern warning about speaking presumptuously in Deuteronomy. “But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded him to say, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, must be put to death. You may say to yourselves, ‘How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the LORD?’ If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the LORD does not take place or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him” (Dt 18:20-22).

However, when God does give us something to say, do not be afraid to say it. God will confirm His words. His words will accomplish everything He intends and will not return to Him empty (Isa 55:10-11). They will leave a lasting effect on the listener. When God declares something, it will happen (Isa 48:3). He teaches us what to say. “The Sovereign Lord has given me an instructed tongue to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen as one being taught” (Isa 40:4). 

How do we know the difference between our words and the words of God? Get to know His voice. Spend time in the Word and in prayer. Test what you hear. “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good” (1 Th 5:20). Make sure it aligns with Scripture. God does not contradict himself. If it doesn’t match with Scripture, toss it. If it does, I find it helpful to write down the reference next to the word.

Spend time with other believers who hear God’s voice well. This is probably the best way to learn. When we are with other believers, we can learn from them and learn to hear God’s words. We can test things out on each other and together discern if it aligns with God’s Word.

You will begin to know your Father’s voice. The sheep know the Shepherd’s voice (Jn 10:3-5). Soon it will become second nature and you will just know that it is God’s voice. It isn’t always something you will learn over night. Maybe you’ll have a burning bush moment like Moses did but for many of us, we learn God’s voice by being in His presence. We learn His voice by practice. If you hear something and it doesn’t sit right with you, it’s likely that isn’t God’s voice. If you hear something and it touches your heart so deeply, there’s a good chance it is God’s voice. But again, test everything with the Bible.

 

“Draw near to me, hear this: from the beginning I have not spoken in secret, from the time it came to be I have been there” (Isa 48:16). God is not silent. Quiet yourself and be still and listen. This takes practice. In our busy world it is hard to still ourselves. But keep at it. God loves talking with us and wants to talk with you. He loves you so much and wants to tell you this and more.

Jesus the Word

The book of John is full of identity statements. The first one we are looking at is Jesus as the Word of God. The book opens by giving others’ testimony about who Jesus is then shows through examples that Jesus is these things.

John the Author opens his book by stating who Jesus is. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. [He made everything and nothing was made without Him.] In him was life, and the life was the light of men” (1:1-4). By opening this book with “in the beginning” every Jewish mind would automatically go to Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth...” John is saying Jesus is the Word and He was the means by which the world was created.

We also see John the Baptist declare Jesus’ identity. Jesus came from heaven and tells about what he has seen and heard. He is sent from God and “utters the words of God” (3:34). We have heard that Jesus speaks the words of God but now we get to experience this.

Chapter four opens with Jesus talking with the Samaritan woman at a well. She realizes Jesus is the long-awaited Christ and tells everyone in her town about Jesus. “[M]any believe in him because of the woman’s testimony... and many more believed because of his word” (4:39, 41). This is a transition story from the testimony of others to Jesus’ testimony about Himself. Now others are beginning to see the authority He has as the Word of God.

The next several stories focus on Jesus’ words. When He heals, John focuses on the fact that He speaks healing and restoration over people. He does not say that He touched people. It was not that Jesus was afraid of touching sick people but that John wanted to make a point about the power Jesus’ words have.

Right after the story of the woman at the well, John tells about a time when Jesus heals an official’s son. The father comes to Jesus asking him to heal his son. Instead of going to his house, Jesus just speaks healing over the son and declares that he is healed. “The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way” (4:50). The same hour that Jesus spoke healing the man’s son was healed. He and his household believed in Jesus as a result of His words.

After this Jesus goes to Jerusalem for a feast and is walking down by the pool of Bethesda. It was believed that an angel would fly over the water and his wings would touch the water. When this happened, the first person into the water would be healed. This had become the hangout spot for everyone who was sick, lame, blind and paralyzed. Jesus is walking down by the pool and talks with a man. He asks him if he wants to be healed. I can only imagine the look on the man’s face. He was down there for that very reason but had no one to help him into the pool. Jesus then tells him to stand up, grab his bed and walk.

The Jews get mad that Jesus is healing on the Sabbath. Unphased, Jesus tells them that He is sent from God and does as He sees His Father doing. God created the world and brought life into the world so Jesus is restoring life to the world. Then He says a crazy statement: “An hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to also have life in himself” (5:25-26). Jesus is saying that when the dead hear His voice, they will be raised to life. His very words and voice will restore life. That is some serious power and authority!

Later, Jesus is teaching and the people are amazed at His teaching. “How is it that this man has learning when he has never studied” (7:15). Jesus wasn’t part of the religious training system. He did not have the training the Pharisees and priest had yet He had such insight and authority in His words that it left people amazed. The priests and Pharisees send men to arrest Jesus but they marvel at Jesus’ words as well. “No one ever spoke like this man” (7:46)!

A while later the Pharisees talk with Jesus about His crazy statements. He keeps declaring who He is— the light of the world, the word, the light of life... “So the Pharisees said to him, ‘You are bearing witness about yourself; your testimony is not true.’ Jesus answered, ‘Even if I do bear witness about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I come from and where I am going” (8:13-14). He knows His identity. Regardless of what people keep saying, He knows that He came from heaven. He knows He is the Son of God. He knows He is the Messiah.  “[H]e who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him” (8:26).

Jesus continually shows the power of his words. He has authority in his voice. He declares something and it is, just as in the beginning where God created the world with His voice. Now, Jesus is walking on the earth and His very words spoken are creating and renewing life on earth.