“The bottom line”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Thursday, March 16, 2023
John 8:21-32 (Forward, p. 46) CEV p. 1112
The crowds listening to Jesus on this occasion were confused, and understandably so, for they did not realize that Jesus was talking about God the Father when He mentioned the one who had sent Him and who indeed was inspiring His words and instructing Him in what to say and do. Without that key insight a lot of what Jesus was saying was, frankly speaking, quite baffling.
However, there is one thing in this little discussion that is not baffling at all, the ‘bottom line’, you might say. It is the need to have faith in Him, Jesus Christ, to have faith in Him whether they fully understood all the nuances of who He was and where He came from, or not. It appears that some people (see verse 30) did indeed put their faith in Him.
Nevertheless, it appears that this rather necessary thing called faith needs to have a kind of ‘rider’ to it, a necessary by-product or corollary. That faith needs to be accompanied by obedience. As Jesus said to those who had put their faith in Him, “If you keep on obeying what I have said, you truly are my disciples” (verse 31). So, it is not just a matter of ‘saying’ that you trust Him or depend on Him or that you believe in Him as a kind of mental exercise. It has to issue forth into actual deeds and actions. That is the true mark or the indication of being a disciple. Furthermore, Jesus says that two things will result from so doing. Firstly, He says to them, “you will not the truth, and the truth and the truth will set you free” (verse 32). And earlier He says that their sins will be forgiven. All this from placing one’s faith in Jesus Christ, from freely placing our trust and dependence upon Him as our Saviour and Lord. Amen.
Forward notes: “They did not understand that he was speaking to them about the Father” (verse 27).
“My big dogs, Bones and Blue, like to hike with me. Large, enthusiastic, and of course energetic, they dart to and fro across trails hunting for squirrels and field mice. By the end of each adventure, Bones and Blue are very, very dirty, so I take them down to the river to clean up. Sometimes one of the dogs will end up in an eddy, water swirling about, holding and buffering the dog from rocks but preventing them from swimming in straight lines.
“Reading John’s Gospel can be like swimming in an eddy; straight lines are impossible. Reducing John’s meaning to a two-dimensional framework frustrates and reduces a John-like faith to meaninglessness.
“’They did not understand,’ John writes, but what he doesn’t ask is, “How could they?’ Instead of batting about and trying to reduce an eddy of words into something manageable, John and Jesus invite us to rest in the eddy, letting the words buffer us against the boulders and enabling us to gently move into deeper relationship with the Father.”
Moving Forward: “When you struggle with understanding scripture, try this approach of resting in the eddy.”