Christ Is The Good Shepherd (J40)

Christ is the good shepherd; we are His sheep;
We know His voice; we listen; we obey;
No one can enter the gate He does keep,
Unless their sins His blood washes away!
For them, His life He gives, then takes it back;
That they might have life—have it to the full;
He goes ahead to prepare, not a shack,
But a mansion; that life none can annul!
Some of the Jews said, “He is raving mad,
And, surely, he must be demon-possessed;”
But others said, “No demon ever has
Healed a man born blind, nor so many blessed!
“I have other sheep; they’re not of this fold;
There’ll be but one flock; one shepherd,” He told!

Scripture Quoted John 10:1-6 (NIV)
" 'I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.' Jesus used this figure of speech, but they did not understand what he was telling them.”

Commentary on John 10:1-21 (NIV)
Still in the temple courts, Jesus introduces a new analogy for Himself and His followers—He is the shepherd, and His followers are the sheep. The Jews understood well what He was telling them about sheep and their shepherds, for sheepherding was a common part of their economy. Because of the dullness of their spiritual insight, they could not perceive how the idiosyncrasies of sheepherding related to a self-called Messiah and them. Throughout the Old Testament, God had used the “good” and “bad” shepherd idea to describe the good and bad leaders of Israel, both for the government and religion. God's perspective of His followers is that they are like sheep to their shepherd. The Messiah was promised to be the Good Shepherd who would rid the poor citizens of Israel of bad shepherds (See Zechariah 11:4-17, for example). He was to rule as both King and High Priest in one office, which is the type of government God had wanted from the beginning. It is evident that the Pharisees were the “bad” shepherds Jesus was to eliminate.

Jesus made several important statements in this Scripture. He said that no one could enter the “gate”, which refers to the gate of heaven, but by Him. This is referred to as the “one way”, in a derogatory manner, by modern postmodernistic culture; that is, Jesus tells the world here and in many other places that the only way for an individual to enter heaven is to believe in Him. That is a true statement. He also says He has “other sheep”, referring to Gentiles. The Jews had thought that Jehovah was theirs exclusively. And Jesus speaks publicly of His dying as a man and being resurrected as God. There is a lot of theology in these 21 verses.

"That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)

The Pharisees Spiritually Blind (J39)

The altercation had caused quite a stir;
Jesus found him and said, “Do you believe
In the Son of Man?” “Tell me who He is, sir,
And my trust He will certainly receive!”
“You have seen Him; He is speaking with you,”
And the man Jesus had healed worshiped Him.
Then the Savior said, “I came to judge true—
The blind see; the seeing, to blind them!”
Some Pharisees heard Him, and they complained,
“What? Are you saying that we are blind, too?”
“If you were blind, your sins would not remain;
Since you claim to see, then guilty are you!”
The Pharisees claimed spiritual insight,
But truths of God to them were out of sight!

Commentary on: John 9:35-41 (NIV)
Jesus was speaking spiritually, as He nearly always did, when He used the terms “seeing” and “blind” in the latter lines of the poem. Since the Pharisees considered themselves spiritual masterminds (that is, "seeing") but were in reality dulled spiritually (that is, "blind")—they interpreted everything Jesus said literally—they could not “see” the real meanings of His words, so they were the “blind” ones, not the man born physically blind. Jesus Christ was to have the role of Judge at the end of time, and His first-hand experience in the flesh with the “unseeing” Pharisees guaranteed them a "guilty of sins" judgment, while those who humbly admitted their “blindness” (in spiritual matters) and accepted the words Jesus spoke would be judged innocent of sin.

Most non-believers in the world today, especially those in our culture who have easy access to Christian witness and Bibles, and who reject Jesus, think they are spiritually astute, but in reality worldly individuals do not understand the spiritual words of witness or Jesus’ words in the Scripture; in reality, they are"blind". It’s really a no-brainer that accepting Jesus and being saved from condemnation is much more preferable to ignoring Him and going to hell when you die. It’s like telling a cancer patient he will be cured and won’t die if he accepts Jesus, and he refuses to accept because the one telling him is speaking in language he doesn’t understand. If every person really understood the options, then every person would believe in Jesus. The natural person cannot understand spiritual terminology. The Pharisees were natural men, but the whole Jewish race also had been further spiritually dulled by God 700 years ago (See Isaiah 6:9-10) because of their sin.

Though the man born blind and healed by Jesus could now see physically, he could also “see” spiritually. He proved that by standing up to the Pharisees when they threatened to cast him from the synagogue if he didn’t change his testimony to suit them. He proved it again when he worshiped Jesus—he probably kneeled before Him.

“That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)

The Pharisees Frustrated (J38)

“Give glory to God,” the Jews insisted;
Jesus is a sinner, which we all know!”
But the man healed by Jesus resisted,
Answering them like a debating pro!
“Whether he’s a sinner, I do not know;
There is one thing that’s crystal clear to me:
From birth, I could not see the way to go,
Until I met Jesus, and now I see!
You know God hears not a sinful man pray;
No one born blind has ever received sight;
God heard Jesus and healed me on that day—
When I washed away mud and first saw light!”
They insulted him, and then threw him out;
He left them frustrated, and in some doubt!

Scripture Quoted: John 9:26-33 (NIV)
“Then they [the Pharisees] asked him, ‘What did he [Jesus] do to you? How did he open your eyes?’ He answered, ‘I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?’ They then hurled insults at him and said, ‘You are this man’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.’ The man answered, ‘Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly man that does his will. Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.’ “ [Brackets added]

Commentary on: John 9:24-34 (NIV)
This was a rare man that could be so self-possessed, yet blind from birth and a beggar. I’m sure Jesus knew his ability when He chose him to heal. He was braver than his parents, who equivocated with the Pharisees for fear of being cast out of the synagogue. In the end the son did get thrown out, but he put in a strong word of support for Jesus’ having come from God. The healed man gave a skillful argument for Jesus’ being the Messiah. First, he said that it was well known that God did not listen to or grant miracles to sinners; He did that only for “godly” men who do God’s will. Then he pointed out that in the history of the world there had never been any man blind from birth who had gotten their eyes opened miraculously. Then he clinched his case by saying that if Jesus had not been sent by God He could not have opened the blind man’s eyes. He told the Jews that “it was remarkable” that they could not know where Jesus was from. Those self-righteous “dignitaries” were left open-mouthed and stunned, with nothing to say but insults.

This raises the question: Why did the leading Jews not see the logic in the man’s argument and accept Jesus as the Christ? They were more educated and far more advanced in theology than people like the man who had been healed. It must have been their pride; Jesus had already told them their perversions of the Mosaic law and how they were the chiefest of sinners. If they accepted Him after that, it would have been humiliating; they would have to humble themselves, confess their transgressions, and ask forgiveness of God for their sins. They had too much pride—this was a fight to the death—Jesus’ death (and their own deaths, on Judgment Day)! Pride keeps people lost today.

“That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)

Jesus Antagonizes Temple Jews (J35)

Jesus needled temple Jews, teaching things,
Spiritual truths, they could not understand;
Hot retorts returned higher-venom stings
Yet truth plus truth made their tempers expand!
“Before Abraham e’en was born, I am;
I know God, my Father, but you sure don’t;
If I glorify myself, I’m no Lamb;
But I glorify my Father; you won’t!
When you degrade me, you dishonor Him;
If I said, “I don’t know God.” I would lie,
For I came from God and was sent by Him;
He is my Father, and His Son am I!”
Each Jew looked for and found at least one stone;
Unseen, He walked away, was quickly gone!

Scripture Quoted: John 8:56-59 (NIV)
“ ‘Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.’ ‘You are not yet fifty years old,’ the Jews said to him, ‘and you have seen Abraham!’ ‘I tell you the truth,’ Jesus answered, ‘before Abraham was born, I am!’ At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.”

Commentary on: John 8:48-59 (NIV)
If ever there was an obfuscated dialogue, this was it. Jesus was conscious of His life in heaven as God; certainly He had been God before Abraham was born. These Jews had said they believed in Him as Lord; therefore, they should have accepted the things He told them as if He were God. However, they could not; they tried to make sense of His statements literally, as from a 30-year-old man, proving their insincerity in believing He was the Son of God. Furthermore, they had been dulled spiritually by God, along with the rest of their race in Isaiah 6:9-10, 700 years before Jesus came into the world as a man. Jesus was stating truths as God would—example, “I came from God; He sent me.” and “You shall know the truth, and it will set you free,” etc. The Jews would pick up on “set you free”, and answer back, “We are no one’s slave.” This has been described in my last 3 blogs; it is still the first day after the Feast of Tabernacles, and Jesus is talking to the same Jews. Instead of becoming His faithful disciples, they are growing angrier and angrier.

Yet, Jesus is perfectly aware of what He is doing. He knew their belief in Him was insincere. (By the way, it is even more the case today that many who “go forward” accepting Jesus are actually in the same spiritual condition as these Jews; they may think they believe, but often the test of time will show that their profession of faith was insincere.) Jesus kept His mission of dying on the cross uppermost in His mind; the last thing He wanted was thousands of insincere Jews promoting His candidacy for being the long-promised Messiah, perhaps being an obstacle to His execution. Just like the five thousand who followed Him to Capernaum after seeing the miracle of their being fed on five biscuits and two sardines, who Jesus turned away by using the spiritual terminology of “eating my flesh”, He turned these away with other spiritual conundrums. The Jews can look forward to a special “pouring out of grace on them” at His Second Coming (Zechariah 12:10-14).

"That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)

Jesus Divides The Pharisees (J37)

Jesus could have healed the man with a thought,
But He made mud of saliva and dust,
To prove to Pharisees that the God they taught
Had sent His Son to earth for them to trust!
They were divided, as Jesus sought,
The man’s parents said, “Yes, this is our son;
He was born blind; as for the man who brought
Him sight, ask our son just how it was done!”
They were afraid the Jews would them expel,
For no member could in Jesus believe;
So Jews asked him, “Who healed you? Will you tell?”
“He’s a Prophet, my blindness to relieve!”
For a once-blind beggar, he showed gristle
And faith, and made the Pharisees bristle!

Scripture Quoted: John 9:13-16 (NIV)
“They brought to the Pharisees the man who had been blind. Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath. Therefore the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. ‘He put mud on my eyes,’ the man replied, and I washed, and now I see.’ Some of the Pharisees said, ‘This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.’ But others asked, ‘How can a sinner do such miraculous signs?’ So they were divided.”

Commentary on John 9:12-23 (NIV)
Jesus did not mix saliva with dust because He had to have mud to do the miracle, nor did He do it as an entertaining gesture of mumbo-jumbo to add mystique for His disciples. He was God; He could have healed the man born blind without so much as touching him or even looking at him. But He did it to create a reaction from His principal enemy, the Pharisees, who were self-appointed guardians of keeping the Sabbath Day holy, by not allowing “work” or any kind, not even healing the blind with mudballs on the eyes—especially by Jesus, who they had made Enemy No. 1. This type of rule, conceived by Pharisees as a law to “help God out”, and which combined with other thousands of ticky-tacky man-made dicta, was a burden to Jews that caused them to do more sin than less, was why Jesus targeted them to confront more than any other type of offensive Jew. That is why John the apostle selected this as his sixth of only seven miracles to include in his gospel.

So the healed blind man was braver than his parents. He told the Pharisees emphatically that his healer was the Prophet, even though it would perhaps get him expelled from the synagogue, because the Jews had already made a rule that whoever believed Jesus to be sent from God would be put out. Since the Messiah was also predicted to be the Prophet like Moses (See Deuteronomy 18:18ff.), that was equivalent to believing Jesus was the Christ. They immediately began showering the man with insults, and in the next blog you will see that he was thrown out of the synagogue. Jesus had accomplished His purpose; the Pharisees were quarreling among themselves. He had stirred up enough doubt in the minds of leading Jews that some did believe He was sent by God, but not enough believed it to prevent His rejection and execution. In Zechariah 11:8, you can read a prophecy that says Jesus Christ got rid of three bad shepherds of the Jews; the Pharisees, as a group, was one of the foolish shepherds included in the prophecy.

“That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)

Jesus Heals A Man Born Blind (J36)

Did He recall making that very dust,
With which He formed mud, the blindness to heal,
Of the beggar, so born? His parents must
Have sinned, or he, to hand him such a deal!
“No,” said Jesus, to His men; “for God’s glory,
Did this be, so the world might come to see
The Son’s good news, and believe His story;
We work while there’s light, and the Light is Me!”
On a Sabbath day, the healing was done;
To some, the healer had committed wrong,
And, since the healer was Jesus, God’s Son,
He was trying to teach Jews a new song!
“Work in the light, for with darkness work’s dead;
I am the light of the world,” Jesus said!

Scripture Quoted: John 9:1-7 (NIV)
“As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned,’ said Jesus, ‘but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.’ Having said this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with his saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. ‘Go,’ he told him, ‘wash in the pool of Siloam’ (this word means Sent). So the man went and washed and came home seeing.”

Commentary on: John 9:1-12 (NIV)

The Jews had a superstition that handicapped persons had gotten that way because of sin committed by them or their parents. This is not a truth of the Bible. In this instance, Jesus said the man’s handicap happened so that the work of God could be displayed in his life to the world. The Bible does indicate that, even to this day, people may be healed or blessed to display God’s mercy and grace. Jesus saw in the poor man an opportunity to show mercy as well as the opportunity to carry on the mission for which He was sent. By its being on the Sabbath He knew it would provide another confrontation with the self-righteous Pharisees, an opportunity to teach them more of their mistakes in interpreting God’s words given to Moses.

Jesus added another spiritual attribute of Himself and the gospel witness by declaring, “I am the light of the world/” By this He meant that the race of mankind was lost, condemned to eternal life in hell, before He entered the world to die to pay the wages of all the sins of men. Therefore, He was “light” in the sense that when men, who were groping blindly through sinfulness to an inevitable condemnation, became aware that by repentance or remorse for their sins, called upon Him for forgiveness, they came out of darkness into light. This “light of the world” would leave very shortly when He did, thus darkness was returning soon. He probably was thinking of the end of time by “darkness” since He planned to leave the “light” in the world when He returned to heaven in the hands of His followers, who would go into all the world telling people about the fact they could be saved by belief in the name of Jesus (See Matthew 28:18-20). An individual has only the time left in physical life to believe; after he or she dies, the chance for salvation for him or her is lost. Jesus knew this Sabbath healing would bring on another confrontation with the angry Pharisees, and He welcomed it.

“That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)

The Chilldren Of The Devil (J34)

The exchange between Jews who first believed
And Jesus at the temple grew hotter;
The more truth He spoke, the less they received;
Now they bickered o’er who was their father!
“God Himself is our Father,” they declared;
“Your father is Satan,” Jesus replied;
“If he were God, more for me you would’ve cared;
From the beginning, the devil has lied!
He speaks his native language when he lies;
I tell you truth, but you don’t believe me;
If God were your Father, you’d be more wise;
You’d hear what I say—the sender was He!”
They did not truly believe He was sent;
They should have heard each word He did present!

Scripture Quoted: John 8:42-44 (NIV)
“Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love me, for I come from God and now am here. I have not come on my own, but He sent me. Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say, you belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer [here Jesus means it is Satan that plans to kill Him, with their help] from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.’ “ [Brackets added]

Commentary on: John 8:42-47 (NIV)
It appears strange that Jesus would antagonize these Jews who had indicated belief in Him, but He was keeping fixed firmly to His mission, which meant His human life would be taken by the Jewish nation in a few months. These Jews were not sincere believers in Him, because they grumbled about His statement that they were slaves to sin. Like the five thousand that came after Him for the selfish human desire of more free food, these particular Jews could not discern spiritual truth, such as they had been in slavery to sin, and still were. The same thing would hold true today; if ten persons “cme down the aisle” in response to an invitation to believe, most of them would not mourn their sinful past, or repent, because of their human pride. These Jews did not accept the spiritual language He taught them with, as, ”You shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free!” Instead, they proudly proclaimed they were not anyone’s slave. A sincere belief in Jesus as Lord requires humility, not pride. Sincere belief would have kept the five thousand and these in Jerusalem from supporting their Pharisees in their wish to kill Jesus, also. The Savior knew these Jews were not ready to be His disciples by their failure to understand what He was trying to teach.

Notice also that the real culprit behind the Jews was Satan, the traitor-angel that was in open rebellion to God. He fights God by filling his human followers with lies. He was in the form of the serpent in the Garden of Eden, and he lied to Eve, saying, “You will not surely die if you eat the forbidden fruit” (See Genesis 3:4). They surely did die, and so do we, as punishment for Adam's eating the wrong fruit. Now, though, Satan was whispering into the ears of the Jewish leaders that no prophet comes from Galilee! This was another of his lies, meant to stymie the Savior’s mission of atoning for the sins of men. Jesus did die, but He arose the third day, achieving His purpose and defeating Satan and his helpers.

“That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)

The Truth Will Set You Free (J33)

“You shall know the truth; it will set you free,”
Jesus taught a group of believing Jews;
But they took umbrage; “No one’s slaves are we,”
They said, of His meaning, having no clues!
“Truly, one who sins is a slave to sin,”
He explained. “Slaves may be traded or run,
But my disciple is always within
God’s family, a joint-heir with the Son!
You claim to be Abraham’s true descent;
You would kill me if Pharisees you heed;
Abraham would not kill one God had sent;
You are sons more of Pharisees indeed!
If the Son sets you free, you’re free fore’er;
No one can enslave you—not now; nor e’er!

Scripture Quoted: John 8:31-34
“To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, ‘If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free!’ They answered him, ‘We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?’ Jesus replied, ‘I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.’ “

Commentary on: John 8:31-41
This passage of Scripture shows us how human pride is an obstacle to a lost person’s becoming a believer in Jesus Christ. Notice that He was speaking to common Jews who had believed He was the Son of God. He probably chose this particular truth for His first statement, for He knew it would weed out the true believers from the many would-be ones with too much pride. The first thing a person must do to be saved is to feel guilty over the sins he has committed and his ignoring God. If he doesn’t feel guilty of sins, he is not humble, and that means he is still lost. A truly saved person has come to a realization of how he has offended God in the past, and he humbles himself.

This is a very famous teaching of Jesus: “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” Today we have the complete “Holy Bible”, and it is all true. it consists of 66 “books”, or chapters, written by 40 different authors over a period of 1500 years. There is great probability that these authors could have contradicted each other, but they did not. Each of them was inspired by the Holy Spirit; the Bible is the intentional revelation of God about Himself to mankind. It is the best-selling book in the world; but I doubt if it is the best-read book in the world.

Jesus reiterates His charge that they will support the Pharisees in killing Him; remember, His intention is that the Jewish leaders be motivated to crucify Him in public, that His atoning death be as well known as it can possibly be. The Bible prophesies that when Jesus Christ returns to earth the Jews will accept Him as the Messiah and mourn nationally for having killed Him.

“That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)

Jesus, The Light Of The World (J32)

Jesus taught the Jews and the Pharisees.
“I am the light of the world; who believes,
His pathway he always clearly sees;
Never will the darkness his way deceives!”
They protested, “But we must hear from two,
To make valid the things you testify!”
“There are two; many times have I told you
Who sent me; He also testifies with I!
You are from below; I am from above;
You are from the earth; I’m not from the earth;
Until you believe, my Father won’t love;
You will be judged lost and of no worth!”
Jesus’ words did not seem to impress them,
But many common Jews trusted in Him!

Here are portions of Scripture, each followed by a commentary, from the text of John 8:12-30. Please read it all in your Bible.

" ‘In your Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid. I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.’ Then they asked. “Who is your father?’ Jesus replied, ‘If you knew me, you would know my Father also!’ He spoke these words while teaching in the temple area near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no one seized him, because his time had not yet come.” (John 8:17-20)

Many temple guards were always stationed near the offering jars. But the invisible power of Jesus continued to protect Him from arrest, for it was too early for Him to die. He was prophesied by Moses in Deuteronomy 18:18-19 to be the last prophet; this is why He insisted so many times that His Father had told Him what to say and was one of His witnesses. This same supporting witness was what made the earlier prophets’ testimony valid. That is why He repeatedly said, “My Father sent me”—the Pharisees, of all Jews, should have identified Him as a prophet.

“ ‘Who are you?” they asked. ‘Just what I have been claiming all along,’ Jesus replied … ‘When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know I am the one I claim to be, and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me; he has not left me alone for I always do what pleases him. (John 8:29-31)

By the title “Son of Man” Jesus called Himself 81 times in the four gospels, Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John. Some believe the Pharisees would have identified Him more readily if He had called Himself “Messiah” (meaning “the Christ” or King); or “the Son of God”; perhaps they would have. The reason He used “Son of Man” so often is that it should have been very recognizable to all Jews, because of Daniel’s prophecy (See Daniel 7:13) that this would be the name of the Messiah. It was Jesus’ favorite name for Himself.

By the expression “lifted up”, Jesus meant His crucifixion. If the leading Jews had an epiphany after Jesus died on the cross, we don’t know anything about it. The Jews, to this very day, deny that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah; they are still waiting for Him to come the first time. However, the Bible prophesies that when Jesus Christ returns to earth in glory and power, all Christians will be resurrected and He will pour out His grace on the Jews (See Zechariah 12:10-14); they will mourn for the Savior they rejected and killed; they will accept Jesus of Nazareth as Messiah; and the majority will evangelize for Jesus throughout the world!

"That if you confess with your mouth, ’Jesus is Lord’, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)

The Woman Caught In Adultery (J31)

After the Feast Jesus spent all the night
On the Mount of Olives; back at daybreak
To teach a crowd of Jews at dawn’s early light;
They were there so soon for the gospel’s sake!
Half nude, a scared woman was made to stand
Before them by teachers and Pharisees;
“Caught in the act,” they said; “You be the man
To judge her; stoning is the Law for she!”
“Let him who has no sin throw the first stone,”
He said, stooping, His finger etching the sand;
One by one, they left, until all were gone;
“Does no one charge you?” “I alone do stand!”
He knew all their hearts, and sins from their past;
Did He write those, that they could not stand fast?

Scripture Quoted John 8:1-11 (NIV)
“At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?’ They were using this question as a trap in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, ‘If any of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.’ Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at z time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her. ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ ‘No one, sir,’ she said. ‘Then neither do I condemn you, Jesus declared. ‘ Go now and leave your life of sin.’ “

Commentary on John 8:1-11 (NIV)

The teachers and Pharisees wanted to destroy Jesus’ credibility with the common people. Either way He answered their question, they would have a basis for discrediting Him. If He said, “Stone her,” He would be in compliance with the Law, but it would have countered His teachings of the gospel. If He let her live, He could be accused of violating the Law. Many times the Pharisees tested Him with such questions, and He always outsmarted them. It is possible that they had deliberately trapped the woman with a plot, which would have been sinful on their part. Since Jesus was God, He knew what was in each one’s heart and past actions, so it is possible He began writing each individual’s sins in the sand. The pride of the accusers would not allow them to let their past indiscretions be known, so they walked away, rather than taking such a chance. In the next few verses (not quoted above), we are told that all of them left. Jesus told the woman to go and sin no more. I am sure the early morning crowd had more belief in Jesus than before, and the plot of the Pharisees failed.

On the final Day of Judgment, it is Jesus Christ who will be the judge on the great white throne. Every thought each person ever had and every action will be known to Him. He will know what is in every person’s heart, and how sincere or insincere each one is. Christians have sinned in their pasts, in their presents, and in their futures, perhaps more than unbelievers, hopefully less; the only difference is they have repented of their sins and been forgiven, due to Jesus’ dying in atonement for the sins of all. People who are condemned on Judgment Day have not repented of sin nor have they been forgiven. Those teachers and Pharisees who shamed the woman needlessly before Jesus and the crowd will be condemned, unless they repent and ask forgiveness before their physical deaths.

“That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)

Temple Guards Can't Arrest Jesus (J30)

The crowds talked about Jesus in a way
That the Pharisees knew they had to act;
They convinced the priests to send guards that day,
To arrest Jesus and to bring Him back!
While Jesus spoke, guards would not interrupt,
But listened spellbound, as if in a trance;
He cast an aura they could not disrupt—
A shield, that caused men with badges to blanche!
The high priest snarled, “Are you from Galilee?”
When the guards returned and empty-handed;
“There’s something about Him that men can’t see;
Our power fell short of that demanded!”
He who created man, heavens, and earth,
Even as a man, exuded too much worth!

Scripture Quoted John 7:31-32(NIV)
“Still many of the crowd put their faith in him. They said, ‘When Christ comes, will he do more miraculous signs than this man?’ The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering such things about him. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him.”

Scripture Quoted John 7:45-52(NIV)
“Finally the temple guards went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, ‘Why didn’t you bring him in?’ ‘No one ever spoke as this man does.’ the guards declared. ‘You mean he has deceived you also?’ the Pharisees retorted. ‘Has any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in him? No! But this mob knows nothing of the law—there is a curse on them.’ Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, ‘Does the law condemn anyone without first hearing him to find out what he is doing?’ They replied, ‘Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee.’ “

Commentary on John 7:31-52: Evidently the Pharisees and priests, even Nicodemus, were all eager to condemn Jesus on the false but easy correctable premise that Jesus was born in Nazareth; that is the town where He was raised, but He was born in Bethlehem—exactly where prophecy said the Messiah would be born. Nicodemus was a believer in Jesus. but he was afraid to fight the condemnation juggernaut alone. He was risking much with his one question.

There was a “presence” about Jesus that prevented the temple guards from arresting Him. Knowing this undoubtedly led the chief priests to solicit the services of Judas Iscariot, an apostle, to lead them to Jesus late at night in the garden of Gethsemane, paying him 30 pieces of silver to betray Him at a later time. The presence of a large crowd of common Jews was a circumstance they could not afford to risk.

It seems incredible that the commonly believed falsehood that Jesus was “out of Galilee” carried so much weight in the thinking of those leaders against Jesus. It would have been a simple matter for a teacher of the law of the time, say, for instance, Gamaliel, to have verified the hundreds of prophecies of Hebrew scripture about the coming Messiah that were every one fulfilled by Jesus; had that been done, though, God’s plan of grace would have gone awry.

“That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’, and believe in your heart that Jesus raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)

The Pharisees In A Bind (J29)

The Pharisees felt the increasing price,
As the common Jews believed more and more;
“Our leaders are convinced this is the Christ,
Else they would have stopped His teaching before!
But we know from whence this Rabbi has come.”
Jesus answered, “I’m not here on my own;
You do know me, and the place I am from;
Your own Lord sent me; to you, He’s unknown!”
At this, they tried to seize Him; He was gone;
His time had not come, so He slipped away.
Yet, many believed, for none could have done
More signs and wonders than He of that day!
A people’s vote might have made Jesus King,
But the Pharisees controlled ev’rything!

“At that point some of the people of Jerusalem began to ask, ‘Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill? Here he is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Christ? But we know where this man is from; when the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from.’ 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, because I am from him, and he sent me.’ At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come. 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?’ “ (John 7:25-31)

John masterfully describes the high-stakes cat-and-mouse “game” Jesus played against the Pharisees during frequent visits to Jerusalem. Remember, His purposes included (1): Having them put Him to death on the cross, but on an exact pre-determined day that had not yet come; (2) Winning the trust and sincere belief of as many of the common Jews as possible. The Pharisees, on the other hand, wanted to arrest and have Him killed as soon as possible, before a large number of the common Jews believed in Him, but to do it secretly, to keep most of the people unknowing and quiet in their homes. Had the common Jews known they possessed this much power over their leaders, they might have exerted it more fruitfully.

The Jewish people were prone to take violent action into their own hands. Their Roman rulers kept large numbers of armed guards in the temple area especially, because most of the riots that occurred were over religious misunderstandings. Jesus and the Pharisees were aware of this. When Jesus said they didn’t know their own God, but He did know Him who had sent Him, it sparked a violent uproar; they tried to seize Him, but Jesus used His divine power to make Himself invisible and slipped away. He used this technique several times during His ministry. He could have done so the coming night in Gethsemane when He was arrested, but He did not, because the time was right for His arrest, trial, and execution. Now, with the people beginning to say that Jesus must be the Christ (Messiah), it will be interesting to see what happens next.

“That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)

Jesus Keeps Pharisees At Bay (J28)

Halfway through the Feast, He began to teach;
At His knowledge, the people were amazed;
But Jesus said, “The words of God I speak,
Not my own, that He be honored and praised!
I’d like to know why you want to kill me!”
Nonplussed, the people looked at Him in shock;
“Who wants to kill you? Certainly not we!”
He spoke so, the Pharisees plot to block!
“On the Sabbath day, you circumcise babes,
So that Moses’ Law remains unbroken;
My healing on Sabbath a whole man saves;
In your judgment, I have the Law broken!”
By announcing the Pharisees’ intent,
It slowed them down, His killing to prevent!

“Not until halfway through the Feast did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to teach. The Jews were amazed and asked, ‘How did this man get such learning without having studied?’ “ (John 7: 14-15)

Commentary on John 7:14-24

Jesus is risking His mission by teaching the throngs of Jews in the outer courts of Herod’s temple at the Feast of Tabernacles. If He is stopped by the guards and brought before the Sanhedrin for trial, He might be put to death quietly and secretly, thus failing in His primary task of dying in public on the later designated day. By saying, “Why do you want to kill me?” to a large crowd of ordinary Jews mixed with Pharisees, He is forestalling the Pharisees from having the guards arrest Him without the people knowing what was afoot. Most of the common people liked Him, for His healings and teaching, and Jews are notorious for raising ruckuses at such times. His announcement, in effect, prevented the Pharisees from making a sudden, public arrest. That is why they needed a traitor, Judas Iscariot, an apostle, to lead them to Him in the middle of the night, at a later time. Even then, they tried Him at night, which was illegal in Mosaic Law, and went to Pontius Pilate at daybreak to get the necessary authority to kill Him. Only a very small number of the common people were present at His trial and execution. How wise Jesus was in every move and word! Even so, in my next blog we will see that He has to use His miraculous powers to slip away from the Pharisees!

I wonder if His younger brothers were in any of the crowds He taught during the latter half of this Feast; they may have missed Him by being outside the temple in their individual brush shelters that the Jews set up and spent time in, honoring God for bringing them out of Egyptian slavery and caring for them during a forty-year trek through the desert. The little shelters commemorated their shelters used during the long journey. If they had been present, it certainly may have led them to a belief in Him. We know that James, one of His brothers, was a very dedicated Christian who became pastor of the Jerusalem church. He was martyred by being thrown off the roof of the temple some time after Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension back to heaven. His mother Mary was a disciple; she was present at the crucifixion and waiting with the others in the upper room when the Holy Spirit came.

“That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)

Jesus Adheres To His Mission (J27)

Jesus focused on His earthly mission:
To die, in atonement for the sins of man;
That death must be by Jewish commission,
The exact day of God’s choosing in His plan!
When taunted by His own younger brothers,
To go up to Judah for Jewish feast,
“My time has not come; you go, with others,
Any time is all right for you, at least!
The Jews hate me; evil ones, I called them;
Pharisees will kill me now, if they can!”
But He went in secret; crowds talked of Him,
Not loud, for fear of the Jews’ heavy hand!
Even His own brothers believed Him not,
At this time, but later His message got!

“After this, Jesus went around in Galilee, purposely, staying away from Judea because the Jews there were waiting to take his life. But when the Feast of Tabernacles was near, Jesus’ brothers said to him, ‘You ought to leave here and go to Judea, so that your disciples may see the miracles you do. No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world!’ For even his own brothers did not believe in him.” (John 7:1-5) (The complete text of this poem/commentary is taken from John 7:1-13.)

Commentary on John 7:1-13

To Jews, the “world” was Jerusalem, capitol of Judea. Jesus had a very complex mission to accomplish during His time on earth. It was especially difficult during His 3-year ministry. Every word and act had to be considered in order for His mission to be a success. There were complicated limitations placed upon Him by the tangle of intersecting conditions under which He labored.

First and foremost, He had to die on the cross; it had to happen on an exact day, with the Jews responsible for His death. He had to live without sin; He wanted to be accepted by as many individuals, especially Jews, as possible; yet He had to obfuscate His teaching so that the judgment of God upon the race (See Isaiah 6:9-10) would dull enough of their spiritual insights to keep a popular uprising from forcing His national acceptance. He had to keep in His mind the prophecies of the Hebrew scripture concerning the Messiah (340 at least), so they would all be precisely fulfilled. He also established the Kingdom of God based on a covenant of grace and the church. It is no wonder that to many who heard Him, His words were not understood, and that He did not leave Himself in a position that His death could occur before its planned time.

The Roman Catholic Church has the belief that His mother Mary remained virginal all her life, and that Jesus had no siblings. This is not the only place in the Bible that such a doctrine is refuted. Joseph, His foster-father, died before He began His public ministry. But Jesus had several brothers and at least one sister born of Joseph and Mary. How could John the apostle who took Mary into his household for the post-crucifixion remainder of her life have written this scripture, if He had no brothers? I have heard it explained by the Jewish custom of calling cousins “brothers”, but to believe it to be true in this case is not possible.

“That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)

Many Disciples Desert Jesus (J26)

The free-loaders and thrill-seekers left the Son,
After His symbolic “eat my flesh” claim;
They need not have, for who calls on His Name
Would’ve been saved, needing not be Father-drawn!
“What if I ascend back to whence I came?
Life’s from the Spirit; flesh’s of no account;
Most of you won’t drink from heaven’s life-fount!”
Said Jesus, to those who more food did claim;
To the Twelve: “Do you want to leave me, too?!
Said Peter, “To whom would we want to go?
We believe; you are from God, that we know!”
“One is a devil, though I chose all you!”
He meant that Judas, who would betray Him;
Jesus knew Judas He had to condemn!

“From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. ‘You do not want to leave me, do you?’ Jesus asked of the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.’ Then Jesus replied, ‘Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!’ He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.” (John 6:66-71) (The complete text of this poem and commentary is John 6:56-71.)

The symbolic teaching that any person to be saved to eternal life must “eat my flesh” and “drink my blood” by Jesus had had its desired effect of dispersing thousands of followers who had been hanging around for free food and cheap thrills, but who had no real desire to believe in Him and repent of their sins. So many left that Jesus, almost plaintively, asked His little band of apostles if they were going to leave, too. Peter answered astutely, showing that he, at least, was beginning to understand the things Jesus required of persons for salvation. As we continue our study in the book of John we will find that the other apostles (not counting Judas Iscariot) did not really understand until the evening before Jesus’ crucifixion. Most of those who deserted were not “drawn” to Jesus by the Father anyway, and would not have been saved. In John 16:8 Jesus tells the apostles that one thing the Holy Spirit will do is to “convict” sinners of their guilt. This is what He meant by saying that anyone who comes to Him is “drawn” by the Father. The ones that left Him had not been convicted by the Spirit that they were guilty of sin and needed to repent. They still could have been saved, but the chance was slim. They would have to call pn Him.

This incident is reminiscent of the modern world, in that most people don’t believe in God or feel any obligation to repent of sin. Most don’t realize they are condemned and need salvation to overturn their future condemnation. The first of the Ten Commandments is to love God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind; not to put God first in a your life is a sin. You have broken a commandment. There are many more sins committed by every person on earth, but they are not convinced of it. If you feel a twinge of conscience about some attitude, thought or act, that could be the Holy Spirit trying to draw you to God. Respond to it before it becomes forever too late. When you die physically, you will never have another chance to accept Jesus as Lord. You will be condemned on the Day of Judgment. Your physical death is not the end. Your body will be resurrected, and you will have an everlasting life. You will live in heaven or hell. You will not want the latter; to keep from living there, you must accept Jesus Christ while you live in this life.

“That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)