John 7:50-53
50Nicodemus, the one having come to Him by night, says to them, being one of them, 51“ Our Law does not judge the person unless it hears from him first and knows what he does, does it?” 52They answered and said to him, “You are not also out of Galilee, are you? Search and see that a prophet has not been raised out of Galilee.” (cp., 2Kings 14: 25; i.e., Jonah was from Galilee) 53And each one departed to his house.
Good Day Child of God! "Father? Your Will Be Done!" With the verses above we come to the end of Chapter 7 of John's Gospel. With the next Study it will be a Chapter and a new day, but it will be the same Jesus, teaching in the Temple.
When people begin to lose sight of reality, and start to follow their gut instead of reason, things happen that are not within a standard of measure, but rather a snap back reaction of hasty decisions based on irrational thinking and are used to protect the status quo rather than to seek Truth. We see exactly that as we read our Text above. At this point the Priests are putting down all that would Trust in the Words that Jesus is teaching, including their own. Nicodemus who is well educated and deeply concerned about Truth, yet is disregarded when he tries to make a reasonable argument to listen further to Jesus and get His teachings directly from Him rather than those that report back to the Sanhedrin, the Counsel of leadership for the Jewish Religion. There is no reason to fear Jesus, except that Jesus could make them look foolish. In the world, we are taught to never give someone you deem an enemy time to explain, rather rid yourself of the problem as quickly as possible so those that support someone like Jesus will forget quickly enough, or perhaps consider that He was too weak and was of no consequence in God's eyes.
Today's easy lesson: This lesson could be summed up as a life lesson as well as a Biblical lesson. It is common for a group of people that have certain control in certain areas of life anywhere in the world. Whether it is a neighborhood, a small town, a city, a state, a nation, or an organization. We see it from condominium communities to a local church groups. What happens is that someone comes to be the controlling leader by either vote or by seizing the post. They have two traits, one being that they NEVER want to be thought of as wrong in anything they do or say. The other is that they are very thin skinned, meaning if you do confront them, the rage that flows through their being is noticeable, and whomever it was that stepped on those toes is in for trouble. How? Any number of ways depending on the power the toes are attached to. If a President of a nation, it would only take moments to eliminate or jail someone for life, even if there is nothing that they did wrong. Right and wrong are the President's decision. Come down to a local church pastor or member that have deep beliefs in the groups theology, and it won't take long to be tossed from the group, and if there is an unwelcome return, the rumor mill and accusations of impropriety will overwhelm just about anyone. Of course Jesus isn't just anyone, and the Priests, the Sadducee's, and Pharisees with the exception of Nicodemus, are willing to cut Jesus off at the knees as soon as possible.
Why do you suppose Nicodemus is the only one wanting to hear more from Jesus? Do you remember who approached Jesus to dig deeper into what Jesus was teaching? We met Nicodemus when he went to Jesus to ask more questions, and Jesus told Nicodemus that one must be "born of water and of Spirit," and this completely confused Nicodemus. In fact to this very day that statement is misused and misunderstood, even though Jesus was not kind to Nicodemus, as Nicodemus was one who was teaching the Law, and not understanding this simple play on words. You must be born of water, that is, you must be born of a woman, coming out of the water sack you lived in for nine months and become a human being. Then once you are old enough to understand, you must accept God for who He is and what He has done for you, and then the Spirit is given to you, which in turn makes you born by the Spirit as well. Not a hard teaching, and it has nothing to say about baptism. You and I would never believe that however if we were to speak to most Christians, as they are sure you must be baptized in water to be Saved.
How does this help you in your daily walk? If you are following religious teaching, what does that have to do with God? We have discussed this question many times, and Truth is that God is not religious. In fact, once again, did Jesus come as a man to serve both His Father and mankind for the sake of bringing about peace between the two, or did Jesus come to issue in a whole new set of rules, rites, and commandments? When we decide that what Jesus has done isn't enough, His Cross, His death, burial, and the Resurrection become useless. The Apostle Paul said it this way; "Grace becomes useless to you." You and I, well every human being, carry no merit when standing in front of God. We rejected His ways at the beginning in the Garden with Adam, Eve and Cain, and to this day we reject God's forgiveness of sins and the Gift of Life through Jesus because we decide we must do more to complete the plan the Creator decided was enough. In reality, even calling yourself a Christian, you chance losing your place as His Child because you have decided God is to follow you, not the other way around. Listen to the testimony of Jesus, as Nicodemus suggests, not the testimony of some preacher, teacher, or priest, and you will find your Father has these things in mind for you; peace, love and joy. There is nothing on earth and no one in the Universe that can take His Grace from you. Only you can reject it outright, and decide God needs more of something to complete His plan of Salvation. Do you think your affiliation, your group, your actions or works are the additions the Father had forgotten? My fellow Students, our Father Loves this world He made. As for mankind, He Loves us even more. Why do people take the time to insult His Love and create another way? It is a serious question, and there is an easy answer. Please think it through? Have a Grace Day!
Brother Glenn
Complete New Testament Grace Studies link: http://gracehouseministry.blogspot.com/
50Nicodemus, the one having come to Him by night, says to them, being one of them, 51“ Our Law does not judge the person unless it hears from him first and knows what he does, does it?” 52They answered and said to him, “You are not also out of Galilee, are you? Search and see that a prophet has not been raised out of Galilee.” (cp., 2Kings 14: 25; i.e., Jonah was from Galilee) 53And each one departed to his house.
Good Day Child of God! "Father? Your Will Be Done!" With the verses above we come to the end of Chapter 7 of John's Gospel. With the next Study it will be a Chapter and a new day, but it will be the same Jesus, teaching in the Temple.
When people begin to lose sight of reality, and start to follow their gut instead of reason, things happen that are not within a standard of measure, but rather a snap back reaction of hasty decisions based on irrational thinking and are used to protect the status quo rather than to seek Truth. We see exactly that as we read our Text above. At this point the Priests are putting down all that would Trust in the Words that Jesus is teaching, including their own. Nicodemus who is well educated and deeply concerned about Truth, yet is disregarded when he tries to make a reasonable argument to listen further to Jesus and get His teachings directly from Him rather than those that report back to the Sanhedrin, the Counsel of leadership for the Jewish Religion. There is no reason to fear Jesus, except that Jesus could make them look foolish. In the world, we are taught to never give someone you deem an enemy time to explain, rather rid yourself of the problem as quickly as possible so those that support someone like Jesus will forget quickly enough, or perhaps consider that He was too weak and was of no consequence in God's eyes.
Today's easy lesson: This lesson could be summed up as a life lesson as well as a Biblical lesson. It is common for a group of people that have certain control in certain areas of life anywhere in the world. Whether it is a neighborhood, a small town, a city, a state, a nation, or an organization. We see it from condominium communities to a local church groups. What happens is that someone comes to be the controlling leader by either vote or by seizing the post. They have two traits, one being that they NEVER want to be thought of as wrong in anything they do or say. The other is that they are very thin skinned, meaning if you do confront them, the rage that flows through their being is noticeable, and whomever it was that stepped on those toes is in for trouble. How? Any number of ways depending on the power the toes are attached to. If a President of a nation, it would only take moments to eliminate or jail someone for life, even if there is nothing that they did wrong. Right and wrong are the President's decision. Come down to a local church pastor or member that have deep beliefs in the groups theology, and it won't take long to be tossed from the group, and if there is an unwelcome return, the rumor mill and accusations of impropriety will overwhelm just about anyone. Of course Jesus isn't just anyone, and the Priests, the Sadducee's, and Pharisees with the exception of Nicodemus, are willing to cut Jesus off at the knees as soon as possible.
Why do you suppose Nicodemus is the only one wanting to hear more from Jesus? Do you remember who approached Jesus to dig deeper into what Jesus was teaching? We met Nicodemus when he went to Jesus to ask more questions, and Jesus told Nicodemus that one must be "born of water and of Spirit," and this completely confused Nicodemus. In fact to this very day that statement is misused and misunderstood, even though Jesus was not kind to Nicodemus, as Nicodemus was one who was teaching the Law, and not understanding this simple play on words. You must be born of water, that is, you must be born of a woman, coming out of the water sack you lived in for nine months and become a human being. Then once you are old enough to understand, you must accept God for who He is and what He has done for you, and then the Spirit is given to you, which in turn makes you born by the Spirit as well. Not a hard teaching, and it has nothing to say about baptism. You and I would never believe that however if we were to speak to most Christians, as they are sure you must be baptized in water to be Saved.
How does this help you in your daily walk? If you are following religious teaching, what does that have to do with God? We have discussed this question many times, and Truth is that God is not religious. In fact, once again, did Jesus come as a man to serve both His Father and mankind for the sake of bringing about peace between the two, or did Jesus come to issue in a whole new set of rules, rites, and commandments? When we decide that what Jesus has done isn't enough, His Cross, His death, burial, and the Resurrection become useless. The Apostle Paul said it this way; "Grace becomes useless to you." You and I, well every human being, carry no merit when standing in front of God. We rejected His ways at the beginning in the Garden with Adam, Eve and Cain, and to this day we reject God's forgiveness of sins and the Gift of Life through Jesus because we decide we must do more to complete the plan the Creator decided was enough. In reality, even calling yourself a Christian, you chance losing your place as His Child because you have decided God is to follow you, not the other way around. Listen to the testimony of Jesus, as Nicodemus suggests, not the testimony of some preacher, teacher, or priest, and you will find your Father has these things in mind for you; peace, love and joy. There is nothing on earth and no one in the Universe that can take His Grace from you. Only you can reject it outright, and decide God needs more of something to complete His plan of Salvation. Do you think your affiliation, your group, your actions or works are the additions the Father had forgotten? My fellow Students, our Father Loves this world He made. As for mankind, He Loves us even more. Why do people take the time to insult His Love and create another way? It is a serious question, and there is an easy answer. Please think it through? Have a Grace Day!
Brother Glenn
Complete New Testament Grace Studies link: http://gracehouseministry.blogspot.com/
