New Thoughts (06/25/09-06/28/09)
In spite of all there is to think upon in this passage, I am (God willing) going to be more brief in my writing this time. Otherwise, I fear I may never reach the end of this long study of the Gospels!
That said, I want first to consider the first thing Jesus say to these adversaries of His: “You cannot come.” Stop and ask what exactly He means by that. In what way, ‘cannot’? Personally, what I hear in His statement is, as Strong’s gives the definition, ‘the absolute negative’ of possibility. I would posit that what He has said is that it is impossible. It is as impossible for them to come to where He is as it is for God to lie. The possibility of such an outcome is as absolutely refused them as the concept of impossibility is rejected in God. For God, the idea of impossibility does not apply. For these, the idea of attaining to heaven does not apply.
We must settle in our thinking, as best we can, whether Jesus is simply saying they are incapable of coming or whether He speaks in terms of permission and authorization. If it is a matter of capability, then certainly, no living creature of flesh and blood is capable of entering heaven, except it be in visions. If that is the scope of His comment, then He is merely stating His claim to the godhead, as He continues to do in verse 23.
However, there is that which He says prior to speaking of their inability. “You shall die in your sin.” When I hear Jesus speak that message to them, I hear it said without possibility of repeal. The die is cast. The outcome is determined. We can quibble over whether it is because God has predetermined that these shall not repent and be saved, or whether it is because they have already made their choice. We might be wiser to suppose that it is both, that God in His justice has determined not to intervene with their choices, but to let them wallow in the consequences.
Whatever one’s views on that question, and on the exact understanding one ought to have on that matter of ‘cannot’, there is certainly a measure of finality in what He has said to them. Whether by choice or by decree, the judgment is delivered: you shall die in your sin. There is not another course made available to them. Even when He later says, “unless you believe I AM, you shall die in your sins,” this is no holding out of hope, for there was not the least possibility remaining that they would meet that condition.
The finality of that statement might best be measured by what Jesus says shortly thereafter. In verse 28, He indicates that they will eventually realize Who He Is. “When you lift up the Son, you will know that I AM.” There will be no more denial of that truth. Whatever has prevented them from seeing Him while there was yet time will have been removed, and they will recognize the Truth. And yet, the verdict shall remain, “you cannot come.” Depart from Me, I never knew you.
Before I move on to consider why they could not understand Him, could not recognize Him, I should first take a moment to contemplate what it should do to me to hear such a judgment made in my own case: “You will know, but you cannot come. You shall die in your sin.” What verdict could be more terrible? It’s not a view commonly heard anymore, but you know, there is a point where God determines that His patience has its limits. Interestingly, the verse I have long thought of in supporting this view turns out, on inspection, to say rather the opposite, at least in the specifics of the circumstance it addresses. When God says, “I will not contend forever” (Isa 57:16), it is in the midst of telling His people that His anger will not remain upon them so long as to destroy them. It is followed by, “I will heal him” (Isa 57:19). And, for His children, I truly believe this is the consistent story. God may contend with us, may discipline us. He may even, in His own fashion, be angry with us in our stubbornness. But, He will not leave it there. He will discipline, and then He will heal, lead and comfort.
The thing is that He does not feel any requirement to do these things for those who are not His own. Repeatedly, we see that the judgment of God upon the unbeliever is most commonly to leave that unbeliever to his choices. Rather than correct, He leaves them to go on. Rather than discipline, He allows them to do as they please and reap the full consequences. And when they do, do you know what happens? They blame God! How could a good God let this happen to me? Well, now: why should you expect a good God to have anything to do with a man such as you or I? It is only the astounding grace of God that comes to stop me from what I could easily do, what I could well have become. Grace, by its very nature, is not bound by considerations of justice and law. The gifts of grace are always legal in and of themselves. He does not graciously give us gifts of evil. He gives us good gifts. But, they are gifts. They are given, as it were, in spite of who we are. They are not rewards, not wages. They are gifts. That He has prevented me from achieving the worst of my goals, particularly as a wayward youth, is a gift of immeasurable worth to me.
That said, I know there are those sins that have clung to me even though I have walked with Him for so many years now. Yes, and I wonder about that. How can this be? God abiding in me, the Spirit indwelling, and I’m doing this? I’m struggling with this? Is it really possible that these two things can be true simultaneously? Or have I been fooling myself? Are these clinging habits the proof that I am not truly His child, or is my concern about that issue the proof that I am?
I have been circling my original point, but I think I have come back to it: “Where I am going, you cannot come.” You know: it’s easy enough to hear that being said to those evil Pharisees that were out to get Jesus. Ha! They may have thought they were winning at the end there, but no. They lost big time. But, as I often note, we really ought to look at things in a different light. We ought to recognize that as often as not we are the Pharisees. We struggle against it, I hope, but you know what? When we’re not really watching, we’re right back to the same things that Jesus was attacking in them. We’re back to the rigid rules with no spiritual connection. We’re back to doing our best to look good, even though we can see the interior condition is near to death. Yet, we have no fear that we might hear that verdict: “You cannot come.”
We spend most of our time convinced that there is no least possibility that we would ever hear Jesus say to us, “Depart from Me, I never knew you.” But, do we spend time considering why that sin is still with us? Are we contending with it, or wallowing in it? If I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me, then why am I still dealing with this? Am I feeling justice when I’d much rather have the mercy? Have I been refusing discipline, insisting on getting away with what I want to get away with? Am I still such a willful child of my Father? Or, worse: Am I to discover that, like these would hear, the Father is not my Father?
There could be nothing more dreadful to hear! Nothing! Nor, in all earnestness, do I expect to hear it. No! But, rather I shall hear the love that God pours out upon His wayward children: “How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I surrender you, O Israel? All My compassions are kindled” (Hos 11:8). Thus does my Father in heaven cry over me when I am gone astray. Thus does my Father in heaven cry for my own child when my own child is gone astray. He will contend. Oh, yes, and all praise be to God that He does so! He will contend with me, until I come to my senses. More critically, though, He will contend with that sin which so entices until its influence is most thoroughly and utterly destroyed from my life. Faithful are the wounds of a friend (Pr 27:6), and oh, what a friend I have in Jesus!
All that aside, if but for a moment, the introspection, the self-check, that is called for in that combined judgment delivered to the Pharisees is always worthwhile. What in my life and habit must yet be shed, if I do not want to hear that verdict of, “You will know I AM, but you cannot come”? What still holds me apart from my Lord? What seeks to drive a wedge between me and my Father? These are things that I must exercise myself to excise from myself. Oh, I know. I’ll hear from any number of my fellows how I can’t do it in my own strength, and I should just let go and let God. But the flesh wants nothing better than to take that concept to the extreme and just stop fighting the sin altogether. The flesh would like nothing so much as an excuse to just go on with its sins ‘until He decides to do something about it.’
You know, maybe that’s the reality of the situation anyway. Maybe, however much I may struggle, the sin will remain until He does something about it. Yet, the picture that Scripture paints for me tells me to keep trying anyway. Nehemiah could not have rebuilt the temple unless God did something about it. Neither could he have rebuilt the temple by lounging about in Persia, nor without stirring those with him to pick up their tools and their weapons and get to it. The disciples could not have become the Apostles without the effort of trying to be like Jesus. They certainly couldn’t have done it without Him, but He certainly wasn’t going to do it for them as if they were unweaned newborns. Maturity takes effort. It matters not whether you look to the physical or the spiritual. The same truth applies.
The sad truth, though, is that there are those cases that will defy all effort. The arguments arise over what comes first, the rebellion of man or the judgment of God. Well, I know where I stand on that, and I’ve probably been through it enough times in various and sundry studies. What I do hear in this, though, is that the case for these Pharisees was sealed. There was no hope of pardon from the governor. There would be no last minute reversal, no appeal heard by a higher court. That judgment is so terrible! “You will know I AM, but you cannot come.”
Think of that parable concerning Lazarus and the rich man who died (Lk 16:19-31). Both died and went to their respective eternal abodes. Lazarus, we hear was in that place called Abraham’s bosom, while the other was deposited in Hades. For all eternity, as we see it in this parable, these tow would remain in sight of one another, yet one would dwell in paradise and the other in agony. Do you not see that this very fact that paradise was right there, just out of reach, would be torment beyond measure? Do you know that there have been torture regimens built on lesser forms of this very thing? What could be more agonizing to a thirsty man than to see that cup of cool, fresh water always there just beyond his reach, mere inches from the farthest stretch of his fingers? That is exactly the future torment that is contained in the judgment Jesus has delivered here. “You will know I AM. You will see Me in My heavenly home.” But you cannot come. The chasm that divides heaven and hell is fixed, “in order that those who wish to come over from here to there may not be able” (Lk 16:26). You cannot come. You have chosen your path, and the Father has determined that you shall surely follow your path to the end. He will not intervene. Enjoy your independence while you may, sinner. But, know that there will be an eternity in which to wish you had done otherwise. And, whether your sin or His decision came first, in that eternity you will have none to blame but yourself. This, too, you will know; but, too late.
Having said I did not choose to touch on the subject of predestination again, I think I shall reverse myself on that decision. For, there is something that has to be addressed regarding this passage. As I read through what Jesus says here, I find it difficult to believe that even the most confirmed unbeliever could fail to recognize the claim He is making. When He says, “You are from below I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world,” is it really possible to miss the implications? Is it really possible for a Jew to hear the repeated insistence that they must believe that “I am” – an insistence that never specifies what they must believe He is – and fail to at least suspect the Tetragrammaton has just been spoken? Admittedly, it could be my own faith that now hears this as so obvious, but I don’t think that is the case. I think what He says should have been at least enough to draw them into seeking more information. Yes, there’s the “Who are you?” But, that’s it. That’s the extent of their curiosity, if curiosity it is.
And, over against this, John records that they did not realize, did not know, that He was talking about the Father. John writes under the editorial eye of the Holy Spirit so if he has been given leave to make this observation, I must incline myself to accept that it is accurate. They didn’t get it. In spite of the relative clarity of what Jesus says, they didn’t get it. Now, then, to my point: If they didn’t grasp the meaning, and didn’t see in their lack of understanding sufficient cause to probe more deeply, why not? What prevented them? These were educated men, after all; men versed in the Scriptures, in history and in culture. They were surely capable of thinking on what was said, on recognizing that there was a lot being implied here that ought to be considered.
Do we chalk that up to no more than the intensity of their hatred for Jesus? Do we write it off as a byproduct of fear they were feeling as they sensed He was a threat to their prestige? That’s not unbelievable, certainly. But, then we are back at the same question again: why? Why the all but blind hatred of the Man? Why should those who ostensibly sought Messiah fear that His arrival would mean an end to their authority and prestige? But, let us leave it that yes: one possibility is the relatively simple motivation of fallen man.
Others may be tempted to write it off as the work of the devil. He, wanting nothing more than the utter failure of God’s plan, was surely working overtime to prevent the chosen people from recognizing what was happening in their midst. And, of course, that would be true as far as it goes. Even to this day, we ought to be quite certain that this enemy of God is our own enemy, and still works ceaselessly to disrupt the good purposes of God as best as he may. He ever has only our worst in mind, and seeks to so turn our own minds, our own attention, that we, too, wind up with only our worst in mind. That is the whole point of temptation, after all: to turn our eyes off the good and leave us desirously in pursuit of the bad.
However, whether one blames human nature, or devilish influences, one has not yet arrived at the root cause, only the agency. The question must eventually come down to this: do you believe that God is True? If you do, then surely, you are required to accept as True the things He reveals about Himself. No, I am not suggesting that such a belief requires us to accept as literal truth the things He speaks of Himself so as to make Himself understandable to us. When He speaks of His right arm, we are not required to suppose that this spiritual being has a physical arm. But, when He speaks of His character and His power, of His purpose and His authority! Here, I find no room to quibble with Him that would not put me in the place of declaring God a liar. And, finding that, I join Paul in shouting, No way! Never let it be so much as thought that God is a liar! Far better that every man, myself included, be proven a liar than that He be found in any least way untruthful. No, my brothers, it is written that He is justified in His words. However man may try to judge and condemn Him, yet He prevails (Ro 3:4). Yes, and He remains Righteous and True!
Now, then: This God, who is inherently and invariable True, who is not hidden, having revealed Himself to us, says quite bluntly that whether for calamity or for blessing, He is in command. He is in control. My, but if we didn’t hold that as true, we should flounder in our faith at the first trial! If Peter hadn’t held that to be true, even imperfectly, he would never have stepped out of the boat to go meet Jesus on the waves. If John hadn’t known that Truth most unshakably, he would never have returned from Patmos with a shred of faith or even sanity.
The very foundation upon which our faith stands is the unchanging, certain character of God, and that character is established as perfectly Righteous, perfectly Just, perfectly Truthful, and perfectly Powerful to ensure that every promise and decree that goes forth from God is assured. When He swears by Himself, it is with the absolute confidence of one who knows that nothing, absolutely nothing, can make Him change His mind. When He says, “thus it shall unfold,” it is the word of the One, the only One, who can be certain that it most assuredly shall unfold as He has said. He is in control! Period. He being the Supreme Being, the Absolute Authority, the all Powerful, all Knowing, all Wise God, what is it we think might disrupt His control? What do we suppose might make Him go, “oops”? What scheme of man or devil do we really think might take Him by surprise and cause Him to change course? It’s unthinkable! Either He is Who He Is, or our faith is an embarrassing sham.
If I accept that things are as I have said, and He is Who He says He is, and in control of both blessing and calamity as He says He is, then whether I chalk the inability to understand Jesus to the men themselves, or to devilish interference, yet I must find God at the helm. If they are to consumed by hatred of Jesus to really hear what He is saying, it is because God has already determined that they shall be left to their own devices. If the devil is running interference, it is because God has given him permission to do so. And, He has also established the limits, which limits the devil can in no wise exceed. It is with this same Authority, unopposable and complete, that Jesus speaks to these adversaries of His. “You will, in the end, know that I AM. But, it will do you no good. You cannot come.”
You may argue that when Jesus softens the case slightly, and says, “For unless you believe that I AM, you shall die in your sins,” that He is leaving the door open for repentance. But, I would say not. He has already delivered the verdict: “You shall die in your sins.” Why? Because they will not believe. Arguably, the cannot. For, The All Powerful God of heaven and earth has already determined that He is Righteous and Just to leave them to their appointed end. Nor does this relieve them in any way from the guilt of their sins. They gladly chose to pursue those sins, and God Who is Just could not justly condemn them for something they did not do willingly.
It is a false dichotomy that supposes a truly Supreme God in perfect control, and a man truly possessed of free will are mutually exclusive beliefs. This is, after all, the God who has explained that He is able to turn our sins and evils to a good end, as suits Him. This is the God Who turned the worst machinations of the devil, the death of His own Son, of God Himself, to the good purpose of saving mankind! This is the God Who took the predations of all those who had run roughshod over Israel to serve the purpose of redemption. Neither did He leave those who thus served unpunished for their own evils. They were not coerced into invading the land of promise. They were not forced at sword point to come to the attack. They were only happy to do so. No, and they were not happy to do so for the joy of serving God by their actions. They were pleased to satisfy their own sinful lust for conquest, and gave not so much as one thought to the God who was using their choices to further His own.
These are examples writ large, but the same applies in the smaller choices that measure our days. Our goals and desires either align with God’s purposes or they oppose them. We, too, are entirely inclined to pursue the greater portion of our lives with little to no thought for God. Yet, He is no less in control because of that. His authority is not lessened by that. His power is not suddenly found wanting because of our petty free will. As a brother of mine puts it so nicely, “Yes, we have free will, but His is more free.”
If, then, these Pharisees did not realize what Jesus was saying, we can first and foremost understand that this is so because God decreed that it would be so. We can secondly understand that this did not in any way rob them of their freedom to choose their way. If anything, it left them more free to choose their own way, because He was not going to bring correction. We who have been saved, who have been redeemed and forgiven, might actually consider that it is our free will that has been the more coerced, as He turned us from our wickedness to a desire for Him. Yet, even there, we find we chose freely, didn’t we? Oh, but could we have done so had He not already chosen? I think not. Had He not chosen, our free will would freely have chosen to continue in pursuit of our sinful pleasures. We may, in the end, have to leave the working of His will and ours in the realm of mystery, yet it is no less true, and no less clearly true for all that. In the end, either we know that He is in control and we are truly pleased to seek His ways, or we are blind to the truth, and are truly pleased to seek our own. Either way, He remains in control.
It is perhaps ironic to consider that it is this same control exercised by God that prevents the riots that the leadership claimed to be so concerned about. Why, Jesus might stir up the crowds to try and rise against Rome! They might bring the Roman soldiers down on the temple. Nobody could want that. But, the reality is that if God had not been wholly in control, and if He had not thus determined how many would hear, and how much they would understand immediately, this crowd – Pharisees included – would have done one of two things. They would either have bowed down before Him in worship, or they would have risen up as a mob to destroy Him. With what He had just said, no other response could be expected. He has, as He seems always to do, brought things to crisis point. There can be no neutrality in response to the claims He has just laid out.
We are told that many believed, and that’s truly a fine thing. Yet, even that response seems muted, given the claims. They believed, yet they did not bow in worship before Him. What held them back? If they believed, then they believed Him worthy of that worship. As for the rest, what of them? If they did not believe, how could they allow this blasphemer to remain standing in their midst? There is not even mention of any attempt on Him in this case. Fear of being seen in riot? Perhaps. Yet, that hasn’t held their hand before. God, however, has determined that neither belief nor unbelief will hear in full in this case. The believer will hear enough to believe, and will have ample time thereafter to fathom the full impact of this One they have believed. The unbeliever will, perhaps, also find time later to recognize exactly what they just heard, but for right now: They didn’t realize. They didn’t know. Indeed, Jesus has promised them that in time they will know and realize.
It is the same word that is used in both verse 27 and verse 28. Whether translated realize or know, it’s the same ginosko underneath. It’s the knowledge that comes of experience. It’s knowledge made personal. Unlike the intuitive knowledge of eido, this is something that can’t just be learned from a book. It has to be experienced, integrated into the life, made part of the man. I know it’s an example I’ve used before, but I’ll use it again anyway. It’s one thing to have Ohm’s law memorized. That gets you to the eido knowledge. Yes, I can see that if I have values of current and resistance, then I can calculate the voltage. Likewise, if I have voltage and current, I can calculate the resistance. But, it’s still all eido. It’s head knowledge. The usefulness in application, though; the ways in which that simple formula can be used to approach a real-life task: These require experience.
Like any other skill, the mechanics and the technique can be learned in that eido fashion. Understand, by the way, that we are not talking intuitive knowledge in the sense of, say, women’s intuition. It’s more in the form of taking the facts one has and building a bigger picture by putting those facts together correctly. It’s not that intuitive knowledge just pops into your head. Intuitive knowledge is using your head. But, it’s still more in the way of academic exercise. Ginosko requires real-life experience. It’s more like the apprenticeship that shows you how to apply the facts, the techniques, to the things you do.
See, even if they had known in that eido sense that Jesus was indeed proclaiming Himself not only Messiah, but God Himself, they would lack the ginosko knowledge to make anything of that fact. This is part of what makes it so shocking to read this passage in their regard. They will come to that ginosko knowledge of the Christ, but only as they watch Him bleed and die. They will come to know with certainty, but only when it’s too late. I dare say that as they witnessed His death, after the fun of mocking Him had worn off and when things had started to get a bit too weird, they knew. When that darkness fell, they knew. When they learned that the great curtain that kept the Holy of Holies holy had suddenly been rent in that moment, they knew. They knew to their great despair, and as so often happens they immediately began constructing their mind blocks to keep from having to consider it.
They knew, but they would spend the rest of their days doing their utmost to make sure they didn’t have to look at what they knew. You see, as they knew that He was indeed the Christ, they could not help but know what they had done in causing Him to be crucified. They would not realize that even in such a heinous sin as they had just committed, they had been serving God’s plan. If they truly knew Him, they might have suspected as much and come to Him in repentance. But, the reality of the situation is as Jesus said: “You don’t know Me, and you never knew My Father.” They served a god of their own imagining, not the Father of heaven and earth. So, as realization dawned, if they were certain of anything, it was that they were beyond hope. Like Judas, they could see no hope of redemption, no chance of forgiveness for what they had done. As such, they strove to strike that bit of history from the records. Like so many of our modern historians (or should I say, post-modern historians?) they sought to re-write what had happened. They would not mention this Man. They would not mention those of import who had come to believe in this Man. As best they could, they would not only try to forget it themselves, but would seek to eradicate the memory of the last few years from the whole of Jewish memory.
In the end, though, they would know. They would know with all certainty that He Is I AM. And still, “where I am going, you cannot come.” Knowledge, even that ginosko knowledge that is integrated into the life, is not enough. It’s not enough to know that Jesus is the Messiah. They eventually knew, but they were not eventually saved. Even had they attained to that life-changing knowledge of epignosis, it would not be enough. That, after all, is more or less where the Pharisees got started. They knew God’s Law, and they were determined with all that was in them to live by that law. But, it wasn’t enough. It never could be. If they had really understood, they would have realized the impossibility of their goal. They would have been driven to their knees before a merciful God as had been intended all along. Instead, they grew proud. Instead, they kept lowering the standards until they were low enough to keep, and then boasted of their successes. They knew the Law. But, it wasn’t enough.
To knowledge, we must add faith. You see, Jesus did not say, “Unless you know Me, you will die in your sins.” Devils know Him. And quake for fear of Him (Jas 2:19). Haven’t you noticed that some of the first to acknowledge that God’s own Son was walking the earth were those who were doomed by that fact? They knew Him. We could even say the believed Him. But, their faith was not in Him. Or, more properly, His faith was not in them. They could not have any illusion about eventually arriving where He is. Nor, I suppose, would they have the least desire, these who were so wholly devoted to opposing the Kingdom. I wonder if they, too, will come to know an eternal regret when once they have been thrown into the lake of fire. I wonder if they, too, will remain forever on the wrong side of that chasm, the promise of Paradise always in sight but out of reach.
In another respect, their failure to know Him was a most willful and determined decision on their own part. Notice the response they get when they ask Him, “Who are you?” Depending on the translation you choose, you hear variations on one of two answers, “Why do I keep talking to you, since you refuse to hear Me,” or, “What have I been telling you from day one?” The answer to your question has been there before you for a long time now, and it’s clear that no matter how bluntly it is stated, you will refuse to hear it, lest you be required to repent and be saved. The Word Incarnate, knowing that the Word is never sent forth in futility, must have chafed at the seeming futility of this particular mission. Yet, in all truth He indeed accomplished all that He was sent forth to accomplish.
I have said that neither knowing nor believing is sufficient in itself, but there must be faith. What, you might ask, shall distinguish faith from belief? They would seem to be the same thing, would they not? I believe in something and therefore I have faith in it. But, this is not the case. Belief does not require that action be in accord with knowledge. Faith does. Belief has heard, and has believed what was heard. Faith has heard and yes, it faith has believed. But, more than that, faith has taken heed of what was heard, and moved to action upon what has been believed. Faith, except it be joined with the works that naturally flow from the object of faith, is a dead and useless thing (Jas 2:20, Jas 2:26). Indeed, it is not faith at all. The possessor of this behavior has stopped at belief. Unless he is moved from that stopping point by the God of faith, he cannot come where God is.
The crisis of the moment, that crisis which Jesus has brought to bear on those who are listening to Him, is revealed in the question asked. “Who are you?” As I’ve noted elsewhere, there’s at least two ways we might hear that question being asked, and it is rather unfortunate that the writers of the Gospels did not concern themselves with recording the attitudes of the questions, only the words. We could hear the question with the last word stressed, “who are you?”, and in that we would hear sarcasm. Why should we believe you? Look at you. You’re no big deal. You’re not even trained. You’re not a Pharisee such as we are, nor are you a product of the rabbinical schools. You’re just some guy from Galilee. Believe you are? Believe you are what? Believe you are who?
Alternatively, we might hear the question asked with the stress on the second word. “Who ARE you?” That is the accent of surprise, perhaps even a bit of fear. That is the question asked in a way that hopes rather forlornly that it doesn’t get the answer it suspects it might. Please, please, please, don’t let Him be Who I think He’s saying He is! Please, please, please, not the I AM. For, to face such a claim I must face myself, and realize that in spite of my pride of accomplishment, I’m not even approaching readiness to meet Him. You may think I’ve just watched one too many scary movies in my day, but I have a feeling that, even if the surface was more in that sarcastic mode, the inner man of these Pharisees was closer to fear.
Sarcasm would have found no cause to seek this man’s destruction. It would write him off as an empty threat, a meaningless and trivial distraction. It takes more than sarcasm to move a man to violence. One thing is certain: these men reacted to Jesus with violence. Oh, they would not take up stones themselves, of course, because well, they’re Pharisees. They’re too pure to be such a close companion to death. But, they had years of practice in skirting the requirements of the Law. They had become quite adept at breaking the Law in fact while maintaining all appearance of obedience to the Law. They would put on the face of sarcasm, lest the crowds of lesser mortals around them sense how shaken they really were. But, they really were shaken. They were deeply afraid that this Jesus might just be Who He had been saying He was. And yet, they could not bring themselves to bow down to Him. Pride had taken them too far from holiness to come back now.
Just as they feared they knew Who He was, they feared that truly knowing Him and owning Him to be Who He Is would force them to finally come to grips with who they knew they were. They knew they were not the pure and holy men that they played in the movie of their lives. They did their best to stay fooled in regard to themselves, but they knew. Deep down, they knew that they were far from righteous. Now, they were discovering that God knew, too, and He wasn’t going to do anything about it. And that is the most terrible thing to learn about God: that He has decided to leave you to yourself.
That is the final judgment for the lost: God has left you to yourself. To ask Him again, “who are You?” will get you nowhere. To let Him know that you do know who He is will get you nowhere. There will be no excuse to be found in claiming you were never given evidence of His existence. It’s all around you. If nobody ever spoke to you about Jesus, yet your guilt would be upon you, for what is revealed in creation is enough to make the reality and the character of God plain. You will know, but you cannot come. That’s a horrible thing to find out, to discover that I have known too late to do me any good.
Many, being focused on God’s love to the exclusion of all else that He is, find it all but impossible to think there could be such a thing as too late in this business of salvation. Yet, there clearly is such a thing. Judas found it. Pontius Pilate almost certainly found it. Based on what Jesus has just said, these Pharisees are about to find it. If you have not yet given Jesus a fair hearing, if you have not yet come to know who He is, there is no time to put it off. To procrastinate is to be too late. When Jesus makes Himself known, it truly is a crisis point. To choose not to choose just now is to choose to join those who knew too late. Believe me, you will know Him, and you will know who He is. That is not really the question. The question is whether you will have known Him as your Lord and Savior. You will know Him as Lord. Every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess. But, will you be among those who do so gladly, or will you be counted with those from whom the confession is spoken with nothing but regret?
You can hear the time running out for these Pharisees as Jesus answers their question. The translations are quite varied in their rendering of His reply, but they fall into two general categories. There are the more literal readings, where the translation is akin to, “I am who I said I was from the beginning” [God’s Word]. Alternatively, there are those translations that seek to give us the idiom, that which was understood by the hearers: “Why do I speak to you at all?” [NRSV]. Either way, the problem with understanding is laid squarely on the listeners, not on the Teacher.
The literal variations are a bit more polite in pointing this out. It’s rather like a sigh of exasperation. Haven’t you been listening at all? Look! I’ve been actively ministering for what? Two years? Three? I’ve taught openly, publicly. And, My message hasn’t changed. And yet, what I have said of Myself and of My mission from day one, you still can’t seem to comprehend?
If we take the more idiomatic sense of the thing, that exasperation is just that much plainer. Indeed, the sense that these men are willfully refusing to hear the point He is making is at the forefront. Why do I bother? It’s a waste of my breathe and time, since you’re clearly going to ignore what is plainly stated to you. If you did hear it and understand it, you’d just refuse to believe Me anyway. So, what’s the point? Father, why have You put this on My schedule? Couldn’t I be saving somebody who loves Us instead? But, “I do nothing on My own initiative, but speak these things as the Father taught Me.” I’m not here to please Myself, but I am wholly committed to always do what is pleasing to Him.
Well, if the Pharisees refused to hear the obvious point Jesus was making, we do not. To the Christian ear, the claim is inescapable. To the ear of the Jew who is actually paying attention, the claim must have been just as inescapable. And, indeed, where ears were open, the verdict we read is they came to believe in Him (v30). It is interesting that, as our church begins to focus a little more on its doctrinal foundations, and as I guide my wife through some of the history that led to things like the Nicene Creed, I should read a translation of Jesus reply such as I read in Wuest’s translation. “I am essentially that which I also am telling you” (v25).
Now, in our culture, where up is down and good is bad, we have managed to pretty much invert the meaning of essentially, just as we speak of things that are clearly meant in a figurative way as being literally the case. What is literal by our declaration is figurative by inference. So, when we say that something is essentially correct, we generally mean to say that it’s close. It’s almost right. The basics are in place, but the application may have been a bit fuzzy. When we speak of somebody as being essentially a good person, we are almost certainly being mindful of those several faults and foibles that mark them out as less than a good person. Think of the parent’s common assessment of their child. Oh, sure. He makes his mistakes, but he’s essentially a good kid. Of course, the Bible would teach us that he is quite the opposite. He is essentially a sinner, a fallen being in desperate need of salvation. The Bible would teach us that only God is good, and in Him, goodness truly is the essence of the being.
You see, when Wuest translates this as being about what Jesus is essentially, he is making it clear that Jesus is talking about the very core of His being. This is the stuff of which the counsels and those who made up its members argued long and hard. How do we explain the essential unity of the Trinity in a way that can be understood without being confounded with falsehoods? We believe in a Father, Son and Holy Spirit Who are [is?]of one essence. While three in person (or office or function), they are one essence. One ‘being’ didn’t suit. They are not emanations of that one being, gradually removed farther from the perfection of being. They are one in a much more essential way.
It addresses character, but it is much stronger than just character. It is character apart from which God would not be Himself. It is, if you will, the stuff that identifies self. There are character traits which may change over the course of one’s life and yet leave one still fundamentally the same person. As I put away childish ways and grow into maturity, I have not become somebody else. I have, if anything, become more myself. There is one thing, and one thing only, that breaks that flow in such a fashion as to make all that went before obsolete. When Jesus imparts salvific faith and the Holy Spirit has come to take up residence within as guide, teacher and more, we are declared a new creation. The old, Paul tells us, has passed away. It’s dead, Jim. The new has come into being (2Co 5:17). From that point, though, the continuum of maturation has started up again. In that one moment of salvation, the essence of who you are has changed, but it shall not change again. The characteristics that are yours will change, mature and blossom over time, but the essence is settled. At essence, you are become a child of God.
For Jesus, there was never any such moment of rebirth. He is from all eternity and He shall remain to all eternity. His arrival in human form did not mark His beginning, nor did His death on the cross denote His end. He speaks, then, of that which He is essentially, that which defines His being.
When we ask who somebody is, we are most often looking for external data points. Oh, you know: so and so’s friend, this one’s father. You remember: he worked with us back when we were at the old company. We might relay physical characteristics to help trigger memory. But, we are not inclined to try and recollect that memory based on essentials. We don’t recall based on character. We don’t generally think ourselves sufficiently informed to know another’s essential character. We have enough difficulty discerning our own, for the heart is so deceptively wicked, and it is at its worst when considering self.
Jesus could, in this more trivial regard, have reminded them that He was Mary’s boy, that His father had been Joseph the carpenter up in Nazareth. He could have mentioned that He was of the tribe of Judah, and indeed, of the tribe of Benjamin. He could have proudly pointed to His descent in the lineage of David. Or, He could have answered in terms of occupation. I am an itinerant preacher. I am a healer. I am a prophet. He could have answered in terms of propensities. I am one who loves the God of Israel, a devout Jew. He could even have answered in terms of His real office. I am the Messiah. I am the King that John announced. But, none of these fit His purpose, the Father’s purpose.
He spoke of what He is at essence. I have told you from the outset that I AM. Even, so, I am telling you again now that I AM, and unless you believe that I am I AM, there is nothing you can do to escape the wages due your sins. All your careful observance of rite and ceremony will come to nothing. All your care for appearances, all your gaudy display of religious trappings will have got you nowhere. You will die in your sins in spite of having maintained a perfect record as a Pharisee. But, you will not believe. Why am I bothering to tell you what I have said so often? Why am I given to make you understand what you refuse to believe? The sentence has already been handed down, and I could speak out now of things that would make your condemnation clear and the justice of it plain. But, I speak only as He gives Me to speak, nor do I hold back anything of which He has commanded Me to speak.
With that, it is also interesting to note this which the Living Bible brings out in their translation. “I could condemn you for much and teach you much.” It was in His power (measured as ability) to do more either to their destruction or to their benefit. His knowledge is like that. He knows us well enough to make His judgments stick. He knows our needs well enough to teach us in ways we will understand. But, while it was well within His capabilities to do either of these things, He had bound Himself to the authority given Him by the Father. “I only speak what He teaches Me to speak.” He goes no further than Father commands, nor does He stop shy of what has been commanded. This once more gives testimony to the fundamental truth that God is in control. It is, after all, His Word, His truth. A sovereign God need not seek permission to enlighten, nor can any demand of Him that He condemn. He is sovereign, and He shall decide the course His justice shall take. The only thing that decides God’s course is His essence. He cannot and will not violate Who He Is. Indeed, so skillfully does He manage the affairs of heaven and earth that He, as no other, can take vengeance without violating Love. He can minister Judgment without losing hold of His Mercy, and He can apply His Mercy without violating Justice. So, when He looks at this group and says, “I could, but I won’t”, it in no way diminishes His Love. It in no way diminishes His Mercy. It most certainly does nothing to reduce His Glory. He remains Who He has always said He Is in essence, and He remains all that He has always said He Is in essence.
As we consider that Jesus only speaks what He has been taught of the Father, we would do well to consider the prayers Jesus offers to the Father in light of that statement. For what Jesus says here is not something that applies solely to this one instance. It is not that in the case of what He is saying to the Pharisees, He is limiting Himself to what the Father has taught Him to speak. That has been His lifestyle all along. It has shaped everything He says, everything He does. Indeed, it has shaped everything He thinks. With that in mind, consider the prayer He makes on behalf of His disciples. “I don’t ask You to take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil” (Jn 17:16). How often do we comment on how marvelous it would be if Jesus would just bring us to salvation and then translate us immediately into His eternal presence to join the choir of praise before His throne! But, that’s not the plan. That does not suit the purpose God has for creation, nor for His children.
No, His plan does include keeping us from the evil that is in this world. Were it not so, Jesus would not have prayed that He would. Jesus speaks, even to the Father, only what is of a piece with the Father’s purpose. Yes, even as He prayed in the agony of spirit that was upon Him in Gethsemene, He prayed only as the Father was pleased to hear Him pray, and He sought only what the Father was pleased to have come about. Yes, He inquired after a possible alternative, but only such an alternative as would yet achieve the Father’s purpose in full. And even that portion of the prayer was in accord with God’s desire, for in the question we hear from our Lord, we are given to understand that we, too, are permitted questions. In the nevertheless that follows, we are given to recognize the boundaries placed upon our own service in the kingdom. Nevertheless, Lord, Thy will not mine.
A lesser Lord might have sought an easier life for His followers as reward for their service. A lesser Lord might have asked that God do for us what would make our lives easy. But, Jesus speaks only as He hears from the Father. The Father’s good and perfect will requires that we remain in the world while learning how to refrain from being of the world. His good and perfect plan requires that we shall know persecution in this life. It requires that we learn perseverance the only way it can be learned: the hard way. It requires that His children grow, and growing, become strong in His ways.
Keeping us from the evil, though, is of accord with His purpose. That is not to say that we shall not experience suffering. Quite the opposite! We are assured that we shall know suffering in this life. Yet, we are also assured that we shall know blessing as we persevere with Him, as we insist on following hard after Him even when it is so very hard to follow. That evil which we shall perforce experience in this life may even require us to submit unto death, even as our Lord, His only begotten Son was required to do. Could we really expect less?
It is at this juncture that the whole prosperity gospel must be seen for the mockery it is. God wants us to enjoy a life of ease? Tell that to the rich man who to this day pines for a cup of water from Lazarus who suffered so! God has no other plan for us but to pour out the wealth of nations into our hands? Tell that to the young ruler who disqualified himself from the kingdom because he couldn’t bear to give his wherewithal to assist the needy. Tell that to Judas who couldn’t bear the extravagant gift of nard that was poured out as preparation for the even more extravagant gift of the Son Himself!
No, when God keeps us from the evil, it is not the experience of evil’s pains that are in view, but the succumbing to evil, the internalizing of evil’s motivations. Here, there cannot be a Christian who has not found God true to this prayer. I cannot look upon my own past through the eyes of Christ and fail to see those times when He has stayed me from my course, preserved me from becoming wholly engrossed with evil prospects. Absolutely, I have experienced evil. I have relished it at times. But, I have not been overwhelmed by it. I have walked up to the brink, and would at the time have willingly stepped off the edge. But, He would not. He would not have it. Though I was yet His enemy (or at the very least wholly indifferent to Him), yet He kept me from the full extent of the evil I would have done to myself and to others.
You see, He knew. He knew before ever I was born that His purpose for me was salvation. He had called me already, though I had neither heard nor heeded that call as yet. That same enemy that thought Him defeated on the cross was more than pleased to work against God’s purpose for me, to destroy me before I could hear the call. But, God’s word does not go forth void. His purposes are not thwarted. Ever.
Having, then, commended us to bide our time in this world, preserved from evil yet not wholly prevented from its impact, God sets forth His purpose for us. Slowly, we come to grips with it. Slowly, we begin to realize that as it is for our Lord, so it should be for us. What did Jesus say? “I didn’t come down from heaven to do My own thing. I came to do the will of Him who sent Me” (Jn 6:38). Surely, by now we understand that much the same can be said of us? No, we cannot claim the direct begetting of our life by the Father. That is reserved to Christ alone. Yet, apart from His will, we can be certain our arrival in this life would not be. In Him we live and move and have our being. Apart from Him, we are dead. Apart from Him, all motion must cease, for it is He who sets even the stars in their courses. Apart from Him, there is no being.
He had a reason for my birth, as He has His reason for yours. In that sense, then, yes, we do come from heaven, if by a less direct route than our Lord. We, too, as we come to the Lordship of the Christ, ought to recognize that we were not born into this life to do our own thing. Oh, the world will do its utmost to get us thinking that it’s all about me. It’s all about getting my needs met. It’s all about satisfying my desires, getting what I want out of life, achieving my goals. But, it’s not. That’s the world talking, and we are not of the world, only in it. We have no more to do with the world’s plans and goals and so on than the tourist in Paris has to do with electing a new president for that country. We may find it interesting to follow, but it’s not really our business.
Our purposes and our business remain with the nation whose citizens we are. Here, Paul reminds us that ultimately, our citizenship is in heaven. As such, it is the business of heaven which is rightly our business. It is the Law of heaven which is rightly our law. It is the purpose of heaven which is rightly our pursuit. As such, we are called to be those who join with Jesus in proclaiming that we came to do the will of our Father. Yes, and to do more than simply proclaim it, but to live that reality.
It is the power of a life thus lived that brings John to the point of declaring, “whatever we ask from Him we receive” (1Jn 3:22). John knew better than to suggest that this was carte blanche for the redeemed. He was no proponent of a name it claim it theology. No! He immediately writes the required worldview that makes this so. It is only “because we keep His commandments and do what is pleasing in His sight.” Then and only then do we have just cause to think that we shall receive as we ask, for then and only then do we ask as we hear from Him.
That is the lifestyle of the believer. That is the life that honors God. It is the life that has set aside self in favor of God’s purpose. The self has been hoisted on its cross, put to death. It is at least a daily effort. More often, it is hourly, or even moment by moment. Life throws its trials at us. We think we have found our breaking point over and over and over again. But, all we have found really is another piece of ourselves that must be hoisted on that cross. All we have found is another occasion to choose, another occasion to persevere, and in so choosing and persevering, another occasion to sense the power, the majesty and the immeasurable glory of our God.
