Ladies and Gentlemen, Jesus Has Left the Building

I've got to admit, I get a bit uncomfortable following a king like Jesus. Phew. Finishing out John 8, He just lets it fly. Man. It's painful.

As someone who has to play the role of a religious leader, I look at what is going on here and shudder. As we've looked at the last few days, Jesus takes them to task for missing the point. Here, both sides are accusing the other of being demonic, of following Satan. Only one side can be right. Unfortunately for these guys, Jesus comes back to life to prove His side, and they don't.

But you know, none of us are off the hook. We have been gifted more than any other time of the Church's history. We have more ability to study, more leisure to pray and listen, more resources to give and change the world, than any other group of Christians ever. If there was ever a mass group of people God would look to with expectations to be leaders, it is each of us. Our vocations have little to do with it. I mean, God is not impressed with where I receive a paycheck for, and doesn't excuse you for yours. He has blessed us, we are all pastors, and we all have a responsibility globally.

Jesus lays it on the line in verse 58. The phrase He utters when He says "before Abraham was born, I am!" is not a weird grammatical deal. It is the very name of God. It's the name that the Jews for the most part wouldn't even say in a sentence, out of respect for the holiness of God. Jesus doesn't just say it, He claims it as His name. He is God. Pure and simple. Deal with it. Face it.

They decide to kill Him. Right there. He walks away.

I do it too. God steps into my life, calls me out on my hard-heartedness. I give every excuse possible. I'm busy. It's too hard. I would be seen as weird. These are no better than claiming I don't have to because I'm a 53rd generation descendant of Abraham. They are all equally weak excuses. The reality is Jesus gets in my face, in your face, and says it plain. I am God. No wiggle room. I am. Get on board, or kill me.

We decide to kill Him. Right there. He walks away.

We can't really kill Him. We don't have that power. But He does walk away.

What of you? What are you telling God "no" on? You do realize you are telling Him, "You are not God" when you do that, right? He can't be your God, your King, and you tell Him "no". It's not possible. When you refuse to obey at any point, you pick up your rock to try weakly to kill Him.

He's a tough king to follow.

"ding" You are now free to ....

There's not much worse than adults running around like a bunch of babies. And that is what Jesus hits as He continues His conversation with the Jewish leaders in John 8:31-41. Jesus is offering them freedom, He is offering them love, hope, and passion. They only want to argue that they are already just fine, thank you. Why are they fine? Because of who their great, great, great, great, great, great, great, (etc.) grandfather was. Abraham is back there in the family line, God made Him a promise, so we are automatically okay. We don't need your "freedom" Jesus, thank you very much. We are better than you (even though He was from one of the most crucial of Jewish family lines), and you can keep your offer.

Wow.

Even their words have this defiant five year old tone to them. It sounds like me when my wife or kids say something I don't like. This little brat comes out of me, and I dig in my heels.

Why do we do it? Why do we shrink to 3' tall when we are challenged? Fear. The Jewish leaders are afraid. They are trapped in it. They live in it, promote it to others, sell it on the street in their religion, and bully people into being afraid with them. So do I. I am afraid of being ignored, hurt, rejected, left, being stupid, and a whole host of other things. What are we most afraid of? The very thing Jesus offers; freedom. We are so far away from freedom that it terrifies us. We prefer the comfortable chains of here to the amazing, breath taking freedom of there. Jesus knows this full well. Yet, He offers it. Knowing we are afraid of it, He offers it calling us to let go and jump with no net, no safety in sight. He promises freedom, but never, ever safety.

Yeah, for all my false bravado, for all my "extreme sports" background, for all my big talk, Jesus' version of freedom scares the tar out of me. It simply isn't safe. There is absolutely no predicting where you will go when you are set free. It's all too grand, too wide, too beautiful to be able to take it all in.

So, do you want freedom? Jesus offers it with a sly grin and both hands full. How will you receive it? Or will you choose the chains of here?

You are .... I am not....

I think it's so funny that the people thought Jesus might be suicidal. That is the level of disconnect they have with Him. He sees the world so differently, understands values so inherently opposite of theirs, they assume He is depressed, mentally ill, and suicidal. That is a serious disconnect.

If you look in John 8:21-30, you see that Jesus explaining His relationship with God, and warning the people that if they don't shift their focus and hearts from what is going on here to what is going on with God, they will miss it all. He tells them where He is going, they can't go, because they are from below, and He is from above. He's not talking about the fact that they are humans, or born here, because so is He. He is speaking to the fact that their focus, their main concern is whether or not things on earth are going in their favor. What do other people think about them? How much power and prestige can they leverage? Are they influential and important?

Jesus doesn't care. He says so over and over. It's because He is living for another realm, another kingdom, another set of values. He knows where He is headed. He's going to return home to be with His dad. He knows that what goes on with His Dad is what is real, everything else is a shadow, a whisper, a wish. So, He lives life here to match what is important there. And He calls them to come along. But they miss it.

They think He must be off-kilter. What else can explain His disconnect, His blatant lack of care about what is "important". Only a crazy person, or someone who has given up, would live like that. He must be suicidal. He's given up.

They are so close, and yet so far. He has given up. But He's given up to Hope, Love, Life, and a Future. It is actually them, the one's chasing puffs of smoke disguised as power, who are living for death. But they can't see it.

Aren't you glad we aren't like them? Aren't you glad that we never live for someone else's approval? That we never live to try and leverage our "power" over our friends, co-worker's, or our family? Isn't it great that we never look at God's way, and think that He is crazy?

Why do I have to find myself aligned with the Pharisee's so often? Why do I read the Bible, only to see the way Jesus doing things is completely opposite of what I'm doing? Please Lord, change me. Change us. Help us to look more like You than anyone else. Help us to see Your stories in the Bible, and instantly see ourselves, aligned with You. Make us Your people today.

I simply don't want to miss out.