Seek Jesus (John 11:55-57)

Today's scripture: John 11:55-57

Again, we see the two disparate views of Jesus, both during His earthly sojourn and today. Some people were seeking Jesus; others wanted to seize Him.

Those who had seen His miracles and heard His message wanted to know Him more. They wanted to learn more about Him. They wanted to follow Him.

Others had seen those same miracles—or at the very least had heard about them. They'd also heard His message of love and peace. Yet they wanted to seize Him and halt His message.

As Solomon wrote, "... there is nothing new under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 1:9). People today still seek Jesus, either to follow Him or to hinder His message.

So many have that God-shaped hole in their hearts, and they know something's missing. They hear about changed lives and miracles. Friends and family members share stories of what God has done in their lives. They see evidence of Jesus in those who follow Him.

And they seek Him. They want to learn from Him. They want to follow Him.

Then there are those who have also heard about Jesus. They've also heard about changed lives and have seen the evidence. But they don't like the Bible's message of how a follower of Jesus should live. Or they see those who call themselves Christians live hypocritical lives.

And so they seek to seize Jesus' message and obliterate it.

Interestingly, though, no matter whether someone seeks Jesus to follow Him or to wipe out His message, Jesus can't be ignored. He won't be ignored.

And one day, every single person will find Jesus. Some will find Him and serve Him forever. Others will find Him and recognize Him as God—yet because they sought to halt His message, they'll spend eternity separated from Him forever.

Seek Him ... but seek Him rightly.

Jesus' Divinity. Man's Humanity (John 11:1-16)

Today's scripture: John 11:1-16

We're going to spend the next three days focusing on a story that is probably very familiar. Each section of the story illustrates an aspect of who Jesus is ... and who we are.

Today's verses focus on Jesus' divinity and on man's humanity.

Jesus was fully man, yet fully God. While this is a mystery to us, it actually makes sense. If Jesus is God—and He is—He can do and be anything He chooses. So often, He proved His divinity by working miracles that people could see: healing, walking on water, raising people from the dead. Every so often, He did so very subtly.

In the familiar story of Lazarus, Jesus did the latter by knowing what was happening with Lazarus without being told. The only thing Jesus was told was that His friend was sick. Because He didn't rush—and because He said Lazarus was "asleep"—His disciples assumed Lazarus would be fine.

Jesus demonstrated His divinity when He knew that Lazarus was dead without being told.

These verses also illustrate man's humanity. Even after following Jesus for a significant period of time and watching Him prove His divinity time and time again, they still demonstrated their humanity when they fretted about Jesus' wanting to return to Judea. He'd left when the Pharisees and company wanted to "seize" Him. His disciples worried they'd return, and Jesus would be stoned. And they might be too. Note Thomas' words: “Let us also go, so that we may die with Him.”

The disciples knew Jesus had divine attributes. He could do anything, yet they didn't believe He could save Himself—and them.

Jesus still proves His divinity with modern-day miracles and changed lives. We still show our humanity when we doubt Him even after seeing His work.

Just as Jesus had patience with and compassion for His disciples' lack of faith, so He has patience with and compassion for us. We'll see this as we meditate on the rest of the story over the next two days.

Jesus' Works (John 10:31-39)

Today's scripture: John 10:31-39

Most people don't like to hear things that don't align with their own beliefs. That's human nature, I guess. The Pharisees didn't like that Jesus claimed to be God. It went against their belief that the Messiah would be a warrior, saving them from their oppressors. They, according to that belief, accused Him of blaspheming.

We need to give them a break, initially at least. Think about it. You've been raised to believe a particular "truth." You believe it with all your heart. Then someone comes and refutes everything you've believed to be true. You, too, might make such an accusation.

However, if the refutation offers proof of its veracity, then you might (hopefully) begin to change your beliefs. That's where the Pharisees and other Jewish leaders failed. They didn't let the proof of Jesus' miracles and teachings—that they observed with their own eyes—change their long-held beliefs.

Jesus offered abundant proof of His divinity. We've seen that over and over again as we've studied John's gospel. As one commentator wrote about today's verses:

The works of his Father are those which God only can do. As Jesus did them, it shows that the name “Son of God,” implying equality with God, was properly applied to him. This shows conclusively that he meant to be understood as claiming to be equal with God [v. 37]. [We can therefore] believe the works. [Jesus was saying,] "Though you do not credit me, yet consider my works, for they prove that I came from God. No one could do them unless he was sent of God" [v. 38]. [In verse 39, Jesus' saying that the Father was in Him] denotes a most intimate union—such as can exist in no other case. (Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible)

And as I wrote the other day, we can still see this proof of Jesus' work. One of my online students affirmed this just today as he wrote of a miracle that happened when he was a child. He'd been hit by a car, and initially, the x-rays showed extensive internal injuries. Yet, after a showering of prayer, subsequent x-rays showed no damage. None. A modern-day miracle.

If we observe what Jesus continues to do as He changes lives, we can believe His works. And we can believe His words.

Jesus is God (John 10:22-30)

Today's scripture: John 10:22-30

I've written in previous devotionals that many people say that Jesus never claimed to be God, to be divine. Today's verses belie that statement.

Jesus said, very clearly, that He was the giver of eternal life. Only God can give eternal life. Only He is omnipresent and outside of time.

And if that's not enough, Jesus said, "I and the Father are one." It's a simple mathematical hypothesis: If A equals B, then B equals C. (Or something like this ... It's been a very long time since I've taken any math class.) The Father is God. Jesus is one with the Father. Therefore, Jesus is God.

No reasonable person can say, after reading God's word, that Jesus never claimed divinity. He absolutely did, and when He rose from the dead, He proved His claim to be true. And because Jesus did indeed claim to be God, we all need to make a decision about Him. As C.S. Lewis so eloquently wrote:

I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept his claim to be God. That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God, but let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.

Jesus claimed to be God. He proved that claim. Therefore, He is God.