Thursday, June 26, 2008

Question

I have become more and more amazed at the problem so many Christians have with this passage of scripture:

John 8

In the first parts of it, we see a woman brought to Jesus in a lot of bondage and a lot of pain. Forget the crowds at this point, they're of no concern, the real beauty here is Jesus. He frees her. He frees her from impending death and future death, calms her, and sends her on her way to do it all over again- right? No. He sends her on her way with the marked command "Go and sin no more." What are we to do with that? We're so content to be freed and then make our way right back into bondage... but that isn't the expectation of Christ. The question is, is Jesus expectation unreasonable? Did He demand something impossible? Did He set this woman up for failure? Can you answer this question- could the woman fulfill Jesus command to her or was it impossible?

You see, if it was impossible- then the woman would be disobeying Jesus and thus be not in Him, retreating back into death and hell and it would be all Jesus' fault for telling her to do something impossible. If it is not impossible- then why have we disregarded it from cost of following Christ? I find it beautiful that the remaining portion of this chapter deals specifically with the freedom found only in Jesus. Are you the woman? I was- not literally, but you could easily place me in that situation, has Jesus demanded something impossible of me as well? Nope- He's empowered me to walk by His strength and do precisely what might be deemed "impossible," except that through Him, all things are possible. That's the catch- it's always all about Him. I'd like to keep it that way if you don't mind. Keep your programs and seminars, the outreach and the income- just give me Jesus.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

That's a very good observation, and I fully agree. I think that was part of Paul's frustration in the "What! Know ye not....!" passages.