Day 979: Unless you believe - John 8 vs 21 - 32

21-22 So Jesus said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” So the Jews said, “Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” 23-24 He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.” 25-26 So they said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning. I have much to say about you and much to judge, but he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.” 27 They did not understand that he had been speaking to them about the Father.

28-29 So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.” 30 As he was saying these things, many believed in him. 31-32 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:21-32 English Standard Version

Today's reading brings to a head what this gospel told us back in Chapter 3, where vs 16 said: “God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” And vs 35-36 of that chapter said: “The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”

As the time drew nearer when the full meaning of “gave His only Son” would be revealed, Jesus warned those who still didn’t realize who He truly was, and where He had come from, that unless they believed He was the one God had sent into the world, they would die in their sins. And to die in sin would mean that they would face God's wrath. That’s a huge reason why each and every one in the world should give serious thought to their eternal destiny. Even in times and places where the name of Jesus has never been heard, men and women ought to ponder deeply what happens at death, and beyond the grave.

So what did Jesus explain is the meaning of God 'giving' His only Son? (vs 28-29)

He was surely speaking of the event when the unbelieving Jews would cry out 'crucify him', demanding of the Roman Governor, Pilate, that Jesus be ‘lifted up’ on a cross. Going back to John Chapter 3, in vs 13-15 of that chapter Jesus had told an enquiring Pharisee that “No one has ascended into heaven except He who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life.”

Jesus was never a victim of circumstances. His death was not an accident, or 'a twist of fate'. He had come into the world from above to teach and to do all that the Father had laid upon Him, so that men and women need not die in their sins, but receive eternal life. And He had consistently been obedient to that commission from the Father. He was able to say of the Father “He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.”

That's the vital difference between the One who was sinless, and all of us who have sinned. Jesus ALWAYS did what was pleasing to God. Happily, as Jesus said these things, 'many believed in Him'. But what was the important thing Jesus said to those people? (vs 31-32)

There’s a difference between saying we believe, and truly believing! True belief in Jesus Christ, who He was, where He had come from, and what He did on the cross, will always lead to continuing to cling to all He taught. And the more we ponder His words, and do the things He told us to do, the more brightly the light of truth will fill our hearts and minds. We will experience freedom from Satan's lies that fill the world, and increasing freedom from sins that once dominated our lives. And we won't die in those sins.