This is what the Jewish leaders asked after Jesus said, "I am going away, and you will look for Me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come." Later on they were saying of Jesus, "Now we know that you are demon-possessed!" Jesus replied directly to this accusation. "I am not possessed by a demon, but I honor My Father and you dishonor Me."
John chapter 8 features a great discourse on the identity of this man named Jesus. He also spells out a pretty detailed theology:
"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; if you do not believe that I am the One I claim to be, you will indeed die in your sins."
"Who are you?" they asked.
"Just what I have been claiming all along," Jesus replied. "I have much to say in judgment of you. But He Who sent Me is reliable, and what I have heard from Him I tell the world."
They did not understand that He was telling them about His Father. So Jesus said, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am the One I claim to be and that I do nothing on My own but speak just what the Father has taught Me. The One Who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do what pleases Him."
It says: "Even as He spoke, many put their faith in Him." That is powerful. These words are powerful. They make a very distinct claim that Jesus is divine, that He is God's Son. Later on in this chapter Jesus argues with the Jewish leaders' claims to be children of Abraham. He acknowledges that they are descendants of Abraham, but denies their claim to be sons. "If God were your Father," He says, "you would love Me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but He sent Me. Why is My language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me!" At the tail end of the conversation, they sarcastically and rhetorically ask Jesus if He is greater than Abraham. "Who do you think you are?" they ask Him.
"Before Abraham was born, I am," He answers at the end of His reply. This was all it took for these guys to "get" His claim. They obviously did not believe His claim, but they understood what He was saying -- He was making Himself out to be the Great I Am, God. The last verse of the chapter describes what they did:
"At this, they picked up stones to stone Him, but Jesus hid Himself, slipping away from the temple grounds."
I love this part of the book of John. I must've loved it when I was 11, too; because the Living Bible that I had then (and still own today) has sheets of pages highlighted. Not just favorite verses, but pages and pages -- chapters 8, 9, and 10 are all one giant yellow block from a highlighter marker (I wonder if it ran out after that block of "paint..."). It's neat to have some artifacts, monuments and memory pieces of our past. I know that, for a short time (probably about six months when I was 11) that I was in love with Jesus. It's interesting that I "fell away" for 9 years. It was wonderful to be embraced by God again after those 9 years.
We are only 16 days, 2 hours, 39 minutes and 7 seconds away from deadline for the Jan/Feb issue. Most everything is already in place. However, my cover story interview with P.O.D. is not happening until today. It's scarey to save something so vital this close to the end, but I'm confident it will work out and be wonderful.
My parents are flying in today to go see on of my daughter's final soccer games of the season tomorrow. She plays goalie and forward. Tonight is also a big football game. Hutto High School plays Cameron Yoe for the District title tonight. My old alma mater, Desert High, is not playing for a District title or even a shot at the playoffs tonight. They are a woeful 2-6 and 1-2 in league play. I saw the team scrimmage this summer and it looked like they had some skill and strength to make a go at it, but have lost by several points many times thus far: 40-12; 37-23; 42-6; 47-15; 36-0. Next weekend they play Mojave, which features the son of one of my best friends from high school. It was weird hearing my friend use the "we" word when talking about Mojave, cuz they were always one of our rivals, but my friend has been coaching these kids since they were young and it has become a "we" thing for him. That's cool...but I myself can't root for Mojave. I hope his son scores a touchdown for his team, but that Desert wins 73-6. That would be good for me.
:?)