In the Beginning: The Book of John

(John 8:52-59[HCSB])

52 Then the Jews said, “Now we know You have a demon. Abraham died and so did the prophets. You say, ‘If anyone keeps My word, he will never taste death ever! ’ 53 Are You greater than our father Abraham who died? Even the prophets died. Who do You pretend to be? ”

54 “If I glorify Myself,” Jesus answered, “My glory is nothing. My Father you say about Him, ‘He is our God’ He is the One who glorifies Me. 55 You’ve never known Him, but I know Him. If I were to say I don’t know Him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know Him, and I keep His word. 56 Your father Abraham was overjoyed that he would see My day; he saw it and rejoiced.”

57 The Jews replied, “You aren’t 50 years old yet, and You’ve seen Abraham? ”

58 Jesus said to them, “I assure you: Before Abraham was, I am.”

59 At that, they picked up stones to throw at Him. But Jesus was hidden and went out of the temple complex.

Tell them I AM

This is wise advice from God Himself:

“If I glorify Myself,” Jesus answered, “My glory is nothing.” As such, if we glorify ourselves our glory is nothing. It is hollow and self-serving.

Jesus is defying all rules of space, time and physicality by claiming that before all things of consequence, in fact before all things, He existed. In the minds of the Jewish leadership this would leave only 2 options: He is God or He is a demon. Verse 53 tells us that they would rather have believed He was pretending.

In this passage Jesus assures His listeners that He is God, that before Abraham was, He already existed. This echoes a declaration in God’s own words from Exodus:

Exodus 3:13-15 Then Moses asked God, “If I go to the Israelites and say to them: The God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they ask me, ‘What is His name? ’ what should I tell them? ”

God replied to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.” God also said to Moses, “Say this to the Israelites:

Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever; this is how I am to be remembered in every generation.

There is always a direct and traceable connection from Jesus to God’s commands and activities in the Old Testament.

Jesus is that connection: He is God, He is prophet, and He is grace personified.

(John 9:1-12[HCSB])

1 As He was passing by, He saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples questioned Him: “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? ”

3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” Jesus answered. “This came about so that God’s works might be displayed in him. 4 We must do the works of Him who sent Me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

6 After He said these things He spit on the ground, made some mud from the saliva, and spread the mud on his eyes. 7 “Go,” He told him, “wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So he left, washed, and came back seeing. 8 His neighbors and those who formerly had seen him as a beggar said, “Isn’t this the man who sat begging? ” 9 Some said, “He’s the one.” “No,” others were saying, “but he looks like him.”

He kept saying, “I’m the one! ”

10 Therefore they asked him, “Then how were your eyes opened? ” 11 He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and told me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So when I went and washed I received my sight.” 12 “Where is He? ” they asked.

“I don’t know,” he said.

The sixth sign

How often, have we assigned high and inappropriate value to events or signs in an effort to explain the unexplainable? Have you ever wondered what a person might have done to deserve deformity or disability? In the ancient world it was commonplace to assume that one’s suffering could be traced back to specific sin.

Sadly, this cause and effect religious perspective creates a serpentine trail of superstition and fear rather than glorifying God. While we know better, we really do get caught up in the notion that God is waiting “in the wings” to punish us. The Disciples’ response to the blind man’s disability is a stark example of religion without the benefit of grace.

The blind man may as well represent each one of us who have not, before our salvation, been able to clearly see the Light which is Christ. In fact, many of us have become “ok” with the darkness, and remain there until we are jolted out of our complacency. In Genesis 1:4 we are told that “God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness.”

The purpose of darkness is to bear witness to the Light whether it wants to bear witness or not. Since darkness, and hence evil, cannot overcome the Light it has no choice but to be its creative antithesis, its mirror.

Kneading mud, like kneading dough, was prohibited on the Sabbath as were 39 classes of work. Yet, our God is a healer of even the blind, and He dares to do so whenever it glorifies Himself, not when it is convenient.

Jesus tells us to go and wash (be purified) and we too will see the Light.