I want to continue in my slow walk through the book of John and all that it gives us in the way of connecting with the LIVING God.  Other religions can claim all that they want—-but the “religion” of Jesus is no religion at all.

 

In Jesus, we have something that no others can claim.

 

In every other religion the followers are called to make themselves right with God……but, with Jesus, we have a God who has chosen to make us right with Him.

 

John 1  43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”

44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote–Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.

“Come and see,” said Philip.

47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.”

48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.

Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”

49 Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.”

50 Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that.” 51 He then added, “I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

 

There are several points I want to make regarding this very compelling verse.

 

The first, and the most important, is that we all must have a “Jesus sees you under the fig tree” moment.  He has seen everything. He knows us. And He is well aware of who we are. There is no escaping that.  If we think that we are able to hide things—we are greatly mistaken. He knows what is going on, why it’s going on, and how it’s going on.  At the end of our lives, we will stand before Him, and scripture refers to this as the judgement seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:10). All will be known.  All is known. And all will be held accountable for what is known.

 

We live in a culture that does not honor authority.  The Bible is clear: Honor your elders. Honor your parents.  Honor your leaders. And yet, we as a society, do just the opposite.  The sad reality is that this is the “trickle down” of our lack of respect for the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  You see, we were created by a God who knows everything. And the sooner that we discontinue running from that, the sooner we can walk into true freedom.

 

It is also worth mentioning that even though Jesus does know Nathanael—He loves him and shows him honor.  I have to think that this was the defining moment in Nathanael’s life—to meet someone that KNOWS HIM yet LOVES HIM ANYWAY.  The proof of this is that Nathanael dropped everything to follow Him.

 

The second point I want to make is this:  Jesus descends on a rabid culture, and begins to formulate a plan to change the world.  He has three groups of people that He must deal with: The Romans, The Jews, and The Gentiles.

  • The Romans ruled with an iron fist.  They are probably the greatest kingdom to rule that the world has ever known.  When people opposed them, they stripped them naked, beat them, humiliated them, and crucified them in the town where everyone knew them.  It was a simple agenda: No one could oppose them without paying the ultimate price.
  • The Jews were God’s people.  They followed His rules, honored His word, and went to great lengths to worship Him.
  • The Gentiles were considered dogs to the Jews.  In the eyes of the Jews, they were dirty half breeds that were not to be associated with under any circumstances.

Unifying a people from these three groups would be impossible……and yet Jesus did.  His followers were Romans, they were Jews, and they were Gentiles. And they unified into a new movement of spirituality that exploded out of Jerusalem like nothing the world has ever seen.

 

You see, the Gospel of Jesus is about three things:  Justice and Mercy and Power.

 

The Jews were all about JUSTICE.  People who broke the law of God were punished—some stoned, some slapped and kicked out of the temple, some ostracized.  They dressed up in robes, followed the letter of the law, honored all of the traditions, and always looked holy.

 

The Gentiles understood MERCY.  Many worshipped God but most followed no rules in the process.  They lived freely and without judgement.

 

The Romans were about POWER.

 

In Jesus, we have an opportunity to capture all three things.  You see, Jesus wants JUSTICE. He wants people held accountable for their actions and He wants wrongs to be made right.

 

Jesus is also about MERCY.  He sees the need, of not just one of us–but ALL of us, to receive both a second chance in life and in the eternal realm.

 

Jesus is also all about POWER.  No one has ever lived a life so extraordinary as the life described in John.

 

So what is left to say?

 

I would end with this:

 

God is calling you.  He is laying down a call over your life to receive Him, to repent, and to start living in a way that is radically different than the way that you have chosen to live up to this time.

 

He is calling you to live a life of JUSTICE and MERCY and POWER.

 

Now, living out even 2 of the 3 of those is IMPOSSIBLE.

 

God wants us to follow the rules.  He wants us to live a life of Honor and Holiness and Standards of Integrity that the world has never seen.  He wants us to be sexually pure, and honest, and to speak with kindness and patience. But He also wants us to be full of mercy.  He wants us to forgive and to love. He wants us to worship without reservation and to love deeply.

 

Living with BOTH of those is IMPOSSIBLE.  And living with God’s POWER over our lives is yet another topic altogether.

 

At the cross of Jesus, MERCY and JUSTICE met in full force.

 

And both were, in impossible measure, met to the fullest degree.

 

It says that the temple curtain, at the time of Jesus’ death, tore from top to bottom.

 

That Curtain Tore So That You Could Approach God

Be Forgiven

And Live A Life Of JUSTICE

AND Mercy

So Fall At The Feet Of Jesus & Be Born Again

 

In The Name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7bD02ZmTqk

 

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Coach J