Scene 3: John 9:24-34 Act 9 Scene 3

So a second time they called the man who had been blind, and said to him, “Give glory to God; we know that this man is a sinner.” Religion is so staunch, yet so steeped in error, that it boldly proclaims is folly. If we follow the hard headed and hard hearted plight of these Jews we will be bold in our knowledge while still not able to explain life's events. If we follow the healed young man we will be humble and thankful, articulating our lack of knowledge while firmly resting on the working of God in his life. He then answered, “Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” This is the power of first hand experience of a miracle. No matter how others misunderstand you or say that they understand you, you can always rest on the experiential knowledge of the change that God brought into your life. The deeply personal 'call' on ones life will sustain him through all that life, friends, the world and the enemy came attempt to succumb. Personal encounters with God trump everything and everyone for HE IS. So they said to him, “What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?” Yes. More religious questioning. Tell us again, what and how. Be careful how much detail you require before you declare trust, belief, understanding and empathy. Religion will never cease to pound out the details of a 'God experience,' but not for the purpose of accepting the truth. It seeks an explanation in order to trump of charges of falsehood and disbelief. Such inquisition proves fruitless when religion encounters God at work. He answered them, “I told you already and you did not listen; why do you want to hear it again? You do not want to become His disciples too, do you?” The compose and candor of this man is truly remarkable. Here he is, a man who moments ago was a beggar and an outcast of all Judaic society, standing restored from all abnormalities which supported his ostracized state and truthfully engaging a sector of Judaism that has never known outcast and abnormality. Yet, the 'nothing has never been wrong with me' religious leaders did not have ears to hears. They reviled him and said, “You are His disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. “We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where He is from.” How dare this man call into question our allegiance to Moses. I wonder what Moses would say about that 'righteous indignation'? Moses would say, when asked if man should follow him or the Lord Jesus Christ, he would prostrate himself and once again say, "Who am I compared to the great I AM, YHWH, ἐγὼ εἰμι?" The man answered and said to them, “Well, here is an amazing thing, that you do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes. “We know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He hears him. “Since the beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. “If this man were not from God, He could do nothing.” The heal man had great insight. He knew their belief struggles rested on what did not know or accept. Yet, Jesus restored this man's sight which is unmistakably undeniable. Then the man acknowledges the holiness of God by saying that God does not hear sinners. Sin separates man from God. BUT....... IF...... ANYONE....... fears God and obeys Him......... THEN.......... HE HEARS. Reverence and obedience is the remedy for religion which is often idolatry and humanism. They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you teaching us?” They could not and many remain that cannot accept the great restoration and healing of God. It does not matter how you were born and who were your parents. Fear God, obey Him and He will hear you! You will confound those steeped in centuries of religion. They will not know what to do with you. So they put him out. They called him in and now they throw him out. They simply cannot make up their minds. They, like many who do not know God yet are deeply entrenched in religion, simply do not know what to do with someone who has experienced God and has new life.

APPLICATION
- Fear God for 'Thous shall not have any other gods before Me."
- Obey Him. It is better to obey God rather than man. Man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.
- No amount of religion can deal with sin. Only the regenerating work of God through the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ can deal with (atone) for sin.
- Had a life change? Don't be disturbed that religion and the religious question you, don't understand you and don't want to have anything to do with you. It is Jesus that they are rejecting.

CONTACT INFO:
Family Life Style Ministries, Inc.
Email: FLSMinistries@bellsouth.net
Facebook: Family Life Style Ministries
Twitter: flsministries

John 8:21-30 HE spoke, THEY believed

My purpose in presenting this section of the Gospel of John is to illustrate the basic principles of Bible study as taught by Dr. Howard Hendricks in his Living by the Book materials. First, I give you the text without verse designations. In my presentation of the text in this manner you will notice it also arranged as to accentuate those speaking. For this section is a dialogue. Then, I will list my notes for the three essential steps moving towards the goal of life change.

John 8:21-30
Then He said again to them, "I go away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come."

So the Jews were saying, "Surely He will not kill Himself, will He, since He says, 'Where I am going, you cannot come'?"

And He was saying to them, "You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. Therefore I said to you that you will die in you sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins."

So they were saying to Him, "Who are You?"

Jesus said to them, "What have I been saying to you from the beginning? I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and the things which I heard from Him, these I speak to the world."

They did not realize that He had been speaking to them about the Father.

So Jesus said, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things 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." As He spoke these things, many came to believe in Him.

STEP ONE: OBSERVATION
This the step in which we ask and answer the question: "What do I see?"

Who?

• Jesus
• the Jews
• He who sent
• Father
• Son of Man
• I AM (ἐγὼ εἰμι)
  
• Many

What?

• die
• sin
• kill
• believe
• true
• initiative

When?

• again
• the beginning
• future (go away, die, in sin, lift up, will know)
• Past (have been saying)

Where?

• I am going
• below
• above
• this world

How?

• Jesus: "...you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins."
• Jesus: "He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him."

STEP TWO: INTERPRETATION
We ask and answer the question: "What does it mean?"
What does it mean that we will die in our 'sin' if we seek Him? Seeking after something first implies that you either do not know what you seek to know or that you do not have that which you seek to have. Therefore, the process of 'seeking' will fall short in attaining the object sought. Hence, 'seeking' after Jesus will result in death in your sin.

What does it mean that we will not die if we 'believe' Him? 'Believing' Him will result in not dying. This is juxtaposed to 'seeking' with a determinate result. 'Believing' takes hold of the object without the consistent ongoing inquisition.

What does it mean that we are to 'know' Him? We must 'know' Him. Knowing about Him is not knowing Him. Knowing what He has done is not knowing Him. He is. We must be aware of our emphasis on knowing about Him and His works as compared to knowing Him and with His works as secondary. Am I content to know Him?

What does it mean to please the Father? If Jesus is the pattern for my life then, I must be aware, from Scripture, what pleases the Father.



STEP THREE: APPLICATION
We ask and answer the question(s): "How does it work?" "So what?"
How are we to seek? HIM. However, do not let 'seeking' be my definitive act.
How are we to believe? HIM. I must believe HE IS, ἐγὼ εἰμι.
How are we to 'know?' HIM. I must know HE IS, ἐγὼ εἰμι. My knowing of HIM is greatly aided by the crucifixion, the demonstration of HIS love, covering of sin, and my penalty carrier.
What pleases the Father? I will earnestly seek from this time, to plunge into the Scripture to discover what 'pleases' the Father. Then, I will arrange those into morning by morning articulations and meditations that will result in me knowing HIM, believing HIM and seeking HIM.



Contact Information:
Family Life Style Ministries, Inc.
Email: flsministries@bellsouth.net
Twitter: flsministries
Facebook: Family Life Style Ministries, Inc.

John 6:15-21 'Ἐγώ εἰμι, Do Not Be Afraid

According to John
Chapter 6, Verses 15-21
So Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone.
Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, and after getting into a boat, they started to cross the sea to Capernaum. It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea began to be stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. Then, when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near to the boat; and they were frightened. But He said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” So they were willing to receive Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.

COMMENTARY
Let me begin by asking your indulgence in the fact that this text was separated from the preceding paragraph for presentation purposes. The context of verses 1-14 flow directly to verses 15-21 without any grammatical context division. However, keep in my that John is not giving us an account that is purely chronological, which is evident as we move from verses 1-14 into the next paragraph beginning with verse 15. 15. So Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone. As we pick up immediately from verse 14 in Chapter 6, Jesus is once again being hounded by those who would make this 'Prophet' a king. Jesus is clearly not taken anywhere by force. No position is never and will never be thrust upon Him. He will never be forced into a loving or compassionate act. This is an often forgotten subtle point of His incarnate position. He IS. Two words in this verse captivate my our attention: "perceiving,' and 'intending." The Greek word which is translated 'perceiving' is Nominative Singular Masculine Aorist Active Participle (hence the 'ing' English ending) from the root word: γινώσκω meaning: to come to know, recognize, perceive, allow, be aware of. The second word 'intending' (μέλλουσιν) is Third Person Plural Present Active Indicative from μέλλω meaning: to be destined or likely to, a strong probability in the present, to be about to. This does not communicate any premeditated gestures on the 'people's' part. The 'take Him' was a practical outcome of their actions and was about to happen. Jesus, once again, retreats to a mountain to escape to practical outcome of their actions. 16. Now (new paragraph) when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea (the Sea of Galilee). 17. and after getting into a boat, they started to cross the sea to Capernaum. It is helpful in this story to remember that the disciples were professional fishermen before they began to follow Jesus. The disciples getting in a boat to get to Capernaum was just as normal as us traveling by car, a '66 convertible Mustang, with the top down, from Mallard Head Country Club on Brawley School Road to South Iredell High School in Barium Springs, N. C. No big deal, this is part of my life and this is what I do. In fact, it might even be relaxing to spend some time on the water. I am not attempting to communicate this was just a Sunday afternoon pleasure cruise. They purposed to go to Capernaum, but the trip was not expected to be eventful. It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. Darkness, no big deal. The disciples knew this before they set foot in the boat. Jesus not being among them, well, they were fisherman long before they knew Jesus. Therefore, no big deal. You keep driving with the top down on the Mustang and enjoy the star light sky. 18. The sea began to be stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. Now, this was a normal occurring event added to our Sunday afternoon drive. We are now forced, to become a little less relaxed and to become engaged. The crew of the boat went from some handling the nautical tasks to all of them thinking about the interruptions of their pleasant routing voyage to Capernaum. It was still no big deal. The Sea of Galilee is known for producing sudden storms. The disciple's tactical adjustments are similar to us stopping to put the top up on the convertible, just like you've done hundreds of times before. 19. Then, when they had rowed about three or four miles, At this point we must abandon our Sunday afternoon drive comparison. The disciple's rowing is labor. Driving a convertible, even with the top up, is not. they saw Jesus walking on the sea Now, this is different! Jesus is not 'standing' as on a rock on near the shore. He is 'walking' on the 'stirred up' sea. and drawing near to the boat; And He is coming this way. He was not just passing by. But, He is coming at them. With each step it is becoming clearer to the disciples who this was and what He was doing. And they were relieved! NO! and they were frightened. These grown men, most of them professional fishermen, were afraid. Their pleasureful, somewhat inopportune voyage led them to be full of fear. They were not afraid of the storm. They were afraid of the sight of Jesus walking on the sea. Can you see the climax in the story? 20. But He said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” One thing that stands out to me in Jesus' only words in this section, is that He declared His identity (ἐγὼ εἰμι) before He gave direction (μὴ φοβεῖσθε). This use of the ἐγὼ εἰμι name is one of the identity declarations Jesus makes of Himself that is welcomed by those in need and vehemently opposed by traditional religious unbelievers. 21So they were willing to receive Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going. Did you notice how their fear transformed into willingness at the sound of His name? This story portrays a private time of Jesus with His disciples in which there is a major change in the disciples. They go from confident life as usual to fear to willingness. They were willing refers to them 'wishing,' 'wishing,' 'loving,' 'decreeing,' and 'ordaining.' They being willing to receive Him refers to their desire 'to take,' 'to take,' 'to receive,' 'to seize,' 'to grasp,' 'to take hold of,' 'to lay hold of,' or 'to get.' Wow, what a change in their perspective. Then, having been changed, they where at the place they were headed.

SUMMARY
This story told by the Apostle John, a professional fisherman, who was probably in the boat, gives us an incredible impact of Jesus on His disciples. The mere mention of His Name, ἐγὼ εἰμι, followed by an assurance command, escorts His disciples from outright fear to a willingness lay hold of Him.

Do you know Him? Are you one of His disciples? Do you find yourself in a familiar vocation, doing what you have always done or set of circumstances like the disciples? If so, then the sight of Him and a vision of His capability will scare you even then. Don't be surprised, rather count on Jesus' presence making you afraid to the point where only the sound of His voice and the hearing of His name calms you and removes your fear, producing a longing for His intimate presence by your side.


How can we help you with your voyage across the 'sea' to your destination? Don't hesitate to contact us.
Email: FLSMinistries@bellsouth.net
Twitter: flsministries
Facebook: Family Life Style Ministries, Inc.
Skype: dan.lane63