November 18, 2007

"Believing the Bible"

John 5: 31- 47 (esp. v. 39); John 20: 30- 31

Some years ago Brenda's parents gave us this really great book, How to Do Just About Anything.  In it you can find out how to do almost every household task.  For example, the first entry "Abalone: Preparing and cooking abalone." (Do you even know what "abalone is?)  And then there are other articles--  "Acne: what to do about acne,"  "Acrylic Plastic: cutting the non-breakable substitute for glass," "Aerobics: exercising to strengthen the heart and lungs and build endurance;"  And paging through the book, there's an article on "Poker," "Porcupine Quills," "Pushing a Car," and there is even one on "Telephone Solicitations: getting them off your line."  Need I say more: It's all here.

Now, some people view the Bible this way:  They see it as a book that tells us how to do almost everything.  Some people say the Bible can be used to predict specific historical events   About ten years ago a journalist named Michael Drosnin authored a book called The Bible Code in which he claimed to have found a certain "secret code" in King James New Testament, which he said he used to predict the 1995 assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.  In 2002 he published another book The Bible Code II in which he predicted that earthquakes would level major cities in the 2006.  Clearly this did not happen.  So, understandably, he lowered expectations a bit, saying "I don't think the code makes predictions. I think it reveals probabilities."  But he still goes on to claim "I think it might tell us all our possible futures." And that future, according to him, appears to include a warning of a possible nuclear war.  

Not only have the people used the Bible to predict the future, but also to improve their lives today   For example, the author of  The Maker's Diet,  claims that the Bible can be used as a book on nutrition.  Others have used the Bible for other purposes: to make career choices, to discover the proper way of disciplining children; to help in determining proper dress.  Some have found farming and gardening information.

Now, certainly the Bible does speak about many areas of life. And because is God's Word it is reliable and true.  Yet, we must ask, is this really the way God intended his book to be used?  Is this really the purpose why he gave the Bible?  Yes, God had a central purpose for giving us the scriptures.  And it is clear from our scripture lesson for this morning that it is possible to study them to find all kinds of information and still miss the most central teaching found there. Listen again Jesus words in John 5: 39,

You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

How did this happen?  How did these people know so much about the scriptures and still miss what they were saying about Jesus?  Before we answer that, it's important that we identify those to whom he was speaking.  John identifies them earlier in this chapter, in verse 18, but also elsewhere in his gospel as "the Jews."  Some scholars I read believed that this is evidence of John's anti-Semitism.  That's really foolish when you consider the fact that John was himself Jewish.  No, to understand what John means by the "the Jews" you have look back at chapter 1 in which John reveals that Jesus is God the Son who took on human flesh and came to live with his people.  In chapter 1:11 he says,

He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.

"The Jews" were God's own people-the people with whom God chosen to have a relationship.  Yet, when God the Son came to live with them, they rejected him.  Undoubtedly, every time John used the word "the Jews" he did it with pain and grief in his heart, a pain and grief he shared with the Spirit of God who inspired him to write those words.

Jesus had just healed a man who couldn't walk.  But, even though he did this wonderful deed, "the Jews" were angry with him for healing on the Sabbath.  Jesus claimed that he had the right to do so because he was God's Son. In chapter 5: 17,

Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working."

But that response angered these people even more. Verse 18,

For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

So beginning with verse 31 Jesus began to give evidence that he is who he claimed to be.  One of the evidences he gave was witness of the scriptures (the Bible). 

"You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me."

Granted the Jewish people only had the Old Testament.  But Jesus pointed out that even these Old Testament scriptures testified about him.  And even though these people diligently studied them, they missed seeing it.

So, why was that the case?  Note that Jesus said that they diligently studied the scriptures, because they though that "by them [they would] possess eternal life."

The answer can be found in the life they sought to possess and in how they were using scripture to obtain it.

All Jewish belief about what it meant to have life was based on the Old Testament.  And in the Old Testament life meant more than just existence.   For example the wise writer of Proverbs calls his "son" to follow his teaching. Why?

My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart,     for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity.

Prolong your life many years  and bring you prosperity .  Not only longer existence, but also prosperity-a life worth living- that's what Jews meant by "life."

 Having said that I also must add that not all the Jews were of one mind as to what that "life" entailed.  At the time of Jesus ministry there were 4 major groups who each had a unique understanding of life and how to obtain it.

Jesus spoke of "eternal life."  Two of the groups probably tuned him out immediately, because their understanding of what it meant to have life had little to do with eternity.

For the group known as the Zealots, a life worth living was a life that did not include the Romans.  A life worth living was a life in a strong independent Israel ruled by a king from David's line.  When they read the Old Testament, they concentrated on the prophets words that God would redeem Israel from their oppressors.  They looked forward to the battles like the one described in Ezekiel 38- 39 against Gog and Magog and they longed for the Messiah that would lead them to victory.  They had no time for a Messiah like Jesus.

On the other end of the political spectrum was a group of Jews who cooperated with Roman and Herodian rule. In fact, some of them knew how to work the system, bribing King Herod to obtain appointments as priests.  People from this group were put in charge of the Temple in Jerusalem.  These were the Sadducees.  The Sadducees rejected any belief in a resurrection from the dead. So, their understanding of life was strictly related to the here and now.  They sought to have the good life today, for tomorrow they would die.  They focused their study of the scriptures on the ceremonial laws of Moses found in the first five books of the Bible, the Torah (the law.)  They believed that God would bless them if they faithfully observed the sacrifices and other ceremonies found there.

Two other groups did believe in eternal life.  One was the Essenes.  These people lived by themselves in separate communities, so that they could keep pure just as the Law of Moses commanded. They especially loved the book of Leviticus with its emphasis on holiness and purity. They even refused to go to the temple for fear they would be contaminated by sin.  So they performed their sacrifices right in their own community.   They lived very simple spartan lives and  they shared everything. And why did they live this way?  They did so, because they were looking forward to a better life after the resurrection of the dead.  They believed that words like those of Psalm 98: 9 would definitely come true

Let them sing before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity.

Obsessed with trying to be pure, they were willing to live a harsh life, because they looked forward to eternal life and their vindication on Judgment Day.

The last group is the one we hear about most often in the New Testament, the Pharisees. The Pharisees, like the Essenes, looked forward to the resurrection.  But they also looked for God's blessing in this present life.  And they sought to receive all of this from God by strictly obeying his laws.  They not only studied the Old Testament, they were also experts on the so called "oral tradition" of  the rabbis, interpretations of Moses' laws that applied them to every area of life. Even though many of Pharisees longed for independence just like the Zealots, they believed that the reason that God had allowed them to fall under Roman rule was that the people no longer obediently followed the way of the Lord as found in the law, the prophets, and the rules of the oral tradition.  They sought to change that in order to bring life to themselves and their nation.

I know that my description of the different Jewish groups was a bit brief and simplified, but I didn't think that you wanted to wait around for the longer version.  Now, as you heard about each of these groups weren't there some things that sounded familiar.  Weren't these views of life and how to get it similar to the views held by many Christians today?  Could that not be one reason why some Christians are focusing their study of scripture on predicting the future and finding dietary secrets?  And then maybe in all honesty we might be wondering ourselves what's missing in these views, especially in that view held by the Pharisees?

What's missing is the real meaning of life as found in Jesus words to his Father in heaven in John 17:3,

Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

Life eternal is to know God and to know his Son Jesus Christ.  To know someone in the Biblical sense is to have a deep relationship with that person.  Throughout Israel's history God had sought a relationship with them.  Out of all the people of the face of the earth, God chose to live with them.  That was the significance of the temple.  The greatest blessing of their lives-the one thing that made their life worth living-whether they lived their lives in the wilderness or in captivity in Babylon or in relative luxury in the land of milk and honey was that they were God's people and that he had chosen to make his home with them.  The laws and sacrifices were provisional ways in which God's people could live in his presence.  They pointed ahead to the Messiah who was to come as did the prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah.  Now the reason they "the Jews" missed Jesus was because they had their own ideas on the good life and living with God was not central to those ideas.

People of God, God did not send his only son to suffer and die just so that we might have good health and be rich here on earth and have pie in the sky when we die. He sent his Son to suffer and die to pay the penalty for the sin that separated us from him.  And he brought him back to life so that those who believe in him might rise to a new life in which he would be their heavenly Father and  they would be his own children.  Yes, the way we receive that relationship, i.e. the way we have that life, is not by observing the law, but by believing in Jesus.

And God intended that once he establish that relationship, he and his people would never be separated again.  Isn't that what Jesus promised his disciples in John 14: 16- 18

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever-¹⁷the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.  I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

A new pastor had come to the village and called a certain cottage.  When the husband came home from his work, the wife said,  "The new pastor called today."

"What did you tell him," asked the man,

"Oh," she answered, "I didn't know what to say."

The man's face flushed: "Why didn't you tell him that we were respectable people?"

"Well," she answered, "I might have said that, only that isn't what he asked me."

"Then why," continued the husband, "didn't you tell him that we say our prayers and read our Bibles?"

The wife answered, "But, he didn't ask me that."

The man grew more vexed.  "Why didn't you say that we were always at church?"

The poor woman broke down, "He didn't ask that either; he only asked, ‘does Christ live here?:'"

The man and woman pondered for many days what the pastor meant by that question.  Little by little their lives were changed; little by little they grew to expect Christ, not dead, but gloriously alive.  And somehow because of his patient grace and their willingness to be surprised by the mystery of his radiance, they began to know that he did indeed live there.

People of God, such is the blessing of life and of life eternal: Christ lives here.  God is among us.  Of course this changes everything about our lives.  It changes our home life to know the Christ by his Spirit lives there.  Knowing that he is with us always changes the way we react to grumpy neighbor, the impossible boss, and even the dizzy driver on the roadway.  It changes the way we do our work and why we do it. It changes how we treat the poor and weak.   And it effects how we deal with life's disappointments and tragedies: we can know that no matter what cross we must bear, no matter what our trial or temptation, God is there with us.  He weeps with us, he counsels us through his Word, and he promises victory.  In fact, he has already won that victory for us on the cross.  And listen to the Bible description of that victory, found in Revelation 21: 1- 4,

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. ²I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. ³And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them.  They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

Until that day when we seem him face to face, he give us this book, The Bible, in which he calls us to faith and assures us of his presence, even when our sins or trials overwhelm us and we can't see him or feel him. What were the words of our scripture in John 20: 30- 31?

But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

AMEN!