Kept From Stumbling

These things I have spoken to you so that you may be kept from stumbling. (John 16:1)

As I read through the surrounding context, I wonder what Jesus means by this word stumbling. In my opinion, the chapter break should occur between 15:25 and 15:26 where Jesus begins to talk about the coming of the Holy Spirit. That is where I see a logical pause in the flow. In the previous two verses to this one Jesus mentions testifying. First, the Holy Spirit will testify about Jesus and then the disciples are going to testify about Him also because, He says, they have been with Him.

I am seeing in this passage the core issue of the Great Controversy between God and Satan emerging quite clearly. God has been accused of having characteristics of evil found in Satan and as a result His reputation is under tremendous doubt. Our sinful nature predisposes us to question God's motives as we project our own weaknesses and faults onto our opinions about how He feels about us. Thus there is need for strong, valid, truthful witnesses to give public testimony in favor of God to more clearly refute the lying insinuations about what God is like.

When Jesus speaks here of both the Holy Spirit and the followers of Jesus testifying about Him, I believe He is also inferring the fact that He Himself came to bear the clearest testimony as to the real truth about God that has for so long been obscured by the many false beliefs and claims about Him. In essence, what I see Jesus telling us is that God is not only relying on the most reliable testimony of His own Son to refute the accusations of the enemy, He is also looking for as much supporting testimony from every other source to reinforce this testimony of Jesus' words and example.

Given this context which is vital to include when looking for clues to unpack this verse, I find it revealing that Jesus would suddenly mention the idea of stumbling. It also reminds me of the intensive study we did over six months ago on Matthew 18 where Jesus had a lot to say about stumbling. There I learned that in Jesus' thinking, stumbling and offense and sin are all pretty much the same thing. In fact, depending on what version of the Bible you look at, any one of these words might be substituted there for the other.

In the above verse Jesus says that it is what He spoke to the disciples that was meant to keep them from stumbling. Specifically He seems to be talking about the immediate context of what He had just been saying to them which is starting to be quite significant the more I look at it. For the last 10-15 verses Jesus is talking to them about the inevitable clash they will encounter between themselves and what Jesus calls the world – those who do not share their passion for Jesus. He explicitly has told them that the world is going to hate them simply because they will remind the world of Jesus whom it also hates.

The question that surfaces in my heart is, Why would the world hate someone who seemed to be so nonthreatening? Those in the world are generally afraid of anyone coming along with superior force to threaten the power certain groups maintain over those under their control. Yet Jesus was the meekest person ever to walk the face of this earth. So how could this gentle, meek and mild representative of heaven come across as such a danger that reactions to Him should be hatred and violence?

I am not eager to jump into the typical religious explanations of this here. Rather I am trying to stay with the natural questions that my own heart raises and listen for thoughts from God that make more sense at the heart level. And what is starting to come clearly into my awareness, especially after noting the following few verses after the one above, are the words of Peter which have had some of the most impact on my own thinking over the past few years in this regards.

The context I see here as to why Jesus might be warning His disciples about stumbling is both in the previous chapter as well as the following verses. Not only does Jesus speak of the world hating all those who choose to follow in His example and spirit, but 'the world' will feel compelled to expel any such disciples from their synagogues and even go so far as to kill them while believing that they are doing God's service.

Clearly Jesus has in mind here religious people, not what we generally think of as worldly people with little religious agenda. When Jesus speaks of the world in this context He is talking about mainline religious people, not people outside of the sphere of religion. And when He speaks of being ostracized from synagogues He is speaking generically about places of worship, which in our day would clearly be along the line of churches and religious institutions which at that time did not yet even exist.

Several things are starting to emerge for me the more I look at this. First, I see Jesus here telling us to expect animosity from those around us as soon as we take seriously the words of Jesus we find in these passages. Second, hatred is going to manifest itself in ever intensifying persecution and violence against those who follow the example and maintain the spirit of Jesus. Third, the specific reason Jesus gives here in both sections is very clear:

But all these things they will do to you for My name's sake, because they do not know the One who sent Me. (John 15:21)

These things they will do because they have not known the Father or Me. (16:3)

I am convinced that this knowing is not referring to intellectual information or data such as doctrines. It is not knowledge of the cerebral sort that prevents us from getting caught up in the spirit of animosity that false religion, what Jesus calls the world, exhibits toward those who truly follow Jesus. It is a kind of intimate knowledge that transforms a person to so think and live and react like Jesus that it acts as a light exposing the falsity and shallowness of the slick, pious veneer that religion relies on to keep itself in power. As soon as real light begins to shine from the hearts and lives of people who really know God at the heart level, there will always be resistance aroused. But the nature of this resistance is most often in the name of defending God. Religion always claims to be serving God while in reality it usually acts to preserve its own interests and control. Religious institutions always gravitate over time toward self-preservation at the expense of true spirituality.

But the question remains, how do these things relate to Jesus' warning here about stumbling? How are Jesus' words in this passage meant to keep us from stumbling whenever we find ourselves facing the inevitable opposition that Jesus talks about here? And more specifically, what kind of stumbling does Jesus have in mind that we need to beware of and avoid by keeping His words clearly in our attention?

Again, I believe one of the clearest explanations of this, a key that has unlocked so many other things for me personally, is found in the words of Peter written later. I believe Peter all his life remained completely amazed at how Jesus responded to these very same situations. And it is this clear example of Jesus that demonstrated explicitly the words He had been telling His disciples and that gave those words real power and vividness during the last hours of His life that took place right after He spoke these words.

I want to amplify the words of Peter a little by using a number of translations that for me help to flush out the deeper implications of this passage more distinctly.

For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps. "He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth."

When they shouted bad things at him, he didn't shout back; and when he was suffering, he didn't threaten anyone.

Although he was abused, he never tried to get even. And when he suffered, he made no threats.

When he was insulted, he did not answer back with an insult.

When he was reviled, he did not revile in return.

Christ never verbally abused those who verbally abused him.

To sharp words he gave no sharp answer; when he was undergoing pain, no angry word came from his lips.

Instead, he had faith in God, who judges fairly.

No, he let God take care of him. God is the one who judges rightly.

– but placed his hopes in God, the righteous Judge.

– but left everything to the one who judges fairly.

– but he put himself into the hands of the judge of righteousness.

(1 Peter 2:21-23 NRSV 2001 CEV ERV ESV GNB GW BBE)

In the light of this revelation about God by Jesus and reported by Peter, I strongly suspect that this is likely what Jesus had in mind when He spoke of the danger of stumbling. I am seeing here in these passages that when I encounter the animosity of the world coming from my church, from people who claim to be followers of Jesus and serving God, but who see my beliefs and the way Jesus lives in me to be a threat to their status quo; when they increasingly pressure me to conform to their standards of religion, my natural reaction will be to want to defend myself, to resist, to retaliate with verbal or even physical violence in order to expose them as being the problem. I will be tempted to use accusations and sharp words and attacks similar to what they are using against me. Yet at the same time, I hear Jesus saying that to do anything differently than what Peter described here about how Jesus reacted under similar circumstances will be to stumble.

How in the world am I ever to meet that kind of opposition and have the spirit of Jesus as described so well by Peter? For me that is obviously impossible short of a radical miracle of God. I know my natural heart all too well to think that I could face that kind of pressure and yet act in the forgiving, loving, meek way that Jesus demonstrated during His final hours. I have problems enough maintaining a peaceful, forgiving spirit under little provocations. How can I ever have enough power to overcome my own strong, impulsive reactions to defend myself and react in-kind to others who use force and threats and insults and lies to coerce me to conform to their way of living?

I notice two things here in the words of Jesus that address this problem.

1) These things I have spoken to you so that you may be kept from stumbling. (John 16:1)

2) I have to know both the One who sent Jesus and know Jesus Himself personally in such a way that will so radically transform me that what will come out from me will be supernatural. This is what Jesus demonstrated through His total dependence on His Father as the only One who could be trusted when everyone else failed to be fair or just or truthful.

As far as I can see here, this is the core issue involved in stumbling or not stumbling. It is an issue of the heart, not about having correct factual information but a dispositional transformation.

Finally, as I look back at the words of Jesus again here, I see this truth confirmed in a following verse as Jesus continues to speak.

But these things I have spoken to you, so that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told you of them. (John 16:4)

My heart's desire is expressed well in one of my favorite songs by Steve Green that expresses my deep longing better than just simple words could ever do. Unfortunately I can't include the sound here.

Just the time I feel
that I've been caught
in the mire of self.
Just the time I feel
my mind's been bought
by worldly wealth.
That's when the breeze begins
to blow I know,
the Spirit's Call.
And all my worldly wanderings
just melt into His Love.

Oh, I want to know You more!
Deep within my soul I want to know You,
Oh, I want to know You.
To feel Your Heart and know Your Mind,
looking in Your eyes stirs up within me,
cries that says I want to know You
Oh, I want to know You more.
Oh, I want to know You more.

When my daily deeds
ordinarily lose life and song,
my heart begins to bleed,
sensitivity to Him is gone.
I've run the race but set my own pace
and face a shattered soul,
But [And] the Gentle Arms of Jesus
warm my hungering to be whole.

Oh, I want to know You more!
Deep within my soul I want to know You,
Oh, I want to know You.
And I would give my final breathe
to know You in Your Death and Resurrection,
Oh, I want to know You more.
Oh, I want to know You more.
Oh, I want to know You more...

You Are Not of the World

This I command you, that you love one another. If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. (John 15:17-19)

Someone recently asked me advice on what to do about a person who was disrupting the unity and peace that was being sought by a small group of earnest believers seeking to know God better. Of course I am no expert in such matters and like any sincere seeker after God I have to grapple with similar issues myself at times. I have also long been a bit suspicious of quick answers about such issues from people thinking they know just how to handle any situation like this. So I offered a few thoughts but have generally left the question open before God myself to see what might come to my attention.

This morning as I opened my Bible to meditate in God's presence and listen to whatever He has for me today, this situation came to my attention again as I read the above verses. Already, before I even sat down to enter into worship, I had been convicted of my own shallow relationship to Him as I was made aware through a dream that my motives for serving God are still largely rooted in selfishness and self-preservation. But that is another issue I need to explore with God myself.

What has been coming to my attention over the past few days every time I read this passage is an interesting link between two phrases that may seem apparent to some but only recently opened up to me. In my Bible I drew a pencil line between these two phrases to remind myself of this connection.

you know that it has hated Me

If you were of the world

Jesus is talking here with His disciples, men whom He already knew were going to all forsake Him in just a few short hours. He knew the shallowness of their devotion to Him and at the same time He also knew the sincerity of their desire to follow Him even though they were still mostly oblivious to the implications of nearly everything He had been teaching them about the kingdom of heaven. Jesus came and enlisted the loyalty of this group of men in helping Him spread the good news about the arrival of His new kingdom on earth. But their preconceived beliefs about the nature of this expected kingdom that should be set up by the Messiah inhibited their ability to grasp many of the things He had tried to share with them about the nature of this new kingdom.

It is all too easy to think that we are far more enlightened than these bumbling disciples who were so certain they knew the path a Messiah was supposed to follow. We are often quite confident that we have learned enough from the history of their mistakes and we have all the facts now aligned properly and can preach with confidence the revised truth about God's kingdom.

Think again! Really? How can we be so cock-sure we have it together now while the world's leading experts in religion, leaders of the chosen people of God who clearly had inherited all the knowledge that God had tried to share with this world, failed to perceive the true nature of Jesus' purpose here on earth? What underlies such assuredness that we have not fallen into the same trap of smugness based on knowledge rather than relying on a humble submission to the guidance of the Spirit of Truth that Jesus sent to guide us into all truth? Remember the original cause that plunged all humanity into the sin problem? It affects all of us like an addiction passed down to us like babies born of a cocaine addicted mother. We are pre-disposed to think that what we still need today is to eat of the Tree of Knowledge.

But as usual I have digressed a bit. I still have not gotten to the main point that I noticed in this important message from Jesus. What was one of the things we can see Jesus saying in these words to His disciples?

First, notice that Jesus explicitly states that the world hates Him. All throughout this teaching Jesus speaks of an existing animosity between God and what He calls the world, all those who resist or reject the true nature of His new kingdom and its King. Also throughout this passage He makes it explicitly clear what the core of this new kingdom looks like. We see it clearly in verse 17 – love for one another.

What I see Jesus implying in these verses is in a way a prophecy about His disciples if we choose to view it that way. It might make more sense to us if we saw this as Jesus believing in them even when there was little to no evidence yet of the reality of what was being believed. That is another subject that amazes me – the enormous faith that God has in all of us sinners. We have too often been distracted from the real issue by thinking that faith is something we have to work up ourselves in order to engage in the process of the salvation provided by God. But in reality what I am starting to see is that like love, faith has to be awakened as a reflection or response to a pre-existing faith about us from an outside source. When we begin to really grasp and appreciate how much faith God is exercising toward sinners and how He demonstrates that faith in actions, only then can genuine faith begin to awaken in our hearts that can then prove useful for the saving of our own souls.

But back again to the main point. When Jesus speaks to His disciples here using the words, if you were of the world, what He is also saying is that, contrary to even what appeared to be obvious evidence about to emerge by all of them forsaking of Him during His greatest time of need, He was confident that they were not the same in heart as those around them who hated Him.

Don't lose sight of the fact that Jesus is speaking to men who are very deluded about their own true condition. They have increasingly been caught arguing about who was the greatest among them. But even the real meaning of that fact is missed by most of us for its true significance. These were not just arguments about who was the best or should have the highest places in the assumed coming kingdom they expected Jesus to set up; this was really more about which of them should be considered as the most loyal to Jesus. Loyalty was the real issue of contention and competition between these men more than ability or skills. All of them wanted to be seen as the most fiercely loyal to Jesus above all the others, for they were immersed in the same false belief that so many of us are caught up in – the assumption that God operates on the principles of reward and punishment. But these principles were introduced by another author of such notions, the great rebel himself who lived for a time in the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

When we view these events from this perspective, it becomes easier to see why the disciples did many of the things they did that don't make a lot of sense in another context. During this time in the upper room when Jesus asked if they had a sword, two of them instantly responded in the affirmative. Why this eager response to Jesus' query? Because having a physical weapon in their mind was a sure sign of greater loyalty than those who weren't carrying concealed weapons. Likewise, when Peter reacted to the threats of the mob later in the Garden of Gethsemane by whipping out his 'sword' (more likely a fisherman's long dagger) and trying to fend off anyone viewed as a threat to His leader, he was acting that way to prove to all who might be watching that he was the most loyal disciple and had the most bravery under stress.

I could go on, but hopefully you get the point. The whole mindset of all the disciples during this time was an obsession with wanting to be seen as the most loyal to the Messiah. And why was this such an obsession for all of them? Because, based on their vested beliefs in the principle of rewards and/or punishment, they were confident that the more they could prove their loyalty to Jesus the greater would be their reward after all the fighting subsided and they would emerge as the winners.

It is vital that we take time to temporarily lay aside our context of knowing how different things looked to Jesus than what was going on in the psyche of all the disciples if we want to begin to grasp why they were so dull and acted so seemingly ignorant at times. We seem amazed how Jesus could so plainly speaking of His impending death and suffering and yet have all of it fall on deaf ears when it came to the disciples paying any attention. But our very amazement betrays a similar condition in our own hearts that we must take note of if we hope to avoid a similar reaction during our own times of testing.

So, what does this have to do with my friend's dilemma with a man who is disruptive in their small study group? And does this have anything to say to my shame aroused by the Spirit's conviction in exposing my own connection to God not so different than that of the disciples in the Upper Room?

Well, as I have listened to the Spirit while unpacking all of this, not knowing where it would take me, I am finding myself particularly encouraged by these things. Even though I am starting to see a little more clearly how shallow my own love and loyalty for God still is, I am seeing that it is God's faith about me that is what really matters, not my ability to work up either saving faith or compelling, selfless, agape love. Both of these things I have discovered are impossible for me to self-generate and the more I become frustrated with my lack of these necessary elements in my character, the more I realize my need for focusing all my hope and attention on God's faith and experiencing more intentionally God's unconditional, agape love in my own life.

But how does this apply to my friend's situation? That is not so clear to me yet, but maybe the Spirit can use this in ways I don't even know about to give her the answers she needs and the wisdom to know how to relate in the Spirit of Christ to their situation.

I do know that in this story the one disciple who continued to resist the emerging truth about the kind of kingdom Jesus was introducing had just dismissed himself by that time and was no longer present to hear all of these key insights being shared by Jesus. What compelled him to leave the presence of Jesus and disconnect from participating in what the rest of the group were now enjoying?

It was one of the most overwhelming acts of love committed by Jesus that still disturbs many Christians even today when they begin to sense the implications of His act. When Jesus humbled Himself in unconditional love for Judas by washing his dirty feet like a slave was expected to do, all the while refusing to expose Judas publicly for his calculated plans to betray Jesus; this deliberate, in-your-face intense level of kindness drove Judas right out of the presence of the greatest Lover ever to walk this earth.

True love is a polarizing force that compels people to take sides. The more intense the love the more open the polarization becomes. And while the other disciples were still ignorant of their own shallowness of loyalty to Jesus, Judas, by choosing to reject the last plea directed to his heart from the heart of His Master, destroyed the last bit of capacity within himself to even be able to respond to love ever again. It was not Jesus that condemned Judas and compelled him to commit suicide later in the story; rather it was the natural reaction of an inner self-inflicted condemnation that drove Judas to desire death more than the shame of living with an awareness of his own lost sordid character.

What does this teach us about how to deal with those who are disruptive, who seem to challenge everything we try to teach them, who seem bent on attacking, criticizing or discounting everything we cherish as valuable?

First, I believe we must be extremely cautious as to how to respond to such people. If we had been observers of the disciples and the way they behaved while not knowing the outcome of the story the way we now know, we would have most likely come to the consensus that Judas was not the one Jesus was speaking of when He said He already knew who would betray Him. From all outward appearances, Judas was considered more loyal than most of the other disciples. He had been very adept at keeping up appearances and 'spinning the media' to manicure his reputation. He embraced the same principles of reputation management that is so pervasive around us today and that infects too much of our thinking.

But it is human to look on the outward appearance while God looks far past this into the deep recesses of the heart. And while it might have seemed obvious that it was Peter, or maybe hot-headed John, or maybe even Simon the Zealot who still possibly harbored a secret desire to kill off Matthew the tax-collector/traitor, Jesus knew that it was one who was sitting very close to Him who was still resisting the most the love with which He was drawing all His disciples. Yet even then, Jesus refused to withdraw His own love but instead did just the opposite; He turned up the intensity of love by doing everything possible one last time to elicit a positive response from Judas if at all possible.

So, was Judas of the world? Did Judas hate Jesus? Is that why he betrayed Him for 30 pieces of silver to the enemies? Was it hatred of Jesus or something else that drove Judas to such a horrific crime?

Ironically, Judas actually crafted a whole scenario in his mind that if Jesus could somehow be forced into a corner emotionally that He would finally agree to resort to using His supernatural powers to save Himself and His disciples. Then the great war of liberation from the tyranny of Rome that all the Jews were expectantly awaiting could finally be launched and the aspirations of the Jews could finally be realized. Judas had repeatedly tried to get Jesus to assume the throne of Israel for several years, but each time Jesus had thwarted his plans causing Judas to take offense. Finally Judas decided that he would have to resort to something more drastic, like setting up a clever scheme to force Jesus to resort to using force Himself. Then when the dust settled and it was all over, Jesus would thank Judas for being so brilliant as to contrive a way to help get Him past His timidity and finally assert His rights as the true Messiah. That was the plan in the mind of Judas and he was confident that it would work out in his favor and for the benefit of all involved. If so he felt assured that his position as the greatest in the new kingdom would be secured.

But don't forget that all of the disciples shared in similar views to what Judas embraced. And although they weren't ready to go as far as Judas in putting together such a far-reaching and risky scheme to get Jesus into power, they were certain that the kingdom Jesus wanted to set up was very much like every other kingdom ruling on this world put into place relying on force. So when Jesus kept talking about suffering and death and humiliation and a cross, none of these things fit anywhere into the deeply held beliefs of the religious authorities or the common folk. So anything that didn't fit well into what was assumed to be Scripture-based beliefs they held to about the Messiah , they simply ignored in favor of everything that supported their aspirations for liberation from the tyranny of Rome.

So, what might be going on in the heart of a person today who reacts strongly against accepted views within a small group? When someone holds strong opinions that clash with our shared beliefs, how do we react to them? Do we see them as a threatening outsider? And is truth discovered by taking a popular vote to see what the majority believes? If Jesus had taken a vote in the Upper Room, even after Judas left He would have been out-voted 11 to 1 as to how He should set up His kingdom on earth.

What methods should we rely on to keep an atmosphere conducive to truth within a group of believers? How can we bring harmony to a group of people desiring to follow Jesus but having stridently different opinions about how to do that? Is it really our issue to settle every difference of doctrine between us to arrive at unity? Are we going to establish God's kingdom through winning the arguments about which of us is the greatest as far as sound doctrine is concerned? Or is there something much more important than simply resonating with those around us who agree with our views of truth?

I know that there have been stages in my life where I have been considered the disruptive one, the naysayer, the dissenter, the troublemaker, even the rebel. For many years I have disturbed other's peace by my incessant questioning of what were settled matters for everyone else in a discussion. But for me the pieces simply did not fit together like they seemed to for everyone else, and looking back I am now glad to some extent that I refused to settle for the placid, simplistic, conformist answers that were thrown my way. Because I kept asking troubling questions and longed to make more sense out of things than what others were willing to settle for, I now feel my pursuit of truth has led me to a place where I feel more fulfilled than ever as I find God daily sharing wonderful things with me that actually address many of my questions in ways that actually does make more sense. And although many who have insisted on maintaining the status quo answers still view me with suspicion, I feel more at peace with God than at any time before in my life.

I have come to realize in recent times that at any point in my experience I will likely not fit very well into certain groups. But the groups I do resonate with may likely change over time, and that is not something to get distressed about. God knows where each of us are in our journey and can provide what we need for our present requirement that will likely be different than what they were for us both in the past and in our future. That means I should not judge a group because they do not fit where I am in my journey currently; nor I should feel judged by others for the same reasons.

As a result of even my own experience, I must remember to be patient with those who seem to not fit well into groups I enjoy, who challenge others with questions, who are triggered by clichés and demand better answers than what are typically offered. But even more importantly, I must seek God's Spirit to perceive much deeper beneath the rough exterior to what is really going on at the heart level. Just recalling how desperate, fearful and defensive my own heart was for so many years as well as how calloused and insensitive others were to my need to be loved and understood, I must seek to love those who seem unlovable just as Jesus loved the one most despised by people today – His betrayer Judas.

Love itself is the most powerful polarizing influence we can use to move people. It will move them either closer to true unity or to dismiss themselves from continuing to participate. This means we do not need to be the ones who push them away, and to me that is good news. This story is the example that Jesus gave us about this through the way He dealt with His disciples. Jesus washed all of their feet, not just those of Judas. But the rest of them were humbled and softened by that stunning act of humility while Judas was pushed over the edge in the opposite direction. At first his heart was amazed at the tenderness and love he witnessed in this act of compassion by Jesus toward him. Jesus had made it quite clear publicly before this moment that He knew the plans of Judas. And yet even fully knowing all this Jesus treated Judas no differently than everyone else that He also loved just as deeply.

Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God, got up from supper, and laid aside His garments; and taking a towel, He girded Himself. Then He poured water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. (John 13:3-5)

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:5-8 NRSV)

As the spirit of Satan the accuser once again infected the selfish mind of Judas during that act of great condescension on the part of Jesus, his life-long beliefs about what God was like obscured and neutralized this spectacular demonstration of what God was really like, so Judas rejected Jesus as being a valid representative of the truth about God. By hardening his heart instead of allowing himself to surrender to this extreme offer of grace, Judas separated himself and left the rest of the group to listen now with unity to the secrets of the kingdom never before shared so explicitly by the Son of God.

I believe that Jesus felt it necessary to initiate this polarizing situation before opening up His heart to His disciples. It is neither right nor safe to lay your heart open to people who are not settled about their relationship to you and God, who are not committed to you to the extent of their ability. This does not mean that the disciples would always live out their loyalty to Jesus faithfully in every situation as was clearly seen just a few hours later. But we are talking about something far deeper than political loyalties here. We are speaking the language of the heart. And although we don't even know our own hearts very well, we do know from the words of Jesus as especially relayed to us by John, that love has to be the central identifying, defining core of all our relationships with each other as well as with God.

Judas rejected the kind of love that Jesus showed to him and excused himself from His presence to pursue his own agenda. Jesus even covered for him on the way out and to the end refused to expose him even after Judas had spurned His last offer. The other disciples had chosen a different response and so Jesus was then free to open up to them far deeper realities than had ever been heard before. Yes, they were still ignorant of their own shallowness and weaknesses. But at the more important level of their hearts, they had chosen to move in His direction instead of away from Him and that was the defining factor that allowed Jesus to entrust them with future leadership in His emerging kingdom on earth.

If we find someone being triggered repeatedly by some aspect of this emerging kingdom, we must not jump to conclusions too readily. I know from my own experience that emotional triggers are linked to deeply embedded lies that must be flushed into the open, exposed and dealt with effectively before those triggers can be resolved. Other people's triggers that produce reactive triggers in ourselves produce symptoms indicating that very likely etter disrupts our apparent unity with disturbing questions, it is vital for us to immediately turn to the Spirit of God to guide us and fill us with the same disposition that Jesus exhibited toward Judas. It may well become evident later on that we are not really dealing with a Judas at all but actually with a loud-mouth, disruptive Peter who is often very out of control. Remember too that Peter denied Jesus more publicly than did Judas, but the long-term outcome for Peter's usefulness in the kingdom was very different from the tragic ending of Judas' career as a disciple of Jesus.

Hiding from Eternal Life

This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. (John 3:19-20)

A compelling story is going around in the News right now about a Pakistani girl who dared to protest against the Taliban for their opposition against any female acquiring an education. Because of her stance she was shot in the head by her own people for daring to say anything that drew attention to the fanatical, selfish and abusive system of belief that these men benefit from at the expense of women.

It occurred to me that this is a dramatic illustration of a key principle that Jesus revealed during His discussion with another member of a fanatical group of religious people. The Pharisees likewise had cultured a system of extremist religion that not only viewed women's rights as a threat to their power but like today's extremists Muslims, they also fostered a system designed to prevent exposure of their own sins of darkness being exposed by keeping the focus on other people's supposed faults.

Jesus gave one of the clearest definitions of the concept of judgment as heaven defines it in this passage, He was speaking of exactly what is taking place before our eyes in the massive struggle between the light of truth and the darkness of violence we are seeing all around us. Rather than implying that judgment happens on some great Day way off in the distant future, Jesus speaks of judgment as potentially happening every time anyone finds themselves confronted with truth and attempts to avoid its glare by hiding even deeper by covering up with any method they can find.

A couple days ago I reviewed this passage with a friend. As we looked at it more closely we noticed a number of paired concepts in these verses that helps to reveal its implications more clearly. Some of these terms come from surrounding verses not quoted above.

• Light or darkness.
• Love or hate.
• Eternal life or perish.
• Save or condemn.
• Believe or not believe.
• Practices the truth or does evil.
• [Desire] that his deeds may be manifested or fear that his deeds will be exposed.

The more I study this definition of judgment as given us by Jesus the more clearly it becomes that heaven's version of judgment is dramatically different than how we use this term. But maybe that is not so strange after all, for if we are of those who prefer our distorted definitions of religious terms in order to prop up our false, selfish systems that benefit some at the expense of others, then we too will live in fear of getting too close to the Light for fear that our prejudices and incriminating teachings will expose us too. We can often be found to be as afraid of exposure by the clear words of Jesus as those we condemn among extremists we hear about on the News.

In fact, when we claim to be Christians and say that we believe in Jesus and yet and His teachings while in fact we treat others in ways that conflict with those principles, we may be in even greater threat of exposure than those who follow the teachings of Islam. It might be somewhat understandable that those who have an agenda of using violence in the name of Muhammad act the way that they do given some of their prophet's instructions about how to treat those outside their religion. But it is a far greater travesty when Christians fall into similar patterns of thinking and acting in the name of Jesus who explicitly taught non-violence and who personally gave the greatest demonstration of this in the history of the universe.

On the cross Jesus revealed a God who could not be abused enough to resort to using any tactics of evil or even harbor any such attitudes against His enemies. Yet when people professing to be followers of this same Jesus who explicitly revealed what God is like and then insist on living in ways out of harmony or even just the opposite to this God, they only reinforce the accusations of God's greatest enemy. Then when the light of the real truth about God shines into their lives they become just as quick to resist that light as radical Muslims fear the light of truth that threatens to expose their system of evil.

To claim that Christianity is superior to Islam and yet maintain a willingness to resort to using force to gain supremacy over enemies only bolsters the claims of Satan and does nothing to advance the Kingdom that Jesus came to establish. This becomes clear when the truth of Jesus begins to shine from those today who are presenting these disturbing revelations about God. Whenever Christians in particular react violently to the idea that God never resorts to force, coercion, fear or any other method of Satan to achieve His ways, we see judgment happen over and over again in the present. Even if that violent reaction is only emotional, it betrays the fact that truth cannot cohabit in the heart with lies about God and that there is an internal conflict being ignited by the light of truth.

Judgment will come to its full reality on a specific day in the future – there is no doubt about that. But what we must begin to see is that judgment also happens every day to some degree or another. And if we examine this message by Jesus to Nicodemus beyond just quoting the most familiar verse in the Bible while removing it from its context, we will begin to see how much we ourselves may be fearing exposure of our own deeds and beliefs of darkness. We may be ever so sincere in our insistence that we are followers of Jesus and are not afraid of the light of truth. But at the same time there are many areas in our lives where evidence emerges to the contrary: in our reactions to threats over our traditions and systems of religion, our practices or church policies that we fear being exposed. And especially we do not want our secret motives to be exposed; motives that if seen clearly would reveal that we are more interested in being seen as faithful Christians while in reality living for self.

One key part of this passage that often gets brushed over may be a pivotal point that is most important to grasp in this teaching. I am starting to believe that Jesus is speaking something vitally important that receives very little press in most of our discussions in religion.

But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God. (John 3:21) (see also 1 John 3:3-10)

I have been contemplating this passage for some time now and the more I meditate on it the more forceful this phrase emerges for me. The above verse is in direct contrast to the previous one where those who avoid the light live in fear that their deeds will be exposed. Yet we have a very difficult time receiving personally the core of this warning by Jesus because we find it to hard to accept that we might be among those called evil. That word 'evil' is such a strong term that we simply can's bring ourselves to be connected with it. We assume Jesus must be referring to other people 'out there' somewhere who are obviously more evil that we. This must be talking about people who are living in open antagonism to God – and of course enemies of ours as well. Yet we may be missing the very truth that might threaten to expose us personally, living in fear that our system of belief that keeps us so comfortable and assured of a spot in heaven might in heaven's view be evil.

The stronger reactions we have to such an implication the more likely it is to contain truth. Remember that it was not some outsider or Samaritan or Gentile that Jesus was speaking to here but it was a prominent, highly educated, pious leader of the most respectable and truth-filled religion on earth. Nicodemus was not even hostile toward Jesus like many of his other colleagues. He had come to visit with Jesus privately in order to possibly establish an opening by which Jesus' reputation might be improved and ways might be worked out to improve His acceptance with those in charge. Nicodemus had come with what he thought were generous motives; but the reaction of Jesus to his very first compliment seemed to be anything but willing to negotiate.

From our viewpoint we can easily judge Nicodemus rather harshly because we now know that Jesus had some vital truths to teach that Nicodemus had completely overlooked. And yet in most of our expositions on this passage and given the popularity that John 3:16 has achieved over the centuries, we still may find ourselves in even deeper deception about our condition of darkness than maybe even Nicodemus was in. We may be so vested in our own version of religion and our entrenched interpretations of this passage that if true light begins to shine from this passage threatening to expose our religious facade we have depended on for so long, we might just react worse than did Nicodemus.

When I compare verse 21 with the previous verse, it becomes evident that the opposite of deeds as being wrought in God must be deeds of evil that are not in God. At first that sounds rather simplistic or even confusing, but the implications of this contrast are enormous if I take them seriously.

What did Jesus really mean when He referred to deeds being wrought in God? I think the answer to that question should be freed from the immediate explanations we like to offer without serious study and reflection guided by conviction of the same Spirit Jesus spoke of to Nicodemus. Jesus told Nicodemus that the wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit. When we rely on pat explanations for this passage without allowing God's Spirit access to bring conviction of our own evil deeds to bear in our own hearts, we may be resisting the very nature of this Spirit that challenges status quo religion.

One of the first things that the Spirit convicts us of is the evil that the light of emerging truth about who God really is exposes. If we think about this logically it becomes rather plain. When God's goodness and love and the real truth about His character becomes more evident to us, anything that is unlike Him in ourselves or beliefs becomes exposed by default. Therefore, the actual definition for evil is simply anything that is not just like God, or what the Bible terms ungodliness.

We tend to move the idea of evil away from ourselves to only refer to people whom we feel are openly wicked, that we view as a threat to us or society, who are obviously people we don't want to be around us. Yet because of the amazing power of sin to deceive, only as we become willing to be honest can God reveal that there is far more evil within us that we have ever supposed. If evil is anything that is not like God's character, one very effective way we have developed to mask the evil within us is to insist that God is actually more like us than what Jesus revealed. Thus the difference between God and our life becomes less sharp and there is less that we need to adjust in us to become like our altered concept of Him.

How diabolical this insidious deception is for each one of us. Because we water down the clear, pure holiness of God with assertions about Him and His ways that minimize the contrast between us, we come to worship a God who is partially of our own making while believing we are in the light. Yet the God we often worship is actually a composite god made from our doctrines and denominational traditions and cultural preferences – little different than what the Jews had done by the time of Jesus. And now we have become so vested in our version of God that we resist any threat from any new light of truth about Him that might expose the fraud contaminating many of our teachings. We too often attack the messengers rather than honestly face conviction that maybe our own fundamental beliefs about reality might be part of our veil of darkness.

Are we really that much different from the mentality of the Taliban who views educated women as a threat to their system of institutionalized abuse and suppression of women for their own selfish exploitation? Maybe on this one issue we may not have yet arrived at that extreme. But at the same time it may be exposed by the Light that many of our arguments over the status of women in our own church might be similar to Muslim's prejudices than we are willing to admit. It may seem easy for us to point to the extremist stance and actions of the Taliban and call them wicked and evil. But in doing so might we someday discover than in our rush to judge them we may actually be implicating our own evil without realizing it? (study Romans 1:18 through 2:16)

But beyond even the issue of women's status or labels in our society, there are many other areas of deeply entrenched prejudices that may be hidden in darkness that the Spirit of God desires to expose for our eternal welfare. Do we find ourselves resisting light because of fear we will be found to be living life apart from full submission 'in God'? Do we really know what it means to live 'in Christ', or are we satisfied to just have pat theological explanations for this phrase that does not threaten our status quo or make us feel too exposed?

Judgment comes to everyone sooner or later. That is a fact that is unavoidable and we must embrace it if we want to live in the light of real truth. The next question that emerges here in this teaching of Jesus to Nicodemus is this: When are we going to be willing to be exposed by our own choice? Are we going to voluntarily come to the light to face becoming exposed in areas of our heart and our beliefs that we cherish as fundamental truth and fear challenge? Are we clinging to beliefs about truth that we refuse to have challenged because we believe we have studied them so thoroughly and can prove them conclusively that we are unwilling to allow any more light to upset or threaten our foundations?

The sins of some men are quite evident, going before them to judgment; for others, their sins follow after. Likewise also, deeds that are good are quite evident, and those which are otherwise cannot be concealed. (1 Timothy 5:24-25)

This is another very important text regarding judgment but has been very misunderstood by many. But let me ask some questions here. Are we willing to allow our sins to become exposed by the light of truth through convictions by the Spirit of truth that will make them more evident? Are we willing to enter into this exposure of judgment now voluntarily instead of putting off that exposure until our sins have to follow us all the way to the final day of Judgment, of full exposure?

I believe we must come to grips with the truth that it is our choices now that determines whether we will submit to being exposed now to the Light that always brings judgment, Light that exposes the hidden things lurking inside of our hearts. We can choose to come to the light now while we still have time and capacity to be healed and transformed into the true image of God; or we can continue to hide from the light, resist its exposure and discover too late that it will crush out our lives on the great day of Judgment after we have lost all ability to respond to the healing power inherent in the love of God that could have healed us before while we had a chance.

Wisdom says that it makes more sense to submit to exposure of judgment now, even to embrace it fully in order to avoid eternal loss in the future. But not only does choosing judgment now benefit our future life but the Light that brings judgment also brings into our lives the benefits of eternal life even here and now. That is the message I throughout these passages. God longs to expose what we are trying to hide in darkness in order to set us free, to deliver us from lies about Him and the effects of sin that ruins our lives; for He longs for us to not perish but to enter into eternal life even now.

This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. (John 17:3)

And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. (1 John 5:20)

Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him. (1 John 3:18-19)

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. (1 John 4:7-8, 20)

That the World May Know

My mind has been taken on a number of interesting and seemingly disparate paths this morning with rather interesting results. I even found myself exploring connections throughout the Bible in the word Gog and the implications that search I marked in my Bible. But what began my interesting voyage that took me all over the place was a choice to revisit this verse:

I will not speak much more with you, for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me; but so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded Me. (John 14:30-31)

I have taken a close look at this verse in the past, but as is often the case I have learned that coming back to a passage over and over again never fails to be rewarded with inspiring new revelations waiting to be discovered and applied. So I let my heart and mind work together to see where the Spirit might lead today and ended up doing a word search on the phrase 'may know'.

What came up on the computer from all over the Bible were fascinating references, mostly having to do with various ways that the world would know that God is who He really is. One of my favorite verses that showed up was this one:

Now therefore, I pray You, if I have found favor in Your sight, let me know Your ways that I may know You, so that I may find favor in Your sight. Consider too, that this nation is Your people. ( Exodus 33:13)

Another one that I just couldn't pass up was this next one:

The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of disciples, that I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word. He awakens me morning by morning, He awakens my ear to listen as a disciple. (Isaiah 50:4)

Both of these were a real encouragement for me as I have found myself sharing life lessons and suggestions with some who have asked me to be their friend. I find this a very hazardous venture for it is so easy to allow pride or earthly wisdom to contaminate the heart and tempt me to think that this wisdom is my own when in reality it is simply a very tenuous gift to be used carefully with full credit always to be given to the original Owner. Even as this verse points out explicitly, it is God who gives the ability to speak, to write, to know the right words, and only as I stay closely connected to Him and listen with a humble, teachable spirit myself can I enjoy a relationship that allows Him to make me a channel of grace for others.

But back to the passage where Jesus said that the world would know He loves the Father. I have long found it curious, almost strange, that the logic that He gives, the answer He says that will convince the world of His love for the Father is that He obeys His Father's commands all the time. Why was it important to Jesus that the world should believe that He loves the Father? What is the key things I need to perceive in this unusual verse?

This reminds me about how His true disciples throughout all history have perceived and related to God's commandments. The very word 'commandments' too often has very dark resonance with many of us. That is why I find this verse so compelling and feel a need to keep coming back to it to discover deeper truths that can set me completely free of these dark associations that have discouraged me for so many years.

Jesus is saying that keeping His Father's commands is how the world will know conclusively that He loves the Father. This of course is closely associated with similar statements about how we will relate to Him and to His commandments as well.

If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. (John 14:15-17)

I like how Jesus knew that this reference to commandment-keeping might trigger some of us with fear. So He immediately added the secret to how our reactions could be changed about this. He promised that He would send a Helper to abide with us and be in us. And what is the main purpose for this? He helps us by working from within our own heart to empower us to keep His commandments naturally.

But how do our negative feelings associated with this word 'commandments' become transformed into positive motivation? It is through coming to see the true nature of His commandments and the true nature of the God that is asking us to do this; we begin to see that Jesus is inviting us into the circuit of life which circulates the currency of life-producing love throughout all of creation. We are to be restored back to our original design where we receive love and life for the purpose of passing it on to others, not to hoard it or take it from others for ourselves.

So many of us have become severely bogged down with the negative feelings that have been connected to the word 'commandments'. This is one of the successful schemes of Satan to keep us away from the very thing that we need in order to thrive. But what we need is not more forced obedience to a list of rules, for that only produces death as Paul so eloquently explains. Rather, we need to come to see God's commandments as expressions of the natural principles of reality which are all designed to circulate the life-giving essence of God's family – agape love.

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. (John 13:34)

This verse can sometimes be manipulated in our confusion to disconnect Jesus and love from the commands of God. But our problem is not the commands of God different from Jesus, for God is exactly like Jesus. Indeed, the New Testament reveals that the God of the Old Testament is actually the very same person as Jesus but before He became a human on this planet. Rather than confusing ourselves about supposed differences between various laws or differing Gods, we have to begin to see that everything connected with God is also immersed in love; for God is love.

This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. (1 John 1:5; 3:11)

The one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked. Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard. (1 John 2:6-7)

John is trying to get it past our fear-based thinking that all the commandments of God revolve around love. The reason that Jesus had to state that His commandment sounded new is not because it conflicts with the Old Testament descriptions of how a godly person would live but because we have become so blinded to the nature of God and His commandments that Jesus had to reset our thinking and explicitly tell us that His commands are all about love.

For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. (1 John 5:3)

The reason that His commandments are not burdensome is not because Jesus commandments are different but because of the approach to them that He revealed and demonstrated in His own life. Instead of perceiving God's commandments as demands to be achieved in order to be accepted and loved by God, Jesus showed us that these commands can simply be fruit growing naturally in the lives of all who allow His Spirit to abide in them, bringing the very presence of Jesus and the Father right into their very center.

He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.

If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. (John 14:21, 23)

If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. (John 15:10)

Why am I dwelling on this? Because I need to absorb it into myself maybe more than many others. My own heart has struggled for so many years to believe that I am loved, that God actually cares about me more than looking to condemn or judge me. It is one thing for my head to embrace tons of truth that God has been sharing with me over the years, and I am very grateful for all of that for it has allowed me to see the path for my heart to experience all that I am learning about this objectively. But what I really want is far more than simply head knowledge. I also want to be a credible witness in favor of God whenever His reputation is on trial. I need a deeper experiential relationship with Him where my life, my face, my tone of voice, my gut-level reactions when I am abused or maligned – I need to have this kind of love secured in the center of my own being so that its fruit can spill out all over others just like Jesus experienced.

This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.

This I command you, that you love one another. (John 15:12, 17)

The more I look into this the more it becomes apparent that God is trying to reconnect the emotional wiring inside my head to help me to see that these two seemingly incompatible words actually are tightly connected as long as I am willing to approach them with the right perception of how He feels about me.

On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true Light is already shining. (1 John 2:8)

So, what is it? Is this a new commandment or is it an old commandment? It can be very confusing to the logical mind that has been trained by culture to accept only one right answer. But in reality the truthful answer is 'yes'. What is going on is that the only reason it is new is because it is a new discovery for those of us who could never see love in God's commandments before because they had been so obscured by our legal way of thinking that darkened our hearts with fear instead of the light of love. But the more I have come to see God from my heart and mind in a radically new perspective over the past few years, the more I am beginning to see outlines of a beauty and attraction that was impossible to detect before.

By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. (1 John 2:3)

To my own amazement, over the past few years I have begun to sense a new awakening far down somewhere inside of me that is beyond my conscious reach. As my measurement standards of what constitutes a real Christian have been challenged repeatedly and exchanged for new and very different ways of perceiving, I have begun to experience a kind of natural obedience that I could hardly even imagine in my past. Rather than working hard to obey because of fear of what would happen to me if I didn't, I now find myself compulsively wanting to discover more and more exciting things about this God who is increasingly becoming attractive to my heart. And the more I spend time and invest mental energy seeking to know the real truth about Him behind all the facades and confusion from religion and expostulations by many claiming to represent Him, I find that my impulses and desires and feelings about others and about many activities in my life are slowly being transformed. I suppose that might be what John was talking about – we know that we have come to know...

This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us. The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us. (1 John 3:23-24)

Without the Spirit of love given as the Helper to bring spontaneous love from within our own heart, it is impossible to live in a relationship with God that produces natural obedience. This is what I needed to know 40 years ago and failed to grasp. And because it has taken me so long to begin to experience what my heart has craved all of these years, I become very excited when I see younger people taking hold of these truths and embracing and experiencing them much sooner than I did.

But I am also thrilled when I see older people, much older than I am even, who likewise are grasping these truths about God that have eluded them for so long. They become willing to humble themselves and be teachable even by younger people so that they too begin to experience this love that makes them come alive and know real joy for the first time in their lives. As both young and old become willing to cast aside all of the tradition and prejudice and preconceived ideas and misapprehensions about God that have locked us in fear for so many years, we are starting to see the fulfillment of that exciting prophecy that reveals part of what will bring about the close of this terrible experiment of sin.

Remember the law of Moses My servant, even the statutes and ordinances which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel. Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD. He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse. (Malachi 4:4-6)

As our hearts become one and we begin to experience the natural unity that only come about as each of us focuses on the character of God as revealed in the life of Jesus, we begin to experience that different kind of life that Jesus was so excited to share with us.

And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.

These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life. (1 John 5:20, 13)

This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. (John 17:3)