Lesson 8b

Jesus vs The Status Quo

"To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, 'If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free."

Read John Chapter 8

The rest of John chapter 8 is really a debate between the Pharisees (Religious Leaders) and Jesus. And when we come face to face with Jesus there is always going to be a debate, a conflict and arguments, because, let's face it, he's the All-Powerful, All-Knowing God in the flesh and we are mere humans....that He created, with very limited knowledge and very little power. This debate reminds me of another debate between God and a man named Job. I think it would be very illuminating to go back and read Job chapters 38-41 before continuing on.

Think of Debate Club at college, you've got the brainiest kids in school, and just to stack your team with "Ringers" you have the Staff, some Nobel Prize winners and some of the Greatest Scientist, Religious Leaders and Innovators throughout the generations with you. Against Jesus, the Son of God. And one by one he demolishes all your arguments, all your theories and philosophies until you are a humbled mess. Then Jesus utters these simple words "If you hold to My Teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you Free." Seems simple enough.

Here is an illustration from my life that might help in making a decision to put Jesus' teaching into practice. I didn't start skiing until I was in my twenties and by that time my body wasn't as limber as when I was a teenager. But off I went and took a beginner lesson on the "Bunny Slope" learning how to snow plough. No biggie. But then I went to the top of the mountain, fell of the chair lift, gathered myself up and with eyes wide looked down the mountain, that somehow I was to ski down; my heart was thumping inside my chest. So here's the lesson! To snow plough you have to lean forward and put your weight on the front of the skis to slow you down. However when you are at a 45 degree angle facing downhill, the last thing your entire being is telling you to do is lean forward, because it seems like you are going to fall down the entire mountain and break your neck. So what do you do, you sit back and get your butt as close to the ground as possible, which is the worst thing to do, because it takes the pressure off the front of the skis, you go faster and fly up in the air...falling on your butt. I did! Many times!

It took going down that mountain a few times, lots of falls and a very damaged ego, but eventually I got it and after my 3rd trip skiing I was weaving down the mountain and enjoying the rush of adrenaline in some of the most spectacular environments around....I was having a Blast!!! It's the same with following Jesus. We can hold onto our preconceived ideas, traditions and our ways of doing things or....we can learn from The Master and have a Blast!!! The Choice is yours. Doesn't mean you won't get bumps and bruises along the way (you will) but that's life anyway.

Some questions for You:

1: Do you want to follow Religious Leaders with their dogmatic Laws, Rules and Regulations or do you want to follow Jesus?

2: At the end of this chapter what did the Religious Leaders attempt to do to Jesus?

3: Why do you think they wanted to do that to Jesus?

4: What are some things that might be hard for you to follow Jesus?

Continue Studying, praying and taking notes, it's worth it.