SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/4/2016 9:59 AM
My Worship Time
Focus: PT-3 The Answer
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: John 8:14-19
Message of the verses: “14 Jesus answered and said to them,
"Even if I testify about Myself, My testimony is true, for I know where I
came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from or where
I am going. 15 “You judge according to the flesh; I am not judging anyone.
16 "But even if I do judge, My
judgment is true; for I am not alone in it, but I and the Father who sent Me.
17 "Even in your law it has been
written that the testimony of two men is true. 18 “I am He who testifies about
Myself, and the Father who sent Me testifies about Me." 19 So they were
saying to Him, "Where is Your Father?" Jesus answered, "You know
neither Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father also.’”
We have
been looking at the first support of the credibility of Jesus’ testimony, which
was His origin as seen in verse fourteen, and now we will look at the second
support which is His divine nature which is shared with His Father. “But even if I do judge My judgment is true;
for I am not alone in it, but I and the Father who sent Me.” The Jews obliviously believed that when Jesus
was talking about the Father that He was speaking about God, and since they
only believed in One God, and not understanding that there is only one God, but
this one God is seen in three persons. I
know it is hard, no not hard, but impossible to understand the trinity, but
never the less it is true as there is One God seen in Three Persons. Richard Strauss writes the following about
God in three Persons: “But the Scripture
reveals that there are, in that one divine essence, three eternal
distinctions. Those distinctions seem
best described as persons, known as
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All three have identical attributes, however, and therefore they are one—not
merely one in purpose, but one is substance.
To possess all the exact same attributes is to be one in essential
nature. Three persons with identical
sovereignty, for example, would be one sovereign. Three persons with identical omnipotence
would be one omnipotent being. We humans
may have characteristics similar to others, but not identical to them. If we were absolutely identical to another
person in every way, the two of us would actually be one. The three persons of the Godhead possess identical
attributes. They are one in substance
and one in essence, and therefore they are one God.”
Now because
Jesus is claiming that He was one with the Father in judgment Jesus is claiming
that He has essential equality with Him, and I hope the quote from Strauss has
helped all of us better understand this.
Of course this brought outrage to the Jews who surely thought that this
was blasphemy, something they would eventually kill Jesus for claiming.
John
MacArthur writes “As a final vindication that His self-witness was true, Jesus
rebutted the Pharisees’ false allegation that He was His only witness (v.
13). In the law to which they and
appealed and which was binding on them ‘ it has been written that the testimony
of two men is true’ (Deut. 17:6; 19:15).
Reinforcing the very claim that most outraged His enemies, the Lord then
provided those two witnesses, declaring, ‘I am He who testifies about Myself,
and the Father who sen Me testifies about Me.’
In perfect agreement, the Father and Son bear witness to the truth of
Jesus’ claims (cf. v. 29 and the discussion of 5:31-32, 37-38). He called on God as witness to the validity
of His claim, since ‘if Jesus really stands in the relationship to God in which
He says He does, then no mere man is a in a position to bear witness. No human witness can authenticate a divine
relationship’ (Morris, The Gospel
According to John, 443).”
As we
conclude this section we can see that predictably the Jews did not understand
the truth of what Jesus is saying and then asked “Where is Your Father,” for
they believed that Jesus’ father was Joseph but if they would have investigated
they could have found out the truth as seen in what Luke wrote in his gospel of
Jesus. Jesus answered them “You know
neither Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father also.” The only way that we can know the Father is
to know the Son for Jesus would eventually say to Philip "Have I been so
long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the
Father; how can you say, ’Show us the Father’?”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: It is my desire to better know God through
the study of His Word, and when I study about Jesus in the gospels then I know
more about God.
My Steps of Faith for
Today: Work harder on my memory verses
so that I can think more about them and meditate on them to understand them
better.
Memory verses for the week:
2 Corinthians 12:7-9a “7. Because of the surpassing greatness of the
revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given
me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me-to keep me from
exalting myself. 8. Concerning this I implored
the Lord three times that it might leave me.
9a. And He said to me ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is
perfected in weakness,’”
Answer to yesterday’s Bible question: “By placing a scarlet thread in the window”
(Joshua 1:18-21).
Today’s Bible question:
“What did John the Baptist eat in the wilderness?”
Answer in our next SD.
6/4/2016 10:43 AM
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