Today's Meditation
Read John 8:48-59
48The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” 49Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon; but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. 50Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is one who seeks it and he is the judge.
51Very truly, I tell you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.” 52The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, and so did the prophets; yet you say, ‘Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.’ 53Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets also died. Who do you claim to be?” 54Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, he of whom you say, ‘He is our God,’ 55though you do not know him. But I know him; if I would say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him and I keep his word. 56Your ancestor Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day; he saw it and was glad.” 57Then the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” 58Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.” 59So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.
The Old Testament daily lectionary continues with Job, but for today I'm taking a break from that book. If you wish to continue, read through Chapter 14. In this chapter Job waxes and wanes over the finality of life, even mountains and rivers come to an end through their wearing down or their drying up. To Job, the only thing that seems to have a life after death are trees, since they sprout up again after being chopped down (not true of all trees, but we'll let Job have it, as he goes on and on.)
Today, I want to use John as the daily reading. This reading came quite providentially after I was asked, "Do all those before Christ go to heaven? Specifically, what about the Jews that believed in God?"
This is a very good theological question and one that I'd love to speak more about in a sermon or Bible study series. However, today's reading gives us a very short glimpse of what answers we might discover in dealing with this subject.
In this passage from John, Jesus is answering questions that some of his followers have put to him to prove that what is says is true and to prove who he is. Finally, Jesus says, "If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. If is my Father who glorifies me, he of whom you say, 'He is our God,' though you do not know him. But I know him; if I would say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him and I keep his word. Your ancestor Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day; he saw it and was glad." Then the Jews said to him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?" Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am."
The Presbyterian Church (USA) has debated over the years how to respond to our strong conviction that we gain our salvation through Christ alone. But how does that rectify those who have not heard of Christ over the eons of time? Or even today, how does that justify the damnation of all those who simply haven't heard or heard enough about Christ to come to a decision about him?
In 2001, the General Assembly of the PC(USA) voted on this issue and made a statement saying,
"We
confess the unique authority of Jesus Christ as Lord. Every other
authority is finally subject to Christ."
"Jesus Christ is also uniquely Savior. It is 'his life,
death, resurrection, ascension and final return that restores creation,
providing salvation for all those whom God has chosen to redeem.' Although
we do not know the limits of God's grace and pray for the salvation of those
who may never come to know Christ, for us the assurance of salvation is found
only in confessing Christ and trusting Him alone. We are humbled in our
witness to Christ by our realization that our understanding of him and his way
is limited and distorted by our sin. Still the transforming power of
Christ in our lives compels us to make Christ known to others."
"Jesus Christ is the only Savior and Lord, and all people
everywhere are called to place their faith, hope, and love in him. No one is
saved by virtue of inherent goodness or admirable living. ... No one is saved
apart from God's gracious redemption in Jesus Christ. Yet we do not presume to
limit the sovereign freedom of 'God our Savior, who desires everyone to be
saved and come to the knowledge of the truth' (1 Tim. 2:4). Thus, we neither
restrict the grace of God to those who profess explicit faith in Christ nor
assume that all people are saved regardless of faith."
I have always appreciated the final wording to this statement; although we acknowledge Jesus as the unique and only Savior and Lord, yet we do not presume to limit the sovereign freedom of God who desires that everyone be saved through the grace of God through Jesus Christ. It rejects the notion that simply living a "good life" will get you to heaven and it also rejects the idea that all religions (in and of themselves) lead to salvation.
It is impossible for us to know the breadth of God's thoughts and understanding God's infinite wisdom in all things, but this passage gives us a glimpse of what God is "up to" by claiming that someone (Abraham), long before Christ came into existence here on earth, already knew him.
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