Abiding Disciples Sunday morning Aug 7th

Last week was Testimony Weekend. We heard testimonies from camp and from those in our congregation. Testimony is powerful as our stories of redemption not only remind us of what Jesus did in our life, but it also becomes a message of hope for those who have yet to believe in Jesus. With that said, our testimony only carries wait for so long if we do not live out our faith. Our words must match our actions to hold weight. In this passage, Jesus is not speaking to the general public but to the religious leaders and the Pharisees. He repeats a statement He had just spoken to earlier. He wants these religious leaders to understand that He is the Messiah and that He will return to His Father. It is easy to read this dialogue with an angry or exasperated tone, but then we might be missing the very nature of Jesus. Jesus did not waste His breath. He understood His assignment. Though Jesus had every right to bring judgment, that was not His assignment. His assignment was to bring redemption, and He stuck to that message in all He said and did. He was asking them to believe that He was God’s Son, and if they did not believe, they would die in their sin. It wasn’t that they didn’t believe that God could have a Son who came as a man. It was that they didn’t believe Jesus was that man. They knew the promises (Mt.26:63; Ps 2:7). It is also worthy to note that these people were highly educated in the Bible, and some of them did believe. Jesus never hid His identity, so when they asked Him, who are you? He simply chose not to answer the question He had answered so many times before. As He spoke to this group of people, something amazing happened amid their open chastise of Jesus. Many believed, and then Jesus invited them to put their new faith into action by abiding in His words and becoming true disciples. Jesus represented the Father in all He said and did; because of this, many believed, and when those who believe abide in His word, they become disciples.