When We Don't Like The Words Of Jesus
Text: John 8:46-59
In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Taking a razor and a scissor, he carefully cut out parts of the
Bible that he really liked. Using four different translations of the Bible,
with hundreds of small clippings, Thomas Jefferson then created his very own
Bible.
It was rather simple, Thomas Jefferson took the portions of the
Bible that did not offend his enlightened sense of reason and pasted them into
a brand new Bible for himself.
More specifically, after finishing his little art project,
President Jefferson produced an 84-page Bible that focused on Jesus but did not
include anything about Jesus‘ miracles, His divinity, His resurrection, and so
forth.
In the truest sense, the Jefferson Bible represents how mankind
attempts to separate Jesus from His Word and the Word from Jesus.
In seminary, I heard about a group of liberal theologians and
pastors who did the same thing as Thomas Jefferson. But instead of using a
razor and scissors, they developed a color-coding system for the
Bible. Each color represented whether or not the words of Jesus were
actually said by Jesus Himself. For example, when you opened their color-coded
Bible, if the words were colored red, Jesus most likely said the words. If the
words were colored green, Jesus maybe said the words. If the words were colored
blue, Jesus most likely did not say the words. This way, the reader could give
attention to the real words of Jesus and disregard the unreal words of
Jesus.
Now whether it is the Jefferson Bible, the color-coded Bible, or
the sentiments of liberal protestant pastors and theologians, they all are
doing the same. They are pitting Jesus against the Word and the Word against
Jesus. But why?
Dear friends, when we do not like the Word of God but still like
Jesus, we try to separate the two. We keep Jesus and only keep the words of
Jesus that we like. And the other words we don’t like? Well, we either cut them
out of the Bible or believe that Jesus didn’t say those words, to begin with.
In the end, if we treat the Bible like it only contains the Word of God and the
whole thing is not the actual Word of God, well… the Bible shrinks. If we
get rid of the words of the Bible that offend us, the Bible becomes smaller and
safer – it can no longer offend us. Again, this is the reason why the Bible is
so tiny for liberal Protestants because they only accept the portions of the
Bible that agree with their agendas and manmade doctrines.
In confirmation every year, I ask the youth a very simple
question, and that is this,
“Do we read the
Bible, or does the Bible read us?”
The answer is quite clear, the Bible reads us. It is a cleverly
worded question that is meant to teach the confirmation students that we are
not the author of the Bible; we do not have the authority to edit, sift, copy,
cut, and paste how we so, please. The Bible is above us, not below
us. However, as it has already been stated, we humans never stop tinkering
with God’s Word. We can’t help it. We want a version of the Bible to suit our
own fancy.
In a lot of ways, we have it a whole lot easier to play silly
games than the Jews did in the 1st century, as they encountered Jesus. As we
consider our reading from John's Gospel, we again hear a conflict between
antagonistic Jews and Jesus Himself. Long story short, the Jews and Jesus were
locked in a battle once again. The Jews, though, were not able to refute Jesus‘
Words. Furthermore, the words of Jesus were quite clear. Jesus said that He
spoke Truth. And those who heard the Truth of Jesus were from God, for the
Truth that Jesus spoke was honorable before the Father.
However, the Jews did not like the words of Jesus, and they
especially did not view Jesus as authoritative. And I should add that they did
not have the luxury to take the words of Jesus that they do not like and set
them aside. So they had no other choice except to call Jesus a Samaritan and
accuse Him of having a demon.
Do you see what I’m getting at this morning? The Jews were
unable to combat the words of Jesus, and they did not like the authoritative
words of Jesus, so they attacked His identity by calling Him a heretic and
branding Him as One who was influenced by an evil spirit. In other words, we
see the same thing happen in our day and age, but in our day and age, people
are playing tricky little games so that they don’t have to be as blunt as the
1st Century Jews. Today, when we don’t like the words of Jesus, we don’t
call Him a heretic, and we don’t say that He has an evil spirit; instead, we
chicken out by separating Jesus from His words.
Let me say this as clearly as possible so that no one
misunderstands me. I am not commending the Jews from our reading in the Gospel
of John for calling Jesus a heretic and saying He had an evil spirit. But
what I am saying is that at least they were honest with themselves in how they
viewed Jesus and His Words. At least they had the guts to call Jesus an
evil heretic, whereas modern liberals today have the same problems with Jesus
but do not have the integrity and courage to flat out say that they view Jesus
as an evil heretic. Instead, they go the way of arts and crafts, cutting and
pasting away the words of Jesus to create their own versions of Christianity
with their own versions of a false christ. They attempt to have Jesus without
all of His Word. They have a jesus but not the Jesus of the Bible, not the real
Jesus. They are not worshipping Jesus but an idol that they have fashioned into
their own likeness.
You see, when it comes to Jesus and His Word, there is no middle
ground. Jesus is Lord. He is Master. His Word is authoritative, and it is
Truth. Where you find the Word of God, You find Jesus. Where Jesus is, you have
the Word of God. They cannot be separated. And so, when the Word of God
challenges your ears, there are only three options. Either you reject Jesus
altogether, or you play silly arts and crafts games like Thomas Jefferson and
liberal Christians – picking and choosing what you want to hear and not hear,
or you become captive to the Word of God.
Baptized Saints, hear this loud and clear. Jesus cannot be
separated from the Word of God, for Jesus is not only at the center of the
Bible but is also the very author of the Bible itself. And so, you do not read
the Bible as if it is a chose your own ending kind of book. You do not
stand over the Bible and interpret what it means according to your own wishes.
You can’t pick and choose what you believe should or should not apply to your
life. No, you are captive to the Bible because you are captive to Jesus. There
is only one Lord – Jesus. And there is only one Word – Jesus.
But contrary to what your old Adam may think, being captive to
Jesus and His Word is not bad. It is for your old Adam because the words of
your old Adam are nothing compared to the Words of Jesus. But then again, your
old Adam spews forth lies just like the devil does. But not
Jesus.
Your Jesus speaks only Truth into your ears. He speaks
Truth into your ears about sin and the need for repentance. He also speaks
Truth into your ears about the forgiveness of your sins and the gift of faith.
And as He speaks Truth into your ears through His Word, He chases away fear, He
bolsters you in the divine Truth, He makes you remain steadfast in grace, and
He gives you strength to fight the good fight so that you may finally receive
the salvation of your soul and the hope of everlasting life.
And the really good news?
Because you cannot separate Jesus from His Word, you are burdened with
picking and choosing what Jesus actually said.
You are not left to doubt whether Jesus actually said what He said. And so, you can trust every one of His
promises spoken to you – no doubt, no picking and choosing, and no
wondering. The Word of Jesus is Truth
and He promises you that you will never taste death, sin will never condemn
you, and the devil will never snatch you. Dear Christians abide, remain,
and keep His Word, as He keeps you.
In the name of Jesus. Amen.
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