Reflecting on John 8:12-20“I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me.” (John 8:18).
The Jews believed that God was their (Israel’s) Father, and they were God’s children.
This analogy was meant to help them understand God’s great compassion and love.
Yet they failed to see and appreciate the wonder of God’s gracious love.
Which is why they failed to recognized that gracious love as modeled by Jesus.
If they would have understood God’s gracious love, they would have seen it in Jesus.
Jesus is claiming to be the living reflection of God’s gracious love for Israel.
“He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.” (Psalm 103:10)
This is how Jesus treated people, because this is how the Father treated people.
If we read the OT as a book of love, we will see the Father’s compassion all through it.
And Jesus and His message will make sense to us – they support each other.
If you want to know what God is like, look at Jesus – He reflects the light of God!
Jesus is in full agreement with the God, and God is in full agreement with Jesus.
If our understanding of God does not look like Jesus, then our image of God is false.
The better we know Jesus and His message, the better we will know God.
This is why I focus on Jesus and the Jesus stories: He helps me to know God better!
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, You show me what God is like, and this is the God I want to know and love. Help me to be a Jesus follower, someone who sees and hears God through Jesus!