Who’s Your Rabbi?
By Joslyn Jayaram
The Word: John 8:21-30
21 So he said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” 22 So the Jews said, “Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” 23 He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.” 25 So they said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning.26 I have much to say about you and much to judge, but he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.” 27 They did not understand that he had been speaking to them about the Father. 28 So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. 29 And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.” 30 As he was saying these things, many believed in him.
It’s amazes me when people make loop holes for Jesus that he’s just a “Good Teacher” or a “Spiritual guide” or even a “Prophet.” It’s just not who Jesus said He was. He tells the people that he is “not of this world.” Not of this world?
John 8:24 “I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.”
So here Jesus is, proclaiming that He is not of our world, He’s from above, He’s doing what the Father tells him… and that He will die for our sins.
Check any of the spiritual leaders or good teachers, do any of them talk like this? What would we think of someone who talked like this today?
No, the book of John is trying to make it clear. Jesus is not a Good Teacher, nor a Prophet… He’s so much more. He’s the Savior of the world.
Application: What do you think? Would a Good Teacher still be good if he or she made these claims and they were false? There had to be something significant about Jesus’ words on this very day because after he was done “…many believed in him” (verse 30).
Prayer:
Jesus, we want to believe in You. Free us from the box we tend to put you in. Help us to see You for who You truly are. Amen.