Wednesday 11 May 2022

May 11: John 12:44-50

Key Verse: John 12:47
If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.

Devotion:
Jesus spoke quite plainly here saying how God the Father had sent Him and He was just like God the Father because they are one. Jesus came into this world, not as a judge who would go round finding people guilty because they did not follow the law to the tee, but as a Saviour who would come to set us free from this debt we owe because of our sinful lives.

Jesus did not say we have to be pure and righteous in everything we do. He knows we cannot be that. He knows we are going to sin. He accepts this! What He is saying is those who do listen to what He is teaching us will try within their selves to conform to His Word. When we hear the Gospel and we believe it, we do try to change our lives to be more like Jesus. But, even when we go off the rails and do something wrong, Jesus is not going to be there to judge us but He will be there to save us!

What an awesome picture this paints, of a sinless man who came into the world in such a humble manner to live His life and give His life for us; even the ones who put Him on the cross, even the one which sold Him out to the authorities – Jesus was and is here for all of us.

But, just as Jesus is here for us all, so too is the judge waiting behind the scenes. The judge is not waiting for us to trip up, but waiting for those who continually choose to not believe in Jesus, to not believe in what He has done for us. It is the very same Gospel which will condemn those unbelievers as the Gospel who will save us who do believe. These words did not come from Jesus because He was kind or a good Samaritan, these words came from God who cannot lie!

Points to Ponder:
What do you get out of the Gospel?

Will you try to keep the Gospel?