John Archives - Paula Wiseman

The Seven I AM Statements: The Light of the World

Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” John 8:12

Last week, we began a look at the seven emphatic I AM statements Jesus makes in the Gospel of John. Each statement employs a metaphor to describe His salvation work. But in each of the conversations or discourses, He also exposes us.

We have to go back to John 7 to get the context of this statement. It is the Feast of the Tabernacles, the time when the Jews commemorated and celebrated God’s provision and presence with them in the desert. As part of that celebration, the lit huge lamps in the Temple court to recall the pillar of fire, God’s manifest presence.

In that setting, Jesus declares, “I am the light of the world.”

Then, Jesus presents a stark contrast for His followers. They do not walk in darkness but have the light of life.

We don’t walk in darkness. Right? Darkness is evil. We aren’t evil. In the big picture, no. If we’ve accepted Jesus Christ then we have that light of eternal life and that can’t be lost or taken away from us. But considering the timing of Jesus’s declaration, I think He was calling us to more than just salvation.

In Exodus 14:19, the pillar of fire moves between the children of Israel and the armies of Egypt, clearly dividing the two. There was no question which side of the fire you were on.

By choosing this moment to make this pronouncement, Jesus is issuing a pointed, convicting challenge to His hearers. That includes His hearers today.

There has to be a choice. A clear, definitive choice. And you have to go all in. In fact, Jesus spells this out multiple times. If you put your hand to the plow but look back, you aren’t fit for the Kingdom (Luke 9:62). If you are unwilling to forsake all that you have, you can’t be My disciple (Luke 14:26).

Jesus didn’t stutter when He said it, either.

If you want to play the “follow Jesus on Sunday but the other six days are mine” game, then you are choosing to walk in darkness rather than the Light of the World. Jesus says His followers aren’t like that. They don’t choose the far side of the fire. They choose light. They choose to live every day in His presence and under His protection. But that means saying no to everything else.

He is the Light of the World. Are you His follower?

Last week: I am the Bread of Life

The Seven I AM Statements: The Bread of Life

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And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. John 6:35

In the Gospel of John, Jesus makes seven emphatic I AM statements, each employing a vivid metaphor to describe His salvation work. But in each of the conversations or discourses, He also exposes us.

In John 6, the crowds catch up to Jesus in Capernaum the day after He has miraculously fed a multitude with just a small lunch. He cuts to the chase.

He calls them out for tracking Him down because He met their superficial needs. “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.” John 6:26 Notice, He begins with “most assuredly,” the one the KJV renders, “verily, verily.” This is an authoritative pronouncement, not just a casual observation. He recognized their true motivation. It was to have their bellies filled on the cheap, no effort, no cost on their part. In short, they wanted a Messiah who would make their lives easier.

Why do we follow after Jesus? Is it so our lives will be easier?

But He doesn’t stop there.

“Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, …” John 6:27a Don’t spend your time and energy satisfying yourselves. Instead, focus on eternity, on everlasting life. And notice, that everlasting life is something the Son will GIVE you. They missed that. Their next question proves it. “What must we do…?” They wanted a Messiah who needed their contributions. And they wanted to be recognized for their work.

Likewise, we are uncomfortable having our weaknesses pointed out. We prefer to think we somehow earned God’s favor or provision or salvation. Or we believe we can’t hang on to it unless we perform. God gave us one job (v. 29) – Believe in the One He sent, which means embracing our own inadequacy.

What sign will you do, that we might believe? John 6:30 The crowds wanted more proof, more demonstrations, more favors. Jesus tried to make them see the greatest sign was salvation. The fact that a holy God made became flesh in order to make a way for sinful man to be forgiven and cleansed was enough of a miracle and demonstration. They wanted a Messiah who performed for them.

Jesus responded, “I AM the Bread of Life.”

We don’t need signs. Our most basic need, the need we cannot fulfill, is a restored relationship with God. All the other things are a distraction. It’s no accident that Jesus chooses bread for this metaphor. Bread is common, familiar, basic. So is our need for salvation.

Too often though, once we have received that Bread of Life, we become like this crowd and like the Israelites after receiving manna. We become jaded, entitled and unimpressed with the wonder of Christ’s sacrifice and the gift of eternal life.

If you want a God who acts when you snap your fingers, who needs your help to accomplish his mission, which is primarily to give you what you want and make your life easier … you have Jesus Christ confused with someone else.

If we are following Him so He can make our material lives better and more comfortable … we have Jesus confused with someone else.

However, if we understand that we have nothing except what He freely gives and what He gives is more about eternity than the here and now … we might be catching on.

Obadiah

By Paula

And Ahab had called Obadiah, who was in charge of his house. (Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly.) 1 Kings 18:3

Obadiah means “servant of Yahweh.” There are eleven different Obadiahs mentioned in the Old Testament, including the author of a short book of prophecy. The one we want to focus on served in the court of King Ahab. In fact, he was in charge of the royal palace, a position of unique access and deep trust.

Obadiah served after the upheaval that split the nation of Israel into two separate countries– Judah in the south, and in the north, Samaria (also called Ephraim and Israel to keep it extra confusing.). Ahab was the king of Israel and ruled with his wife, Jezebel. They promoted idol worship in Israel and Jezebel went so far as to pronounce a death sentence on any prophets of Yahweh, carrying out that sentence with impunity on an untold number.

Obadiah, however, at great personal risk and cost — this was during a prolonged famine — protected and provided for God’s messengers.

For so it was, while Jezebel massacred the prophets of the LORD, that Obadiah had taken one hundred prophets and hidden them, fifty to a cave, and had fed them with bread and water. 1 Kings 18:4

He was also the one Elijah approached and requested a meeting with Ahab to end the famine.

So why should we stop and consider this bureaucrat?

He lived up to his name. His actions proved that he served the Living God. We are called Christians, which means Christ-like. Do we exemplify that in our daily routine?

He didn’t let culture influence him. Let’s be honest … It would have been much easier, much less stress and fewer headaches for Obadiah if he had taken his cues from the regime. Go along to get along. But he didn’t. He feared the LORD greatly. He was a devoted follower and a devout worshiper, and he ordered his life around that.

He didn’t get discouraged and give up when culture didn’t change because of his influence. Obadiah didn’t have any more impact on Ahab than the king had on his chief of staff. He may have had moments or even seasons of frustration and discouragement but he wasn’t marked by them. And he didn’t soften his faith to try to make it more palatable.

He stayed in a difficult situation because that’s where God was using him. It would be reasonable to argue that a good, godly man like Obadiah should not be part of such an evil, corrupt court as the one run by Ahab and Jezebel. No doubt we face situations where an exit is our best option. But then Jesus prayed, “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.” (John 17:15). So clearly there are times when we should stay. James tells us “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” (James 1:27). Obadiah was able to keep himself unspotted and in a position where he was available. Difficulties are not always a sign that God wants us to move on.

Are you living up to His name?
Are there situations where you need to stick to your faith in spite of the culture?
Are you in a place– maybe even a difficult one– where God is using you?

Last week: Ebed-Melech, Next week: Abijah

The Promise of a Prophet

By Paula

“The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear.” Deuteronomy 18:15

God will raise up a Prophet. Those words come in the middle of Deuteronomy as Moses recounts the exodus to a new generation of Israel poised to enter the Promised Land. Throughout the account and through the rest of the Old Testament, over and over we see the exodus as proof of God’s power and prerogative. He keeps the promises He makes and nothing will prevent those things from coming to pass.

Including this promise about a Prophet.

A few verses later, God says, “I will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him.” Deuteronomy 18:18-19.

Those words sound a lot like “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” John 3:18

The Prophet God promised in Moses’s day came on a Christmas morning years and years later.

We are entering a season of good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. Perhaps as we interact with people, we can follow Moses’s example. Think about the promises has God kept in your life. Maybe you’ll find yourself in a conversation something like this…

When Jesus was born, that fulfilled a promise God made hundreds of years before. But God has also been faithful in keeping promises in my life. (Here’s where you mention them.) The most important promise is the one that if I trusted Jesus’s payment for the things I’ve done wrong, I can live forever in heaven with Him.

Share those good tidings! I’ll be praying for opportunities and open doors for you.

Next week we’ll see how the angels did it.

What Nicodemus Teaches Me about Being Born Again

By Paula

Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” John 3:4

For a few weeks now we’ve been looking at the words of unbelievers and learning some valuable lessons from them. Today we’ll look at one of the more famous unbelievers, or pre-believers more accurately, in Scripture. A guy named Nicodemus.

His nighttime conversation with Jesus has been dissected and analyzed by scholars, theologians and the rest of us since it was recorded, yet it still yields fresh insights. Hopefully, we can gain a few today.

You’re no doubt familiar with the conversation. Nicodemus begins, “Teacher we know you are from God.” But Jesus cuts to the chase. “You can’t enter the kingdom of God without being born again.”

Born again. How ridiculous.

Isn’t that essentially what Nicodemus says? “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”

Aside from the theological discussion about our sin nature and its needful regeneration, this discussion touches on some points that we as believers still struggle with at times.

Being born again implies not only starting over, but giving up reputation, position, advantage, and progress. It is going back to square one, erasing all our hard work.

Being born again also means we have nothing, no resources, nothing to contribute, nothing to fall back on, and nothing to hide behind. It is an exposure of our helplessness.

Jesus doubled down on this idea later in the gospels. In Mark 10:15, He says, “Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.”

Nicodemus voices our resistance to that exposure and that surrender.

Let’s confess we sometimes operate under the notion that we will eventually reach a point where we don’t need God’s help so much. We figure someday we will have enough practice or experience to handle things, the way our kids eventually learn to feed themselves and tie their own shoes. Yes, we grow in knowledge and understanding. Our relationship with Jesus strengthens and deepens. However, we never reach independence. Being part of the kingdom of God necessitates our admission that we are powerless, that we have no agency and that we are helpless.

Nicodemus didn’t like it when Christ confronted him with that. We don’t care for it much either. But Nicodemus’s protests remind us how much we need Jesus and the power of the gospel to transform us, and not just at the moment of salvation.

And They Went Back Home

By Paula

Then the disciples went back to their homes. John 20:10

This is a stunning statement. Not on its face, but because of where it appears in the narrative. The disciples are Peter and John. They have just been to the tomb and found it empty.

And they went back home.

They saw with their own eyes physical evidence that what Jesus told them was true. He did, in fact, rise from the dead on the third day. They investigated the scene and everything made sense. They confirmed it and were confident in their conclusions.

And they went back home.

Even the shepherds who saw the newborn Jesus marveled at what they had seen and told everybody. Peter and John went home. That conveys that the experience was less thrilling than a basketball game, closer maybe to a fast food dinner.

Maybe it’s just not recorded that Peter and John were so overwhelmed by the experience they had to go lie down or something. Or maybe John didn’t want to focus too much attention on himself.

Or maybe John recorded exactly what happened, and immediately after verifying the tomb was empty … they just went back home.

Here’s the thing. We are even less impressed than Peter and John. We have the very words of God Himself, but it’s often a chore to read and study. We have access to the Maker of Heaven and Earth, but carving out time for prayer is tough. We are called to meet Him but worship is boring.

Every single day we are confronted with evidence of a risen savior at work in our lives. We benefit from His grace and presence and blessings and promises, but our days are mundane and lifeless. Maybe we’re so familiar with the story it doesn’t even register anymore. Maybe we don’t grasp what we’ve been saved from. Maybe we don’t realize why we needed salvation in the first place. Maybe we’re introverts.

Or maybe we’ve read on to Acts 4 where Peter and John are imprisoned and beaten for proclaiming that Jesus Christ raised from the dead to prove our sins could be forgiven and eternal life was possible, and we decided to keep quiet.

And just go back home.

The Seven I AM Statements: The Light of the World

The Seven I AM Statements: The Bread of Life

Obadiah

The Promise of a Prophet

What Nicodemus Teaches Me about Being Born Again

And They Went Back Home

Encounters Series

Covenant of Trust Series

Foundations Series