Today’s Reading: Habakkuk 1; Habakkuk 2; Habakkuk 3; John 8
Scripture: John 8:33 They answered him, "We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?"
Observation: This is truly a most remarkable statement. And it's so easy to pass right by it as it falls in the middle of an argument between Jesus and the hypocritical Jewish religious leaders. They actually make the claim that as Jews (i.e. Abraham's descendants), they have never been conquered! Say what?! Talk about some pathological denial! The whole history of the descendants of Abraham is peppered with instances of enslavement, from Egypt, to the Philistines, to the Babylonians, the Medes and Persians, and even as these people argue with Jesus, they subject to the rule of Rome!
Application: People will claim some amazing things with a straight face. Apparently, sometimes they actually believe it. Here, the pride of the Jewish leaders was so pervasive that it made them blind to their own ignominious past as a people. They have been anything but faithful to God as they further claimed in the same conversation. But their denials and beliefs based on lies were necessary to prop up their desired outcome, which was a self-reliance apart from any need to repent or change anything. "We're just fine," was their claim. But it was such a lie and it sadly prevented them from being able to receive the message of Jesus.
Bottom line: get rid of lies and face the truth about yourself. Lies may be comforting in some ways but they are ultimately destructive as they push real solutions away and keep us in our dysfunction.
Prayer: Lord, help me to see the places that I am in denial or believing lies about myself. I want to know the truth about me so that I can receive the truth about You and apply it rightly. Help Your people to come to the light and see the truth for what it really is.
This I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
1 comment:
Good word. We often forget that the interactions Jesus had with the Pharisees are there for us to learn from because we often tend to respond as they did. We'd like to think of ourselves as we think of the apostles and not like the Pharisees but even the apostles had their lie-based thinking that Jesus confronted also. Denial never solved anything. The problem is that we rarely see our own denial and must be open to others pointing it out to us if we are ever going to be aware of it so that we may rid ourselves of it.
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