Whose the Leader?

Remember the old game “Simon says”? Everyone plays it as children, but few play it later. You can tell the moment we go from playing Simon Says and not playing it. It’s the moment we start asking, “Who is Simon, and why should we do what he says?” As children, we are taught to respect authority. Then we discover it can be dangerous to blindly follow someone who sounds authoritarian.. Sounding right doesn’t make you right, and whenever somebody says “trust me.” we have every right to be suspicious. People had this same suspicion of Jesus. He claimed he was the Son of God. So how could Jesus claim this and expect people to believe Him? Today, the rest of the world is asking this about us. The scientific world questions our faith. They live by a creed that says nothing is true unless it can be quantified and tested. Scientists believe there is no truth without science to back it up. Politicians define truth by polls. If the majority believes it, it must be true. Lawyers define it by legality. If something is not written, then it cannot be true. Religious leaders define truth by creeds and confessions. The Reformation broke away from the Catholic church by denying the authority of a thousand years of papal pronouncement. Then there’s tradition--if we heard it as a kid, it must be true. The final answer to every argument is “That’s not the way I learned it.” Against so many different authorities, Jesus asserts His authority. He claims to be above all human authority and cannot be proven by any of them. Instead, He asks you to accept on faith--the most fragile of all proofs--and let him prove Himself.. The Gospel of John is full of places where Jesus asserts his authority. But the longest and boldest passage is John 8:12-59. where Jesus argues with the Pharisees When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." The Pharisees challenged him, "Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid." Jesus boldly asserts that He is the light of the world, and the giver of eternal life. The Pharisees went by the Law which said. “By the witness of two or three people is a testimony to be confirmed.” You cannot be his own character witness. Where are the other witness? Can Jesus call up even one other witness, to say that He is the light of the world? Therefore, His testimony is not valid. From a human standpoint, it makes sense. The skeptics make this same point today. Where is the hard evidence, the scientific proof that Jesus is the Messiah? By scientific evidence, they mean evidence that can be quantified and measured by scientific standards. Where’s the cross? Where’s the empty tomb? Where are the photographs? of Jesus coming out of the tomb? Jesus offers no such proof. Instead, he makes another kind of appeal—to God Himself! Vs. 14-18 "Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going. You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. But if I do judge, my decisions are right, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid. I am one who testifies for myself. My other witness is the Father, who sent me." Jesus has no proof by human standards, but that does not mean what He says is untrue. Jesus’ greatest evidence of his divinity is the cross and empty tomb, and they haven’t happened yet. Sometimes, evidence is not available. Times like that require faith. Philosopher Immanuel Kant wrote a book called The Critique of Pure Reason. Using rigorous standards He proved there is very little we can know. By pure reason we cannot know whether or not there is a God, whether morality exists, or even whether we exist. Then he wrote another book called The Crifizue of Practical reason where he proved we cannot function purely on reason. Judging the methods what we use every day, he showed that God exists, morality exists, God exists, and we exist.. We cannot prove by pure reason that the Jesus is God. But then we can’t prove a great many things. We believe because it is the only practical thing to believe. Can we prove love exists, or beauty? It is not logical to fight a war, but if we don’t fight to defend ourselves, we will all die. What I cannot prove I take on faith. The irony is that the religious leaders who were arguing with him also wanted to be taken on faith. They wanted people to believe in their version of Judaism. When two people who must be taken by faith square off against each other, then the contest between them is a little like playing poke. Which one do we believe has the real goods? Jesus continued upped the ante, in vs. 19-20 Then they asked him, "Where is your father?" "You do not know me or my Father," Jesus replied. "If you knew me, you would know my Father also." . . . Faith is a form of madness. It asks us to take leave of our senses, and embrace the irrational over the rational. In fact, the only thing madder than having faith is not having faith. If we do only what is certain, we will make no progress. Madness is doing the same thing over and over, in spite of getting no results. Like washing out hands to remove guilt, and getting no relief. The Pharisees had been saying to the people for years they should have faith in the law, yet it produced no happiness or joy. When we live without faith, we continually seek for relief from despair, but get none. There is a way to find eternal life, but it requires more than knowledge. It requires faith in Jesus. He is the only basis for a life that makes sense. What would an airplane trip be without faith? If we didn’t think the plane would make it, would we ever get on board? Why would we buy anything on e-bay or from a catalogue without hope? If we didn’t think we would get the product, would we pay the money? There is no rational basis for believing, yet we believe. So it is with God. We need faith to reach out to Him and faith to continue with Him. Faith may sometimes fly in the face of reason,. But without faith, there is no hope of rewards. In the face of justifiable skepticism, Jesus says “trust me. And trust My Father also” St. Augustine once said that we do not understand in order to believe. We believe in order to understand. Without belief ad trust, there an be no understanding. Jesus is playing poker with the Pharisees. He is not showing them his cards, but he ups the ante again in vs 23-28. Is he bluffing? "You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. . . . if you do not believe that I am [the one I claim to be], you will indeed die in your sins." "Who are you?" they asked. "Just what I have been claiming all along,". . . "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am [the one I claim to be] and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me.” Instead of backing down and trying to prove, Jesus made larger claims. Now he says that if they do not believe, they will die in their sins. Furthermore, he claims, that when they lift Him up, they will know he is right. They had no idea what He was talking about, but he was talking about the cross and His resurrection. There is a story about a philosopher who once appeared before the emperor Napoleon. He claimed to have invented a new religious that could become the basis for Napoleon’s new empire. Napoleon smiled and him and said that it sounded good. In order to get the religion started he would order his guards to take him out and shoot him. When he rose from the dead, his new religion should begin. On the cross, Jesus will show whose bluffing. The resurrection of Jesus is the only proof that made sense to prove He was of God. In verses 30-46 Jesus calls the Pharisees bluff. Even as he spoke, many put their faith in him. To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." 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?" . . . "We are not illegitimate children," they protested. "The only Father we have is God himself." The authority of the Pharisees was based on the premise that they were the true followers of Abraham. But Jesus tells them they are doing what Abraham did, so how can they be followers of Abraham, Their real “father” or rabbi is Satan, who they follow truly. But if they follow Him, they will be set free by the truth He teaches. The Pharisees answer with sputtering and inconclusive argument. In verse 48, "Aren't we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon-possessed?" Jesus just continues to raise the stakes in verses 49-51 "I am not possessed by a demon," said Jesus, "but I honor my Father and you dishonor me. I am not seeking glory for myself; but there is one who seeks it, and he is the judge. I tell you the truth, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death." “Now we know that you are demon-possessed!” The Pharisees sputtered in verse “Abraham died and so did the prophets, yet you say that if anyone keeps your word, he will never taste death. Are you greater than our father Abraham?. . . Who do you think you are?" Jesus replied in verse 56 “Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad." The Pharisees answered in vs. 57"You are not yet fifty years old, and you have seen Abraham!" 58 "I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I am!" Jesus lays his cards out on the table. I Am is the literal translation of YAHWEH, the name of God. Jesus claims to be God. How can Jesus prove that? He can’t by words. He can only prove it by actions. How can we prove this to the world. We can’t. But by believing, He can prove it. When we treat Jesus as if He were God, and honor Him as God, then he an prove that he is God. The cross is one way he proved that. Today He continues to prove He is god by every answered prayer, every miracle, every gift of strength and endurance. What is the greatest witness to Jesus we can give to this world. We witness by words, to be sure. But there is no reason for a person who is one of us already to believe our words. We must witness by deeds of strength, love, and power. It is in the doing that Jesus proves Himself, not in the saying. Do you believe Jesus is God? Then treat Him as if He were God. Obey Him. Honor him. Praise him. An most of all follow him. When we follow the leader, other will want to follow