Bold Lies over Hard Truths

Scripture: “We are descendants of Abraham,” they answered him, “and we have never been enslaved to anyone. How can you say, ‘You will become free’?” John 8:33

Observation: In one of the more direct debates between Jesus and the Jews, both sides throw accusations at each other. The Jews question everything about Jesus' ministry, decide he is a Samaritan, declare him demon-possessed, denounce his prophetic status, and try to stone him. Jesus points out the lies and hypocrisy of the Jews, says they are sinners, explicitly declares they are totally misaligned with the faith of Abraham, clarifies that they have no understanding at all about their own ancestry and mission as Jews, and peacefully yet literally disappears from their midst when they get violent.

This argument orbits the idea of how one legitimizes their faith. Jesus is clear that legitimacy is found through faith in him as Messiah, yet the Jews claim it as a birthright through Abraham. Yet even as they claim that, they get it wrong. Jesus is offering them freedom, but they declare they have never been enslaved and cannot therefore need his offered freedom.

This statement is ... ridiculous. Every Jew knew their people had been enslaved by the Egyptians, Assyrians, and Babylonians. It was practically the Egyptian enslavement and resulting liberation that defined them as a people-group. Furthermore, they may not be enslaved but they were actively repressed by the Romans at that exact moment. Yet they boldly declare lies they know are false, rather than listen to teaching that tells them how to improve their lives. They go so far as to invent a completely different definition of who they are as a people, then declare that type of people as good by its inherent nature, rather than to admit that ... just maybe ... they should listen to hard truths from the Lord.

Application: This is a model repeated everywhere today. People - individually, but mostly by opting into a classification of a people-group - totally invent some classification for themselves, declare that classification by its very nature and definition to have a claim on goodness, and then through some transitive property decide they themselves are good based on those definitions of their group.

Here's the point ...

a) "Good" isn't something for humans to define.

b) Alignment to people-groups is a lie invented by satan.

c) The groups aren't even real either.

Everyone is telling bold lies to align themselves to fake groups, manipulated by satan, instead of simply listening to God's truth about life, hope, joy, salvation, fulfillment, and most of all, love.

Prayer: Lord, there is only one people-group in the world, and that is everyone, created by you, or God and father. May this truth become known. Amen.