Exalt Jesus through Yourself
John 8:20-30
Rev. Dr. Michael H. Koplitz
John 8:21 Then He said again to them, “I go away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come.” 22 So the Jews were saying, “Surely He will not kill Himself, will He, since He says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” 23 And He was saying to them, “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. 24 “Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.” 25 So they were saying to Him, “Who are You?” Jesus said to them, “1What have I been saying to you from the beginning? 26 “I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and the things which I heard from Him, these I speak to the world.” 27 They did not realize that He had been speaking to them about the Father. 28 So Jesus said, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me. 29 “And He who sent Me is with Me; aHe 1has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.” 30 As He spoke these things, many came to believe in Him.
There were many forms of Christian expression in the years that followed Jesus’s life. The Proto-Orthodox church emerged near the end of the first century CE as the most potent Christian expression. Unfortunately, not only did the Romans try to suppress these expressions, but the Proto-Orthodox church also did. The leaders of the Proto-Orthodox church were told to destroy any Christian expression they found. The documents from these expressions were destroyed. Only the Gnostic Christians’ books remain today. They survived because they were placed in jars and buried in the ground where the Proto-Orthodox church could not find them. We know about the other expressions of Christianity because they are spoken of in the letters of the Bishops to the churches, archived for us to see today.
One common idea exists between the different expressions of Christianity then. Today we have many expressions of Christianity. Instead of each group fighting against the other, each must learn to live in peace and harmony. The various denominations cannot agree on doctrines and dogmas. However, they should be able to agree on one thing. That thing is that Jesus was the Messiah sent from the LORD who brought us the secret to getting into Heaven. The two great commandments are to love God and love neighbor.
The Hebrew Sage Hillel lived about 70 years before Jesus. His approach was radical in his time but is so powerful that it is used today in Yeshivas (Jewish seminaries). Before Hillel, the Great Assembly of Elders gathered together and decided what the Torah and the prophets said. It was against Jewish Law to even question what the Great Assembly said. For about 400 years, they controlled what people thought about the Word of the LORD.
However, the word of the LORD is a living word. It is valid in ancient days as well as today. You cannot ignore the instructions and insights that the Bible contains. I have heard that some Christian Bishops denounced the Bible as a book of nice, irrelevant stories today. That is a great heresy, especially for a leader in a Christian Church. This happens when a group of Christians wants to do something or believe something clearly outlawed in the Bible. In 2023 you can pick up the many areas people do not want to hear about from the Bible.
Why may you ask? The simple answer is that they want to do what they want. If they are true disciples of Jesus Christ, they cannot do what the Bible prohibits. However, these people have determined that the Bible is either wrong or not meant for today, and they do not have to follow it.
Let me get back to Hillel. This sage introduced the concept of debate over the meaning and interpretation of the Scripture. It became a way to teach students about the Scripture because it kept their attention.
A man approached Hillel and said that he was a poor Jewish peasant. He could not afford much of anything. He hoped the sage Hillel, a famous man, would tell him how to learn the Torah. Hillel looked at the man and smiled. He said, “love God and love neighbor; everything else is commentary.” What a satisfying answer. The message of the Torah, actually the entire Bible, is to love God and love neighbor. Wow, that is an exciting idea.
That does not mean you can toss out the Bible because you think you know how to love God and your neighbor. Jesus said that he came to fulfill the Torah and the Prophets. Therefore, that big Bible you have is necessary. Let me ask you a question. How do you show God that you love Him? This is a simple question. Can you answer it? (pause for a moment). Well, I can. The way to please God is to follow the writings of the Bible. The Bible contains everything we need to know to demonstrate to God our love for Him.
Then how to love neighbor is also in the Bible. Bingo! But the Bible is complex and lengthy. We need a teacher! I believe God sends us the best teacher on how to use the Bible to please God. That teacher is the Messiah, Jesus Christ. By learning to follow His ways and to talk his way, we learn how to please God.
Jesus loved God and loved everyone. It is all there for us. The Gospels present the ways to grow in love and grace with him, which leads to pleasing God. After all, we must satisfy the Creator of all things in thanksgiving. It does not matter what expression of Christianity you are with. The bottom line is doing your church express its love for God and neighbor in everything it does. It is up to all people who claim to be Christians to show the world what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. The denomination partisanship needs to be dropped.
Jesus prayed that we would be a single people in fellowship and worship the same God and Messiah. The purpose of the church is to educate people in the ways of Jesus so they can please God. We have a word for this process – discipleship. We exalt Jesus when we spread the faith by example more than by word. Anyone can say that they exalt Jesus Christ. However, how many actually do it.
Perhaps it is time to examine your church and yourself. Is everything that the church and you are doing for the triumph of Jesus? If it is fantastic. If not, it is time to consider changing your life to exalt Jesus by becoming his twin.
In ancient days a student became a twin of his/her teacher when they knew everything the teacher knew and when the person could do everything the teacher could. Are you a twin of Jesus Christ? I sure pray so. There is nothing better in life than striving to become a twin of Jesus.
The Bible is your guide, especially the Gospels. Please read the book, re-read it, and then repeat it. Go out into the world and love God and love your neighbor. You know that I know that you can do this!
