What Jesus Expects From Us

"The Jews answered him, 'Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?' Jesus answered, 'I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge. Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.' The Jews said to him, 'Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, "If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death." Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?' Jesus answered, 'If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, "He is our God." But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.' So the Jews said to him, 'You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?' Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.' So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple" (John 8:48-59, ESV).

When a volcano erupts, we expect that lava, gas, fiery rocks would come out from its mouth. We do not expect for fountain of cold water, or big chunks of ice!

Also, we do not expect for a heart surgeon to overhaul the car engine. We expect the car mechanic to fix the trouble of the car.

Now, what do you think Jesus would expect from us? Not any Jesus, but the One preached by Paul and other apostles. For even during the time of Paul, others were preaching another Jesus. As we read in 2 Cor. 11:3-4A, " I am afraid that your minds will be corrupted and that you will abandon your full and pure devotion to Christ - in the same way that Eve was deceived by the snake's clever lies. For you gladly tolerate anyone who comes to you and preaches a different Jesus, not the one we preached; ..." (Good News Translation.)

Let's not allow, then, our minds to be corrupted and be deceived. Let's consider the Biblical Jesus and proceed to discuss our topic, WHAT JESUS EXPECTS FROM US, as we focus on our text (John 8:48-59).

If we really know Him and have faith in Him, we could demonstrate many positive reactions. What are some of those He expects from us?

Of course, the Gospel of John was written by the Apostle John. He described himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved. He mentioned it repeatedly. Five times!

Just before our text, in verses 31-47, John wrote that Jesus pointed out that not all who claimed to believe Him were liberated from sin, not all were children of God, not all were lovers of Jesus, not all were appreciative of God's Word. In short, they were not genuine believers. They did not really believe the Word.

On the other hand, true believers acknowledged that Jesus is the Liberator. He is Lovable. And He is the Truth.

As we proceed, we could deduce that when we become familiar of Jesus, we would demonstrate other positive reactions. We would be able to display in our life more distinctiveness from others, who do not really know Jesus.

What are those distinctive, positive reactions that Jesus expects from us?

First, WE HONOR HIM (vv. 48-50).

We read verses 48-50, "The Jews answered him, 'Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?' Jesus answered, 'I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge.'"

In the previous verse, Jesus told the Jews, "Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God."

As Jesus revealed the true color of those who posed as believers (actually, they were not), they retaliated by throwing accusation against Jesus. What they did or said only highlighted their "dark" color. They dishonor Jesus. They told Him, "you are a Samaritan and have a demon."

Conversely, those people who are of God, those who really know Jesus, honor Him. Jesus expected the true believers to honor Him. Because He Himself showed His honor to God the Father.