For a description of the (Y2) reading plan, see the “About” page.
John 8
Who would you like to see punished for what they’ve done? For what sins do you deserve to be punished? What would it look like for you to drop your rocks? There is a difference between being lost and being evil. The woman caught in adultery was lost. Jesus did not condemn her for her sins, but He did expect her to turn away from them. Many of the Pharisees and other Jewish leaders, however, were evil. Jesus flat out told them that they were children of the devil. It doesn’t get much more evil than that.
I don’t know if evil people have a tendency to rise to the top or if positions of power have a way of turning people over to evil. Either way, I see a lot of evil people in high positions throughout history. It is tempting to want to ‘take out’ these bad actors. From our perspective, it looks like we would be doing the world a favor. But I don’t see Jesus treating the evil leaders of His day any differently than He did that lost woman. “I pass judgment on no one”, He said. (Jn. 8:15b). Instead, He simply spoke truth to them. Unlike that lost woman, however, they refused to listen to it.
Jesus commissioned us to continue His mission until His return. So what was Jesus’ mission? He said Himself, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Lk. 19:10). Also, we see from this passage and many others that Jesus came to speak truth to the world and to call people to repentance. What He did not come for was to condemn and to pass judgment. That part comes later. First, though, He came to offer people a way to escape the coming condemnation.
Therefore, I believe our focus should be the same. We don’t need to focus on all the bad actors; we don’t need to name ourselves judge, jury, and executioner. All of that is God’s job, and He will tend to it in due time. Until then, we need to focus on Jesus and speak His truth in every corner so that those who have ears to hear will repent and be saved.
Micah 5-7
Micah chapter 5 is clearly full of Messianic prophecy. It speaks of an ancient one who will come out of Bethlehem and rule over Israel. There is a lot more than that, but there was one piece in particular that caught my attention. “And He will be our peace when the Assyrians invade our land… He will deliver us from the Assyrians” (From Mic. 5:5-6). Clearly there was no one who saved Israel from the Assyrian invasion at that time. So what does this mean? My thought was that the Assyrian invasion is a representation of God’s coming judgment, because it will come. Thus, this promised deliverer is one who gives us peace in place of judgment. Jesus did that for us by coming first as our Passover lamb. Then, on the day of God’s judgment, He will be the shepherd who protects His flock.
I suppose, given what I just talked about from the reading in John, we could also say that the Assyrian invasion represents that evil leadership I was pointing out. Jesus gives us peace in the midst of that as well when we keep our focus on Him. He provides us with Godly leadership to deliver us from their evil ways until that day when God unleashes His judgment on all of them.