ESOCS Devotional 26 June 2022
TEXT: JOHN 8:48-59
MEMORY VERSE: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, if a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.” John 8: 51 KJV
0 And the apostles, when they had returned, told Him all that they had done. Then He took them and went aside privately into a deserted place belonging to the city called Bethsaida. 11 But when the multitudes knew it, they followed Him; and He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing. 12 When the day began to wear away, the twelve came and said to Him, “Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding towns and country, and lodge and get provisions; for we are in a deserted lace ”
Here is God Himself, in the person of Jesus, offering a promise of eternal life. He reveals the sacred Truth that obedience to His Word is the pathway to eternal happiness and that everyone needs to know this Truth and live it. Jesus speaks this freely and openly, but the response from some people on hearing this message was deeply disappointing, slanderous and malicious.
Jesus has already pointed out that the men attacking Him had no interest in the message of God. He has used various expressions to convey this: they “do not believe” (John 8:46); they “do not hear” (John 8:47); “the word finds no place” in them (John 8:37); and they “cannot bear to hear” the word (John 8:43). This rejection proves that these people “walk in darkness” (John 8:12). They have rejected the one and only source of spiritual truth (John 8:12), and so they will die in their sins (John 8:21), instead of finding forgiveness (John 3:36).
Jesus’s words here are in contrast to those who do not “hear,” “walk,” or “believe” according to His message. Those who “keep His word,” in this context, are those who express saving faith in God’s Son (John 3:16–18). Those who reject Christ, however, are condemned to spiritual death (John 3:18; 3:36).
So Jesus is saying, ‘If you keep my saying, if you believe what I say about myself, and my Father, and our great work of salvation, you won’t see death. You won’t taste death.’ This Gospel ends with Jesus being killed and rising again. And the death of Jesus is explained as the substitution for sinners like these adversaries, like us. He said, “I lay down my life for the sheep” (John 10:15; 11:52; 1:29). So, keeping the sayings of Jesus is to receive the words He spoke about Himself, and His Father, and their work of salvation through His death and resurrection. Keep those words, believe them, cherish them, abide in them, live on them, and be transformed by them. And you will never see death.
- How have you allowed the sayings of Jesus to impact your life?
- Lord, help me to keep your sayings, believe and cherish them, and let them continually transform my life to be more of you.
Read Other ESOCS Devotional here
FURTHER READING: Exodus 17:1 16; 2 Kings 10:18-28; Revelation 20:1- 15
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ESOCS Devotional 26 June 2022
