Pod prep: 1-11-19
Why Spiritual Discernment is So Vital.
DO JESUS AND THE BIBLE CONTRADICT THEMSELVES?
Worldly people search for items in the Bible that they can claim show that the book is full of contradictions. Careful analysis will always show that what seems like a contradiction actually reveals a deeper truth. This section of John is just such a case. Note what the verses involved actually say:
John 8:15-16 NKJV 15 "You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. 16 "And yet if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me.
He was saying that these religious leaders judge according to human wisdom which is so fallible. Christ is saying that he does not judge anyone “ after the flesh “. They try and assert that Jesus is saying I do not judge but then say he does judge. Christ is saying I do not judge in a wrong human worldly way but when I do judge , it is with spiritual guidance. Jesus judges using spiritual wisdom from God the Father and the Bible. The Scribes and Pharisees were using human wisdom and outward appearances but thought they were using God's laws appropriately.
Worldly religious leaders had set up a trap for Christ prior to this statement by Jesus in book of John. They had either caught a woman in adultery or set up and trapped a woman , because the male perpetrator is not apprehended. Both were guilty. The manner of the trap set up for Jesus shows their lack of full justice. They had hoped that Jesus would act in compassion as was his reputation and they could then accuse him of being a supporter of law breaking. The context as usual shed light upon the verses true meaning.
John 8:4-5 NKJV 4 they said to Him, "Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. 5 "Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?"
Christ actually proved to them that compassion and the law can work together. Jesus under the glare of his righteous judgment pushed the scheming leaders into showing how law and grace can work together.
John 8:9-11 NKJV 9 Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 10 When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, "Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?" 11 She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more."
Jesus forces them to acknowledge by their inaction that God judges the heart not just the outward appearances. Those Pharisees were no more righteous than the woman yet, in the end ,Christ defended the goodness of the law. Jesus critics were again left speechless. No true contradiction exist in these verses.
THESE WORLDLY LEADERS WERE CAUGHT UP IN DEVILISH INFLUENCES
The Scribes and Pharisees the religious leaders of that society were using judgment that was corrupted. Jesus makes this abundantly plain. This is one of the reasons they hated Jesus. They were jealous of his powerful teachings, wisdom and miracles but also his criticism of them hit home. Jesus bluntly told them in public, that they did not know God in this very encounter. He had called them snakes in the grass and hypocrites. The truth of his judgment of them really cut to the quick.
John 8:42-44 NKJV 42 Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. 43 "Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. 44 "You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
Like many worldly religious leaders of this age they were being deceived by the god of this age.
Revelation 12:7-9 NKJV 7 And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, 8 but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. 9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
All the world is deceived except for a small number of called out ones by the god of this age. Further we should add that those leaders that at least acknowledge the Bible are less deceived than openly pagan or totally secular worldly leaders. Yet they are still deceived. God apparently allows mankind in this age, to go which ever way people wish. If most wish to believe a lie he will allow their religious leaders to be deceived by evil lying spirits. We live in an age where truth has fallen hard. Let us look at one such example.
1 Kings 22:19-22 NKJV 19 Then Micaiah said, "Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by, on His right hand and on His left. 20 "And the LORD said, 'Who will persuade Ahab to go up, that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead?' So one spoke in this manner, and another spoke in that manner. 21 "Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD, and said, 'I will persuade him.' 22 "The LORD said to him, 'In what way?' So he said, 'I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' And the LORD said, 'You shall persuade him, and also prevail. Go out and do so.'
This scripture maybe very upsetting to people, but one has to admit that in some cases God will allow lying spirits to deceive religious leaders. Those leaders in turn deceive the leadership of the nation. We know from the context that these prophets were so inclined to preach whatever the king wanted. They were political whores. They were also the product of Jeroboams system of altered or compromised worship of the true God. Jeroboam put the lowest of the people into the priesthood instead of the trained Levitical priest so they would promote anything he wanted. They did not know any better.
EVEN CHRIST COULD NOT COMPLETELY TRUST HIS HUMAN JUDGEMENT
Jesus Christ stated that he could not judge based on his human fleshly wisdom alone. Note what Jesus says in John 8:15-16 , that spiritual discernment is the key to correctly evaluating and deciding or making assessments upon the people. None of us should trust our human judgment too far. A believer should try and double check with the Bible and biblical principles regarding our decisions. Human beings can easily lead themselves astray. Jesus knew all this very well. He would only judge spiritually.
1 Samuel 16:7 NKJV 7 But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."
Human judgment is easily distorted by physical factors like voice and clothing and attractive appearances. These things happen often at the unconscious level. Further, people often want to believe or see certain things in one manner and bias can easily distort our judgment.
Luke 18:18-20 NKJV 18 Now a certain ruler asked Him, saying, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" 19 So Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. 20 "You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery,' 'Do not murder,' 'Do not steal,' 'Do not bear false witness,' 'Honor your father and your mother.'"
Jesus was saying that in his purely human form he was not righteous. Men naturally do not have Godly wisdom and judgment. Jesus had it only because of the spirit within him. If Jesus needed spiritual guidance we surely need it !
Romans 3:10 NKJV 10 As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one;
Christ is saying that as a human being he is not going to judge because human wisdom is flawed. He will judge using the wisdom of God the Father. When Jesus judges it will be based on spiritual wisdom.
Jesus said in the same conversation with the religious leaders ,that his judgment was totally based on the will of the Father not on his human will.
John 5:30-32 NKJV 30 "I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me. 31 "If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true. 32 "There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true.
Needless to say, they did not want to hear that Jesus's judgment was based on God, while the implication is that theirs was based on their limited human understanding of God and the Devil.
2 Corinthians 4:4-7 NKJV 4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. 6 For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.
God gets the credit for our deeper wisdom and insight because when he called us he gave us his spirit. Men without God cannot understand the deeper issues correctly.
