SECRET #45 OF FOLLOWING JESUS

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We are making our way through 75 secrets of following Jesus. I use the term "secret", because Jesus is said to be the mystery that was revealed to the world. So, the secret has the idea of a continual process of revealing who Jesus is.

Today we come to another significant "I AM" signature of Jesus. Let's examine it: Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, "I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life." So the Pharisees said to Him, "You are testifying about Yourself; Your testimony is not true." Jesus answered and said to them, "Even if I testify about Myself, My testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. You judge according to the flesh; I am not judging anyone. But even if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone in it, but I and the Father who sent Me. Even in your law it has been written that the testimony of two men is true. I am He who testifies about Myself, and the Father who sent Me testifies about Me." So they were saying to Him, "Where is Your Father?" Jesus answered, "You know neither Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father also." These words He spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and no one seized Him, because His hour had not yet come. (John 8:12-20)

This is SECRET #45: The follower of Jesus relates to the Master as the light of the world. Just as Jesus is the new manna sent down from heaven, the water from the rock, He is also the cloud, the light of God's holy presence among His people. "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life" (John 8:12). Just before this Jesus claimed He was the living water for all those who are thirsty. Now, Jesus claims, "I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD to eliminate the darkness."

Jesus' claim of being THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD is a reminder of the cloud and the pillar of fire that led the people through the wilderness for 40 years-huge and striking in size and symbolized God's presence with His people. This great cloud of glory gave off light by night and illuminated the way for His people. By day the cloud led the nation and gave direction. From the cloud God spoke. The presence of God overshadowed them and went with them in their wandering through the wilderness.

It's the same cloud of glory that filled the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle and later in the Temple in Jerusalem when the LORD came down and met with His people. The pillar dispelled the darkness of the night and any would be attackers. However, the glory departed from Israel. Much of the religious ceremonies that continued was only ritual.

In Matthew 5 Jesus said, "You are the light of the world!" Now He says, "I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.''

So, FIRST-He is the Light. SECOND-You have the Light of life. THIRD-You are now the Light of the world. Then note a few observations of Jesus being the light of the world in us. 1. We are all blind from birth-spiritually. 2. Jesus takes the initiative in healing our blindness. 3. Jesus does a work of creation (regeneration), not reformation. 4. People will notice, when you begin to see differently. 5. It is very easy to get hung up in peripheral theological issues and miss an opportunity for ministry (light). 6. Jesus sees people and the world in a profoundly different light than we do. 7. Some of God's greatest works are done in most desperate human situations (darkness).

SECRET #45: The follower of Jesus relates to the Master as the light of the world. Embrace Jesus in this way and you will never walk in darkness and will never see people in the same light again.

SECRET #44 OF FOLLOWING JESUS

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Of all of the personal signatures-the "I AM's", Jesus shared one that was possibly the most intimate of all of them recorded in John. Not only was it the most intimate, it also stirred up the most controversy. Many disciples walked away from Jesus over this teaching. Their rejection was so hurtful to Jesus that He turned to His early core disciples and asked, "Are you going to walk away from me, too?"

Here's a brief summary of His teachings: Jesus answered them and said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal." Therefore they said to Him, "What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?" Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent." So they said to Him, "What then do You do for a sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work do You perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, 'HE GAVE THEM BREAD OUT OF HEAVEN TO EAT.'" Jesus then said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the TRUE bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world." Then they said to Him, "Lord, always give us this bread." Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst." (John 6:26-35)

Jesus scolds them for hanging around and following after Him for the free lunch that might come their way, referring to the feeding of the 5000. That bread is nothing, because it will perish! What they ought to do is work for the kind of food that will not perish, but is eternal. That food will only come through God's Messiah-the Son of Man!

The people do an interesting thing. They ask Jesus for a sign. He has just miraculously fed 5000 and shown up miraculously across the Sea of Galilee without a boat, yet they are looking for something more. Their question is a good one: "What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?" Or, "What must we be doing as a habit that we may go on working the works of God?"

Jesus answers them by saying, "This is the work of God-believe in Him whom He has sent!" The work of God is to BELIEVE JESUS-to trust Jesus with your life-every day! The struggle is to SIMPLY TRUST JESUS. This is more than what we need to do, this is all about what God is seeking to do. God wants us to enter into the things that He is doing and that begins and ends with believing in Jesus and trusting Him with your life. We're not to start a new movement, but join God's movement-JESUS! We are in a fellowship-an assembly of believers seeking to walk with Jesus as we learn to walk together. Can you see that this life is not about going to church, but being the church of Jesus?

All of the religions of the world have a religious program of do's and don'ts to absolve your sins-a program of begging to be accepted and to be forgiven. All of the religions of the world have a religious program of works to do to be free to come to God, which becomes a program of bondage to a certain performance of works. By the way, Christianity is not exempt from these religious programs, but has offered some of the most creative of all. Jesus comes to reverse it all! You don't have to do anything to be accepted, forgiven or free; those would be works that perish anyway! The work that God wants you to do is to BELIEVE JESUS! Here we are back to JESUS PLUS NOTHING!

THE WORK OF GOD THAT WE ARE TO DO IS TO SIMPLY BELIEVE JESUS-believe in Him, trust Him and keep on trusting Him.

Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me." (John 6:35-38)

Those who heard Jesus' words began grumbling against Him. In response Jesus explained further and said: "I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh." Then the Jews began to argue with one another, saying, "How can this man give us His flesh to eat?" So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats this bread I give, he also will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever." (John 6:48-58)

Manna was sent down from heaven to the children of Israel for their daily use. They could not store it or it would rot, so they had to gather it daily and eat it. It was a daily sustenance for them to be nourished and to remain healthy. Jesus points out to His listeners that this supernatural distribution of the manna in the time of Moses was good, but all who ate of it are not still alive, but they are all dead.

Jesus is really saying with reference to the manna, "I'M THE NEW MANNA IN TOWN!" This is why He says I AM the bread of life-the living bread that offers eternal life to anyone who eats it. If you believe in Jesus and trust Him as your daily manna, you will never hunger, never thirst, have eternal life and will be raised up at the end. As with the old manna in the wilderness, your relationship with Jesus as the living manna must be gathered and cultivated every day. If you try to store it, you will lose its freshness. So, it's a daily trusting of Jesus-depending upon Him as if your life depended on it!

JESUS IS THE NEW MANNA IN TOWN! Take Him into your life and allow Him to be your strength. Embrace Jesus, the "bread", that keeps you nourished, alive and spiritually whole. Jesus wants the most intimate relationship with you possible. He wants you to ingest Him as you would bread and He, the bread of life, becomes an essential reality in your life. It's SECRET #44: The follower of Jesus relates to the Master as the bread of life.

SECRET #43 OF FOLLOWING JESUS

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Continuing with the relational "I AM" signatures, one of the most powerful of all has to do with the story of Jesus' close friend, Lazarus. Jesus was probably in Jerash, a couple of days from Jerusalem, when He heard the news that His friend Lazarus had died. Jesus didn't quickly go to Jerusalem, but seemed to wait awhile before starting out. This hesitation even concerned His disciples, but Jesus took His time. The theory is that Jesus waited on purpose to set up one of the most amazing miracles ever. The longer He waited the longer Lazarus' body had to decompose.

Think about it! If Jesus was there right at the death of Lazarus and raised Lazarus from the dead, people could easily have said that Lazarus wasn't really dead. But after four days, there was no doubt that Lazarus was dead-really dead!

When Jesus did show up, Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus, greeted Jesus with the same exasperation. They each believed that if Jesus had only been there, Lazarus wouldn't have died. The account is in the eleventh chapter of John: Martha then said to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You." Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha said to Him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11:21-26)

NOTE Jesus brought up the possibility of resurrection and Martha quickly thought Jesus was referring to the belief of an end-time resurrection. But Jesus wasn't talking about doctrines or a set of beliefs; He was referring to Himself: "I am the resurrection and the life." Jesus was doing what Jesus does best. He made it up close and personal. This brings us to SECRET #43: The follower of Jesus relates to his Master as the resurrection and the life.

Then Jesus moved into gear to prove Himself as the resurrection and the life by raising His friend, Lazarus, from the dead after he had been dead for 4 days. NOTE how Jesus did the impossible and asked the people to do the possible. Jesus asked the people to do three things: FIRST-Jesus said, "Where have you laid him?" Jesus knew where they laid him. He made the cave where he was laid out, but Jesus involved the people in the process and they showed Him where Lazarus was buried.

SECOND-Jesus said, "Remove the stone!" Jesus could have easily moved the stone. Anyone who can raise a person from the dead, after "Behold, how he stinketh!" can certainly move a gravestone out of the way. But again Jesus involved the people in doing what they could do.

THIRD-Jesus said, "Unbind him and let him go." Now, don't you think the grave clothes would have been an easy deal for Jesus to remove? Jesus asked the people there to remove the grave clothes.

Then, Jesus did what only Jesus could do. He walked into the tomb and said, "Lazarus, come forth!" Now here is where Jesus had to move into gear. Only God can tell a dead person to get up and he gets up! So, Jesus proved to be the resurrection and the life by bringing Lazarus back to life!

Jesus wants us to DO THE POSSIBLE BY FAITH THAT HE WILL DO THE IMPOSSIBLE! Jesus is the agent of making impossible things possible! After an encounter with what we know as the "rich young ruler", Jesus and His disciples had a brief discussion about impossibilities. The disciples asked Jesus, "Who then can be saved?" Jesus looked at them and said, "With human beings this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God."

You see this same theme throughout the ministry of Jesus. The man lame from birth in the early chapters of Acts, was healed in the name of Jesus. That's impossible! The feeding of 5000+ people with only one sack lunch. That's impossible! The transformation of an impassioned Pharisee, Saul, from one of the most feared opponents of Jesus to become one of His most well-known followers and teachers. Impossible!

Now, here we have the resurrection of Jesus' friend, Lazarus, after he was dead for 4 days. Very impossible, but Jesus did it! It's not just that He pulled off a powerful work of the resurrection; Jesus is the resurrection and the life! SECRET #43: The follower of Jesus relates to his Master as the resurrection and the life. To relate to Jesus in this way means two things. FIRST-No matter how impossible things seem to you, Jesus traffics in the impossible and makes them possible. SECOND-Jesus is the constant hope and power that you can start over no matter what!

SECRET #42 OF FOLLOWING JESUS

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There are seven "I AM" statements by Jesus recorded in the Gospel of John. Jesus is not into making sure everyone knows a certain body of knowledge or set of doctrines. He is completely all about having a relationship with each one who wants it. When He uses the "I AM" pronouncements, it is clear He is describing different dimensions or facets of the relationship with you He desires. One of the most familiar of these is found in a setting with the disciples just a couple of days before He heads to His death (John 14:1-6).

Jesus comforts His disciples regarding His imminent departure from them to go to the cross. He has mentioned this to them a few times and now it is time. He says: "Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself"

I am convinced now that Jesus is referring to His death and His coming again to receive them personally is going to happen through the resurrection-"that where I am, there you may be also." Jesus wants us to be with Him wherever He is. By the way, now that's heaven-being in His presence with Him.

Then Jesus says, "And you know the way where I am going." Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?" (John 14:1-6) Do you see how confused Thomas was with Jesus' words? He is as confused as most Christians are today. Thomas was thinking Jesus was referring to a place-a location that can be found with a good set of directions.

Jesus straightens out his thinking. Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me." He's saying, "Thomas, you're missing the point! I am not talking about a place that you can find by a set of directions or a map. That's not the way. "I am the way!" Jesus is not interested in getting you to go to some special or heavenly location or place. The important thing is not a place, but a person. Jesus, Himself, is that person. He is the way!

With every one of the "I AM" pronouncements or signatures by Jesus in the Gospel of John there is a corresponding miracle or sign that illustrates it. With this one the miracle is the one in chapter 4 of John. Check it out.

Therefore He came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine And there was a royal official whose son was sick at Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and was imploring Him to come down and heal his son; for he was at the point of death. So Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe." The royal official said to Him, "Sir, come down before my child dies." Jesus said to him, "Go; your son lives." The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started off. As he was now going down, his slaves met him, saying that his son was living. So he inquired of them the hour when he began to get better. Then they said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him." So the father knew that it was at that hour in which Jesus said to him, "Your son lives"; and he himself believed and his whole household. This is again a second sign that Jesus performed when He had come out of Judea into Galilee. (John 4:46-54)

Here's what I see here. The official came to Jesus thinking that Jesus was the only way his son would have a chance to live. Jesus was the only way! Then Jesus spoke healing to the official. Jesus was the truth! Then, the official received word from his servants that his son was healed at the moment Jesus spoke the truth to him. The official then knew Jesus was the life!

This is the foundation for SECRET #42: The follower of Jesus relates to his Master as the way, the truth and the life. There is no place to figure out, only a person to follow, because He is the way, the truth and the life!

SECRET #41 OF FOLLOWING JESUS

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From the earliest times with the disciples who were following Jesus most closely, there was a discussion about positions in the Kingdom. In the 18th chapter of Matthew there was an interesting scene that begins with a question from the disciples: At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"

The answer Jesus gives is set forth in four parts: FIRST-Jesus pulls in a child and declares that no one will enter the kingdom of heaven without becoming like a child. He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."

SECOND-Then Jesus gets to the question of the disciples more directly and says that the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven has the humility of a child. Jesus says, "Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

THIRD-Jesus announces the blessing to those who receive one child such as this. Jesus says that by doing this they are receiving Jesus personally. He says, "And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me."

FOURTH-Jesus warns of the curse upon those who cause one of these little ones to stumble. Jesus says, "But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea."

NOTE that there are basically two conditions to enter the Kingdom. "Unless you are converted" is the underlying theme here: 1. Converted means to have a change of mind-a change of mind toward Jesus. Conversion has the idea of total surrender-a total change of mind to be completely focused on Jesus. 2. Unless you become like children-humble, innocent, respectful and most of all, a teachable, tender heart, you cannot be converted in your heart and enter the Kingdom.

NOTE that this is a serious issue for Jesus. Your actions and reactions must be pulled into check. Your life is not just about you. There are many looking on and following you in your attitudes and actions. I like thinking that you may be the only book on Jesus and His teachings some people will ever read and the only way Jesus will ever be able to touch them, so pay attention to who you are and what you do.

Later Jesus clarified this even more when He said: "Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ. But the greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted." (Matthew 23:10-12)

This brings us to SECRET #41: The follower of Jesus is a servant of all. Over the last few years we have discovered a way to remind us to be a servant to all. It's a simple question. It is: "What can I do to help?" This question sets the mood toward servant hood with those you encounter, but most of all it sets up your mood and mode of action. It's easy! "What can I do to help?" SECRET #41: The follower of Jesus is a servant of all.