As these attacked Jesus and the goodness that the Father had just done for that crippled man on the Sabbath Day, Jesus became stirred up in His Spirit and a great sermon of light, love, truth and warning was uttered back. All these words, not one of them was meant to condemn, nor to destroy, but to open blinded eyes, for in Christ the Love of God reigned. He wanted them to see the error of their thinking in this situation of Gods goodness that was done on the Sabbath Day to that crippled man. Unfortunately as we read more on down the line, the legalistic Jews who had religion but not relationship, continued to peck at Jesus on the healings HE STILL KEPT DOING ON SABBATH DAYS.
But there is light is this scripture that the Spirit unveils about religion verses relationship. These Jews had circumcision. These Jews had religion. These Jews that constantly withstood Jesus had the covenants and the Law and the temple. These Jews had and studied the Torah, the scriptures. These Jews had 600 plus Holy commandments given them from God thru Moses and they were willing to publicly stone you if you did not esteem the Law and the commandments as they did. These religious people believed in strict allegiance to purity, purifying ceremonies, to keeping the holy days and the Sabbath Day and the passover. They believed even in prayers and praying to God. But they were also, speaking of these who constantly opposed Jesus and the goodness of the Father, they were full of the devil and the devils desire. Yes the devil loves religion. But he hates sons and daughter relationships with the Father.
In John 8:44, after these opposing religious Jews still kept pecking against Jesus, and exalting Law over Gods kindness, and the stone above Gods mercy, Jesus seemed to have reached a tipping point and just let them have it. He said to all those Law thumpers who opposed Gods goodness, and who were mercy haters, he said " you are of your father the devil and the desires of the devil you do. He was a murderer from the beginning and remained not in the truth. He is a liar and the father of lies." Even to this present hour in the world, these of this same clan and spirit still lie about Jesus and oppose him in Israel and throughout the world where ever Jesus is believed and preached.
Yet before the above words were uttered by our Lord of the heart and soul of those who withstood Gods love, kindness and mercy; before this smack of grace to get them to examine themselves to see where their hearts were in God, he said in our original text to these of the same opposition, that (John 5:39-47) I know that you do not have the LOVE OF GOD in you.
Well what did they have IN THEM. They had religion. They were legalistic. They had the Law of commandments contained in ordinances. They loved and exalted the stone, and publicly shaming sinners, and stoning them. They were fault finders. They had an accusing spirit. They had an exalting the Law spirit. They hated Gods mercy and goodness. Love, mercy and loving kindness, and grace they could not understand. Even in our world today, the world is feeling the impact of this same type of religious EVIL spirit in the name of certain religions. I need not even mention that religions name. They have Laws and religion, BUT NOT GODS LOVE IN THEIR HEART but the lust of the devil they do....murder others thinking they are doing Gods work. They are full of religion, but so deceived at the same time.
Well friends, these people in our text had religion. They had the Law of the holy commandments and would oppress you and even stone you to death for failing to keep them. They had purifying ceremonies. They kept holy days, sabbath days, and they kept the Passover. They wore holy looking attire and dress. They had Moses and the prophets, but their hearts had so drifted from the God of Abraham and of Moses that when He that Moses wrote about as spoken of in our text came on the scene, THEY KNEW HIM NOT. They became the very people the devil used to oppose the one who fulfilled Isaiah 7:14 & Isaiah 61:1-3 that spoke that Emmanuel would come to them in a Son born of a virgin. He would be the Christ, the Anointed One. They were the very ones that mocked him, opposed him, argued with him, spat in his face and finally murdered him with a cross which fulfilled scriptures of the foreknowledge of God. They, all over Israel had Laws and religion, but the Son had the true relationship and they by Satan and religion in them despised him for that even to the blood of the Cross.
What was there condition? What made them do such things to their own ruin and destruction which left their house DESOLATE AND EMPTIED OF GOD AND GRACE (Matthew 23:37-39)???They had religion but no relationship with God. They had the Law and the holy commandments but did not have Gods love in them. Jesus told them, "John 5:42, "I know that you have not the love of God in you.
The difference between true faith and religion is the Love of God. God is love. He used the Law to in time ready the Jews and the world for His visitation thru Christ who would unveil to them and to the world the real love and heart of God the Father. They were to know by the Law what sin was and that they were all sinners (and not holy as they thought they were), and that sin has a price. They were to be ready for the yoke of the Law to be removed from them by the sacrifice of Christ and to rejoice at His Coming, and for removing from them the yoke of the enslaving Law that cursed the sinners and the transgressor. God saw and knew that they could not fully and honestly keep it flawlessly as none of us can, and flawlessly was the standard to be UNCURSED. So He sent his Son to establish a new covenant with them of love, faith, grace and mercy but they preferred the old instead of the New. The Law instead of Love, Grace and Mercy that came by Jesus Christ.
By the blood of Emmanuel (Jesus Christ) God was going to remove the Law and all their transgression so that they could come to new life in God made free from sin and by a rebirthing of their spirit (Being Born Again John 3:1-36) thru believing. Thru believing and receiving Christ by faith. (See 1 John 5:1-5).
It would be thru this rebirthing of their inner man in the hidden man of the heart and by the infilling of the Holy Spirit of God, that God and His true LOVE SELF and Love Spirit would get INSIDE OF THEM INTO THEIR HEARTS. If keeping the Law could have filled them with Gods Spirit of Truth and with the Love of God then when Jesus came on their scene He would have found them full of the Gods Spirit and the Love of God, but instead he found the very opposite in them. Yes even his own, in the children of Israel, he found them full of the accuser and full of his wicked antiChrist spirit. He was casting out demons and devils out of Jews all over Israel. He said to them, you are of your father the devil and you will do to me what he desires.
Friends we do not need religion. Such has been tried and proven to curse instead of bless and give great place to an evil deceiving devil in this world. We need and must have RELATIONSHIP with the Father and His Sons Love in our hearts. By the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ (His blood, death and resurrection, and the love of God in his great sacrifice as spoken of in John 3:16 that our dad taught us to believe), our ears hear of the love, goodness, and mercy of God. This hearing of Gods love when really heard with the heart causes hope and faith to rise and reach out unto God calling upon the Name of the Lord unto salvation. When that happens, then in them comes the personal fulfillment of the words Christ spoke, (John 5:24 - "He that hears the good news and believes I was sent from the Father, has everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life." They also pass from religion unto relationship, from Law unto Love, from bondage to freedom, from Satan unto God in the spirit.
Friends does your spirit, your heart exalt Love, mercy, compassion, faith in Christ and in Gods love and the lovingkindness of God; or does your heart love to find fault with others, talk evil of others, stone others with words, condemn others, wish ill on others? Do you have Gods love in your heart, or do you have religion and the heart of the stone like Israel did on the day of their visitation???? Read Romans 4:24-25 and Romans
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