China Made Me: John 12

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Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in [Jesus].  But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved praise from men more than praise from God.

John 12:42-43

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The religious spirit sucks the life out of true faith.

The religious spirit suppresses the voice of belief.

The religious spirit hinders people from following Jesus.

The religious spirit creates fear.

The religious spirit loves praise from man.

The religious spirit is going down

China Made Me: John 11

Incomplete Faith is No Faith at All

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Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” <incomplete faith>

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.  Do you believe this?”

John 11:24-26

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In chapter 11, Jesus intends on raising Lazarus from the dead.  But nobody has the faith to believe with him in this.  Let’s look at the other believer’s responses…

Martha: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”  John 11:21 <incomplete faith>

Martha: “I know [my brother] will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”  John 11:24 <incomplete faith>

Mary: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”  John 11:32 <incomplete faith>

Other believers: “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”  John 11:37 <incomplete faith>

Martha, Mary, and the Jews all believed that Jesus was the son of God.  However, their faith had not yet been completed.  They believed that Jesus could heal the sick and do miraculous signs, but they did not believe that he could do all things. Mark 9 is one of my favorite passages; it describes an instance when Jesus delivers a boy from demon possession and it reads,

Father: “But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”

Jesus: “If you can? Everything is possible for him who believes.”

True faith is this- to believe that God can do anything. Incomplete faith is to believe that God can do miraculous powers and heal the sick and even raise the dead.  <haha> Which is quite the controversy in itself.  But our God can do anything!  And the time may come one day where I will be tested by an impossible circumstance, to see if I have cultivated true faith.

And even still, when Martha, Mary, and the other believers were lacking faith, Jesus was the one to freely speak and give true faith to them.  By His words, Jesus pulled them into the place of believing, (and not by their own efforts).  It is true when it says, “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the word of God” (Romans 10:17).

China Made Me: John 10

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Miracle + Word = Biblical

Miracle – Word = Unbiblical

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A miracle alone has no power to save a person from the depths of their depravity.  A word must be spoken in addition to the miracle, in order to bring about an eternal change.  A miracle, at its best, has the power to attract, but the word of God has the power to create faith!  Even demons can heal, but demons cannot declare the word of God.  And even the anti-Christ will perform miraculous signs, but he cannot proclaim that Jesus is King.

The procedure: Either (1)  the miracle comes first, to “mindbomb” the audience for the preparation of the word…  or (2) the word comes first, and then the miracle comes to confirm the message.  Either way, I find that there is an emphasis on the word.

Practically, imagine this.  Let’s say that in Cerritos, there is a man driving a motorcycle and ends up crashing and dying on the street.  Luckily, there are some radical Christians at the scene of death, and believe in God for resurrection power.  So they go up to him and raise him from the dead, but they do not say anything, but just disappear instead.  What a waste!  If no word is spoken to this man, then how will he know to whom he should give the glory to?  Buddha?  Red Cross?  The Beatles?  But if the Christians had spoken the word, and proclaimed the power of Jesus Christ, then glory would have been given to whom it is due.

Devil’s Advocate?? But there might be some times where no word/message is spoken a the instance of the miracle.  Doesn’t that contradict my statement?  For example, when Jesus turned water into wine, or when Jesus feeds the 5000, no word is really given at the scene of miracle.

Response: What my eyes can see at the current moment is too narrow of a perspective.  Though no word may be spoken on the scene of miracle, there may be one spoken beforehand, or even afterwards.  When Jesus turned water into wine, he confirmed that he was Christ in his disciple’s hearts, whom he had called to follow him in the chapter beforehand.  And also, when Jesus fed the 5000, the word comes afterwards in John 6:26.

My point: We must be led by the Holy Spirit, and speak if he wants us to speak, or say nothing if he says nothing.  Either way, there is always a word that comes with the miracle, whether on the scene of miracle, or outside.  All in all, let glory be given to Jesus.  yay.

China Made Me: John 9

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THE MARK OF A PHARISEE

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#1 Pride

“…How dare you lecture us!” John 9:34

#2 Quick to judge (sin)

“You were steeped in sin at birth!” John 9:34

#3 Full of doubt

“The Jews still did not believe…” John 9:18

#4 Legalistic (boo no grace)

“This man is not from God (Jesus), for he does not keep the Sabbath.” John 9:16

#5 Creators of an atmosphere of fear (To control) Syn: Power-Trip

“…They were afraid of the Jews…” John 9:22

Condemnation is manipulated by the Pharisees, and guilt becomes their sword of oppression.  With the blade pressed against the believer’s confessions, they militantly force the “right” answer out of their preys.  Fear, manipulation, control, legalism, and pride- what a deadly combination. No wonder Jesus was so upfront and offensive towards their kind.

China Made Me: John 8

THE SIFTING PROCESS

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“To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said…” John 8:31

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SCRIPT: JESUS V. The JEWS

Jesus: “The truth will set you free”

The Jews: “We are Abraham’s descendants.. not slaves.”

Jesus: “Everyone who sins is a slave to sin.  You do what you heard from your father.”

The Jews: “Abraham is our father.”

Jesus: “Nope, you don’t do what he did (aka worship me).”

The Jews: “We are not illegitimate children.”

Jesus: “You guys are children of the devil.”

The Jews: “You are a Samaritan and demon-possessed.”

Jesus: “Nope, wrong again.  But by the way, if you keep my word, you’ll never die.”

The Jews: “You are demon-possessed!”

Jesus: “Nope, but even your father Abraham rejoiced in seeing my day.”

The Jews: “You’re not even 50.. and you claim to have seen Abraham?”

Jesus: “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was born, I am!”  —oooh chills..

This entire upper section portrays Jesus’ sifting process, where he tests the true intentions of the hearts of believers.

I chose to summarize this portion of John 8:31-59.  In the previous verses, Jesus encounters the Pharisees and has a debate amongst them, and afterwards there are a few who believe.  Yet, Jesus sifts them through the process above, and bluntly articulates the evil intentions of the believer’s hearts.  None of them.. not a single one.. had true faith.

Jesus is not in the business of making half-hearted believers.  If Jesus were in our midst today, he would not approve of the church’s procedure in member addition.  The church is often eager to add another member to their numbers and even celebrate over the idea, yet this mindset is contradictory to what Jesus did.  Jesus sifted believer’s hearts, and tested to see if any were found worthy to follow him.  If the church today were sifted, how many people would be true believers?… would we be found with true faith.. There is too much lukewarm faith in our church!!!!!!!!!!   Jesus never advocated this…. where has it come from? Why does it exist????  Jesus would have sifted dat like a bundle of grain.  SO MANY PEOPLE WOULD HAVE BEEN OFFENDED AND LEFT THE CHURCH IF JESUS WERE HERE TODAY.  Yet, he does this to find true faith… true believers… and this way the church would not STAND FOR HYPOCRICY, AND HALF-HEARTED LOVE.  A lukewarm church is a defiled church!  As long as lukewarm faith exists within the church, true purity has not been accessed..  The last time I checked, the standards have not changed.  Jesus still advocates the black and white system- the hot and cold- the narrow and wide- and the heaven and hell.
Jesus, give me your standards for real..

China Made Me: John 7

Q: “How did this man get such learning without having studied?” John 7:15

A: “My teaching is not my own.  It comes from him who sent me.”  John 7:16

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“But we know where this man is from; when the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from.” John 7:28

This is what the people of Jerusalem were saying in response to the idea that Jesus might be the Christ.  I find this teaches us a couple things:

(1) The importance of the word: if the people had known the word of God, which shows the birth of Jesus through human procedures, they might have known that Jesus really was the Christ.

(2) We must sift human traditions: instead of accepting the word, the people accepted a human teaching and tradition, that incorrectly stated that nobody would know where the Christ would come from

Jesus in response answers, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from.  I am not here on my own, but he who sent me is true.  You do not know him, but I know him because I am from him and he sent me.” John 7:28-29

Yay go Jesus.  woot woot

China Made Me: John 6

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“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.  We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” John 6:68-69

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One of my favorite verses…

This statement is a response to Jesus’ statement, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life…”   I think sometimes, in our Christian bubbles, we’ve been so toxified by Christian lingo and numbed in our senses.  I imagine this statement being said for the first time.. and how offensive and how hard it must’ve been to accept such a message.  And then I think about John Crowder, who stated that we needed to suck on the breasts of Jesus.  Offensive? check.. Hard?  check..   Jesus often chose harsh and offensive messages and words because he saw our hearts.  He knew who would betray him and follow him already from the get-go.  Maybe that’s why I love these words so much.. to whom shall we go?  You have the eternal words of life…  A last, desperate word of utter self-denial.  Though offended and scorned by his teachings, they saw life in him and him alone.  Jesus I love You!  See my heart.. I will follow you forever.

China Made Me: John 5

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“My Father is always at his work to this very day, and  I, too, am working.” John 5:17

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There is a dual paradigm in which I bring to discussion.  It is the Martha and the Mary- the work and the rest- the overflow and the intimacy.  I find that in my culture, there is a definite emphasis on Mary’s role- mostly found by IHOP’s coinage of the term, “One Thing.”  Of course, they don’t discredit Mary’s role, but there seems to be a definite imbalance between these two roles.  Fortunately, I find this to be a good imbalance.  Jesus isn’t looking for balance, but a radically one-sided lover of God.  Jesus is looking for those who will in their hearts cry out for that one thing, which is the intimacy and the presence of God.  But this poses a difficult question: How will any work be done if we’re all Mary’s and end up sitting at the feet of Jesus all day?  I think Jesus knew, that when we fill ourselves with the knowledge, the wisdom, the teachings, the presence, the love, and the Spirit of God, we would inevitably burst into a movement of outreach and evangelism.

This is what I imagine.  Perhaps Jesus sees his children as a whole bunch of dams.. and as we fill ourselves like Mary with the living water, the pressure of his presence would eventually burst down the dams and walls, and create a stream of living water from our very bellies.

Let’s look at the facts.. Jesus knew how to rest.  But he also knew how to work.  He even said that his food was to do the will of him who sent him and to finish his work (John 4:34).  Finding that I am currently in a season of God’s work, I find motivation in these verses.

China Made Me: John 4

THE SAMARITAN REVIVAL

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“They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”  John 4:42

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JESUS DEFIES CULTURE:

Through the course of the book of John, the first pocket of people to be touched are the Samaritan people.  Through history and the word of God, the Samaritan people were considered mongrels and half-breeds and non-Jewish.  In John 4:9, it states, “Jews do not associate with Samaritans.”  Here, Jesus defies culture by associating himself with a different culture, religion, and ethnicity.  He breaks the social norms because his heart overflows towards all of His children.  He simply can’t help it.

Moreover, Jesus defies culture by associating himself with a woman.  It says in John 4:27 that the disciples were “surprised to find Him talking with a woman.”  He doesn’t care about human standards and man-made honor systems.  He simply finds worth in each child, adoring each one with an overflowing heart.

Jesus defied culture because he simply couldn’t help but to extend his love towards them.  And in doing so, we see in the latter parts of John 4 that the Samaritan woman spreads the news and many believe that He is the Messiah.

The Samaritan woman symbolizes the outcasts, underdogs, and modern-day rejects of our world today.  Will we defy our pride and associate ourselves with such groups of people?  Will we be motivated and compelled by the overflowing love of God?  And will we allow God to use us to bring revival into the areas of society that Jesus so desires to touch?

China Made Me: John 3

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“I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?” John 3:12

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Jesus is full of wisdom.  The little that He shared with Nicodemus is the tip of the iceberg.  There are mountains of heavenly wisdom that are waiting to be revealed, but we must first BELIEVE the earthly things he talks about  And many times, the wisdom of God is clothed in humility and foolishness.  For example, Jesus tells Nicodemus that we must be born again, which seems like a rather foolish statement to me (If we haven’t been numbed by the Christian lingo and language).

It is also interesting to find that he doesn’t tell us to understand, but believe. He doesn’t say, go study my teachings until your mind comprehends the message, but he simply tells us to believe.  That’s a good thing..

So what are the earthly and heavenly things?

One thing we know.  The concept of baptism, discussed between Jesus and Nicodemus is considered an earthly thing.  Jesus states, “the flesh gives birth to flesh, but the spirit gives birth to spirit.”  I don’t find it a coincidence that Jesus decided to share the concept of being born of the spirit as a basis for this passsage of discussion.  I think being born again into the spirit is the DOOR to heavenly things.  The earthly things are of the natural realm, and the heavenly things are of the spiritual realm.  This spiritual realm we cannot see, but in the words of Jesus, “You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it goes.  So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

Conclusion:

I am born again into the spirit.  Therefore, I have entered through the door of the heavenly realms, and I am now able to comprehend heavenly things.  So I should be more mindful of heavenly things, and ask God for this heavenly wisdom.