John 8:31 Not all believers are created equal

Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:31-32 NKJV

Are all believers equal?

One thing my heart and my mind stumble over in this passage is that there is a conflict that ensues and the slings of supercharged words between these believers and Jesus. Verse 30 says, “many believed in him.” John made it clear in the following verse that Jesus was speaking with “those Jews who believed.”

When I read that they believed, I personally am tempted to project on them the same type of faith that I have — the intensity, devotion, and love. But then I consider how, even today, not all faith is the same. I must allow those who believe to have different depths and experiences in God than I do. Jesus explained this best in the parable of the sower. We each have seed planted in our hearts. But the yield of that seed is the result of the preparation and openness of the plowed heart. The fruit of my life, or any believer’s (the seed planted and flourishing) is an offering to Him.

We get what we need

But consider for a moment these new baby believers, hungry and newly aligned with the man Christ Jesus—the very reflection and image of the living God. Just like a mother gives milk to her newborn, it was impossible for this moment to pass without Jesus giving them exactly what they needed. The blind man needed his sight. The harlot needed forgiveness. The headmaster at the feast in Cana needed wine. The sheep needed their Shepherd. And these newly believing Jews needed the knife of truth to separate them from the lies that would choke out their new faith. The Jewish nation needed the Refiner’s fire and Jesus, at another time, said he longed for that fire to be kindled (to distinguish the heavenly from the earthly). This moment was an opportunity for the little spark to start the blaze.

Even at the very beginning of the new covenant that Jesus initiated, there were differing types of faith. In Acts one may read of the sharp disputes between how “Jewish” a new believer must be (e.g., whether or not one should be circumcised, eat clean or unclean meats, fellowship with gentiles). Is it surprising today that we have so many fractured theological and denominational paths? This is not new. In perspective, every person is loved by God with different insights and experiences in Him. Why not allow each other these distinctions? The irony of this section of the Gospel is that these are religious Jews — trained in the law, leaders of the nation, with minds full of the ways of God and His law—yet they had the most precarious faith and were recipients of God’s sternest and most angry rebukes. Jesus’ dialog came with the possibility that his long hard slaps would wake them from their religious trance to the realities of the Kingdom that were liberating, for everyone.