John 5:37-40 Self-deception and the starting point for change_

And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life. John‬ ‭5:37-40‬ ‭NIV‬‬

It’s possible to believe something about myself that is point blank wrong. What is amazing about this encounter between Jesus and the Pharisees is that it reveals how close they are to Jesus and to life, but how far they are from God and the truth. They are the leaders of God’s nation. They study and know His history and words and interactions. Yet, they missed Him. Of all people (on the outward) they should have recognized the son of God and welcomed him. Where is the disconnect?

We all have a disconnect. Sin does that. We have been unplugged and separated from the source of life and as a result deal with all sorts of dysfunction that God never intended. But because we are so accepting in our nature, we embrace the discord, explain it away and allow the pragmatism and instinct of needing to survive and live our life to eclipse the basic need for God’s life. Life found only in the Son.

Every person has a starting point in their journey of faith. One thing in common with each of us is that we recognize our need for help. For a savior. The condition in which I come to Him is what it is — it’s my starting point with all my warts, sickness, bad attitudes, foul mouth, entitlement, and pleasure-seeking. My journey with Jesus is one of seeing him, and recognizing how holy and pure he is. He behaves in a way that is difficult to for me to comprehend and his life flows from nothing less than pure motives, true values, and love and loyalty to God his Father. Yet even with Jesus, perfection did not come at birth, it came from living life. It was a process of becoming by daily keeping an eye on the goal, making choices — sometimes very difficult ones. And in that process, just like silver or gold is refined in the fire, the children of God become pure.

Where does real change come from in my life? I’d like to think that the change results from me making a good choice. I must make choices, there is no question about that, but they are not at the core of my transformation. The grace of God is the core. It’s my recognition that at my very center I am incapable of being what He’s called me to be. Seeing, hearing, understanding His words to even know what to choose is His grace to lift the veil which obscures my view. At the most basic level, Jesus is the author and finisher of my faith. My job is to keep my eyes on Him. To say “yes” as He leads me down uncertain paths. To listen to His voice.

Moses spoke of Jesus, yet the Pharisees could not hear. Jesus spoke to the crowd in parables, so they could listen but they did not hear. There is a veil on our understanding that is only removed in Christ. After Jesus had died and resurrected, he was walking on the road to Emmaus with some disciples who did not even recognize him. They had heard of the resurrection, but did not believe…until a moment in their conversation that their hearts were willing. As soon as they believed, their eyes were open. The same is true of things in my own life that inhibit me from being the son of God that I know he’s called me to be. Willingness to believe.

The fight with my flesh is real. I have only one life to live the transformation that He offers.

Jesus gives us the key here: “the Father who has sent me has testified of me.” It is not self will, self determination, or good choices. It is hearing the Father’s voice and receiving His testimony. At the other end of that voice is help. Grace. Something given to a dead man who has no part in the resuscitation process. Being a recipient of grace should be both absolutely humbling and marvelously enabling and triumphant. Take your will, all your determination, your good intentions, your promises to do better and flush them down the toilet. They will not change you. Only He can. In His time.

Maybe this song says it best…