COMMENTARY 8:  A SINNER, A SELF-RIGHTEOUS MOB AND THE FINGER OF GOD THAT WROTE ON THE GROUND

John 8:1-11

2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" 11 "No one, sir," she said.

"Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin." (NIV)

At dawn, Jesus was there in the temple courts to teach. At dawn, people gathered around him. At dawn, the teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. As soon as the first appearance of daylight, there they were all gathered in the temple courts. It was amazing that all woke up so early and all came at dawn as a consequence of Jesus' appearing at the temple courts.

In the story, while others came to listen to his teaching, the religious authorities wanted to entrap Him. They brought in a woman that they wanted to stone for adultery. They wanted Jesus to agree with them and to agree with the condemnation of the law for adultery. Death by stoning was their outcry.

So Jesus gave them, first, a word that was spoken and second, a word that was written. Both spoke of the same thing - man's condition at the core of his being is wretched, pitiful and sinful. Every man is all alike. Every one sinned and no one is any better than the others in the face of God’s judgment and standard. We are all adjudged as sinners in need of a savior; none perfect, none righteous before God. The spoken word was powerful, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." No one dared to throw the first stone, or any stone. No one could muster to say anything against what was spoken. The written word that followed was equally powerful. The finger of God who touched the ground of Egypt and countless gnats appeared to which the magicians of Pharaoh acknowledged that it was the indeed the finger of God that did this, is the same who inscribed the Ten Commandments on stone tablets to give to Moses and the same that wrote on the wall of King Belshazzar's palace in the Old Testament; is the same finger of God that wrote on the ground in the New Testament.

Jesus is the arm of God and I could imagine the power of the finger of God writing on the tablets and on the wall and now on the ground by which He convicted all His hearers and detractors. The religious authorities knew the word very well, tekel which means : You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting. Again, the religious authorities saw the power of the hand that wrote it. But they also saw the finger of authority that wrote on the ground. For none of them who are scholars and masters of the law could muster a counter-statement to what was written or to what was spoken. They were flat out silenced by both the mighty power and authority of Jesus. They were all silenced by the truth of their condition as the Light exposed their own darkness. All have been weighed on the scales and each one was found lacking.

Tekel: Everyone of us has been weighed on the scales and found lacking. Amen.

(Author's note: The written word on the ground of course is not mentioned in the Bible. In my query to God after a Bible study of the above account, God has revealed to me that the word is tekel. I do not force anyone to accept this but I do hope that you will not judge me also for stating the claim that God has revealed it to me. Such claim would be blasphemous if it is not true. If you want further details of the circumstance of this revelation, please email me at velovic@aol.com. Thank you).

COMMENTARY 7:  WHAT'S THE REAL MIRACLE IN CANA?

John 2:3-5

3 And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, "They have no wine."4 Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come."5 His mother said to the servants, "Whatever He says to you, do it." (NKJ)

Although obedient as a son to Mary, this was another occasion where He reminded this respectable woman, that He, the Son of God, came to do His Father's business. Mary's concern was but all too human and had nothing to do with the divine will of God. The kingdom should not be about eating and drinking. Supplying the wine here has not been intended as the miracle of God. The wine that Mary wanted served was the earthly wine, but the wine that Jesus had in mind to serve was the wine of the new covenant, His blood, which eventually would be served, but not just yet.

The story goes on to tell us that Jesus did make the wine at the party, anyway. But this is not to say that He relented to the request of Mary nor did He make the wine for the party.. Again, He would only do what His Father wanted Him to do. Remember when the devil (knowing that Jesus was hungry) tried to tell Him to turn a stone into bread. Mary, far from being a devil's advocate, implied that He could use His powers to supply what was lacking. In both cases, He only aligned Himself with the will of God.

Why then, did He make the wine, anyway? Here observe what had transpired. Besides the given result that the disciples put their faith in Him, notice what happened to the servants. The servants, who are examples of the lowly and the humble in society, the lowliest class in the wedding party, became witnesses to the miracle of the Son whom God had sent. With their amazing discovery as to who turned water into wine, they have a story to tell for the rest of their lives and tell others, "We have met and seen indeed the promised Messiah !"

COMMENTARY 6: PRAY FOR LABORERS

Matt 9:37-38

37 Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;

38 Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest. (KJV)

To advance the kingdom, Jesus needed laborers in the field. Laborers who agree that the task requires sacrifice - the denying of self so as to advance the kingdom and the loving of God more than the loving of any other person or any thing.  Also, Christ’s laborers do not expect a place to lay their heads just like their Master who has none. There is no nesting place, and no looking back when walking through the valley of the shadow of death. The laborers must always trust God under His almighty shadow as they walk with Him in the desert of the forlorn, the rejected, the sinful, the outcasts, the imprisoned, the hopeless, the sick and the enemy’s camp. The living water must be introduced to those living in the dry land that they too might live the abundant life.

In the verses above, we can see that there is a disparity between the number of God’s laborers and the scope of the harvest. Jesus tells us to pray that God will send forth laborers into his harvest. Because of the above disparity, it seems that we are commanded to pray for more of new laborers in the field, but on a wiser note, I believe that Jesus is calling us to pray for those already called to labor, to go out into the harvest field and really work - even double time; even walking the extra mile to proclaim the salvation of God. There is no time to wait and no time to waste. There is no room for idleness, either.

If indeed, one is a laborer, there is no time to excuse himself from this task, not even to bury his dead father, if it meant that the time to bury his father would have also been the time Jesus needed him to save a soul. To Jesus, the saving of the soul far outweighs any other activity under the sun. Other activities dim in the light of Jesus’ main reason in being sent down to earth. The Bible declares that God so loved the world that He sent His Son, not to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved.

The time of harvesting by Christ’s laborers is now.

COMMENTARY 5: JESUS ATE WITH SINNERS

Luke 5:29-39

29 Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. 30 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" ...

33 They said to him, "John's disciples often fast and pray, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours go on eating and drinking." 34 Jesus answered, "Can you make the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? 35 But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; in those days they will fast."

36 He told them this parable: "No one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. 37 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. 38 No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. 39 And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, 'The old is better.'"  (NIV)

Here, there is newness to the ways of Jesus and his disciples. They are breaking grounds, so to speak, in the land of traditionalists. The Pharisees and the scribes could not understand why Christ’s disciples would eat with publicans and sinners and unlike the Pharisees’ and John’s disciples, they do not fast.

Jesus teaches here that the kingdom is about God’s righteousness and not about self-righteousness; the advancement of the kingdom, not the advancement of the flesh or the world. As for eating with sinners, it is to win them over to God’s righteousness, feeding them with God’s plate of mercies and love. As for his disciples not fasting, it is because this particular time is not meant for mourning or fasting, but rather the time for the proclamation of the gospel - a time for inviting guests to the wedding - this is what matters at this particular time. The time for fasting, he said, is when the bridegroom is taken away from them.

COMMENTARY 4:  THE PROBLEM WITH PRIDE

John 3:2

2 He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him." (NIV)

Probably riding high with his statement, Nicodemus thought he got the real score. After all, while many others have questioned the source of Jesus’ mighty abilities, he stated the reason why Jesus have them. But Jesus knew the real score. He hinted to Nicodemus that what he said was still a faulty observation of  Himself. Jesus explained to Nicodemus that one must be born again to see the kingdom of God. In other words, one cannot really observe or see this kingdom or its King with his physical senses. A spiritual rebirth, with God’s Spirit help, must take place before any true assessments of the kingdom can take place.

Nicodemus was only talking from his own conclusions and from as far as his eyes could see and as far as his mind could conceive - mere natural assessments; mere man's mind observations. These observations did not come from God. True, he was right in observing about the miraculous tasks done by Jesus, that God was with Him for no human power could perform such things. But he came to Jesus, still coming as representative of a Pharisee. For a Pharisee believes that he knows best when it comes to God and the Scriptures. For a Pharisee would be the one to make official declarations about God and His righteousness. For in a Pharisee's mind, a Pharisee's word is the word, especially in religious matters. He expects his listeners to agree with him.

He came at night, not that he came one night, but that he came at night. Whatever his reason was in coming to Him at night, need not be argued. But such time only alludes to the night within Him and the night around him that obscured his sight of the Son and even his mission in coming to Him. He called Jesus as Rabii (teacher) only, enough to tell us that there was not within his heart an illumination received that Jesus was the King of Israel or the Son of God that was sent. Not that the Father did not draw him to His Son for he came (didn’t he?), but his eyes and ears were still the Pharisee's eyes and ears.

Anyone poor coming to Jesus is made rich. For Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of God." Anyone coming to Him must come as a little child, so that Nicodemus needed to become a child again to see God’s Kingdom and this Rabii, whom he came to see, as its King.

COMMENTARY 3:  JESUS IS GOOD

John 1:46

46 "Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" Nathanael asked. "Come and see," said Philip.  (NIV)

'Come and see' was the challenge of Philip to Nathanael because Nathanael could not think of anything good in Nazareth. Philip had already seen what was truly good in that place. And he was sharing it.

Nathanael went To Nazareth and there saw what was good. He too, just like Peter, recognizes the Son of God in front of Him. He exclaimed to Jesus, "Rabii, You are the Son of God, you are the king of Israel." This was a statement of faith brought about by Jesus' revelation of where Nathanael was before Philip called him. It was enough revelation for Nathanael to see the glory of the One and Only who came from the Father.

The man who ran up to Jesus and called him 'good teacher'(Mark 10:17) saw only a man in Jesus but Nathanael saw God. He too, just like Philip, saw what was really good in Nazareth.

Come and see what is good. Jesus is good and only God is good.

COMMENTARY 2: ONLY GOD IS GOOD

Mark 10:17-19

17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 18 "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good-except God alone. (NIV)

Jesus heard the man very well. In fact, he knew the heart of the man who described him as good. And Jesus needed to correct him. The description, good, as Jesus pointed out, rightfully belongs to God only. That is, no man is truly good. Only God is good.

The problem is not that Jesus wasn't deserving of what the man said. For just like His good Father, the Son is also good. The problem lies with the man expressing those words to someone whom he thought was a mere man. He was only seeing Jesus as of Adam and not of God. Jesus knew that the man's expression of 'good teacher' to Him was never ascribed to His deity. Hence, Jesus asked, "Why do you call me good?" As if giving the man a chance to think deeper who the Good Teacher in front of him really was.