GREAT IMPROVEMENTS
And this is the will of the One who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son and trusts him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up when the last day comes. John 6:40, Phillips.
My young daughter was trying to hold a conversation with her almost-as-young cousin in the back seat of the car. Cousin Debbie inquired, "How old are you?" "I'm fine," Julie replied; "How are you?" "I'm 9 too," Debbie responded. As we adults listened from the front seat we realized that each had such a clear mind-set about the purpose of the conversation that they never would know that they hadn't communicated with each other.
This is exactly what was happening with the Pharisees in their conversations with Jesus as reported in John 6. Their rigid mind-set was keeping them from comprehending that they were asking the wrong question, thus failing to grasp Jesus' utterly unique answer. They asked, "What must we do, to be doing the works of God?" (verse 28, R.S.V.). They were expecting a specific behavior assignment, some new action to perform. "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent" (verse 29, R.S.V.), Jesus replied, getting right to the heart of the matter. Without a new relationship with the Master, what good is a new behavior to perform?
But their thinking had been shaped by a performance-oriented religion for so long that they couldn't even comprehend a relationship-oriented religion. They immediately replied with a new question about Jesus' own performance that they might decide whether to respect His answers. The larger issue at stake, however, was their understanding of the Father and the kind of religious experience He wants for His children.
The Pharisees were certain that God desires the kind of good behavior that will please Him, that will make Him impressed with them. Looking at it from a strictly human point of view, they thought that God loves only the lovely, so they set out to be lovely. But Jesus knew that His Father was not impressed with self-contrived goodness--nor put off by its absence. Jesus keenly wanted His hearers to grasp the concept that any genuine improvement in the human condition happens only when we are in happy, personal union with our Maker. Indeed, "everyone who looks upon the Son and puts his faith in him shall possess eternal eternal life" (verse 40, N.E.B.). That's how great the improvements are!
And this is the will of the One who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son and trusts him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up when the last day comes. John 6:40, Phillips.
My young daughter was trying to hold a conversation with her almost-as-young cousin in the back seat of the car. Cousin Debbie inquired, "How old are you?" "I'm fine," Julie replied; "How are you?" "I'm 9 too," Debbie responded. As we adults listened from the front seat we realized that each had such a clear mind-set about the purpose of the conversation that they never would know that they hadn't communicated with each other.
This is exactly what was happening with the Pharisees in their conversations with Jesus as reported in John 6. Their rigid mind-set was keeping them from comprehending that they were asking the wrong question, thus failing to grasp Jesus' utterly unique answer. They asked, "What must we do, to be doing the works of God?" (verse 28, R.S.V.). They were expecting a specific behavior assignment, some new action to perform. "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent" (verse 29, R.S.V.), Jesus replied, getting right to the heart of the matter. Without a new relationship with the Master, what good is a new behavior to perform?
But their thinking had been shaped by a performance-oriented religion for so long that they couldn't even comprehend a relationship-oriented religion. They immediately replied with a new question about Jesus' own performance that they might decide whether to respect His answers. The larger issue at stake, however, was their understanding of the Father and the kind of religious experience He wants for His children.
The Pharisees were certain that God desires the kind of good behavior that will please Him, that will make Him impressed with them. Looking at it from a strictly human point of view, they thought that God loves only the lovely, so they set out to be lovely. But Jesus knew that His Father was not impressed with self-contrived goodness--nor put off by its absence. Jesus keenly wanted His hearers to grasp the concept that any genuine improvement in the human condition happens only when we are in happy, personal union with our Maker. Indeed, "everyone who looks upon the Son and puts his faith in him shall possess eternal eternal life" (verse 40, N.E.B.). That's how great the improvements are!
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