John 12:44-50 Jesus Came to Save the World

A funny thought occurred to me while reading this passage.

Jesus didn't come to show us all what a wonderful guy He is. He came to be the light of the world.

I know this may be a weird concept but bear with me.


When you use a flashlight, you don't just sit there and stare at the light. The light become a tool to illuminate what is around the light.

Jesus seems to be going to great length to point this out in these verses.

I know, I know He is the truth and all of that. But take a minute and consider what He is saying.

He says, "If you have seen me, you have seen the one who sent me." He also says "If you b believe in me, you believe in the one who sent me."

This is not just a sense of modesty here. That is the way I have always thought it to be.

No, He is trying to teach us something very important on the one of the last times He speaks openly to us before the crucifixion.

It has to be more than that.

I believe it is contained in the next statements He makes. "For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who has sent me has given me a commandment - what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life."

So it would seem that God is the one with this awesome plan for eternal life for us.

That may not be significant for some but it is for me.

Having no real sense of a loving father in my life I always thought it went down like this. God was angry with me and wanted to send me to hell forever. Then Jesus came and put in a good word for me and the Father relented and agreed to let me go to heaven. Probably with the condition that I would stay hidden from the other guests.

No, it really was the Fathers plan for me to have eternal life. Jesus came to shed light on that fact and to show me the way home.

So the challenge for me would be to quit staring at the flashlight and look at what it is illuminating. God is doing a work all around us and that work is bringing life to us.  

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