John 8:19-20

John 8:19-20 Then they asked him, “Where is your father?” “You do not know me or my Father,” Jesus replied. “If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” He spoke these words while teaching in the temple area near the place where the offerings were put. Yet no one seized him, because his time had not yet come.

John's record of Christ's interactions with the people and the Jewish leaders during the Feast of Tabernacles shows Jesus revealing their lack of understanding. He spoke plainly: You have no idea where I come from or where I am going; You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one; and now, You do not know me or my Father; If you knew me, you would know my Father also. I have read the Bible through twice as an exercise, but my most profitable read was when Cliff and I read the New Testament together when our oldest daughter was two, noting the words of Jesus and the verses on love. We looked at the Word not as pastors, teachers, relatives, friends had taught it to us with private interpretations and doctrinal distinctions. As we read it anew and afresh, we knew God loved us and we were supposed to treat other, including our children, as we wanted to be treated. Secondly, we noticed that even when Jesus spoke in parables, his words held such clarity that even a child could understand them. Human beings with our artifices, pretenses, defensiveness, explanations, excuses, historical perspectives, analysis, and exegetical or homiletical studies make the Word hard; but Jesus spoke simple truths: You do not know me and you do not know my Father. As we see in John, if they did not get it the first time or the second time, which they probably didn't, He said it again.

During the 20 years I worked as an educational consultant, conducting yearly evaluations of student writing skills for school districts in Washington/Oregon, I did some research on the need to over-teach a skill. People must learn and re-learn. Then to retain a skill, we must practice and practice again. We need to hear a new concept approximately three times before it begins to take residence in our brains. It is like the modern jargon of walking our talk or a much older concept of practicing the presence of Jesus. Jesus understood this reality in the crowd; hence his redundancy in pointing out that they did not know who He was. We see this repetition in Paul's brief letter To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi where he used the word rejoice nine times, twice in two short verses: Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! (Philippians 4:4) Some of you knew and loved my good friend, Carol Hund. I met her when Cliff and I were youth leaders at Calvary Temple in Auburn (now Northwest Family Church), and I was her Sunday school teacher. I saw her hunger for Jesus as we studied grace in Galatians. She had a difficult home life and a dear widowed neighbor lady with several children and a hard life of her own led Carol to Jesus and brought her to church. Carol and I kept in touch through the years and became close friends at the time of the birth of her son until her passing from cancer a few years ago.

I miss this woman of faith so much and would love to just sit with her now. She believed the Word--all of it. She did not analyze, ponder, doubt, or say, "Did God really mean that?" No, she declared, "God said . . . ," and that settled everything for her. But when we first renewed our relationship and she attended Bible studies and classes Cliff and I taught, she meekly observed, "You know, Jacqueline, your teaching seems a little repetitive at times." Soon after, I received a loving note essentially saying, "Oh Jacqueline, please forgive me. I am reading the Word on my own now. Of course your teaching is repetitive. The Bible says the same things over and over. Jesus says, I am the light of the world, take up the cross, and follow me. Paul says, I am crucified with Christ, die to yourself, and rejoice in the Lord. The Holy Spirit has to tell me the same things over and over because we are leaky buckets [Hund translation for we have this treasure in earthen vessels], and we have to get refilled every day." She was so right. Listen to Jesus today. If you seek him today, He can be found, and you will know him. Listen to the Holy Spirit's voice, and you will grow in the Lord and die to your old self. You will greatly rejoice though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. (1 Peter 1:6) The Spirit says: Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short. (Revelation 12:12)

This Sunday night at 6:00 pm, we have a Worship and Praise Service at Evergreen Four Square Church in Auburn, where our son Doug from Live from Seattle with Doug Bursch on KGNW 820 is our pastor. This is a joint service with Life Spring Four Square Church in Edgewood where our youngest son Dan is associate pastor and worship leader with help from wife Mary. You would enjoy this evening of singing, prayer, and great contemporary Christian music. Our daughter Christine is our worship leader--hubby Joel assists her, and sons Joseph, Josh, and Jesiah join in on Sunday mornings on various instruments. (Grammy Bursch is even allowed to sing once a month to give the grey hairs a voice.) God is so good; He's so good to us.

Evergreen Foursquare Church

2407 M Street S.E.

Auburn, WA 98002