Thursday, June 20, 2019

John 2:23-25

John 2:23-25 
English Standard Version (ESV) 

  One of my favorite quotes is the Solzhenitsyn quote about how the line between good and evil runs through every human heart.  Jesus saw the crowds, the people who were amazed by his miracles, the ones believing in his name, and he saw them for who they are.  He saw their passion for him, but he also understood the evil they were capable of.  Jesus was able to foresee that many in these crowds would likely be calling for him to be crucified years later.  The crowds that hailed his name now would turn on him when he challenged them.  They loved him now, but he knew they would not always.
  You and I are no different.  We are capable of great acts of passion, devotion and selfless service, just as we can be selfish and divisive.  We can be awful to one another.  Jesus sees this in us because he knows us completely, and he still chooses to die on the cross for us.
  This is the miracle of Easter -- Jesus sees the sin within us and still lays down his life for us.  Jesus knew what he was getting in to -- he knew how the crowds would react, and he still spent years serving them, healing them, astounding them, teaching them, and he still ascended the cross and accepted their sin, my sin, your sin, so that we might be healed.  Jesus knows us, the good and the bad, and opts to die for us, because we are loved unconditionally.  We aren't loved when we're good, and we don't need to wait until we get it figured out to approach God -- we are fully known and fully loved, scars and wounds and everything!

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