When seeking to understand eternal truth our human minds can only grasp at the edges. This encounter with a cripple at the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem reminds me of how we can get it wrong and then impose our wrong beliefs on others. Confusion always abounds when creating theology that deals with the human condition. In this encounter I saw the religious leaders use their theology as a battering ram to seek to break Jesus.

This time we met a crippled man. His life was an eternity of failed hope. Disappointment had etched deep lines on his face, and the hopelessness of his situation touched his eyes. He had waited without success for nearly four decades to be healed.

Jesus started talking to this man, asking him questions about why he was there and why he hadn’t been healed. Jesus brought with him a presence of authority. The man had no idea who Jesus was. I am guessing he thought he was some kind person who may be able to help him get to the pool if the waters were stirred up.

Jesus then instructed the man to simply pick up his mat and walk! Amazingly the man did this.

This grabbed the religious leader’s attention immediately. Something had happened that was outside the rules. Firstly the pool wasn’t stirred up and secondly this was the Sabbath and if someone was healed and then carried their mat they had “worked”. They picked up on the work and forgot about the healing.

The religious leaders interrogated the crippled man. You could see the fear in their eyes as they sought to understand what was happening. They wanted to know every detail of the man’s encounter with Jesus.

The insecurity of these leaders was growing as more signs were being performed that were uncovering the lies that had been constructed. There was a hint of desperation about their questions as they saw their power base being threatened.

Insecurity makes it impossible for someone to be friends with anyone. When I looked at the religious leaders it was becoming very clear that they had to make Jesus their enemy. In their world there could only be a winner and a loser. They were going to fight to the death to be the winner.

Psalm 127

Work for work’s sake is futile activity,
Slavery to an endless list of tasks,
Only to achieve a bigger paycheck is futile,
They are illusions of success,
Rest is important too,
It teaches us that God provides.

Later on that day we met the healed man again. He was in the Temple, giving God praise for what had happened to him. Jesus was very clear in his instruction, “Stop sinning now, otherwise you will return to the despair that you had during all those years when you waited for healing.”

Those of us who were close to Jesus started to realise some things that we didn’t know when we started out. The obvious thing was the growing conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders. It was becoming very clear that they hated Jesus. Even though their questions were polite you could hear and see the contempt in their voices and eyes. Sometimes I was chilled to the core when the raw hatred was seen from close quarters.

Jesus was fearless in his presentation of the truth. Even when surrounded by contemptuous glares he did not back away from what needed to be said. The new reality was that the Voice, the Breath and the Flesh’s desire to love us humans was going to be declared to the whole world.

This meant that forgiving love would set us free from the burden of sin. I know this burden because every day is littered with my own broken standards. Then when the religious leaders standards are imposed over my own standards I come out feeling a complete failure.

The secret that Jesus was revealing when he healed the crippled man was that rest belongs to God. It’s not some legalistic predetermined day. When we enter fully into the community of the Voice, the Breath and the Flesh we discover rest.

Timing can be everything when it comes to truth. But, I don’t think that there ever would be a right time for the religious leaders to hear this next truth that was spoken by Jesus. His words were a direct confrontation to the lie. But, from what I know of Jesus he was never going to shy away from the truth.

He started with the words, “I am”. The same words used when the Voice had spoken to Moses in the Wilderness, “I am, who I am”.

Then he spoke about light and darkness and choosing between the two. In the midst of his response to the religious leaders he said this, “My truth lights up the world, darkness is its enemy. Follow me and the lie will be clearly seen and the truth will set your life free”.

The religious leaders went straight for the jugular when they heard Jesus say this. They had no time for Jesus because he was clearly directing his comments at them and the lies that they were leading the people into. Without saying it directly he had clearly identified that they were speaking lies.

The next challenge was about Jesus’ authority. But, Jesus again gave them the perfect response. He knew that true authority comes from who a person is and their character, both gifts from God. Authority is not from a self constructed version of truth that seeks only to hear its own perspective.

Jesus said to them in very clear terms, “My statements are true. I am the Flesh, speaking with the Voice and the Breath. This is more than enough to hear truth. Lies can seek to fabricate truth but the truth will always be evident in who a person is”.

This obviously confused the leaders. They asked a stupid question the answer that they of all people should have known the answer to. “Who is your Father?”

They clearly didn’t realise how much the lie had infiltrated every part of their thinking. They had stopped hearing the Voice for a long time. Even when the Voice had spoken in past ages they never obeyed. Now when in the presence of truth the way to truth was obscured. They were living in a prison of their own making.

Jesus was not afraid for himself when making these statements to the religious leaders. I could see that they wanted to punish him because his presence was challenging the very foundation of their beliefs about the Voice.

The Flesh’s perspective on their predicament was very different to their own understanding. Jesus very clearly was saying that they were missing the secret that the Voice wanted to reveal through the Flesh. This very serious because their refusal to believe the truth was jeopardizing their own lives.

The leader’s lack of understanding became more evident as they argued with Jesus. “Who are you?” was their perplexed question.

Jesus answer challenged several hundred years of accumulated understanding that had drifted further and further from the truth. The lie that they believe made them believe that they were the way. But, Jesus very quickly challenged this. “I am the Voice, speaking in the flesh,” was his response.

In hindsight I know that the lie’s pull would bring them to want to destroy the truth. Jesus knew this already. He knew that this journey could only end one way, that there would be a battle between the lie and the Flesh. This battle would take Jesus to a cross just outside Jerusalem.

John Chapter 8:1- 11

The lie usually expresses itself through condemnation. In this case the Religious Leaders, full of righteousness anger drag a woman before Jesus. They didn’t care about her at all, they were so steeped in the lie that they could only see their own perspective.

But, this encounter would clearly show their hypocrisy. They weren’t interested in truth. They were only interested in making their own point. They had stopped listening to the Voice a long time ago.

I imagine that this poor woman was in this situation because of how she was treated at home. Adultery isn’t usually a woman’s first choice for intimacy. They dragged her before Jesus and listed the rules that she had broken. They didn’t care one bit for her as a person. She had unchecked some areas on of their list and this was considered unforgivable.

The religious leaders spat it out their contempt of the truth and showed their true selves. It was a trap, not a search for truth.

Jesus unfazed asked the perfect question that completely disarmed their lie: “is there any person who is completely innocent?” Then he looked them in the eye and said; “if you are completely without sin you can have the first blow”.

Jesus didn’t even bother to look at these accusers. Their words were designed to be trapdoors to destroy. Not doors to open into truth. Words that had no love contained in them. Questions that were seeking to perpetuate the lie that they had immersed themselves in.

Jesus looked at the woman. It’s hard to describe his expression. It was the sort of look that a mother has when she is looking at a newborn child. There’s wonder and curiosity of the yet to be known parts. It’s the coming together of two hearts in unabashed love. It wasn’t an uncomfortable stare, but a gaze that enabled mutual sharing of compassion and care to be expressed and appreciated.

When Jesus turned away from the woman back to where the religious leaders were standing. They had all gone. I could see that it was the older ones who left first. They were the ones who could see what Jesus had really asked and knew they were in the wrong. The younger leaders battled with pride for much longer. Admitting wrong in the presence of someone that they despised was not easy. You could see that they were torn. They left but were preparing for their next battle with the Flesh.

The next part of the encounter showed the true nature of the Flesh. It is a refreshing antidote to the lie.

Jesus asked a question but the answer was obvious. All her accusers had left. There was no one there to condemn her. But, Jesus asked her to press home his point and to show her the secret. “Where are they? Did anyone stay to condemn you?”

“There’s no one”, was her response.

Now the Voice, the Breath and the Flesh speak with one voice, “I don’t condemn you either”

My Beloved’s Voice

Whispers softly
You are my beloved
Soft words giving
Loving hope
Offering joy
Caring compassion
Certain friend
Forgiving love

My Father’s voice
Sure and insistent
Reconstructing
Desires wholeness
Life’s fullness
Celebrating

I am your beloved
Your creation
Wonderfully made
Loved unconditionally
Graciously accepted
By an open heart
Longing to speak
Hope and trust
Well done my child

(Chris Gribble)

I really connected with the the father’s pain in this encounter between Jesus and the lie. The lie uses death as its main weapon. Jesus in this encounter with an important man  is about to reveal one of the most important secrets that can refute this lie.

Don’t you normally see the heart beating?” I asked the radiographer. She was obviously having problems although we were unsure just what was happening. My wife, April was having an ultrasound but there was something not right. I didn’t realize then the heartbreaking implications my question was to have for us.

“Mmm,” she replied distractedly. “I’m having some difficulties finding some of the landmarks. I need to get the senior radiographer to have a look,” she told us.

By this time it was becoming obvious to April and myself something was terribly wrong. The senior radiographer’s verdict verified the fear that was beginning to develop in us both. Our news was devastating. Something had gone very wrong. At 21 weeks we never dreamt that anything could happen to our child. Everything we had read said the danger period was during the first three months. After that the baby was supposed to be virtually indestructible, or so we thought.

“How are you today?” brightly asked the girl behind the checkout counter at the supermarket later that day. She had the usual pasted on smile they must teach at checkout school.

What were we to say? “Well, everything was pretty good, until we found out our baby died.”

I never expected what had been up to now a growing bulge in my April’s middle could cause me so much pain. We were told it was best if the baby was delivered as soon as possible. April was checked into the labour ward early in the morning two days later. Every four hours she had a chemical inserted in her uterus to induce labour. Like so many births it began happening in the dead of the night. April’s pain increased late in the evening as her contractions heightened in intensity. Through it all there was a feeling of numbness. I felt disconnected from these horrible events. For us there was the certainty that at the end there wasn’t going to be a bundle of joy. I think in some merciful way our minds had gone into shock where they could take no more bad news.

Shalom was born on the twenty seventh of March, four days after my birthday. He was so tiny his body fitted into the palm of my hand and his head rested on my fingers. He was so perfect except he never would have the chance to draw a breath in this world.

He was my son but I never really had the opportunity to be his dad. I never will have the chance to cheer him on at the football, or to take him to the movies, or to wrestle with him on the lounge room floor. I will never have to confront that awful moment dreaded by fathers when it is time to tell him about the facts of life. Despite never doing anything with him I miss him a great deal.
This is not the sort of pain that I want to have in my life. The deep grief that seems to have touched the core of my being, my constantly aching heart, and the deep wounds that have lacerated my soul.

I would much prefer my wounds to be physical. I want my pain to be tangible. I know how to deal with things when they show on the outside. I know I can cope with this type of pain. Physical scars for blokes are our badges of pride. We hold them up as notches of our manhood. They are something to show off, to prove to others that the toughness of life will not beat us. Yet the real pain we feel is so often hidden under protective layers of putting on a brave face. We force ourselves to keep up appearances and get on with life without taking the time to understand why it can hurt us so much.

I know in my head that God wants to work all things together for good for those who love him. Yet I wish so much that God’s working was different to this. It seems like God wanted to play a cruel joke on April and I after we waited so long for a child and now He snatched him back. How do you farewell someone you’ve never met? There were no photos, no memories of fun times together. There were no cute expressions for me to remember. All I have is a card with a tiny footprint and handprint on it. We only held him for a short while then it was time to for him to be taken from us. Saying goodbye to Shalom is the hardest thing I’ve had to do in life.

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An important man approached Jesus and begged him to help with his son. He was distraught and in deep fear that his son was about to die. It was humbling to see this man plead with Jesus. The love of this father for his son was very obvious.

Calm is my description of Jesus’ response. He simply said, “Your son is ok. He isn’t going to die”.

This seemed to give the man confidence. I am not sure if I would have been able to trust like he did with my son’s life. Once Jesus said these words he headed off in the direction of his home.

I heard that when he arrived home that his son greeted him at the front door. When they talked about the boy’s recovery they realised that it happened at exactly the same time that Jesus had said, “your son is healed”.

I share in the same promise that important man received from Jesus. I believe that my son is also alive. The lie seeks to take away hope of life. The lie wants us to believe that this is the end and that there is nothing to hope for.

Jesus’s second secret revealed that death wasn’t the final word on life.

Laughter and fun is always an important part of the relationship between the Voice, the Breath and the Flesh. They regularly share the pleasure of life together. This is one of the first things that the lie attacks. The lie sometimes will give a pretence of enjoyment but it’s always short lived.

One of the first things that Jesus did with his friends was to go to a wedding together. Weddings are times of fun so this event was chosen by Jesus to demonstrate how the Voice, the Breath and the Flesh related to each other.

Weddings celebrate community specifically the potential of a new community that is a emerges from a marriage. Family is the always feeling the brunt of the lie. Divorce is one of the main examples of how much the lie can influence human behaviour.

When Jesus arrived at the wedding there was clearly something wrong. People were gathered in small groups and talking in quiet voices. It wasn’t the boisterous laughter that you normally expected in this setting.

Jesus mother knew her son was special. I don’t think she expected what was about to happen when she told her son that they had run out of wine. But, she told the waiters to do whatever her son told them to do.

I could see Jesus’ reluctance to solve this problem. It was early days in his ministry and he knew the lie would seek to take anything he did and twist it to add confusion to his task.

But, Jesus responded with compassion to the plight of the parents and his mother’s request. He looked around for something that would be big enough to hold the amount of wine needed to get through the wedding celebrations.

He saw to one side a number of water jars normally reserved for religious ceremonies and he told the servants to fill them with water. They didn’t question him and did as they were told. Then they took a cup of the water to the master of ceremonies.

I could see the surprise on his face when he tasted it. He couldn’t believe that they had kept the best wine for this part of the wedding. Somehow the water had changed into wine. It was that point in the proceedings when everyone had drunk enough to be not too fussy but Jesus created the best quality of wine.

There were only a few people who knew what had happened. Everyone knew that there was a problem with the wine but only a select few knew that Jesus had solved the problem.

It was often said that this was the first indication of who Jesus really was. It was just a taste of what was to come. As the next few years of our story unfolded together we were to see this confirmed more and more clearly.

This secret was only shown to a few people this time. Later it would be retold so that others might be able to understand the way that Jesus went about defeating the lie. For now it was enough for those people to continue enjoying the wedding and their time with Jesus.

Introduction to the Voice, Breath and Flesh

This story originates with a small community who each desired to express their creativity. This community is made up of, a Voice, Breath and Flesh. I am one example of that creative expression. There are many others that are too numerous to mention in this brief introduction. My life is a testimony to the desire of that first group to share their creativity with their creation.

The Voice, the Breath and the Flesh realised that by myself I can only dimly make out a sense of who they are. This image is distorted by a lie. This lie is spread throughout the world and influences everything in the world. The good news is that the lie always has to give way to the Voice, Breath and Flesh.

Creation once was a complete unity then it was divided. How this came about is complex but the Voice continued to talk to his creation. He never stopped speaking the truth even though the lie was believed by most people.

Before I was born the Voice, Breath and Flesh began a plan to make truth absolutely clear. This plan required the Flesh to live with his creation so that everyone could see the lie clearly. His presence focussed the differences between the truth and the lie. It became obvious that people believed either one or the other.

The preparations for the Flesh living with us were carefully planned out. A man called John was specially prepared from birth to ensure that everyone knew who the Flesh in person really was. He knew the entire history of the Voice speaking and how deceiving the lie could be.

John was not afraid to speak the truth. He was very clear about who the Flesh was and the Flesh’s relationship with the Voice and with the Breath. It clearly was a huge commitment by the Voice, Breath and Flesh to separate for this time so that their creation could get a first hand account of the truth.

The Lie and John Argue for the First Time

Some people didn’t like John’s account of what was happening between the Voice, Breath and Flesh. They didn’t like it because they knew it would disrupt the lie that they had become very comfortable with.

Their tactic was typical. They questioned John’s character. They asked if he was claiming to be the Flesh. I am sure that they thought if he made this claim it would be easy to debunk his message.

When that didn’t work they questioned what he was doing. John was baptising people and the lie didn’t like that either. In all this John was very clear about his purpose. Simply put he was there to make sure people were ready for the Flesh.

John and the Flesh Meet

While John was baptising people the Flesh approached him. It was Jesus, his cousin. But, John had no hesitation in declaring that Jesus was a part of Creation’s original community in person. John clearly stated that his purpose was to announce the arrival of the Flesh. It was a simple job that he performed faithfully.

Then amazingly John had a view of the rest of Creation’s community, a window into the heavens. The voice spoke to John and said that Jesus is the Flesh, a part of us, Voice and Breath.

The Flesh Creates His Community

Jesus began to gather people with him to form a new community. They were to get to know him intimately, The Flesh, but they knew his name, Jesus. From the outset they saw that Jesus clearly was an example of truth. He was not influenced in anyway by the lie.

The group started with some fishermen, Simon who became known as Peter, Philip, Nathanael and Andrew. They were all good men who were to travel closely with Jesus for the next few years.

Their travels would take them all around Israel and they would get to see the truth lived in many situations. Jesus told them from the outset that they would get the full picture of Creation’s intent. Through Jesus they would see what the Voice and the Breath and the Flesh were truly saying. They lived in a culture that was steeped in the lie but as they spent time with Jesus this would change.