May 14, 2023
Missing the Most Important Thing
“So they were saying to Him, ‘Where is Your Father?’ Jesus answered, ‘You know neither Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father also.’ These words He spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and no one seized Him, because His hour had not yet come. Then He said again to them, ‘I go away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come.’” John 8:19-21 (NASB)
In March, my wife and I traveled internationally. The flights were a nightmare from the very beginning. We sat through hours of delays from one flight to another, only to miss another. Over the course of the trip of 14 hours, it later ended up being 24 hours. This was due to missed, cancelled, or overbooked flights. Some flights were reboarded three different times. Some large planes were loaded outside the terminal. When we arrived at one connection, we had to run from one end of the terminal to other side. We were exhausted, but we made it. It felt good knowing we finally arrived. Even if they lost our bags both ways, we knew the best part was ahead!
If the statement, “Where is Your Father?” sounds like the Jews were beating a dead horse, they were... You have to imagine Jesus thinking, “Here we go again. How many times do I have to say the same thing?” Their questions showed lack of understanding of Jesus’ statements while saturated in disdain. Even when God’s Word made statements reinforcing Jesus’ deity, they still saw God as an unseen and unheard witness. This is because He was both, unseen and unheard. Jesus replied, “You know neither Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father also.” God was unknown. How frightening. All the time the Jews spent searching and studying the law and scriptures, and they still missed Him. They might have been acquainted with God, but never really knew Him. Their questions were posed to “where,” not “who” He is. Later in mild rebuke, Jesus said to Phillip: John 14:9, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father?” H. D. Spence says Jesus told them in so many words, “You are wrapping yourself in impenetrable mists; you are refusing the light of life, and all the evidence given to you that I am the Light of the world. You do not see less recondite truths, nor perceive ideas far more elementary still; you cannot, in your spiritual blindness, apprehend the outline of my human character. If you had done this, you would have known my Father at least enough to prevent the utterance of so crude and disheartening a query. You know me not: why should I talk to you?”[1] How many times would Jesus have to respond to such a callous and arrogant people?
Imagine hearing these words after His rebuke, “… and will die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come.” These are some of the most shocking words in the Bible. All the knowledge obtained in a lifetime and still missing the destination of heaven. Many do it today though. They think if they confess their sins to another man, they can receive forgiveness. Forgiveness isn’t theirs to give! The man didn’t die for the person’s sins, Jesus did. As I reflect to our trip, I was relieved we made our flights. Man it felt good to make to our destination. One day I get to fly Air-Jesus. His flight is always on time, and it is all because He set it up my trip to be with Him in heaven for eternity! Are your bags packed and will you join me?
[1] H. D. M. Spence-Jones, ed., St. John, vol. 1, The Pulpit Commentary (London; New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1909), 354.