“I know that you are Abraham’s descendants; yet you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. I speak the things which I have seen with My Father; therefore you also do the things which you heard from your father” (John 8:37-38 NASB).
Jesus had a running battle with the so-called religious leaders of the day. They had a little kingdom built of self-righteousness, and they were on the top of the religious pile. They were not truly spiritual, simply religious.
God came in human flesh and exposed and shattered their self-made kingdom. It infuriated them and finally led to His crucifixion at their hands.
The Work of the Word
In John 8, Jesus spoke of what was at the core of their problem. His word had “no place” in them. One translation says, “My word has no entrance (makes no progress, does not find any place) in you” (Amplified Bible).
God’s Word is powerful. It is like a hammer that shatters rock. It gives life and light. Walk through Psalm 119, and you will see all that it accomplishes.
But in these men, the Word of God had been refused entrance. This is amazing, since they read and studied it daily.
But they studied it as a book, not as the Word of God given to be surrendered to and obeyed. Not as a pathway to listen to and encounter God.
The Source of Christ’s Words
Jesus was speaking words that came straight from heaven. Christ lived equally in both the spiritual world (in His Father’s presence through prayer) and the physical.
He was speaking to them divine words. Yet, because of their pride and unbelief, the very words of God were being refused by them.
It has always intrigued me that there are some people who have been in church for decades under the sound of God’s Word and yet have not even made the most basic steps in Christ.
The clear indication of this passage is that they are probably not believers at all. They have never submitted to God’s Word; therefore, they can sit self-righteously in church but make no spiritual progress.
The Important Question
The important question for you today is this: Have you opened your heart to Jesus Christ?
- Are you anxious to hear everything His Word says to you and gladly obey it?
- Is what He is saying entering your soul and making progress?
- Are you seeing things from God’s Word daily, and is it changing you?
The Word of God is not given to merely enlarge our minds but to change our lives.
If this is not occurring, something is terribly wrong.