Discipleship is Deeper than Genealogy
In this segment, Jesus is talking to Jews who had believed in Him. Amazingly, they do not sound like believers. Jesus is telling them if they abide in His Word, then they are His true disciples, and yet, their response is to tell Jesus that they are already offspring of Abraham, implying that the basis for their salvation and freedom is their physical genealogy.
As usual Jesus’ response to them is right to the heart and seemingly incongruent to their thinking. He says their hearts are enslaved to sin; the sin of thinking that their lineage can save them. While they believe intellectually, they have not trusted Christ as their only way to heaven. Jesus says unless they give up their established religious thinking, they will forever remain slaves to their ideology and be hopelessly lost.
Jesus tells them that unless they relinquish that desire for control and yield to Him, they will miss the mark and never be free. In addition, their ideology was blocking their understanding of the truth, and because of that, they would eventually kill their own Savior. Blind ambition, makes one blind…..
“Logic is never heard through emotion” is a lesson a very wise pastor taught me. I have passed that down to my husband who is surrounded by women, and has had to learn experientially what that means. Here, these so-called believers are so wrapped up in their emotion they fail to see the logic of Jesus’ statement to them. He is the truth; He is their Salvation. Their freedom is not locked up in their genealogy, but in their relationship to God.
A relationship motivates differently than laws. If I love someone, I don’t need printed instructions on how to love them. I just do it. The Law of Moses was the instructions from God on how to love Him. When Jesus came, and we could see God with flesh on, it should have become more obvious that what God wanted was to be voluntarily loved back.
Jesus is telling them to cling to the relationship but what they are clinging to is their birthright, not the same. Discipleship is deeper than genealogy, it is a love response to a God whose love for us goes deeper than we can imagine.
So what’s your discipleship based on?
See Ya Next Time
You are free to use this study on your website or blog as long as you include the following:
Rev Dr. Cheryl A Durham, Biblical Counselor, Discipleship Coach, Above and Beyond Discipleship Ministries, provides services for individuals and groups online and via teleconference. www.abovenbeyonddiscipleship.com
Questions:
Read John 8:31-59
1. What “truth” was Jesus talking about? (ver. 36; Rom. 6:18, 22; 8:2; 1Cor. 7:22; 2 Cor. 3:17; Gal. 5:1, 13; James 1:25; 2:12; 1Pet. 2:16
2. In their response, how did these disciples miss the point? (ver. 33-39; Matt. 3:9; luke 19:9; Rom. 9:7)
3. How did Jesus redirect their thinking? (Rom. 6:16-20; Titus 3:3; 2Peter 2:19; John 7:1; 8:40)
4. The disciples’ response, again, reverted to genealogy. Jesus response became more harsh and direct. Why did He have to do that?
5. They responded by listing a litany of sins, how is this justification?
6. In what ways do we do this in the church today?
7. How did their justification affect their ministry to others?
8. How does it affect ours?
9. How would their attitude change if their relationship and loyalty was to Jesus and not Abraham?
10. How does a relationship differ from religiosity?
11. In what ways does God speak to you about this issue?
12. What will you commit to change?
You are free to use this study on your website or blog as long as you include the following:
Rev Dr. Cheryl A Durham, Biblical Counselor, Discipleship Coach, Above and Beyond Discipleship Ministries, provides services for individuals and groups online and via teleconference. www.abovenbeyonddiscipleship.com
Beyond the Christian Label 