Showdown

This is what happens when both sides see the other side as the devil.

They answered him, "We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, 'You will be made free'?" Jesus answered them, "Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are descendants of Abraham; yet you look for an opportunity to kill me, because there is no place in you for my word. I declare what I have seen in the Father's presence; as for you, you should do what you have heard from the Father." They answered him, "Abraham is our father." Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would be doing what Abraham did, but now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. You are indeed doing what your father does." They said to him, "We are not illegitimate children; we have one father, God himself." Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now I am here. I did not come on my own, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot accept my word. You are from your father the devil, and you choose to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Which of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? Whoever is from God hears the words of God. The reason you do not hear them is that you are not from God." -  John 8:33-47

Jesus through John's eyes is confrontational.  He doesn't shy away from conflict.  In fact, he invites it.

We tend to think of Jesus as trying to avoid conflict and focus on the lost sheep of Israel, the sons and daughters who were led astray by these religious leaders who misled them.

Sure, he winds up being confronted by them from time to time, but he manages to make them look foolish and he disappears into the crowd.

That's the Jesus we know, the clever shepherd who outfoxes the foxes.

But this Jesus is different, and it points to something in our church today.

Some of us are followers and believers, while others feel the need to challenge the authority and become activists.

Jesus, the pacifist, talks about turning the other cheek and walking the extra mile as a form of activism, while this Jesus of John's Gospel goes on the offensive.

Will we wind up with a showdown of the two Jesuses?

I don't think so.  I think the activists will win out, merely because they are activists.  They protest and demand, looking to overthrow the oppressive authority figures.

While the rest of the followers of Jesus see that as being just like the ones they hate.

When the activists win and find themselves in charge, will they make the same mistakes as the ones they threw out?

We will have to wait and see.

More to come...