Don’t Dishonor

The godly will rejoice in the Lord
….and find shelter in him.
And those who do what is right
….will praise him. Psalm 64:10 _NLT

John 8:48-59 (<<click here to read the passage)

From experience, I can tell you that name-calling starts at a very early age. Now for the most part the names young children are called are pretty tame. But it doesn’t take too many years for name-calling to grow from tame to profane.

A big one that the younger kids on my bus complain about, is when someone calls them a baby. Usually, my response is, “Well, are you a baby?” and after they tell me they are not, I say, “If it’s not true then just ignore them.” …easier said than done, though I hope some of them take my words to heart.

In today’s text, the Jews’ reply to Jesus’ proclamation regarding Himself was by no means tame but staked solidly in profane territory. In their stubborn arrogance, they literally called the Son of God a Samaritan devil. In their minds, the Samaritan part was very slanderous in that you couldn’t get much lower than Samaritans. They were considered half-breed Jews, having intermarried with people of other nationalities sent to live amongst them centuries before by conquering kingdoms.

That they would associate Him with the devil or being filled with a demon, is in itself blasphemous! The Holy Son of God a devil? Ludicrous! I would think that if any time a lightning bolt from heaven should have come blazing on the scene it was then! But Jesus calmly, but sternly, replied,

“I do not have a demon. On the contrary, I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.” v49 _AMP

And if you think about it, they broke one of the commandments given to Moses that was one of the founding pillars of their Law. The fourth commandment states,

“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain [that is, irreverently, in false affirmations or in ways that impugn the character of God]; for the Lord will not hold guiltless nor leave unpunished the one who takes His name in vain [disregarding its reverence and its power].” Exodus 20:7 _AMP

Moses also said in Deuteronomy 6:4-5,

“Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one [the only God]! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and mind and with all your soul and with all your strength [your entire being]. _AMP

Do you see even a trace of love in anything they said?

But once again, we can’t point a finger at them without four pointing back at ourselves. How do we dishonor Jesus? We may not call him names, but we seem to be pretty good at not doing what He says. When we think of the Law’s commands in the light that Jesus sets them in, we’re all pretty guilty.

In Jesus’ eyes, murder isn’t just taking someone’s life, it’s just as heinous to be angry with them, to call them an idiot, or curse them (Matthew 5:21-22)! Adultery isn’t just a physical act; it’s looking at someone in a lustful way (Matthew 5:27-28).

I won’t ask for a show of hands of the guilty, because in this line of thought mine would often have to go up, too.

Lord Jesus, forgive us for dishonoring You in so many ways. Help us to acknowledge our blatant disobedience. Strengthen us to follow you by loving You, the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. And while we’re at it enable us to love our neighbors as ourselves. Amen.

July 7^th, 2021, Wed, 8:02 pm