During the festival, the Judeans were searching for him... ·Among the crowds… ·no one spoke openly about him for fear of the Judeans. ·When...Jesus went into the temple courts to teach, ·the Judeans marveled, saying, ‘How did this man become educated, having never studied?’ ·Jesus answered, ‘This teaching is not mine, but that of the One who sent me. ·Anyone willing to do his will shall be able to tell whether my teaching is from God or if I am speaking from myself. ·The one who speaks from himself is seeking his own glory. But the one seeking the glory of the person sending him is true...’ ·Then some of the Jerusalem residents said, ‘Is it not this one they are seeking to kill? ·Yet look how boldly he is speaking... Might not the leaders actually know that this man truly is the Messiah? (John 7:11-18,25-26 GH[i])

Many in the crowd believed in him for they said, ‘Will the Messiah, whenever he comes, perform more signs than this man?’ ·So the chief priests and the Pharisees sent deputies…to arrest him… ·Yet others said, ‘But will the Messiah come from Galilee? ·Does not Scripture say that the Messiah will come from the line of David and from the town of Bethlehem?’ ·So there came a division among the people because of him. ·Some were determined to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him. ·The deputies went back to the chief priests and Pharisees. These said, ‘Why have YOU not brought him?' ·‘Never has a human being spoken like this one,’ the deputies replied. ·Then the Pharisees responded, ‘Have YOU also been deceived? ·Have any of the principal leaders believed in him; or any of the Pharisees? ·This crowd does not know the Law —a curse is on them!’ ·Nicodemus…, being one of them, spoke up, ‘Does our Law ever pass judgment on a person without first giving that one a hearing, to gain knowledge of what he is doing?’ ·But they answered, ‘Are you also from Galilee? Search it out…; the Prophet does not arise out of Galilee!' (Jn.7:31-32,41-52)

Jesus spoke…again, ‘I am the light of the world. The one following me will not be walking in the darkness but will be holding the light of life.’ ·Some Pharisees said to him, 'You ARE testifying concerning yourself! Your testimony is not valid!’ ·Jesus replied, ‘Though I may be testifying concerning myself, my testimony is valid in that I know where I came from and where I am going; but YOU do not know where I come from or where I am going. ·YOU judge according to the flesh; I am not judging anyone. ·Yet if I would judge, my judgment would be valid because I am not alone—rather I plus the Father who sent me. ·Even in that Law of YOURS it is yet written that the testimony of two people is valid. ·I am one testifying concerning myself; also  the Father, the One sending me, is testifying concerning me.’ ·So they said, ‘Where is your father?’ Jesus answered, ‘YOU know neither me nor my Father! If YOU did know me, YOU would also know my Father... ·…The One who sent me is true; and the things I hear alongside him…I speak to the world.’ ·They did not understand that he was speaking to them of the Father. ·So Jesus said, ‘…From myself, I do nothing, but speak in accord with the things the Father teaches me. ·For the One sending me is with me, not leaving me alone, so that I always do the things which are pleasing to him…’ ·Jesus then said to the Judeans who believed in him, ‘If YOU indwell this word of mine, YOU are truly my disciples…·…Everyone practicing sin is a slave... ·The slave does not live as part of the household forever; the son does. ·So if the Son should make YOU free, YOU really will be free. (Jn.8:12-19,26b-29,31,34-36)

All who follow Jesus, the ‘Light of the World’, not only ‘hold’ his light but also become like Jesus as they ‘walk in the light’ with the Father (Med.#52). Freed from slavery to sin, they may enjoy a permanent place in the Father's house as ‘sons (and daughters) of light’ (Med.#36). Yet many people have a difficult time recognizing the Father and coming to know Jesus because they judge themselves and others ‘according to the flesh’. The Pharisees, for example, dismissed Jesus because he didn't have a completed formal ‘education’ in the Scriptures like they had; and the chief priests dismissed him because he wasn't a Judean.

Both groups enjoyed religious power, along with other ‘principal leaders’ in Judea, and they are prepared to use it to condemn people without a hearing or to silence them through ridicule, force or the death penalty. Their controlling leadership has led ordinary people to become fearful, and dependent on their leaders for their spiritual decisions. It has led to division and to a climate where those with religious power, and those dependent on them, are finding it difficult to grasp and embrace Jesus' teaching about the Father.

Still today, his message is a threat to theologians and others with religious power; for he isn't just talking about his own special relationship with the Father, but about ‘everyone’ who believes in him becoming 'free' (adult) sons and daughters—regardless of their social class or religious position! Jesus is demonstrating and teaching that the only ‘qualification’ for having spiritual influence on others is a partnership relationship with the Father through him (Med.#11 & #51). Jesus knew that the Judeans who believed in him would have a difficult time ‘abiding in’ his teaching, because they were used to being intimidated by their leaders and to thinking of themselves as superior to others, like Galileans, Diaspora Jews, Samaritans and ‘Gentiles’.

Christians who base their witness and leadership on human standards, instead of on Jesus' model, produce in their disciples a ‘learned helplessness’.[ii] Steve Saint observed how missionaries among the Huaorani people in Ecuador (previously called ‘Aucas’) too often did things for them which the Huaorani could ‘and should do for themselves… When kind missionaries with good intentions (built) them a “nice” church building, the Huaorani read into this gesture that the church buildings they knew how to build, with split bamboo floors and thatched roofs, were not acceptable. They concluded that only foreigners are able to build proper God's houses.’ Saint concluded: ‘Dependency develops much easier and faster than it can be cured... Not only does dependency hurt the people who become dependent, but it puts a huge load on the people they depend on.’[iii]

If we want to know the Father and grow in a relationship with him, we need to ‘abide’ in Jesus. This means choosing to live like Jesus with an audience of one. Like Jesus, we have been sent into the world just as the Father sent Jesus into the world (Med.#87)—to bear fruit to the Father's glory (Med.#22). Secondly, focusing on his ‘glory’ means being ‘men (and women) of truth’, who like Jesus reflect the ‘true’ character of our Father. Mere words of ‘truth’ by themselves, and supernatural acts of divine power, do not reflect ‘the wisdom coming down from above’ unless these are ‘first of all: pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and without hypocrisy’ (Med.#86). Thirdly, we ‘abide’ in Jesus by working in partnership with our Father. This means spending time ‘alongside’ him, listening to him (Med.#64) so we can ask and discover: what pleases him, and what he wants us to say or do in specific situations in Jesus' name (Med.#51). When we follow Jesus' example in this way, we learn that we can trust the Father, who is a witness alongside of us through the Holy Spirit. Through the Spirit, he speaks directly to the hearts of the people needing conviction (Med.#57), such that we no longer need to try to prove ourselves right or prove others wrong.

Finally, as ‘co-workers’ with the Father we need to be accountable to him (Med.#32; 1 Cor.4:1-4). People with social power are used to saying and doing whatever they want, without being accountable to anyone. Like Jesus, though, we are accountable to limit our words and actions in his name: to only what we learn from the Father, and to only what we see him doing (Med.#59). In our witness and influence we are ‘ambassadors’ (2 Cor.5:20), not salesmen! Like Jesus, we are offering a restored relationship with the Father as ‘free’ sons and daughters, not commodities called ‘salvation’ or ‘eternal life’. Another limitation we must accept, in order to be like Jesus, is to refrain from judging others (Med.#13). People with social power and those who seek ‘glory’ for themselves are quick to judge and condemn others. When we act like them and judge people we undermine the Father's goal: of representing the family kingdom we are inviting others to join (Med.#17 & Med.#71).

Are you ‘abiding in’ Jesus' words about the Father? Is he your only audience in your witness to the world? Are you walking in partnership with him, like Jesus did, as a son or daughter of light—as an ambassador who reflects his character? When we fail or when we are weak, we know we can always come to our Father: to receive his forgiveness, or to receive Jesus' help in times of need (Med.#52; Heb.4:14-16).

Papa, by your Spirit, you have given me the ‘placement of sons’, making me your heir, and a co-heir with Jesus. I ask you in Jesus' name to teach me today from your word what pleases you, so I may abide in your word and walk with you as a son/daughter of light. (Rom.8:15-17; Jn.16:23; 8:31; Eph.5:10,8)

Father, show me what you are doing and what you want me to say to other people. (Jn.5:19; 8:38a,28)

Grant me strength by your Spirit: to know you and be a co-worker with you—judging no one according to the flesh but offering to all: direct access to you by the Spirit. (Eph.1:17; 3:14,16; 2 Cor.6:1; Jn.8:15; Eph.2:18)

[i] The Scripture passage is taken from J.K. Mellis, The Good News of the Messiah by the Four Witnesses: pp.137-139,141-142.

[ii] F.Scott Rodin, ‘Becoming a Leader of No Reputation’, in The Journal of Religious Leadership, Vol.1,No. 2 (Fall 2002), pp.105-119.

[iii] Steve Saint, ‘The Deception of Dependency: Good intentions can undermine the church we are sent to plant’, The Great Omission: Fulfilling Christ’s Commission Completely, YWAM Publishing, 2001, pp.55,61. The Huaorani believers were able to speak openly to Steve about these patterns of social power and dependency because he was ‘family’. For the bodies of both his father and his aunt—the martyred MAF pilot who had sought to bring them the Gospel (Nate Saint), and their beloved Bible translator (Rachel Saint)—lay buried among them.