THINK TOGETHER.
Do you think Jesus is a liar? Why or why not?
READ TOGETHER.
John 7:32. The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about him, and the chief priests and Pharisees sent officers to arrest him.
John 7:45-46. 45The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” 46The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man!” 47The Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived?
This story from John 7 takes place at the Temple in Jerusalem during one of the holidays that the Jews celebrated each year – The Feast of Booths. To remember how God took care of them in the wilderness years earlier, the people would spend a week living in booths, or tents. It was during this feast that Jesus went to Jerusalem, to the Temple, and started teaching and preaching there. Here’s some of what Jesus said:
“My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me” – Jesus is saying that he has been sent by God.
“Has not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law.” – Jesus is accusing the religious leaders of not obeying the Bible.
“Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” – Jesus is claiming that he can give them eternal life.
These are the kinds of things that made the Pharisees (do you remember who the Pharisees are?) very angry. So angry that they sent the police officers to arrest him. But the police officers ended up listening to him and decided NOT to arrest him. The officers tell the Pharisees, No one ever spoke like this man.
Why were the Pharisees so angry at Jesus? Why did they want to have him arrested, and even killed? The answer is in verse 47. The Pharisees believed that Jesus was deceiving everyone. What does it mean to deceive someone? It means to trick them and lie to them.
But is Jesus a liar? Or was he really sent by God the Father as God the Son to come and give his life for us so that we might have eternal life – rivers of living water flowing in our hearts?
At some point every single person has to decide if Jesus is telling the truth or if he is lying. Is he God, or is that a lie? Can he forgive all of our sins, or is that a lie? Can he give us eternal life, or is that another lie? Did Jesus die and then come back to life, or is that the biggest lie of all?
I hope you know that Jesus is telling the truth. He is God. He did die for our sins. He did rise from the dead. He can forgive you and give you eternal life. Do you believe this? If you do, then you can tell others too.
Because of Jesus we can have eternal life.
With Jesus we can always tell the truth like he did.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
Play “2 Truths and a Lie” together. Tell two things that are true about you and then one lie. Can you guess each other’s lie? Remember that Jesus never lied.
PRAY TOGETHER
Jesus, I know that you will never lie to me and that I can always trust you. Help me to tell others the truth about you too. Amen.
TLICfamily 