Yes! It has eternal significance. I was recently engaged in what might best be called an “existential” conversation on the tennis courts recently. A bit unusual for 7 am in the morning, and on the tennis court sidelines no less. It began with my comment concerning the horrible loss of life in India recently due to COVID-19, and developed into a philosophical and theological discussion of Eastern religions and whether it really mattered what one chose to believe as long as you believed in something. Apparently Jesus thought it mattered. He said, “I am* the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) He used that word which has been so diluted today. “Truth.” Is there an absolute truth? Pontius Pilate wondered, “What is truth?” when he had the Truth personified in Christ standing before him. (John 18:38) Many in this time, as then, are willfully blind to the truth and refuse to accept it. What we believe, or have faith in, matters. It has enormous, eternal significance. Jesus promises that whoever believes (has faith, trusts) in him will not die but will have eternal life. (John 3:16) This was a new promise, unfamiliar to the Jewish leaders of his day. It was the new covenant, a promise sealed in his blood upon the cross and demonstrated in his resurrection and power over death itself, IF we believe in Him. What do you believe?
*When Jesus used the “I am” phrase, the Jewish leaders clearly understood him to be stating that he was God, just as God told Moses when he delivered the 10 Commandments and said to tell the Jewish people that his name was “I am.” (Exodus 3:14). Jesus claimed to be God in no uncertain terms. Despite our sinful hearts, God’s gift to us, if we accept it, IF we only believe in Him, is eternal life. (Romans 6:23)
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