Forty Days Full - An Invitation To Real Life

Day Seventeen: Deception

“You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44 NIV) I n this situation, Jesus is confronting the Pharisees. What He is saying is remarkable if you understand the Pharisee sect. They saw themselves as the protectors of the scriptures, the keepers of truth. For many years they were the ones who preserved the sacred texts. They would be willing to give their very lives to preserve God's word. They tested Jesus because they wanted to protect the people from error. Their Rabbis practiced a strict tradition of intense training and memorization. Teachers needed certification from the right schools and rabbinical traditions. If ever there was a group who valued truth and correctness it was the Pharisees. And yet, here is gentle Jesus, an outsider from their traditions, accusing them of belonging to the great deceiver, the devil. Come on Jesus, stop holding back and tell us what you really think. It's more than likely that it was this conversation that set this sect forever against Him and ultimately caused them to press for His death. But the truth is that Jesus was right. We see it in their evil actions towards Jesus and the early church apostles. How could these keepers of the truth become so completely and decisively deceived? In their minds they were protecting the truth while in fact they were killing the author of all truth.