Years ago, I remember struggling with the feeling that God was angry or at least disappointed with me. There were many times when it sort of felt like I was in trouble. God didn’t seem like Emmanuel, God with me. He seemed more like Judge, God Watching me.

But, I’ve changed. As I age, I’m more aware, and more honest about the ways I fail to love and fail to be a good man. I’ve moved from “God, I will give you my whole life!” to “God, I don’t have a chance for life unless you love and forgive me, and give your life to me.” And, sadly, I’ve also witnessed how the lives of the more “die-hard” believers I have known over the years have affected others around them, especially their families.

I’m the father of three, and when you’re a parent you realize that a relationship characterized by kids being scared of their dad, or always worrying that they may disappoint or anger their dad, is a sad and unhealthy one. Honestly, who wants to have a Father like that?

I remember hearing the Bible passages where Jesus teaches on the cost of being His disciple. And, I remember feeling something like, “Woa. I better get serious. God demands everything of me.” But now I have my doubts about whether this is the only, or at least the most appropriate, way to respond to His teachings.

In Luke 7, Jesus says, “Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.” Now, there are different interpretations of what Jesus means when he says this, but the simple point I want to make is that Jesus knows that His ways are difficult.

At the end of the Gospel of John, Jesus says to Thomas, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Now, I’m not saying that we should edit out the sober message of the words Jesus spoke about discipleship, but I am saying that we don’t have to respond to them with fear or guilt. Maybe these teachings also show us that Jesus fully realizes that faith is hard. That life here on earth, this side of heaven, is just really hard.

Have you ever thought that God may understand how difficult it is for anyone to believe in Him because He is invisible? I’m serious. God knows, of all people, how far we have come from being with Him the way Adam and Eve were. And God knows that for His children to live a life of faith, they will struggle, they will fail, they will doubt, and they will pay a price. He gets it. Sure, He definitely thinks it’s all worth it, but He still gets that it’s hard.

If my son, Drew, wanted to climb the toughest 14er in Colorado, I would love his enthusiasm and courage, but I would also talk to him (very soberly) about the costs of trying something like that. And, I wouldn’t talk to him in some scolding “you better shape up” kind of way. Rather, I would help him realize that what he wants to accomplish is dangerous and difficult and will require great personal cost if he is going to take on this kind of adventure.

So, maybe the teachings of Jesus on the cost of discipleship aren’t so much a warning or a threat. Maybe they are honest and helpful words from the One who loves us and is more for us than anyone has ever been, or ever will be.

Many years ago, George MacDonald wrote:

But do not think that God is angry with you because you find it hard to believe. It is not so; that is not like God; God is all that you can honestly wish Him to be, and infinitely more; He is not angry with you for that.

Wow. Those words portray God in a different way than many of us have grown up with. Maybe God isn’t angry all the time. Maybe He is Emmanuel, God With Us. Maybe He’s just very honest, very involved, and very committed to having His children become fully alive… whatever it takes.

There are many stories of Jesus that include miracles, but there is one that, for me, is spectacular.  It’s the story of a woman who has suffered from bleeding for 12 years but is then healed by Jesus

Let me set it up.  Jesus has just returned to town, a large crowd is waiting for him, and you get the sense that a lot is going on.  While everyone is trying to get close to Jesus, a Jewish leader begs him to come heal his little girl because she’s very ill.  Jesus is glad to help, and the text says that “Jesus went with him, the whole crowd tagging along, pushing and jostling him.”

But in the midst of this frenzy, the woman, in desperate need of healing, thinks to herself, ‘”If I can put a finger on his robe, I can get well.” And the moment she does this, her bleeding stops, she feels the change, and she knows she’s been healed.

Okay, so a supernatural, miraculous event has just occurred.  By merely touching Jesus’ robe, a woman’s body becomes well in a single moment.  There is simply no natural explanation for this.

But, for me, the really spectacular moment hasn’t happened yet.  Keep reading.

At the same moment, Jesus felt energy discharging from him. He turned around to the crowd and asked, “Who touched my robe?”

His disciples said, “What are you talking about? With this crowd pushing and jostling you, you’re asking, ‘Who touched me?’ Dozens have touched you!”

But he went on asking, looking around to see who had done it. The woman, knowing what had happened, knowing she was the one, stepped up in fear and trembling, knelt before him, and gave him the whole story.

So, Jesus keeps on asking and keeps on looking, and eventually the woman gets to give him her whole story. 

Wow.  Now that’s miraculous.

Let that sink in for a moment.  Try to see the scene in your mind.

The only way I can imagine it is with Jesus insisting on holding up whatever was going on, quieting everyone around him, and after seeing who it was that touched him, saying something like, “Okay everybody, please give me some time with this woman.  Go sit down or go on without me and I’ll catch up.”

And whether this happened for several moments or for several minutes, Jesus was present with this woman, and he let her tell him her whole story.

Again, I say, “Wow!”  The One who is the One True God, the One who is Ancient, the One who is literally, eternally, and finally the Creator of all Reality, sits down and spends a little time getting to know a woman!

That’s the miracle.  Really.  Healing blindness, paralysis, deafness… even raising the dead are wonderful, amazing signs of power.  But to believe that the desire of God, and the offer of God, is to be with us, love us, know us, be our best friend and even our lover is simply spectacular.

It’s beautiful; heartbreakingly beautiful.

It all came back to me, maybe only for a moment or two, but at least it came!  It felt like the crisp, refreshing winds that sweep down the western foothills and catch you off guard.  My kids love it when the winds come like this, laughing, spreading their arms like wings and literally leaning into the strong gusts to feel them lifting them and pushing them back with their power.

To read The Gospel of John Chapter 8 means you are dropped into the middle of Jesus, (if I may say so), at his best.  The power and hope and courage of this man’s life are so appealing that, like many times before, crowds of people are moving in close to hear this man teach (“Who is this guy, anyways?” many must be wondering.)  And John notes that Jesus even arrived at the temple at dawn, so I’m thinking, “Not bad!  A crowd of people that early in the morning?  Something must be going on.”

The Pharisees (a little booing and hissing at this point would be appropriate) bring a woman to Jesus who had been “caught in adultery.”  Hmm?  How convenient.  Wonder how that happened.

Let’s put it bluntly.  This is a set up. These guys are snakes.  They are not giving up until they have either shut Jesus down “by trapping him” to discredit him, or if they have to, shut Jesus down quite literally, by having him killed.

But, Jesus, true to his amazing heart of strength, love, and brilliance, throws their plot back at them, so “that those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.”

And if you can, imagine the emotional depth and impact when Jesus asks the woman “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? … Then neither do I.”

And, the rest of the chapter keeps getting better, but it’s long and, really, you are just going have to read it for yourself.  It’s amazing.  The tension just keeps building, like it does in the great stories you love.

So, here’s where I’m going.  Here’s the climax of the chapter. Here’s the “refreshing wind” that blows throughout this lively tale of a day in the life of Jesus and continues to blow throughout the greatest story that will ever, ever be.  Jesus declares:

“If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed!”  

This is the outrageous offer of Jesus. The offer’s thatgood.  It’s so good it’s practically a dare!  And He not only offers it, He IS it.  Read John 8, and feel the life and strength and freedom of the Son of God’s heart.  He is free indeed.

Get with someone you love and talk about the questions below.  They could be helpful, fun, and maybe even risky.

Where are you experiencing being free in your life?  

Where in your life would you love to be free?  

What do you need in order to be free?

What do you want to be free to do?

What in your life do you need to be free from?