Jump Start # 1148

John 8:2 “Early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people were coming to Him; and He sat down and began to teach them.”

Yesterday, I started with this verse in one of my sermons. What follows is the sad story of a woman being caught having immoral sex and being brought into the temple by some angry men who were bent on disproving Jesus. Shouts of stoning her filled the air. In a moment, her life nearly ended.

There are some powerful lessons that come from that section. Lessons about grace. Lessons about taking the next step with Christ. But some of the greatest lessons are found in our verse today. Let’s notice a few.

EARLY IN THE MORNING. Early in the morning Jesus is up, dressed and at the temple. I like that. I’m a early riser. There is something about a new morning. It was early in the morning that the women gathered to the tomb of Jesus and found it to be empty. In the Old Testament, God sent His prophets out early in the morning. No laziness about God or Jesus. Up early. In the temple. How the morning starts often sets the tone for the rest of the day. If we start behind schedule, we find our selves racing the rest of the day. Starting the day upset, mad, stressed will certainly color how you see everything else in the day. Try getting up a bit earlier. To do this, you may have to go to bed a bit earlier. Try starting the day with a prayer. Try giving God your day. The thoughts behind our devotional, “Jump Starts,” comes from this concept. It was developed to be sent out early in the morning so you could start the day with a verse and a few thoughts. “Jump Start” your day—just like jump starting a car, it was hoped that this would get your mind in a spiritual place. So many of our readers have commented about how this has been helpful to them. I’m thankful. Early in the morning.

HE CAME INTO THE TEMPLE. Now there are different reasons for getting up early in the morning. We do this sometimes to catch a flight at the airport. Or we may have to beat traffic so we must leave early. Jesus went to the temple early in the morning. I understand that there were gates around parts of the temple. I don’t know if they were always open. But on this day, early in the morning, Jesus made his way into the Temple. The temple is where God’s presence was. The temple meant worship. The temple was good and right. The next few verses reveal how some thought nothing of bringing an unclean and sinful person into the temple. They didn’t care. They were after Jesus. They were so blinded with hatred and envy that they didn’t even think about God and the Holy Temple. Starting the day in the temple—what a great way to begin the day. I wish there was a way we could all meet at the church building before work and school have a prayer and then go. Doesn’t work out the way so many of us are spread out these days.

HE SAT DOWN. Jesus did this often. He sat in a boat and taught. The sermon on the mount was taught sitting down. It seems that He sat most times when He taught. That’s just the opposite of what we do. I stand. I stand behind a pulpit. Once in a while I’ll teach a class sitting down. It’s more informal to me. I suppose Jesus didn’t walk about much when He taught. He sat. Sitting relaxes people. Sitting takes away the air of authority. Although He had authority, it didn’t come from His posture but rather His words. Jesus wasn’t bossy. His body language would be criticized by the experts today. He was His own man. He sat. I like that. I told some recently, that I’d like to preach a sermon sitting in a pew. “The sermon from the pew,” is what I’d call it. Not sure what I’d do with it, but I like that title and idea. He sat down.

HE BEGAN TO TEACH THEM. That’s Jesus. Always teaching. Sometimes it was just the apostles. Other times it was the whole multitudes. Mary sat at the feet of Jesus as He taught. Her sister, Martha, was bothered and distracted about the whole thing. Jesus taught. What a great way to begin the day. So Jesus wasn’t the only one in the temple early in the morning. Others were there. He had an audience. Did they know He would be there? Did they realize what a blessing they had to listen to Jesus.

You and I can listen and learn from Jesus. We can do that early in the morning. Find a moment, open to the Gospels and read. A good place to start would be right here in John 8. Look at all that happened. Watch Jesus. Interesting. You’ll see things. You’ll learn things.

Start the day with Jesus—what a great way to get about things.

Give it a try!

Roger