How to See Life in 321 - a Guide to John's GospelSample

How can anyone worship a bleeding God?

I was once asked this question by a sincere Muslim. He couldn’t understand my Christian beliefs — in particular, that I would worship someone who died such a shameful death. I sympathize with his question.

A ‘bleeding God’ is a mind-boggling concept. Isn’t God meant to be above all that? Consider this verse from the Old Testament prophet Isaiah:

For this is what the high and exalted One says—
he who lives for ever, whose name is holy:
'I live in a high and holy place…’ (Isaiah 57:15)

God is described as exalted, eternal, and holy (which means ‘sacred’ or ‘dedicated’). Perhaps this makes us think of God as aloof or remote. But no. The living God is holy—dedicated—but he’s dedicated to being a particular kind of God.

Just consider how the verse continues:

I live in a high and holy place,
but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit,
to revive the spirit of the lowly
and to revive the heart of the contrite.’ (Isaiah 57:15)

This is what God is like: he moves towards those in need. He is like a Fountain (see Day 4). He overflows. He moves towards the hurting, the weary, the struggling. But such movement does not reveal his weakness, it reveals his fullness.

How does this perspective help us as we try to understand a ‘bleeding God’? Well, think of a fountain, flowing with life-giving water. You see a fountain’s greatness when you see it poured out. And, by parallel, you see God’s greatness when you see him poured out with every drop of his blood.

Throughout John chapter 10, Jesus is teaching about his own identity:

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (John 10:11)

The “Good Shepherd” is a title for God. All the Jews listening to Jesus would have known Psalm 23 from the Old Testament. It begins, “The LORD is my Shepherd.” God is the Shepherd, we are the sheep. But how does the Shepherd prove that he is the Shepherd? The verse tells us: By laying down his life for the sheep!

It’s his death that proves his deity! As you read John 10, consider this: the Jesus who pledges to die for his people is not a distraction from our view of God. The cross is the clearest possible demonstration of God, because here is the Source of life, giving himself for the world. Jesus’ crucifixion is the most divine thing you’ve ever seen: it’s the Fountain poured out.