Category: John

Keeping our eyes on Jesus

Post author By Bruce
Post date November 9, 2014
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It must be disconcerting to hear about how you’re going to die. And so after Jesus told Peter exactly how he was going to die, there probably was an awkward silence.

Peter then suddenly realized that John was walking not far behind them, and so he said, “What about him Lord? Is he going to die for you too?”

But Jesus replied,

If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me. (John 21:22)

So often, as we are serving the Lord, we compare ourselves to others.

Sometimes we are jealous of the gifts and talents they have. Other times, we look down on others because our gifts and talents are “better” than theirs.

Sometimes as with Peter, God calls us to do something, and we ask, “Why me? Why don’t you send that guy or that woman instead?”

But the answer Jesus gave Peter is the same that he gives to us. “Don’t worry about them. I’ll take care of them. You follow me. Don’t focus your eyes on others and compare yourself to them. Keep your eyes on me and you do the things I tell you.”

Honestly, that can be hard to do. Our eyes are so quick to drift to others. Our hearts are so quick to compare ourselves to others. That’s something that I struggle with even now.

But if we are to bear fruit as God desires, then we need to get our eyes off of others serving God and put them solely on Jesus.

How about you? Where are your eyes? On yourself? On others? Or on Jesus?

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, comparing, following Jesus

John John 21

A God who believes in us

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This is another of my favorite stories in the Bible.

Here we have Peter. Brash Peter. Bold Peter. But because of his failure in denying Jesus three times, a lot of that has been stripped away, leaving a man not only humbled, but perhaps questioning himself.

I would have loved to see an account of that first appearance Jesus made to Peter. We have no record of it.

Peter had seen the empty tomb, and was probably in great confusion. Had Jesus risen? Perhaps he thought to himself, “I almost wish he hadn’t. I don’t know how I could face him.”

And then, suddenly Jesus appears before him. How did Peter respond? Shock? Joy? Perhaps. But I can also imagine Peter falling before him, weeping, and saying “I’m sorry” again and again.

But Jesus probably told him, “It’s okay. That’s why I went to the cross. For people like you. I still love you Peter.”

Perhaps for a while, Peter was okay. But as time went on, perhaps a thought started to creep into his mind.

“Has Jesus really forgiven me? Even if he has, there’s no way he could accept me as a disciple again, could he. I’ve just failed too badly.”

And perhaps after days of not seeing him, Peter was feeling so discouraged that he thought, “It’s hopeless. Yes, Jesus said he’s forgiven me. But there’s no way he could ever truly accept me again. I might as well go back to my old life.”

And so he said to the other disciples who were with him, “I’m going fishing.” Having nothing better to do, they joined him.

They go out into the lake, and fish all night, but catch nothing. And perhaps, Peter was thinking to himself, “Am I good at anything anymore? I can’t even catch fish.”

Then they hear a man on shore asking, “Have you guys caught any fish? Throw your net on the other side, you’ll catch some.”

They do, and suddenly their nets are completely filled with fish. At which point, John says, “Hey! It’s the Lord!”

Peter, upon hearing this, immediately jumps into the ocean to swim toward Jesus.

I can imagine Jesus laughing as he saw him coming up and saying, “Hey Peter, go help the guys bring in those fish you caught.”

And so he helps the other disciples bring the fish in, and when they arrive, Jesus already has some grilled fish ready for them.

I can imagine there was a lot of talking and laughter as they ate. But as the meal wound down, Jesus looked at Peter and said, “Hey Peter. Walk with me.”

And at that point, Peter probably was thinking, “Oh, oh. Here it comes. Jesus is going to tell me I can’t be his disciple anymore.”

And perhaps with a feeling of dread, he starts walking down the beach with Jesus.

Perhaps they walked in silence for a bit, and Jesus said, “Peter, do you love me more than these?”

It’s not clear what he meant by “these.”

Many people think he was asking, “Do you love me more than the other disciples?”

But considering his failure, I can’t see Peter telling Jesus, “Yes I do.”

I think that perhaps they were passing the boats, the fish, and the nets, and Jesus was saying, “Do you love me more than all this? I go away for a short time, and you’re already back to your old life. Do you truly love me more than these things?”

And to this, Peter said, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

They walk a little further, and Jesus says, “Peter, do you really love me?”

Again, Peter says that he does, and so Jesus says, “Take care of my sheep.”

They go further, and a third time, Jesus says, “Peter, do you love me?”

Peter was really hurt at this point and he said, “Jesus you know I love you.”

And Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.”

I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go. (John 21:18)

Here Jesus was talking about Peter’s death. That the day would come when Peter would be crucified for Jesus’ sake. And that’s exactly what happened years later.

Why did Jesus tell him that?

I think he was telling Peter, “I know you failed. But I still believe in you. And I’m telling you, the day will come when you will again be forced to make the choice to deny me or die for me. And you will choose to die for me.”

Then he said, “Follow me.”

All of us, like Peter, fail. And many of us like Peter, start to wonder, “Can God still use me? I’ve failed so badly. Can God still even accept me?”

The answer is yes. Because God not only sees who you are now, he sees what you can become. And he believes in you.

So don’t rest in your own strength. Don’t rest in your own wisdom. But rest in the knowledge that God accepts you and he believes in you. Then go…and follow him.

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, following Christ, Peter

John John 20

Though we have not seen him

Post author By Bruce
Post date November 7, 2014
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Seeing is believing. At least sometimes it is.

The Pharisees and teachers of the law saw all the miracles Jesus performed and they still didn’t believe.

They saw Lazarus alive after he had died and they plotted to kill him because people were believing in Jesus because of it.

The main problem: They didn’t want to believe. And as long as you don’t want to believe, you can explain away anything.

Thomas, on the other hand, wanted to believe. But his head would not allow what his heart wanted to be true, and so he told the other disciples,

Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it. (John 20:25)

So when Jesus showed up for a second time in the midst of a locked room, I imagine he smiled at Thomas’ astonished face as he said,

Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe. (John 20:27)

Thomas’ reaction?

My Lord and my God! (John 20:28)

Jesus replied,

Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. (John 20:29)

In other words, you only believe because you see. But true blessing comes when you believe having not seen.

It was the blessing that Abraham received, who trusted God and left everything behind, not even knowing where he was going, but believing that God would do what he had promised.

It was the blessing that Noah received by building a huge boat because God told him a flood was coming.

It was the blessing that David received, trusting that God would make him king, and never trying to seize the throne with his own hands.

It was the blessing Mary received by believing the angel who said she would become pregnant with God’s Son. It is the blessing that people all throughout history have received all the way down to us.

But it is not a blind belief. We see Christ in the prophets who predicted numerous things about him hundreds of years before he was born.

We see Christ through the experiences of those who actually met him face to face and recorded all that happened. John wrote,

Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book.

But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:30–31)

We see Christ in the experiences of those throughout church history who have encountered him in their lives, people like Augustine, Luther, and Calvin.

We see Christ in the lives of those around us today, whom God has changed and transformed through the gospel.

And we see him as we ourselves encounter Christ, and see his work in our lives.

But it all starts with one choice. To say, “Lord Jesus, though I have never seen you with my own eyes, yet I believe.”

And as we follow him, walking in trust and obedience to him, he will reveal himself to us more and more. And we will find blessing.

Peter puts it this way,

Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:8–9)

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, blessing, faith

John John 20 Luke Luke 24

Filled and sent out

It seems like there was quite a bit of confusion and disbelief among the 11 and the others gathered in the upper room that Sunday.

Here was Mary, the women, the two followers of Jesus, and Peter himself saying that they had seen the Lord. And even then, many of the other disciples simply could not bring themselves to believe.

And then Jesus appeared. Understandably, they were freaked out, thinking he was a ghost, particularly those that hadn’t seen him up to that point. And Jesus said, “Peace with you.”

That was actually a very common greeting, like “Hi.” I wonder if that’s how he meant it the first time. “Hi guys.”

But everyone freaks out thinking he is a ghost so he says it again more seriously, “Hey relax. Be at peace. It really is me.”

He then shows them his hands and feet and even eats some fish to prove he is not a ghost.

I can imagine that everyone wanted to touch him to make sure it was really him, and when they did, they were filled with unspeakable joy.

Then Jesus explained to them how all that had happened to him had been prophesied in the Old Testament, and he probably reminded them of his own words to them as well.

Having said these things, he then told them,

As the Father has sent me, I am sending you. (John 20:21)

You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high. (Luke 24:48-49)

At that point, he breathed on them, and said,

Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven. (John 20:22-23)

It kind of reminds me of another event in Genesis, where God breathed physical life into Adam.

Here, Jesus breathed spiritual life into his disciples. The Holy Spirit came into them as a seal of their salvation, and as Jesus promised, he would teach them all they needed to know and would be with them wherever they went.

Not only that, we find in Acts that he would fill them with power to do all that he asked, to take the gospel to every nation.

In the same way, Jesus breathes life into us when we receive him as Savior and Lord. His Holy Spirit comes into us to lead us and guide us. More, he gives us the power to live the life he calls us to, and to accomplish purposes.

In short, we are not alone. The Christian life is not about trying to please God and accomplish his purposes in our own strength and by our own efforts.

Rather God himself, through the Holy Spirit dwells in us, he fills us, and gives us everything we need for life, for godliness, and for his service.

And the main task he has given us is to spread the gospel. To declare to those who repent and turn to Jesus that their sins have now been forgiven. And to warn people of the judgment to come if they refuse to repent.

God has given us the keys to the kingdom. When we share his gospel, we open the doors wide open to those who would walk in. So let us go out, filled with his Spirit, and open those doors to a lost and dying world.

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, gospel, spirit

John John 20 Luke Luke 24 Mark Mark 16 Matthew Matthew 28

The One who is always with us

Post author By Bruce
Post date November 4, 2014
No Comments on The One who is always with us

A couple of notes on the resurrection.

I think I will be cutting out Mark 16:9-20 from my commentary since it is considered by most scholars to not be in the original text.

It was apparently added on to Mark by someone, either because Mark died before it was completed or because the original ending was lost.

Second, there is some difficulty in harmonizing the events of the resurrection. What I give here in my blog is my best guess.

The thing to remember, though, is that all the essential facts are the same.

The tomb was empty when the women arrived there. Angels appeared to the women to tell them that Jesus had risen. Jesus appeared to Mary and the women. They all went to tell the disciples.

Lawyers today will tell you that in a court of law, any apparent discrepancies in the testimony of these four sources would not be able to overturn these essential points.

With that, a very quick summary as to what I believe happened.

The women went to the tomb and found it empty. When Mary entered the tomb and found the body gone, she immediately left to tell the disciples.

The other women lingered, however, and at that point, two angels appeared, with one giving them the good news that Jesus was alive. The women ran to tell the disciples talking to no one else along the way. (Matthew 28:5-8; Mark 16:1-8; Luke 24:1-10)

Meanwhile, Mary told the disciples that the body was gone. (John 20:2). And so Peter and John (probably) went to investigate, with Mary following after.

After they had left, the other women arrived with their tale of the angels. (Luke 24:9-11)

Peter and John then arrived at the tomb and found the body gone, and while John seems to have believed that Jesus rose from the dead, Peter wasn’t so sure. Perhaps discussing the situation, they then left. (Luke 24:12; John 20:3-9)

Mary, by this time had arrived at the tomb. Whether Peter and John were still there when she arrived is not clear, but it’s possible they had already gone.

Jesus then appeared for the first time and spoke to her. She then went to tell the disciples. (John 20:10-18)

As she was on her way, Jesus then appeared to the other women, perhaps as they were on their way back home, discouraged that the disciples had not believed them.

Encouraged once again, they returned and told the disciples what Jesus had told them, bolstered by Mary’s testimony. (Matthew 28:9-10)

I don’t know if that was the exact order of events, but it seems to be a reasonable harmonization to me.

At any rate, I want to focus on Mary for a moment.

The image that strikes me most was Mary in the garden, in the depths of sorrow and despair.

If the order of events were as I imagine, she had not heard the story of the other women. All she knew was that Jesus was gone.

She enters the tomb, and sees the two angels, but because she never heard the other women’s story, she doesn’t recognize the angels for what they are.

So when they ask her, “Why are you crying?” she simply says, “They’ve taken away my Lord, and I don’t know where they’ve put him.”

Perhaps the angels were about to tell Mary the truth when they saw Jesus appear behind her.

At first, through her tears, she couldn’t recognize him, but then he spoke her name, “Mary.”

And in an instant, all of her tears of sorrow were washed away by joy.

How often are we like Mary? We’re going through a tough time, and God seems far away. We pray but our prayers bounce off the ceiling. We seek him, but we can’t seem to find him. For all we know, he’s dead.

But the truth is, he is there. Like Mary, we can’t see him, but he is there. And at the proper time, he will reveal himself to us.

So don’t give up. We all go through times of sorrow. We all go through times when God seems distant.

But he is Immanuel. He is God with us. And through the same power that raised Jesus from the dead, he will change our sorrow into joy.

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, God with us, Mary, resurrection

John John 19 Luke Luke 23 Mark Mark 15 Matthew Matthew 27

That scripture would be fulfilled

Post author By Bruce
Post date November 1, 2014
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One thing that becomes crystal clear as we look at these passages is that Christ’s death was no accident. It was no mistake on the part of God. Rather, he had planned it from the beginning of time for our salvation.

The irony was that when the chief priests asked for a sign from Jesus to prove that he was the Messiah, Jesus did give them a sign. They were just too blind and deaf to perceive it.

They demanded he come down from the cross. He pointed them to prophecy.

He couldn’t have been more clear when he cried out,

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Matthew 27:46)

The priests thought he was calling for Elijah. But Jesus was actually pointing them to Psalm 22. Why? If they had only seen, they would have understood that Jesus was fulfilling many of the things that David had written.

He was scorned, despised, mocked, and insulted. In fact, the chief priests themselves used virtually the very words that David prophesied they would say.

He trusts in the LORD; let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him. (Psalm 22:8)

He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ (Matthew 27:43)

David also gave a graphic description of suffering on the cross. He said,

All my bones are out of joint. (Psalm 22:14a)

This disjointing of the bones is what often happened to people hanging on a cross.

David then said,

My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within me. (Psalm 22:14b)

John records that when the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side, water and blood flowed out, which doctors today say is a sign that he had suffered heart failure.

David prophesied Jesus’ great thirst upon the cross, saying,

My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. (Psalm 22:15)

And he prophesied Jesus’ hands and feet being pierced. (Psalm 22:16).

More, a person hanging on a cross could probably see his ribs pressing against his flesh, thus David saying,

I can count all my bones. (Psalm 22:17)

And of course, David prophesied the casting of lots for Jesus’ clothing, saying,

They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing. (Psalm 22:18)

All these pointed to Jesus as the Messiah, but the chief priests who knew the scripture, couldn’t see it.

John points to other scriptures, Psalm 34, Psalm 69, and Zechariah 12, all of which point to the cross.

And of course, Isaiah 53 describes even more.

Jesus being pierced for our sin and taking our punishment for us.

Being silent in front of his accusers.

Interceding for those who killed him.

Being originally assigned a grave with the wicked, but instead being buried in a rich man’s tomb.

And of course, being resurrected from the dead.

In short, again, this was no accident. It was planned and purposed by the Father for our salvation from the beginning of time.

So let us never take the cross for granted. Instead let us praise God with hearts full of thanksgiving for the price his Son paid for our salvation.

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, prophesy, salvation, the cross

John John 19 Luke Luke 23 Mark Mark 15 Matthew Matthew 27

Paid in full

If there is one thing I hate to do, it’s pay taxes.

Every year, I have to go down to the tax office to declare my income, and then a month later, I collect my refund…only to have to give all of that refund back and more to pay my property taxes as well as my city and prefectural taxes.

Nowadays, I tend to pay these taxes all at once. We have the option to pay in installments, but it’s nice to get it all over with. And when I pay, my tax bill is stamped, to show that my tax debt is paid in full.

And that is exactly the picture Jesus invoked when saying his final words at the cross.

At around 12:00 p.m., the gospels tell us that it became dark, and that the sun did not shine its light.

I doubt that it was an eclipse because those last only a few minutes, and this darkness lasted 3 hours. But however God did it, a darkness fell on the land.

My guess is it was a picture of God placing all of our sin upon Jesus. That all the darkness in this world that comes from sin, was put on Jesus during that time.

Then at around 3 p.m. Jesus cried out,

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Matthew 27:46)

At that moment, I believe that God the Father turned his face aside from Jesus because of the sin that had been placed upon him.

If so, it was the first time ever that the relationship between the two had ever been broken, and Jesus suffered what all of us deserve: separation from the Father.

Separation from he who is love. Separation from he who is joy. Separation from he who is life.

That’s what hell is. And so in that sense (and that sense alone), Jesus suffered hell. He took upon himself the punishment that we deserved.

And having suffered that, he looked up for the last time, and said,

“It is finished. Father, into your hands, I commit my spirit.” (Luke 23:46, John 19:30)

It is finished.

Those were the words that were often printed on the bill of those who paid their taxes in Jesus’ day. And they literally meant, “paid in full.”

And by Jesus’ death on the cross, he paid in full the debt we owed because of our sin.

What’s the result? We can have a new relationship with God.

God tore the curtain that hung between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. (Mark 15:38). And by doing so, he was telling us, “The barrier that stood between me and you is gone. You have now free access to me through my Son.”

We no longer have to stay at a distance from God as the Israelites once did. (Exodus 20:18-21)

We can draw near. So let us draw near.

As the writer of Hebrews exhorts us,

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. (Hebrews 10:19-22)

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, Christ's death, drawing near, paid in full

John John 19

Seeing beyond our misery

I suppose one of the biggest tests of how selfish we are is how we respond in times of misery. When we are suffering, when we are going through trials, where is our focus? Is it on us?

That would only be human, I suppose. To wallow in self-pity. To ask, “Why me?” To ask, “How long will I have to suffer like this?”

But from everything we see of Jesus on the cross, his focus was still more on others than on himself.

We saw it with the thief on the cross. We saw it in his intercession for those who persecuted him. And we see it here in this scene with his mother.

Here is his mother, weeping at the foot of the cross. Her firstborn is dying a horrible death. Apparently, her other children are not even there.

We’ve seen in the past how they thought Jesus was out of his mind (Mark 3:21).

Perhaps they were embarrassed by him and thought he had brought dishonor on the family by his crucifixion.

And so from a family standpoint, Mary stood alone. Her other children would be of little comfort to her. So when Jesus saw the disciple he loved (probably John himself) standing by her, he said to his mother,

Dear woman, here is your son. (John 19:26)

And to John, he said,

Here is your mother. (John 19:27)

From that time on, John took Mary into his home.

Jesus had every right to focus solely on his suffering. He was innocent. He deserved none of what he went through. And yet, he continued to focus on and care for others.

How about you?

One of the most remarkable women I have ever met was the wife of one of my pastors. She was one of the most caring people I have ever met. And that continued even to her death.

She went to be with the Lord a couple of years ago, a victim of cancer. But even though at the end, she was forced to stay in bed and to be cared for by others, she didn’t wallow in self-pity. To the end, she was still trying to minister, even to the person who had been hired to care for her.

This is not to say that she was perfect. I’m sure she went through times of depression. But her focus never stayed inward. And in that, she was a picture of our Savior.

What struggles are you going through? What problems? What trials?

As you go through them, where is your focus? Is it solely on yourself? Or can you see beyond your misery to see beyond yourself?

A heart that focuses on itself in times of misery stays in misery.

A heart that can see beyond its misery to the needs of others rises above it.

And ultimately finds joy.

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, joy, misery, selfishness

John John 19 Luke Luke 23 Mark Mark 15 Matthew Matthew 27

Railing at God, humbling ourselves before him

Post author By Bruce
Post date October 29, 2014
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This is one of the most famous stories from the cross. Along with Jesus, two robbers were crucified by his side. And at first, both mocked him. In the ESV, it says,

One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” (Luke 23:39)

Somehow, that word, “railed,” really strikes me. It makes me think about how many people rail at God when they face the consequences for their sin.

Here was this criminal who had done wrong and was being punished for it, but far from being repentant, it seems he felt that he was being wronged.

Perhaps he felt justified in the things that he had done, and so as he railed at Jesus, he said, “Are you really the Christ? Then save me from this! I don’t deserve this!”

Apparently, according to the other gospels, the second criminal joined in with the first in railing at Jesus, at least at first.

But perhaps as Jesus refused to answer, but instead only looked with pity upon his abusers, the second criminal started to quiet down.

He saw the dignity of Jesus in a situation where all dignity had seemingly been stripped away from him.

He saw the compassion, love, and forgiveness Jesus had for those who had crucified him.

And as he did, perhaps he remembered all the stories he had heard about Jesus. Perhaps, he had even gone to listen to Jesus at one time and seen him perform all those miracles.

As he considered all these things, perhaps he then looked at himself, and for the first time, admitted, “I was wrong. I made all these excuses for what I did. But ultimately, those were just excuses. I was wrong. I deserve this.”

And so after hearing again the railings of the man beside him, he said,

Don’t you fear God…since you are under the same sentence?

We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong. (Luke 23:40-41)

Then he turned to Jesus, and pled with him,

Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. (Luke 23:42)

I’m not sure, but perhaps for the first and only time on the cross, Jesus smiled. And he said,

I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise. (Luke 23:43)

And in that moment, the man was saved. In death, he found life.

As I said, so many people are like the first man on the cross. They do wrong, but when they are caught in their sin and suffer for it, instead of admitting their wrong, they rail at God.

Sometimes, people wonder how God could allow eternal punishment.

I think part of it is because there is no repentance in hell. Rather, there is an eternal railing against God.

They rail that they were justified in their actions. And they rail that God would punish them for what they know deep in their heart is wrong.

And part of hell is the knowing they are wrong and are getting what they deserve but being too proud to admit it.

But for those who will only recognize their sin, humble themselves, and repent, as the second criminal did, there is forgiveness and there is life.

But that time is now. Because once you are dead, it is too late. As the apostle Paul wrote,

I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation. (2 Corinthians 6:2)

How about you? Have you humbled yourself before Jesus? Have you received his salvation?

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, forgiveness, hell, pride, salvation

John John 19 Luke Luke 23 Mark Mark 15 Matthew Matthew 27

What has been written

The interaction between Pilate and the chief priests is very interesting. Pilate put up the “charge” against Jesus, calling him the “King of the Jews.”

The priests immediately went up to Pilate, asking him to change it to, “He claimed to be king of the Jews.” But Pilate simply replied, “What I have written, I have written.” (John 19:21-22)

It strikes me that many people take the same kind of attitude toward Jesus that the Jews did.

They don’t want to recognize Jesus as their king. They don’t want to admit that he’s God’s Son. They don’t want to admit he’s the only way of salvation.

So they complain to Christians saying, “He just claimed to be the king. He just claimed that he was God’s Son. He just claimed that he’s the only way. But don’t go telling us that he really is all these things. We don’t believe it.”

But unlike Pilate, we have a higher authority than ourselves to point to. And we simply have to say, “What God has written in his Word, he has written. You cannot change what he has said. Nor can you convince him to change his mind.

What he has said is fixed for all eternity. And all your unbelief will not change it.”

People won’t like to hear that. The chief priests certainly didn’t. But the question is not whether you like it or not. The question is whether it’s true.

And the question is whether you will bend your heart to that truth or attempt to bend the truth to what you want to believe.

But if you try to do the latter, it’s not the truth that will shatter, but you.

Jesus said of himself,

Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone (that is, Jesus) the builders (the chief priests and other religious leaders) rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’…

He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed. (Matthew 21:42, 44)

The chief priests rejected Jesus, and as a result their whole world was shattered. Jerusalem was conquered, their temple destroyed, and worse, they will find themselves condemned before God on judgment day.

The same will happen to anyone who rejects Christ. What God has written is written.

The only question is, “What will you do with what he has said?”

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, cornerstone, rejection, truth

John John 19 Luke Luke 23 Mark Mark 15 Matthew Matthew 27

If we were forced to bear the cross Christ bore

Post author By Bruce
Post date October 25, 2014
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We know very little of this man of Cyrene, this Simon. It is conjectured that he is the father of the Rufus mentioned in Romans 16:13, the only other Rufus mentioned in the Bible.

In all probability, he was a pilgrim from Northern Africa, a Jew who had come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, perhaps for the first time ever.

But when he arrived, he got more than he expected. He saw the true Passover lamb sacrificed for him. (I Corinthians 5:7).

For a time, though, Simon had to bear the cross Jesus was eventually crucified on.

As Jesus was going up the hill, the physical strain, the loss of blood, the scourging, the beating he had taken at the hands of the soldiers, and the emotional strain, of being betrayed and abandoned by those he loved most dearly, became too much and he fell under the weight of the cross. He could no longer bear it.

And so Simon had to carry it for him.

And it makes me think. What would have happened if Jesus had said to us at Calvary, “Enough. I can’t bear this anymore. You carry the cross. You die on that cross. You deserve it, after all, not me. I’ve never sinned. You have.”

In a sense, Simon had to experience that, if only for a short time. A cross that he should have been carrying anyway because of his sin, was put on him because Jesus simply couldn’t do it anymore.

Did he realize later, “I was doing Jesus no favor by taking up that cross for him. I was carrying the cross I deserved anyway.

It was he who was doing me the favor by trying to carry my cross up to Calvary. It was he who helped me, he who saved me by dying on that cross when I should have been the one hung there.

But what if he had chosen not to? What if he had simply felt like he could not bear it any longer? Where would I be now?”

The answer? Hell. Because that’s what we all deserve. Hell.

But Jesus did bear the cross. He loved us so much that he died there, and by doing so he took the punishment we deserved upon himself.

And now, because of what he did, our sins can be forgiven, and we can find life as we were meant to have it. A life in relationship with the God who loves us more than any other.

So let us never take the cross for granted. And when we look at it, may we look to the One who died there with hearts full of gratitude.

Jesus Christ,
Praise your name,
Lord, I sing
Without shame.

You bore the cross.
So much love.
All my life, all I need is you.
–James Gabriel

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, Christ, cross, passover

John John 19

Who is your king?

As we look at the interaction between Pilate and the chief priests, we see one of the great ironies of scripture.

On one hand, we have this pagan governor who has little or no concept of who God really is, telling the Jews, “Here is your King.”

And he was absolutely right. Jesus was their rightful king.

But here were the religious leaders of the Jews, the ones who should have known God better than anyone else, insisting, “We have no king but Caesar.”

The one that should have been insisting Caesar was king (Pilate) was saying Jesus was their king.

The ones who should have been insisting that Jesus was their king (the chief priests) instead declared Caesar as their king.

Even if the priests didn’t believe Jesus was the Messiah, they still should have proclaimed God as their king. But in their fervent hatred for Jesus, they called Caesar their king.

How about you? Who is your king?

Maybe unlike the priests, your mouth declares Jesus as your king, but how about your actions?

When people look at your actions, would they say your job is your king? That is, your job considerations trump every other consideration? Or would they say it’s your family? Or your hobbies or interests?

Here in Japan, one of the biggest gods is the god of culture. Even among Christians, culture often reigns as king.

The pressure to yield to cultural norms is tremendous whether it’s to maintain family harmony at the expense of compromising your Christian faith, or whether it’s to place job above church or even family.

If someone were to look at your life and based on that said, “Here is your king,” what would they be pointing at?

Would they be pointing to your job? Your culture? Yourself? Or would they be pointing at God?

More importantly, what would your response be? Could you honestly acknowledge God as your king? Or would you have to point to something else?

Who is your king?

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, Christ, false gods, king

John John 18 John 19 Luke Luke 23 Mark Mark 15 Matthew Matthew 27

When we have nothing to stand on

Post author By Bruce
Post date October 21, 2014
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I will start by saying that it’s a bit hard to harmonize these passages. Here’s how I see it, but I encourage you to look at it yourself, and come to your own conclusions.

The priests and council members bring Jesus in front of Pilate with their initial accusations. (Luke 23:1-2, John 18:29-31)
Pilate then talks to Jesus the first time. (John 18:33-38 gives us the most details of this conversation while the other gospels give the briefest of summaries).
Pilate proclaims Jesus innocent but after further accusations, decides to send him to Herod. (Mark 15:3-5; Luke 23:4-12)
Herod returns Jesus, and Pilate proclaims him innocent again. (Luke 23:13-17)
Pilate proposes releasing Jesus or Barabbas, and the crowd demands Barabbas. (All the gospels.)
Pilate releases Barabbas, but then proposes punishing Jesus instead of crucifying him. Ultimately, he has Jesus flogged. (Mark 15:16-20; Luke 23:21; John 19:1-7)
Pilate makes one last appeal, but ends up giving Jesus over to be crucified. (John 19:7-14)

With that background, over the next few days, I think I’ll go over the main characters in these events.

Today, I want to look at Pilate. You can read about Pilate in history, but I want to stay with what we see here. And what I see is someone who had nothing to stand on when it came to how he made decisions and how he lived his life.

When Pilate first called Jesus in for a private interrogation, his main concern was whether Jesus was truly an insurrectionist or not. So he asked point blank whether Jesus was a king or not.

When he found out that Jesus did claim to be a king, but that this kingdom was “not of this world,” and was certainly no threat to the Roman empire, that was all that mattered to Pilate. (John 18:36-37).

But Jesus would not let things rest there. Instead he challenged Pilate, by saying,

In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me. (John 18:37b)

Basically, Jesus was asking Pilate, “What about you? Are you on the side of truth? Are you a lover of truth? Are you willing to stand on truth? If you are, then you must listen to me and believe it.”

It’s the challenge that faces all of us. What do we base our lives on? Do we base it on truth? Do we believe that Jesus himself is truth?

Pilate faced that question in that moment. His response?

What is truth? (John 18:38)

I really wish that we could know the tone behind his words. Did he say this with the implication of, “Who do you think you are? You think you know better than everyone else?”

Or did he say it with a voice dripping with irony? “Truth? There is no truth. Truth is what people in power say it is.”

Or did he say it with despair. “Is there really any truth out there? Is it really possible to find?”

Whatever his feeling, his ultimate response was to reject the idea of absolute truth. Specifically he rejected Jesus as the source of truth. The result?

He had no foundation by which to make his decisions. Instead, he was tossed and blown by the winds of the words of others and the pressures they put upon him.

The pressure of facing a riot. (Matthew 27:24)

The pressure of being reported to Caesar. (John 19:12)

The pressure, ultimately, of his own fears. And because of this, he made a decision he knew was wrong.

The same will happen to us. If we refuse to make truth the foundation of our lives, if we refuse to make Jesus himself the foundation of our lives, then we will be blown and tossed by the opinions of others and by our own fears. And we’ll end up making decisions we know are wrong.

How about you? What do you rest your decisions on? What do you rest your life on?

Do you seek God’s counsel? And do you have the faith to believe that what he has said is true?

James tells us,

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does. (James 1:5-8)

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, faith, Pilate, truth

John John 18

Striking those who tell us the truth

Post author By Bruce
Post date October 18, 2014
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We now go to the first hearing Jesus had, this one before Annas.

Annas had been the high priest before Caiaphas but had been deposed from his position by the Roman government. Nevertheless, he was still held in high regard by the spiritual leadership, and his influence was still very strong.

At any rate, he questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching. But Jesus essentially deflected the questions and said, “My ministry has always been public. Everyone knows what I have taught. Ask them.”

In saying this, Jesus was pointing them to the law that they claimed to revere, and was basically telling them, “If you are going to charge me for some wrongdoing, call witnesses up and have them testify. That’s what the law says, isn’t it?”

At which point, one of the officials struck him in the face, saying, “Is this the way you answer the high priest?”

Jesus replied,

If I said something wrong, testify as to what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me? (John 18:23)

In other words, “I’m merely pointing out that you should be following the law and calling witnesses. If what I said is wrong, tell me exactly how I’m wrong. But if I’m telling the truth, what right do you have to strike me?”

There was no answer the high priest could give to this. Jesus was right, after all. And so they had him sent to Caiaphas for the formal hearing.

But Jesus’ words make me think, “How do we respond to the truth when people confront us with it, particularly when we know we’re wrong?”

Are we like Annas, proud and refusing to admit our wrong? Are we like his officer, and abuse those who tell us the truth?

Or do we humbly accept the truth?

Truth can be hard to hear sometimes. Honestly, there are times when I can be really hard-hearted. And more than once, God had to step into the situation and say, “Bruce, listen.”

Even then, there was a struggle. I don’t like to admit I’m wrong. And oftentimes, I simply want to do things my own way.

But as followers of Christ, we can’t live that way. We need to be lovers of the truth. Even when it hurts.

So as James said,

Get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. (James 1:21–22)

How do you respond to people who confront you with truth?

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, truth

John John 18 Luke Luke 22 Mark Mark 14 Matthew Matthew 26

Power and authority, mercy and grace

Post author By Bruce
Post date October 16, 2014
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In this passage, there are three things I see in Jesus.

1. His power and authority. Though surrounded by his enemies, he was in total command of the situation. Standing to face his enemies, he asked them, “Who are you looking for?”

And when they said, “Jesus of Nazareth,” he answered, “I am he.” (John 18:4-5)

At this, his enemies immediately fell to the ground at his use of the divine name. (Exodus 3:13-14; John 8:58)

What fear must have struck their hearts at that moment? Jesus then asked again, “Who are you looking for?” (John 18:6-7)

Completely shaken and with a lot less confidence in their voices, they answered, “Jesus of Nazareth,” and probably braced themselves to be knocked down again.

But instead, Jesus simply said,

I told you that I am he… If you are looking for me, then let these men go. (John 18:8)

And though they went up to arrest him, I don’t think there was any doubt in their minds who was truly in control of the situation.

2. His mercy. Jesus’ disciples, however, perhaps thought to take advantage of their enemies’ uncertainty, and one of them cried out,

Lord, should we strike with our swords? (Luke 22:49)

Not waiting for an answer, Peter dashed up and chopped the ear off of one of the men that had come to arrest Jesus.

(Either he had very good aim going for the ear and hitting it, or he was trying to slice the guy in two, and missed. I kind of think it was the latter).

But Jesus rebuked his followers, and told them,

Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? (Matthew 26:53)

There’s an old song that says Jesus could have called 10,000 angels to destroy the world and set himself free.

Actually, the songwriter miscalculated. 12 legions would be more like 48,000 to 72,000 men. (Then again, maybe the songwriter just thought ten thousand sounded better).

Whatever the case, the point is Jesus could have destroyed them all. But he showed mercy to them. He spared their lives, and in fact, ultimately gave up his life for theirs.

3. His grace. While mercy is not giving a person the punishment he deserves, grace is the giving of something the person does not deserve.

And Malchus, the high priest’s servant, found Jesus’ grace as Jesus took Malchus’ severed ear and restored it. (Luke 22:51)

It was the last healing that Jesus ever performed here on earth. Physically, anyway.

For it was through the cross that Jesus brought spiritual healing. And by his grace, our sins are forgiven, and we can find eternal life. And he gives it to anyone who will believe.

Power and authority. Mercy and grace. Are there any better descriptions of our Lord?

Tags authority, Bible Original, Bible verse, grace, Mercy, power

John John 18 Luke Luke 22 Mark Mark 14 Matthew Matthew 26

Weak

Post author By Bruce
Post date October 14, 2014
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Nobody ever said Satan fights fair. And he doesn’t. When he sees us in our weakness, whether it be physically or emotionally, he will attack.

You see this in these passages. When Jesus and his disciples arrived at the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus warned them,

Pray that you will not fall into temptation. (Luke 22:40)

The disciples had been through an emotional wringer.

They were still trying to make sense of all that Jesus had said, words about his betrayal, words about their betrayal of him, and the thoughts of him being taken from them.

Because of that, they were weakened, not just physically and emotionally (Luke 22:45), but spiritually.

So though Jesus asked them to stay with him and keep watch with him, they fell asleep. Not just once, not just twice, but three times. This despite all Jesus’ pleas and admonishments to keep watch and pray.

The result? When it came time to face Judas and all of Jesus’ enemies, they fled.

Jesus, on the other hand, faced even harsher realities. He was going to the cross, with all the sins of the earth upon him, and his Father’s face turned from him.

We see only a glimpse of his prayers here, but consider that they went on for at least an hour for the first prayer, and that he returned twice more to pray.

He prayed so hard, that drops of blood started to fall from his brow (a condition called hematidrosis—Luke 22:44)

Not only that, with his disciples sleeping, he had no emotional or spiritual support.

But in his weakness, God strengthened him, even sending an angel as support and comfort. (Luke 22:43)

Thus, when the time came for his arrest, he was calm, and fully prepared to face his final trials here on earth.

When I think about why Jesus could do this and his disciples could not, here’s the guess I would hazard.

Jesus throughout his life watched and prayed. Every morning he did so (Mark 1:35), and we can guess that he often did this at night too (Matthew 14:23)

So when the time came when he was weakest, he naturally responded the way he had trained himself.

His disciples, however, had not disciplined themselves that way, so in their weakness, they fell.

I remember reading about a famous football coach named Chuck Noll.

As he was watching film of a game with his team, he pointed out an opposing player who repeatedly made errors late in the game.

And he told his team (this is my paraphrase), “When he was practicing, he was probably lazy about working on his technique. He probably thought to himself, ‘Well, I don’t need to work so hard on this. I know what I need to do, and in the game, I’ll do it.’

“But when you’re tired and beat up late in the game, you don’t think, you react. And you react in the way that you trained yourself.”

The same is true in the spiritual world.

If you tell yourself, “Well, when I’m in trouble, I know what to do. I’ll pray,” but never make a daily practice of that, when you’re tired and beat up spiritually, you’ll find yourself unable to do even that.

And like the disciples, you’ll fall prey to your own weakness when your greatest hour of trial comes.

But if like Jesus you make a practice of seeking God, of watching and talking with him, when your hour of trial comes, you’ll find yourself able to do what you know you should. And you will stand.

How about you? Are you making a daily practice of watching and talking with God?

Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak. (Mark 14:38)

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, prayer, watching, weak

John John 17

Jesus’ desire for us

I wonder just how much people in the church really know the deepest desires of Jesus?

We saw one of those desires a few days ago, that he really desired an intimate relationship with us. That eternal life is all about drawing close to him, knowing him, and being known by him.

But that’s not his only desire for us. He desires us to be in complete unity with our brothers and sisters in Christ. He prayed,

My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.

May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me.

May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. (John 17:20–23)

Jesus desires that we have the same kind of relationship with each other as he does with the Father. A relationship where we are one. What does that mean?

Part of that means unity in purpose. That we are all working together toward the same goal: the preaching of the gospel.

But I think it also means a relationship where we are honoring each other above ourselves. Where we’re looking out for each other’s interests above our own. (Philippians 2:3–4)

But too often, we don’t live that way. And when people walk into the church, they see the same bickering, resentful spirit that they see outside the church. The result? They walk away.

Meanwhile, the people in the church are so self-involved, they don’t even notice what just happened. And because of that Jesus grieves.

How much do you grieve Jesus by how you treat others in the church? By the jealousy, the backbiting, and the resentment you hold in your heart.

Not only are we hurting him, but we hurt ourselves. Worse, we cause the world around us to continue stumbling in the dark because they’re convinced they won’t find any light in the church.

How about you? Are you one with those in your church?

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, bickering, resentment, unity

John John 17

Sanctified, being sanctified

Post author By Bruce
Post date October 12, 2014
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Sanctification.

It’s one of those words that could best be described as “Christianese.” A word that has meaning in the church, and very little outside of it.

It’s a word you often see in scripture, and one that you might hear thrown around in Sunday messages.

But what does it mean? Essentially, it has two meanings. It means “to be made separate for God’s purposes.” And it means “to be made pure.”

We see both of these ideas here. Jesus prayed for his disciples,

They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.

Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.

As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.

For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. (John 17:16–19)

Let’s take a look at verse 19 first. Jesus said that he sanctified himself that his disciples (and us, for that matter) would be sanctified too.

In other words, he set himself apart for the Father’s purposes by coming to this earth and going to the cross.

By doing so, he has sanctified us, both in the sense of purifying us of our sins, and also of making it possible for us to become truly his.

Now we are no longer truly of this world, though we are in it. Our way of thinking, the way that we live is completely different from the way the world thinks and lives.

That’s why they can no longer understand us, and some even hate us.

But each day, we are being sanctified.

Through God’s word, he shows us what is sinful in his sight, and he causes us to hate such things. And when we sin, his Word causes us to mourn over our sins and repent. In that way, he is constantly purifying us.

But through his Word, he also shows us day by day what he wants of us. He shows us how we are to live our lives and fulfill the purposes of his kingdom. And as we read and live these things, we become set apart for his purposes each day.

So in one sense we have been sanctified, having our sins cleansed because of the blood Jesus shed on the cross. And in another, we are constantly being sanctified day by day.

And since Jesus prays for this in our lives, let it be our prayer too.

Lord Jesus, please sanctify me through and through each day. Make me more like you, hating sin, and seeking to join the Father in his work every day.

Lord, where I fall, please forgive me and pick me up. Purify me, and make me yours each day. Amen.

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, God's purposes, holiness, purity, sanctified

John John 17

Prayed for in the midst of a hostile world

Post author By Bruce
Post date October 11, 2014
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If there’s one thing I see in this passage, it’s the tender care that Jesus has for us as he prays for us.

And he does pray for us.

So often we pray for others. But Jesus, as our high priest, prays for us. And one thing he prays for is our protection.

Yes, I know Jesus in this passage was specifically praying for his disciples, but I do believe that he prays the same for us even now.

Because just as Jesus sent his disciples out into a hostile world, he sends us out. And just as his disciples faced spiritual opposition, so do we.

So Jesus prayed (and prays),

Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me…

I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.

My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. (John 17:11, 14–15)

There may be times you face spiritual attack. There may be times when people hate you because of the gospel. There may be times you will be persecuted.

But because Jesus is praying for us, the Father puts definite limits on what Satan can do to us, and we will never be given more than we can bear.

So whatever you are going through, no matter how hard it is, stand firm.

Stand in hope that God is still with you. And stand in the knowledge that you will come through whatever you’re going through in victory. Because Jesus is praying for you.

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, prayer, protection, spiritual attack

John John 17

What eternal life truly is

Post author By Bruce
Post date October 10, 2014
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A lot of times, we think of eternal life as simply living forever in heavenly bliss. Certainly we will experience that, but to many people, strangely enough, it’s a life devoid of God.

Oh, they have some concept that God will be there and that we’ll know his love, but the idea of really knowing him and being known by him is the last thing on their minds. And that’s the way they live their lives.

And I’m not just talking about non-Christians. Even Christians have a tendency to live that way.

They go to church, they sing songs, they hear the message. Maybe during the week, they even crack open their Bible and pray from time to time.

But the rest of the time, their relationship with God takes a back seat to everything else that goes on in their lives.

Work, family, recreation. All these things are good in themselves, but too often, they leave too little time for us to truly develop our relationship with God.

And ultimately, that’s what life is all about. That’s what eternal life is about: our relationship with him.

In his “Great Priestly Prayer,” Jesus prayed,

Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. (John 17:3)

Note that Jesus doesn’t say eternal life is living forever (though it is).

Note also that Jesus doesn’t say eternal life means being forever happy (though that’s true too).

Rather, he says eternal life is knowing God. It’s knowing Jesus. Not just knowing about them. But truly knowing them in a deep intimate way.

Jesus prayed,

May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me…
I in them and you in me…

Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world…

I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.” (John 17:21, 23, 24, 26)

Life is all about knowing God. To draw near to him. To know him intimately. And to be known by him.

That’s why eternal life is not just future, it’s right here, right now. Jesus is saying here that even now, he has revealed the Father to us and is continuing to do so.

And when we go to where Jesus is after our time is done, it’s not the start of something new, it’s a continuation of what we started here on earth.

Wouldn’t it be sad though, to go to heaven with only a passing acquaintance with God? To have a relationship where you “passed a few emails between you,” but no real relationship?

How much more joyful would it be if all along, you’d been in close relationship with him?

Talking to him, and hearing from him daily? Seeing him work in you and through you every day? And having had that relationship all along, then seeing him face to face?

I don’t know about you, but I prefer the latter. Having said that, am I really living that way? Probably not. But I want to. How about you?

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, eternal life, relationship

John John 16

Finding peace and joy

It’s very clear from this passage that all that Jesus was saying was weighing heavily on the disciples, mostly because they were so focused on the idea that Jesus was leaving.

As a result, it overshadowed everything else he was saying.

Instead of hearing all that he said about the Spirit and the good things he had in store for them, the only thing they could think about was, “Jesus is leaving. What are we going to do?”

And so Jesus both warned them and encouraged them, saying,

I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.

A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world.

So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. (John 16:20–22)

All this was realized in Jesus’ death and resurrection. When Jesus was crucified, his enemies rejoiced while his disciples fell into utter despair. But when they saw him alive again, triumphant over the grave, their grief turned into joy.

And despite all the persecution and hardship they endured, no one was able to take away their joy, and because of that, they changed the world.

But I think the same is true of us in many ways. Until Jesus returns, we will face many troubles in this world. Now is our time of grief.

Paul puts it this way,

We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.

Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. (Romans 8:22–23)

But when Jesus comes again and we see him face to face, we will rejoice and no one will be able to take away our joy.

Until he comes, however, because of Jesus’ work on the cross, we now have direct access to God. Because of that, we can ask anything we wish of him in Jesus’ name and he will give it to us, and we can find joy here and now. (John 16:23–24, 26–27)

I think we spend too much time making disclaimers about Jesus’ words here.

Yes, our prayers need to be according to God’s will. Yes, God reserves the right to say no if we’re asking for a scorpion, thinking it’s a fish.

But we spend so much time making disclaimers that we become afraid of asking at all. And our Father wants us to ask freely.

How much blessing do we miss out on because we don’t ask?

How much is our joy incomplete because we fail to ask for the things we desire in our hearts?

So let us ask. And again, remember the words of Paul who said,

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.

And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will. (Romans 8:26–27)

Sometimes in our human weakness, we do not know what to pray for and sometimes even pray for what is bad for us.

But during those times, the Spirit intercedes for us and prays for what’s good. That’s why Paul can say,

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

So let us rest in these things:

That no matter how bad things are now, Jesus is coming back and will make all things right.
That because God loves us, we can ask of the Father anything, knowing the Spirit intercedes for us and will only give us what is good.
That God is working all things out for our good and for his purposes. And no power on earth can stop him from doing so.

With these things in mind, I think Jesus’ words ring even more powerfully.

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, joy, peace, prayer

John John 16

The work of the Spirit

Who is the Holy Spirit? Even today, many Christians are confused as to who he is.

And that’s one thing to remember. The Holy Spirit is a “he,” not that he’s literally of the male gender—although God chooses to reveal him that way—but that he is a person.

Not a thing. Not a force. A person.

We see this clearly in the title that Jesus gives him. He calls him, “The Counselor.”

The word counselor here is very much like the title we give lawyers today. They are advocates for the ones that they represent. They give advice, they help, and they defend against those that would condemn them.

This is hardly something you could attribute to an impersonal force.

So let us make it clear in our minds: the Holy Spirit is a person.

When Satan tries to condemn us, the Holy Spirit intercedes for us along with Christ.

When we don’t even know how to pray, he prays for us (Romans 8:26–27, 34).

When we start to question God’s love for us, he reminds us we are God’s children (Romans 8:15–16, 1 John 3:24).

But Jesus tells us more. The Holy Spirit is the one who convicts people in regards to sin, righteousness, and judgment.

So often, we think that we are the ones that have to change people’s hearts. But while we are responsible for scattering the seeds of the gospel and watering it, only the Spirit can make it grow. Only he can change the human heart.

He is the one who convicts people for rejecting Christ. (Notice here, by the way, that sin, more than simply doing “bad things,” is associated first and foremost with a rejection of Christ.)

With Christ’s visible example of righteousness gone from this earth, the Holy Spirit is the one who shows people what is right and points to Christ as the only way to salvation.

And it is the Holy Spirit who warns people of the coming judgment, not only for the prince of this world (Satan), but for all those who reject Christ.

One last thing that Jesus tells us about the Spirit is that he leads us into all truth. He takes the things that Jesus has said and shows us what they mean.

Words that we can’t understand when we first read them in the Bible, he will bring to mind and shine the light of understanding on when we need them.

The thing that you can’t help but notice in the last part of this passage is the interaction between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

All that the Father knows, Jesus knows. And all that Jesus knows, the Holy Spirit will reveal to us at the appropriate time. For all three are the one God, and they all work together in perfect concert.

What does this mean for us? When Jesus says that it was for our benefit that he departed, he meant it.

For through the Holy Spirit, God dwells in each one of us who believes in Jesus. He works in us to bring others to him. He intercedes for us and defends us. He teaches and guides us. And he comforts us.

Thank you, Jesus, for the gift of your Spirit. That through Him, you are truly Immanuel, “God with us.”

Holy Spirit, lead us, guide us, teach us, and help us each day. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Tags advocate, Bible Original, Bible verse, Holy Spirit, trinity

John John 15 John 16

An occupational hazard

I remember one time working for a church here in Japan, and the pastor’s daughter was working at a Christian pre‑school.

One day, she complained that one of her students stabbed her hand with a pair of scissors. (Fortunately, it was a blunt one, but still.)

Later on, she told me, “We need an English teacher at our school. Don’t you want to come?”

Needless to say, I declined. Getting stabbed in the hand is one occupational hazard I could do without. 🙂

As Christians, however, we do face an “occupational hazard” that we cannot avoid.

If we are going to testify for Christ, there will be people that will get angry with us. There will even be people that will hate us for it. Jesus said,

If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.

If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own.

As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.

Remember the words I spoke to you: “No servant is greater than his master.”

If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.

They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me. (John 15:18–21)

Jesus was perfect love. He lived a perfect life. And still people hated him. Can we expect to escape the same fate as Jesus?

This is not to say that all will hate us. Some will love us for telling them the truth about Jesus. But to expect no conflict at all is unrealistic unless you compromise the message.

And unfortunately, far too many Christians do. Why? Because they don’t want to be hated. They don’t want the conflict.

I’m not saying that we should go out of our way to generate conflict and hatred. We’re going to generate enough as it is just by representing Jesus.

But neither should we be afraid of conflict by telling people the truth. Not just part of the truth, but the “whole counsel of God.” (Acts 20:27)

Jesus never shrank back from it. Why should we?

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, hatred, occupational hazard, persecution

John John 15

The command of love

I wonder if we really understand the implications of Jesus’ command that we love one another.

One of the clear implications is that love is not merely a feeling but a choice. No one can command a feeling, not even God himself.

If I were to tell you, for example, “Get angry at me,” you’d have a tough time doing so unless I hit you a few times, because anger is a feeling. It comes out based on the circumstances around us.

Neither could you tell a person who is depressed, “Be happy!” and have them respond in a truly happy manner within seconds. Happiness too is a feeling that is based on our circumstances.

Yet Jesus commands us to love. If love were merely a soupy feeling, Jesus could not command us to love. Our love would be based instead on the kind of relationship we had with the people around us.

If our relationship were good, we’d love them. If it were bad, we wouldn’t.

So what is love? It is to place high value on people, and to treat them that way. Jesus tells us the ultimate expression of that kind of love when he said,

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13)

In other words, ultimate love is when we value the lives of others even more than our own lives.

It is, in fact, the kind of love Jesus showed us. He valued us so highly, that he left his rightful place in heaven to come to this earth and die in our place. He loved us so much that he took the punishment for our sins that we deserved.

And so Jesus tells us that just as he valued us, we are to value others. We are to value others so highly, that we are willing to sacrifice our lives for theirs.

“But that’s impossible,” you say. “You don’t know the kinds of people I have to deal with every day! I’m supposed to sacrifice myself for their sake? To value them more highly than myself?”

Yes. And that takes a total change of heart. The kind of change that only comes when you’re connected to the Vine.

As you receive love from God, and as you understand just how highly God values you despite your weaknesses and despite your failures, it then gives you the ability to value those around you despite their weaknesses and failures.

Until you truly understand this, however, it’ll be tough to show the kind of love that God does.

Are there people that you struggle to love? I know some people I struggle to love.

But love is not a mere feeling. It is a choice. A choice that we can only make when we truly understand God’s love for us.

So let us draw near to God and root ourselves in his love.

And as his love flows in us, we will bear the fruit of love that God desires of us, and that this world is desperately searching for.

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse

John John 15

Asking that we might bear fruit

Post author By Bruce
Post date October 5, 2014
No Comments on Asking that we might bear fruit

In this passage, Jesus makes a very powerful promise.

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. (John 15:7)

A lot of people take these kinds of words to mean that if we ask God to make us rich, he will.

But look carefully at what he says. “If you remain in me. And if my words remain in you.”

We talked yesterday about what it meant to remain in Jesus. It meant to live a life of trust in him. Trusting that he knows what is best and is looking out for our best. And because of that, we do the things he asks.

But if a person is truly putting his total trust in God, how in love with money will that person be?

Instead of seeking temporary things like money or possessions, what will such a person pursue? A relationship with God. And a life that makes an impact on the world around them for the kingdom of God.

A life, in short, that bears fruit for God. And that’s why Jesus says in the very next verse,

This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. (John 15:8)

The whole context of asking what we wish is of bearing fruit. Jesus again says later,

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. (John 15:16a)

And immediately after that, he says again,

Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. (John 15:16b)

What is the one way that God wants us to bear fruit more than any other? He tells us in verse 17.

This is my command: Love each other. (John 15:17)

If we do this, if we love one another, and show the people around us who God really is, we will make an impact in this world. We will bear fruit. Fruit, as Jesus said, that will last.

And with a heart that is transformed, with a heart that looks not to temporary things but eternal, God will be more than happy to give us whatever we ask in his name that we might bear even more fruit for him.

So the question is, “Are you remaining in him?”

Is your heart focused on him and pleasing him? Is your heart focused on serving him and touching the world around you with his love? Or is it still focused on temporary things?

Where is your heart today?

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse

John John 15

The need to abide

Yesterday I talked about the Father’s work in our lives. That our righteousness, our fruit, does not come from our own efforts but through his work in us.

He cleans us through his Word (verse 3), he lifts us up out of our sin and failures, and he prunes us so that we can bear fruit.

If bearing fruit does not come from our own efforts then, does that mean we don’t need to do anything?

Not at all. There’s one thing that’s utterly essential for us to do. We need to abide (the NIV says “remain”) in him.

What does that mean? It means to walk in close relationship with him. To keep him at the center of your life. To spend time with him. To listen to him. And then to do what he says.

Jesus said,

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.

If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. (John 15:9–10)

We said in an earlier blog that more than merely saying, “Do what I say!” Jesus is saying, “Trust me. I love you. I want what’s best for you.”

It’s hard to have a relationship with someone that you won’t trust. And when we say to God, “I can’t trust you,” it puts a distance between us and God.

But as we trust him, and obey him, it becomes a cycle that draws us ever closer to him.

We trust him, so we do what he says. We see the blessing that comes from obedience, and we see that he really wants what’s best for us.

This causes us to love and trust him more, and so we obey more, we get blessed more, and we end up loving and trusting him even more.

And it’s that kind of relationship with God that leads to fruitfulness in our lives.

But what happens if we live in continual distrust of God? Then we will never bear fruit for God.

Jesus said this,

Remain in me, and I will remain in you.

No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. (John 15:4–6)

How about you? Are you walking in a relationship with God where you love and trust him completely?

Only by doing so can you bear fruit. Apart from that kind of relationship, we can do nothing that will please God.

And if you walk in continual distrust of God, you will end up like Judas, withered, thrown into the fire and burned.

But if you walk in relationship with God, you will bear fruit, and you will find joy. As Jesus said,

I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. (John 15:11)

A relationship with God starts by trusting Jesus in the most important thing of all: your salvation. John tells us in one of his letters,

And this is [God’s] command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ… (1 John 3:23)

If you haven’t already, won’t you make that decision today?

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse

John John 15

Lifted up and pruned

One of the biggest differences between Christianity and every other religion is that our righteousness does not depend on our own efforts. Rather, it comes from God’s work in us, changing us from the inside out.

God first introduces that concept in the Old Testament, where he said through Jeremiah,

“The time is coming…when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah…”

“This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD.

“I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” (Jeremiah 31:31, 33)

And again, in Ezekiel, where God said,

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. (Ezekiel 36:26–27)

Now in this passage in John, Jesus shows us further the work of God, as he says,

I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.

He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. (John 15:1–2)

Here we see the work of the Father, first cutting off branches that bear no fruit while pruning others so that they will be more fruitful.

What does it mean that God cuts off branches that bear no fruit?

I don’t believe from other scriptures that it means that we can lose our salvation. There are two other possibilities.

One is that he’s talking about people like Judas who came to learn of Jesus. But after years of learning from him, he bore no fruit. He never came to true faith. And so he was cut off.

Many people today go to church, they learn many things from the Bible but never come to true faith. And so eventually, they’re cut off.

There is another possibility, however. The words “cut off” can be translated “lifted up.”

It’s possible that Jesus is saying that the Father lifts those branches that are not bearing fruit up into the sunlight to better nourish the plants so that they can start to bear fruit.

In the same way, God lifts us from out of our sin and failures and works in our hearts to bring about change so that we can start to bear fruit.

And as we start to bear fruit, he prunes us, cutting out the things from our lives that would hinder our fruitfulness.

I think God’s work in Peter’s life illustrates all this.

At a time when Peter was depressed and discouraged for having failed Jesus so badly, Jesus lifted him up and encouraged him.

He didn’t wait for Peter to change himself. He went to Peter and started to work in his heart, pulling him out of his depression, and then challenging him to move on. (John 21)

And though Peter started to bear fruit, Jesus didn’t stop there. Rather, he pruned away Peter’s prejudices and caused him to become more fruitful as he started to reach out to the Gentiles he had once despised. (Acts 10–11)

But it was a continual process, and when Peter fell again, Jesus lifted him up and pruned him further. (Galatians 2:11–14)

How about you? Are you discouraged about where you are as a Christian?

Remember that God doesn’t condemn you. Nor does he give up on you. Rather, he will continue working in you until you become all he desires you to be.

So don’t shy away from him. Draw near. Remain in him. And you will bear fruit.

Tags bear fruit, Bible Original, Bible verse, lifted up, pruned

John John 15

Chosen to be fruitful

This is one of the most famous passages in the Gospels in which Jesus shows us a beautiful illustration of our relationship with God.

Here he calls himself the vine. In the Old Testament, Israel was referred to as a vine. They were to bear fruit for God so that the nations would see them and be drawn to God.

But through their disobedience they bore only bad fruit, and as a result, God brought judgment upon them. (Isaiah 5:1–7, Jeremiah 2:21)

So now Jesus doesn’t just call himself the vine, but the “true” vine. A vine whose fruit would not only draw people to God, but save them.

And Jesus tells us we are the branches to the vine. He tells us in verse 16,

I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. (John 15:16)

What does it mean to bear fruit? I think the first thing it means is the fruit of a changed life.

Paul, after talking about the kind of sinful life we once lived, tells us,

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self‑control. (Galatians 5:22–23)

In other words, if we are Christians, it should be evidenced in our lives. Our lives should be different from what they once were.

And as our lives change, we’ll see fruit in that we’ll start to make an impact on the people around us. People will see God himself in us, be drawn to him, and be saved.

That’s what God originally intended for Israel, and that’s what God intends for us now. Peter puts it this way,

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. (1 Peter 2:9)

You were chosen to be fruitful. Are you?

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, branches, fruit, vine

John John 14

Never alone

One thing my five‑year‑old daughter used to do quite often, and even does now from time to time, is crawl into my wife’s and my bed and snuggle in between us. When we ask why, she’ll say, “I was lonely.”

I think all of us can relate to that feeling sometimes. And the disciples themselves were feeling lonely when Jesus said he was going away.

But Jesus told them,

I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth.

The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me.

Because I live, you also will live.

On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.

Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me.

He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him…

If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. (John 14:16–21, 23)

Here we see the Trinity in all its fullness. And it tells us a very important truth: God is with us.

Jesus said he would send a counselor to us, God the Holy Spirit. And that the Holy Spirit would teach us and remind us of the things that Jesus said.

Then Jesus said that he himself would come to us and that he would be in us. That he would not abandon us as orphans.

Finally, he said that the Father himself would make his home in us.

The key? We walk in obedience to him. And that all comes down to what we talked about yesterday: trust. Do we trust God enough that we obey him?

That’s why Jesus said at the beginning of this chapter,

Trust in God; trust also in me. (John 14:1)

It is impossible to have a relationship with God if we refuse to trust him.

Closely related to that is love. Do we love God enough to want to please him? Do we love him enough to avoid the things that hurt him, and to do the things that bring a smile to his face?

If we love, trust, and obey him, then we’ll find that God is right there with us, through the good times and bad. And because of that, we can find peace.

Jesus told his disciples,

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid. (John 14:27)

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, God with us, peace, trinity

John John 14

If we truly love Jesus

This is one of those passages that would probably make many people turn their heads if they really thought about it.

Jesus says to start off,

If you love me, you will obey what I command. (John 14:15)

Think about that a minute. If your husband, wife, boyfriend or girlfriend said to you, “If you love me, you will obey what I command,” what would your response be?

Most probably, “I’m outta here. Forget this relationship.”

I think there are certain things to keep in mind, however.

First, Jesus is not only our Savior, but our Lord. Yet he’s not some tyrant looking to make our lives miserable just for his own pleasure. Rather, he genuinely loves us and is looking out for our good.

More than that, he’s our creator, and he knows exactly how our lives were designed to work.

And so this idea of obedience is not so much a matter of, “Do what I say!”

Rather, Jesus is telling us, “Trust me. If you really love me, trust me. I truly know what is best for you, and I truly want what is best for you.”

Our problem is that we’ve seen so many people trying to order us around not because they’re looking out for our best, but because they’re looking out for their own interests.

That’s why when God tells us, “Trust me, I want what’s best for you,” we tend to look at him with a jaded eye.

This is not a new problem. It goes all the way to the garden of Eden.

God told Adam and Eve, “Trust me, I want what’s best for you. So stay away from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Believe me, you don’t want to know what evil is.”

But Satan caused Eve to become jaded to God’s intention. To start thinking, “God doesn’t really want what’s best for me. He’s holding something back from me.”

And to this day, people hold that same way of thinking.

The other thing to remember is that our sin really hurts God. He is so pure, and righteous, he can’t even stand the sight of sin.

Do we really want to do something that hurts him? Rather, wouldn’t we want to do things that please him?

If you love your wife or husband, for example, will you purposely do things that hurt them? “Yes, I know it will hurt them, but I’ll do it anyway.” Of course not.

Rather, we do things that we know will bring a smile to their faces.

And that’s what our relationship with God should look like.

We love him so much that we do the things that please him, and we stay away from the things that we know will hurt him.

Jesus modeled this with his own life while he was on earth.

He loved and trusted his Father so much, he always did what his Father said, even though it meant going to the cross.

Why? Because he believed his Father knew what was best.

How about you? What does your relationship with God look like? Do you trust him enough to do what he says?

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, obedience, Sin, trust

John John 14

Powerful promises

Jesus made some pretty amazing promises here. The type that make you say, “Really? Are you serious?”

Jesus said,

I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. (John 14:12)

Jesus did some amazing things. He healed the sick. Raised the dead. Taught thousands, bringing the good news to those without hope.

And anyone who has faith in him will do these things too? And even greater?

I suppose you could look at the church in the book of Acts, and say that Jesus was specifically talking about them.

And certainly, they did all that Jesus did and more. Not only that, they did it on a larger scale, not only taking the gospel to Israel, but beyond Israel to the world.

But Jesus said, “anyone who has faith in me.” Anyone. Not just the disciples. Not just the people in the New Testament. Anyone who has faith in Jesus will do what he did and even greater things.

How could Jesus say that? Because he was going to the Father, and he would send his Holy Spirit to live in each one of us. And through his power working in us, we can change the world around us.

Does that mean we’ll heal the sick and raise the dead like Jesus did? I wonder sometimes how much we limit God by our lack of faith.

I have heard of cases in third world countries where such things actually happened because people were too “ignorant” of the realities of life, and simply took Jesus at his word, and God worked miracles as a result.

My former pastor in Kobe was dying of cancer, and to the shock of his doctor, refused to give up at his diagnosis of 6 months to live. Now he is healthier than ever, and his doctor can only say, “Keep doing whatever you’re doing.”

Another woman in our church had a grandmother who received Christ recently, and though she had once been almost deaf, now she can hear clearly.

A part of me is skeptical. How long will these things last? Can it last? I don’t know. All I know is that God is working. And he is working today.

Maybe we should take him more at his word when he says,

And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.

You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. (John 14:13-14)

This is not to say that Jesus will give us a sports car if we ask him for it in his name.

But if we ask things, seeking not our own glory but God’s, seeking that his will be done, and not ours, then we will see answers to prayer. Answers beyond what we can even ask or imagine. (Ephesians 3:20)

God wants to shape the world around us. And he wants to use us to do it.

The only question is, do we believe that he can use us? And will we surrender our prejudices, our skepticism, and our lack of faith to him, and simply say, “Your will be done. Use me as you will.”

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, faith, God's Spirit, prayer

John John 14

To see and know God

How can we possibly know God? How can we know what he is like?

Obviously, when we’re talking about an invisible God, there can only be one answer: if he chooses to reveal himself.

God first revealed himself through direct contact, through visions, through dreams, through angels, and through prophets.

Then Jesus came. And when he did, he was no mere man. Rather, he was God himself, coming down and living among us. That’s why he could say,

If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him. (John 14:7)

And when Philip asked to see the Father, Jesus responded,

Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time?

Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?

The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.

Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. (John 14:9-11)

This is not to say that the Father is Jesus, or Jesus is the Father. But as Paul wrote,

The Son is the image of the invisible God. (Colossians 1:15)

All that God is, we see in Christ. When we hear Jesus speak, we hear the Father’s words. When we see him react to situations, we see how the Father reacts.

So if we want to truly know the Father, all we need to do is look at Christ.

Let’s put it this way. When people see my daughter, they say, “She looks just like you.”

And as she grows up, a lot of the way she thinks and acts will mirror the way I think and act. You can learn a lot about me by looking at her. It’s the way of fathers and their children.

But while she is an imperfect mirror of what I am like, Jesus is a perfect reflection of what the Father is like.

So what’s my point? Do you want to know God? Look at Jesus.

Do you want to know how God thinks? Look at Jesus’ words.

Do you want to know how God responds to different situations? Look at how Jesus responded.

We don’t have to guess any longer what God is like. We can know because he came down to this earth and he became one of us.

So let us pursue a relationship with him. And if we do, we will find him.

As James wrote,

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. (James 4:8)

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, Jesus

John John 14

The Way

This is the one passage that provides such a stumbling block to so many people in the world today.

Many people simply refuse to believe it because the implications of what Jesus said are so deep, and they are simply not willing to accept them.

What did Jesus say?

He had just told the disciples that he was going away to prepare a place for them and that they knew the way to where he was going.

Thomas, who had no idea what he was talking about, then asked the obvious question.

Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way? (John 14:5)

Jesus replied,

I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)

Jesus didn’t say, “I will show you the way to the Father.”

He didn’t say, “I’ll show you the things you need to do to get to the Father.”

He said, “I AM the way to the Father. If you want to go to heaven and see the Father, you need to go through me.”

That’s an amazing statement. But let’s put it this way.

If you want to see the President of the United States, you can’t just walk into the White House and into the Oval Office.

Assuming you have an invitation, someone will meet you at the door and escort you in. Without that escort, there’s no way you’re getting in to see the President. That escort is your path to the President.

Well, Jesus is much more than an escort. He is God’s Son. And it is only because he paid the price for our sin by dying on the cross that we now can have access to the Father.

He takes us in before the Father and he intercedes for us as our high priest. (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 10:19-22).

But without his sacrifice on the cross, and without him by our side, there is no way we’re ever going to heaven, no less see the Father.

Jesus also told Thomas, “I am the truth.”

Many people are looking for truth. Others are convinced that truth really does not exist, particularly when it comes to spiritual matters.

But Jesus says, “I am truth. My words are truth. Truth is not relative. All that I say is absolute truth. And you will never find truth apart from me.”

More, Jesus said, “I am the life.”

So many people seek for the meaning of life. They’re seeking a life that matters. They’re seeking a life that’s worthwhile. And ultimately, they seek life beyond the grave.

To that, Jesus says, “I am life. Do you want the meaning of life? It’s found in me.

Do you want a life that matters? A life worth living? You can try finding life in money, possessions, power, marriage, children, sex, or a thousand different things.

But you will not find life in any of these things. Ultimately, these things will leave you empty. I’m the only one that makes life worth living.

And if you want life beyond the grave, you won’t find it in Buddha, or Muhammad, or any other religious leader. Only in me can your sins be forgiven, and you can find eternal life.”

But like I said, people don’t want to accept this. The implications are too deep.

It means casting aside the things they value most highly. It means that they can no longer simply live as they want to.

And so they say Jesus was a liar. Or misguided. Or misquoted.

But if you want to find true life, you can only find it in Jesus.

Truth is absolute and it is found in him. And if you’re ever going to see heaven and meet the Father, you can only do so with Jesus by your side.

I can’t make you believe that. You need to find that out for yourself. And you will, one way or another.

So as Isaiah urged the Israelites, I urge you now.

Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near.

Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts.

Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. (Isaiah 55:6-7)

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, life, truth, way

John John 14

What’s waiting for us

As I said in my last blog, the disciples were both stunned and troubled by what Jesus had just told them.

First, he told them he was leaving and they could not follow, and then he told them that they would all abandon him.

If that weren’t enough, he told them that Peter, who seemed the strongest of them all, was going to deny Jesus three times.

Jesus must have read their hearts, for he immediately tried to comfort them saying,

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. (John 14:1)

In other words, “Don’t worry. I know these things sound awful. I know you can’t imagine these things happening. But God is still in control. Trust him. Trust me.”

He then gave them a glimpse of the future and why he had to go. He said,

In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you.

I am going there to prepare a place for you.

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. (John 14:2-3)

Here we see three promises Jesus gives us.

First, he’s preparing a place for us. If we have put our trust in him as our Savior, he is preparing a place for us in heaven.

I don’t know if it’s a “mansion” as translated in the King James Version, or if it’s a deluxe condo. But whatever Jesus is preparing for us, I know it’s going to be glorious. Jesus would make nothing less.

I love the sentiment of Keith Green who wrote in one of his songs,

In six days You created everything,
But You’ve been working on Heaven [for] two thousand years.

Jesus then promises that he will come back again.

The disciples were freaking out that he was leaving them. But Jesus reassured them, it would not be for forever. That he would come back. First, by sending his Spirit to dwell in them, but also, someday, by coming back literally in physical form.

And when he does, Jesus promises that he will take us to be where he is.

The apostle Paul writes about it this way,

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

And so we will be with the Lord forever. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18)

Think about this, though. Jesus made these promises to a bunch of people who he knew would be unfaithful to him and would abandon him within hours.

How could he promise them these things? Because he wasn’t finished with them yet. And there was no way that he would ever give up on them.

And neither will Jesus ever give up on you. Whatever struggles you may go through, however badly you may fail him, he is preparing a place for you.

So don’t get discouraged. Keep getting up, and pressing on.

As an old song once put it,

So why should I worry?
Why should I fret?
‘Cause I’ve got a Mansion Builder
Who ain’t through with me yet.

– 2nd Chapter of Acts

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, discouragement, heaven, Jesus' return

John John 13 Luke Luke 22 Mark Mark 14 Matthew Matthew 26

A God who knows our weakness and accepts us anyway

Post author By Bruce
Post date September 24, 2014
No Comments on A God who knows our weakness and accepts us anyway

When Jesus told the disciples that he was leaving for a place they could not follow, it must have really troubled them. He was their teacher, and they couldn’t imagine life without him.

As usual, it was Peter who spoke out, saying,

Lord, where are you going… why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you. (John 13:36-37)

Jesus then stunned Peter and the rest of the disciples by saying,

Will you really lay down your life for me? I tell you the truth, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times! (John 13:38)

He then said,

Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift (all of) you as wheat.

But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers. (Luke 22:31-32)

Again, Peter declared,

Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death. (Luke 22:33)

But again Jesus replied,

I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me. (Luke 22:34)

Perhaps, at that point, the other disciples thought that Peter was the betrayer that Jesus had talked about earlier. Perhaps even Peter was wondering.

So Jesus said,

You will all fall away… for it is written: ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’

But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee. (Mark 14:27-28)

Still Peter continued to insist,

Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will. (Matthew 26:33).

So Jesus made his declaration even stronger and more specific saying,

I tell you the truth… today—yes, tonight—before the rooster crows twice you yourself will disown me three times. (Mark 14:30)

Even then, Peter refused to believe it, and insisted with all the other disciples that he would never do such a thing, even if it meant death. (Mark 14:31)

In the end, of course, they all did as Jesus had predicted. All of them ran away when Jesus was arrested, and Peter ended up denying Jesus three times.

What’s my point? Jesus knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows our weaknesses, even when we can’t see them ourselves. And yet, he accepts us.

That’s the amazing thing of all of this. He never condemned Peter.

Rather, he tried to encourage him saying, “I’ve been praying for you that your faith will not fail. You will fall, but you will get up again. And when you do, encourage the others.”

In the same way, Jesus knows our weakness. Yet he doesn’t condemn us.

Rather, he, as our great high priest, prays for us daily. He reaches out to pull us up when we fall down. And when we get up again, he tells us to have mercy on the others we see around us who have fallen as well.

So in our weakness, in our failures, let us always remember,

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1)

Tags acceptance, betrayal, Bible Original, Bible verse, denial, forgiveness

John John 13

That the world may know

With Judas now gone, Jesus begins his final address to his disciples before the cross. And to this bickering, prideful group, he said,

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. (John 13:34-35)

This was the group that even up to a few hours before, were arguing about who was greatest among them. Who were too proud to take the role of a servant to wash each other’s feet.

And so Jesus wanted to drive home what was really important to him: that they love one another.

Notice he doesn’t say, “Love everyone around you,” although most certainly he wanted them to do that too.

He said, “Love each other.”

Why?

Because that’s how people will know we are truly his followers.

Yet even today, the church is so lacking in love. We fight among ourselves, as prideful and bickering as the disciples were.

And when people walk into the church, they start to think, “Is this what followers of Jesus are like? Is this what Jesus is like? If so, I want nothing of it.”

I remember walking into a church once, and for some reason, the worship leader wasn’t leading worship. Another guy, who was just a beginner, was up there struggling to lead the worship.

The worship leader, meanwhile, was just sitting in the back stone-faced. And the tension in that room was utterly palpable.

I later found out that he had just had a falling out with one of the leaders just prior to my arrival.

The sad thing about it all? A visitor came that day. And I think she noticed it all. She never did come back, so far as I know.

If we can’t learn to love the people in the church, how can we love the people outside of it? And if we act just like the people outside of the church, how in the world are they ever going to see Jesus in us?

How about you? You can’t change the other people inside of the church and make them more loving. But you can shape your own attitude with God’s help.

How are you responding to those in church around you?

Are you looking down on others? Sniping at others? Tearing them down? Grumbling about their shortcomings? Or are you approaching them with the same love that Jesus approached you?

The next time you go to church, or even as you go to church today, think on these words. Meditate on them. And ask God to help you live them.

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. (John 13:34-35)

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, love

John John 13 Luke Luke 22 Mark Mark 14 Matthew Matthew 26

Betrayal

As I’ve mentioned before, harmonizing these passages is a little tough.

One question is whether Judas participated in the first communion. Luke seems to imply so, while the other gospel writers seem to say Judas didn’t.

It’s just my opinion, but I believe Judas was there, and that the other writers, for whatever reason, didn’t keep things in chronological order.

At any rate, in these passages, Jesus dealt with his betrayer Judas.

There are some interesting things to note here.

While it was John who sat on one side of Jesus (assuming that he is “the one Jesus loved,” there seems to be a good chance that it was Judas that was on Jesus’ other side. It seems hard to believe that Jesus could say what he did to Judas without the others hearing unless this were so.

Unlike most pictures you see of the Last Supper, Jesus and his disciples did not sit in chairs. They sat on couches.

And when they reclined, they didn’t lean back, rather they leaned to the side, resting on their left elbow, right near the bosom of the person on their left.

Thus, it seems John was on Jesus’ right, and Judas on Jesus’ left.

Like I said before, to be seated next to Jesus at the table was an honor to the people there. And Jesus let Judas sit next to him. In short, he honored Judas.

Yet despite all of this, Jesus never fooled himself concerning Judas’ true nature. He told the disciples,

I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me. (John 13:21)

This of course, shocked all the disciples, and they started to ask Jesus one by one, “Is it I?” Judas himself asked “Surely not I, Rabbi?” (Matthew 26:25)

Perhaps Judas thought he had fooled Jesus. But Jesus whispered to him, “Yes, it is you.”

Imagine the look of shock that must have come on Judas’ face. He was totally exposed. Perhaps he was afraid that Jesus would now denounce him before his disciples and have him killed.

At about that time, Peter nudged John and said, “Ask Jesus who he’s talking about.” (John 13:24)

When John did, Jesus replied, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” (John 13:26)

He then (in the eyes of the other disciples watching) honored Judas once again by offering a morsel of bread to Judas.

To everyone except John, they must have been thinking, “Wow, Judas is more special than we thought!”

Judas himself must have been wondering at all this honor that Jesus was bestowing upon him. Maybe he thought he had misunderstood Jesus. Then Jesus told him,

What you are about to do, do quickly. (John 13:27)

And Judas quickly realized that Jesus knew exactly what was in his heart. And he went to betray Jesus.

What can we learn from this? Two things.

There are people that will betray us. That will hurt us. And it is easy to get bitter against them. To dishonor them as they have dishonored us.

But just as Jesus honored his betrayer, we are to show the same kind of honor and respect to them.

At the same time, however, we should know exactly what kind of person they are. We should not deceive ourselves about their nature. And we should protect ourselves from them.

When you look at the life of Jesus, he always did this. When people sought to kill him, he got out of there. The only time he didn’t was with Judas, and that was because it was his whole purpose to die. His time had finally come.

But God generally does not call us to submit to abuse from others if we don’t have to. Stay away. Keep your distance.

And if that’s not possible for some reason, keep your armor up around them. The chances of them hurting you deeply is much less if you have not fooled yourself concerning their character.

That said, we are called to forgive them. And even more, to treat them with respect and honor. As Peter wrote,

Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. (1 Peter 3:9)

Tags betrayal, Bible Original, Bible verse, forgiveness, honor

John John 13

Getting our feet cleaned

One more point from this story before I go on.

As Jesus went to wash Peter’s feet, Peter exclaimed,

No…you shall never wash my feet. (John 13:8)

When Jesus replied that Peter would have no part with him if he refused, Peter then went over the top as he usually did, and said,

Then, Lord, not just my feet but my hands and my head as well! (9)

But Jesus replied,

A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you. (10)

What was Jesus saying?

He was telling Peter, “Because you have put your faith in me, you are already clean. Once you’ve been made clean from your past sins, the only thing that you need to deal with is the sin you accumulate as you walk through this life every day.”

The same is true with us. When we come to Jesus and put our faith in his work on the cross, he washes completely clean from all the sins of our past.

But each day, as we go through life, we get stained by sin once again. We do things that hurt God, hurt others, and hurt ourselves.

This does not mean that we are no longer Christians and need to be saved again. But it does mean that every day we need to come to Jesus so that we can be cleansed once again. Not for the sins of our past. But for our sins of the day.

And John tells us in his first epistle that when we do, that

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

I have to admit, I need to get my feet washed a lot more. Too many times, I forget to look back on my day and confess my sins. And that sin can put a barrier between me and God if I let it go unconfessed.

So let us make it a daily practice to come to Jesus and get our feet washed. To confess our sins, and to ask his forgiveness.

And if we do, he is faithful, and he will wash us clean.

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, confession

John John 13

The ultimate servant

The Bible is full of pictures concerning Jesus and his work on the cross, starting from God’s promise of someone to come stomp on the serpent’s head even while getting his heel struck in the process, to Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac, to the tabernacle sacrifices.

And this is not even including all the prophesies made by Isaiah, and the ones made by David in the Psalms.

And now, just before the cross, Jesus gave two more pictures.

One, of course, is communion which we’ll get to in a few blogs. But the other is right here in this passage. And because of the beauty of the picture Jesus painted, I would be remiss in not talking about it.

It says that Jesus got up from the meal, he took off his outer garments and wrapped a towel around his waist.

What was this a picture of? The apostle Paul tells us in Philippians chapter 2.

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. (Philippians 2:5-7)

Jesus, though he was God, made himself nothing. The NASB puts it this way, “He emptied himself.”

He took off the outer garments of his glory and became one of us. But not only did he become one of us, he wrapped a towel around his waist, and in so doing, took the very nature of a servant.

Paul goes on to say,

And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:8)

Just as Jesus humbled himself and washed the feet of his disciples, so did he humble himself, going to the cross, that our sins might be washed away by his blood.

That’s why when Peter objected to Jesus washing his feet, Jesus replied,

Unless I wash you, you have no part with me. (John 13:8)

In other words, “Peter, you’re messing with my picture here. Just as I am washing your feet, so will I need to wash away your sins. And unless you allow me to wash away your sins, you will have no part with me. You cannot have a relationship with me.”

After Jesus finished washing their feet, he then put his clothes back on and returned to his place at the head of the table. And in the same way, Paul tells us,

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth, and underr the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11)

Now Jesus asks us the same thing that he asked his disciples.

Do you understand what I have done for you? (John 13:12)

Do you? Do you understand all that Jesus gave up and sacrificed for you so that your sins might be forgiven? If you do, then Jesus tells you,

You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.

I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.

Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. (John 13:13-15, 17)

Jesus was the ultimate servant. And he calls us to be like him. Are you?

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, pictures, servanthood, washing feet

John John 13 Luke Luke 22

True leadership

Trying to harmonize the gospel accounts at this point is a little sticky. I get the impression that things were not always told in chronological order and that there were little asides thrown in.

This passage in Luke, in my opinion, is one of them.

It says that at the meal that the disciples started arguing with each other about who among them was the greatest.

I don’t know how this argument started, but at a guess, it started when they were deciding the seating arrangements after arriving at the upper room to celebrate the Passover.

In their culture, the person sitting to the right of Jesus would be considered the most important, and the person sitting to his left would be second most. And the further you sat away from Jesus, the less important you were considered.

And so it may be that they were arguing about who should sit next to Jesus.

Peter may have been saying, “Hey I’m the leader of all you guys. I should sit there.”

John may have replied, “Yeah, but Jesus loves me more.”

Even Judas might have gotten into the act. “Everyone knows I’m the most important. I handle all the money.”

How long Jesus watched this, I don’t know, but perhaps after everyone finally settled down into their places, with some still grumbling about where they were sitting, Jesus did something that shocked them all.

It was customary in situations like this meal, that someone would wash the feet of the others. With everyone wearing sandals on dirt roads, feet could get pretty filthy.

Usually, a servant would do the washing, but in circumstances where a servant wasn’t present, typically it was the lowest person on the totem pole who would do this.

John, being the youngest, might have been expected to do so. But he apparently somehow managed to weasel his way right next to Jesus (John 13:23) and was not about to give up his place to do a “servant’s job.”

And after this big blowup, none of the others were inclined to do so either.

Jesus could have rebuked them. But instead, Jesus “showed them the full extent of his love.” (John 13:1)

He got up, took off his outer clothing, wrapped a towel around his waist, and started washing their feet and drying them.

How embarrassed the disciples must have been that Jesus was doing the job that one of them should have been doing.

After Jesus had finished, he sat down and asked them,

Do you understand what I have done for you… You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am.

Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. (John 13:12-14)

He continued,

The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors.

But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest and the one who rules like the one who serves.

For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table?

But I am among you as one who serves. (Luke 22:25-27)

He then concluded,

I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.

I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.

Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. (John 13:15-17)

What was Jesus telling them? These were the men that Jesus had chosen to have great responsibility.

The day will come when they will sit on thrones and judge the 12 tribes of Israel. They will have the privilege of sitting at Jesus’ table and eating and drinking with him. (Luke 22:28-30)

But as he had pointed out earlier, leadership is not about lording it over people. It’s about servanthood.

Jesus served them by washing their feet. Jesus served them and all of us by dying for our sins. So now he tells us that as leaders we are to do the same.

And Jesus tells us that the true blessing of leadership comes not from all the “privileges” we receive as leaders. It comes not from exercising our authority over others and telling them what to do. Rather it comes from serving as Jesus did.

That’s what leadership is all about.

How do you see leadership? As being served? Or as serving others?

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, servanthood, washing feet

John John 12 Mark Mark 14 Matthew Matthew 26

True love, false love

Here we see a stark contrast in love. One person’s love came from the heart. The other’s came only for what profited him.

Jesus was in Bethany having dinner at the house of a man named Simon. Lazarus, Mary, and Martha were all there, as were Jesus’ disciples.

And at the meal, Mary took some expensive perfume and poured it on Jesus’ feet and on his head.

Judas’ reaction was immediate.

Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages. (John 12:5)

And apparently, the other disciples chimed in with Judas.

John tells us, however, that Judas’ love and concern for the poor was not genuine. Instead,

He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. (John 12:6)

But of Mary, Jesus said,

Leave her alone… Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.

The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me.

She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial.

I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her. (Mark 14:6-9)

Judas’ reaction? He went to the chief priests and betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.

We will always wonder why Judas decided to do this, but I don’t think it was simply because Jesus rebuked him in front of the disciples.

I think it went much deeper than that: His love for Jesus (and for others) apparently didn’t go much further than what it benefited him.

As treasurer among the disciples, he was happy to give to the poor as long as he could help himself to some of the money himself. And as a disciple, he was happy to follow Jesus as long as it seemed Jesus would become king.

But time and again, Jesus talked not about ruling as Messiah, but of his death. Perhaps frustrated and fed up with this, Judas thought, “Fine, if you want to die, die.”

And he went to betray him.

Mary’s love, on the other hand, came from her heart. And unlike Judas, who followed Jesus for what he could get, she loved Jesus enough to give him what was precious to her.

I love what John said about what happened when she opened the bottle of perfume. He said,

The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. (John 12:3)

And that’s what our love for Jesus and others should be like. It should permeate the world around us. It should be so evident, that no one can miss it. Some people, like Judas, will criticize us for it. But to Jesus, it’s a sweet-smelling aroma.

How about you? Is your love selfish, only interested in what you can gain? Or is it a sweet-smelling aroma to Jesus and the world around you?

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, Judas, love, Mary

John John 12

When we see and hear Jesus

Post author By Bruce
Post date August 25, 2014
No Comments on When we see and hear Jesus

So many people say, “I believe in God,” but refuse to put their faith in Jesus.

But if you truly believe in God, that is exactly what you cannot do. Jesus says here,

Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me.

The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me.

I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. (John 12:44-46)

Jesus is saying here that to believe in him is to believe in God. To see him is to see God.

He then said,

For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken.

I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say. (John 12:49-50)

So to hear Jesus also means to hear God, because he speaks the very words of God. And to reject Jesus’ words is to reject God’s words. More, to reject Jesus means to reject God himself.

And Jesus says,

There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day. (John 12:48)

All of us will be held accountable for what we have heard Jesus say.

If you believe him, you will find light and life. But if you reject him, you will find only judgment and darkness.

What will you choose?

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, darkness, judgment, light

John John 12

From whom we seek praise

One of the saddest comments you’ll ever read in the Bible comes from these two verses.

Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him.

But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved praise from men more than praise from God. (John 12:42-43)

Basically, you see in this passage a bunch of undercover believers.

They had seen all that Jesus had done and had heard all his teaching, and they believed. But they did not tell anyone because they feared being put out of the synagogue. And to be put out of the synagogue was essentially to be cut off from society.

But what that showed was that they were more interested in what people thought of them rather than what God thought of them.

If Satan cannot prevent you from becoming a believer, the thing he wants to do most is to prevent you from sharing your faith.

And his best weapon in doing so is asking the question, “What will happen if others find out if you believe?”

For some, the answer is clear cut. It means rejection by their family, their friends, and those around them.

That’s what these leaders faced. A certain excommunication from the synagogue and society.

For others, the answer is not so clear. But they are ruled by the fear of what others might think of them.

I know I was that way all the way through my sophomore year in high school. I didn’t tell anyone I was a Christian, not because I knew I would be rejected, but because I feared I might be rejected.

But God does not want us to live that way. He wants us to make a difference in this world for him, but we cannot as long as we are afraid of what others think.

Some people will reject us for our faith. As one preacher put it, that is an occupational hazard of being a Christian. Not everyone will like us.

As I’ve said before, Jesus was perfect, and people still hated him. How can we expect to be any different from our master?

But what we’ll find is that if we share our faith, some will receive it and be saved.

So let’s not worry about being rejected because of our faith in Christ. Let us proclaim it boldly and let the chips fall where they may. For as Jesus said,

Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.

But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven. (Matthew 10:32-33)

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, boldness, undercover believers

John John 12

Before it’s too late

Sometime people put off following Christ thinking they can always do it later. But in this passage, we see the danger of that.

Jesus in thinking about the cross and his determination to follow the Father’s plan cried out,

Father, glorify your name! (John 12:28a)

In a voice that all could hear, the Father replied,

I have glorified it and will glorify it again. (John 12:28b)

Yet though all could hear the voice, it seemed that few if any actually heard it.

Some said it was thunder. Others said it was an angel. Why couldn’t they understand the Father’s words? John later comments,

This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet: “Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere:

“He has blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn–and I would heal them.”

Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him. (John 12:38-41)

I’ve explained this passage in another blog, and essentially what it comes down to is that the people couldn’t hear the voice because they had already hardened their hearts to Jesus.

Some hardened their hearts because his background as a carpenter from Nazareth was not what they expected from a Messiah.

Others rejected him because he exposed the hypocrisy of their religion.

Others rejected him because his teaching went against their religious rules and traditions.

And when Jesus performed miracles that proved who he was and the truth of his words, they tried to explain it away saying he did them by Satan’s power, or in this case, by trying to say it never really happened. That they were just imagining things.

The problem was, the more they hardened their hearts, closing their eyes and ears to the truth, the more blind and deaf they became.

And so Jesus tried to warn them, saying,

You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you.

The man who walks in the dark does not know where he is going.

Put your trust in the light while you have it, so that you may become sons of light. (John 12:35-36)

In other words, “Your time is short. If you don’t soften your hearts, you will become blind forever. Put your trust in me and the light I bring while you still can.”

Jesus says the same thing to you. He was lifted up on a cross that all people might be drawn to him and be saved.

But if you harden your heart to him, if you close your eyes and ears to what you know is true, the time will come when you can no longer recognize the truth though it’s right in front of you. And then it will be too late.

As Paul wrote,

I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation. (2 Corinthians 6:2)

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, blind, deaf, hardened hearts, salvation

John John 12

In order to serve

With all the buzz surrounding Jesus, both with his spectacular entry into Jerusalem, and his just as spectacular cleansing of the temple, it’s little wonder that first time visitors would wish to see him.

In this case, it was some Greek proselytes who became interested in who this Jesus was. Perhaps it was because Phillip had a Greek name that these men approached him first.

And together with Andrew (someone who always seemed to be introducing others to Jesus), Phillip brought these men to Jesus.

Jesus responded by saying,

The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. (John 12:23-24)

In saying this, Jesus was talking about his death and resurrection. As long as he was alive, his ministry would be limited to what he could do in Israel.

But after his death, through the Holy Spirit, his work would spread all over the world, touching not only the Greeks, but every tribe and nation.

But Jesus then said to his disciples,

Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me. (John 12:25-26)

Here Jesus says both the blindingly obvious, and the paradoxical truth.

The blindingly obvious? That whoever serves Jesus must follow him, and that wherever he is, his servant must be.

It’s very hard to serve a person when you’re never around him. And if you really want to serve Jesus, you need to be in a place where you can see and hear what he wants.

But in order to be where Jesus is, you sometimes need to leave things behind, including things and people you love.

And that’s why he says something seemingly paradoxical: Whoever loves his life will lose it, but anyone who hates his life will keep it for eternal life.

This doesn’t mean that we should hate everything and every moment of our lives. But the things and people we love in this world need to take second place to Jesus.

If, for example, Jesus leads you to leave your country in order to serve him in another, then you need to follow him there.

Or if Jesus says, “Leave your high-paying job so you can serve me better,” then you need to be willing to do so for the sake of his kingdom.

Sometimes following Jesus means change. Sometimes it means sacrifice.

But we can’t serve Jesus if we’re not where he is. And while the change or sacrifice might seem painful at the time, in the end, we’ll find it was all worth it.

I found that out coming to Japan. I never dreamed that I’d ever leave Hawaii.

But when I came to Japan, I found out that I was happier here than I ever was in Hawaii. I found life by leaving what I loved in Hawaii in order to follow Jesus.

And so will you.

How about you? Are you where Jesus is?

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, following Jesus, paradox

John John 12 Luke Luke 19 Mark Mark 11 Matthew Matthew 21

What would bring us peace

Post author By Bruce
Post date August 19, 2014
No Comments on What would bring us peace

Lots going on in these passages, and as you look at all four gospels, you really get an idea of the frenzy going on due to Jesus’ entrance in Jerusalem. People are shouting,

Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest heaven! (Matthew 21:9)

And,

Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! (Mark 11:10)

And again,

Peace in heaven and glory in the highest! (Luke 19:38)

And ultimately,

Blessed is the king of Israel! (John 12:13)

Because of the frenzy some people were asking, “What’s going on? Who is this guy?” And others replied, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.” (Matthew 21:11)

We see from John that one of the reasons for all this frenzy was that people were still talking about Jesus’ raising Lazarus from the dead. (John 12:17-18)

At first, the Pharisees tried to stop all of this, even trying to get Jesus to stop his disciples from crying out all these words of praise. But when Jesus refused, they muttered to themselves,

This is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him! (John 12:19)

But for all the frenzy surrounding Jesus’ coming the most poignant moment comes just before Jesus enters the city. In the midst of all the cries of joy from the people, Jesus wept when he saw Jerusalem, saying,

If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.

The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side.

They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls.

They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you. (Luke 19:42-44)

And that’s exactly what happened in AD 70 when Titus came and destroyed Jerusalem and its temple.

Why did this happen? Because they “did not recognize the time of God’s coming” to them.

And because of that, they missed the peace that could have been theirs. Peace within themselves. But more importantly, peace with God.

The same is true with us. God comes to each of us at some time in our lives.

According to Romans chapter 1, even the one who has never heard of God knows about him.

And when they gaze into the sky or see all the nature around them, I believe the Spirit speaks to them saying, “This cannot be an accident. This was designed. You were designed. Seek the Designer.”

For others, the call is much more direct. It comes at church or through a friend telling them about Christ.

And at that point people reach a crossroad. What will they do with this call? Will they listen and follow? Or will they reject it? To follow is to find peace with God and eternal life. To reject it means judgment and eternal death.

How about you? If you are reading this, God is calling you now. Now is the day of salvation. Won’t you receive him today?

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, eternal life, judgment

John John 12 Luke Luke 19 Mark Mark 11 Matthew Matthew 21

The Lord needs it

We have now reached the home stretch of the life of Jesus, his final week.

As I read this passage, one phrase struck me. Jesus was instructing his disciples to do something very unusual, to go into the village, and just take a colt and donkey that they found there. And if anyone challenged them, they were to simply say, “The Lord needs it.”

The disciples did as they were told, and when the owners saw this, they immediately asked,

Why are you untying the colt? (Luke 19:33)

The disciples responded as Jesus had commanded, and immediately the owners acquiesced.

The question that came to my mind was, “When the Lord says to me of something, ‘I need this,’ how do I respond?”

If Jesus, for example, were to say, “I need you to give some money to this person. They are in need.” Would I immediately say, “Yes Lord?”

Or if I were headed somewhere, and I happen to run into someone, and Jesus were to say, “I need some of your time. Stop and talk to this person,” would I do so?

Or if God were to tell me, “It’s time to leave Nishinomiya. I need you elsewhere for another work,” would I say yes?

Or would I instead cling to what is mine?

Honestly, I don’t know, and probably too often, the Lord has told me, “I need this from you,” and for whatever reason, I said no.

“I’m too busy.”

Or,

“I need that money for other things.”

The disciples brought the colt to Jesus, set him on it, and honored him as king. And we need to do the same.

When Jesus says to us, “I need this,” we need to bring it to Jesus, setting him above it, and honoring him as our king over all.

Do I?

Do you?

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, king, Lord

John John 11 Luke 19

A cleansing that goes beyond the surface

Post author By Bruce
Post date August 17, 2014
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Right after Jesus’ parable about those who were determined to reject him as king, we see the actual people whom Jesus was speaking of.

Jesus was fast approaching Jerusalem, and a lot of people were already there to celebrate the Passover. And everyone was asking,

What do you think? Isn’t he coming to the Feast at all? (John 11:56)

But the Pharisees and chief priests had already given orders that anyone who found Jesus should report him to them so that they could arrest him. The irony of all this?

Before celebrating the Passover, people had to purify themselves, that is to have a ceremonial cleansing. (John 11:55)

But while these priests and Pharisees may have been outwardly clean, their hearts were full of murder.

What can we learn from all this? A spiritual cleansing goes beyond ritual. It goes beyond doing a lot of good things.

A spiritual cleansing starts by receiving Jesus as your King. It starts by saying, “I can’t cleanse myself. All my efforts, all the religious rituals that I do can’t cleanse me. Lord Jesus, help me.”

John tells us in his first letter that in the end, it is,

the blood of Jesus, [God’s] Son, [that] purifies us from all sin. (1 John 1:7)

There is no other way for us to become right in the sight of God. We must come to the cross of Christ and accept the work he did for our salvation.

Only by putting our faith in him will we truly become clean in the eyes of God.

How about you? Are you truly clean before God?

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, Christ's blood, cleansing, faith, purity

John John 11 John 12

Recognizing truth when we see it

Post author By Bruce
Post date July 23, 2014
No Comments on Recognizing truth when we see it

I’ve mentioned the problem the Pharisees and the priests had where they saw all that Jesus said and did, and still did not believe.

It all comes to a head here. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, and there was absolutely no way to refute it. Not after Lazarus had been dead for four days and buried in the tomb before Jesus came.

As a result, people were coming to believe in Jesus left and right.

The Pharisees’ and priests’ response?

“We know what he’s doing. We can’t deny it. But we will not believe.”

All the evidence was there that Jesus was the Messiah, but they would not believe in him.

Instead, their sole concern was that their nation would be taken from them by the Romans if the people tried to declare Jesus king.

The irony of the High Priest Caiaphas’ thoughts on the matter was not lost on John. Caiaphas said,

You know nothing at all! You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish. (John 11:49-50)

What Caiaphas meant was that it was better for Jesus to die than to have the nation taken away from them by Rome.

But John commented,

He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one. (John 11:51-52)

These men were so blinded by their pride and ambition, they could not recognize the truth though it was literally coming out of their mouths.

How about you? Can you recognize truth when you hear it? When you see it staring you in the face?

Jesus said, “I am the truth.” (John 14:6)

If you are ever going to see truth, it starts with recognizing one thing. That Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Until you admit that, you will be forever blind.

How about you? Have you come to know the Truth?

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse

John John 11

The one who calls forth the dead

Post author By Bruce
Post date July 22, 2014
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Yes, we will eventually finish this chapter. But not today. It’s a passage that is so totally rich in truth.

When Jesus told Martha that her brother would rise again, she said,

I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day. (John 11:24)

But Jesus answered,

I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. (John 11:25-26)

In other words, “The resurrection is not simply a time in the future when the dead will be raised. I am the resurrection. I am the one that raises the dead and gives them life. And if you believe in me, you will never truly die.”

Jesus proved that moments later by raising Lazarus from the dead. And just as he called Lazarus out from the grave, so will he call all who have put their faith in him.

The apostle Paul tells us,

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. (1 Thessalonians 4:16)

And again,

Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed– in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.

For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. (1 Corinthians 15:51-53)

Lazarus was only raised temporarily. He would die again.

But when Jesus raises us, we will be raised in an immortal and incorruptible body.

How about you? Do you know what will happen after you die? Do you know that you have eternal life?

Jesus is the resurrection and the life. If you believe in him, you will never truly know death. Only a new beginning.

Jesus asks you the same question he asks Martha. “Do you believe this?”

May you answer as she did,

I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God. (John 11:27)

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, death, life, resurrection

John John 11

Uncovering our pain before Jesus

Post author By Bruce
Post date July 21, 2014
No Comments on Uncovering our pain before Jesus

www.LumoProject.com

So often in our lives, we go through pain and hurt, but instead of dealing with it, we bury it.

We try to ignore the pain. Or we cover it over with other things, busyness, food, pleasure, or whatever else we can find.

But the pain becomes like a rot in our souls, eating away at us from the inside out.

What can we do?

Mary and Martha had to go through that. Their brother had died. Worse, they knew that if Jesus had only come sooner, Lazarus wouldn’t have died. But for reasons they couldn’t understand, Jesus delayed his coming.

And so they went through feelings of pain at the loss of their brother, and perhaps feelings of betrayal by Jesus.

Both said the same thing when they finally came face to face with him. “If you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

As I mentioned in an earlier blog, it is possible that when Martha said this, she meant it not in an accusing manner, but as a way of saying, “I still believe in you. I’m not turning my back on you.”

With Mary, however, I don’t think there can be any doubt that she said it with lots of pain and hurt in her voice. And when Jesus saw this, John tells us,

He was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. (John 11:33)

Why? Part of it may have been the empathy he felt for Mary. But another part of him may have also been hurt by her lack of faith in him.

We see the same response in verse 38 when other people started to question his failure to come in time to help Lazarus.

So he went to the place where Lazarus was buried, and he told Martha,

Take away the stone. (John 11:39a)

Martha’s response was very understandable.

But, Lord… by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days. (John 11:39)

But Jesus replied,

Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God? (John 11:40)

Martha was reluctant. There seemed no point in rolling away the stone. Lazarus was dead and gone. But she obeyed, and Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.

What can we learn from this?

What hurts or pains have you buried in your heart? What bitterness do you hold to in your heart because of it? Bitterness toward others? Bitterness even toward God?

Jesus says, remove the stone. Uncover the pain and bitterness in your heart. It’s rotting there. So uncover it.

And if you will just believe in Jesus, you will see the glory of God in your life.

The question is: “Will you?”

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, bittterness, joy, pain

John John 11

Walking by the light

When Jesus made the decision to go back to Judea to see Lazarus, his disciples objected, saying,

But Rabbi… a short while ago the Jews tried to stone you, and yet you are going back there? (John 11:8)

Jesus’ answer is very striking.

Are there not twelve hours of daylight?

A man who walks by day will not stumble, for he sees by this world’s light. It is when he walks by night that he stumbles, for he has no light. (John 11:9-10)

What is Jesus saying here? As long as he followed his Father’s will, he would be fine. As long as he trusted his Father’s leading, he would not stumble. It’s the person who fails to do either that falls into trouble.

It’s the same with us. We talked yesterday about how Jesus wants more than anything is for us to trust him.

When we choose to believe him and follow him, we’ll see things as they really are. We’ll see his love for us clearly despite our circumstances. We’ll see our trials for the temporary things that they are.

But when we walk apart from him who is the Light of the world, we find ourselves stumbling around in discouragement and despair because of all the trials and hurts that we go through.

How about you? How clearly are you seeing?

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, darkness, light of the world

John John 11

That we might believe

This is one of the most famous miracles Jesus performed, and I’ve spoken on it at church more than once. But as I read it through this time, these words strike me:

So that you may believe. (John 11:15)

We see this theme again and again throughout the passage, and it was the whole purpose for everything that Jesus did in it.

In this story, he challenged Martha,

Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God? (John 11:40)

Again, when he prayed at Lazarus’ tomb, he said to his Father,

I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me. (John 11:42)

And at Lazarus’ resurrection, John tells us,

Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him. (John 11:45)

If there is one thing that Jesus wants us to learn, it’s to trust him. And all that we go through in life, with all the struggles and pain we endure, is directed toward that end.

Sometimes we ask God, “I love you. Why is this happening to me? Do you really love me?”

That’s what I see in the first part of this passage. It talks about Mary’s great love for Jesus. That she was the one who would later pour perfume on him and wipe his feet with her hair.

And because she loved Jesus and thought he loved her, she immediately called for Jesus when her brother Lazarus got sick. She had no doubt that he would come.

And indeed, it said, Jesus loved her, her sister Martha, and Lazarus. So… he stayed where he was another two days.

The NIV says, “but he stayed.” But it is probably more accurately translated, “So he stayed,” and most literal translations (KJV, NASB, ESV among others) do translate it that way.

Why did he stay? Because he wanted all those involved to learn to trust him.

By waiting and letting Lazarus die, everyone’s faith was taken to a higher level when Jesus raised him from the dead.

Sometimes we wonder why God remains silent. Why our prayers seem to go unanswered. Mary and Martha probably felt that way.

“Why isn’t Jesus coming?”

Yet Jesus wanted to challenge them to trust him even more than they already did.

I look at Martha’s words. I’ve always thought that her words were a bit bitter that Jesus had waited. Now I’m not so sure. Could it not be that her words were of pure faith?

That she was saying, “Jesus, I know that you could have healed my brother had you been here sooner. But I still trust in you. Even now, I believe God is with you and will do anything you ask.” (John 11:21-22)

Was she saying that she believed Jesus would raise Lazarus? No. Her later words (John 11:39) prove otherwise.

But I think she was saying, “Even though you didn’t do what I had hoped this time, I will still come to you with my needs in the future. I haven’t lost faith in you, Jesus.”

But Jesus challenged her, basically saying, “Have you already given up on this situation? Don’t. Your brother will rise again.

I am the giver of life, and have power to give it to anyone I please. He who believes in me, though he may die, will live. And whoever believes in me will never truly die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:23-26)

Martha answered yes, but I don’t think she had a clue as to what Jesus meant. Even so, she said, “I believe in you. I believe you are God’s Son.” (John 11:27)

What do we call that kind of faith? The faith of a child.

We will not always understand Jesus’ words. We may not always understand his actions (or lack of them). But will we still say, in the face of our confusion, in the face of our disappointments, “I still believe in you?”

Martha had to come to grips with that question at Lazarus’ grave. “Do I trust Jesus enough, despite all that happened, to do what he asks.”

But when she did, when she decided to put her trust in him, she saw God’s glory.

And so will we. The same question Jesus asked Martha, he asks us.

Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God? (John 11:40)

How will you respond?

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, faith, trust

John John 10

When seeing is not believing

Post author By Bruce
Post date June 26, 2014
No Comments on When seeing is not believing

A lot of times, people say, “I’ll believe in God if he appears to me and talks to me.”

There is a fatal flaw with this line of reasoning.

God did appear. He did talk to us. He walked among us. He performed miracles. He said words that left all his opponents speechless and without argument.

And people still didn’t believe in him.

The point? If you are determined not to believe, you won’t believe whether God appears to you or not. You’ll convince yourself you were dreaming or hallucinating or something else.

People don’t reject God because they can’t believe, but because they don’t want to believe.

That’s what you see in this passage. The Jews came up to Jesus and said,

How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly. (John 10:24)

Jesus replied,

I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me. (John 10:25)

Jesus to this point had healed the sick, made lame people walk, blind people see, healed leprosy, and even raised the dead.

How people could see these things, especially in light of the prophecies they’d studied all their lives (Isaiah 53:4 and 61:1-2 among others) and not believe is inconceivable to me. But they didn’t.

Jesus got even clearer with the Jews. He said,

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.

My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one. (John 10:27-30)

Who can give eternal life? Only God can. Yet Jesus promised just that. He went further than that, saying that he and the Father were one.

What did he mean by that? The Jews understood. He was saying that he was God himself in human flesh. Their response was immediate. They tried to kill him, saying,

We are not stoning you for any of these good works you’ve done… but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God. (John 10:33)

That they understood Jesus correctly is only enforced by what he said next. He pointed to scripture at how God called a bunch of unjust judges “gods,” because of the position of authority they held over the people.

And Jesus basically said, “If God called these people ‘gods,’ how much more worthy am I of that title as his one and only Son.”

Fathers and sons always share the same nature, whether they be human, animals, or whatever. So if Jesus is God’s Son, what does that make Jesus?

He then again pointed to his life. First, how he lived his life, doing all the things that God does, and then on top of that, again, the miracles he performed.

The Jews saw all these things. They knew all these things. And they still rejected him. Why?

I don’t know. Perhaps it was because all Jesus said and did went counter to what they thought he should be. But instead of changing their way of thinking, they turned their backs on him.

People do the same today.

They encounter Jesus, but he is not at all what they expect or want him to be. Or the things he says offend them because he confronts them with their sin and they don’t want to change. So instead of changing, they reject Jesus.

How about you? Are you hiding behind the excuse that you need to see God to believe in him?

Seeing isn’t always believing. Chances are that if you are intent on disbelieving, you won’t believe. At the very least, be honest about that. Don’t deceive yourself on that point.

But my prayer is that you would go beyond being honest and start softening your heart to Jesus. Because only in doing so will you truly find life.

Tags beleiving, Bible Original, Bible verse, seeing

John John 10

The good shepherd

Here we see a beautiful picture of Jesus’ relationship with us. And he paints the picture with the imagery of a shepherd and his sheep.

He said,

The sheep listen to the shepherd’s voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. (John 10:3-4)

What do we get from this?

In short, Jesus has a very personal relationship with us.

I teach in a high school, and I have to admit, with 40 students in a class, most of whom I only teach once a week, it’s hard to remember my students’ names.

It’s hard for a lot of the teachers too, as they often keep track of names with a seating chart list.

Think about trying to differentiate sheep, however. For just about anyone, they would probably look all alike. But the shepherd knows each sheep by name.

It’s hard to fathom that in a world full of billions of people, that Jesus would know my name. That he would actually care enough to know my name.

And not only to know my name, but to actually take the time to lead me and care for me. To go ahead of me.

And if that weren’t enough, to be willing to lay his life down for me. Jesus said,

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

Think about the relative worth between a shepherd and his sheep. By any practical measure, there’s no comparison at all.

Now consider the relative worth of the God of the universe, and… you.

Yet Jesus cared enough about you, he loved you so much, that he left everything to become a man, to suffer on a cross, and die for your sins.

I don’t know about you, but to me, that’s mind-blowing. But that’s the love he has for you and me.

Lord Jesus, thank you that you are my shepherd. That though there are millions of other people in this world, still you know my name. And that even if I were the only one who were lost, you would have still died for me.

Your love is so amazing. Help me to truly grasp it. And help me to be a vessel of your love that others may know you and become your sheep as well.

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse

John John 10

The Gate

Post author By Bruce
Post date June 7, 2014
No Comments on The Gate

Many people wonder, “Why does Jesus have to be the only way to God?”

The short answer: because he said so.

Jesus told the people,

I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. (John 10:1)

There are many people that try to tell us how to go to heaven.

The Pharisees said it was by a rigorous keeping of not only the law, but of the rules and traditions that they held to as well. Even today, many people try to enter heaven through their efforts.

But Jesus tells us that anyone who tries to enter heaven through any other way than the gate, is a thief and a robber.

And not only do they try to grasp what they can never achieve through their own efforts, they will steal your souls and send them to eternal judgment if you follow them. Jesus said,

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. (John 10:10a)

Here, I believe Jesus is talking about the great Thief, Satan. But Satan will use people to try to lead us to spiritual destruction.

This is not to say that these people themselves are aiming to destroy us. Their intentions are generally very good. But they have been deceived themselves, and if we follow them, we’ll follow them right into the pit.

What then is the gate that we are to enter by? Jesus said,

I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. (John 10:9)

The picture Jesus gives us here is very interesting.

When a shepherd went out into the field and put the sheep to rest, he would take them to a temporary fold that had only one entrance. And when the shepherd went to sleep, he would sleep right at the entrance. He literally was the gate.

Jesus is saying here that if you want to enter God’s kingdom, if you want to live a life that is truly blessed, it can only come through him. And anyone who tells you different is a thief who will lead you to destruction.

Again, Jesus said,

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. (John 10:10a)

But then, he concludes,

I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10b)

Do you want a full life? A complete life? There is only one way. There is only one gate. The only question is, will you use it?

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, one gate, one way, sheep, shepherd, thief

John John 9

When you think you know it all

Post author By Bruce
Post date June 6, 2014
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The irony in this passage is very thick.

The man who had been blind could see who Christ really was and worshiped him.

The people who could see all their lives, couldn’t recognize who Jesus was though he was standing right in front of their faces.

Worse, they couldn’t recognize him though they saw all his miracles and all the arguments they tried to bring against him fell to the ground, leaving them speechless.

Why couldn’t they see? Because they already thought they knew it all.

They “knew” what the Messiah was supposed to look like and be like. They “knew” the truth of the Old Testament, the books of the Law and the Prophets.

All their lives, they lived in pride of that knowledge they held. So when Jesus came and shattered all they had thought they knew, they found it hard to let go. They found it hard to admit they were wrong.

Jesus said,

For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind. (John 9:39)

What did he mean? He meant that he is the dividing point. The fork in the road. And those who humble themselves and accept him as Lord and Savior will see and be saved.

But those who refuse to let go of their pride and think they know it all will become blind to who he really is. Not because they can’t see, but because they close their eyes to the truth.

The Pharisees were this way. They asked Jesus,

What? Are we blind too? (John 9:40)

So many people today say the same. “I’m blind? You’ve gotta be joking. I’m an educated man. I’m an educated woman. I’ve experienced life. I know.”

But Jesus said,

If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains. (John 9:41)

In short, “Yes, you are blind. And if you were humble enough to admit it and your need for help, your sin could be forgiven.

But because you are too proud to admit what you don’t know, because you’re too proud to hear the truth that I give, your sin remains.”

And he says the same to people today.

How about you? Do you think you know? Or are you willing to humble yourself, and accept the truth that Jesus gives?

Are you willing to accept that Jesus himself is Truth?

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, blind, humility, pride, truth

John John 9

A picture of salvation

After Jesus healed this man blind from birth, it caused quite a stir as we see in this chapter. But through this story, we see a beautiful picture of salvation.

We see, first of all, that this man was blind from birth. In the same way, we also were born spiritually blind and spiritually dead.

Then Jesus came for us. It wasn’t that this blind man sought Jesus. Jesus sought him out, and touched him. And though we, like this blind man, were not even seeking God, he sought us and touched us.

The man was then told to wash in the pool of Siloam. This is a picture of baptism, both our spiritual baptism in which God washes us of our sin, and of our physical baptism in which we proclaim to the world what God has done for us.

The man now seeing, the change was so dramatic that people could barely recognize him, saying,

Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg? (John 9:8)

Some people said yes, others said it couldn’t be, and the man had to insist that it was really him.

People often respond the same way to us after we become Christians.

Sometimes the change in us is so dramatic, that people can barely recognize us, and wonder, “Is this really the same person,” giving us the opportunity to give our testimony as this man did.

Like the man, however, we often don’t know so much when we first become Christians.

But as time goes on, we start to get a clearer idea of just who Jesus is. To this man, Jesus was first simply, “a man,” then “a prophet,” then finally, “God’s Son.”

But though we give our testimony, and though the change is undeniable, yet some people will reject not only Christ, but us.

And that’s what happened with this man. First, they tried to convince the man that Jesus was a sinner, and not from God.

But when this man could not be shaken, they rejected him.

Even then, this man’s faith was not shaken. And when Jesus found him again, he fell at Jesus’ feet and worshiped him for the new life he had been given.

Let us be like this man. Grateful for the change that God has brought in our lives. Sharing boldly what we know (limited though it may be) with others. Standing fast in the face of opposition. And ever worshiping and seeking our Savior.

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, boldness, rejection, salvation, testimony

John John 9

Why did this happen to me?

Post author By Bruce
Post date June 4, 2014
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Sometimes, bad things happen to people, and they wonder, “Why did this happen to me? Is God punishing me for something I did?”

There are times when God will let us go through suffering because of our sin.

But I would say that most, if not all the time, it’s not so much that God is punishing you, as he is letting you reap the natural consequences of your actions.

Just because you are a Christian does not mean that you can sin and expect to escape the natural consequences of your actions. There is a price to pay for what we do.

We can hardly blame God if he does nothing to keep us from suffering those consequences. It’s how we learn, and it’s part of the process that leads to holiness. A refining by fire, if you will.

But there are times when bad things happen to us through no fault of our own.

In this story, Jesus and his disciples came across a man who had been blind from birth. And his disciples asked,

Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? (John 9:2)

It was a very common belief in that day that if you were handicapped, it was because God was punishing you. But this man was blind from birth, and so that provided a conundrum for the disciples.

Was this man blind because his parents sinned? Did God see that he was going to sin in the future and so he made him blind from birth? Did he somehow sin in the womb of his mother?

But Jesus answered,

Neither this man nor his parents sinned… but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. (John 9:3)

What was Jesus saying? He was saying that there are times when bad things happen to us, not because God is punishing us, but because God wants to do something glorious through us.

A woman named Joni Eareckson Tada immediately springs to my mind as an example.

She was a woman who in her teenage years had a diving accident leaving her quadriplegic. Many people have prayed for her healing over the years, and yet God never healed her.

But through her, so many people around the world have been touched, and not just people with disabilities.

God wasn’t punishing her. But through this accident, God’s work was displayed in her life in a way that would never have been done had she not had this accident.

Jesus said,

While I am in the world, I am the light of the world. (John 9:5)

While Jesus may no longer be physically present here on earth, nevertheless, he shines his light on us that God’s glory might be revealed to us. More, he shines his light through us that others may be touched as well.

So if you’re going through suffering, don’t wallow in your misery. Rather ask God, “Shine your light on me and let your light shine through me in the midst of all this.”

And if you do, God will be glorified in you and through you.

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, God's glory, suffering

John John 8

Whose child are you?

Things get pretty acrimonious in this exchange between Jesus and the Jews. And it came down to this question, “Whose child are you?”

It was a question that swirled around Jesus, and it’s possible that when the Jews protested, “We are not illegitimate children” (John 8:41), they were intimating at the rumor that Jesus himself was an illegitimate child as Mary had gotten pregnant with Jesus before Joseph married her.

There were doubtless many questions about his true father since they had no way to know that Jesus was placed in Mary’s womb by the power of the Holy Spirit.

But to get back to the question, whose child are you?

Jesus talks about the characteristics of a true child of God. First, they would act like Abraham did. (John 8:39)

He believed in God. He trusted God implicitly. (Genesis 15:6)

He acted on his faith. Both in leaving his own homeland to go where God led him. And in being willing to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice.

He had room in his heart for God’s word. When God spoke, he listened.

Children of God are children of truth. That is, they love the truth, and will hold to it. Though the truth may hurt sometimes, they don’t close their ears because of it. Rather they hear, they listen, and they grow. (John 8:44-47)

The final characteristic of a child of God is that they love Jesus, and out of their love for him, they follow him. (John 8:42)

How can we not love the one who gave up heaven to die on the cross for our sins.

But the Jews in this passage did none of these things, and so proved who their true father was.

How about you? Whose child are you?

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, God's children

John John 8

The truth that sets free

Many times, people look at the “rules of Christianity,” and feel that they are so binding. That they couldn’t enjoy life if they followed them.

But when Jesus tells us how we should live, he doesn’t do so to bind us up. He does it so that we may be set free. He told the Jews here,

If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. (John 8:31-32)

The Jews reaction is very typical of people today. They replied,

We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?

Taken in today’s context, many people say, “I’m American,” or “I’m Japanese,” (or whatever nationality they might be).

“I’m no slave. I’m free to do whatever I like. What do you mean, I’ll be set free if I follow Jesus’ teaching?”

But Jesus tells us,

I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.

Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. (John 8:35-36)

Many people think that if they can sin without being captive to their conscience, that is true freedom.

But the truth is, while they may choose to sin in the beginning, eventually they become its slave and cannot stop even if they try. Addiction to porn, gambling, drugs, and alcohol are all obvious examples of this.

But we also see people enslaved to their bitterness, or enslaved to their destructive habits that destroy their relationships, their marriages or their friendships.

But when we follow Jesus, he sets us free. We are no longer slaves to these things. Instead, he breaks the chains that bind us to the things that are destroying us, and he shows us a better way.

Not only that, he gives us the power to live in this new way. He doesn’t just say, “Do it.” He says, “Take my hand. Let’s take it a step at a time.”

And little by little, change comes, and before you know it, you’re completely set free.

How about you? Have you given up and said, “It’s hopeless. I can’t stop these behaviors that are destroying me? That are destroying my relationships?”

Jesus can set you free. It starts with one word. “Yes.”

“Yes, Jesus. I believe that you love me and that your way is best. So Lord, I want to do things your way. Help me.”

As you say yes to him, you will find healing in your life and your relationships. And then you will know what true freedom really is.

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, freedom, slaves, sons, truth

John John 8

The one who brings light and life

Post author By Bruce
Post date June 1, 2014
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A lot of people in this world are lost. They seek a good life. A good marriage. A good job. And most of all, joy and peace.

And yet, somehow, these things elude them. People have been like this ever since Adam and Eve left the garden of Eden.

Then Jesus came. And when he did, he declared,

I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. (John 8:12)

In other words, “Do you want a good life? A life that works? A life filled with joy and peace? Are you stumbling around because you simply cannot see how to achieve these things.

Look to me. I will give you the light you need to see. You won’t stumble around, lost in the dark anymore. You’ll have life.”

Yet so many people like the Pharisees and teachers of the law question Jesus’ qualifications. Just who is he? What gives him the right to say something like that?

If he were just a man, he wouldn’t have any right. Because none of us is all-wise or all-knowing. But Jesus is more than just a man. He is God himself.

Jesus told the Jews as much, saying,

Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad. (John 8:56)

The Jews responded, “What are you talking about? You’re not even 50 years old and you have seen Abraham?”

Jesus replied,

I tell you the truth, before Abraham was born, I am! (John 8:58)

What exactly was Jesus saying? He was pointing the Jews back to Exodus chapter 3, where God appeared to Moses in the burning bush. And when Moses asked God’s name, God replied,

I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ (Exodus 3:14)

In short, God was saying, “I am. I have always been. And I will always be. I am the eternal one. And there is none besides me.”

Jesus took that phrase and applied it to himself.

The Jews understood it. They immediately picked up stones to kill him. Why? Because they didn’t believe he was God. And if Jesus wasn’t God, to say that he was God was blasphemy and worthy of death.

How about you? Is Jesus just a man to you? Just a good man? A prophet perhaps? Or simply a great teacher? If he is, then you can take what he says or leave it.

But if he is God, then you need to take what he says seriously. Because if you’re ever going to have light in your life, you can only find it in him.

And if you reject him, in the end, you will find only death. Not just physical death, but spiritual death. Eternity apart from God, and all the darkness, suffering, and sorrow that goes with it.

Jesus tells us,

If you do not believe that I am, you will indeed die in your sins. (John 8:24)

Do you believe Jesus is God? More importantly, are you following him?

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, God, I am, Jesus, life

John John 8

You are not condemned…so go

Post author By Bruce
Post date May 31, 2014
No Comments on You are not condemned…so go

This is probably my favorite story in the Bible.

Jesus is teaching in the temple courts early in the morning, and a huge crowd of people are surrounding him, listening to him teach.

But all of a sudden, there’s a commotion in the temple courts, and people are getting shoved out of the way as the Pharisees and teachers of the law push their way through to Jesus, with a woman in tow.

They thrust her in front of Jesus, and as he looks at her, he probably sees tears running down her face, and fear in her eyes.

One of the Pharisees then speaks out and says, “This woman was caught in the act of adultery. Now Moses in the law says that women like her should be stoned. What do you say?” (John 8:5)

Jesus looked at these men, and one thing was immediately clear from the glint of triumph that was probably in their eyes:

They were not bringing this woman to Jesus because they were horrified by her sin. They weren’t bringing this woman to Jesus because they were truly at a loss on what to do with this woman so caught in her sin.

They were bringing this woman to try to trap Jesus. What was the trap?

Well, if he said to stone her, they could probably accuse him before the Romans of breaking the law. According to Roman law, only the Romans were allowed to conduct capital punishment.

Not only that, all these people that had seen the love and compassion Jesus had for the worst of sinners, would probably walk away from him. He could no longer be called, “A friend of sinners.”

If on the other hand, he said “Let her go,” they could accuse him of going against the teachings of Moses whom all Israelites held in high regard as a prophet of God. He would therefore lose all credibility as a teacher.

So after a moment of looking at these men, Jesus stooped down to the ground and started writing in the dirt. Put another way: he ignored them.

This of course, infuriated these men, and so they started badgering him. “Hey! Don’t ignore us. Answer our question! What do we do with this woman!”

Finally, Jesus stood up, looked at them again, and said, “Fine. You want to stone this woman. Do it.”

But just as the smiles started to spread across these men’s faces, Jesus added, “The one person among you that’s never sinned, you get to throw the first stone.”

Then he started writing in the dirt again.

What did he write? I don’t know. But the word “write,” sometimes had the idea of “writing a record against someone.”

So it’s very possible he was writing each of their names, and specific sins they had committed.

What would you do if you saw your name being written and your deepest, darkest sins exposed for all to see? You’d probably do what they did. Get out of there.

And soon, only the woman was standing before Jesus. He said to her,

Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? (John 8:10)

When the woman looked up, all the people that had been accusing her were gone. And she realized with wonder, “No one accuses me.”

I can imagine Jesus smiling at her as he said,

Then neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin. (John 8:11)

A lot of times, we look at ourselves in the mirror, and we wonder, “How can God possibly love me? How can he accept me?”

Because we look at our sin and the mess we made of our lives. But Jesus tells us the same thing he told that woman.

“I don’t condemn you.”

More than that, he says, “Now go. Don’t linger in your regret. Don’t keep looking at your past. It’s forgiven. Leave the past behind. And leave behind the sin that made a mess of your life. Go. I’m making all things new. Live the new life I died to give you.”

Are you trapped by your regret? Are you lingering in doubt about whether God could love or accept you? Remember these words. “I don’t condemn you. Now go.”

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17)

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, forgiveness, no condemnation

John John 7

The waters of salvation

Yes, we will eventually get past this chapter. In fact, this will be our last look at it as we look at verses 37-39.

On the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus probably watched as the priests took water drawn from the stream of Siloah which flowed under the temple mountain and poured it over the altar. With that, a cheer rang out as the people sang,

With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. (Isaiah 12:3)

And perhaps at that moment, the people heard another voice ring out. The voice of Jesus calling out,

If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.

Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him. (John 7:37-38)

Leave it to the Master Teacher to tell the people exactly what this ceremony they had been performing for years really meant.

For years, as the people saw this ceremony, they thought of their deliverance from Egypt, and how for years, they had traveled through the desert. How God provided water for them when they thirsted, twice bringing water out of a rock.

And through this ceremony, they recalled the joy of their salvation, a salvation that came not through their own efforts, but through the provision of God.

But what they didn’t know was that rock was a picture God was giving them of Christ himself. The apostle Paul wrote,

They (the Israelites) all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. (1 Corinthians 10:3-4)

Now Jesus was telling them, “Are you thirsty as the Israelites were in the desert? Do you feel like you’re in a spiritual desert, thirsting for God, and yet somehow not able to find him? Then come to me. Believe in me. (Remember John 6:35)? And if you do, streams of living water will flow through you.”

What did he mean by that? John tells us in the next verse.

By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.

Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. (John 7:39)

In other words, God himself, the Holy Spirit would come and dwell in each person that came to Jesus and believed in Him. And because of that, our thirst for God would be filled.

Not only that, the Holy Spirit would flow out of our lives like a never-ending stream of water and touch the lives of the people around us.

And so day after day, with joy, we draw from the wells of salvation, not only blessing ourselves, but all those around us.

That’s how we as Christians are to live. Drawing from the Spirit each day the power to live our lives so that we may be made as Christ is, and to share his salvation with everyone we meet.

And when we do, we’ll find joy.

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, Holy Spirit, joy, living water, salvation

John John 7

Judging scripture rightly

Post author By Bruce
Post date May 29, 2014
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We looked yesterday at how Jesus warned the Jews against judging against appearances. The first reason was that they were judging him by his education, and as a result, many blew off his teaching.

But the second reason Jesus warned the Jews against judging against appearances was that their interpretation of scripture was wrong.

To the Jews, it appeared that healing people on the Sabbath was wrong because it was “work.”

But if they had looked carefully at all of the scriptures, they would have discovered it is always lawful to do good. (Matthew 12:12)

Sometimes Christians make the same mistake. They look at a scripture and they misinterpret it. Why? Because they miss the context of the passage.

Sometimes it’s the immediate context of the scripture. Sometimes, it’s the context of all of scripture.

What do I mean?

We saw one example of this in John 6, where Jesus talked about eating his flesh and drinking his blood.

Taken out of its immediate context, it sounds very gruesome. Put into its context, we see that Jesus is talking figuratively. That if we come to him (eat his flesh) and put our faith in him (drink his blood), we’ll have eternal life.

I had a friend point out another passage in which Jesus was anointed with very expensive oil. His disciples then sharply criticized the woman who did this (Mary of Bethany), saying she should have helped the poor instead by selling the perfume.

But Jesus told them, “The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me.” (Matthew 26:11)

My friend commented, “How arrogant Jesus was being.”

But he failed to take two things into account.

First, in the book of John, we find that Judas, the main person who criticized Mary, had no actual concern for the poor. He was actually embezzling money from all they collected for the poor. (John 12:6)

Second, Jesus was actually quoting a scripture from Deuteronomy 15:11, which says,

There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.

Jesus’ point then was not that the poor weren’t important. He was saying, “There will always be poor people and we should help them as we have been.

“But you won’t always have the chance to show love for me. She’s taking that opportunity while she can. So don’t criticize her for that.”

So in the whole context of scripture, Jesus wasn’t being arrogant at all; he was simply defending Mary’s actions against a hypocritical disciple’s criticism.

But when we pull a scripture out of context, it’s easy to make the kind of mistake my friend did.

Let us be careful then, how we read scripture. Let us take in the immediate context of what we read, as well as the whole of scripture.

Only in doing so can we make right judgments about what it is saying.

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, interpreting scripture, judgments

John John 7

Judging people rightly

It’s a little unusual that I linger on a passage very long in this blog, but there just seem to be a number of little nuggets here that I think are worth thinking about.

In this verse, Jesus told the Jews,

Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgment. (John 7:24)

Why did he tell them this? Two reasons, one of which we’ll look at today, the other of which we’ll look at tomorrow.

The first reason was that the people were saying of him,

How did this man get such learning without having studied? (John 7:15)

In other words, “He’s a simple carpenter. He’s no scholar, what can we possibly learn from him?”

As a result, many turned off what he said as having no relevance or authority.

In the same way, it can be easy sometimes to judge a speaker by their appearance, education, or background.

A person may not look so sharp, may have a humble background, have little or no formal Bible training, and yet God himself can speak through them if we’ll just listen.

But if we are too focused on their age, their appearance, their background, or their training, we can miss the things God wants to say to us through these people.

I’m not just talking about pastors and teachers, by the way. God can speak to us through anyone in whom his Holy Spirit dwells, even the smallest child.

But how often do we miss what he’s saying because we judge the vessel by which he speaks?

On the other hand, a person may be very charismatic, speak very eloquently, and yet say things that would lead us astray from God if we follow what they say.

So let us never judge a person by their appearance whether good or bad. Rather, let us look at the substance of what they are saying, and the evidence of the Holy Spirit working in their lives.

And if we do, we’ll be surprised by how often God uses them to speak to us.

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, judging people, right judgments

John John 7

Who are we serving?

As I was reading through this passage yesterday, these verses really struck me, particularly as a teacher of God’s Word.

My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me.

If anyone chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.

He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself, but he who works for the honor of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him. (John 7:16-18)

The question I ask myself is, “Where is my teaching coming from? Is it coming from myself? Or is it coming from God?

“Why do I speak? Is it for my own honor that people might be impressed by me? Or is it for the glory of God?”

As Christians, we are to be people of truth with nothing false about us. Not just the pastors and teachers, but all of us.

But if we are to be people of truth, we need to be clear on who we are serving. We need to be clear about whose honor we are seeking.

Are we simply seeking our own honor? Or are we seeking God’s?

Are we truly serving God? Or are we simply serving ourselves in God’s name?

If we are merely seeking our own honor, if we are seeking the praise of men, we will tend to water down the gospel that God has given us to share…if we share it at all.

Or like the Pharisees, we become hypocrites, pretending to seek God, but in reality seeking the praise of the people around us.

Who are you serving? Whose honor are you seeking?

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, honor, serving God, truth

John John 7

Who is this Jesus?

The question the disciples faced in Caesarea Philippi (Matthew 16:13), the rest of the Jews now faced in Jerusalem.

There was certainly no shortage of ideas.

Some thought he was just a good man. Others thought he was a prophet.

Still others, including the religious leaders, were certain he was a deceiver and demon possessed.

And finally, there were some, like the disciples who thought he was indeed the Messiah.

Why was there such confusion?

One reason was confusion concerning what the Christ would be. Apparently, some thought he would appear from nowhere in spectacular fashion, and yet they knew where Jesus was from and who his parents were (or so they thought).

Not only that, they knew him as an “uneducated man,” at least compared to the great “scholars” of the time.

Another reason was that he shattered the traditions they held dear.

According to the Jewish leaders, he “broke” the Sabbath by healing a man (John 5), when in fact, he showed them it was always lawful to do good on the Sabbath.

But they could not let go of their own way of thinking, more than anything because of their pride. They “knew” the law, and weren’t going to let this uneducated carpenter tell them any different.

A third reason was that the Jewish leaders didn’t know their scriptures as well as they thought they did. They scalded Nicodemus for even considering that Jesus might be the Messiah, saying,

Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophet does not come out of Galilee. (John 7:52)

Yet in Isaiah 9, clearly a Messianic passage, it clearly states that the Christ would come through Galilee.

But perhaps the most important reason is found in verse 17. Jesus said,

If anyone chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. (John 7:17)

The implication is clear. If your chief desire is to seek God, you will find him. And when you look at Jesus, you will see him for who he really is. But if you don’t you will be blinded.

The Pharisees, for all their religious zeal, were all about pride, and were full of hypocrisy.

Though it looked on the outside that they sought God, in truth, they were seeking the approval and praise of men. Because of this, when they saw Jesus, they were blinded to who he really was.

But to the ones who humbled themselves before God and truly sought him, the truth was revealed.

How about you? Are you struggling with who Jesus is?

Then lay aside your pride. Lay aside what you think you know about God and your ideas on what God should be.

Put away anything that gets in the way of your pursuit of God, and start seeking him first, above money, above possessions, above pleasure, above anything else in this world.

When you do, all confusion will slip away and God will reveal himself to you.

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse

John John 7 Luke Luke 9

A time for judgment, a time for mercy

Post author By Bruce
Post date May 25, 2014
No Comments on A time for judgment, a time for mercy

I mentioned in the last blog that there will be people that hate us because of the truth that we represent.

I also said it’s important how we consider how we say it, and the spirit with which we talk to people.

We see the importance of this in this passage.

After Jesus’ brothers went to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus stayed behind for a while. For how long, we don’t know, but finally he went up.

From this time forward, most of his ministry appears to be done in Jerusalem and Judea, and it would be about six months before he would be crucified.

Before he reached Jerusalem, however, he passed one last time through Samaria. He had previously gone through Samaria, and had had great success early on in his ministry. (John 4)

But this time, the reception was much different. When he sent messengers ahead of him to prepare for his coming, the people rejected him because he was headed for Jerusalem.

There was still much antipathy between the Jews and Samaritans, and this was perhaps the main reason for their rejection of him.

The disciples were outraged. Here Jesus deigned to reach out to these Samaritans who, in the disciples’ minds, deserved nothing from him. And yet, they rejected him.

The disciples put up with the Samaritans from the other village (John 4) because they had accepted Jesus. But when this village rejected him, James and John said to Jesus,

Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them? (Luke 9:54)

They were perhaps thinking of Elijah in the Old Testament, and how he had called down fire on those who had showed utter contempt for the prophet of God. (2 Kings 1)

But Jesus rebuked them. The New King James Version and (KJV) adds the words,

You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them. (NKJV vs. 55-56)

Whether Jesus actually said those words are up for debate, but they do capture his spirit.

There would be a time of judgment coming for the Samaritans who rejected him. But the time was not now. He had come to die for their sins, not to destroy them for theirs.

And that’s the spirit we need to have now. Yes, there will be a time of judgment coming for those who reject Jesus and the truth he gives.

But that time is not now. So until that time, we need to be praying and working for people’s salvation. We need to keep reaching out in love with the truth that Jesus has given us.

And by God’s grace, some will be saved.

By no means should we delight in or desire people’s destruction, no matter how vile their sin. Jesus certainly didn’t. He died so that they wouldn’t have to.

What spirit do you have as you deal with the people around you, even those who reject Jesus?

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, judgment, Mercy, rejection

John John 7

When you tell the truth

As I look at this passage, there is one more thing that strikes me, and so we’ll stay here one more day.

When you tell God’s truth, people will not always take it well. Often times, they respond with disbelief, and other times, they will even respond with hatred.

Jesus faced both. As we saw yesterday, even his own brothers didn’t believe in him, and so they mocked him.

But as Jesus told them his reasons for not going, he also said this:

The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil. (John 7:7)

I was reading an article today about a man who is being heavily criticized for saying homosexuality is sinful. The truth is, it seems nowadays in America that if you dare to say that publicly, you’re labeled bigoted and intolerant.

It is a perfect fulfillment, in fact, of what Jesus says here. When we testify that what the world does is evil, they will hate us for it, and they will persecute us.

That said, and I’ve mentioned this before, there is a right way to tell the truth, and a wrong way. We are to tell people the truth not because we hate them, but because we love them.

I warn my four-year old daughter all the time, “Don’t run out in the parking lot! Don’t run out in the street! Sooner or later, you’ll get hit by a car if you do.”

Why do I say that? Because I love her. Because I don’t want her to be hurt.

And that’s the same attitude that we should have when we warn people of their sin. It shouldn’t be because we despise or hate them, no matter how despicable their sin. We need to tell them because we love them and want their best.

We need to tell them because our deepest hope is that they be saved, and that they don’t see the consequences of their sin. That instead, they would know God’s grace and mercy in their lives.

But know that if we tell the truth, even in love, people will not always believe us and will even hate us for it.

Jesus was the perfect Son of God. Yet people disbelieved him and hated him to the point that they crucified him. Can we expect any different for ourselves?

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, disbelief, hatred, truth

John John 7

Following the Father’s agenda

Post author By Bruce
Post date May 23, 2014
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Jesus had been avoiding Jerusalem and Judea for some time after the feeding of the 5000, and the falling away of many of his “disciples” in John chapter 6.

But the time of one of the great Jewish feasts, the Feast of Tabernacles, was approaching when most Jews would make their way to Jerusalem.

So Jesus’ brothers basically said to him, “Hey, you’ve been avoiding Jerusalem for a long time. If you really want to get out into the big leagues, you should go to Jerusalem. Go out. Perform some miracles. You can’t become famous if you’re hiding out here.”

But John makes it clear that this was said sarcastically, as he wrote,

For even his own brothers did not believe in him. (John 7:5)

Jesus replied,

The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right…

You go to the Feast. I am not yet going up to this Feast, because for me the right time has not yet come. (John 7:6, 8)

In short, “I’m not following your agenda. I’m not even following my own agenda. I’m following the agenda of my Father.”

So while his brothers went up to Jerusalem, he stayed behind for a while longer.

Often times, people try to follow their own agenda. Or they get pressured into following another person’s agenda.

But as Christians, we need to be like Jesus. Listening to the Father, and following the agenda he sets.

I think there are too many times that I miss out on what God is doing because I’m too set on my own schedule and agenda.

I’ve got things to do but suddenly God brings a person in my path. Yet instead of stopping and talking to them, I just say a quick hello/good-bye, and I’m out of there.

And if they don’t notice me, I won’t even do that. But even as I’m walking away, I’m wondering to myself, “Should I have stopped? Did I miss an opportunity?”

How about you? Whose agenda are you following?

Are you willing to interrupt your agenda to follow the Father’s? Or are you so set on yours, that you miss out on what God wants you to do?

Tags agendas, Bible Original, Bible verse

John John 6

The One who gives offense

Post author By Bruce
Post date April 30, 2014
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I wonder what it is exactly that gave the Jews offense as they listened to Jesus.

It’s very possible that they simply didn’t understand what Jesus was saying and were taking his words literally, instead of figuratively as he meant them.

Namely, when Jesus said,

I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.

Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.

For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.

Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. (John 6:53-56)

Taken literally, it would be abhorrent to anyone, but especially to the Jew who had been taught from childhood that to eat anything with blood in it was strictly prohibited.

But of course, Jesus wasn’t speaking literally, he was speaking figuratively as I pointed out in the last blog.

To “eat his flesh” is to come to him, and to “drink his blood” is to believe in him. And if you come to Jesus and believe in him, you will never be spiritually hungry or thirsty again (John 6:35).

At any rate it is possible that the Jews were offended by what he said because they took it literally.

But it’s just possible that they took it as Jesus meant it and were offended by it. It’s possible they understood that Jesus was saying that he was the only way to eternal life.

Even today, people say, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” (John 6:60)

When Christians say that Jesus is the only way to God, people often get offended.

And so I hear some Christians, and worse, even some Christian leaders waffling on the issue at times.

“Well, I’m sure that Jesus didn’t really mean he was the ONLY way. I’m sure there’s an out somewhere.”

But Jesus meant what he said. Apart from coming to him and believing in him, no one will ever see eternal life. There will only be judgment and eternal punishment waiting for those who reject him.

Jesus told the Jews,

The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. (John 6:63)

There are different ways to interpret this verse. (We looked at one yesterday).

It’s possible, though, that Jesus was telling these Jews who were trying to work their way into heaven through the Law:

“All your efforts are meaningless. You can’t do enough to earn your way to heaven.

“In fact, apart from me, all your efforts are like filthy rags before God. Only the Holy Spirit can give you life.

“And he will only give you life if you come to me and believe in me.”

He then said, “All that I have been saying are spiritual words, and if you’ll just accept them, they’ll give you life.”

But as many people do today, many of the Jews rejected them and walked away from Jesus.

And so Jesus asks us what he asks the disciples,

You do not want to leave too, do you? (John 6:67)

May our answer be as Peter’s,

Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God. (John 6:68-69)

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, bread of life, eternal life, Jesus the only Way

John John 6

“Working” for true bread

This is one of the more powerful passages in scripture, but it is also a somewhat difficult one.

After Jesus fed the 5000, they wanted Jesus to become their king, and so he left. When they found him, Jesus admonished them,

I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.

Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval. (John 6:26-27)

In other words, the only reason you’re seeking me is for physical reasons, not for spiritual ones.

I gave you physical bread, but don’t make what’s temporary your priority in life. Instead, work for the food that gives eternal life.

The Jews then said, “What should we do to do the works of God?”

Perhaps, they expected him to say, “Well, memorize the scriptures. Keep the ten commandments, and make sure you keep all the other laws as well.”

After all, that’s the kind of thing they heard all the time.

But Jesus told them something totally unexpected. He said,

The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent. (John 6:29)

In other words, “The only thing you can do to obtain eternal life is to put your trust in me. Eternal life doesn’t come from keeping God’s law. It comes from putting your faith in me.”

I’m sure this must have bothered the Jews to hear this, and so they asked for a miraculous sign to prove what he said, pointing out that Moses gave the Israelites manna in the desert as a sign to them that he was God’s servant.

But Jesus responded that it wasn’t Moses that gave the Israelites bread, but God.

He then taught them that the manna was a mere symbol of the true bread that would come into the world and give people, not a life that was temporary, but eternal life.

His next words, though, truly stunned them.

I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. (John 6:35)

This by the way is the whole key to the passage. Jesus isn’t talking literally. He isn’t literally a piece of bread. And just because you come to him and believe in him doesn’t mean you’ll never have to eat another meal. All of this is spiritual.

To “eat his flesh,” is to come to him. To “drink his blood,” is to believe in him. And if you come to him and believe in him, you will never be hungry or thirsty for God again.

You see this theme throughout this passage.

He told them that their problem was they had seen him, the true bread and did not believe in him. But all the Father gave him would come to him.

He said if you look to the Son and believe in him you’ll have eternal life (John 6:40).

That everyone who listens to the Father comes to Jesus (John 6:45).

That he who believes has eternal life (John 6:47).

He then pointed out that if you eat physical bread, you’ll eventually die, but if you eat this spiritual bread, if you come to the one who gave his life for the world on the cross, you will live forever (John 6:51, 58).

He goes to say that if you do not come to him (eat his flesh) and believe in him (drink his blood), you do not have eternal life.

But if you do, you will be raised bodily when Jesus returns and you’ll live forever (John 6:53-54).

And if you come to him and believe in him, you will remain in him, and he in you (John 6:56).

Finally, he concludes by saying that physical food in the end counts for nothing because it can’t give eternal life. His words, on the other hand, will impart eternal life if you’ll only believe them. (John 6:63)

What can we get from all this? If you want true satisfaction in life, it only comes in a relationship with God.

And the only way you’re going to have a relationship with God is by coming to Jesus and putting your faith in him and his work on the cross.

Have you done so?

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, bread of life, eternal, temporal things

John John 6 Mark Mark 6 Matthew Matthew 14

Doubting Jesus

As I was looking through the three gospel accounts of this story, there are a lot of things that struck me.

First, the balance that Jesus kept in his life. That though he would often sacrifice his needs to meet the needs of others, he nevertheless always made time to get alone to be with his Father. If he needed to do that, how much more do we need to?

But as he was up on the mountain, he looked down and saw his disciples struggling out in the ocean. And yet, though he saw, he waited until 3 to 6 a.m. in the morning to go out to them.

In the same way, sometimes, Jesus will let us go through times of struggles. It doesn’t mean he has abandoned us. He’s still watching over us.

But he does allow us to go through times of testing, and I think the reason is to see just how much we trust him, even when we can’t see him.

Jesus had told his disciples, “I’ll see you on the other side.”

Yet how many of his disciples actually believed his words and thought they’d reach the other side when they were struggling out in the ocean?

And then Jesus goes out to them, walking on the water, and even acts as he is about to pass them by. When they see him they’re terrified thinking he is a ghost. But Jesus tells them, “Hey, don’t worry, it’s me.”

Then we have the famous story of Peter going out to Jesus on the water.

But as he looks at the wind and the waves, and starts to sink, so he cries, “Lord, save me!”

And Jesus, in his love and grace, does so, but asks, “Oh, Peter, why did you doubt?”

But at the end of the story, we see that Peter wasn’t the only one who had a problem with doubt. For as Jesus came into the boat, immediately the wind died down, and it says in Mark that the disciples were completely amazed. Why?

For they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened. (Mark 6:52)

And that last verse is what struck me the most. They had not understood about the loaves. What didn’t they understand about the loaves? Two things.

Number one, that Jesus cared deeply for them. He cared so much that he would take care of their needs.

Number two, that Jesus had the power to take care of their needs.

As Peter walked out onto that water, he was fine until he took his eyes off of Jesus and started looking at the wind and waves.

How often are we the same? We take our eyes off of Jesus, his love for us, and his power to deal with every situation, and we look only at our circumstances. As a result doubt creeps into our minds and we start to sink.

I’ve got to admit, despite all that I’ve seen God do in my life, doubt still creeps in my heart. So this is my prayer.

Lord, I’ve seen you do so much in my life. I’ve seen your goodness to me. I’ve seen your love. I’ve seen your power. Yet I still doubt, somehow.

It’s so stupid, I know. Lord, increase my faith. Soften my hardened heart. And help me to truly understand about the loaves. About your love. And about your power in my life, if I’ll just trust you. In your name I pray, amen.

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, doubt, faith

John John 6 Luke Luke 9 Mark Mark 6 Matthew Matthew 14

Though we may have little…

Post author By Bruce
Post date April 23, 2014
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I have probably read or heard this passage a billion times, so it’s always exciting when God gives me a new way of looking at a passage.

Jesus’ disciples had just come back from their mission trip, and were probably exhausted. So after they reported back to Jesus, it says in Mark 6:31,

Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

There was probably another reason, however, that Jesus wanted to get away with his disciples and we see it in Matthew.

When Jesus heard [that John the Baptist had been killed], he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. (Matthew 14:13)

According to Matthew, another reason Jesus went to be alone was that he had heard that John had been killed.

Now part of this withdrawing was probably for his own safety, as Herod apparently was looking for him. (Luke 9:9).

But why does the passage emphasize “privately?” Why did he only want to be with his disciples?

I think we forget sometimes that though Jesus was fully God, he was also fully human.

I don’t know how close Jesus was to John, but they were cousins. It’s possible they had played together as children.

John had baptized Jesus at the beginning of his ministry, and Jesus had encouraged John at a time when he was in deep depression.

So I don’t think Jesus just thought, “Oh, that’s okay. He’ll be with me in heaven soon enough.”

I think he wanted some time to mourn for John. Remember too, that at least two of his disciples had once been disciples of John as well. (John 1:37). They probably needed time to mourn too.

They didn’t have long to do so, however, because the crowds followed them, and they pressed their needs upon them, not knowing that Jesus and his disciples had needs of their own.

Now if it had been me, I might have gotten upset. I might have said, “I’m hurting, get lost!”

Or at the very least, “You know, I want to spend time with you, but could you come back another time. I need some time for myself today.”

But Jesus not only let them come, he welcomed them. (Luke 9:11). Not only did he welcome them, he spent the entire day with them.

Then evening came. His disciples came up to him, and said, “Hey it’s late. Why don’t you send everyone home so they can get something to eat.”

And Jesus had the perfect excuse to send thousands of people home. But he didn’t. Instead, he said, “You give them something to eat.”

“But Lord, we can’t possibly meet the needs of all these people.”

“What do you have?”

“We have only a little.”

“Give it to me.”

And Jesus took what they had, blessed it, and multiplied it, not only meeting the needs of the people, but of the disciples themselves. Not only were the disciples satisfied, they had much left over when it was all said and done.

The new thing I got from this passage?

Sometimes, we feel like we have little or nothing to give because we’re tired or even hurting. But if God is asking us to do something, not only will he give us enough to meet the needs of others, he’ll give us more than enough to meet our own needs as well.

I suppose the key phrase there is, “If God is asking us to do something…”

God does not ask us to meet everyone’s needs. If we try to do that, we will burn out.

So the question we need to ask is, “Is God giving me compassion to reach out to these people even though I don’t feel like I have much to give? And is God telling me to reach out to this person?”

Or am I simply feeling like ‘I have to reach out. It’s my duty.'”

If God is not giving you compassion, if you are not hearing him speak to your heart, you probably need to pass that person to another.

But if God gives you the compassion and the word to go, he will take what little you have, bless it, multiply it, and not only meet the needs of the other, but yours as well.

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse

John John 5

When we seek the praise of man

Post author By Bruce
Post date February 3, 2014
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When you think about Jesus’ life, the thing that would probably surprise you if you never heard the story before is that the religious leaders, the people that should have been the quickest to embrace him, didn’t.

Instead, they rejected him, and eventually were responsible for his death. How could that possibly happen?

These were people that Jesus said constantly searched the scriptures. Now that in itself is a good thing.

But the problem was they sought the praise of others, namely their peers, rather than the praise of God.

As a result, their study of scriptures was more to impress their peers than to really seek God. Jesus said to them,

I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him.

How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God? (John 5:43-44)

When we get so focused on getting the praise from others and the pride that comes from that, we become blind to what God is doing and saying. We may see and hear what God is doing, but we can’t take it in.

You see this with these religious leaders. They heard John the Baptist speak. They heard Jesus speak. And not only did they hear him speak, they saw him validate those words with the miracles he performed.

But for some reason, they couldn’t take it in. As a result, they missed out on what truly brings life.

Because life, true life, is living in accord with God’s purpose.

It’s walking in step with what he’s doing in your life, and the world around you, and joining in with his work. If we truly love God, that’s what our focus will be on.

But these leaders lacked that love for God because they were too focused on themselves. And so Jesus told them,

I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. (John 5:42)

How about you? What would Jesus say about you? Could he say that you truly have the love of God in your life? That your love is such that your main goal is to please him?

Are you seeking the praise of God? Or the praise of man?

As you do ministry in the church, who are you seeking validation from? From your pastor? From the other people at church?

When that starts to become your focus, your ministry becomes as self-centered as these religious leaders’ studies of the scripture. And we become blind to what Jesus is truly trying to do.

I’ll be honest, as a public speaker and teacher in my church, it’s something I have to constantly battle. Pride is a killer to any ministry that we do.

So we constantly have to ask ourselves this question: “Who am I trying to please?”

Whose praise are you seeking?

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, life, love for God, praise of God, praise of man

John John 5

The one who judges…and gives life

Post author By Bruce
Post date February 2, 2014
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Here we catch a glimpse of the relationship between the Father and the Son.

One thing we cannot say, as some cults do, is that the Father is the Son. They are clearly distinct from each other, though they are the one God (along with the Holy Spirit).

We see that while Jesus was on earth, there was a dependency that Jesus had on the Father. He was constantly watching for what his Father was doing and joining in on his work. (John 5:19)

More than that, he was always looking to please his Father, not himself, and all he said and did was based on the Father’s strength and counsel. (John 5:30)

But on the other hand, we see the tremendous power and authority that the Father gave Jesus.

Why was this given? So that all would honor the Son as they honor the Father. To dishonor the Son is to dishonor the Father. (John 5:23)

So in this sense, we also see the equality that Jesus had with his Father. (John 5:18)

What power and authority does Jesus have?

First, he has the power of life. He has the power to raise all who are dead to life. Jesus said,

For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. (John 5:21)

We see this throughout his ministry, most notably in Lazarus (John 11). But not only that, Jesus said,

I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.

For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself…

Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out. (John 5:25-26, 28-29)

One thing to remember is that Jesus will ultimately raise all people back from the grave, not just the believers. Why? For judgment. And that’s the second point.

Jesus has the authority to judge all people. Jesus said,

Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son. (John 5:22)

What kind of judgment will Jesus pass?

Those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. (John 5:29)

In other words, Jesus’ judgment will have eternal consequences and will determine who will go to heaven and hell.

And he has the right to judge and condemn, because he himself became the Son of Man, and yet never sinned. (John 5:27)

How will Jesus judge who goes to heaven or hell? Jesus tells us.

I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. (John 5:24)

In other words, we need to hear the words of Jesus, believe them, and put our faith in the Father who sent him.

Those who do, will have eternal life. But those who reject Jesus will be condemned for all eternity.

How about you? Have you put your faith in the person who has the authority to judge and the power to give life?

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, eternal life, faith, judgment, Son of Man

John John 5

Who Jesus is

Who is this Jesus? That is the question that every single person who encountered him had to face.

It’s the question that people to this day must face in encountering Jesus.

The Jews came face to face with this question when Jesus told them,

My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working. (John 5:17)

That statement may seem innocuous to us, but to the Jews, it struck like a thunderbolt. Why?

Nobody in those days ever referred to God as “My Father.” As “Our Father,” perhaps, but not, “My Father.”

And by saying, “My Father,” Jesus essentially made a claim to deity. What was the logic behind that?

Well, think about it. Sons (and daughters) share the nature of their father.

If the father is human, his sons and daughters will be human. If the father is a cat, his sons and daughters will be cats. If the father is an ape, his sons and daughters will be apes.

And if God were to have a Son, that Son would also be God by nature.

Now we are not saying, of course, that God literally gave birth, or that he married and his wife gave birth. Jesus existed from all eternity with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

But one thing is certain. They all share the nature of God. How that works, nobody can truly explain. But that’s how God has revealed himself.

So what? What does this mean for us?

It means that if Jesus is God, we can’t simply dismiss his words as the words of an ordinary man. Of a man who had his opinions, but we are free to disagree with.

Instead, we must hold to his words as truth. And obey them.

How about you? Who is Jesus to you?

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, God, Jesus, trinity

John John 5

Blinded by rules

Rules are a good thing. It tends to put order where there is disorder. This is true in the classroom (where I teach), it’s true in our households, and it’s true in society.

But rules can be harmful when people forget that the rules are not there simply for their own sake. There are reasons for rules, and if we forget the spirit of them, we can get into trouble.

What’s worse is when we start making up rules to keep us from breaking other rules.

What do I mean? To take a very modern example, God says, “Don’t get drunk, instead be filled with the Spirit.” (Ephesians 5:18)

Throughout scripture, especially in the Proverbs, you see warnings against getting drunk. Why? Because when you get drunk, you’re no longer in control of yourself. Even more importantly, God no longer is in control in your life.

But some people put a rule around the rule. “Don’t drink alcohol at all. If you drink, you might get drunk.”

Now that rule around the rule is not bad in itself. I basically avoid drinking myself for that very reason (not to mention the fact that alcohol doesn’t taste very good).

But it becomes bad when you start criticizing others for breaking the rule around the rule.

That’s what the Pharisees were like, and you see it in their keeping of the Sabbath. You had the rule: “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.” (Exodus 20:8)

In short, “Don’t work on that day.”

What was the spirit of the law?

First, to take some time to focus on God.

Second, to learn to trust him to provide for you by working only six days a week instead of seven (as the Israelites did when they were slaves in Egypt).

And finally, to relax. Let your body rest.

That was the spirit of the law.

But the Pharisees and teachers of the law built all these rules around the rule.

They had restrictions on how far you could travel or how much you could carry on the Sabbath.

They also had restrictions on doctors. If it was the Sabbath, they could only help someone if they were dying. And even then, they could only help to the point that the person could survive until the end of the Sabbath.

But by putting in place all these laws, they forgot the reason for the commandment and placed burdens on the people that God never intended.

Further, they criticized anyone for breaking their rules, rules that God never gave the people.

Not only that, they became blinded to what God was doing because of their fixation on rules.

You see that in this passage.

They see a man walking with his mat (breaking the rule against carrying “a burden.”)

“You’re working! What are you doing working on the Sabbath?”

“Well, the man who healed me, he told me to pick up my mat and walk.”

Translation: “If this guy had the power to heal me, he must have the authority to tell me to carry my mat.”

Now two things to note here. First, the Jews probably didn’t recognize this man at all as a person who had been disabled for 38 years. They only noticed him when he broke their rules.

How often are we that way? We totally ignore the people who are spiritually needy around us and only notice them when they break the rules.

Second, even when they realized what had happened, they were so focused on the breaking of their rules, that they couldn’t see the incredible thing God had done for this man.

Instead, all their focus was on finding out who broke the rule for healing this man. And when they found out it was Jesus, they persecuted him.

That’s the danger of being too focused on rules. We fail to see the needs of the people around us, and we also fail to see what God is trying to do around us.

How about you? Are you blinded by rules?

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, legalism, rules

John John 5

Desiring wholeness

Sometimes I wonder if people really desire wholeness in their lives.

They often complain about their marriage or relationships, they complain about their jobs or their health, but they never seem to do anything about it.

They almost seem to like complaining about their problems. They seem to enjoy receiving sympathy from others.

But Jesus doesn’t want us to be that way. He doesn’t want us to wallow in our brokenness. He wants to bring healing in our lives. We see this in this passage.

A man was an invalid for 38 years, and probably had to make his living begging.

When Jesus found out about his situation, he asked a simple question: “Do you want to get well?” (Or “be made whole” — KJV)

One would think it’s only natural that the person would want to be healed. But perhaps he was happy not working and just begging for a living. Maybe he enjoyed having people wait on him. It was in that sense, an easy life.

But we see from the man’s answer that this was not the case. He wanted to be healed.

Apparently, there was a belief (true or not, it’s not clear from the passage) that the first person that got into the pool of Bethesda when the water was stirred would be healed.

He always tried to get in, but with no help, someone always got in first.

When Jesus heard his reply, he said, “Well then, get up, pick up your mat, and walk.” (John 5:8)

One wonders what this man was thinking. Apparently, he hadn’t heard of Jesus before, or if he had, he didn’t recognize him, as we will see later in the story.

But here is this total stranger telling him to do something he hadn’t been able to do in 38 years.

Whatever he was thinking, he tried it, and immediately, he was healed.

Later at the temple, Jesus came up to him, and said,

See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you. (John 5:14)

What can we get from this?

Lots of us experience hurts in our lives. Many of us are broken, and we see no way that we can ever be made whole. But Jesus asks us the same question he asked the man.

“Do you wish to be made whole?”

If you do, you need to do what the man did and obey what Jesus tells you. Don’t question what he says. Don’t complain that it’s impossible. Make up your mind to obey him.

Now this is not to say that wholeness will come as quickly or easily as it came to this man.

When it comes to issues of broken relationships, broken hearts, bitterness, and many other things, it takes time.

You’ll need the help of the Holy Spirit working in you, and the help of Christ’s body, the church. (That’s one reason why going to church is so important).

But wholeness will never come unless number one, you truly want to be made whole, and number two, you make the decision to trust Jesus and do what he says.

And when you do, as he did with this man, Jesus will give you the power to obey him and bring wholeness into your life.

But if you choose not to trust him and continue going your own way, in short, if you continue to live in sin, you’ll find as Jesus warned this man that your life will only get worse. (John 5:14)

What will you choose?

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, healing, obedience, trust, wholeness

John John 4

Taking Jesus at his word

In this passage, we see Jesus’ first miraculous healing, although one can guess that he had done other healings before this. (John 2:23)

But the thing that strikes me here is this royal official’s response to Jesus.

This royal official was in great need. His son was dying. He had probably taken his son to all the doctors and there was nothing they could do for him. Jesus was his last hope.

Yet when this official asked for help, Jesus answered,

Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders…you will never believe. (John 4:48)

It seems an odd thing to say. But perhaps Jesus was asking, “Are you coming to me because you actually believe in me? Or will you only believe in me if I perform this miracle for you?”

It’s a very relevant question even to this day. When we come to Jesus in prayer with our needs, do we pray because we really believe in him? Or will we only believe if Jesus answers as we ask?

I wonder what the royal official was thinking. How much did he truly believe at this point?

Whatever he felt, he cried out in desperation,

Sir, come down before my child dies. (49)

At that point, Jesus gave him a test of faith. He said,

You may go. Your son will live. (50)

Think about this for a minute. This official was undoubtedly expecting for Jesus to come with him. But Jesus tells him, “Just go home. I don’t need to go. Your son will live. Trust me.”

Now the official had to make a choice. “Do I trust Jesus? If I do and he doesn’t come through, my son is dead.”

How long this official wavered, I don’t know. Maybe it was an instantaneous choice. Maybe it took a few seconds of looking into the eyes of Jesus.

But in the end, John tells us that,

The man took Jesus at his word and departed. (50)

And while he was still on his way back, his servants told him his son had been healed right at the moment that Jesus had told him that his son would live.

Do we take Jesus at his word? So often we pray for things, but then he speaks to us, and we don’t take him at his word. Instead, we doubt. We wonder if Jesus will really come through.

We pray for a job, and one is offered but requires us to miss church regularly, and we know God is telling us to let it go. But we wonder, “Can I trust God? If I let this opportunity go by, will he provide another?”

Or we pray for emotional healing in our lives, and we hear God tell us of a bitterness we need to release. Of a person we need to forgive. That if we just let go, we will find that healing.

But we question God, “Why should I let this go? I have a right to feel hurt.”

How do we respond? Are we willing to take Jesus at his word and obey him.

You will never find healing in your life, you will never find peace and joy until you settle this one question in your heart: “Do I trust Jesus? Will I take him at his word?”

How about you? Do you take Jesus at his word?

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, faith, trusting Jesus

John John 4

Breaking down the barriers

Post author By Bruce
Post date January 17, 2014
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The disciples’ reaction to Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman is very interesting. John writes,

Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman.

But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?” (John 4:27)

Now what does this mean exactly? Does it mean that they had become so used to Jesus’ ways that they accepted this as natural, though no other Rabbi would be caught dead talking to a Samaritan woman, especially in public?

Or does it mean that they wanted to ask these questions, but didn’t dare?

I tend to think it was the latter.

Remember the situation. Jews tended to see Samaritans as half-breeds who had perverted the Jewish faith by mixing it with other religions. As a result, they wanted nothing to do with them.

But as the Samaritans came up from the town to see Jesus, he told his disciples,

I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. (John 4:35)

In other words, “These are not dirty, filthy, outcasts. Sinners beyond any hope of repentance. These are people that God loves.

He has been working in their hearts in ways that you don’t know. Others have been sowing seeds in their heart, and you now have the privilege to reap the harvest.”

And that day, many Samaritans came to believe in Jesus.

Jesus smashed the cultural and religious barriers people had set up to reach a people that were lost. And he calls us to do the same.

How about you? How do you see the people around you?

I look at how many Christians treat gays, for example, and it seems they view gays the same way that Jews viewed Samaritans.

Many in the church almost seem to view them as the enemy. But whatever else they may be, they are not our enemies. They are people like us, in need of a Savior.

Or how many people do you know personally that you fail to share Christ with for other reasons?

Because of their religious beliefs or lack thereof. Or because of their character or personality. Or because you simply don’t like them.

Jesus says to us, “Don’t look at them as people beyond any hope of repentance. And most certainly, don’t look at them as people worthy of contempt.

Look at them as a field that needs sowing, and harvesting. Look at them as people who need me.”

You may be the sower. You may be the reaper.

But let us break down the barriers of culture and religion, and let us break down the barriers we have set up in our own hearts and reach a lost world for Christ.

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, good news, harvest, reaping, sowing

John John 4

True worship

In the midst of the dialogue between Jesus and the woman at the well, we see an interesting sidelight into worship.

The woman stung by the truth of her own life, tries to divert Jesus, saying, “I see you’re a prophet. You know, our ancestors worshiped God here, but you Jews say we have to worship in Jerusalem. What do you say?”

This argument was one of the big disputes between the Jews and the Samaritans, and perhaps this woman was looking to anger Jesus by bringing this topic up.

But instead Jesus answered compassionately, saying,

Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.

You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.

Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.

God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth. (John 4:21-24)

In short, Jesus said, “It doesn’t matter anymore where you worship. What matters now is how you worship.”

What did Jesus mean?

First, our worship needs to be based on God’s truth. The problem with the Samaritans’ way of worship was that they worshiped “what they didn’t know.”

Years before, when the northern kingdom of Israel had been conquered and exiled, other groups of people came to inhabit Israel and intermarried with the remaining Jews.

In doing so, however, they had not only mixed races, but had mixed religions. As a result, they had a confused view of God, and you can’t worship God that way.

But God also desires that we worship from our spirits. He’s not just interested in our “form.” He wants us to worship from our hearts.

More than that, he desires that our whole lives be praise to him. That as we live each day, living for him, and touching the lives around us, that our whole lives would sing out his glory. That’s what it means to worship in spirit.

How about you? Are you worshiping in truth?

You cannot worship in truth if you have a wrong view of God as the Samaritans did. You need to accept God as he has revealed himself, not as you want him to be.

How has God revealed himself? Through his written Word, and the living Word that is his Son.

The apostle Paul wrote,

For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form. (Colossians 2:9)

If you want to know who God is, look at Christ.

Are you worshiping God in spirit? Not just in song, but with your whole life?

A song my friend wrote has stuck with me throughout the years. One line. One prayer.

Let my life to You be praise.

May you worship God in spirit and in truth this day, and every day.

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, Samaritan woman, spirit, truth, worship

John John 4

Brutal honesty? Or truth in love?

Post author By Bruce
Post date January 15, 2014
5 Comments on Brutal honesty? Or truth in love?

Someone once said that the problem with brutally honest people is that most of them are more interested in being brutal than they are in being honest.

And often times, I think that’s true. They tell the truth not because they really care, but because they secretly get some pleasure from hurting the people they nail with the truth.

Jesus was someone who could be brutally honest, as was John (the Baptist). You can’t look at their interactions with the scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees and not conclude that they were being brutally honest with them.

I do wonder at times why Jesus and John were so brutally honest with them. The only thing I can think of is that their heads were so thick with pride, nothing else would get through.

As brutal as truth could be, however, most times Jesus used it with a touch of compassion. It’s something that I think is seriously lacking in the church today. But we see it here.

It’s interesting that it says in this passage that Jesus “had to” go through Samaria, because while technically it was faster to travel through there, most Jews didn’t.

Samaritans were considered half-bred Jews who had abandoned the true faith of the Jews, which was technically true on both counts.

But Jesus wasn’t one to live by cultural restrictions when it contradicted his Father’s will, so he blithely ignored them, probably to the disciples’ chagrin.

And when he got there, he sent them into the city to get some food, and tired as he was, he sat down for a rest when he saw a woman approaching.

If Jesus breached cultural norms by entering Samaria, he completely shattered them by talking with this woman in public, something no Rabbi would ever do. And he starts with an innocuous request, “Will you give me a drink?” (John 4:8)

I wonder what exactly this woman was thinking. For one thing, she was apparently a woman of ill-repute even among her own people.

Most women would never come to the well at midday when it was scorching, but this woman did, probably to avoid the other women.

Furthermore, we’ll see that she had a habit of starting love affairs that had bad endings, and was “living in sin” even at that point. Could it be she wondered if Jesus was looking for an affair with her.

It seems even she had her standards, because she spat out,

You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink? (John 4:9)

But Jesus spoke to her with gentility, saying,

If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water. (John 4:10)

What was this living water? In John 7:37-39, Jesus uses the same term for the Holy Spirit.

But this woman could only think of the physical, and so she said, “How can you give me water when you have nothing to get it with?” (John 4:11)

Jesus answered,

Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst.

Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life. (John 4:13-14)

In other words, “I’m not talking about physical water. Physical water satisfies physical thirst for a short time, but I’ll give you a water that will give you life forever. You will never thirst spiritually again.”

Perhaps this woman was blind, or perhaps she just didn’t want to acknowledge her spiritual need because of how much it hurt (or perhaps both).

Whatever the case, she seems to mock Jesus, saying, “Well then, give me this water, so I don’t have to come here all the time.” (John 4:15)

And here Jesus hits her where it hurts.

Go, call your husband and come back. (John 4:16)

Perhaps the woman winced as she said,

I have no husband. (John 4:17a)

Jesus responded,

You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true. (John 4:17b-18)

Ouch.

In one second, all her hurts are laid bare.

The years of seeking someone who would love her. Giving her body to man after man trying to attain that love, perhaps sometimes stealing him from another, but ultimately being rejected to the point where the man she was with now wouldn’t even commit himself to her even for a short time.

Why did Jesus do this? Because he wanted to see her hurt? No, because he cared.

When she tried to throw up theological smokescreen, he blew it away.

And when she tried to turn away and put off any more talk for “when Messiah would come”, he said to her, “Hey. Look at me. The one you’re looking for…I’m the one.” (John 4:26)

And as she looked in his eyes, she saw someone who knew her completely. Who knew the very inner part of her heart and soul. And loved her.

How often can the same be said of us?

When we tell people the truth, do they see Christ’s love in us. More than that, can we say from our hearts, “I really do care about you?”

Christ’s love turned the heart of this woman. Truth pointed the way. But love turned her heart.

Are you merely callous pointers of the way? Or is the love of Christ through you turning hearts?

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, love, truth

John John 3

Who we want people to follow

Post author By Bruce
Post date January 12, 2014
No Comments on Who we want people to follow

Discipleship. The more I think about it, the more important I realize it is. But what is the goal of discipleship?

Too often, people get wrapped up in making disciples of themselves. They want others to look at them for all the answers. To be their guide for life.

It becomes almost a point of pride. “Look at all those who follow me.”

But our goal shouldn’t be to make people our disciples, but Christ’s.

This was something that John the Baptist understood very clearly. We saw this earlier when he pointed out Jesus to a couple of his disciples and essentially said, “He is the one you are to follow. Go.” (John 1:35-36)

We see it again here. Jesus had begun his ministry and his disciples had started baptizing people in his name (that is, by his authority). And more people started going to him than they were to John.

John’s disciples began to get a bit agitated about this, especially when others started to point this out, and they came to John saying,

Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan–the one you testified about–well, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him. (John 3:26)

I wonder how John’s disciples expected him to act. Did they expect him to get upset? Did they think his pride would be wounded?

But John told his disciples,

A man can receive only what is given him from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him.’

The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice.

That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less. (John 3:27-30)

In short, “My whole life was dedicated to this one purpose. To prepare the way for Christ. To point others to him.

In a wedding, the best man isn’t the important one. The groom is. He rejoices when all his preparations for the groom have been completed, the wedding is about to begin, and the groom is about to take center stage.

That’s how I feel. I’ve done my job. Now Jesus must take his rightful position in people’s lives. As for me, it’s time for me to fade into the background.”

That’s what discipling is all about. It’s not to be a person’s life-long mentor, constantly directing their steps. It’s to point them to Christ. To help prepare their hearts so that they can know who Jesus is. To teach them all you know and all you’ve learned in your walk with Christ.

And when you have done so, to tell them, “It’s time to go now. I’ve done all I can for you. You follow Jesus,” and then slowly fade into the background.

There comes a point in any discipleship relationship when you simply must decrease so that Christ may increase in their lives.

As John points out, we are from the earth and we speak from the earth. In other words, our experiences are limited as is our knowledge.

But Jesus had no such limitations because he was from heaven and completely filled with God’s Spirit. And because of that, he is above all. More than that, he is the one that gives life, not us.

So let us point others to him. Let us teach them to be Jesus’ disciples. And then watch with joy as Jesus leads them where he may.

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse

John John 3

Stepping out into the light

Post author By Bruce
Post date January 11, 2014
No Comments on Stepping out into the light

I mentioned in my last blog that we are not in danger of being condemned if we reject Christ. We are already condemned. Judgment has already been passed.

And in this passage, we see the verdict that was passed against us. John writes,

This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. (John 3:19)

In other words, Light came into the world through Christ. He showed us who God is. He showed us God’s will for our lives.

But men loved the evil they were doing, even though they knew it was wrong; even though deep in their hearts, they knew their actions bring about shame.

As a result, they remained in darkness and would not embrace the Light. Instead, they rejected him. And for that they stand condemned.

How about you? Are you willing to step out into the Light of Christ? To no longer walk in actions that you know deep down are wrong and are shameful, but to walk with Christ in the Light? To live by his truth?

When we do so, we no longer need to fear God, but can stand boldly before him. John writes,

Whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God. (John 3:21)

I don’t know about you, but that’s the kind of relationship I want before God. No shame. No guilt. But walking freely and confidently before him, bathed in his love and grace.

Some people fear to come into the light because they’re afraid of what they might lose if what they’re doing is exposed.

So they stay away from church. They stay away from the Word of God. Or if they read it, they stay away from the passages that they know will expose them.

But God loves you. He wants your best. And while you may think you’re losing something that you love or need by surrendering it to God, you actually gain something so much greater.

The question comes down to this: Will you trust him? Will you trust that he is looking out for your best? Will you trust that he actually knows what is best?

Because until you believe that, you will never step out into the light.

God proved his love for you by sending his Son.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

If he did that for you, can’t you trust him with everything else in your life?

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, darkness, light, trust

John John 3

The other side of the gospel

Post author By Bruce
Post date January 10, 2014
No Comments on The other side of the gospel

The word “gospel,” as most people know, means “good news.”

But the good news can’t really be understood until you understand the bad news. What is the bad news? It’s found in verse 18 of this passage.

Whoever does not believe (in Jesus as their Lord and Savior) stands condemned already. (John 3:18)

Ever since the time of Adam, every single member of the human race has stood condemned. Why? Because we failed to trust in God, and as a result, we turned our backs on him, and started going our own way.

Why is that a problem?

In Romans 6:23, it says,

“For the wages of sin is death.”

We are not in danger of death row. We are on death row, because all of us have sinned. Judgment has already been passed.

So it says in verse 17 that when Jesus came to this earth, he didn’t come to condemn us because we were condemned already. It’s a bit redundant to condemn a person that’s already condemned.

That’s the other side of the gospel. It’s a side that we don’t like to talk about very much.

If you don’t believe in Jesus, you’re not going to be condemned by God in the future. You already stand condemned.

How often do we think about that? That right here, right now, many of our family, friends, and neighbors already stand condemned before God.

Some of you as you read this also stand condemned before God because of your sin.

It’s not a pleasant thought. But that’s where the good news comes in.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:16-17)

God loved us so much that he sent his Son to save us. Jesus took our punishment for us.

Now he asks a simple question. “Will you trust me? Will you put your faith in Jesus and his work on the cross for the forgiveness of your sins?”

There is only one way off of death row, for you and for those you love. It’s through Jesus Christ. And John writes,

Whoever believes in him is not condemned. (John 3:18a)

When we put our trust in Christ, God forgives us our sin. Not because of anything we have done. But because of what Christ has done for us.

And he looks at us and says, “Because my Son has paid the penalty for your sin, I no longer condemn you.”

Again, it’s not that God says “I won’t condemn you in the future (although of course, that’s true). But God says right here and right now, ‘You are not condemned.'”

But if you choose to reject Jesus, you are on death row and the clock is ticking. John concludes by saying,

Whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. (John 3:18b)

What will you do?

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, condemnnation, forgiveness, gospel

John John 3

How to be born again

In my last blog, we saw Jesus explaining to Nicodemus the need to be born again. That we can’t work our way into heaven any more than we can work our way into the physical world.

In both cases, we need to be born into these kingdoms. One is primarily through the efforts of our mother (physical birth) and the other solely through the work of the Holy Spirit (spiritual birth).

Nicodemus, for all his knowledge of scripture, had trouble wrapping his brain around this concept.

All his life, he had been trying to earn his way into heaven. To keep the law of God to a T.

But here Jesus is completely tossing out that idea, and so Nicodemus asks,

How can this be? (John 3:9)

In other words, “I don’t understand. I’ve dedicated my life to the law. And now you’re saying that to enter God’s kingdom depends solely on the Spirit’s work, and not mine?”

To this day, people from basically every religion ask the same thing.

All their lives they were taught they had to earn God’s favor by doing good works, and so they have a hard time wrapping their minds around the idea that salvation is a free gift. It seems…too easy.

Jesus chides Nicodemus for his lack of understanding, saying,

You are Israel’s teacher…and do you not understand these things? (10)

Had Nicodemus truly understood the words of the prophets (Jeremiah and Ezekiel, as I mentioned in the last blog), he should have understood Jesus’ words.

Because he didn’t, Jesus went even further back in scripture to a well-known story in Jewish history.

While the Israelites were wandering in the desert after having escaped Egypt, they started complaining against God and Moses.

Because of their rebellion, God sent snakes which bit the people and caused many to die. When the Israelites repented, God told Moses to set up a bronze snake on a pole, and that everyone who looked up to it would live.

They didn’t have to do good works in order to live. They simply needed to believe in what God had said.

The ones that chose to believe and looked at the snake lived. The ones that chose to continue in their unbelief died.

Jesus told Nicodemus, “In the same way, you don’t work to earn your way to eternal life. All you have to do is look to me, and put your faith in me when I go to the cross to die for your sins.

“Just as the snake was lifted up and all who believed in what God had said lived, so I will be lifted up, and all who believe in me will live.”

It’s not clear if the conversation with Nicodemus ends here and John is simply expositing on Jesus’ teaching, or if Jesus actually says the next few words (there are no quotation marks in Greek).

But either way, these words are the most famous in the Bible.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

How are we born again? By simply putting our faith in Jesus. By believing that he died on the cross to take the punishment for our sin.

Sin is essentially saying, “God I don’t trust you.”

So the remedy to sin is not good works. It’s turning around and saying, “God I trust you.”

And the first area that you need to say, “God I trust you,” is in putting your faith in Jesus for your salvation.

Have you done so?

Father God, I admit I have sinned. I have been living my own way, instead of trusting you and doing things your way. Forgive me.

Jesus thank you for dying for my sin. Please come into my life and be my Lord. I want to trust you from now on in every area of my life and to live your way.

Holy Spirit, every day, please lead me, guide me, and change me. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, born again, Nicodemus, salvation

John John 3

Born again

We now come to one of the most famous passages in scripture.

In the States and most Western countries, most people have at least heard the idea of being born again even if they don’t understand it. But what does it mean, really?

In this passage, a Pharisee named Nicodemus came to Jesus to consult with him.

Jesus had already apparently started performing miracles apart from the one at Cana, and so Nicodemus, unlike most of his peers, had gained some respect for Jesus, recognizing that he must be from God.

What was his main purpose in seeking out Jesus? It’s hard to say.

Certainly, he was not ready to become a full-on follower of Jesus as he sought Jesus at night when no one could see him. But lack of boldness notwithstanding, he did come to Jesus.

And after he greeted Jesus with a few words that he no doubt intended to be gracious, Jesus cut right to the chase, saying,

I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. (John 3:3)

The words stunned Nicodemus. Like I said, he was a Pharisee, a group of people that dedicated their lives to keeping the law. For them, that was their ticket to heaven.

But Jesus said, “No, the ticket to heaven is not in your works. You must instead be born again.”

Nicodemus had no idea what Jesus was talking about, and he asked,

How can a man be born when he is old…Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born! (John 3:4)

Here we see a problem that Jesus often faced, and we see it throughout the gospels, especially in John. Jesus is giving a spiritual truth, but the people who are hearing it can’t get past their material way of thinking.

How often are we the same? Unable to see spiritual truths because we are too focused on the physical things of this earth?

At any rate Jesus confused him even more saying,

I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. (John 3:5)

There are many explanations for being “born of water.”

I think it refers back to Ezekiel 36:25-27. There God talks about sprinkling us with water, and the meaning there is to wash us clean of our sins. He then says that he will put a new heart and spirit in us.

That’s what it means to be “born again.” To have a completely new heart and spirit. One that wants to please God.

That’s why Jesus tells Nicodemus,

You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ (John 3:7)

In order to become part of this earthly “kingdom,” you need to be born in it. You don’t work your way into this world. You are simply born into it.

And in the same way, to be part of God’s kingdom, you need to be born into it.

You can’t work your way into it. You are simply born into it.

How? You need to be born of the Spirit. That’s why God told the Jews in Ezekiel that he would give us his Holy Spirit to dwell within us.

Physical birth comes primarily through the work of the mother. Spiritual birth comes through the work of the Spirit.

Jesus then compares the Spirit to the wind. You can see the effect of the wind, but you can’t see the wind itself.

In the same way, the Spirit works in human hearts, changing them from the inside out. We can’t see him physically as he does his work. We merely see the effects.

And as he works in our hearts, we change into completely new people. We are born again.

Nicodemus should have known this. Jeremiah talked about this transformation that God would bring about (Jeremiah 31:31-34). So did Ezekiel, as we saw earlier.

But instead Nicodemus was stuck in the misconception that he had to earn his salvation.

How about you? Are you still trying to work your way into heaven? Or have you been born again?

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, born again, Nicodemus

John John 2

Jesus’ zeal for his temple

Post author By Bruce
Post date January 7, 2014
2 Comments on Jesus’ zeal for his temple

Well, for those who have been praying for my computer, thank you. It’s finally back up and running after hours of futile troubleshooting. All of it actually sparked a thought for today’s blog.

In this passage, Jesus comes to the temple and finds that it’s invaded by a bunch of merchants and money changers.

They had set up their business in the temple courts, namely, the court of the Gentiles. People who were not Jews and wanted to come to worship God were only allowed in up to that point.

But when Jesus arrived at that outer courtyard, he saw utter chaos. Sheep, cattle, and birds were all making a ruckus, hardly conducive to an atmosphere of worship.

And if that weren’t bad enough, many people who had to change their money to pay for their temple taxes were getting horrific exchange rates.

Others, meanwhile, were being told that the animals they had brought to sacrifice weren’t good enough and were being forced to buy new ones at premium prices.

Little wonder that Jesus was a bit, shall we say, perturbed?

So for one of the few times in the gospels, we see Jesus go on a rampage, driving all the money changers and animals out of the courtyard, and bellowing out,

Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market! (John 2:16)

The Jewish leaders then demanded him to show what right he had to do such a thing; what miraculous sign he could do to show that he was truly doing God’s will, to which Jesus replied,

Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days. (John 2:19)

The Jews thought he meant Herod’s temple, that was still not fully completed even after 46 years. (It was finally completed in 63 A.D).

But John tells us that Jesus was talking about his body. That though they may destroy it on the cross, yet he would raise it up in three days.

By the way, this totally destroys the idea that Jesus rose from the dead as a spirit as some, like the Jehovah’s Witnesses, like to claim. Here Jesus specifically tells us that he would raise his actual body.

But just as Jesus referred to his body as a temple, so Paul refers to our bodies as the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19).

And just as Jesus was zealous for the temple in Jerusalem, and keeping it pure for the worship of God, so he is zealous for the temple of our bodies, that we keep it holy and set apart for God.

Yet so often, we clutter it up not only with sin, but with other things as well that would keep us from a pure worship of God.

Which brings me back to my computer. When it went down, my hardware was fine, I just had my Windows software go down, such that it would not boot up. As a result, I still had access to all my files. I just had to go through DOS (does anyone still remember DOS) to get at it.

I tried desperately to find a way to not have to reinstall everything. But in the end, I simply had to back everything up, format the disk (in other words, wipe everything out), and then reinstall everything.

I had a lot of things on the disk that were not bad at all. There were many good things there. But because of the corruption that was there, it made it impossible for the system to go.

How about you? Is there anything in your heart that is distracting you from your worship of God?

Or is there anything in your heart that is keeping others from seeing God in you, just as all the sheep, goats, and money-changers kept the Gentiles from seeing God in the temple?

There may be sin. Or there may be things that are not bad in themselves, but are still causing harm in your temple.

Let Jesus purge it from your life and make you the temple he desires you to be.

What’s in your temple?

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, holy, pure, temple

John John 2

Wine or grape juice?

A long time ago, as a teenager I think, I glanced through a book called “Wine or Grape Juice?” or some such title.

I can’t really remember all it said, but I got the impression through the book that when Jesus created “wine” in Cana, he really created grape juice.

The author no doubt went through a lot of word studies and other things to prove his point.

I kind of carried that opinion for a long time until someone pointed out to me the context. What was the context?

Very simply, verse 10 where the master of the banquet tasted the wine Jesus created and proclaimed for all to hear,

Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now. (John 2:10)

Now stop a moment, and substitute the word grape juice in there and ask yourself, “Does this make sense?”

“Everyone brings out the choice grape juice first, and then the cheaper grape juice after the guests have had too much grape juice to drink; but you have saved the best grape juice till now.”

This makes no sense at all. If it was simply grape juice, there would be no alcoholic content in it. And if there was no alcoholic content in it, why would a host wait for everyone to drink too much of the best grape juice before serving the cheap stuff?

Answer: They wouldn’t.

This completely shoots down this theory in my opinion, unless someone can explain logically the meaning of this passage using grape juice.

Does Jesus then teach that it’s okay to get drunk? Of course not. Scripture clearly teaches against that.

But it doesn’t say anything about never drinking alcohol. Rather, it makes it clear that alcohol is not to control us. (Ephesians 5:18).

By the way, just to make one point clear, I don’t drink at all for two reasons. First, I don’t like the taste. Even more importantly, I don’t know what my limits are, and I have no desire to find out.

But the point I want to make here above all else is to be careful how we interpret God’s word.

The reason that many people want to believe Jesus made grape juice instead of wine is that they’re dead set against drinking of any kind.

But in trying to explain away John 2, they resort to word studies that completely ignore the context of scripture.

There are four points we should remember whenever we read scripture or hear anyone preach about it.

1. Pay attention to context. Too often, people get into trouble because they don’t. A lot of cults like the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons get into trouble because of this.

2. Let the scripture speak for itself. And if it happens to contradict what you think, you should change your thinking in order to match scripture, not the reverse.

3. Understand the role of culture in scripture. Some people get a little put off by Jesus addressing his mother as “Woman” in verse 4.

(The NIV softens it to “Dear woman,” but the “Dear” is not there in the original manuscripts of scripture.)

In our culture, it’s very disrespectful. In theirs, it was very respectful.

4. Do as Mary said in this chapter.

Do whatever [Jesus] tells you. (John 2:5)

Don’t just read scripture. Don’t just listen to it. But obey it. For it is the very words of God.

If you do these things, it’ll not only save you a lot of trouble as you interpret scripture, but also as you live your life.

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, grape juice, interpreting scripture, wine

John John 1

To be where Jesus is

I almost feel like I’ve been rushing through the gospel passages at times, so I want to slow it down a bit and take a closer look at this passage.

When John the Baptist’s disciples heard John tell them that Jesus was the one they should be following, they immediately left John to follow Jesus.

One wonders how hard it was for them to do that. No doubt they had built up some kind of bond with John during the time that they were with them.

But there was a limit to what John could do for them. Why? Because greatest of the prophets though he may have been, he was still merely a man, with all a man’s limitations.

If they wanted to take the next step in their relationship with God, they needed to become disciples of God himself. And that’s what Jesus was, God in flesh.

I wonder what it must have been like trying to approach Jesus. How do you just approach the person that John says is the Messiah that God promised to send all the way back in the Garden of Eden?

I would guess they were intimidated and unsure. Perhaps they were going back and forth between themselves saying,

“You talk to him.”

“No, you talk to him.”

Eventually Jesus noticed them, and he stopped and turned.

When he did, they probably came to a dead standstill. Would he reject them? They were, after all, nobodies. No special education. No special background. Why would Jesus accept them?

Perhaps it was in the midst of their awkward silence that Jesus asked,

What do you want? (John 1:38a)

And they replied,

“Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” (38b)

It seems a strange question in our culture. We would probably say, “How do you do. I’m Andrew.”

But in their culture, it was essentially the question of a person asking to become a disciple. The idea was that they wanted to be where Jesus was, learning from him. Not just his teachings, but how he actually lived.

Not much has changed in 2000 years. If we are to be followers of Jesus, we need to have the same attitude as these disciples: the desire to be near our master.

How about you? Do you have that same desire? To sit at his feet in the morning, reading his Word, and talking and listening to him in prayer? And do you have the desire to walk with him throughout the day?

Too often, people spend time with Jesus in the morning, but after that essentially say, “Well, it was great talking to you. Gotta go.” And they leave Jesus behind in their thoughts and mind.

But we need to be taking Jesus wherever we go. To learn to listen to his voice throughout the day and follow his leading.

That’s what it means to be a true disciple.

I’d love to say that I’ve mastered this. I haven’t. I’m still learning what it means to walk with him every moment of every day.

Will you join me in that journey this year?

I love the (semi-)old worship song that says,

I just want to be where you are.
Dwelling daily in your presence.

I don’t want to worship from afar.
Draw me near to where you are.

I just want to be where you are.
In your dwelling place forever.

Take me to the place where you are.
I just want to be with you.

Tags being with Jesus, Bible Original, Bible verse, discipleship, Walking with Jesus

John John 1

Pointing the way

A lot of times, Christians get scared about sharing Jesus with their family and friends.

Part of the reason is that they think they have to have certain qualifications to do so. Or that they need special Bible knowledge to answer all possible questions.

Certainly it helps to have these things. And as we grow in our faith, we should grow in the knowledge of our Savior.

But as we see from this passage, our main responsibility is not to convince people, but to point the way to Jesus.

We see this with John the Baptist first. When the priests and Levites came out to question him, they immediately asked for his qualifications. Are you the Christ? Are you Elijah? Are you the Prophet?

When John said no, they then asked him, “What then gives you the right to baptize?”

I wonder how John felt? Did he at all feel uncertain or intimidated by these people trying to stare him down?

One would think not, considering how he had lashed out at people like these before. But still, it can be tough when you’re facing a bunch of people with “qualifications,” all of them hostile to you.

I don’t know if it happened this way, but I wonder if it was at that moment that John saw Jesus returning from the desert. I wonder if it was because he saw him, that John said to them,

“I baptize with water…but among you stands one you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” (John 1:26-27)

In other words, “If you’re asking my qualifications, I’m a nobody compared to the one who’s coming after me. In fact, he is right here, right now. And I’m not even worthy to be his slave.”

People may question our “qualifications.” But let us remember that we are not preaching ourselves, but Jesus.

We are not preaching how great we are, but how great Jesus is. And so when people question our qualifications, we should point not to ourselves, but to Jesus.

The next day, John once again pointed the way to Jesus, and then again the following day. As a result, two of John’s disciples immediately left him and started to follow Jesus.

One thing we should remember is that we are not trying to make people disciples of ourselves, but of Christ. It is him we should teach people to rely on, not ourselves.

That’s what John did, and I imagine he was ecstatic to see his disciples go after Jesus.

These disciples quickly followed up on John’s example. First, they brought Peter (Andrew’s brother — Andrew was one of the two who left John to follow Jesus).

Then after Jesus called their friend Phillip, Phillip got into the act by bringing Nathanael to Jesus.

But Nathanael was very skeptical when they told him of Jesus, saying,

Nazareth! Can anything good come from there? (46)

As you can see, Nazareth, Jesus’ hometown, did not exactly have a sterling reputation for producing prophets, or anything else spiritual for that matter.

But Phillip didn’t argue with Nathanael. All he said was, “Come and see.”

And when he brought Nathanael to Jesus, it was Jesus who did the convincing.

I am not saying that we shouldn’t make the effort to answer people’s questions. We should.

But ultimately, answering their questions will not save them. Only Jesus can.

You will never argue a person into heaven. And so after dealing with their questions, we should tell them as Phillip did. “Come to Jesus. You will see.”

How about you? Are you pointing the way to Jesus to the people around you?

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, pointing the way, witnessing

John John 1 Luke Luke 3 Mark Mark1 Matthew Matthew 3

Loved by the Father, Filled with the Spirit

Post author By Bruce
Post date December 31, 2013
1 Comment on Loved by the Father, Filled with the Spirit

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During the time that John was baptizing multitudes of people, Jesus also came up to him to be baptized.

I wonder just how well John knew Jesus and exactly who he was when he did. How much did his parents tell him about his cousin? How much did God tell him?

John had been living in the desert probably from the time he was old enough to survive on his own. Did he even recognize Jesus?

He must have, at least to some degree, for when Jesus came to be baptized, John saw in his eyes someone unlike any other he had ever met. Someone who had no need of repentance. And so he told Jesus,

I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me? (Matthew 3:14)

But Jesus told him,

Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness. (Matthew 3:15)

Why did Jesus get baptized? For two reasons. One was to make clear to John with no room for doubt just who he was preparing the people for. Later, when John saw Jesus, he gave this testimony:

Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’

I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel…

I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him.

I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’

I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God. (John 1:29-34)

From his words, it seems clear that up until that point, that though he recognized something different in Jesus, nevertheless, he didn’t know he was the One God had promised, the one that he was preparing Israel for.

The second reason Jesus got baptized was to identify himself with us as fallen people in need of repentance.

Although Jesus himself never sinned, he would take our sins upon himself at the cross, and die for us. By his birth, he identified with us as being human. By his baptism, he identified with our sinfulness.

But the thing that strikes me is what happened when he got baptized, something that John the Baptist alludes to.

Namely, that when he got baptized, the Spirit came upon Jesus in power. Not only that, the Father affirmed his love for him.

If we are to be effective Christians, we need these things in our lives. If Jesus, the only unique Son of God, needed these things, how much more do we?

To know that the Father loves us. If we do not know this, we will always fear to draw near to Him. We will always be afraid of his words of rebuke, and so we’ll hesitate to draw into a close relationship with him.

But also, if we are not secure in the love of the Father, it makes all our other relationships much more difficult.

It becomes difficult to love others when they don’t return that love, or at least as much as we would expect or hope.

It becomes difficult to forgive when people hurt us.

The reason so many people find it hard to love as God does is simply because they don’t know God’s love for them.

But because Jesus was so completely filled with his Father’s love, he could love others despite their failings.

At the same time the Father affirmed his love for Jesus, however, the Spirit empowered him. Jesus didn’t start his ministry until that happened.

In the same way, if we want to be effective servants for God, we need to be filled with his Spirit. According to John, that was what Jesus also came to do. To baptize us with his Spirit.

How about you? Do you know God’s love in your life? Are you filled with his Spirit?

Tags Baptism, Bible Original, Bible verse, God's love, Holy Spirit

John John 1 Luke Luke 3 Mark Mark1 Matthew Matthew 3

Telling it like it is

We leap approximately 18 years in time from when Jesus was 12 years old to when he turned 30. And just before he began his ministry, his cousin John started his own.

The apostle John makes very clear who John the Baptist was and was not, saying,

There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John.

He came as a witness to testify concerning that light (i.e. Jesus), so that through him all men might believe.

He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. (John 1:6-8)

Or as John the Baptist himself put it when questioned by the priests, the Pharisees, and the Sadducees,

I am not the Christ…I am the voice of one calling in the desert, “Make straight the way for the Lord.” (John 1:20, 23)

His whole purpose in life was to pave the way for Jesus. To prepare people’s hearts to receive him.

It strikes me that as followers of Jesus, God has passed on that mission to us. To prepare people’s hearts for Jesus. We cannot make them follow him. All we can do is plant the seed.

Our message, really, isn’t much different from John’s. The main difference, of course, was that he was preaching that they needed to prepare their hearts because God’s salvation was coming. (Luke 3:6)

We preach that God’s salvation has already come in Jesus Christ.

But the other thing that strikes me is that John really didn’t mince words. When he saw the Pharisees and Sadducees coming down towards him, he said,

You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.

And do not think you can say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our father.”

I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.

The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry.

He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire. (Matthew 3:7-12)

Why did John come down so hard on these people? Because for the most part, they were hypocrites that looked good on the outside, keeping the letter of the law, while on the inside, they were utterly corrupt.

They thought they were in with God because they were Jews. Not only that, unlike the “ignorant,” they knew God’s law.

But on the inside, they were filled with pride and were utterly devoid of the mercy of God in their lives.

And though he was less harsh with the rest of the people, even the most hated of people in Israel, the tax collectors and astonishingly enough the Roman soldiers (although some would argue that the soldiers were Jewish soldiers), nevertheless, he called them to repentance as well.

He warned them that they could not just keep living the way that they were. Because as he told all of them, a day of judgment is coming.

We need to do the same. We need to tell people like it is.

We of course need to tell people that Jesus loves them. That he died to take the punishment for their sins, and that they can be forgiven and made whole.

But if they refuse to listen in their pride, stubbornness, or utter sinfulness, we also need to warn them that a day of judgment is coming.

Because if we don’t, God will hold us accountable. (Ezekiel 3:16-21; Acts 20:26-27)

How about you? Are you telling it like it is?

Tags accountability, Bible Original, Bible verse, judgment, telling the truth

John John 1

Light in a darkened world

Post author By Bruce
Post date December 16, 2013
No Comments on Light in a darkened world

I once read about a young teenage girl in the United States.

She had perfect grades in high school. She had a perfect score for the SAT. She had a perfect score for the University of California acceptance exam. She was a brilliant young woman.

But in an interview, a reporter asked her, “What is the meaning of life?”

Her answer?

“I have no idea. I would like to know myself.”

That’s the kind of world that we’re living in. A world where people are separated from God, and because they are, they are walking around in darkness.

They’re stumbling around looking for meaning in life. Even worse, they are blinded by their sin and where that sin is leading them.

And it was into this world that Jesus stepped into 2000 years ago as a little baby. It says in verse 4 of this passage,

In him was life, and that life was the light of men. (John 1:4)

When Jesus came into this world, he became light in a darkened world. How did he become light?

He showed us who God is.

As we saw in my last post, he explained who God is to us. God is invisible, but when Jesus appeared, God became visible. All that God is, we see in Jesus.

We no longer have to guess what God is like. We can look at Jesus and know.

He showed us the meaning of life.

What is the meaning of life? Ultimately, it is to have a relationship with God.

It says in verse 3 that he created all things, including us. But when Jesus came, the very people that he created didn’t recognize him. More than that, they rejected him. (John 1:10-11)

But it says in verse 12-13,

Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. (John 1:12-13)

In other words, when we receive Jesus as our Savior and as our Lord, we become adopted into his family.

Nobody is physically born into God’s family. Just because your parents are Christians does not make you one. You need to be born of God.

In other words, you need to respond to God’s work in your heart and say “Yes” to Jesus.

“Yes Jesus. I want you to be my King. I want you to be my Lord.”

When you do that, you become part of God’s family. And in doing so, you find the main purpose for which you were created. A relationship with your heavenly Father.

He showed us the way to life.

Just as he gave life and breath to all that live, he gives eternal life to all who believe in him.

It says in verse 5,

The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood (or overcome) it.

When Jesus came into the world, the sinful people around him could not understand him, even the religious ones. And because of that they tried to kill him.

But even in killing him, they could not overcome him. Rather, through his death, he took the punishment for our sin.

More than that, he conquered death and the grave by rising again three days later, and now he gives life to all who come to him.

And so John writes,

From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.

For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (John 1:16-17)

Moses gave us the law that showed us what God required of us. But the law couldn’t save us. All it could do was show us our shortcomings. That we’re all sinners deserving death.

But through Jesus, we find grace and truth. We see the truth of our sinfulness. But we also see the truth of God’s love for us shown on the cross.

And when we receive him, we receive “grace upon grace.” A grace that never runs out and covers all our sin. A grace that gives us life.

May the light of Christ shine in your hearts this Christmas.

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, Christmas, eternal life, life, light, meaning to life

John John 1

When God became flesh

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For those wondering how I’m going to tackle the Gospels, I’m going to do it as I did the Old Testament, that is, chronologically. I’m going to use a harmony of the Gospels to do this, and weave between the Gospel narratives to tell the story of Jesus.

Because of this, we will start with John 1, which takes us back to the very beginning of time.

I’m really excited about finally hitting the Gospels by the way, particularly since as I write this, we’re well into the Christmas season. The timing couldn’t be more perfect.

At any rate, John starts off his Gospel by writing,

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. (John 1:1)

When it says “the Word,” it’s talking about Jesus. In other words, in the beginning when time began, Jesus was already there.

Why does it call Jesus “The Word?”

Well to the Jewish mind, “the Word” meant the wisdom of God.

To the Greek mind, it had the idea of reason or mind of God. When they asked themselves, “Why do we see so much order in this world we live in? How could it have been created in such a way?” they would answer, “The mind and reason of God.”

So when John talks of Jesus as the Word, that’s what he’s saying. He’s the mind and reason of God. He’s the wisdom of God himself.

Let’s think of it another way. How can we get to know a person? Through their words.

If a person never speaks or writes, we can get to know them to some degree. But the extent to which we can know them is very limited.

But when they speak, we learn the way they think. We can learn from their wisdom. And most of all, we can find out who they truly are.

That’s what Jesus is to us. He’s God’s “Word” to us. Because through Jesus, we see who God really is. Why is this so?

There are two reasons. First, he was with God in the beginning. More literally, it says, he was “face to face” with God the Father in the beginning. In other words, they had a very close and personal relationship.

But not only that, Jesus himself was God. And in verse 14, it says that he became flesh and dwelt among us. In other words, God became flesh in Jesus Christ.

Here we hit the concept of the Trinity full on. What is the Trinity? It is the idea that though there is one God, we see three persons in the one God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

The Father is not the Son. The Son is not the Spirit. The Spirit is not the Father. Yet somehow, these three are the one God.

How can this be? I don’t know. We live in a dimension where three persons are three separate beings. Three people can stand right next to each other with no space between them, but they are still separate beings.

But God is not bound by a three dimensional universe. He exists in a completely different dimension. And in the dimension in which he exists, three persons can be one being.

We can’t fully understand it simply because we don’t dwell in God’s dimension. We dwell in ours.

But as much as God can be understood, it’s because of Jesus. Because when Jesus was born in that manger 2000 years ago, for the first time, we could actually see God with our own eyes.

John writes,

We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (14)

When he walked this earth and spoke, he revealed who God is, because he was God in human flesh. All that God is, we see in Jesus.

That’s why John writes,

“No one has ever seen God [the Father], but God the One and Only [Jesus] who is at the Father’s side, has made him known. (18)

Literally, it says that Jesus has explained God to us. He’s God’s interpreter to us.

This is getting long, so let’s wrap this up for now by saying this: When we celebrate Christmas, we celebrate the fact that God became flesh.

Why is that important? Because by becoming flesh, he revealed himself to us.

Do you want to know the invisible God? Look no further than the manger. Because in Jesus, we see who God is in all his wisdom, power, and glory.

Tags Bible Original, Bible verse, God, Jesus, revealed, The Word