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John 15:4 "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5 "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 "By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
In this wonderful section of Scripture we will see that unless we abide we can nothing that God has ordained for us to do. I believe abide first of all means we are saved if we abide in Him and He abides in us, Romans 8:9, John 14:20, 17:23. Then, when we are filled with the Spirit we bear much fruit. Being filled with the Spirit is talked about in Eph 5:9, 5:18-21, and Col 3:16-23. If we are not saved we are unable to do anything that is a supernatural God work. In other words, if you are saved you know that before you were that you were unable to change and get rid of those sin areas in your life that plagued you. You also now have an ability to live for God and also do great works in His name (see Mt 5:16, Eph 3:20). The Fruit of the Spirit is spoken of in Gal 5:22, but it also is shown in the passages above where Paul says it will be shown by;
Speaking about the Word of God (What dominates your thought life)
Singing and Making Melody in your Heart (Joy)
Thankfulness
Being Submissive to God and Others in your household and your workplace and treating others like they should be treated.
It also will glorify God
Verse 4 "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
Abiding in Christ is fundamental and essential. But just what does it mean to abide in Him? Our understanding of this great text depends upon our understanding of the word “abide” (KJV) or “remain.” The NET Bible has chosen to consistently render the Greek term (menw) “remain” in our passage.[i] The difficulty with the Greek term is that it conveys more than any one English word is able to capture. Let me illustrate this by pointing out the various ways this word is rendered by the translators of the King James Version. Out of 120 occurrences in the New Testament, menw is rendered “abide” 61 times, “remain” 16 times, “dwell” 15 times, “continue” 11 times, “tarry” 9 times, “endure” 3 times, and still in other ways 5 more times. In our text, the idea of “remaining” is clearly present, but the word “remain” somehow fails to convey the full force of our Lord’s words. A number of times in John’s Gospel, the term is used of “dwelling” in a certain place, of staying somewhere as one’s dwelling place:
Salvation = Abide in this usage
Col 1:23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;
In addition to these instances, where abide speaks of one’s dwelling somewhere as a place of residence (even if only for a day or so), there are the two occurrences of the related term (monh) in John 14:1 and 23, which refer to the “rooms” (sometimes rendered “mansions”) or “dwelling places” that await us in heaven, in the Father’s house. Because of John’s use of these terms, I would suggest that we render the term abide “make one’s home” or “make one’s abode.” To “abide” in Christ as the True Vine is to “make our home” in Him, just as He also “makes His abode” in us. If we wish to stress the “remain” aspect of the term, we might translate menw “to make our permanent home.”
The idea of having God as our “dwelling place” is found as well in the Old Testament:
Psalm 90:1, A Prayer of Moses the man of God. LORD, You have been our dwelling place in all generations
Psalm 91:1, 9-10 - 1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. … 9 Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place, 10 No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling (, NKJV,
Psalm 61:3 For You have been a shelter for me, A strong tower from the enemy (, NKJV,
Proverbs 18:10 The name of the LORD is a strong tower; The righteous run to it and are safe (, NKJV, emphasis mine).
Consequently, it would seem that “making your permanent dwelling place” is not far from the meaning of abide in our text. This helps us discern the message that our Lord is seeking to convey to His disciples, and ultimately to us. What, then, does it mean to “make the Lord Jesus our permanent dwelling place”? Let’s simplify this definition, and say that Jesus is instructing us to make Him our “home” as He makes His “home” in us. Think about what “home” means to us:
Home is where your heart is; it is where you want to be (especially during holidays).
Home is the place to which you return, the place to which you are eager to get back to (e.g., when you’ve been on vacation).
Home is where you feel comfortable, and can really be yourself.
Home is a place of safety and security.
Home is where you bring your friends when you wish to have fellowship with them.
Home is our base of operations; it is at the center of what we do.
Home is where you find your strength for life; it is where you eat and sleep.
Home is where the people and the things we love the most are found.
Isn’t this what Jesus Christ should be for the Christian? Shouldn’t He be our place of refuge and security? Should He not be the source of our life and strength? Shouldn’t He be the reason for our fellowship with others? Shouldn’t He be where our heart is?
5 "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
That Christ would be at home – i.e. Living in close fellowship with Christ. = Abide in this usage?
Eph 3:16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, Eph 3:18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Col 1:29 To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily.
Abraham and Lot
The teaching of our Lord concerning “abiding” in Him is based upon a fundamental premise, stated in verses 4 and 5: “Apart from Me, you can accomplish nothing.” This is a very basic biblical principle. Jesus means us to understand that the term “nothing” refers to spiritual fruit. There is a certain sense in which men can do nothing at all without Christ. They cannot live or breathe or eat, apart from the provisions God has made:
Acts 17:24-28 -24 “The God who made the world and everything in it, who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by human hands, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives life and breath and everything to everyone. 26 From one man he made every nation of the human race to inhabit the entire earth, determining their set times and the fixed limits of the places where they would live, 27 so that they would search for God and perhaps grope around for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 28 For in him we live and move about and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we too are his offspring’”
In and of ourselves, we can do nothing to earn God’s favor or to merit His salvation. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). We are all under divine condemnation, helpless and hopeless, apart from Christ (Ephesians 2:1-3). So, too, apart from abiding in Christ, Christians cannot do anything that will please Him. This is the point of Romans 7. Romans 6 teaches us the necessity of dying to sin and of living righteously, but Romans 7 informs us of the impossibility of doing so in the power of our flesh. And so Paul cries out, “Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24). It is only through the work of our Lord Jesus Christ that we are enabled to fulfill the righteous requirements of the law (Romans 8:3-4).
The way to bear much fruit is for the branch to maintain unhindered fellowship with the vine by allowing the vine to have its way with the branch. The alternative would be resisting the Holy Spirit's work by neglecting and disobeying God.
6 "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
Lost People in this verse.
So the vine, then, sends life into the branch and the branch bears fruit. All the branch has to do is abide, and the fruit is Christ-likeness, it is the idea of confessing praise of God, it is a contribution in love to somebody in need, it is communication that blesses others, rather than selfishly designed for yourself, it is conduct in general--all our good works, and it is converts--souls won to Jesus Christ. All of that in the New Testament is considered to be fruit of an abiding branch-, and I'll tell you that it's a marvelous thing to realize that Christ is producing in us all of those things, And-if we're not enjoying them, and if we're not experiencing them, and we're not seeing them totally fulfilled in our lives, then the reason is simple. We just aren't abiding experientially as God designed us to abide.
7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
Col 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
Walking in the Spirit = Abide in this usage?
First blessing of abiding is answered prayer
Effective prayer is based on faith in Christ and on His words remaining in believers. Christ’s words condition and control such a believer’s mind so that his prayers conform to the Father’s will. Since his prayer is in accord with God’s will, the results are certain—it will be given you (cf. 1 John 5:14-15).
8 "By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
Second blessing of abiding is the father is glorified
We bring glory to the Father (verse 8), and we prove ourselves to be disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ (verse 8).
Jesus Christ is the “abiding place” for the Christian. He is the One from whom we derive spiritual life and strength and the means to become Christ-like. It is only through Him that we can “bear fruit.” It is by “abiding” in Him that we also enter into the deepest union and fellowship. Thus, Jesus urges His disciples to “abide” in Him when He departs to be with the Father, assuring them that He will likewise “abide” in them.
His “abiding” in us is not exactly the same as our “abiding” in Him. By abiding in Him, we draw life and strength, and thus we bear fruit. As He abides in us, He imparts His life, truth, and strength to us. Thus, Christ is manifested both to us and through us. He does not draw His strength from us, but imparts it to us. Our abiding is that of dependence; His abiding is the gracious manifestation of His presence and power in and through us.
Third blessing of abiding is bearing much fruit
Fourth blessing of abiding is that you will prove you are His true disciple
He now gives us some specifics as to how we are to abide in Him. He also spells out some of the benefits of abiding in Him.
Believers are commanded to abide in (1) prayer (v. 7; 14:14); (2) obedience (v.10, 20); (3) joy (v. 12); and (3) love (v. 12). These are all evidences of a personal relationship with God.[ii]
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
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“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions.
[i] I much prefer the rendering “reside” which the NET Bible suggests in its footnotes.
[ii] Utley, R. J. D. (1999). Vol. Volume 4: The Beloved Disciple's Memoirs and Letters: The Gospel of John, I, II, and III John. Study Guide Commentary Series (140). Marshall, Texas: Bible Lessons International.
Monday Mar 11, 2024
Monday Mar 11, 2024
John 15:2 "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
In today’s lesson we will see that Jesus tells us that the people who do not bear fruit are not really saved and He takes them away. We will see later they are burned in the fire (sent to hell). He tells us that the true disciples are the ones the Father prunes; they are the ones that bear fruit. This chapter says very clearly that if you are saved your life will show it by the fruit you bear because you are connected to the True Vine (Jesus). He also says that they have been washed clean from their sins by the Word of God. (Titus 3:5, Ephesians 5:26-27). He lastly tells us the only way we can produce fruit is if we are connected to the vine and live in a close intimate relationship with him. To say it another way is that we are filled with the Holy Spirit. No one can do anything unless God empowers us to do it.
The Vine and Its branches, John 15:2-4. In John 15:2-
2 "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
Note the word “every,” used twice in this verse, so that “every” unfruitful branch is removed, just as “every” fruitful branch is cleansed or pruned. I believe that John intended for us to recognize this repetition of “every” as significant. The fact that “every” branch that does not bear fruit is removed seems to speak of one thing—the eternal destiny of the fruitless. All unbelievers will perish in the lake of fire, away from God’s presence (Revelation 20:11-15), while “every” true branch will go through various cleansings to make it more fruitful. The “every” in both instances presses me to conclude that Jesus is contrasting true believers and unbelievers. It is in these two instances that the destiny or experience of each is all-inclusive.
In our text, Jesus employs the imagery of a vine to describe the new relationship which His disciples are about to enjoy with Him and with the Father. Our Lord is the “vine”; unbelievers are the fruitless branches,[i] while believers are the fruit-bearing branches. The grapes are the “fruit” which God produces in and through the saints as they draw their life and strength from the “vine,” the Lord Jesus Christ. And God the Father is the gardener, who tends the vine, removing dead branches and purifying the living branches.
Jesus is speaking of those whom appear to be in Christ but are not, see also Lu 8:18 "Therefore take heed how you hear. For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him."
I believe the weight of the evidence falls on the side of that interpretation which concludes that the unfruitful branches are removed from the vine and destroyed.[ii] In much more blunt language, the unfruitful branches burn in the eternal fire of hell. If this is the case, then how do we explain the phrase “in Me” (verse 2)?
If you are a true Christian you will bear good fruit, Mt 7:16 "You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? 17 "Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 "A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 "Therefore by their fruits you will know them. 21 ¶ "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' 23 "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!' 24 "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 "and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 26 "But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 "and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall." 28 And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, 29 for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.. In John 15:2- He cleanses every branch. God does the pruning so that we might bear more fruit, see Matthew 7:19-20. It is not our job to be a self-appointed fruit inspector. God is committed in shaping the character of Jesus in us. God will use what ever it takes to get our attention.
Mark 4:1-20 The parable of the soils and seeds, only one bears fruit
Ro 11:17 And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, 18 do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. 19 You will say then, "Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in." 20 Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. 22 Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. 23 And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.
Jewish branches were removed from the olive tree because of their unbelief, even as Gentile branches are grafted into the tree by faith.
In John 15:3- Jesus is talking to the Eleven Apostles about already being cleaned, the means by hearing and believing. John 15:4 is referring sanctification; remain close to the Lord for we must draw energy from the Vine. The Vine and Its bounty, John 15:5-11. The abiding life is what brings us abounding life. To abide in Christ is to be filled with the Spirit, Colossians 2:6. This needs to be our attitude in everything we do; as branches we desperately need the Vine! We don’t need to compare ourselves to other Christians,
See John 15:6
And also Joh 10:28 "And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29 "My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand. If we are not attached to Him/The Vine we are destined for judgment, see Mt 3:7 ¶ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 "Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, 9 "and do not think to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. 10 "And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire...
Jesus is contrasting Himself to fruitless Israel, see John 15:6 and also Eze 15:6 "Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: 'Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so I will give up the inhabitants of Jerusalem; 7 'and I will set My face against them. They will go out from one fire, but another fire shall devour them. Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I set My face against them... In John 15:7-8 by abiding in Jesus and in the Word we will want what He wants and therefore we need to ask … … and it will be done.
First, notice that the purpose of the vine is to bear fruit. We know from the Synoptic Gospels that our Lord cursed the unfruitful fig tree (Matthew 21:18-19). Our purpose as Christians is to abide in Christ so that we might bear fruit. Just what is the “fruit” which is either absent or present? What is the difference between a “fruitful” branch and an “unfruitful” branch? Some think that the “fruit” our Lord refers to here is the “fruit of the Spirit” (see Galatians 5:22-23). Others think of the “fruit” as new converts—those who have been saved as a result of the witness of the branches. I understand the term fruit a bit more broadly. I believe that as we abide in Christ, He abides in us, and when He abides in us, Jesus Christ becomes evident in and through us. The “fruit” then, is being Christ-like. The church is the body of Christ (see 1 Corinthians 12:27; Ephesians 4:12). I believe we bear fruit as Christ is manifested in and through our lives. He is seen in us as we manifest His character (Galatians 5:22-23). He is evident in us as we carry on the work He began when He was on this earth (see Acts 3:6, 12-16; 4:13). Being fruitful, then, is manifesting Christ in our lives.
Second, the branches are the instrument through which fruit is produced. While our Lord produced much “fruit” when He was physically on the earth, He now produces “fruit” through those (branches) who believe in Him.
Third, these branches only bear fruit in union with the vine. The branches obtain life through the vine; they are sustained by the vine; they produce fruit through the vine. The only way to bear fruit is for the branches to abide in the vine.
Fourth, the Father is the gardener, who tends the vine. He removes the lifeless, fruitless branches—those branches which were never truly “in the vine,” but only supposed themselves to be. He “cleanses” (some versions render this “prunes”) the branches, so that they will bear even more fruit. We really need to pause here for a moment, to reflect on what these words of our Lord really mean. There is a way in which Christians can very quickly and easily turn things around, losing the emphasis and focus we should have. For example, we think of the Lord’s return, and rather than seeing this as the time when our Lord will prevail over His foes and receive the glory He deserves, we think of it mainly in terms of the cessation of our suffering and pain, and in terms of the benefits we will gain.
When our pleasure becomes paramount, rather than God’s glory, then we have fallen far short of what God’s Word teaches. Our purpose in life is not to “fill our cups” with all the pleasure we can experience; it is to abide in Christ so that we may bear fruit for Him. The process by which this fruit-bearing is promoted is often painful. Thus, the Father cleanses or prunes us, so that we will be more fruitful. And lest you think the Father is being arbitrary, do not forget that the “fruit” which our Lord produced by His life and sacrificial death at Calvary came at great cost to Him, and to the Father.
3 "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.
Fifth, the Word is the instrument which the Father employs to tend the vine. The Word is the instrument which God employs to cleanse the branches (15:3; cf. also 17:17). Put in different terms, the Word is the super-sharp cutting instrument by which God prunes us (see Hebrews 4:12). Further, it is also my opinion that the Word is often the “cutting instrument” which the Father employs to “remove” the unfruitful (and unbelieving) branches (15:2). As I read through the Book of Acts, I see the closing of a chapter for Israel and the Jews.[iii] The gospel is proclaimed, and some Jews receive it. But many are those who reject the Word of God, bitterly opposing Paul and others who proclaim it. It is in response to the proclamation of the Word that some are “cleansed” and others are “clipped off.” The Word of God is at one and the same time the instrument which separates some from the vine, while drawing others all the more closely.
Joh 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
Eph 5:26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
1Pe 1:22-23 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: Personal Application: 1. Are you abiding in Christ? Obeying Him, in communion with Him- it’s not automatic because we have choices. We need to cultivate it! 2. Is God pruning you, so there can be seasons of fruit? 3. Are you a real or a fake branch - are you born again or is it plastic fruit? If you are saved you will bear fruit as a by-product. An unbeliever will have no real fruit.
Verse 4 "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
Abiding in Christ is fundamental and essential. But just what does it mean to abide in Him? Our understanding of this great text depends upon our understanding of the word “abide” (KJV) or “remain.” The NET Bible has chosen to consistently render the Greek term (menw) “remain” in our passage.[iv] The difficulty with the Greek term is that it conveys more than any one English word is able to capture. Let me illustrate this by pointing out the various ways this word is rendered by the translators of the King James Version. Out of 120 occurrences in the New Testament, menw is rendered “abide” 61 times, “remain” 16 times, “dwell” 15 times, “continue” 11 times, “tarry” 9 times, “endure” 3 times, and still in other ways 5 more times. In our text, the idea of “remaining” is clearly present, but the word “remain” somehow fails to convey the full force of our Lord’s words. A number of times in John’s Gospel, the term is used of “dwelling” in a certain place, of staying somewhere as one’s dwelling place:
Salvation = Abide in this usage?
Col 1:23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;
In addition to these instances, where abide speaks of one’s dwelling somewhere as a place of residence (even if only for a day or so), there are the two occurrences of the related term (monh) in John 14:1 and 23, which refer to the “rooms” (sometimes rendered “mansions”) or “dwelling places” that await us in heaven, in the Father’s house. Because of John’s use of these terms, I would suggest that we render the term abide “make one’s home” or “make one’s abode.” To “abide” in Christ as the True Vine is to “make our home” in Him, just as He also “makes His abode” in us. If we wish to stress the “remain” aspect of the term, we might translate menw “to make our permanent home.”
The idea of having God as our “dwelling place” is found as well in the Old Testament:
Psalm 90:1, A Prayer of Moses the man of God. LORD, You have been our dwelling place in all generations
Psalm 91:1, 9-10 - 1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. … 9 Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place, 10 No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling (, NKJV,
Psalm 61:3 For You have been a shelter for me, A strong tower from the enemy (, NKJV,
Proverbs 18:10 The name of the LORD is a strong tower; The righteous run to it and are safe (, NKJV, emphasis mine).
Consequently, it would seem that “making your permanent dwelling place” is not far from the meaning of abide in our text. This helps us discern the message that our Lord is seeking to convey to His disciples, and ultimately to us. What, then, does it mean to “make the Lord Jesus our permanent dwelling place”? Let’s simplify this definition, and say that Jesus is instructing us to make Him our “home” as He makes His “home” in us. Think about what “home” means to us:
Home is where your heart is; it is where you want to be (especially during holidays).
Home is the place to which you return, the place to which you are eager to get back to (e.g., when you’ve been on vacation).
Home is where you feel comfortable, and can really be yourself.
Home is a place of safety and security.
Home is where you bring your friends when you wish to have fellowship with them.
Home is our base of operations; it is at the center of what we do.
Home is where you find your strength for life; it is where you eat and sleep.
Home is where the people and the things we love the most are found.
Isn’t this what Jesus Christ should be for the Christian? Shouldn’t He be our place of refuge and security? Should He not be the source of our life and strength? Shouldn’t He be the reason for our fellowship with others? Shouldn’t He be where our heart is?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
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“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions.
[i] In the context, unbelieving Jews are in focus, but in its broader application “fruitless branches” would include all unbelievers, especially those who falsely suppose themselves to be true believers in God.
[ii] The best defense of this interpretation I have seen is that of James E. Rosscup, Abiding in Christ: Studies in John 15 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1973), pp. 248-249.
[iii] We know from Romans 11 that this “hardening of Israel” is not total, but partial; not permanent, but temporary.
[iv] I much prefer the rendering “reside” which the NET Bible suggests in its footnotes.
Monday Feb 26, 2024
JOHN 14:25-31 MY PEACE I LEAVE WITH YOU, MY PEACE I GIVE TO YOU
Monday Feb 26, 2024
Monday Feb 26, 2024
John 14:25 "These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. 26 "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. 27 "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. 28 "You have heard Me say to you, 'I am going away and coming back to you.' If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, 'I am going to the Father,' for My Father is greater than I. 29 "And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe. 30 "I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me. 31 "But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do. Arise, let us go from here.
V26 His peace is rooted in His Word, v27 Sourced by His Person (My peace I give to you), different from that the world gives, have peace in spite of trouble, v27 Experienced by faith (Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.) Same as He started the Chapter don’t have to let it if you trust Him. Ends the chapter with the same thing.
Jesus started out this passage saying let not your heart be troubled and then begins to tell them what all is going to happen. He then tells them that he is leaving and they need not be worried because He will take care of them and He will still be with them in another way. Then He finishes the section by telling them the way He will be with them is by sending the Holy Spirit who will teach them and bring to remembrance all things He said to them. But as they are worrying about all of this still He says my peace I leave you not as the world gives peace and again don’t let your heart be troubled. He says He is their peace and that they need not worry and neither should we. He says they should rejoice in the fact that He is leaving and going back to heaven. Plus, He says all of this in advance so that they will know that He knew it was going to happen. Lastly, He lets them know again for the umpteenth time that He does all of this because He is doing the Father’s will. Will we trust God no matter how hard it gets and rejoice in what He is doing in our lives through the hard times or let them stress us out?
25 "These things I have spoken to you while being present with you.
26 "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. Lu 24:49; Joh 2:22; 12:16; 14:16; 15:26; 16:7, 13; 1Jo 2:20, 27
What Jesus said in the days of His earthly ministry was only partially understood. Three things were needed for the apostles to understand Jesus’ person and mission: (1) His death had to occur. (2) He had to rise again to vindicate His claim and demonstrate His victory. (3) The Spirit had to come (He would be sent by the Father … in My name, i.e., in Jesus’ place and for Him) and interpret the meanings of Jesus’ words and deeds. The Spirit, Jesus said, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. This verse is addressed to the apostles. The context limits the “all things” to the interpretation and significance of His person and work. The Spirit worked in their minds, reminding them of His teaching and giving them insight into its meaning (cf. 2:22; 7:39; 20:9).[i]
Again, the promise of the Holy Spirit being sent is given to comfort the disciples. See note on 15:26, 27. The first emphasis was on His life-giving power (7:37–39). The next featured His indwelling presence (14:16, 17). The next marked His teaching ministry (14:26). His ministry of empowering for witness is marked in 15:26.[ii]
Lu 24:1 Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. 2 But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. 3 Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments.
5 Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 "He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee,
7 "saying, 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.'" 8 And they remembered His words.
John 12:12 The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13 took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out: "Hosanna! 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!' The King of Israel!" 14 Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written: 15 "Fear not, daughter of Zion; Behold, your King is coming, Sitting on a donkey's colt."16 His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him.
On this rests the credibility and ultimate divine authority of the Gospel history.[iii]
Verbal Plenary Inspiration – Every word is given to us by God the inspiration of Scriptures extends to all sixty-six books of the Bible. Secondly, the inspiration of the Holy Spirit extends to every single word of the original manuscripts, not to just concepts or thoughts but to every single word.
This is very important material to master. Quoted Text below is from one of my Bible classes; the quotes are read from time to time, to remind us of the SIGNIFICANCE of this Beautiful Bible we are so privileged to have. If not quoted, it's paraphrased. I believe my pastor was quoting from other theological sources, but when you think over the meaning of the words, you see how apt they are, just the same.
"Verbal Plenary Inspiration" means "God the Holy Spirit so supernaturally directed the human writers of Scripture that, without waiving their intelligence, their individuality, their personal feelings, their literary style, or any other human factor of expression, His Complete and Coherent Message to mankind was recorded with perfect accuracy in the original languages of Scripture: the very words bearing the Authority of Divine Authorship."
So "Verbal" means, "the Bible in its original languages, from first to last (Autograph), is an exact record of the Mind and Will of God as He intended it to be."
So "Plenary" means, "the entire text of the Bible is equally from God, but not necessarily equally-important."
So "Inspiration" means, 2Tim3:16's "God-breathed" (theopneustos): just as God breathed into Adam's nostrils AFTER MAKING HIS BODY and that made Adam EXHALE and thus become a living soul, so also God's breathing of the Word into the Scripture writers produced an 'exhale' of Canon, without waiving any of their own personal attributes.
Mt 5:18 "For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.
Lu 21:33 "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.
1Peter 1:20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. 21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
When Jesus leaves they (the disciples) will have total recall of everything He said while He was on earth.
1Jo 2:27 But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.
27 "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. John 14:1; Php 4:6-7; Col 3:15
The word "peace" reflects the Heb. "Shalom," which became a greeting to His disciples after the resurrection (20:19–26). At the individual level this peace, unknown to the unsaved, secures composure in difficult trouble (cf. v. 1), dissolves fear (Phil. 4:7), and rules in the hearts of God’s people to maintain harmony (Col. 3:15). The greatest reality of this peace will be in the messianic kingdom
I read that 2/3rds of all women are on anti-depressants
Num. 6:26; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
Ps 29:11 The LORD will give strength to His people; The LORD will bless His people with peace.
Isa 9:6 For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
Isa 52:7 How beautiful upon the mountains Are the feet of him who brings good news, Who proclaims peace, Who brings glad tidings of good things, Who proclaims salvation, Who says to Zion, "Your God reigns!"
Isa 54:13 All your children shall be taught by the LORD, And great shall be the peace of your children.
Isa 57:19 "I create the fruit of the lips: Peace, peace to him who is far off and to him who is near," Says the LORD, "And I will heal him."
Eze 37:26 "Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary in their midst forevermore.
Hag 2:9 'The glory of this latter temple shall be greater than the former,' says the LORD of hosts. 'And in this place I will give peace,' says the LORD of hosts."
Ac 10:36 "The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ--He is Lord of all—
Ro 1:7 To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Ro 5:1 ¶ Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Ro 14:17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
28 ¶ "You have heard Me say to you, 'I am going away and coming back to you.' If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, 'I am going to the Father,' for My Father is greater than I. John 5:18; 10:30; 14:3, 8, 12; 16:16; 20:17; Php 2:6
If the disciples had been more mature in their love for Jesus, they would have been glad for His departure. But their love was still selfish at this point. Jesus was in His humiliation on earth, but by going back to the Father He would be exalted in glory (cf. 13:31-32) and He will come back (cf. 14:3).[1]
Cults or false teachers argue from the statement, The Father is greater than I, that Jesus is a lesser god. But this would make Jesus a created being or would lead to polytheism, both of which are clearly unbiblical. The Father and the Son share the same essence (cf. 1:1-2; 14:9; 20:28). The Father and the Son are “One” in purpose and essence (10:30). Thus the Father is greater in office or glory than the Son was in His humiliation.
29 "And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe. John 13:19; 16:4Isaiah 46:8–10 (ESV) 8 “Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, 9 remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, 10 declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’
Jesus had predicted His death and resurrection many times (e.g., Mark 8:31-32; 9:31). When this came to pass, after their initial shock, it would greatly help their faith. 30 "I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me. John 12:31; 16:11
The Heb. idiom means that Satan had nothing on Jesus, could make no claim on Him, nor charge Him with any sin. Therefore, Satan could not hold Him in death. Christ would triumph and destroy Satan
His teaching time was now limited because Satan, the prince of this world (cf. John 12:31; 16:11), was moving his forces against Jesus through Judas (cf. 13:2, 27). And yet Satan had no hold on Jesus. Sin leads to death (Rom. 5:12, 21a; 6:16), and sin and death give Satan a hold over people (cf. Heb. 2:14-15; Rev. 12:10). But since Jesus is sinless, Satan cannot claim Him for his kingdom of darkness. Satan thought Jesus’ death was a victory for him, but actually it was Jesus’ victory over Satan (John 16:11; Col. 2:15).
Romans 5:12 Death in Adam, Life in Christ 12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men5 because wall sinned—
Colossians 2:15 (ESV) 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
Hebrews 2:14–15 (ESV) 14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.
31 "But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do. Arise, let us go from here. John 10:18; Php 2:8; Heb 5:8 (NKJV)
His death was no sign that Satan won, but that God’s will was being done.
Heb 5:8 though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.
Philippians 2:8 (ESV) 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Whether Jesus’ words in John 15-17 were spoken in the room or on the way to the garden is uncertain, but probably they were given in the room.[2]
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
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“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions.
Sunday Feb 11, 2024
Sunday Feb 11, 2024
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. 7 "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him." 8 Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us." 9 Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'? 10 "Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. 11 "Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves. 12 ¶ "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. 13 "And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 "If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.
Jesus is the way to God because He is the truth from God and the life from God. He is the truth because He embodies God's supreme revelation (1:18; 5:19; 8:29).John 1:18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. He is the life because He contains and imparts divine life. Jesus is not merely One who has shown men the way; He is the way. It is His death, resurrection, and ascension that has made a way for men to spend eternity with God in heaven. He is not merely a way; He is the way. He is the one and only way that God has provided for men to obtain the forgiveness of their sins and the gift of eternal life. Lest anyone miss this point, Jesus says it again, in the plainest of words: “No one comes to the Father except through Me.” To know Jesus is to know the way to the Father, for He is the way. This was an exclusive claim to being the only way to heaven. John 10:9 "I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
Ac 4:12 "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."
1Ti 2:5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,
It is only because of Jesus Christ's work on the cross that anyone can enter heaven. Since He has come it is only through faith in the promise of God that His cross work satisfied the Father that anyone experiences regeneration John 1:12; 3:16;
1John 2:2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
Trust My person
4 "And where I go you know, and the way you know."
Jesus could say that the Eleven knew the way to the place where He was going because He had revealed that faith in Him led to eternal life (3:14-15). This had been a major theme of His teaching throughout His ministry. However, they did not understand Him as they should have (v. 5).
These four verses answered Peter's initial question about where Jesus was going (13:36).
5 Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?"
14:5 Thomas voiced the disciples' continuing confusion about Jesus' destination. Apparently the “Father’s house” did not clearly identify heaven to them. Without a clear understanding of the final destination they could not be sure of the route there. Thomas' question was a request for an unambiguous explanation of Jesus' and their destination and how He and they would get there.
Jesus has just told His disciples that He is going to “His Father’s house” so that they can be with Him there. He then tells them that “they know the way where He is going” (verse 4). Thomas chooses to differ with His Master. He says, in effect, “Master, we don’t know your destination, so how can we possibly know the way to get there?” But Thomas was wrong. They did know where Jesus was going. They had simply forgotten it, or at least put it out of their minds. Over and over again Jesus had told them that He had come from the Father in heaven, and that He was going to return there: “For I have come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me” (6:38).
6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
John 1:4, 17; 8:19, 32; 10:9; 11:25; Heb 9:8
This is the sixth of Jesus "I am" claims (cf. 6:48; 8:12; 10:9, 11; 11:25; 15:1).
Jesus was summarizing and connecting many of the revelations about Himself that He had previously given the Eleven.
It is an exclusive place – 1+1 always is two, phone company and dialing the right numbers in the right order, take the right medicine in the right doses at the right time.
Jesus is the way to God because He is the truth from God and the life from God. He is the truth because He embodies God's supreme revelation (1:18; 5:19; 8:29).
Joh 1:18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.
He is the life because He contains and imparts divine life (1:4; 5:26; 11:25; cf. 1 John
Christ is “the Way” to the Father—“no man cometh unto the Father but by Me”;
The "way" is slightly more dominant in view of Thomas' question and its position in relation to the "truth" and the "life."
Jesus is not merely One who has shown men the way; He is the way. It is His death, resurrection, and ascension that has made a way for men to spend eternity with God in heaven. He is not merely a way; He is the way. He is the one and only way that God has provided for men to obtain the forgiveness of their sins and the gift of eternal life. Lest anyone miss this point, Jesus says it again, in the plainest of words: “No one comes to the Father except through Me.” To know Jesus is to know the way to the Father, for He is the way.
Jesus was not saying that He was one way to God among many. He was not saying that He pointed the way to God either. He said that no one comes to God the Father but through faith in Himself.
This was an exclusive claim to being the only way to heaven
John 10:9 "I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
Ac 4:12 "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."
1Ti 2:5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,
It is only because of Jesus Christ's work on the cross that anyone can enter heaven. Since He has come it is only through faith in the promise of God that His cross work satisfied the Father that anyone experiences regeneration 1:12; 3:16;
1Jo 2:2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
Since He has come, rejection of God's revelation through Him results in eternal damnation (3:36).
"He not only shows people the way (i.e., by revealing it), but he is the way (i.e., he redeems us). In this connection
'The truth' . . . will have saving significance. It will point to Jesus' utter dependability, but also to the saving truth of the gospel.
Jesus is also the truth. He does, of course, teach the truth. His words are truth. But beyond this, He is the truth. He is the “wisdom” of Proverbs chapter 8. All truth has its source in Him, as the Apostle Paul writes: “My goal is that their hearts, having been knit together in love, may be encouraged, and that they may have all the riches of full assurance in their understanding of the knowledge of the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:2-3).
1Peter 1.3-4 He is all the truth that men need for salvation, life, and godliness. This is why Paul restricted his preaching to proclaiming Christ and Christ crucified. The “wisdom” which the false teachers taught was contrary to the truth which is in Jesus. It is this “truth” in Jesus which reveals God to men, which discloses the way to eternal life, which is the basis for sanctification, and which provides the content of the gospel.
1 John 5:20 (ESV) 20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life
Finally, Jesus is the life. We know that He has raised the dead to life. In John’s Gospel, Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, after he had been in the tomb four days! Jesus gives life, but this is because He is the source of life. He is the One who called heaven and earth (and the church) into existence (John 1:1-5; Colossians 1:15-20). To reject Him is to reject life and to choose death (see John 5:21-40; 6:33-63). Because He is the life, His life cannot be taken away from Him. He lays it down, just as He has authority to take it up again (John 10:17-18).
'The life' (see on 1:4) will likewise take its content from the gospel. Jesus is both life and the source of life to believers."
“I am the way, the truth, and the life. Without the way there is no going; without the truth there is no knowing; without the life there is no living. I am the way which thou shouldest pursue; the truth which thou shouldest believe; the life which thou shouldest hope for” (Thomas à Kempis, “Imitation of Christ, iii” 56). [i]
He had already said plainly that He would die and rise again at least three times (cf. Mark 8:31-32; 9:30-32; 10:32-34). Nevertheless the disciples' preconceptions of Messiah's ministry did not allow them to interpret His words literally.
"We should not overlook the faith involved both in the utterance and in the acceptance of those words, spoken as they were on the eve of the crucifixion.’I am the Way,' said one who would shortly hang impotent on a cross. 'I am the Truth,' when the lies of evil people were about to enjoy a spectacular triumph. 'I am the Life,' when within a matter of hours his corpse would be placed in a tomb."
Revelation of A new relationship
Revelation of A new ministry
Revelation of A new promise
7 "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him."
John 8:19
Rather, had learned to know, through my successive revelations of myself.
Greek construction of from now on speaks of it as it had already been done, it was so certain that the Spirit would come and they would know Him and see Him spiritually that it is spoken of this way
To know Jesus is to know the Father (verse 7). The disciples have not known Jesus fully, but from the time of His glorification they will know Him and the Father. Indeed, Jesus can not only say that they have known the Father, but that they have seen the Father, in Him.
To know by personal experience, Thomas and the rest had not really come to know Jesus, much as they loved him. [ii]
Because they had seen Jesus who is the Son of God, the Image of God, and is God (1:18). Hence God is like Jesus Christ. It is a bold and daring claim to deity. The only understandable idea of God is precisely what Jesus here says. God is like Christ.
8 Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us."
Show us Philip now speaks up, possibly hoping for a theophany (Ex. 33:18 Moses said, “Please show me your glory, certainly not grasping the idea of Jesus just expressed.
9 Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the Father'?
Safest thou (σὺ). Emphatic. Thou who didst say, “We have found him of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write” (1:46). Omit and before how sayest thou.
Joh 12:45; Col 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
Heb 1:3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
Col 2:9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;
2Co 4:4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.
Not modalism – Not the Father in creation, Son in salvation, Spirit in regeneration.
10 "Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.
Joh 5:19; 7:16; 8:28; 10:38; 12:49; 14:20; 17:21, 23
11 "Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.
Joh 5:36; 10:38 Says it twice I am in the Father and the Father in Me
The proof of the union of Jesus and His Father is threefold. They should believe Jesus (a) because of His character (I am in the Father [cf. v. 20] and … the Father is in Me); (b) because His words are the Father’s (The words I say to you are not just My own (cf. 7:16; 12:49-50; 14:24); and (c) because the miracles reveal God’s working through Him (the Father, living in Me … is doing His work… . believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves; cf. 5:36). One of the key elements in John’s Gospel is the stress on the signs as gracious pointers to faith (cf. 5:36; 10:25, 38; 11:47; 12:37; 20:30-31).[iii]
If you do not believe on the authority of my personal statement
Believest thou not? Jesus had a right to expect greater faith from these men than from the blind man (9:35) or Martha (11:27). His words in 14:1 are clearly needed. This oneness with the Father Jesus had already stated (10:38) as shown by his “words” and his “works” Cf. 3:34; 5:19; 6:62.
12 ¶ "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.
Mt 21:21; Mr 16:17; Lu 10:17
Not greater spiritual works in quality, but greater in quantity. Cf. Peter at Pentecost and Paul’s mission tours. “
Peter in one sermon had 3,000 converts
Greater works. Not more remarkable miracles, but referring to the wider work of the apostolic ministry under the dispensation of the Spirit. This work was of a higher nature than mere bodily cures. Godet truthfully says: “That which was done by St. Peter at Pentecost, by St. Paul all over the world that which is effected by an ordinary preacher, a single believer, by bringing the Spirit into the heart, could not be done by Jesus during His sojourn in this world.” Jesus’ personal ministry in the flesh must be a local ministry. Only under the dispensation of the Spirit could it be universal.
Ac 2:43 And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.
Ac 5:12 And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people; (and they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch. 13 And of the rest dared not join himself to them: but the people magnified them. 14 And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women. 15 Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them. 16 There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one.
2Co 12:12 Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds.
Ro 15:18 For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ has not accomplished through me, in word and deed, to make the Gentiles obedient-- 19 in mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and round about to Illyricum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.
Jesus’ personal ministry in the flesh must be a local ministry. Only under the dispensation of the Spirit could it be universal.[iv]
13 "And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
Mt 7:7; 21:22; Mr 11:24; Lu 11:9; Joh 15:7,16; 16:23-24; Jas 1:5; 1Jo 3:22; 5:14
In my name. The first occurrence of the phrase. See on Matt. 28:19. Prayer is made in the name of Jesus, “if this name, Jesus Christ, the prayer in Christ’s name must be consistent with Christ’s character,
Was Jesus saying that we have unlimited power over God in determining what He will or will not do for us if we simply pray in Jesus’ name? Clearly not, for this would be out of accord with the rest of the scriptural witness. God is sovereign overall and subject to none. We are to pray in accordance with the will of God as exhibited in the life and teaching of Jesus. When we pray in that manner, surely it will be answered. To pray in Jesus’ name is to pray in accord with Jesus’ will and mission. Such a prayer request is far different from an idea of prayer as some type of shopping list handed to God that He is then bound to perform. Yet the enormous spiritual power that courses through the spiritual veins of the believer should not be underestimated in light of our involvement with the growing kingdom of God. The Holy Spirit empowers believers to do and to be all that Christ would have us to do and to be.
14 "If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.
15 ¶ "If you love Me, keep My commandments. Joh 14:21, 23; 15:10, 14; 1Jo 5:3
V 15-17 Packed into that paragraph are six remarkable facts centering about the person of this other Counselor: First, we learn that he will be a gift from the Father to true believers. I put it that way because our Lord identifies loving obedience as the mark of a true believer. A true believer is one who has been drawn to Christ by love and is ready to obey what he says.
The second thing Jesus says is that this Spirit will be "another," a separate but similar Person to himself.
The third fact Jesus announces is that the Spirit will be a continually abiding presence: He will be "with you forever." That means that the Spirit only comes once into our lives. He does not come again and again. He comes to abide, to dwell with us.
The fourth fact is that the Spirit will be a revealer of truth.
The fifth thing, Jesus says, is that this remarkable new resource is unavailable to the world. "The world cannot receive him because it neither sees him or knows him."
The sixth fact Jesus discloses is that this will be a resource that is available from within. "You know him," he says to these disciples, "for he dwells with you, and will be in you."
There is only one test of love that is valid and that is the test of obedience.
This connection seems designed to teach that the proper temple for the indwelling Spirit of Jesus is a heart filled with that love to Him which lives actively for Him, and so this was the fitting preparation for the promised gift.[v]
Jesus is the way to God because He is the truth from God and the life from God. He is the truth because He embodies God's supreme revelation (1:18; 5:19; 8:29).John 1:18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. He is the life because He contains and imparts divine life. Jesus is not merely One who has shown men the way; He is the way. It is His death, resurrection, and ascension that has made a way for men to spend eternity with God in heaven. He is not merely a way; He is the way. He is the one and only way that God has provided for men to obtain the forgiveness of their sins and the gift of eternal life. Lest anyone miss this point, Jesus says it again, in the plainest of words: “No one comes to the Father except through Me.” To know Jesus is to know the way to the Father, for He is the way. This was an exclusive claim to being the only way to heaven. John 10:9 "I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
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“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions.
[i] Vincent, M. R. (2002). Word studies in the New Testament (Jn 14:6). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
[ii] Robertson, A. (1997). Word Pictures in the New Testament (Jn 14:7). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems.
[iii] Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary. (1983-). The Bible knowledge commentary : An exposition of the scriptures (Jn 14:10–11). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
[iv] Vincent, M. R. (2002). Word studies in the New Testament (Jn 14:12). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
[v] Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., Fausset, A. R., Brown, D., & Brown, D. (1997). A commentary, critical and explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments (Jn 14:15). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
Monday Feb 05, 2024
Monday Feb 05, 2024
John 13:36 Simon Peter said to Him, "Lord, where are You going?" Jesus answered him, "Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward." 37 Peter said to Him, "Lord, why can I not follow You now? I will lay down my life for Your sake." 38 Jesus answered him, "Will you lay down your life for My sake? Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times. 14:1"Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 "In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
Today’s Scripture deals with the time in the upper room where Jesus and the disciples are having the last supper. Jesus is giving final instructions to them before He leaves earth so they can deal with all that life will throw at them. Peter does not understand why he cannot go with Jesus; he has gone with Him everywhere for 3 years and does not want Jesus to leave him and the disciples. Peter goes so far as to say he will die for Jesus. Jesus then tells Peter that he will deny Him three times before the rooster crows. He then begins to tell them it is going to be alright and they need not be troubled. He tells them to trust in Him and believe in Him as they already do in God the Father, because He is God and is equal with the Father. Jesus knows they are in a really bad place and He wants to assure them that it will be okay and that He is going to prepare a place for them so they can be with Him forever.
36 Simon Peter said to Him, "Lord, where are You going?" Jesus answered him, "Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward."
I think Peter was so shocked by our Lord’s words in verse 33 that he just couldn’t get past them. Peter “locked in” on what Jesus had said about going away. He wanted to know where Jesus was going and why he could not go with Him. He had followed Him all this way, all the way to Jerusalem. There was no turning back for him. He was committed to follow Jesus. And now Jesus is talking about going somewhere where he cannot follow? No way! Not for Peter.
Jesus answers Peter’s question indirectly, but even this oblique reply should have given Peter some comfort. Jesus was going somewhere where Peter could not follow Him now, but he will, Jesus said, “follow later.” That is not good enough for Peter. The word “now” is foremost in Peter’s mind. He does not want to wait. He wants to follow Jesus now, wherever that might be.
Peter does not seem to have a clue that Jesus is talking about going to the Father in heaven. He seems fixed on the idea that Jesus is going to change His place of residence on earth. Peter seems to be reasoning something like this: “Jesus says He’s going somewhere, and I can’t follow. He won’t say where, and He won’t say why. It must be the danger. He doesn’t want me coming along because it’s too dangerous. He doesn’t think I can take it. Well, I’ll let Him know that I can handle anything anyone dishes out …”
37 Peter said to Him, "Lord, why can I not follow You now? I will lay down my life for Your sake."
38 Jesus answered him, "Will you lay down your life for My sake? Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times. (NKJV)
In his excellent commentary on the Gospel of John, William Hendriksen points out some very informative facts about Peter’s words here and in the Synoptic Gospels. Let me cite them:
In connection with this boast a few additional facts must be noted:
Peter spoke these words both before and after Christ’s prediction which is recorded in 13:38, as is clear from Matt. 26:33-35; Mark 14:29-31. Evidently, at the time, the words of Jesus, telling Peter that in spite of his boasting he would do the very thing which he promised so emphatically not to do, failed to register. Peter was too sure of himself.
He used very emphatic language. Note the double negative in Matt. 26:35, so that the boast may be rendered: ‘I will certainly not deny thee.’ And compare: ‘I will never be ensnared.’
He spoke with great vehemence (Mark 14:31), evidently not at all pleased with the fact that Jesus had a different opinion.
The passage here in John indicates that Peter’s boast was not only negative ‘I will not be ensnared,’ ‘I will not deny’) but also positive: ‘My life for thee I will lay down.’ Luke 22:33 supplies the commentary.
His self-reliant exclamation was copied by the others: ‘Likewise also said all the disciples.’ Not a single one among these disciples knew his own heart. Notice the three ‘all’s’: ‘You will all be ensnared (Mark 14:27), said Jesus. They all said, ‘Impossible’ (for exact words see Matt. 26:35). ‘Then all the disciples left him and fled’ (Matt. 26:56).
Though not one of the disciples knew his own heart, yet while all were ensnared, Peter went much farther: he denied that he even knew the Master at all; see on 18:15-17; 18:25-27; cf. Matt. 26:69-75.[1]
Here, then, is our first lesson, is it not? The one who is most confident that he will not fall is the most likely to fall.
The second thing that I find emphasized in this text is that Jesus is in complete control.
I believe the most important lesson in our text is about true love. This chapter virtually oozes with the love of our Lord for His disciples (e.g. 13:1). Placed neatly between our Lord’s words on His imminent glorification and departure and His prophecy of Peter’s denial are verses 34 and 35, which contain our Lord’s instruction to His disciples to “love one another.” Was Peter’s problem not a lack of love? I would simply remind you that after Peter’s denial, our Lord’s death, and His resurrection, Jesus addressed Peter directly about his love and his service (John 21). Love seems to be a major issue for Peter. The thing he passed over so abruptly in our text, he must deal with much more seriously at the end of this Gospel.
As I close, let me do so with the words of the late Dr. John G. Mitchell:
There are three measurements of a disciple. We had the first in chapter 8: ‘If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free’ (8:31-32). The second measurement is here. ‘By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.’ Remember, ‘love suffers long, and is kind’ (1 Corinthians 13:4). The third measurement of discipleship is in chapter 15. ‘Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples’ (15:8).
God grant that we Christians, we who love Him, we who have been redeemed by His precious blood, may wear the badge of discipleship. It is genuine love one for another and especially with frail, stumbling believers.
My friend, this rules out all divisions. It rules out all bitterness and jealousy and envy among God’s people. It rules out all pettiness and smallness and shallowness. How much are we to love each other? As Christ loves us. This is the measure of it.[2]
So what are the implications of this scene for us today, do you think?
I think there are two big lessons.
Number one, we have to look beyond suffering in this world to the face of the Father.
"This physical infirmity is nothing compared to what Christ endured not only physically but spiritually, in a way we can't comprehend."
And so, for me it's a very powerful reminder. You have got to look beyond the life now and the suffering you endure and try to look in the face of the Father that somehow He's going to use this. I don't know how. I don't like it, but that's faith and it's a requirement.
And secondly, I think when, not if, when we deny Christ, He extends mercy. He extends forgiveness. He gives many opportunities again and again and again for us to repent, but the issue becomes, will we, like Peter, go on record saying you know, "I love You. I love You. I love You. I'll do whatever You ask me to do. Forgive me for my sins."
And what a great way Christ restored Peter after his denial.
And in some cases our denial is not the kind of active denial that Peter displayed where we say, "I don't know you."
It's a more passive kind of denial where we simply failed to respond in obedience. Where we don't do what we know we ought to do. That's denying Christ as well.
Peter's question was only the first of several that the disciples proceeded to ask Jesus. This shows their bewilderment and discouragement. They should have been comforting Him in view of what lay ahead of Him (12:27; 13:21), but instead Jesus graciously proceeded to comfort them by clarifying what lay ahead of them.
Jesus was troubled because of what lay before Him, and the Eleven were troubled (Gr. tarassestho) because they did not understand what lay before them. Jesus had just told them that He was going to leave them (13:33), but they had forsaken all to follow Him. Jesus had said that Peter would deny Him implying that some great trial was imminent (13:38
Trust my Presence
1 "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.
Joh 14:27; 16:22-23
1Pe 1:8 whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,
Probably in both clauses Jesus meant to give an imperative command: "Believe in God; believe also in me." This makes the most sense in the context, as most of the modern English translations have concluded. He meant, "Stop being troubled." Jesus was telling the disciples (plural "your") to trust in God and to trust in Him just as they trusted in God. This was a strong claim to deity and a great comfort. They could rely on what He was about to tell them as coming from God.
The NASB translates the singular "heart" (Gr. kardia) that Jesus used collectively. The heart is metaphorically the center of personality.
“Don’t be distressed that I am going away, and that you cannot come with me right now. You believe in God, don’t you? Can you see Him? Does He have a physical body that you can see and touch? No. I am going away, and you will not be able to see Me as you have for these past three years. I challenge you, therefore, to believe in Me in the same way that you believe in God the Father, as your unseen Lord. I will be just as real in My absence as I have ever been while dwelling among you.”
The disciples don’t want this to change. They want a God who is not only near them, but one who can be seen and touched.[i] It is better that Jesus returns to the Father, and that they begin to worship Him just as they do the Father. Strangely enough, while He will no longer be with them as He once was, they will come to know Him more intimately than they ever did while He was with them.
What we read in verse 1 is not really that difficult for us, as Gentiles, but let us remember that our Lord’s words would have stuck in the throat of a Jew. As early as John chapter 5, the Jews are violently reacting to our Lord’s claim to be equal with God. The Jews did not (and do not) believe in the Trinity, and thus our Lord’s exhortation to His disciples to believe in Him as they did the Father would sound blasphemous. Our Lord’s claims and teaching are revolutionary to the Jews living in those times, including our Lord’s disciples
Let me sum up a very important principle which Jesus is teaching His disciples in the first verses of chapter 14: The relationship which Jesus sustained for a few years with His disciples was temporary and exceptional. In the light of His imminent death, burial, resurrection, and return to the Father in heaven, they must now relate to Him in a very different manner—the same manner in which they relate to God the Father.
Carson writes, “Despite the clarity of Jesus’ claim, the apostles cannot accept it at face value. Steeped in Jewish heritage in which monotheism played so strong a part, they could scarcely conceive of a Trinitarian monotheism like that which Christians came in time to confess. They were still maintaining a fundamental chasm between Jesus and the Father. Sad to tell, some of Jesus’ most bitter opponents discerned what Jesus was claiming more swiftly than did his apostles. We seek to stone you, they said, ‘for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God’ (10:33). But at this late date, Philip can still ask, ‘Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us’ 14:8
The “Jesus” that Peter rebuked and resisted (Matthew 16:21-23; John 13:6-8) came as one whose deity and glory was “veiled” (not set aside), and who was not recognized for who He really was:
Isaiah 53:1-4, NKJV 1 Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him. 3 He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. 4 Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted.
The glory which the disciples beheld was not evident by His physical appearance or earthly form. When Jesus was transfigured, His glory was seen by the inner three, but there His appearance changed or was transformed, so that they saw Him differently than they usually did. Jesus, as He appeared at His transfiguration, was like the One who appeared to John in Revelation. Those who desire to “turn back the clock” to the “good old days” when we would have been able to walk and talk with Jesus wish for something that never was, and can never be. When we see our Lord at His second coming, He will not look like the Jesus we read about in the Gospels. Let us therefore be careful not to wish for a return to the “good old days” of our Lord’s presence as the disciples experienced it when they followed Him on this earth. Times have never been better for true believers than since our Lord’s departure, and they will be even better yet when He returns!
Trust my Promises
2 "In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
Joh 13:33, 36
To be in the Father’s house is to be in Christ
The emphasis is not on the luxuriousness of the facility as much as its adequacy to accommodate all believers. Other revelation about heaven stresses its magnificence (e.g., Rev. 21:1—22:5).
Another son would be married and he would attach another wing to the same house. Pretty soon they would marry and they would close it in almost so that the patio was in the middle and everyone lived around the patio...the father, the sons all the way around and the relatives. Now that's what it's talking about and it's not talking about tenement rooms, it's the idea of total dwelling, like a very full and complete apartment but all surrounding the same patio.
Verse 16 of Revelation 21, "And the city lies foursquare and the length is as large as the breadth and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal." Now that's 1500 miles approximately, 1500 miles in every direction of a cube. An Australian engineer named Thomas calculated that would be two million, two hundred and fifty thousand square miles. To give you a reference point, London is 140 square miles. That city is two million, two hundred and fifty-thousand square miles. And at the ratio of population in London, it could hold a hundred thousand million people unglorified. Glorified, who knows? It could hold thirty times the population of our world right now and still have plenty of room to spare. Now that's many dwelling places.
The bad news for the disciples (so far as they perceived it) was that Jesus was going away without them. The good news puts all this into perspective. He is going to His Father’s house; He is going back to heaven. He is going there to prepare a place for His disciples, so that they can be with Him for all eternity. His Father’s house has plenty of “dwelling places.” The word “mansions” is not really accurate, as both Leon Morris and D. A. Carson point out to us:
The Greek word translated in the King James Version as ‘mansions’ is found only here and in verse 23 in the New Testament. It is connected with the verb that means ‘to abide, dwell,’ which is used quite often in chapter 15. It points to places to stay. The translation ‘mansions’ is due to the fact that when Jerome translated the New Testament into Latin he used the word mansiones at this point, and the King James translators used the English word that came closest to that. But the Latin word means ‘lodging-places’; it refers to places to stay and not to elaborate houses.
The King James Version promises ‘many mansions’ rather than ‘many rooms’; and no doubt the prospect of an eternal mansion is more appealing to many than the prospect of an eternal room. The word mansion has called forth quite a number of songs which picture eternal bliss in largely materialistic categories: ‘I’ve got a mansion just over the hilltop,’ we sing, scarcely able to restrain our imaginations from counting the valets at our beck and call. ‘A tent or a cottage, why should I care? They’re building a palace for me over there.’ Here we even manage to upgrade ‘mansion’ to ‘palace.’
Jesus had previously spoken of His departure as including His death, His resurrection, and His ascension (13:31-32, 36). Consequently He probably had all of that in view when He spoke about going to prepare a place for believers. His death and resurrection, as well as His ascension and return to heaven, would prepare a place for them. The place, the Father's house or heaven, already existed when Jesus spoke these words. He would not go to heaven to create a place for believers there. Rather all that He would do from His death to His return to heaven would constitute preparation for believers to join Him there ultimately. The idea that Jesus is presently constructing dwelling places for believers in heaven and has been doing so for 2,000 years is not what Jesus meant here. Jesus' going itself prepared the place.
3 "And if I go (When I go- 3rd class condition) and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
Joh 12:26; 14:18, 28; 17:24; Ac 1:11; 1Th 4:17
Our knowledge of Heaven is limited as was Thomas’ knowledge, John 14:5. Jesus told him that we don’t need to know because He will personally come to get us.
The question must occur to the reader, “But why is it taking Him so long to prepare this place for us? After all, doesn’t the Father’s house already have many dwelling places? Is Jesus taking up carpentry again, in heaven, and busily building rooms for His followers?” I think we know better than that. It only took seven days to create the heavens and the earth, so why is it taking Him so long to make a place ready for us?
While on this earth, Jesus referred to the temple as His Father’s house (John 2:16; 14:2). Now, it is apparent that He is speaking of His heavenly “home” and not the temple in Jerusalem. In heaven, there will be no temple, for God’s place of dwelling will be with His saints:
Revelation 21:1-4, 22-27 1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth had ceased to exist, and the sea existed no more. 2 And I saw the holy city—the new Jerusalem—descending out of heaven from God, made ready like a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: “Look! The residence of God is among men and women. He will live among them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death will not exist anymore—or mourning, or crying, or pain; the former things have ceased to exist.” … 22 Now I saw no temple in the city, because the Lord God All-Powerful is its temple, and the Lamb. 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because the glory of God lights it up, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 The nations will walk by its light and the kings of the earth will bring their grandeur into it. 25 Its gates will never be closed during the day (for there will be no night there). 26 They will bring the grandeur and the wealth of the nations into it, 27 but nothing ritually unclean will ever enter into it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or practices falsehood, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
Compare this passage in Revelation with these texts from Ephesians and 1 Peter:
Ephesians 2:19-22 19 So then you are no longer foreigners and non-citizens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household, 20 because you have been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
1 Peter 2:4-10 4 So as you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but chosen and priceless in God’s sight, 5 you yourselves as living stones are built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood and to offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it says in Scripture, “See, I lay in Zion a stone, a chosen and priceless cornerstone, and whoever believes in him will never be put to shame.” 7 So you who believe see his value, but for those who do not believe, the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, 8 and a stumbling-stone and a rock to trip over. They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. 9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may proclaim the virtues of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 You once were not a people, but now you are God’s people. You were shown no mercy but now you have received mercy.
If the “place” our Lord is preparing is this heavenly temple, a house made up of living stones (saints), then this “house” will not be completed until the last of His saints are brought to faith.
God is delaying the outpouring of His wrath on guilty sinners, destined to condemnation, so that He might manifest His grace by saving those who are His “objects of mercy.” The punishment of guilty sinners is delayed until the full measure of those prepared for glory are saved. This, in my opinion, is what our Lord is presently preparing—a holy temple, a congregation of believers in whom, and among whom, He will dwell for all eternity. When the disciples comprehend what Jesus is saying here, they will look on His “absence” in an entirely different light. It is better for them that He leave them, for a time, so that they may dwell with Him for all eternity.
Since Jesus spoke of returning from heaven to take believers there, the simplest explanation seems to be that He was referring to an eschatological bodily return (cf. Acts 1:11). Though these disciples undoubtedly did not realize it at the time, Jesus was evidently speaking of His return for them at the Rapture rather than His return at the Second Coming.
Other Scripture clarifies that when Jesus returns at the Rapture it will be to call His own to heaven immediately (1 Thess. 4:13-18).479 In contrast, when He returns at the Second Coming it will be to remain on the earth and reign for 1,000 years (Rev. 19:11—20:15).
It is important to note that Jesus did not say that the purpose of this future coming to receive believers is so that He can be where they are—on the earth. Instead, He said that the purpose is so that they can be where He is—in heaven."
This the purpose of the departure and the return of Christ. And this is heaven for the believer to be where Jesus is and with him forever.[ii]
Here in John 14 the Lord gives a new and unique revelation; He speaks of something which no prophet had promised, or even could promise. Where is it written that this Messiah would come and instead of gathering His saints into an earthly Jerusalem, would take them to the Father's house, to the very place where He is? It is something new. . . . He speaks then of a coming which is not for the deliverance of the Jewish remnant, not of a coming to establish His kingdom over the earth, not of a coming to judge the nations, but a coming which concerns only His own."
The emphasis in this prediction is on the comfort that reunion with the departed Savior guarantees (cf. 1 Thess. 4:18). Jesus will personally come for His own, and He will receive them to Himself. They will also be with Him where He has been (cf. 17:24). Jesus was stressing His personal concern for His disciples' welfare. His return would be as certain as His departure. The greatest blessing of heaven will be our ceaseless personal fellowship with the Lord Jesus there, not the splendor of the place.
Trust My person
4 "And where I go you know, and the way you know."
Jesus could say that the Eleven knew the way to the place where He was going because He had revealed that faith in Him led to eternal life (3:14-15). This had been a major theme of His teaching throughout His ministry. However, they did not understand Him as they should have (v. 5).
These four verses answered Peter's initial question about where Jesus was going (13:36).
5 Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?"
14:5 Thomas voiced the disciples' continuing confusion about Jesus' destination. Apparently the “Father’s house” did not clearly identify heaven to them. Without a clear understanding of the final destination they could not be sure of the route there. Thomas' question was a request for an unambiguous explanation of Jesus' and their destination and how He and they would get there.
Jesus has just told His disciples that He is going to “His Father’s house” so that they can be with Him there. He then tells them that “they know the way where He is going” (verse 4). Thomas chooses to differ with His Master. He says, in effect, “Master, we don’t know your destination, so how can we possibly know the way to get there?” But Thomas was wrong. They did know where Jesus was going. They had simply forgotten it, or at least put it out of their minds. Over and over again Jesus had told them that He had come from the Father in heaven, and that He was going to return there: “For I have come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me” (6:38).
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
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“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions.
[1] William Hendriksen, Exposition of the Gospel According to John, 2 vols. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1953-1954), vol. 2, pp. 255-256.
[2] John G. Mitchell, with Dick Bohrer, An Everlasting Love: A Devotional Study of the Gospel of John (Portland: Multnomah Press, 1982), pp. 261-262.
[i] This seems to be the case with Mary Magdalene as well, as can be seen in John 20:11-18, especially verse 17.
[ii] Robertson, A. (1997). Word Pictures in the New Testament (Jn 14:3). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems.
Monday Jan 29, 2024
Monday Jan 29, 2024
John 13:27 Now after the piece of bread, Satan entered him. Then Jesus said to him, "What you do, do quickly." 28 But no one at the table knew for what reason He said this to him. 29 For some thought, because Judas had the money box, that Jesus had said to him, "Buy those things we need for the feast," or that he should give something to the poor. 30 Having received the piece of bread, he then went out immediately. And it was night. 31 So, when he had gone out, Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him. 32 "If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and glorify Him immediately. 33 "Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, 'Where I am going, you cannot come,' so now I say to you. 34 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
In this section of Scripture we see that Jesus has given Judas the bread and at that point, the devil enters Judas. Judas willingly invited the devil into his life and it cost him all of eternity in hell. Jesus tells him to go ahead and betray Him since that is what Judas intended to do. When Judas has left Jesus states that now He (the Son of Man) is glorified. What Jesus means is the way He is going to be glorified is by dying on the cross for our sins. Jesus speaks of it as if it had already happened, since it was going to and He knew it would. Judas goes out and it is night, there is a double meaning here since John always speaks of darkness as error, lies, and sin. Then Jesus proceeds to tell them He is going to heaven even though He says it in terms they don’t understand. Lastly, Jesus gives us that famous statement a new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." We are to love one another no matter what happens is what He is saying. He then says it will be known that we belong to Jesus is by the way we show our love to each other.
27 Now after the piece of bread, Satan entered him. Then Jesus said to him, "What you do, do quickly."
In effect, Jesus dismissed Judas from the table. Judas may not have intended to go out till later. It seems to me that it was necessary for Judas to leave at this time. First, it would assure that the timing of His death was right—something more important to Jesus than to Judas, or even the Jewish religious leaders. Second, it would remove Judas, so that Jesus could speak intimately and openly with His true disciples. In some ways, Judas had already been gently excluded from certain things. He was not one of the inner three: Peter, James, and John. He surely was not one of those sent to make preparations for the Passover celebration. This would have enabled him to betray Jesus at the wrong time and place. Now, Judas is excluded from our Lord’s final words to His disciples. They certainly did not apply to Judas. He does not even seem to be alive by the time our Lord is crucified (see Matthew 27:3-10). The truths Jesus is about to share with His disciples pertain to things in which Judas will not, and cannot, have any part. These are the very things on which Judas has turned his back.
Joh 17:12 "While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
Php 1:28 and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that from God.
2Th 2:3 ¶ Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,
1Ti 6:9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.
Heb 10:39 But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.
2Pe 3:7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
Re 17:8 "The beast that you saw was, and is not, and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names are not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
Re 17:11 "And the beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition.
2Co 7:10 For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.
28 But no one at the table knew for what reason He said this to him.
29 For some thought, because Judas had the money box, that Jesus had said to him, "Buy those things we need for the feast," or that he should give something to the poor.
The fact that Judas was the treasurer of the Twelve shows that the other disciples trusted him implicitly. He was a perfect hypocrite. Jesus' trust of him shows the Savior's grace.
30 Having received the piece of bread, he then went out immediately. And it was night.
Lu 22:53 "When I was with you daily in the temple, you did not try to seize Me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness."
The feast in view (v. 29) must have been the feast of Unleavened Bread that followed Passover immediately since Jesus and the Twelve were then celebrating the Passover. Giving alms to the poor was a common practice in Jerusalem on Passover evening.
13:30 Judas obeyed Jesus' command (v. 27) and left the upper room immediately. He missed most of the meal including the institution of the Lord's Supper. John's reference to it being night would be redundant if all he wanted to do was give a time reference. In view of his light and darkness theme, it seems that he wanted to point out the spiritual significance of Judas' departure both for Judas and for Jesus (cf. Luke
Luke 22:53; John 1:4-5; et al.).
He then, having received the sop, went immediately out and it was night." A solitary figure, leaving the room, to enter into the eternity of hell. 'The Bible doesn't say where he went, but evidently he went to finalize his deal with the Sanhedrin. And when he went out, it was night. And friends, it was more than physical night, it was eternal night, it was night in the soul of Judas. And I'll tell you something else. It is always night when a man goes out of the presence of Jesus Christ.
You say, "What does this say to me, all this?" It says, be sure that you make the most of your opportunities. Be sure you're not a hypocrite. Be sure than you're warned, my friend, that the greatest spiritual privileges might be neutralized by illicit passion. And a life which is lived in the face of the unclouded sun may set in a night of despair. There are Judases in every age, and there are Judases today. There are people who are selling out Jesus Christ, did you know that? There are men who have eaten at His table, and lifted their heel against Him. But the tragedy of it is, their end is death and disaster. And these words are still true, and true of more than one Judas: "Still as of old, by himself is priced, for thirty pieces Judas sold himself, not Christ."
First, Jesus is in complete control, including the one who will betray Him. In making arrangements for this meal, Jesus makes sure that He will not be interrupted or arrested—not until it is “His time.” Jesus knows that Judas will betray Him, and our Lord orchestrates every event in these last hours so that He can fully accomplish all that He has set out to do. This includes the time, manner, and instruments of His arrest, trial, and death. It includes a private time with His disciples, when He can prepare them for what lies ahead. Though it is but a few hours until His death, everything is under control—His control.
Having emphasized that our Lord is in complete control at this meal (as at all times), let it be noted that Judas is represented as a man who is responsible for his actions. Jesus did not choose Judas for salvation, but neither did Judas choose our Lord. Divine sovereignty and human responsibility are both evident in our text.
Second, this text instructs us regarding the purpose of prophecy. Many Christians look at Bible prophecy as a kind of puzzle—something that we can figure out if we’re smart enough or persistent enough. Jesus’ words in our text inform us that there are many prophecies that we do not even recognize as such until after they have been fulfilled (such as the prophecy concerning Judas in Psalm 41:9). Prophecy is not given to us so that we can know exactly what will happen in the future. Much prophecy is written so that when God brings about His plans and purposes, we will realize that He has already told us this would happen, and that it has happened just as He said it would. Prophecy is one way that God promotes and protects His glory. He tells us what He is going to do ahead of time so that when He does it, it is all His doing.
Third, at a time when our Lord could have been obsessed with His own imminent suffering and death, He devoted Himself to serving His disciples by preparing them for the things which were to come. I think of Paul and Peter, as they wrote their last Epistles, knowing that the time of their departure was at hand. They did not focus attention on themselves, but upon others. They sought to prepare the saints for the time when they would be gone. That is what I see in our text. Our Lord is here preparing His disciples for what lies ahead. When one sees suffering (for God’s sake) as glory, then one need not dwell on his pain or sorrow. He or she is freed to focus on others, even in the last hours of our own life.
Fourth, our text suggests to us that there is a time when it is better for the scoffer to be removed. The Bible talks about times when someone needs to be removed from the assembly of the righteous (Proverbs 22:10; Matthew 18:15-20; 1 Corinthians 5:1-13; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15; Titus 3:10-11). Some folks call this “back door evangelism.” In a day when the church seems to be seeking to increase its numbers, let us not forget that there are some folks whose presence contaminates the saints, and impedes the work of God. It is time for Judas to go, and Jesus dismisses him. It was night, but only for those who rejected Him who is the source of light and life. Jesus dismissed Judas to go where he had already chosen.
Fifth, we should not think only of Judas as we read our text—Judas is but one example of many who, like him, choose to reject the light and to dwell in darkness. Specifically, Judas is a dramatic picture of the rejection of Jesus by the nation Israel. Over and over again, God had spoken to this people. Finally, God spoke to Israel through “the Word,” the sinless Son of God, Jesus Christ (see Hebrews 1:1-3). They did not believe His words, in spite of all the miraculous works He performed. They seized Him, accused Him of crimes He did not commit, and killed Him, all to further their own interests. Is this not what Judas did as well? What a tragic picture. What darkness the nation Israel is about to experience, after their rejection of Jesus as the Messiah.
It is no different today. Judas is also a picture of all who hear the gospel and cast it aside, by rejecting Jesus as the sinless Son of God, who “takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). It is possible that you may not have believed in Jesus as the “way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). You may be consoling yourself that you did not betray Jesus, as Judas did. If you have not received Him as God’s only cure for your sins, then you have rejected Him. According to the Bible, you are lost and living in darkness. As our Lord urged Judas to repent and believe, He is urging you to do the same.
Sixth, for every man and woman who hears the gospel, there is a point of no return. There is a point of no return, a point in time after which it is forever too late to repent and be saved. In the New Testament, it will soon be that point in time for Israel, as the apostles indicate by the urgency of their preaching. There is a time when you will turn away from Christ for the last time. No man knows that time, but it is a deadline you do not want to ignore. As the Scriptures say,
1 Now because we are fellow-workers, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain. 2 For he says, “I heard you at the acceptable time, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation! (2 Corinthians 6:1-2).
I cannot miss the fact that John has placed two men in close proximity to each other in John chapter 13: Judas and Peter. Judas was an unbeliever, who betrayed the Lord of Glory. Peter was a believer, who denied His Lord. What is the difference between the two? All the difference in the world. In some ways, Judas looks like “Mr. Perfect” in the New Testament—up till the time that he betrays our Lord. But over and over again in the Gospels, Peter seems to be messing up, doing or saying the wrong thing (even as he initially refuses to let Jesus wash his feet in our text). But while Peter often sinned, each occasion of sin was for him a point of repentance and return. How quickly Peter repents of his foolishness in chapter 13. It is true that Peter failed many times, just as we do, but each failure was a point of return. For Judas, his apparent failures seem to be few, but in spite of all the opportunities he was given to repent and turn to the Lord, he never did. Far better to fail often and return to the Lord, than to appear to do well, and never turn to Him at all. What a difference there is between Peter, whose sins were a “point of return,” and this final sin of Judas, which was his “point of no return.”
John introduces this new paragraph with the notation that what Jesus says here is spoken after the departure of Judas. Jesus had to guard and to qualify His words when Judas was present. He had to guard His words so that He would not give away any information that would facilitate Judas’ betrayal in a way that would produce His death at a time or in a manner different than what the prophetic Scriptures required. Jesus had to qualify His words to show (later on) that the comfort and assurances He gave to His true disciples were not meant to apply to Judas (e.g., 13:18-20). The departure of Judas sets in motion the events which assure our Lord’s death at the appointed time. Now, alone at last with His true disciples, Jesus speaks more candidly with them than ever before.
First, since the glorification of the Son of Man is the ultimate goal of history, Jesus welcomes it willingly, joyfully, triumphantly. Some people live under the false impression that God’s ultimate purpose in history is to make them happy and to make their lives free from pain and trouble. So the disciples seemed to think as well, until after the cross.
Second, the glorification of our Lord is realized both in His suffering and in His resulting exaltation. The glory of God is achieved at a very high price. The Father will sacrifice His own Son. Who can imagine the agony in that? The Son will lay down His life, dying on a Roman cross, and suffering separation from His Father—as the payment for our sins. And afterward the disciples will undergo their own suffering, which we see throughout the Book of Acts.
It would be wrong to speak of our Lord’s glory, apart from His suffering. It would likewise be incorrect to speak of His suffering apart from His glorification. Jesus here informs His disciples that His glorification is imminent—“right away” (verse 32). His glory begins at the cross, but it does not end there. He is glorified by His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension to the right hand of the Father. Our Lord’s suffering and His glorification cannot be separated. This is what the prophets of old struggled with: How can Messiah be both a suffering Servant and a triumphant King? The answer is found in the person and work of our Lord. Paul speaks of it this way:
Philippians 2:5-11 5 You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had, 6 who though he existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself by taking on the form of a slave, by looking like other men, and by sharing in human nature. 8 He humbled himself, by becoming obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross. 9 As a result God exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow—in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue should confess to the glory of God the Father that Jesus Christ is Lord.
5 times Jesus uses the word glory or some form of it in two verses of 38 words total
31 So, when he had gone out, Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him.
Son of Man - This term is connected to His suffering on the cross
The title "Son of Man" unites the ideas of suffering and glory, as mentioned previously. This is the last of 12 occurrences of this title in John's Gospel.
"In its general usage it is the title of the incarnate Christ who is the representative of humanity before God and the representative of deity in human life.
How did Jesus glorify the Father? He explained how later: by finishing the work the Father gave Him to do (17:4). That is also how we glorify the Father.
"Little children" (Gr. teknia,dear children – Christian converts)
At the Passover Feast the Father would invite the children to ask questions and answer them for them. Here at this supper Jesus sees Himself as the father and the disciples as His little children who need to be taught and cared for.
32 "If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and glorify Him immediately.
Third, the glorification of the Son is synonymous with the glorification of the Father. Notice the manner in which our Lord intertwines His glorification with that of the Father. Jesus does not seek to be glorified apart from the Father,[1] but with the Father. Both Father and Son are glorified by what takes place shortly. This is consistent with the message of John’s Gospel. Throughout the Gospel, our Lord has emphasized not only His unity with the Father, but also His subordination to the Father. In chapter 1, Jesus was intimately involved (as was the Father) in the creation of the world.
In chapter 2, at the cleansing of the temple, Jesus is looking after His Father’s house. In chapter 5, Jesus claims to be working on the Sabbath (by healing the paralytic by the pool of Bethesda) because His Father is also at work. Over and over again, our Lord stresses His union with the Father. It should therefore come as no surprise when we read that the time has come for Father and Son alike to be glorified, through the death and resurrection of the Son.
33 "Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, 'Where I am going, you cannot come,' so now I say to you.
Does not say you will not find Me though as He did to the Jews
John 7:33-34 33 Then Jesus said, ‘I will be with you for only a little while longer, and then I am going to the one who sent me. 34 You will look for me but will not find me, and where I am you cannot come’”.
John 8:21-22 21 Then Jesus said to them again, “I am going away, and you will look for me but will die in your sin. Where I am going you cannot come.” 22 So the Jewish leaders began to say, “Perhaps he is going to kill himself, because he says, ‘Where I am going you cannot come’”.
Fourth, the glorification of the Son necessitates a separation from His disciples. Jesus has a way of introducing future events gradually, especially those to which the disciples are resistant. So it was with His going to Jerusalem, His rejection, crucifixion, and death. So now it is also with His “departure.” Earlier, Jesus had spoken to the Jews about His physical absence from this world:
Now He says nearly the same thing to His disciples. He is going away, and His absence from them is the backdrop for all that our Lord is about to say to His disciples in the Upper Room Discourse.
Any such misunderstanding was now corrected. When Jesus told the Jews that He was going away, He meant that He was returning to heaven, to be with His Father. There, they certainly would not find Him, because they would not be there. Heaven is a place for those who believe in Jesus; hell is the place for those who reject Him (see John 3:16-18; 10:25-29; 1 John 5:10-12). The shock was that Jesus was going away, and yet not taking His disciples with Him.
34 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
Jesus is saying, "Look, no matter what happens over the next 24 hours, love one another
And it begins the "One Another" expressions that, of course Paul will pick up. We'll have many in the New Testament: love one another, encourage one another, be patient, admonish, rebuke, teach, on and on "One Another" phrases go. And this new commandment coming, of course, on the heels of the new covenant that this is the way you're going to relate to each other after I have been resurrected.
Yeah, and this is very timely for us within the so-called evangelical Bible believing church even in our own country. I am all about doctrinal purity and fighting for the truth of Scripture. What’s the famous reformers axiom about in all things…
In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, diversity, and in all things, charity.
So we can fold that out of here. The new commandment, that you love each other, so that the world's going to see this. So think of world religions. Think of the way some “isms” and “ologies” fight and hate and even kill one another.
Evangelical, Bible believing, Christ following Christians should be known for their acceptance, their mercy, their love. Yes, we deal with sin. Yes, we must confront and help those who get in trouble; but in the main, do they look at your church and my church and the place we fellowship and say, "Wow! Those people really love each other, and love me."
And when we look at our own unkindness or lack of compassion or lack of forgiveness for others, it's not just about relationships. It's about what we are saying who our Savior is, isn't it?
but in the Mosaic Law the standard was "as you love yourself" (Lev.19:18). Now there was a new and higher standard, namely, "as I have loved you." It was also a new (Gr. kainen, fresh rather than different) commandment in that it was part of a new covenant that Jesus would ratify with His blood (Luke 22:20; 1 Cor. 11:25). In that covenant God promised to enable His people to love by transforming their hearts and minds (Jer.31:29-34; Ezek. 36:24-26). It is only by God's transforming grace that believers can love one another as Jesus has loved us.470
We all know that there is a sense in which this “new” commandment of our Lord is not entirely new. The Old Testament law could be summed up in two commands: (1) Love God; and (2) Love your neighbor as yourself (see Matthew 22:34-40; Romans 13:8-10). What, then, is so different about our Lord’s command here that He can call it “new”? First, we should note that it is a command given by our Lord to the church, and not a command given to Israel. In this sense, it is the first of the “new commandments” that our Lord will give to the church through His apostles.[2]
Second, it should be noted that this command is specifically directed toward the disciples and their relationship with one another (surely this takes us back to the lesson of foot washing). It is therefore the first of the “one another” commands of the New Testament (see, for example, Romans 12:10, 16; 13:8; 14:13, 19; 15:5, 7, 14; 16:16). This command does not address the love that we have for unbelievers, though others do (see Matthew 5:43-48; Romans 12:17-21).
The most important “new” dimension to our Lord’s command here is the standard which He sets for the love He requires: “Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” It is one thing to love one another as we love and care for ourselves. It is a vastly greater love that gives up one’s own life for another, that sacrifices self-interest to promote the interests of another (John 15:13; Philippians 2:1ff.).
The sacrificial work of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary is the “new” standard for the Christian’s love for fellow-believers.
[1] “This is the one place in this Gospel where Jesus uses this word for ‘new’ (it is used also in 19:41 of the ‘new’ tomb in which he was laid). There is another Greek word for ‘new’ that means ‘recent,’ whereas this word has about it the notion of ‘fresh.’ It is not so much that the commandment has not been given before as that it has a different quality about it, a quality of freshness that differentiates it from any other. The commandment to love was not, of course, in itself a novelty. There was a very old commandment that we should love our neighbor as ourselves (Lev. 19:18). But this commandment is that we should love each other as Jesus loved us.” Morris, Reflections on the Gospel of John, vol. 3, p. 484.
35 "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
The Greek words for "love" appear only 12 times in John 1—12, but in chapters 13—21 we find them 44 times.
The “newness” our Lord’s “new commandment,” then, was not in its originality or novelty, but in its extent. It was the practice of this kind of love that would cause the world to recognize these men (and us) as the disciples of Jesus (verse 35):
That supernatural love would distinguish disciples of Jesus. Love for one another would mark them off as His disciples. It is possible to be a disciple of Jesus without demonstrating much supernatural love. However that kind of love is what bears witness to a disciple's connection with Jesus and thereby honors Him (cf. 1 John 3:10b-23; 4:7-16).471 Every believer manifests some supernatural love since the loving God indwells him or her (1 John 3:14). However, it is possible to quench and to grieve the indwelling Spirit so that we do not manifest much love.
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
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“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions.
[1] Is this not what the temptation of our Lord was all about—Satan seeking to tempt our Lord to gain His messianic glory independently of the Father?
[2] It is my understanding that many—perhaps most—of the Old Testament commands are renewed in the New Testament. As Dr. Bruce Waltke used to put it, “When we look at the Old Testament commandments, we must ask whether the New Testament ratifies, modifies, or abrogates (negates) them.” The command to “love” is “ratified” or “renewed” by our Lord here, and upgraded.
Monday Jan 15, 2024
Monday Jan 15, 2024
John 13:12 So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you? 13 "You call me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. 14 "If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. 15 "For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. 16 "Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. 17 "If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. 18 "I do not speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen; but that the Scripture may be fulfilled, 'He who eats bread with Me has lifted up his heel against Me.'
In this very familiar passage of Scripture, we see Jesus having set the example for Servant Leadership in the first eleven verses asking them if they know what He has done. Then He explains what He has done and why He did it. Jesus says Most Assuredly (i.e.; Listen Up What I am about to say is very Important). He says that if He the Lord and God who created everything washed their dirty nasty feet, then what ought they to do? Jesus is saying that we ought to do whatever it takes to help others become who they ought to be in Christ. That we are to help everyone in spite of what they look like, smell like, talk like, act like, or anything else that we may not like about them. Jesus says a blessing comes not by knowing what you ought to do, but by doing the very thing we most dislike doing sometimes, helping others who are not like us. Mt 25:40 "And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.' He also tells them about Judas who has betrayed Him even after having fellowship with Him.
And, thirdly, is humility in verses twelve to seventeen.
12 So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you? 13 "You call me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. Jesus says you say I am the Teacher and the Lord, in other words I have a great authority over you and others and if I in great authority do this to you, what ought you to do. 14 "If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.
15 "For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. Like as I have –in the same manner – means do whatever it takes to serve other people – Stands for self-sacrificing service for the Lord. Not to do the same thing I have done, but to serve as I have.
1Pe 5:5 ¶ Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."
16 "Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him.
17 "If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
Jesus want you to wash His feet today by serving His People, Humility involves serving others, not just the Lord
Pride will keep you from doing so.
Joy comes not just from learning about humility, but by demonstrating it
Jesus wants to wash your feet today but your pride will stop you from letting Him do so.
Jesus’ demonstration of serving His disciples was more than a demonstration. It was really a call to service.
You my brothers were called to be free but do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature. Rather serve one another in love.
And he pointed out that people talk about, "I have freedom in Christ to do this and to do that” and most of the time they’re saying, "I'm free to do whatever pleases my flesh."
But Galatians says our freedom in Christ is designed so that in love we can serve one another.
Jesus and Judas, the epitomes of opposites. The Perfect One and the absolutely imperfect. The best and the worst. The absolutely perfect and the absolutely wretched. Jesus and Judas. And by contrast here the purity of Jesus, and the depravity of Judas become very, very obvious.
The perfect one and the polluted one
The Son of God and the Son of Perdition
The blessed one and the cursed one
The Holy One and the Hellish one
We come to the confrontation as it comes head to head between Jesus and Judas.
The name Judas itself bears a kind of a stigma which burns within us. He who betrayed the Son of God with a kiss has become the most despised person in the annals of human history. His personality is the darkest on the chronicle of the world. And in this passage, we see the blackness of Judas contrasted with the absolute pure whiteness of Jesus Christ. Jesus and Judas come head to head at this point, the deed which has been festering in the heart of Judas, and which he has begun to perpetrate is now pushed to its climax and Judas is exposed as the betrayer.
Well, there's no question about the fact that the man was an ultimate tragedy. He was probably the greatest tragedy that ever lived, because he is the perfect and prime example of what it means to have opportunity and then lose it. He is the greatest example of lost opportunity the world ever saw. Three years, he moved and walked with Jesus. And ended in absolute disaster. He initially shared the same hope of a kingdom that the other disciples shared. He likely believed that Jesus was the One who was going to bring it off. He, too, after all, had left all and followed Jesus. And it's obvious that he initially didn't join the apostles for the money involved because they never really did have anything. Certainly along the line he became greedy, but perhaps his motive on the outset was just to get in on this kingdom that Jesus would bring.
Whatever was his character at the beginning, it was a gradual process that turned him into the treacherous man that he was, a man who had no thought for anybody but himself, a man who finally only wanted to get as much money as he could and get out. Strangely enough, he followed the same Christ as the others, for three years. Just think about that. For three years, day in and day out, he occupied himself with Jesus Christ. He saw the same miracles, he heard the same words, he performed some of the same ministries, he was esteemed in the same way the other disciples were esteemed, yet he did not become what the others became. In fact, he became the very opposite. He was the cleverest hypocrite that we ever read about in the Scriptures. Nobody ever suspected it. And while they were growing into true apostle-saints of God, he was progressively forming into a vile, calculating tool of Satan. And as we come to the thirteenth Chapter of John, Satan literally enters right inside Judas. That's how prepared he is to do Satan's bidding. And when you look at the life of Judas, he becomes all the more terrible because of the glorious beginnings which he had. But greed, ambition, worldliness crept into his heart and avarice became his besetting sin. The failure to struggle with his own temptation, the disappointment that he had about every expectation of an earthly kingdom, the intolerable and unbearable rebuke of the presence of Christ. Just imagine that. Walking around all the time with sinless purity, while you were infested with vileness as Judas was. The sense, too, that perhaps the eye of the master was beginning to see who he was, and what he was. All of these things really began to eat away at him. And by the time we come to John 13, he's ready to do anything.
A few days before this in Bethany, he perpetrated his dirty deed by meeting with the leaders of Israel and bargaining for thirty pieces of silver, something around twenty to twenty-five dollars. The price of a slave was thirty pieces of silver. And Judas has already begun the deed, but now it comes to full fruition on the eve of the crucifixion.
18 "I do not speak concerning all of you. I know whom I have chosen; but that the Scripture may be fulfilled, 'He who eats bread with Me has lifted up his heel against Me.'
Prophesied in Ps 41:9 Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.
The idea of the heel lifted up, is the idea of brutal violence. It is the brutal kind of violence designated by the lifting of a heel and driving the heel into the neck of the individual. A neck-breaking heel. And that's the picture of Judas, brutal. Having wounded his enemy, lying on the ground, he takes the giant heel and crushes his neck.
Now, we realize one thing, a little footnote before we look at verse 18. We realize one thing, that unless Jesus in some way prepares the disciples for what is about to happen, it could affect them very, very seriously. For example, if Judas rises up all of a sudden and betrays Jesus, right out of the blue, the disciples may conclude that Jesus wasn't all He claimed to be, or He would have known that Judas was like this, and He never would have chosen him. Jesus wants to be sure that they don't think He is going to be surprised by what Judas does. Because that could be the loss of their faith. And so, to show them that Jesus is no surprise victim, that whatever happens, He knows about it, and it is all in the plan of God, He says what He says in verse 18. And what He says here is that even the betrayal of Judas has a divine origin. It fits into the master plan of God.
2 Corinthians 11:13-15 13 For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is not surprising his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will correspond to their actions
In the ancient Jewish (and perhaps more broadly, the Near Eastern) culture, inviting a man into one’s home and to his table was a most significant act. If the host made such commitments to his guest(s), one would expect the guest to reciprocate in some way. And yet the one who sat at our Lord’s table and ate His bread actually betrayed Him. What a horrible thing Judas is about to do to His Master, and immediately after eating His bread.
To share a meal with guests was to offer them not only provisions, but protection.
You remember that David had a bad son. His name was Absalom. And Absalom decided to start a rebellion and to overthrow his father and take over the throne. Now David had a counselor and a friend named Ahithophel. But Ahithophel turned against David, joined Absalom's rebellion. And here in Psalm 41 David is saying this of Ahithophel. "You mine own familiar friend whom I trusted, you've eaten bread with me, close fellowship, you've turned and taken your heel against me." That picture of David and Ahithophel is fulfilled in a greater sense in Jesus and Judas. Jesus, the greater David, Judas, the greater Ahithophel.
Over in Psalm 55, we see another prophecy, clearly a prophecy of Judas and his betrayal. Psalm 55:12. Listen to how this describes Judas. "For it was not an enemy that reproached me, then I could have borne it." Imagine Jesus speaking these words. "Neither was it he that hated me who did magnify himself against me. Then I would have hidden myself from him. But it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, my familiar friend. We took sweet counsel together, walked unto the house of God in company." Now verse 20. "He has put forth his hands against such as are at peace with him; he hath broken his covenant. The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart. His words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords. Over in Zechariah, next to the last book in the Old Testament, and in the eleventh chapter even more detail is given about the betrayal of Christ by Judas. In fact it even gives the exact price. Right as exactly you see it in the New Testament. Zechariah 11:12: "And I said unto them, 'If ye think good, give me my price.'" And this is Judas talking. Prophetically, this is Judas talking to the Jewish leaders. "'If you think good, give me my price, and if not forbear.' So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. And the Lord said unto me, 'Cast it unto the potter, a lordly price that I was prized at of them.' And I took the thirty pieces of silver and cast them to the potter in the house of the Lord." And you know what Judas did after the death of Jesus Christ? He took the thirty pieces right back to the house of the Lord, threw them down. The thirty pieces were picked up, Matthew 27 says, they took them out and bought a potter's field, exactly, to the letter, fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah 11. And there's a picture of Judas.
Long before Judas was ever born, his hatred of Jesus Christ was master planned by divine authorship into the activity of the cross. Jesus choosing Judas was no accident. In John 17:12, listen to this, Jesus says to the Father, "While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name," talking about his disciples. "Those that thou gave Me I have kept and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition," that's Judas, "that the Scripture might be fulfilled.” Judas didn't surprise Jesus one bit. He knew every move Judas ever made. It was predestined in the plan of God from eternity past. It was woven into the prophecy of the Old Testament at least three places as clearly as it could possibly be there. Now may I add quickly this statement: Judas' part was not apart from Judas' own will. Even though God master planned it, even though it was of divine origin that Judas would fit into the body of the twelve, and betray Christ. Yet it was not apart from the desire of Judas.
Judas was no robot. The idea that our Lord simply allocated to an unwilling Judas the part of the villain in the crucifixion is inconsistent with Jesus Christ. And it's inconsistent with the constant rebukes Jesus gives to Judas. All the way along the ministry of Jesus, he rebukes Judas. He endeavors to drive him to repentance, time and time again. And so we conclude that even though Judas' treachery fit into the plan of God, God did not design him as a treacherous man. That he became by his own choice. God merely designed his treachery into His plan. He didn't design the treachery.
Isn't it marvelous, again we come to the Old Testament principle that says this: "You meant it for evil, but I meant it for good." And God again took the wrath of Judas, to praise Him. And through the deed that Judas did, brought salvation.
I think also there are other reasons why Jesus chose Judas. As I analyze the life of Judas, there are so many profound lessons that we learn from Judas. What are they? Number one, we learn that Judas fit in as part of redemptive planning. We learned that God can use anything in His plan. And as I said He takes the wretch to praise Him. Then I think Judas was chosen because he became an impartial witness to Christ. It's one thing for John the Baptist to witness to Christ and all the apostles and all the people who believed in Him, but do you know one of the greatest witnesses that's ever been given in the history of the world, was given by Judas? Judas, if he could have found one thing wrong with Jesus Christ would have played it up to the skies, wouldn't he? If Judas could have found one error in Jesus Christ, he would have seized on it and capitalized on it. If Judas could have found one thing wrong at all, he would have blown it all over the place. Do you know what Judas said? His dying words were these, "I have betrayed innocent blood." That's one of the greatest testimonies to the truth of Jesus Christ that any man ever gave. And he was an impartial witness. He was biased the other way.
Another lesson I think that Judas teaches us is that he gives us the opportunity to uncover the awfulness of sin. Sin is never as black as it is in the life of Judas. The blackest kind of sin. And to really understand the cross, you have to see a Judas, because then you know what that cross can accomplish in forgiving that kind of sin. Then also I think that Judas and his life of treachery teaches us to supply sinners with a solemn warning. We ought to learn from the example of Judas, my friend. You ought to learn that you can be very near to God, very near to Jesus Christ, and yet be lost and damned forever. Nobody ever got closer in this world than the twelve. And Judas was one of them. And he's in hell today. Fifthly, I think the story of Judas teaches another lesson. It teaches us that there will be hypocrites among the brethren. You know something, Judas wasn't deceived, did you know that? He was a fake, that's all. He posed as a believer. And he was good at it. He was the best. And mark it, wherever God's work is done, there are hypocrites. Satan always uses them.
Another lesson that I think we learn from Judas is the fact that the devil is at work among the Lord's people. Here they are gathered around at the table, the last supper, and moving among them is Satan himself. Be sure of it friends, it's true. Many lessons from the life of Judas. Wherever God's work is done Satan will be there. First of all, Jesus says that it was all in God's plan, that He was not being taken by surprise. And so we see the divine origin of the betrayal.
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
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The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions.
Monday Jan 08, 2024
Monday Jan 08, 2024
John 13:1 Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. 2 And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray Him, 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, 4 rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. 5 After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. 6 Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, "Lord, are You washing my feet?" 7 Jesus answered and said to him, "What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this." 8 Peter said to Him, "You shall never wash my feet!" Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me." 9 Simon Peter said to Him, "Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!" 10 Jesus said to him, "He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you." 11 For He knew who would betray Him; therefore He said, "You are not all clean."
In today’s message we will see Jesus humbling Himself and showing us the attitude of Servant Leadership. This is a concept that is shown by Jesus the whole time He is here on earth. He was humble in the fact that the God who created everything came to earth to die on the cross for our sins (Philippians 2:5-11). Jesus said in Mark 9:35 And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, "If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all." Peter gets proud and doesn’t want Jesus to wash his feet so He tells Jesus "Lord, are You washing my feet? So, Jesus begins to say that Peter doesn’t understand all this right now, but will later on. Peter strongly protests again. So, Jesus tells Peter that if He is not allowed to wash his feet that He cannot have anything to do with Jesus. So Peter replies wash all of me then. Jesus lets Peter know that a saved person (those that are completely clean) only needs to clean their feet. In other words a saved person has been completely washed clean by the Blood of Jesus and only needs to daily ask for forgiveness(wash their feet) to maintain fellowship with God. 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. As we walk through this world we get dirty from being exposed to the sin around us that contaminates us. He then tells Peter that Judas is not saved by saying all of you are not clean.
The opening section stands out with three dominant thoughts in John thirteen, the first three verses. The first is that Jesus Christ knew His hour had come. He knew it was the time. Secondly Jesus Christ loved his disciples until the end and thirdly Jesus Christ knew that Judas would betray Him. We are going to try to apply as we set a foundation for looking at this whole section of “How to prepare for My departure,” Jesus says. “How to get ready for when I'm gone. How to continue once I leave you.”
1 Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. 3rd Passover in John
And the way the original language would be read, and the way the first century would hear it, would be more of, "He loved them to the full extent. He loved them comprehensively. He loved them completely. He loved them perfectly. He loved them, not just to the end when He died. He loved them fully." So He came unto His own, His own new Him not. Those who were chosen responded and He loved them to the full extent.
2 And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray Him,
3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, It is our Lord’s sovereignty that is being stressed here, and not His suffering.[1]
John wishes us to understand that Jesus washed the disciples’ feet at a time when others would not have been inclined to do so. Jesus was in complete control. Jesus was God’s CEO. When men find themselves in this position, they are tempted to behave very differently: “Jesus called them and said to them, ‘You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in high positions exercise authority over them’” (Mark 10:42). In spite of who He was; in spite of the fact that all authority had been given to Him, Jesus washed the feet of His disciples. In spite of the fact that He could have required men to minister to Him, catering to His every whim, Jesus humbled Himself by washing the feet of His disciples. This was truly an amazing thing! Jesus humbled Himself, knowing that He was soon going to be exalted higher than anyone in all of human history.
In chapters 1-12
“love” occurs 12 times
1 time per chapter
In chapters 13-17
“love” occurs 34 times
approx. 7 times per chapter
It is obvious, is it not, that John wishes to emphasize the love our Lord has for His own? Mitchell observes:
It is remarkable that in this section, starting in chapter 13, begins with the statement, ‘Having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end;’ (13:1). This section ends in chapter 17 with Jesus praying, ‘that the love wherewith thou has loved me may be in them, and I in them’ (17:26). He begins and ends with His love for His own. It’s just like the Savior! And down through these five chapters we have the marvelous revelation of His love, of His concern for His own.[2]
Here is the amazing thing. Jesus loves His own. Jesus loves His own, knowing everything. He loves His own, knowing that He is sovereign, and that He is about to leave this earth and return to His Father. He loves His own, knowing that they have been arguing (or will shortly do so) about who is the greatest, knowing that they are about to forsake Him and flee for their lives, knowing that Peter will deny Him. It is one thing for people to love us, who do not know all of our wicked deeds, thoughts, and motivations. It is another for the Holy God of heaven to love us, knowing every wicked thing we have done and will do. This is, indeed, amazing love. What a comfort to the Christian, knowing that our Lord’s love is constant and unchanging, knowing that He chose to love us—and to keep on loving us—purely out of His grace, and not based upon our performance. Jesus loved His own; He loved them to the “end”—to the uttermost degree, and to the very end.[3] What security! What grace! What a Savior!
4 rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself.
The washing of the feet of one’s guests was expected in Jesus’ day, as we can see from Luke’s Gospel:
44 Then, turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house, you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You gave me no kiss of greeting, but from the time I entered she has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with perfumed oil (Luke 7:44-46).
Normally, the host would not do this washing himself, because it was regarded as a very demeaning task. We get some idea of just how menial it was from the comment Abigail makes to David in the Old Testament: “Then she arose, bowed her face to the earth, and said, ‘Here is your maidservant, a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord’” (1 Samuel 25:41, NKJV).
Foot washing was understood in the same way by John the Baptist:
When John the Baptist desired to give expression to his feeling of unworthiness in comparison to Christ, he could think of no better way to express this than to say that he deemed himself unworthy of kneeling down in front of Jesus in order to unloose his sandal straps and remove the sandals (with a view to washing the Master’s feet).”[4]
I believe our Lord’s washing of the disciples’ feet in John 13 is further explained by a comment that is found in Luke’s Gospel:
24 A dispute also started among them over which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. 25 So Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and those in authority over them are called ‘benefactors.’ 26 But it must not be like that with you! Instead the one who is greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the one who serves. 27 For who is greater, the one who is seated at the table, or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is seated at the table? But I am among you as one who serves” (Luke 22:24-27).
It would not at all surprise me if this dispute occurred just as the disciples were entering this upper room. 8 “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, because a person more distinguished than you may have been invited by your host. 9 So the host who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give this man your place,’ and then with shame you will start to take the least important place. 10 But when you are invited, go and take the least important place, so that when your host comes he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up here to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who share the meal with you. 11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 14:8-11).
I believe that when the disciples entered this upper room, they were all intent on sitting in the places of honor—at our Lord’s right and left hand (see Matthew 20:21-23). I can almost see them pushing and shoving their way into the room, hurrying past the basin of water, where a servant normally would have been present to wash the feet of the guests as they entered, in preparation for the meal. This may well have been the time that the disciples argued among themselves about who was to be regarded as the greatest. After all, every one of them would have to establish their “ranking” among the 12 if they were to be seated according to their greatness. I can see our Lord, quietly observing His disciples as they squabble. I can imagine Him making His way to the washbasin, and filling it with water, while His disciples continue to argue with each other, completely oblivious to what He is doing. And then they suddenly become silent as they realize that He has taken the lowest position of all—lower than the lowest of the 12—the position of a servant (and not a high-ranking servant, either). To their amazement, they observe Jesus, working His way from one of them to the next, first washing a pair of dirty feet, and then drying them with the towel that is wrapped about His waist. The argument seems to end with the words of our Lord in verses 12-17. They may not understand all that He has done, but they must have had enough sense to know it was time to be stop bickering and be quiet.[5]
Two verses out of five focus on the actual washing of the disciples’ feet by our Lord. Three of the five verses provide us with background information, which John believes his readers need to know in order to properly understand the Lord’s actions. We might say that verses 1-3 provide us with information that gives us insight into our Lord’s “state of mind.”[6] This “state of mind”[7] of our Lord is expressed by John, both in terms of what Jesus “knew” (see verses 1, 3, 11), and in terms of why He did what He did (namely, His great love for His own).
It would seem to me that the lack of a servant to wash the disciples’ feet was deliberate on our Lord’s part. First of all, it was the host’s responsibility to provide this (see Luke 7), and Jesus was the host. Furthermore, throughout the Gospels, we see Jesus very carefully arranging for things in advance (the procuring of the donkey and its colt, and of a place in which to celebrate Passover, etc.). I cannot imagine that our Lord—who is omniscient (knowing all)—would forget to provide for the foot washing. And finally, all the things that were necessary for the foot washing were present (the basin, the water, the towel). I am therefore inclined to think that Jesus purposefully arranged for a servant not to be present, so that He could wash the disciples’ feet, knowing (as He did) all that would take place during this meal.
Those of you who've studied the Bible in detail and know a little bit of how to use the concordance and language tools, this is a wonderfully rich study for you to do on your own. Just look at these seven verbs. How they're used in the Gospel of John and how they're used elsewhere in the course of the New Testament.
And one I want to point out is the one secondly, "laid aside." It also shows up in John chapter ten verses eleven, fifteen, seventeen and eighteen. And that's where He's going to lay down His life for them. The same word John uses here. So Jesus, when He lays aside His garment, is showing them a picture of laying aside Himself for them. He's laying aside His position for them. He's going to lay aside His life for them.
Now if John gives us a parable that is acted out by the Lord, Paul gives us the theology of the Lord in Philippians chapter two and many of you are familiar with that passage of Scripture sometimes called the Kenosis; the emptying of Jesus Christ. He emptied Himself and took on the form of a bondservant. So in part of your study this week you might want to look at these seven verbs and you also want to compare with the theology of Philippians chapter two where Paul explains the why of what Jesus did.
Now Jesus Christ is not self promoting. In fact he is self humiliating. He condescends because he garbs himself like a slave to wipe off the grime of humanity. When we read over it the first time, we might wonder what's missing in the story. The tools are all there: the basin, the pitcher, the water, and the towel are all present in the story. They're not missing.
5 After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded.
6 Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, "Lord, are You washing my feet?"
7 Jesus answered and said to him, "What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this."
8 Peter said to Him, "You shall never wash my feet!" Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me." Strongest negative in Greek Language - This is a triple negative, no never, ever will you wash my feet If I do not wash “You? Are You going to wash my feet?"
Joh 3:5; 1Co 6:11; Eph 5:26; Tit 3:5; Heb 10:22
McGregor writes, "Peter is humble enough to see the incongruity of Christ’s action, yet proud enough to dictate to his Master."
you - Entire Bath Spiritually means have been saved
Peter is protesting against divine grace. Think of it for a moment. Peter is, with a fair measure of false humility, rejecting our Lord’s actions as though he is undeserving (which, of course, he is). That is the point. What Jesus does for His disciples, He does out of love and grace. And this is precisely what Jesus is about to point out to Peter. Would he resist having Jesus wash his feet, on the premise that he is unworthy? Then he must also reject having his sins washed away by the shed blood of Jesus on the cross of Calvary, for he is unworthy of this as well. To reject grace in principle is to reject all grace, period. And so Jesus says to Peter: “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.”
9 Simon Peter said to Him, "Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!"
10 Jesus said to him, "He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you." Bathed - Part of a body cleaned – daily cleansing of sins – 1John 1:9 – get dirty as we walk through this world What does it mean to be cleansed by Jesus? First of all it’s the atonement. There is the fundamental requirement that a person who trusts Christ is the tone for by His blood for our sins. This is a complete action. When you trust Jesus Christ, He takes care of all of your sins, all of my sins. No matter how wicked in the past, no matter how grotesque we are presently involved in him; when we are at tone for by the blood of Christ, He cleanses us from all of our sins. That's a profound truth, men and women.
But there's a second layer of that, if you will, and that's the need for forgiveness. Yes, we have positionally and perfectly been atoned for by Christ's work, but we need ongoing forgiveness by Christ when we sin. I John 1:9 would be an example. We have a positional cleansing, but we need ongoing forgiveness.
11 For He knew who would betray Him; therefore He said, "You are not all clean." Judas is not saved
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
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[1] Being omniscient, Jesus knew everything. He knew that Judas had decided to betray Him to the Jewish religious leaders. Jesus would also have known that all of His disciples would abandon Him and that Peter would deny Him, but in verses 1-3, this is not John’s emphasis.
[2] John G. Mitchell, with Dick Bohrer, p. 248.
[3] “… (this noun only here in this Gospel) is ambiguous, meaning both ‘to the end’ and ‘to the utmost.’ It is likely that here we have a typical Johannine double meaning, with both meanings intended. But the aorist, hgaphsen, is more consistent with love shown in a single act than with the continuance of love (imperfect).” Carson, p. 614, fn. 8.
[4] Hendriksen, vol. 2, p. 228.
[5] This entire paragraph is speculative, and thus the reader should beware, but it does at least suggest how things may have happened.
[6] In a criminal trial, the state of mind of the accused is usually given considerable attention, especially in crimes which have different degrees (first, second, third) of guilt, and therefore of punishment. Here, while it is unusual perhaps, John describes our Lord’s “state of mind” so that we can determine the degree of goodness of this foot washing. I think we should conclude from what we are told that Jesus is to be assessed with “first degree goodness.”
[7] “I am of the opinion that this was added for the purpose of informing us whence Christ obtained such a well-regulated composure of mind. It was because, having already obtained a victory over death, he raised his mind to the glorious triumph which was speedily to follow. It usually happens, that men seized with fear are greatly agitated. The Evangelist means, that no agitation of this sort was to be found in Christ, because, though he was to be immediately betrayed by Judas, still he knew that the Father had given all things into his hand. It may be asked, How then was he reduced to such a degree of sadness that he sweat blood? I reply, both were necessary. It was necessary that he should have a dread of death, and it was necessary that, notwithstanding of this, he should fearlessly discharge every thing that belonged to the office of the Mediator.” John Calvin, Calvin’s Commentaries, Volume 7: The Gospels (Grand Rapids: Associated Publishers and Authors Inc., n.d.), p. 821.
Monday Dec 11, 2023
Monday Dec 11, 2023
John 12:20 Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast. 21 Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus." 22 Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus. 23 But Jesus answered them, saying, "The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. 24 "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. 25 "He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
In today’s teaching we will see that this is the turning point of Jesus away from the Jews. The reason for this turning is some Greeks coming to seek Jesus and this apparently is a signal from His Father that Jesus is to completely turn away from them. They do not realize it but it is over for them and there are no more chances for these Jews (religious people) to trust Christ from now on. Jesus tells them that the way the Son of Man is glorified is that He has to die. This is where the Jews have it all wrong, they think Jesus is to come and be a Magnificent Savior the first time, but He has come to die for the sins of the whole world. The way we are please the Father and become ultimately glorified is through our salvation and becoming like God as we die to ourselves and then we can live for Him. Isn’t it amazing that God has given us seeds as an example of this great truth of dying, so we can really become who we really are made to be in Christ?
What Drives Your Life?
Baptism is a picture of our choice to be buried with death to self and to be raised with Christ as our focal point. That’s the point Jesus is trying to make in this passage, isn’t it?
There are those who are further along that road who understand, “My life is to be a thank you back to Christ. My life is to be a service to Him.” And there are those who are still fairly preoccupied with self.
Where in life and when in life do we stop to ask, “Am I following God?”
I hope God, in His kindness, is patient and longsuffering and merciful with us in that process. But the goal is that we’re serving Him, not ourselves.
19 The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, "You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!"
20 Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast.
With wonderful Johannine form and irony He links the previous section where the Pharisees say, “Look, the whole world is going after Him,” with the Greeks seeking Him. So, it’s a wonderful touch to the narrative. They were seeking God, they were seeking Jesus, but they’re not allowed in the temple complex. It’s an historical fact, incontestable, that at the court of Gentiles there were signs posted that a Gentile could not go further lest he face a death penalty. It was very strict in Judaism and the temple complex and even a God-fearing Gentile could not go further than that court of the Gentiles.
Ephesians 2:14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,
If you know your Bible, you know in Romans we have a section where Paul talks about Judaism and the Jew having the Gospel presented and then the door closing and opening to the Gentile. Same issue. And this is a decisive move in His ministry.
If you’ve been with us in the study of John, you have heard when we’ve gone through those text about the hour. He says, “My time is not now, my hour has not yet come, it is not my hour.” Many times He has said this. With His mother at the Wedding at Cana. “It’s not my hour, it’s not My time. This is not the time.” About 10 times before Jesus goes to the cross
But now, verse twenty-four, Jesus said, “The hour’s come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”
Let me give you five concepts that the Bible explains what the Son of Man means.
First of all, it means Deity. He equates Himself with God in John chapter 5:25 and John 5:27. Jesus says He’s God in an equation almost. So, its Deity.
Secondly, its royalty. This Son of Man, as the Son of Man, will receive royalty. He will inherit a royal lineage. He is part of royalty. Daniel 7:13 and Matthew twenty-six verses sixty-three to sixty-four speak of this. Jesus makes Himself equivalent in a royal fashion with God. He’s from nobility, we might say. Prince William is of a lineage, okay. Jesus Christ is saying, “I am royalty,” when I say, “Son of Man.”
Thirdly, He speaks of His humanity. John 3:14, John 12:23-24 He speaks of His humanity. As man He will suffer everything man suffers. There’s never been an emotion you’ve felt, a fear you have worried over, a joy you have celebrated, a pain you have experienced that He has not identified with. The incarnate part of Jesus Christ, if we can segment it out, the incarnation means He is fully man. He suffers in every way you’ve ever suffered. He understands that.
Fourthly, it embodies His glory. John 1:51, John 3:13 and others, Jesus declares that He is the only one who has descended from heaven and who will ascend back to heaven; therefore, He’s the only one who can have the glory of God.
And Fifth, and last, as such, He offers salvation. Because He’s the Son of Man, He can offer salvation to men. John 6:27, John 6:53 and 9:35. But the most important note of this, is that every time its used, except one, every time its used, Jesus is the one who uses it.
It’s a self-reference. Jesus is the “Son of Man.” He’s talking about Himself.
In John’s theology, the suffering of Jesus Christ and His glory are fused together. It seems strange, but that’s the way John gives us the picture. It is only through suffering will He be glorified. Think of it this way, as man, Jesus Christ came as a man, He was not accepted as Jesus. He was not accepted as King. He wasn’t followed as God’s Son. He was crucified as a man.
Jesus Christ, center stage, two criminals executed for shameful offenses. Whatever the offenses were, it required a death penalty. And they are ashamed in their exposure and beating and crucifixion. And so here you have framed shame against the ultimate shame which is the ultimate glory. These two deserve, He did not. And in that, He glorifies His Father. It’s the ultimate manifestation of His humility and glorification. Full shame, full glory, in John’s theology.
Now this is the most common title in the New Testament when it speaks of Jesus Christ. “Son of Man.” Greeks are asking to see Jesus at the Passover celebration. Why here? Why now? I think because God wants to show, and John wants to underline, that Jesus really is the king, not just of Israel, but of the “whole world”—here represented by the Gentiles, these foreigners. In verse 19 the Pharisees say, “The whole world has gone after him.” And now even Greeks are going after him.
21 Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus."
At His birth, Gentiles came from the east; now at His death, Gentiles come once again. Why does John mention them at this point? Because the King has now been rejected by Israel. The Jews had said, “We want to see a sign!” (Matt. 12:38, NKJV); but the Gentiles said, “We want to see Jesus!”
Does Jesus show himself to them? Physically, we don’t know. John doesn’t say. But this may be for our sake. Because Jesus does show himself to them the same way he shows himself to us.
He speaks truth about himself that becomes a truth about us. This is how Jesus shows himself in power: he gives truth about himself that becomes truth about us.
22 Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus.
23 But Jesus answered them, saying, "The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.
It is the hour of His death, but He calls it the hour of His glory!
Signifies that Jesus has turned from the Jews to the Gentiles, the whole world
John 1:11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.
The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
Here is the truth about me that matters for Greeks—and for all people—who want to see me and know me:] In other words, I am on my way to glory. I really will be something to see. They are right to want to see me. I will pray for this—that they will see my glory (John 17:20). I will be the most glorious person in the universe when my Father raises me from the dead and gives me a name that is above every name so that at my name every knee will bow—including Jews and Greeks and Americans. Yes, they are right to want to see me—and even want to be identified with me.
24 "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a (definite article THE speaking of Jesus) grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.
whenever you hear, “truly, truly,” the words Jesus speaks have eternal consequence.
Christ is the grain of wheat that must die before there can be fruit and the world given the opportunity to be saved.
Notice the article in English. You have the little article “a.” It’s a definite article in the original. it is “the grain of,” Jesus says, “of wheat.” He’s talking about Himself. Unless “the” grain of wheat dies, there will be no harvest.
He sees these Greeks as the first fruits, the symbol of the great harvest of earth for which he came.
The world would not see the full outcome of his work and his life until he went to the cross.
My pathway to glory is through death. Do you want to see that? I will indeed bear much fruit—including Greeks. But I will not and I cannot bear this fruit any way but through dying.
That is the truth about Jesus that he reveals to the Greeks—and to us. But now it also becomes a truth about them—and about us. He says in verses 25 and 26: my dying for your salvation is also my design for your imitation.
If you want to see me, be prepared to become like me. Prepare to follow me on the road I am going.
So he says, verse John 12:25,
25 "He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
Then he makes the truth about himself a truth about us. Will we hate our lives in this world? Will we follow him on the path to Calvary? Will we serve the Son in this way? Will we let the truth about the Son of Man become truth about us? Will we identify with the one we are so eager to see?
Paradox of Christianity, Life of Opposites
Romans 8:13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live., 18
Ga 5:24 And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Col 3:3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
Col 3:5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
Ro 6:6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.
Ro 6:11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Ga 2:19 "For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God. 20 "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
He tells His followers, “You’re going to suffer like I did.” And in fact, we have some indication historically, maybe not Biblically, in the Bible context, but we do have some fairly good history that some of these men died horrible deaths for the cause of Christ. And so there was an immediacy in the prediction of His suffering that, “You, too, will suffer.” But a disciple is to hate his own life. What does that mean?
We’re to hate our life in comparison to our love for Christ. Remember when Jesus says, “If you don’t hate your mother and father, you’re not fit to follow me,” basically.
Does He mean you hate your parents? No, of course not. What He means is, “If your love to me is not such a wholehearted love that it almost looks like you hate your family, its no love at all.” The love that you have for Jesus Christ should be so overwhelming that it looks like everything else is unimportant to you. And if you love your life, you’re going to miss - if you love your things more than anything else, you will miss Him.
Two things become unmistakably clear. One is that this is hard. And the other is that this is glorious or about significance
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
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The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions.
Monday Dec 04, 2023
Monday Dec 04, 2023
John 12:9 Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead. 10 But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, 11 because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus. 12 The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13 took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out: "Hosanna! 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!' The King of Israel!" 14 Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written: 15 "Fear not, daughter of Zion; Behold, your King is coming, Sitting on a donkey's colt." 16 His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him. 17 Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness. 18 For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign. 19 The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, "You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!"
In this section of Scripture we will see that many of the Jews came to see Him and also Lazarus because he was no longer dead, but alive and well. The chief priests not only want to kill him, but Lazarus also. When Jesus comes riding into town on a donkey’s colt as Zechariah 9:9 predicts. Also Daniel 9:25-27 predicts the exact day He will do this. The people do not understand, they are quoting the wrong verses, it says in verse 12 The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13 took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out: "Hosanna! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!' The King of Israel!" They are quoting Psalms 118:25-26 which is a verse that speaks of Jesus’s second coming, not His first coming. The first time Jesus comes it is to die on the cross, the second time He comes as a conquering King. They want a political Messiah, a conqueror who will deliver them from Roman rule, not save their souls. I think that is like us so many times, we want a Jesus who will deliver us from trouble, but not one who will deliver us from sin.
The curiosity of the people.
9 Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead. Says this three times
There they are again, the Jesus watchers, same ones. Back in verse 55 of chapter 11 doing the same thing. Where is He? Oh let's see Him. That's where it's at, Jesus always provides so much entertainment at the Passover and they wanted to see Jesus and they wanted to see Lazarus, this guy who was raised from the dead. Curiosity. Thrill-seekers, sensation-seekers, careless, indifferent, could care less really about the person of Christ, they just swung with the crowd, the mood of the mob just carried them whichever direction.
The vast majority of people who attend churches in America today are Jesus watchers and nothing else. They're spectators. They don't hate Him, they're not hostile Judases and they don't love Him, they're not Mary’s. They're watchers and they sit there and look. And it's a sad thing because the crowd that sits and watches became the crowd that crucified Him.
In Acts chapter 3, this kind of a crowd is designated to us by an illustration. In Acts chapter 3 verse 6 Peter says to this particular man who was lame, "Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have I give thee in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk." And he did and he was leaping and praising God, you know, and it was really exciting, all the things that he was doing. And then you come to verse 14 of chapter 4 and you read an astounding statement. Now the man is jumping around and having a great time and the people are there and they see him. It says in verse 14 of chapter 4, "And beholding the man that was healed standing with them, they could say nothing... against it." Now isn't that interesting? What did they want to say? They wanted to say something...what?...against it. You see, they didn't want to believe. They never wanted to believe. Even when they watched, they were only looking for some way to disprove it. You see the negative of it. They saw that the guy jumping around leaping for joy who had been lame and they said, "Um, now how can we say something against that?" see. That's looking at it with the evil eye.
They really like Him." Yeah, well you want to meet them again? Look at them in chapter 19 verse 14, it says this, "And it was the preparation of the Passover about the sixth hour and he saith unto the Jews...Pilate says...Behold your king. And they cried out, 'Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him.' Pilate saith unto them, 'Shall I crucify your King?' The chief priest answered, 'We have no king but Caesar.'" Hypocrites. They hated Caesar. But you see the same crowd watched Him, threw palms at His feet, crucified Him. The mood of the mob. The Jesus watchers. They don't have any thoughts of their own; they just sway along with whichever way the theology goes, knowing nothing. And the tragic comment on them is in Matthew 27:36, they all gathered around the cross and you know what it says? It says this, pathetic, "And sitting down they watched Him there." Still doing the same thing.
Don't just sit there and watch Jesus. That's deadly. Receive Him into your life.
The cruelty of the priests
10 But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also,
The leaders are really in trouble now. I mean, they've got a live man who used to be dead roaming around and he's gathering crowds to Jesus.
Number one, they were threatened politically because, you see, if all these people gathered around Jesus, they might start an insurrection and then the Romans would come down and squash it. Go back to verse 48 of chapter 11. If we let this thing go, they say, all men will believe on Him and the Romans will come and take away our place and our nation. They were afraid that Jesus might get a revolution going and Rome would crush it and throw them all out.
TWO, They were really threatened theologically because......the Sadducees had for years been teaching there was no such thing as resurrection. And here they've got to contend with a guy who resurrected. They were on theological thin ice, friends. I mean, they had been propagating their doctrine of no resurrection and here's a guy who has come back from the dead. So they've got one choice, destroy the evidence.
In these verses, we see the hatred and the love reaching a climax. They're the categories of reactions to Jesus. You can react like Martha and Mary; you can serve Him and love Him. And is it exciting! You can serve Him and love Him. Or you can react like Judas did and just live for materialism, maybe once in a while look to religion and be hypocritical. But it's all a Judas kiss. Or maybe you'd just rather be indifferent, just kind of stand in the back and just kind of look at it all, and that's just as tragic as anything. Or maybe you've even gone so far as to be like those false leaders, you're a false teacher teaching lies and defending yourself by destroying the evidence.
Where are you? You're already somewhere, you've already made a choice. Maybe you can still make another one and choose Christ and remember, Mt 12:30 "He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad. Those who enthusiastically welcome Jesus to Jerusalem as the “King of Israel” are some of the same people who, in a week’s time, will be crying out, “We have no king, but Caesar!” (John 19:15). Those who cry out, “Hosanna!” (Save now!) in our text, will be shouting, “He saved others. Let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, his chosen one!”
11 because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.
Lu 16:31 "But he said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.'"
Five Days Before the Cross
12 ¶ The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,
Now by the time we come to verse 12, it's morning on the next day. During the middle of the night Judas has already plotted with the leaders of Israel to betray Jesus. It's only now a matter of finding the right moment at which time Judas can betray Christ into their hands, point Him out, tell them where He is so they can capture Him. But Jesus is not a hunted criminal. Jesus is neither at the mercy of Judas, nor at the mercy of the leaders who want to kill Him. Jesus is no criminal to be subjected to a plot, He is in absolute control of everything that's going on.
Now He knew it was time to die. The time had come not when the world decided He would die, but when He decided it was time to die. The Sanhedrin, the Jewish leaders, had not wanted Christ to be crucified during the Passover time because they did not want unnecessarily to stir up the multitude of people that would have been present. They would much rather have waited till after the Passover when it was a little quieter and that way handle Jesus. But Jesus did it in His own time and forced the whole issue, brought about the whole thing in order that it might happen exactly on the Passover day, fitting that when all the other lambs were being sacrificed, the One true Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world would be sacrificed on the very same day that all the rest of the sacrifices were going on. So Jesus was not at the mercy of the plots of men, but rather was bringing about the forcing of the issue of His own death so that it would happen on a day when He planned it and God planned it before the world began, not when the Jewish leaders decided it would happen.
You remember that prior to this time Jesus did not allow Himself to get put into the position where He could die. He avoided very, very strategically the forcing of His death and He did it basically three ways. First way that He avoided death was by avoiding a public display unnecessarily. For example, in Matthew chapter 12 verse 14, "Then the Pharisees went out and held a council against Him how they might destroy Him. But when Jesus knew it, He withdrew Himself from there and great multitudes followed Him and He healed them all and then charged them that they should not make Him known." In other words, one way that He tried to eliminate the confrontation before the right hour, the right time, was to tell people not to say anything or to avoid public display. He went outside the city and did His miracles. And also, I think, is important in the sixteenth chapter of Matthew, the twentieth verse gives us a little bit of the same idea. Matthew 16:20 says, "Then charged He His disciples that they should tell no man that He was Jesus the Christ."
So first of all, He avoided the issue by avoiding public display unnecessarily. Second way that He avoided the issue was just by escaping out of their hands. Back in chapter 6 it tells us in verse 15, John's gospel, "When Jesus therefore perceived they would come and take Him by force to make Him a king, He departed again into a mountain Himself alone." He just disappeared. Then later on a same thing happened in the eighth chapter in the fifty-ninth verse, "They took stones to stone Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple going through the midst of them and so passed by." Second way that He avoided the issue was to just directly move right through the crowd and they didn't even know where He went. Miraculous.
The third way, and this perhaps the most interesting of all, the third way that He avoided the confrontation before the right hour was by restricting the ability of His enemies to lay their hands on Him. They couldn't move. They couldn't take Him. They were restricted from doing it. Perhaps the classic example being in chapter 7 when the Jewish leaders sent the temple police to get Him and they couldn't lay their hands on Him, they came back dumbfounded. And all they could say was, "Never a man spoke like that man." And Jesus again and again restricted them from being able to get Him.
So you see at least those three ways Jesus was waiting for the right hour, the right day and the right moment in which He would die, all according to a divine timetable mapped out and planned before the world began. And no plot or plan of man would alter that. And now it was the hour and now it was the time. He is soon to die for the sins of the world at the hands of the world, a strange kind of paradox. And He's going to die on His own time schedule, not theirs.
He deliberately plans and masterminds a demonstration. And as you begin to read through all of the four gospels which record this, you find how Jesus had this demonstration all mapped out. He deliberately presents Himself to Israel for the final time as Messiah. And what Israel had done in rejecting Him up to this point is now crystalized into a kind of permanency because what they do with Him now seals it. And in a last great move, He presents Himself as Messiah to Israel and their final act of rejection just crystalizes all the previous rejections.
Now He knows that the massive demonstration with all of the hosannas being thrown at Him, and all of the people singing the words from the Hallel, Psalm 118, is going just to infuriate the Jewish leaders and He knows it's going to cause them to desire to kill Him more than ever and that's exactly what He wants. He wants to bring their hatred to its own head because it's now time to die. And so here Jesus forces the Sanhedrin to change their timetable and execute Him right in the middle of the Passover, even on the very day of the Passover, contrary to what they had originally desired.
Even in the foolishness and the evil of man, God has the initiative. Like the Old Testament says when God was speaking, He said, "You meant it for evil, but I meant it for good." See. God can actually take the plans of men full of hatred, full of Satan, full of sin and move them for His own glory and honor, the greatest illustration being the cross and all of these events that we're talking about. For example, you have His words in the tenth chapter of John, profound beyond our grasp, where He says in verse 17, "Therefore doth My Father love Me because I lay down My life." Did you get that? Then in verse 18, "No man...what?...taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself." And then over later on in the nineteenth chapter of John, in the tenth verse, "Then saith Pilate unto Him...poor misguided Pilate, a wretched character...Pilate saith unto Him, 'Speakest Thou not unto me?'" In other words, Jesus had the audacity not to answer Pilate. "Knowest Thou not that I have power to crucify Thee and have power to release Thee?" And Jesus gives him a devastating answer saying, "Thou couldest have no power at all against Me except it were given thee from above." Somehow the heinous sin and hate of a depraved man operates within the framework of a sovereign God. Jesus with the Father master planned His own death to coordinate with the hatred of men. And now it was time to make His move, calculate it, lay it out, planned in eternity past.
This was a tearful entry by Jesus, not a triumphal entry
13 took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out: "Hosanna! 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!' The King of Israel!"
They grab palm branches which are always the sign of a conqueror. They're the sign, the symbol of strength, no stronger branch than that palm branch, the symbol of strength and the symbol of salvation, the great salvation that a conqueror brings, one who is coming to save the nation,
Used on this occasion they probably signaled popular belief that Israel's Messiah had appeared
Re 7:9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!"
Jesus does not back off from these Hosannas, He accepts them because they are legitimate, they are justified. He is indeed the King of Israel who cometh in the name of the Lord. He is indeed the only Savior. And He is presenting Himself as Messiah. This is His last great presentation and, in fact, He's introducing them to a Messiah in a completely different way than they anticipated because they were anticipating purely a political Messiah. They were thinking, "Oh, here He comes and at last our political Messiah, He's going to...He's going to throw the yoke of Rome off of us and here we go and we're off and running, national freedom," and all of this. But Jesus even tries to show them that He's not a political Messiah by the way He enters the city, riding on the foal of an ass, the most humble kind of animal, an animal historically had been used as a symbol of peace. He is, in effect, saying, "I'm not your great war hero, I'm the prince of peace," but they don't get the message. He comes as a prince of peace, not to make war but to die. And so He rides into the city and they hail Him.
The words, "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord," are directly out of Psalm 118, the Hallel, Verse 26, the last of the Hallel Psalms, the praise Psalms. Jews sung them all the time. They still do. And 118 is called "the conqueror's Psalm." So they know this is their conquering Messiah. They are singing the Hallel. They are reciting the words of the conqueror's Psalm while He, in posture, is fulfilling Zechariah 9:9 "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.
John 1:49 Nathanael answered and said to Him, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!"
Revelation 19:11, it says, this, "Behold a white horse and He who sat on it is called faithful and true and in righteousness He judges and makes war."
Hallel being the Psalms 113 through 118 and those are the Psalms that praise God, Hallel from which we get the word hallelujah which is praise. And the 118thPsalm out of the Hallel Psalms, incidentally, every Hebrew boy when he was just a child learned the Hallel, it was so much a part of Jewish life, but the 118thPsalm was the conqueror's Psalm. It was the one that was sung when Simon Maccabaeus came back during the inter-testamental period, the 400 years between the Old and the New Testaments. Simon Maccabaeus had conquered the Syrians and shattered their dominion over the portion called Acra. And when he came back to Jerusalem they call cried out and sung to him Psalm 118. So it was the conqueror's Psalm.
Also, Psalm 118 is a messianic Psalm because it is in that Psalm that it says, "The stone which the builders rejected," talks about that and that's Christ, isn't it? So it's the messianic...they're singing the right Psalm,
John gives us in this text the two greatest proofs of the Messiahship of Jesus Christ and they're woven right into the very historical account.
There are many ways to prove the Bible is the Word of God. We talk about a lot of them. We talk about experience. We talk about science. We talk about a lot of things, archeology. The two greatest proofs that the Bible is the inspired Word of God are, number one, fulfilled prophecy and number two, miracles. They are the two supreme proofs, the greatest fulfilled prophecy, the second, miracles. Since those are the two greatest proofs of the truth of the Word of God, they are also the two greatest proofs of the truth of the Messiah of God. So what we have here in the presentation of Christ is an emphasis on number one, fulfilled prophecy, and number two, miracles. And by those two emphases John is declaring to the world, "This is Messiah, the Christ of God and it can be verified by His fulfilling of prophecy, and His ability to do miracles." Those are the two classic supreme proofs of deity Messiahship. So we want to see two proofs that verify the claims of Christ: number one, the words of prophecy; number two, the works of power. And that's the outline, just two points...the words of prophecy and the works of power together prove Jesus to be Messiah.
It must have been a massive mob, there's no way to really calculate except there's one account in history around this period when a census was taken in Jerusalem at Passover and when that census, the number of lambs slain at the Passover feast was 256 thousand, five hundred. That's a lot of lambs. That's over a quarter of a million lambs slain at Passover. Now the law of the Passover lamb said that there had to be a minimum...a minimum of ten people per lamb which would make the population of Jerusalem in a conservative figure during Passover somewhere around two million, seven-hundred thousand people. Now that's a massive amount of people and it was spilling out all over the place
And so they cry, and notice what they cry...one word, what is it? "Hosanna," that word means this, it means two words in English, "Save now," that's what it means. This is not a praise nearly as much as it is a prayer. They are saying to Jesus, "O great conqueror, King of Israel, save now," and they're not talking about spiritual salvation, they're talking about political revolution. "Save now," a prayer for deliverance, "Hosanna, save now." Matthew adds that they even called Him "Son of David" so they knew He had the messianic right to be the King. They knew a lot about Jesus. They knew He had the right to be the King, they called Him King. They knew He came from the Lord, "He that cometh in the name of the Lord," they believed...perhaps we ought to say they believed He came from the Lord. It looked like their Messiah had arrived politically.
It's a joyous occasion, the Messiah has arrived. That's their feeling. God's anointed is here. David's heir is here. Anybody who could raise the dead can handle the Romans. At last we're going to see revolution. Messiah is going to lead a great conquering victory over the Romans. And so all of this massive demonstration takes place while the people in their brain have the idea that Jesus is arriving as a political revolutionary, that the Messiah is going to lead a revolt on a political level. And it's all keyed on the fact that He raised Lazarus from the dead, a monumental miracle. And as we saw last week, when He enters the city He fulfills messianic prophecy, indeed He is the Messiah, just not the Messiah they thought He was. Zechariah said He would ride the foal of an ass, a colt, and that's exactly what He was riding.
Genesis 49:10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor a lawgiver from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes; And to Him shall be the obedience of the people. said when He arrived the gathering of the people would be to Him and He arrived and sure enough the gathering of the people was to Him, just exactly as the book of Genesis said.
Ge 49:4. It should be the royal tribe, and the tribe from which Messiah the Prince should come: The scepter shall not depart from Judah, till Shiloh come, Ge 49:10. Jacob here foresees and foretells,
(1.) That the scepter should come into the tribe of Judah, which was fulfilled in David, on whose family the crown was entailed.
(2.) That Shiloh should be of this tribe--his seed, that promised seed, in whom the earth should be blessed: that peaceable and prosperous one, or the Savior, so others translate it, he shall come of Judah. Thus dying Jacob, at a great distance, saw Christ's day, and it was his comfort and support on his death-bed.
(3.) That after the coming of the scepter into the tribe of Judah it should continue in that tribe, at least a government of their own, till the coming of the Messiah, in whom, as the king of the church, and the great high priest, it was fit that both the priesthood and the royalty should determine. Till the captivity, all along from David's time, the scepter was in Judah, and subsequently the governors of Judea were of that tribe, or of the Levites that adhered to it (which was equivalent), till Judea became a province of the Roman empire, just at the time of our Savior’s birth, and was at that time taxed as one of the provinces, Lu 2:1. And at the time of his death the Jews expressly owned, We have no king but Caesar. Hence it is undeniably inferred against the Jews that our Lord Jesus is he that should come, and that we are to look for no other; for he came exactly at the time appointed. Many excellent pens have been admirable well employed in explaining and illustrating this famous prophecy of Christ.
Daniel 9:24-27 said that exactly 483 years from the decree of Artaxerxes in 445 B.C. Jesus would enter into Jerusalem, and exactly 483 years to the very day on the 360thday of the 483rdyear, and you remember the Jewish calendar was 360-day years, on the very day Jesus entered Jerusalem, that was the very day that Daniel 9:24-27 had prophesied 483 years from the decree of Artaxerxes. THE day, the sixth of April, 32 A.D. when Jesus rode into the city of Jerusalem was exactly 173 thousand, 880 days from the decree of Artaxerxes, you divide that up, that equals exactly 483 years of 360 days each, to the very day. If you want to read about it, Sir Robert Anderson, his book The Coming Prince, he marshals all the proofs that Jesus came into Jerusalem exactly on the 360thday of the 483rdyear of that prophecy. So Jesus when He entered into the city fulfilled to the very letter the messianic prophecies regarding the arrival of God's anointed. And the people were sure that the kind of power that Jesus displayed could only be displayed by one from God. And they felt this must be our Messiah, even though Jesus tried to illustrate something to them by riding on this colt of a donkey, rather than on a white horse, He was not coming as a warrior, He was coming as a prince of peace. But they didn't get the illustration, they didn't understand it, not even the disciples understood it. And they continued to hail Him as a conquering hero who was going to be the political ruler who would overthrow Rome and oppression and set up the great Kingdom through which the Jews would rule the world.
Luke 19:39, just listen to this, some of the Pharisees from among the multitude, really shook up, so they say, "Master, rebuke Your disciples...stop all this nonsense, see, don't let them hail You like this. Tell them to be quiet." Oh, they don't like it a bit. Oh I love the answer of Jesus...oh, powerful. "He answered and said unto them," and I'm sure He had to say it loud because everybody was yelling. "I tell you that if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out." Oh don't you like that? I mean, this is the day to hail the King, friend, and if you shut the mouths, the rocks will shout. This is God's day.
Lu 19:41 Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, 42 saying, "If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 "For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, 44 "and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation."
It was Titus Vespasian who came and leveled the city and murdered one-million-one-hundred-thousand Jews. And Daniel 9:26 even prophesied that, doesn't it?
But when Jesus came, in fulfillment of the prophecies that he would come as King, he was not riding on a war horse but on a donkey, a symbol of peace. His only scepter was a broken reed, his only crown a crown of thorns, his only throne a bloody cross. This whole scene is telling us that outward appearance means nothing to God when the heart is defiled and unyielded to him.
16 His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these
things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him.
17 Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness.
18 For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign. .
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
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Monday Nov 06, 2023
Monday Nov 06, 2023
John 11:36 Then the Jews said, "See how He loved him!" 37 And some of them said, "Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?" 38 Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39 Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, "Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days." 40 Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?" 41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42 "And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me." 43 Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth!" 44 And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Loose him, and let him go."
Today we will see Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead. Even though he has been dead four days, it is not too late. Did you know that it is never too late for Jesus to do His work, when we give up and give in we have missed God’s best, because He wants us to trust Him in Faith. Jesus tells them they will see God’s Glory, that was the message all along, but they missed it and many times so do we. We are looking for a way out and God wants to show us His Glory. Jesus allows them to participate by removing the stone and removing Lazarus’s grave clothes. God wants us to serve Him and gives us the privilege of helping Him if we will only be obedient. Jesus prays and calls forth Lazarus to come forth. Lazarus is a picture of us who are dead in our trespasses and sins and unless God calls us out of that life, we will continue to be spiritually dead forever. Ephesians 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. That is what Jesus did for Lazarus and is what He will do for us if we will believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. Have you done that? If not, why not do it today?
36 Then the Jews said, "See how He loved him!"
All of this is to let us know that our Lord is greatly affected by the sorrow of those about Him. He does not dab away at a tear or two; He visibly trembles as He weeps. This is observed by those there at the burial place of Lazarus, along with Mary, and they say to each other, “Look how much he loved him” (verse 26). This is now the third time that mention has been made of our Lord’s love for Lazarus. The first is when Martha and Mary remind Jesus of His love for Lazarus, when they send word to Him of the illness of their brother (verse 3). The second is in verse 5, when John makes it clear with the strongest term for love (agaph) that Jesus deeply loved Lazarus, and his two sisters (verse 5). Now, those standing by Mary can see our Lord’s love for Lazarus themselves (verse 36).
37 And some of them said, "Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?"
Men say, “Where there’s life, there’s hope.” The Christian can say far more: “Where there’s death, there’s hope.” In fact, this is not even going quite far enough. It is not enough to say that God gives life to us in Christ in spite of death. It is far more accurate to say that God gives eternal life to men in Christ by means of death. It is by means of His death on the cross of Calvary that the penalty for our sins has been paid.
(Ephesians 2:1-10).
I am saying that it really was necessary for Lazarus to die here, so that true biblical faith can be produced in many. It was necessary for all hope of Lazarus’s human recovery to die with him, so that the resurrection power of our Lord can be demonstrated. This is no mere healing; it is a raising of a body so dead that it smells.
One of the greatest hindrances to spiritual renewal is that people refuse to die, or better yet, they refuse to admit they are dead. Too many Christians are trying to wring something good for God out of their fallen flesh, as though their bodies were weak, needing only a little divine help. We are dead with respect to any good works. It is His resurrection power which we all need to live the Christian life:
8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 You, however, are not controlled by the flesh but by the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, this person does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is your life because of righteousness. 11 Moreover if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive through his Spirit who lives in you (Romans 8:8-11).
You may have a marriage that is in trouble. Rather than looking at it as sick, perhaps you should look at it as dead. I do not mean that you should pronounce it dead and get a divorce; I mean that you should see that it is humanly impossible to save, and that God must give it resurrection life. Biblical faith is resurrection faith, it is trusting in a God who can produce life where there is only death. This is what we are told about Abraham’s faith:
15 For the law brings wrath, because where there is no law there is no transgression either. 16 On account of this it is by faith, that it may be by grace, with the result that the promise may be certain to all the descendants, not only to those who are under the law, but also to those who have the faith of Abraham (who is the father of us all, 17 as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”) before God whom he believed, who makes alive the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. 18 Against hope Abraham believed in hope with the result that he became the father of many nations according to the pronouncement, “so will your descendants be.” 19 Without being weak in faith, he considered his own body as dead (because he was about one hundred years old) and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 20 He did not waver in unbelief about the promise of God but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God. 21 He was fully convinced that what God promised he was also able to do. 22 So indeed it was credited to Abraham as righteousness. 23 But it is not written that it was credited to him only for Abraham’s sake, 24 but also for our sake, to whom it will be credited, those who believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was given over
Biblical faith is resurrection faith, faith which trusts in a God who is able to raise the dead. How many Christians are trying to “keep something alive” that God has declared to be dead? We do not live by the principle, “Where there’s life, there’s hope.” We live by the kind of faith which believes that God brings about life through death. Let us not strive to keep alive what should be laid to rest. Let us not strive to preserve life when God means to produce it. It all begins when we acknowledge, with God, that we are sinners who are dead in our trespasses and sins. We must cease striving to produce “dead works,” which we hope will please God, and confess that our finest deeds produced by fleshly efforts are an offense to God. Death is not the end of our hope, but its starting point. It is by means of the death of our Lord that we die to the guilt, penalty, and power of our sins. When we trust in Jesus Christ for salvation, we acknowledge our own sin and inability to save ourselves. Because of our transgressions and was raised for the sake of our justification (Romans 4:15-25).
John 12:24 "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.
No one could be on more intimate terms with God the Father than was Jesus, His Son. And yet no one has ever suffered more than the Son of God, and this (ultimately) at the hand of His Father. Suffering is a part of God’s “school” through which every saint must pass, even our Lord:
7 During his earthly life he offered both requests and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death and he was heard because of his devotion. 8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through the things he suffered. 9 And by being perfected in this way, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, 10 and he was designated by God as “high priest in the order of Melchizedek” (Hebrews 5:7-10).
Suffering is proof of our sonship: Hebrews 12:3-13
2Ti 3:12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.
When God sends suffering our way, it comes for His glory, as well as our good; it springs from His love for us; it comes from One who Himself suffers with us in our suffering. The tears of our Lord at the grave of Lazarus tell it all. Suffering does not come to the saint from a callused God, who is insensitive to our pains. Suffering comes from Him who has suffered more than we shall ever know, from the hand of One who is touched by our affliction. The verse, “Jesus wept,” may be short, but it is very significant. It is worthy of much meditation on our part. Let us remember that all the blessings into which we have entered as Christians have come as the result of His suffering:
Isaiah 53:1-12
Trust God's will, trust God's power, trust God's timing...you trust those three things and you're a trusting soul. God knows what He's doing. And He knows when to do it. And it's so easy to sit back and say, "Well, God has gone so far now," you're really messed up, "You're not going to be able to do anything about it now." And you start wavering into doubt. I like what it says in John 13:7. Peter, he was always asking questions. The Lord was always telling him, you know, to remember his place. Verse 7, "Jesus answered and said unto him," after he had asked a particular question about washing feet, "Jesus said,, What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter."
38 Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it.
As the great God-man, he had deep, strong emotions that always accorded perfectly with every situation. And this revelation, too, is an act of love. Even anger at unbelief and suspicion and questioning is an act of love. Because these are the very things that keep us from seeing the glory of Christ in our pain.
39 Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, "Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days." Dead men don’t have names, When He is raised he has a name.
40 Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?"
Mary is a picture I think of those of us who always think there is something we can do, to get to heaven, to fix things, to help God, but Mary is one who comes to Jesus and gets at His feet and knows that only Jesus can do something.
True Faith relies on God’s promises and releases God’s power
Here's the key thought. "Jesus saith unto her," Jesus talking to Martha, "Said I not unto thee that if thou wouldest believe thou shouldest see the glory of God?" Now you remember that I told you last time that that statement is the statement of principle. In other words, He's saying this, "If you want to see the most out of this miracle and see it in its true value, you've got to come to the miracle in the right frame of mind." Right? If you come to the miracle believing that it's going to manifest God's glory, then when it happens you're going to say, "Oh look, there's God's glory." If you come to the miracle preoccupied with a corpse, all you're going to see is a living corpse and you won't really reflect on the glory of God. If you come to the miracle blinded, totally unbelieving hardened heart, you're going to walk away, "And so I don't know what happened but obviously it didn't happen like it looked."
This is absolutely fundamental to the main purpose of this Gospel—and the whole Bible. In John 1:14–16, John writes, “The Word [the eternal Son of God] became flesh [became human] and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Then in verse 16, he relates the demonstration of that divine glory to us. Verse 16: “And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” So the pattern is this: Jesus reveals his divine glory—glory as of the only Son from the Father—and we behold it, and from its fullness we receive grace.
So the incarnate revealing of the glory of God in Christ, climaxing with the cross and the resurrection, and our seeing it is the way we receive grace—that is, the way we are saved and receive all the promises of eternal life.
Christ says, "In this miracle, Martha, I don't want you to see a corpse made alive, I want you to see the Son of God glorified." Do you see the difference? The difference is just this, if you keep your eyes on the corpse, when the corpse comes alive all you're going to see is a living body. If you keep your eyes on Me, when the corpse comes alive all you're going to see is My glory. Do you see the difference? You see, what you carry into the miracle, Martha, is what you're going to get out of it. That's exactly what He's saying.
Oh, this is a tremendous principle. And He says I want you to see the glory of God. Now the glory of God is everything, isn't it? Everything that is, is what it is because of the glory of God. That's the theme of the universe, the glory of God. Everything is for God's glory...everything.
"What is the glory of God?" The glory of God is the revelation of all of His excellencies ... all of His attributes, all the fullness of His person. For example, His glory takes many, many facets. Moses said in Exodus 33:18 "Show me Your glory." And what did God show him? His goodness, His grace and His mercy. See. Those are just three of God's attributes. All of God's attributes or excellencies make up His glory.
Did you know that resurrection life was one of the attributes of God's glory? In Romans 6, listen to this, tremendous truth, verse 4, "Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death," that's speaking of our death with Christ, we died with Him. Now watch this, "As Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we should walk in newness of life." What raised Christ from the dead? The glory of the Father. What is the glory of the Father? That manifestation of it in resurrection power. One of the excellencies, one of the manifestations of God's glory is resurrection power. Therefore, Jesus says this miracle is for you to see the manifestation of God's glory in resurrection power. "Martha, I'm not so concerned that you be preoccupied with Lazarus. I want you to be preoccupied with Me and My glory."
If Martha sets her heart on Christ and then the miracle happens, she's going to see a glorified Christ. Right? That's the key.
But you know what happens to the Christian who keeps his eyes on Jesus Christ? When the solution comes, what does he see? He sees the glory of Jesus Christ. And you know, every time a problem's answered, you say, "Hey, praise the Lord, this is terrific." See. It's terrific. I've seen the glory of God.
Second Corinthians 3:18, it's a key verse. Listen to this, 2 Corinthians 3:18 says, "But we all with unveiled faith," since we've been saved the veil is off, we can see it now, "beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord." What are we supposed to be looking at in our Christian lives, our problems? No, no, no, we're looking into the glory of the Lord. And what happens to us? We are, listen to this one, terrific, changed into the same image from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord. You know what that verse is saying? That's saying that when you gaze into the face of Jesus Christ, you're going to see His glory. And not only that, you are literally going to be changed into His image from glory to glory. His glory is going to become your glory. You're going to be Christ-like and actually giving off His attributes.
41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.
His prayer was not a request for Lazarus' resurrection. Such a prayer would have glorified the Father. It was rather a prayer of thanksgiving for what the Father would shortly do. It had the effect of focusing attention on the Son as God's agent in
performing the miracle. Jesus' prayer had the effect also of drawing the onlookers into His intimate relationship with the Father and proving that He really did do nothing independently of the Father (cf. 5:19-47).
42 "And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me."
42 times Jesus says He has been sent by the Father in the Book of John
43 Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth!"
Lazarus was dead and he is a picture of us being spiritually dead, just as he could not do anything until Christ called him out, neither can we do anything to achieve holiness or heaven. Eph 2 – We are Spiritually dead
1Th 4:16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
The dead heard the voice of the Son of God and lived, as Jesus had predicted (5:25, 28-29). If Jesus had not specified Lazarus by name, every dead person might have arisen at His command. Jesus probably cried out loudly to make clear that this resurrection was not an act of magic. Wizards typically muttered their incantations and spells quietly cf. Isa 8:19 And when they say to you, "Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter," should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living?)
44 And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Loose him, and let him go."
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
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The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions.
Monday Oct 30, 2023
Monday Oct 30, 2023
John 11:26 "And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?" 27 She said to Him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world." 28 And when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, "The Teacher has come and is calling for you." 29 As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the town, but was in the place where Martha met Him. 31 Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, "She is going to the tomb to weep there." 32 Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died." 33 ¶ Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled.
34 And He said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to Him, "Lord, come and see." 35 Jesus wept. 36 Then the Jews said, "See how He loved him!"
In this section of Scripture we see that Jesus has just told Martha that He is the Resurrection and the Life. Then He asks a very important question. He says do you believe whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die? Then she makes a great confession of who He is. She gives Him three titles; He is the Lord, the Christ, and the Son of God. First she says He is the Master and King over everything, He is Lord; and then she says He is the Messiah, the Anointed One, and then lastly the Son of God which speaks of His humanity. He is all God and all man, that is what the Bible teaches. We then see her go get her sister Mary and then she falls at Jesus’s feet and says that if only statement. If only, we need to realize that the if only’s do not matter in God’s economy. Then the famous statement of Jesus weeping over the effects of sin and death that have come into this world, even though they accomplish the purposes of God. We need to remember that God uses all things to accomplish His purposes, even the bad things are being used to bring it all to the place where it all turns out just like He said it would in His Word, the Bible.
Wednesday Oct 25, 2023
30 SECOND DEVOTIONAL WE NEED TO ASK GOD TO HELP US SEE THE WORLD LIKE JESUS SEES IT
Wednesday Oct 25, 2023
Wednesday Oct 25, 2023
Matthew 14:14 says And He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick. We need to ask God to help us see the world as Jesus sees it. There must be a radical difference between what He sees and what we see because we don't act like He did. What He saw produced compassion in Him. Sick, lost, hungry and homeless people ... these were not just things to be avoided. These were real people with real needs. Jesus always gave….His time, His power, His wisdom ... and ultimately He gave His life. What is your response? Are you willing to give like Jesus?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
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The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
Monday Oct 23, 2023
Monday Oct 23, 2023
John 11:16 Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him." 17 So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days.18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away. 19 And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother. 20 Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house. 21 Then Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 "But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You." 23 Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." 24 Martha said to Him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." 25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 26 "And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?"
16 Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him."
I believe this is a declaration of strong devotion to Jesus.
He did not understand that the death that Jesus would die was a death that His disciples could not participate in with Him (cf. 1:29, 36). Nevertheless he spoke better than he knew. John probably recorded his exhortation because it was a call to disciples to take up their cross and follow Jesus (cf. 12:25; Mark 8:34; 2 Cor. 4:10).
This whole Gospel is built around revelations of the glory of God in Jesus. And what we saw last week is this new emphasis that this is the way Jesus loves us. He does not mainly love us in this life by sparing us suffering and death. He mainly loves us by showing us and giving us himself and his glory. God loves us mainly by giving us himself and all that he is for us in Jesus. Jesus loves us mainly by giving us himself and all that God is for us in him.
Don’t measure the love of God for you by how much health, wealth, and comfort he brings into your life. If that were the measure of God’s love, then he hated the apostle Paul. Measure God’s love for you by how much of himself he shows you. How much of himself he gives you to know and enjoy.
Ps 71:8 Let my mouth be filled with Your praise And with Your glory all the day.
17 So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days.
Died the day the messenger came to see Jesus
18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away.
19 And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.
Martha and Mary must be mystified as to why Jesus is taking so long to get back to Bethany—if not to cure Lazarus, then at least to comfort them.
20 Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house.
21 Then Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.
three times in our text we read, “If only You (or “He”) had been here
Why do you call that half faith?" Because she only believed, He could help Lazarus when he was sick not when he was dead. That's why it's only half faith. She had confidence in Christ, yet she limited His power. She believed that, nothing could kill her brother when Jesus was there but that once her brother died even Jesus couldn't change that.
In your mind, doubt, you know, and fear and anxiety and terror. You trust God, don't you, when everything is going good? Sure. The Lord provides, isn't He wonderful, He provides. When you really have to trust God, then you find out the measurement of your faith. Sure, it would have been all right if he was just ill, but now ... oh no, it's too much for you, Lord.
22 "But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You."
She has doubt but she's not about to let go of all her faith. Martha turns out to be a pretty good theologian. She was dead center in that verse. I know that even now whatever Thou will ask of God, God will give it to Thee. That's exactly what Jesus had said all through His ministry, right? Everything I do I do by the will of the Father. Didn't He say that? He said that so many times. Listen, Martha knew who He was. And Martha even understood His relationship to God. She knew. Why Jesus had spent times in their home. They knew who He was. They knew His claims. And she says, "I know," how does she know? "Because You said it so many times, Lord, that whatever You ask the Father He gives You." She understands something of the relationship between the Father and the Son. Down in verse 27 she says, "I know You're the Son of God." She understood the relation between the Son and the Father. She knew that. She believed it.
The other is the word, which is used here, and it is not to ask on an equal basis, it is the word aitĕōmeans "an inferior asking a superior."
Mary was acknowledging by using the word aitĕō? She is acknowledging the humiliation of Christ. Listen, she was a theologian. She had it all down. She said to Him, "You have to ask the Father, I know, You said that."
You say, "Well, if He was equal to God, why did He have to ask the Father?" Because Christ voluntarily made Himself, the Bible says, a little lower than the angels even. You say, "Well, what is this thing about calling Jesus the Son and God the Father, and how come Jesus has to ask the Father?" Don't you understand that when Jesus was in glory before He came to the world He was face to face with God and equal with God, John 17? You know that? But when Jesus came to this earth, Philippians 2, He gave up the exercise of all of His attributes and limited them to the Father's will.
In other words, He still had all of His power but He only used it in the framework of the predetermined plan of God and Himself in heaven before He came. But she's emphasizing His humanity because, after all, as a person to her He appeared to be a person and was in His humility.
23 Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again."
24 Martha said to Him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day."
But in Martha's case, she seems to have too little faith in what Jesus can do at the moment, while she has greater faith in what He can do in the distant future. But run into a problem today and it's "OH, OH
Martha knew more than most Jews knew. They didn't understand that. Martha was pretty good on the Old Testament. Maybe she had read Psalm 16, I'll read it to you, don't look it up. Listen, "Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices, my flesh also shall rest in hope," why? "For Thou will not leave my soul in Sheol, neither wilt 'Thou permit thine holy one to see corruption. Thou wilt show me the path of life, in Thy presence is fullness of joy, at Thy right hand are pleasures forever more." That's resurrection, isn't it?
And maybe she remembered old Job back there who expressed the same kind of thing in the nineteenth chapter, twenty-fifth verse, "For I know that my Redeemer lives and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God whom I shall see for myself.' Now Martha knew the theology of resurrection. So she says, "Lord, I know that he's going to rise at the last day.
If you can trust God over there, you can trust Him here. If His power is going to be exhibited there, it's the same power right here. And it's very easy to postpone all our belief in the power of God to some nebulous future when we don't even identify with it and very easy to doubt it today ... and needless
Do you realize that God still has the wonderful task of raising the Old Testament saints who have been dead for thousands of years? Their souls are with the Lord, their bodies He's going to raise some day at the end of the Tribulation, did you know that? And they've been dead a long, long time. If He can handle that, friends, a four-day corruption is a small detail. It's interesting to look at Martha's faith from that angle.
25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.
David said in Ps 30:3 O LORD, You brought my soul up from the grave; You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.
He does not say, I raise the dead; I perform the resurrection, but I am the resurrection. In His own person,
representing humanity, He exhibits man as immortal, but immortal only through union with Him.
He is saying, "It is immaterial whether you're talking about past, present, future. There is no time involved. I am resurrection and life." You see, she's saying, "It's wonderful, Lord, I know in the future ... He's saying, "Right here, Martha, see, Me. I am resurrection, not I will resurrect, I am resurrection." What a tremendous statement. She's got it all off in the future and He says it's here right in front of you, Martha. It's Me and it doesn't matter when, I am resurrection and I'll resurrect whenever I design to resurrect. And He will. And He has.
And so, He says I am. "I am" is the name of God, isn't it? Here is the revelation, this is it. Christ says I am resurrection and the life. Isn't that what we wanted to hear, friends? Isn't that the message the world wants to hear? Who cheated death and did he make a way for me to cheat it? There's the message. I am resurrection and life. And it's not a belief in a theology; it's a belief in a person, isn't it? Martha's thinking about an event. Jesus says no, look at Me a person, see. Salvation doesn't come in a system, friends, and it doesn't come in a religion and it doesn't come in a code, it comes in a living person, Jesus Christ who is resurrection and life. You will not have victory over death by going to church. You will not have victory over death by thinking religious thoughts. You will not have victory over death by doing good works. The resurrection and the life is an "I am Jesus Christ." And so Jesus is the full blessed life of God. He is the resurrection at any time in history: past, present, future ... an unconditional statement that knows no time bounds.
The life. The life is the larger and inclusive idea. Resurrection is involved in life as an incident developed by the temporary and apparent triumph of death. All true life is in Christ. In Him is lodged everything that is essential to life, in its origin, its maintenance, and its consummation, and all this is conveyed to the believer in his union with Him. This life is not affected by death. “Every believer is in reality and forever sheltered from death. To die with full light, in the clear certainty of the life which is in Jesus, to die only to continue to live to Him, is no longer that fact which human language designates by the name of death. It is as though Jesus had said: In me death is certain to live, and the living is certain never to die” (Godet).
26 "And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?"
You say, "What is faith?" Faith is believing, that's right. At the end of verse 26, what are those three words? "Believest thou this," that's the invitation, that's our invitation. Do you believe it? Believe that, that's all He asks. Faith, that's it.
And once you believe, death is abolished totally. Then with the Apostle Paul, you can say this, and I like it because what he's doing is standing there mocking death. First Corinthians 15, "0 death, where is thy sting? Did you get it? "Ah grave, where's your victory?" See. He's mocking it. The sting of death is sin. The strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God...what? ... Who gives us the victory. Hey death, where is your sting? I like that. Big deal, death. Go ahead, get me and see what happens. Instant glorification.
What does it mean to believe God? It means to say, "God, I accept what You have to say and I'm going to just flop on it, it better hold." Just trust, that's what believing is. It's commitment; throw your whole self on God.
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
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The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions.
Monday Oct 16, 2023
JOHN 11:5-15 RESPOND TO JESUS WHILE YOU CAN
Monday Oct 16, 2023
Monday Oct 16, 2023
John 11:5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was. 7 Then after this He said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again." 8 The disciples said to Him, "Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?" 9 Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 "But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him." 11 These things He said, and after that He said to them, "Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up." 12 Then His disciples said, "Lord, if he sleeps he will get well." 13 However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep. 14 Then Jesus said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead. 15 "And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him."
In this section of Scripture we see that Jesus has received the message that Lazarus is sick, but Jesus knows that he is dead at this point in time. So, Jesus waits two more days to test the sisters and the disciples. God loves to test us by making us wait on Him so our faith can grow and mature. Then He tells them lets go to Judea and scares the disciples because they know the Jews want to stone Him and they are in danger too if they go. Jesus tells us in the main point of the passage that there is only so much time for each of us to do what God has called us to do and so we better get busy while there is time to do His will. Then He tells them that Lazarus sleeps, they misunderstand, so He tells them plainly that he is dead. The last point of this section is Jesus testing them again because He says He is glad that He was not there when Lazarus died because He has something greater in mind. Did you know that God doesn’t always do what we think He ought to do because He has a greater plan and a greater purpose than any we can imagine? Faith means we trust God no matter what happens.
5 Now Jesus loved(agape) Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
He waited till the right moment in the Father’s plan. This is God’s Timing –Never late
Lazarus’ sickness would not end in death, that is, in permanent death. Instead Jesus would be glorified in this incident (cf. 9:3). This statement is ironic. Jesus’ power and obedience to the Father were displayed, but this event led to His death (cf. 11:50-53), which was His true glory (17:1).
6 So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was.
As we come to verse 6, we have a real tension with which we must grapple. John makes a point of telling us that Jesus deeply loves Lazarus and his sisters. His love for Lazarus is mentioned by Martha and Mary in verse 3, and John then repeats it even more emphatically in verse 5. In spite of this, and the urgency of the situation, Jesus deliberately delays His return to Bethany. He waits two full days, so that when He does arrive in Bethany, Lazarus is “good and dead.” How can Jesus love these people so much and yet speak and act in a way that causes them such pain? it seems that since Lazarus has already been dead four days when Jesus arrives, that he must have died shortly after the messenger was sent.
In other words, it was more loving to put Lazarus through death and his sisters through grief, if that would reveal more of God’s glory to them and more of the glory of Christ. Jesus loves us by showing us himself.
When delay occurs God has a better time and a Better way – grows their faith, love sometimes has to be tough
7 Then after this He said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again."
When these two days are completed, Jesus says to His disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” Notice, He does not say, “Let us go to Bethany, again.” To go to Bethany is to go to Judea, which is virtually the same thing as going to Jerusalem, a mere two miles away. To go to Martha and Mary in Bethany is to return to that place where the Jewish religious leaders want Jesus dead. The disciples know this only too well. They are amazed that He even considers returning to Judea, and they remind Him of the dangers awaiting Him there. No matter how ill Lazarus might be, no matter how much these women feel they need Jesus, the disciples do not seem to even entertain the possibility of returning to Judea.
8 The disciples said to Him, "Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?"
3 times they sought to kill Jesus: John 5;16-18, 7:1, 10:27-30, 39-40
The “you” here is singular, not plural. At this point in time, any discussion about going back to Judea was, in the minds of His disciples, a personal trip for Jesus. They seem to have no intention of accompanying Him at this point
Martha and Mary must be mystified as to why Jesus is taking so long to get back to Bethany—if not to cure Lazarus, then at least to comfort them. Those four days after the death of Lazarus must have been especially difficult for them. The disciples have a different problem, however: they cannot understand why Jesus is even considering returning to Bethany, no matter what the circumstances. A return to Jerusalem would seem to spell certain death for Jesus, and for them, if they choose to accompany Him. I am not at all certain they are planning to do so—at least not until verse 16.
9 Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 1Jo 1:7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 ¶ If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
Joh 9:4 "I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.
This is walking in God’s will, His truth, As long as I and you are doing God’s will we are okay they can’t kill us because we are on God’s timetable. My hour has not yet come
Joh 2:4 Jesus said to her, "Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come."
Joh 7:30 Therefore they sought to take Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.
Joh 8:20 These words Jesus spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and no one laid hands on Him, for His hour had not yet come.
Joh 12:23 But Jesus answered them, saying, "The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.
10 "But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him."
The Jews and the Romans commonly regarded the daylight hours as 12 and the nighttime hours as the other 12. Literally Jesus was referring to the daylight hours. Metaphorically the daylight hours represented the Father's will. Jesus was safe as long as He did the Father's will. For the disciples, as long as they continued to follow Jesus, the Light of the World, they would not stumble. Walking in the night pictures behaving without divine illumination or authorization. Living in the realm of darkness (i.e., evil) is dangerous (cf. 1 John 1:6). "When there is darkness in the soul, then we will stumble indeed."
As long as He followed God’s plan, no harm would come till the appointed time. Applied to people then, they should have responded to Jesus while He was in the world as its Light (cf. 1:4-7; 3:19; 8:12; 9:5). Soon He would be gone and so would this unique opportunity.
Their problem is they don’t know the truth and they will die in their sins
11 These things He said, and after that He said to them, "Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up."
Jesus then said, Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep. The word “friend” has special significance in Scripture (cf. 15:13-14; James 2:23). Not only their friend, but His also.
Jas 2:23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." And he was called the friend of God.
12 Then His disciples said, "Lord, if he sleeps he will get well."
As was often the case in the Gospels, Jesus was speaking about one thing but the disciples were thinking about another.
The raising of Lazarus is not a “first” in the Gospels. Jesus had already raised the dead son of the “widow of Nain,” as recorded in Luke 7:11-16. He did so on that occasion as they were taking his body out to be buried, and without being asked to do so by anyone. (Who would have thought to ask Jesus to raise a dead man?) This was followed by the raising of Jairus’ daughter (Mark 5:21-43). In this latter raising, Jesus tells those who are mourning her death that she is not really dead, but is merely “asleep” (5:39). Our Lord’s disciples and others seem to have forgotten these earlier raisings, nor do they seem to recall our Lord’s use of the term “sleep” to describe a temporary lack of life.
The idea that people would awake from this sleep, while revealed in the Old Testament (Dan. 12:2), was not the common perception of the outcome of death. Normally people thought of those who fell asleep in death as staying asleep 13 However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep.
The New Testament writers commonly referred to death as sleep for the Christian because our resurrection to life is a prominent revelation and is sure (cf. Acts 7:60; 1 Cor. 15:20, 51; 1 Thess. 4:13-18). That Jesus was not teaching soul sleep should be clear from Luke 16:19-31.403
The doctrine of soul sleep is the teaching that at death the soul, specifically the immaterial part of man, becomes unconscious until the resurrection of the body. The story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16 shows that people are conscious after death and before their resurrection.
14 Then Jesus said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead. – There is no hope now in earthly terms, it’s too late
This is a picture of us being dead in our sins and trespasses,
15 "And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him."
Wants them to have more faith
When death occurs God has a better plan and a better purpose
His absence, He tells them, is for their benefit. His delay has been by divine design, so that they might believe. Frequently in the Gospel of John, reference is made to the fact that our Lord’s disciples “believed” in Him (1:50; 2:11, 22; 6:69; 13:19; 14:1, 29; 16:27, 30, 31; 17:8; 20:8; 20:25-29). It is apparent that the faith of the disciples continues to grow, the more the person and work of our Lord becomes evident to them. It is my conviction that our faith, likewise, should never be static, but that it should always be growing as our knowledge of Him increases.
Jesus was glad that He had not been present when Lazarus died because the disciples would learn a strong lesson from his
resurrection that would increase their faith. The sign that Lazarus' death made possible would be the clearest demonstration of Jesus' identity so far and would convince many people that He was God's Son.
Unto him (πρὸς αὐτόν). Most touching. To him, as though he were yet living. Death has not broken the personal relation of the Lord with His friend.
16 Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him."
I believe this is a declaration of strong devotion to Jesus.
He did not understand that the death that Jesus would die was a death that His disciples could not participate in with Him (cf. 1:29, 36). Nevertheless he spoke better than he knew. John probably recorded his exhortation because it was a call to disciples to take up their cross and follow Jesus (cf. 12:25; Mark 8:34; 2 Cor. 4:10).
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
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The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions.
Monday Oct 09, 2023
Monday Oct 09, 2023
John 11:1 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. 3 Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick." 4 When Jesus heard that, He said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it."
This is another section of Scripture which we find to be so familiar to us, but as in all Bible Study we need to look deeper than the surface of what is going on here. Lazarus is a man that Jesus loves, as He does all of His children, the ones who have trusted Him as Savior. But he also loves the sisters Mary and Martha, yet he allows them to go through trouble because ultimately He will be glorified in the end. That is why the Bible says we exist. Ecclesiastes 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man's all. One man put it this way, we exist to glorify God and praise Him forever. How do we do this? By first of all reverencing God and keeping His commandments. Second we do this by becoming more like Him every day. Romans 8:28-29, And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. God is bringing us back to the place we were at in the Garden of Eden before man’s fall and our sinfulness dragged us down. The only way God can do this is by allowing us to go through trials that make us more like Him. So, have you looked at your situation and said that this is not something that is ultimately bad, but through it God is going to be glorified because I am trusting in Him and He will never leave me nor forsake me (Hebrews 13:5)
Death is the great horror which sin has produced (Rom. 5:12; James 1:15). Physical death is the divine object lesson of what sin does in the spiritual realm. As physical death ends life and separates people, so spiritual death is the separation of people from God and the loss of life which is in God (John 1:4). Jesus has come so that people may live full lives (10:10).
This chapter with Lazarus being raised is the demonstration of John 10:10
Rejecting Jesus means that one will not see life (3:36) and that his final destiny is “the second death,” the lake of fire (Rev. 20:14-15).
1 ¶ Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus (name means one whom God Helps) of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.
This Bethany ("house of the suffering) is about two miles (11:18) east of Jerusalem on the southeast slope of Olivet and is now called El Azariyeh, from the name Lazarus. Lit. Place of Lazarus
When John wrote, it was as Jesus had foretold (Matt. 26:13), for the fame of Mary of Bethany rested on the incident of the anointing of Jesus.
Luke 10:38-42, where Martha was distressed because Mary was not helping her prepare the meal.
Lu 10:38 Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me." 41 And Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42 "But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her."
2 It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.
3 Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick."
It is true the Martha and Mary do not specifically ask Jesus to do anything, but the word “look” or “behold” is not used lightly (see John 1:29, 36, 47; 3:26; 5:14; 7:26; 11:36; 12:19; 16:29; 18:21; 19:4, 14, 26, 27). They expect Jesus to drop everything and come to Bethany to heal him.
4 When Jesus heard that, He said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it." John 1:14
The words recorded in verse 4 are not spoken solely for the benefit of those who overhear this conversation between Jesus and the messenger, but as a message for this messenger to take back to Martha and Mary. Notice our Lord’s words to Martha later in this same account:
39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, replied, “Lord, by this time the body will have a bad smell, because he has been buried four days.” 40 Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believe, you would see the glory of God?” V11:39-40
Verse 4 is our Lord’s response to Martha and Mary, sent back by the same messenger who brought word to Him of Lazarus’ grave condition.
This crisis has a divinely intended purpose—to bring glory to God the Father through the glorification of the Son of God. If we grant that the words of verse 40 are also sent to the women by the messenger, Jesus also encourages them to have faith, so that they too will see God glorified in all these things.
I am convinced that this is not what the women “hear” the messenger say when he returns without Jesus. I believe they “hear” (i.e., understand) the messenger say, “Jesus told me to tell you that Lazarus will not die.” The problem is that by the time the messenger returns to the women, Lazarus may already have died. Can you imagine their bewilderment if this is the case? They have already suffered the torment of Lazarus’ death and burial. Then, the messenger returns with word from Jesus which appears to assure them that Lazarus won’t die! Their faith in Jesus is really put to the test.
In this Gospel, God's "glory" is usually a reference to His self-revelation rather than the praise that comes to Him (cf. 1:14-18; 5:23; 12:28; 17:4).401 Ironically this miracle displayed Jesus' identity as God's Son, but it also led to His death that was the ultimate manifestation of His identity and glory.
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
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The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions.
Monday Oct 02, 2023
JOHN 10:29-42 JESUS SAID ”I AND MY FATHER ARE ONE”
Monday Oct 02, 2023
Monday Oct 02, 2023
John 10:29 "My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand. 30 "I and My Father are one." 31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. 32 Jesus answered them, "Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?" 33 The Jews answered Him, saying, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God." 34 Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, "You are gods"'? 35 "If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), 36 "do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'? 37 "If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; 38 "but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him." 39 Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand. 40 And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed. 41 Then many came to Him and said, "John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true." 42 And many believed in Him there.
In this great section of Scripture we see the eternal security of the believer expressed again as Jesus says, No one is greater than God, so they cannot take anything away from God that belongs to Him. Then Jesus tells them again that He is one with the Father. In every way possible Jesus is like God the Father because He is God in human flesh. Col 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. These verses tell us that Jesus is God, He created everything, He holds it all together, and He is the preeminent one (the one who has first place in everything). Then the Pharisees want to stone Jesus and He asks them why, for what good work do you stone Me. They understood He was saying He was God, so they say it is not for a good work, but because you claim to be God. Jesus tries to tell them again He is God and came from the Father, but they still won’t believe and so they try to seize Him and He escapes from them because it is not time for Him to die yet. He then goes to where John had baptized and many believe He is the Christ and are saved at that location.
“Snatch” (“ravenous wolves, robbers”). This is a fitting word here for the same verb is used in 10:12, “the wolf attacks” (lit., “snatches away”).
The sheep feel secure (3:16; 6:39; 17:12; 18:9).
29 "My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand.
The greatness of the Father, not of the flock, is the ground of the safety of the flock.
He makes it very clear that the salvation and (eternal) security of the sheep are not the result of our sheepish efforts, but rather the sovereign will and working of God.[1] The Father chose us for salvation and gave us to the Son. It is the
No one overrules His will. No one overpowers Him. No one nullifies what He has achieved. No one takes away those He has purchased.
Jesus had promised this security in Galilee (6:37, 39). No wolf, no thief, no bandit, no hireling, no demon, not even the devil can pluck the sheep out of my hand. Colossians 3:3–4 (ESV) 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
It is obvious that the only one who can separate us from God’s love is ourselves (cf. Rom. 8:38–39; Gal. 5:2–4).
30 "I and My Father are one."
Not one person but one essence or nature. Colossians 2:9 (ESV) 9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,
They have the closest possible unity of purpose. Jesus’ will is identical to the Father’s regarding the salvation of His sheep. And yet absolute identity of wills involves identity of nature. Jesus and the Father are One in will (and also in nature for both are God; John 1:1, John 5:18, John 8:58, 10:18
He meant that He and the Father were one in their action. This explanation also harmonized with the context since Jesus had said that He would keep His sheep safe (v. 28) and His Father would keep them safe (v. 29).
The Jews had asked Jesus for a plain statement about His Messiah ship. Jesus gave them far more, a claim that He fully and completely carried out the Father's will that strongly hinted at Jesus' deity
This statement is the climax of Christ’s claims concerning the relation between the Father and himself (the Son). They stir the Pharisees to uncontrollable anger.
31 Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.
It is not the word that is used before (ch.8:59), but great stones, stones that were a load, such as they used in stoning malefactors. They brought them from some place at a distance, as it were preparing things for his execution without any judicial process; as if he were convicted of blasphemy upon the notorious evidence of the fact, which needed no further trial.
32 Jesus answered them, "Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?"
it was not for His works but for His words that they were going to kill Him. The reader should realize by now that Jesus was exactly who He claimed to be, one with the Father and more than a mere mortal. A man was not making Himself out to be God, but God had made Himself a man (1:1, 14, 18).
33 The Jews answered Him, saying, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God."
The response of the Jews to our Lord’s challenge is amazing. In effect, they are saying, “Oh, we don’t look at your words in relation to your works; we view them separately.” Only those who are great hypocrites find this feat easy to accomplish. Their words and their works are not related (Matthew 23:1-3), and so they do not care that Jesus’ words and works are completely consistent. They are not about to be confused with the facts when their minds are already made up. They conclude (wrongly, of course) that Jesus is merely a man, and thus His claim to be God must be blasphemy. In their minds, He deserves to die.
If Jesus did not really claim to be God, He could easily have corrected the Jews' misunderstanding here. The fact that He did not is further proof that the Jews correctly understood that He was claiming to be God.
34 Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, "You are gods"'?
35 "If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken),
The psalm ends: “Arise, O God, judge the earth; For You shall inherit all nations.”
Can they not see what both our Lord and this psalm are saying? This psalm is not just a text Jesus has chosen to stump His adversaries. It is not a cute trick, which shames those who would pose trick questions to Messiah. He is the fulfillment of this psalm, as they are. They are the “gods” whom God is coming to judge. They are the “gods” who will die like men; He is the God who will die to save His sheep, only to rise again from the dead. This text says it all, but they cannot see it, for they are blind, while He is the light of the world. They cannot hear, for He is not their shepherd.
His critics. He wanted them to see that the divine terms that He was using to describe Himself were terms that the Old Testament itself also used of human beings. They could not logically accuse Him of blasphemy because the Father had set Him aside and sent Him into the world with a special mission. He was a legitimate Son of God for this reason.
If your judges could be called gods, are you going to call Me a blasphemer because I say I'm the Son of God when your judges were here on earth and the word came to them, and I came from there with the Word? Don't I deserve even a greater title?"
As the Jews had sanctified their temple after its desecration by Antiochus Epiphanies, so God had sanctified His Son. The Jews celebrated the sanctification of their physical temple with the Feast of Dedication, but they were unwilling to accept the spiritual temple that replaced it, namely, Jesus.
36 "do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?
37 "If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me;
38 "but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him."
39 Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.
The response of the Jews to our Lord’s challenge is amazing. In effect, they are saying, “Oh, we don’t look at your words in relation to your works; we view them separately.” Only those who are great hypocrites find this feat easy to accomplish. Their words and their works are not related (Matthew 23:1-3), and so they do not care that Jesus’ words and works are completely consistent. They are not about to be confused with the facts when their minds are already made up. They conclude (wrongly, of course) that Jesus is merely a man, and thus His claim to be God must be blasphemy. In their minds, He deserves to die.
40 And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed.
John presented Jesus' departure from Jerusalem as the result of official rejection of Him. The event had symbolic significance that the evangelist probably intended. Jesus withdrew the opportunity for salvation from the people there because they refused to accept His gracious offer of salvation. Evidently, Jesus went from Jerusalem back to Bethany in Perea on the east side of the Jordan River where the Jewish rulers had no authority to pursue Him (cf. 1:28).
41 Then many came to Him and said, "John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true."
42 And many believed in Him there.
It is not yet His appointed time to die for His sheep, and so Jesus retreats to the more desolate and distant places along the Jordan river, which John the Baptist used to frequent in his ministry. We do not know exactly where this was, and likely, our Lord’s enemies do not know either. That is the point of His retreat. While our Lord’s enemies do not come to Him there, many others find Him in this place. It would seem that Jesus performed a number of miracles there from the words of those who compare His ministry with that of John: “John performed no miraculous sign, but everything John said about this man was true!”
These words are recorded by John here for a reason that is very much related to the point of this passage. I have suggested that while the theme of shepherding is prominent, so is the relationship between our Lord’s words and His works.
My point is this: Many of the Jews believed that John the Baptist was a true prophet (see Matthew 21:26). They believed his words, even though he did not perform any miraculous works. And yet the Jews in Jerusalem (especially the religious leaders) will not believe Jesus’ words, even though He does many miraculous works. What a contrast John draws between these “Jordan River” Jews and the sophisticated Jews of Jerusalem. In contrast to our Lord’s rejection in Jerusalem, many are believing in Him who come to Him at the Jordan River.
And so we see that those who are His sheep have more than enough reason to believe, and that those who are not will never have enough evidence to believe.
First, this text strongly teaches the sovereignty of God, especially as it relates to the salvation and the security of His sheep. Those who resist such teaching should consider the fact that the doctrine of God’s sovereignty is not a flattering one. Is this not the principle reason we are inclined to reject it? The doctrine of God’s sovereignty glorifies God, and not men. It stresses His work, and not our works. It is this very teaching that the Jewish opponents of our Lord react to so strongly. Does this not serve to warn those who would seek to reject this teaching today, here in our text? This does not mean that the Bible ignores human responsibility, but it does mean that our salvation and our security are in His hands, and not ours. For that we should rejoice, not resist.
Second, this text reminds us of the necessary link between what we say and what we do, between our profession and our practice. Jesus constantly challenges His adversaries to consider the relationship between His words and His works. He also rebukes the Pharisees for their lack of consistency in these matters. Let us take heed. Let us be sure that what we say we believe is also what we behave.
Third, this text says much about leaders and leadership. It reminds us that leaders have been given their place of authority to carry out their roles as God’s agents. It certainly indicates to us that those of us under such divinely ordained authority should submit to it, as to the Lord. But in addition, the message is loud and clear that those leaders who fail to fulfill their mission as “good” shepherds will someday stand before the Great Shepherd and give account for their deeds. In this day when leaders seem to be getting away with murder, let us never forget this truth.
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
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The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions.
[1] Morris puts it this way: “It is one of the precious things about the Christian faith that our continuance in eternal life depends not on our feeble hold on Christ, but on His firm grip on us.” Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1971) p. 521.
Monday Sep 25, 2023
Monday Sep 25, 2023
In this famous section of Scripture Jesus, the Light of the World is walking around at the Feast of Lights (Hanukkah). The Pharisees confront him and ask Him again, who are You, tell us plainly? They ask this as if they don’t know, like He hasn’t already told them time and time again. They have seen the signs, they have heard His Words, and yet they WILL NOT believe. Jesus says that all the signs that He has done for His Father in Heaven prove He is God (the Messiah) and they will not believe because they aren’t His Sheep. You see in this section Divine Sovereignty and Human Responsibility. God calls people to be saved and they cannot be saved unless He draws them (Divine Sovereignty), yet God says we are all responsible because the Scriptures says whosoever will, let him come, whoever believes. (Human Responsibility). He tells them that they cannot hear Him because they aren’t His Sheep because His Sheep hear His voice and follow Him. Then He finally tells them that if we are saved we are eternally secure for all time. Romans 8:31-39 confirms this, as do many other places in the Bible. It says whoever believes HAS eternal life. John 17:3 says eternal life is KNOWING the true God and Jesus whom He sent. Nobody is greater than Jesus and so no one can snatch them out of His Hand.
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
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The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
Monday Sep 18, 2023
Monday Sep 18, 2023
John 10:17 "Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. 18 "No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father." 19 Therefore there was a division again among the Jews because of these sayings. 20 And many of them said, "He has a demon and is mad. Why do you listen to Him?" 21 Others said, "These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"
In this section of Scripture, we see the Father’s special love for Jesus and all who obey His commandments. We don’t work to be saved; rather we work because we are saved. Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. Jesus came with a purpose to lay down His life that we may take up the new life that He gives us. Jesus tells them that He has the power over His life and His death; no one will do anything that He doesn’t want them to do to Him. He also says He will live again and all the things He said caused division among the Jews as usual. Jesus always creates division, not because He is mean and nasty, but because some people want to know the truth and others don’t. Those that don’t want to know the truth are the mean and nasty ones who cause the problems. Finally, they cannot speak to what He says intelligently, so they attack Him verbally as they have many times in the past. Isn’t that what we all do when we can’t win the discussion, we begin to attack the others and so it always ends?
Romans 3:17 But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast of your relationship to God 18 and know his will and approve the superior things because you receive instruction from the law, 19 and if you are convinced that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 an educator of the senseless, a teacher of little children, because you have in the law the essential features of knowledge and of the truth— 21 therefore you who teach someone else, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? 22 You who say not to commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who boast in the law dishonor God by transgressing the law. 24 For just as it is written, “the name of God is being blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you” (Romans 2:17-24).
The Gospel of John is written in a way that links the declarations of Jesus to His deeds. John does this to show that Jesus’ words must be taken seriously, because of the works that accompany them.
30 Now Jesus performed many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples that are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are recorded so 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).
So it is in John’s Gospel that Jesus is continually performing some miraculous deed, which validates a declaration He has made, or will make shortly. These “signs” that our Lord performs demonstrate that He is who He claims to be. The One who claims to be the “Bread of Life” (6:35) is the same One who feeds the 5,000 (John 6:1-14). The last words Jesus speaks before giving the man born blind his sight are: “While I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (John 9:5). While many of the Jews object to the teaching of our Lord, accusing Him of being demon possessed, many others protest, “These are not the words of someone possessed by a demon. A demon cannot cause the blind to see, can it?” (John 10:21). They take Jesus’ words seriously because of His works. In our text, Jesus claims to be “the resurrection and the life,” assuring His listeners that anyone who believes in Him will live, even though he dies (11:25). This is just shortly before He calls Lazarus out of the tomb, where he has been for four days!
After Jesus feeds the crowd of 5,000 men, the people respond: “This is certainly the Prophet who is to come into the world” (John 6:14).
When Nicodemus came to Jesus by night, he acknowledged that Jesus had “come from God,” based upon the deeds He had done: “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs that you do unless God is with him” (John 3:2).
In our text, the Apostle John continues to employ the imagery of sheep and shepherding, but he does so with an emphasis on the relationship between words and deeds. Hypocrisy is not just the sin of the Pharisees. If you and I were honest, we would admit that we are all hypocrites, and in a big way! This text has a great deal to say to us about Jesus, about words and deeds, and about hypocrisy. Let us listen and learn what the Spirit of God has to say to us through His inspired Word. Let us resolve ahead of time, that by God’s grace, we will do what this text teaches us we should do, and that our deeds will conform to His words, as well as our own.
20 And many of them said, "He has a demon and is mad. Why do you listen to Him?"
Jewish religious leaders are more determined than ever to put Him to death. It is now only a matter of the right opportunity.
21 Others said, "These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"
The Gospel of John is written in a way that links the declarations of Jesus to His deeds. John does this to show that Jesus’ words must be taken seriously, because of the works that accompany them. John 20:30-31.
So it is in John’s Gospel that Jesus is continually performing some miraculous deed, which validates a declaration He has made, or will make shortly.
This is not an entirely new thing. Throughout the Gospel of John, men strongly differ as to who Jesus is (see John 6:52; 7:43; 9:16). Those opposed to Jesus are becoming more and more intense in their opposition. They have already purposed to put Him to death (see 5:18; 7:1, 19-20, 25; 8:37, 40).
In this section of Scripture we see the Father’s special love for Jesus and all who obey His commandments. We don’t work to be saved; rather we work because we are saved. Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. Jesus came with a purpose to lay down His life that we may take up the new life that He gives us. Jesus tells them that He has the power over His life and His death; no one will do anything that He doesn’t want them to do to Him. He also says He will live again and all the things He said caused division among the Jews as usual. Jesus always creates division, not because He is mean and nasty, but because some people want to know the truth and others don’t. Those that don’t want to know the truth are the mean and nasty ones who cause the problems. Finally they cannot speak to what He says intelligently, so they attack Him verbally as they have many times in the past. Isn’t that what we all do when we can’t win the discussion, we begin to attack the others and so it always ends?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today. https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-z897g-aad45f
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The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions.
Wednesday Sep 13, 2023
30 SECOND DEVOTIONAL WHO OR WHAT INFLUENCES YOUR THINKING?
Wednesday Sep 13, 2023
Wednesday Sep 13, 2023
Hi, I'm Marty McKenzie with His Love Ministries. In Colossians 1 Paul prayed for them to have wisdom and spiritual understanding. In Chapter 2 Paul said all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ. He also said do not let anyone deceive you with philosophy and useless deceit. The world is constantly trying to adjust our attitudes and thinking through the media. James 1 says if anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask God who gives it liberally and without reproach. Where do you get your opinions and attitudes from, the truth of the Bible, or from Man’s opinions?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
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The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
Monday Sep 11, 2023
Monday Sep 11, 2023
John 10:10 "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. 11 "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. 12 "But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. 13 "The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. 14 "I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. 15 "As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. 16 "And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.
In this section of Scripture Jesus is contrasting Himself as the Good Shepherd with the Pharisees, the ones He calls thieves and hirelings. He tells us that He came to give us life and life more abundantly. That He will give His life for the sheep, but the hireling (Pharisees and other false teachers) will run when the sheep are in danger. Jesus says three times in this passage He is the Good Shepherd. This is one of the seven great I AM statements in this Gospel which shows that Jesus is Yahweh, the Self-Existent One, the One who was In The Beginning with God, the One who IS the WORD OF GOD, the one WHO IS GOD that came in human flesh. Jesus tells them that He will give his life for the sheep, in other words He will die on the cross for our sins. He also tells us that He will bring all the people together that believe in Him into one flock. Just as the tower of Babel separated man from man, Jesus will make us one in Christ. Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
10 "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
Stealing is the purpose of the thief, but he will kill and destroy if necessary
“This is a proverbial or well-known way of insisting that there is only one means of receiving eternal life (the Synoptics might have preferred to speak of entering the kingdom, although entering into life is also attested there), only one source of knowledge of God, only one fount of spiritual nourishment, only one basis for spiritual security—Jesus alone.” Carson, p. 385
That they (people) may keep on having life (eternal, he means)” as he shows in 10:28. He is “the life” (14:6). And may have it abundantly (Repetition of (may keep on having) abundance. “To have a surplus,” true to the meaning of overflow
Romans 5:20 20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,
Jesus: The Good Shepherd (10:11-18)
11 "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.
Note repetition of the article, “the shepherd the good one.
“Jesus continues I am the good shepherd, really: the shepherd, the good one. The adjective is stressed! This adjective, however, is not agaqo" but kalo". The basic meaning of this word is beautiful. Here it indicates excellent. This shepherd answers to the ideal both in his character and in his work. And he is the only one in his class.”
Mr 10:17 Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, "Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" 18 So Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.
To say he is good based on this passage, Jesus says you have to be God to be good and He is in effect saying I AM GOD
Ps 23 says the Lord is my Shepherd
For illustration see I Sam. 17:35 (David’s experience) and Isa. 31:4.
In Judges 12:3, it means, “I risked my life.” The true physician does this for his patient as the shepherd for his sheep. The use of ὑπερ [huper] here (over, in behalf of, instead of), but in the papyri [huper] is the usual preposition for substitution rather than [anti]. This shepherd gives his life for the sin of the world (1:29; I John 2:2).
The words ‘for (hyper) the sheep’ suggest sacrifice. The preposition, in John always occurs in a sacrificial context, whether referring to the death of Jesus (6:51; 10:11, 15; 11:50ff.; 17:19; 18:14), of Peter (13:37-38), or of a man prepared to die for his friend (15:13). In no case does this suggest a death with merely exemplary significance; in each case the death envisaged is on behalf of someone else. The shepherd does not die for his sheep to serve as an example, throwing himself off a cliff in a grotesque and futile display while bellowing, ‘See how much I love you!’ No, the assumption is that the sheep are in mortal danger; that in their defense the shepherd loses his life; that by his death they are saved. That, and that alone, is what makes him the good shepherd.” Carson, p. 386. The good shepherd lays down his life for the benefit of the sheep, but the only way in which he can benefit the sheep, saving them from everlasting destruction and imparting everlasting life to them, is by dying instead of them, as we learn from Matt. 20:28; Mark 10:45, where the preposition anti (instead of, in exchange for) is used.
Five ministries of the Good Shepherd
The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.
Gives up His life (soul) not just his breath and the things of life. Gave His entire being, felt the pain of hell, the curse of sin, the hate of men.
In the OT the sheep died for the shepherd (their sins), in Jesus the Shepherd dies for the sheep.
12 "But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.
13 "The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep.
These are the religious Pharisees; they are in it for the money and things this position brings to them.
Tit 1:10 For there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, 11 whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, for the sake of dishonest gain.
1Pe 5:2 Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; 3 nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock;
2Pe 2:3 By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.
The Good Shepherd Loves the Sheep
Knows His sheep, and am known by My own –
Know implies love. Adam knew his wife
14 “I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.
Lays down His life for the sheep
15 "As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.
5. He unites the Sheep John 17
16 "And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.
By : Emil G. Hirsch Immanuel Benzinger Herodotus (i. 195) and Strabo (xvi. 746) assert that among the Babylonians every man carried a ring and a staff, which latter was decorated at the upper end with a carved representation of a flower or something similar. It seems to have been the universal custom among the ancient Hebrews also to carry a staff (comp. Gen. xxxviii. 18)—a custom which perhaps dates from the time when they lived the nomadic life of herdsmen. The staff was indispensable to the herdsman, for by means of it he kept his flock together (Ex. iv. 2; Lev. xxvii. 32; Ps. xxiii. 4; Micah vii. 14; Zech. ii. 7); the upper end of the long staff was bent, as Egyptian illustrations indicate. Nor was the staff to be despised as a weapon (Ps. xxiii. 4). Similarly, a long, perhaps straight, stick, with a goad at the end, was used by the peasants for driving and guiding the oxen before the plow, and also for breaking the clods behind it, as the peasants still use the stick to-day; this also was an effective weapon (Judges iii. 31; I Sam. xiii. 21, xvii. 43). Finally, the staff was indispensable to the wanderer, and a support to the weak and sick (Gen. xxxii. 10; Ex. xxi. 19; Zech. viii. 4). In the hands of the overseers it became an instrument of punishment, and therefore a badge of office (Isa. ix. 4, xxx. 31, et al.).E. G. H.
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John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today. https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-z897g-aad45f
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Tuesday Sep 05, 2023
Tuesday Sep 05, 2023
John 10:7 Then Jesus said to them again, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 "All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9 "I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
In the passage of Scripture we are studying today, we will see that Jesus is not only the door leading us out of our false ways, but also the only door leading to eternal life. I know many think that most people are going to heaven and that there are many ways to get there, but Jesus states with no stutter or stammer there is but one way and HE is it. Somehow He protects those who will trust Him from becoming totally swayed by false teachers so that one day we will trust Him and Him only to save us. He tells the people standing around that the Pharisees and all others who said you could get to heaven some other way than Him are thieves and robbers. He also tells us as we go about everyday life He is with us and takes care of us just as the Shepherds did with their sheep. He also says the thief will do anything to get the sheep and only cares that he gets what he wants. Jesus also says that if we want joy, peace, and a life that is wonderful in spite of our problems we need to trust Him as Savior.
Jesus: The Door Of The Sheep. He Says HE is the Door Twice
7 Then Jesus said to them again, "Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.
First, He shifts from the more general third person (“the one who,” “he,” “him,” “his”) to the very specific first person singular (“I,” “me”). He makes it very clear from here on that He is speaking of Himself as “the True Shepherd” and “the Good Shepherd.”
He is the door who makes it possible for them to leave the fold of Judaism and come into salvation through Him
The door of the sheep. Meaning the door for the sheep; not the door of the fold. “The thought is connected with the life, and not simply with the organization.”
The door to the truth. 1Thessalonians 1:9 For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,
Jesus brings us out of the mixed sheepfold
Eze 20:37 "I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant; 38 "I will purge the rebels from among you, and those who transgress against Me; I will bring them out of the country where they dwell, but they shall not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD.
8 "All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.
All who preceded him accordingly must be thieves and the like working in the darkness. All the more is this likely to be the case in that Jesus does not say that they ‘were’ but that they ‘are’ thieves and robbers. The emphasis is on His own day.
Lu 16:14 Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided Him. 15 And He said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.
Mr 12:38 Then He said to them in His teaching, "Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, 39 "the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, 40 "who devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. These will receive greater condemnation."
Mr 11:17 Then He taught, saying to them, "Is it not written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But you have made it a 'den of thieves.'" 18 And the scribes and chief priests heard it and sought how they might destroy Him; for they feared Him, because all the people were astonished at His teaching.
Matthew 7:15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are kravenous wolves.
9 "I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
Jesus brings us out of the mixed sheepfold and into the true fold of His love. Once the flock was led out of that fold, from Israel He gathered His own, took them out to a new pasture in the paroimia. Now it's true, and this is a beautiful thought, when a shepherd and his sheep were way off from the village, they wouldn't go back every night, too far to go. So he would build a little sheepfold on the hillside just for his own sheep. That's the sheepfold in view here, not a mixed sheepfold anymore. These have been led out, these are God's own and God has made a little sheepfold for them out on the hillside. And it represents the place of blessing. And the picture is like leading them out of Judaism into the new sheepfold which is the place of the Father's blessing. And to that sheepfold, Jesus says, "I am the door." He not only leads a man out of the bondage, but he leads him in to the new blessing in God, doesn't He? And He says I'm the door.
Now watch this. That little hillside sheepfold was just a little simple wall out of mud or stone or wood and it had an opening. No door, just an opening. Jesus says, "I am the door." How does that work? Just this, at night the shepherd would take all of his sheep, put them in the fold, and you know what he would do then? He would lie down across the opening and no sheep could ever go out or in without going over the body of the shepherd. Literally the shepherd was the door. So Jesus says in one breath, "I'm the Shepherd." In the next one He says, "I'm also the Door." For in the truest sense that shepherd on that hillside became the door to the sheepfold and he knew every sheep that went in and out. You cannot enter the presence of God through any other door, you must go over the broken body of Jesus Christ, that's the only way. The shepherd who lays his life down for the sheep, right? Jesus, Paul says, is the only way to have access to the Father, Ephesians 2:18.
Saved – means to be delivered safe and sound, someone recovered from a severe illness, come through a bad storm, survived a war, or was acquitted in court.
You'll also find pasture. Did you know the Shepherd not only takes care of us but He feeds us? You say, "What's our food?" Right here, isn't it? The Word of God, that's our food. And, you know, if there are some feeble sheep, that's because they're not eating. Tragically the Shepherd has to lead very slowly because we have a lot of sheep who are dragging along. If you want to be a healthy sheep, feed the Word to your soul and you can go in and out and find pasture, God's sustaining Word, feast on it. Be a healthy sheep.
There is no good reason to restrict the meaning of the verb in this passage, as if it meant no more than, ‘he will be safe.’ To be sure, safety is implied also in the words, and will go in and out; but this is only part of the meaning. Not only will he go in and out, i.e., experience perfect freedom from all real harm and danger, and this even in the small affairs of every-day living, and feel himself entirely at home in the daily routine of God’s people (see especially the beautiful words of Ps. 121:8), but in addition, he will find pasture; i.e., life and abundance, as the following verse indicates. The pasture which the true sheep finds in the study of the Word is certainly included.” Hendriksen, vol. 2, p. 109.
[1] “By going in and out, Scripture often denotes all the actions of the life, which means, to dwell. These words, therefore, present to us a twofold advantage of the Gospel, that our souls shall find pasture in it, which otherwise become faint and famished, and are fed with nothing but wind; and, next, because he will faithfully protect and guard us against the attacks of wolves and robbers.” John Calvin, Calvin’s Commentaries, Volume 7: The Gospels (Grand Rapids: Associated Publishers and Authors Inc., n.d.), p. 772.
Find Pasture (in sense of growth) 1 Chronicles 4:40 40 •where they found rich•, good pasture, and the land was very broad•, xquiet, and peaceful, for the former inhabitants there belonged to Ham.
Ps 121:1 A Song of Ascents. I will lift up my eyes to the hills-From whence comes my help? 2 My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, He who keeps Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The LORD is your keeper; The LORD is your shade at your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, Nor the moon by night. 7 The LORD shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. 8 The LORD shall preserve your going out and your coming in From this time forth, and even forevermore. (NKJV)
Destination Sickness – Arriving where you wanted to go and not wanting anything you have.
10 "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
Stealing is the purpose of the thief, but he will kill and destroy if necessary
[1] “This is a proverbial or well known way of insisting that there is only one means of receiving eternal life (the Synoptics might have preferred to speak of entering the kingdom, although entering into life is also attested there), only one source of knowledge of God, only one fount of spiritual nourishment, only one basis for spiritual security—Jesus alone.” Carson, p. 385
That they (people) may keep on having life (eternal, he means)” as he shows in 10:28. He is “the life” (14:6). And may have it abundantly (Repetition of (may keep on having) abundance.“to have a surplus,” true to the meaning of overflow
Romans 5:20 20 Now ithe law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, jgrace abounded all the more,
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
Thursday Aug 31, 2023
WHY DO YOU THINK GOD GAVE US THE 10 COMMANDMENTS
Thursday Aug 31, 2023
Thursday Aug 31, 2023
Hi, This is Marty McKenzie with His Love Ministries. Why do you think God gave us the 10 commandments? Is it because you think that God is some kind of cosmic kill joy, and that He doesn’t want you to have fun? You wouldn’t let your child play in the middle of a busy highway would you? God gave the 10 Commandments because He is Holy and to show us we aren’t, but it’s also to keep us from getting hurt. When we sin we hurt others and ourselves. The Bible says sin is fun for a season, but it also says whatever a man sows that shall he reap. Sin does have consequences.
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
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“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions.
Monday Aug 28, 2023
Monday Aug 28, 2023
John 10:3 "To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 "And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 "Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers." 6 Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.
In this message we will see that Jesus is the True Shepherd and He is the only one who can get to His Sheep (Those who will trust Him for Salvation). He leads us out of the old false ways we are in, whether it is religion, drugs, alcohol, or any other wrong thing that we are involved in. He says that His people (His Sheep) will flee from the false teachers because they ultimately will belong to Christ. Somehow, because we are elect, God protects us from the false teachers (shepherds) and keeps us from following them into an eternity in hell. This is a passage that has many applications for our lives. Are we following the false teaching of philosophy, religion, psychology, worldly ways or anything that leads us away from Christ? Are we teaching our children to follow the True Shepherd, or are we allowing them to find their own way that may lead them to hell? Do you know the voice and are you following the ONE TRUE SHEPHERD JESUS CHRIST? Hear His cry today, for He says today is the day of salvation.
The doorkeeper opens the door for the True Shepherd
Verse 3 "To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
The doorkeeper could either be John the Baptist who opens the way for the Lord to minister or the Holy Spirit who opens the door to our heart.
Several flocks might be herded in the same fold overnight. But the shepherd knows his own sheep (verse 27) and calls their names. They love and trust their shepherd.
Verse 4 "And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.
Goeth before. As the Eastern shepherd always does. He brings us out of whatever false religion or ideology that we are in.
Having pushed them forth, he now leads them.
John 11:52 and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.
Staff in hand he leads the way in front of the flock and they follow him. What a lesson for pastors who seek to drive the church like cattle and fail. The true pastor leads in love, in words, in deeds.
The Sheep recognize His voice and follow Him
Verse 5 "Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers."
Follow. “It is necessary that they should be taught to follow, and not stray away into the unfenced fields of wheat which lie so temptingly on either side. The shepherd calls from time to time to remind them of his presence. They know his voice and follow on; but if a stranger call, they stop, lift up their heads in alarm, and if the call is repeated, they turn and flee from him; for they know not the voice of strangers. This is a simple fact. [1]
They simply will not follow such a man or woman, these well-trained sheep will not. But will flee from him
If only pastors had the sheep (old and young) so trained that they would run away from and not run after the strange voices that call them to false philosophy, false psychology, false ethics, false religion, false life.
Luke 15 the lost sheep, the lost coin and the parable of the lost son. God pursues sinners and has great joy when they turn in repentance and come to Him for salvation.
Verse 6 Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.
As David was designated the king of Israel by the prophet Samuel, so also Jesus, the Son of David, was designated Israel’s King by the prophet John the Baptist. The sheep in the sheepfold are the Jews to whom our Lord came[2] as the Messiah. His flock is but a portion of the sheep in the sheepfold. His sheep are the “elect,” the sheep whom God the Father has given to the Son (6:37, 39), and thus Jesus calls them “His own sheep” (verses 3, 4). Because they are His sheep, they “know His voice,” recognize Him as the Messiah, and trust in Him as their Shepherd. These sheep, who belong to the true Shepherd, also know better than to follow any false shepherd. Instead, they avoid such “shepherds” by fleeing from them.
Ps 23:1 A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. 3 He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name's sake. 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever.
Call his sheep by name – Each one must come on his own, and He knows all of us
Leads them out or puts them out just as Pharisees did, but for a good reason. An other centered religion
Goes before them, He doesn’t leave you alone
Sheep Trust His Voice
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
[1] Vincent, M. R. (2002). Word studies in the New Testament (Jn 10:4). Bellingham, WA:
Monday Aug 21, 2023
Monday Aug 21, 2023
Jesus: The True Shepherd of Israel 10:1-5
John 10:1 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. 2 "But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
In this section of Scripture we will learn what a real shepherd is and how he behaves towards his sheep which is a picture or type of the Pastor/Leader and how he treats his people that he is supposed to be leading towards Godliness. Jesus tells these people to listen up what He is about to say is real important since this section is a continuation of the story of the blind man being put out of the Synagogue by the Pharisees (false shepherds) and being found by Jesus (The True Shepherd) and how He cares for us and will even go out of His way at the expense of His own life to see us saved eternally. Jesus tells it like it is in this section as He always does, but here He begins to really hit the Pharisees hard by telling them what had been prophesied in Ezekiel Chapter 34. In that section of Scripture it speaks of the Pharisees being false shepherds and those who take care of themselves at the expense of the sheep (the people). Finally it speaks of the True Shepherd (Jesus Christ) coming to love, feed, and care for the people of God. Are we following the True Shepherd who is Jesus Christ? If not we are lost forever and headed for hell.
Read Ezekiel 34
Jer 50:6 "My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray; They have turned them away on the mountains. They have gone from mountain to hill; They have forgotten their resting place.
Speak about how Shepherds bring the sheep into the fold with others and then out in the fields they have their own fold
3 Characteristics of the True Shepherd
Enters by the door – Comes the right way
The doorkeeper opens the door
The Sheep recognize His voice and follow Him
Enters by the door – Comes the right way
John 10:1 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
Verily, verily, the formula never begins anything quite new, but connects what follows with what precedes. This discourse grows out of the assumption of the Pharisees to be the only authoritative guides of the people (9:24, 29) They have already been described as blind and sinful.
The sheep are the Jews, the sheepfold is Israel and many false shepherds have come and led the sheep the wrong way. Jesus leads them out of the false way of Judaism and into the flock of His people the saved
All through Israel's history false shepherds have come in and taken the sheep, fleeced the sheep. And the only rightful Shepherd, the only one who has messianic authority to come in the door and take His elect sheep and lead them out of Judaism is Jesus Christ. The sheepfold is clearly Israel.
Some of God's are in that sheepfold. And Jesus is the Shepherd Messiah who comes to lead them out of Judaism into a new relationship with God through Him. And all the false leaders of Israel have been trying to climb the walls to impose their false messiahship on the sheep. But here's the rightful Shepherd. The door represents messianic authority. Nobody else had the messianic right to go in that door and lead out God's elect sheep but Jesus Christ Himself. Nobody else. He comes in the right way; He fulfilled all the messianic promises. He was the virgin-born Son of God, born in Bethlehem. He was declared so by the Father who said, "Thou art My beloved Son." He was declared to be so by His words and His works. He was declared to be so by John the Baptist and the testimony of others.
He came meek and humbly. The Pharisees came proud, arrogant, haughtily.
Jesus conformed to every messianic promise. He was the rightful Shepherd, the one sent from the Father to take those who would believe of Israel, lead them out of Judaism to form a new flock, soon to become His glorious church.
Some other way Lit., from some other quarter. The thief does not, like the shepherd, come from some well-known direction, as from his dwelling or from the pasture, but from an unknown quarter and by a road of his own. This from is significant, because, in the previous discourses, Jesus has laid great stress on the source from which He proceeded, and has made the difference in character between Himself and His opposers turn upon difference of origin. See 8:23, 42, and 44. In the latter part of this chapter He brings out the same thought (vv. 30, 32, 33, 36).
How industrious are wicked people to do mischief! What plots will they lay, what pains will they take, what hazards will they run, in their wicked pursuits! This should shame us out of our slothfulness and cowardice in the service of God.
Jesus uses this familiar scene to demonstrate how He is Israel’s true Shepherd, and how the Pharisees and other Jewish leaders are evil shepherds. Evil shepherds—to whom Jesus refers as “thieves and robbers”—do not dare present themselves to the doorkeeper, because he will know them for what they are, and will not grant them access to the sheep, since their intent is to steal sheep and to kill them
Mt 23:13 "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.
They thought they had just “slammed the door” in the face of the man who was born blind, but in truth he just found the “door” in Christ and entered into eternal life.
Mark 11:17 (ESV) 17 And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.”
Here the man jumping over the wall comes to steal and to do it by violence like a bandit. He is both thief and robber.
2 "But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. Jesus is the true Shepherd, Israel’s Messiah.
Shepherd - Old word with a root meaning to protect. Jesus applies it to himself in verse 16 and implies it here. It is used of Christ in 1 Peter 2:25 (ESV) 25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
John 1:11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him
Mt 9:36 But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.
The psalmist said, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." The psalmist said in Psalm 77, "Thou leadest Thou people like a flock." In Psalm 79, "We, Thy people, the sheep of Thy pasture, will give Thee thanks forever." In Psalm 80, "Give ear, O shepherd of Israel," the psalmist said, "Thou that leadest Joseph like a flock." Psalm 95, "He is our God and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand." God was a shepherd to Israel.
Eze 34:31 “You are My flock, the flock of My pasture; you are men, and I am your God,” says the Lord God.
Hebrews 13:20 (ESV) 20 Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant,
Paul applies it to ministers in Ephesians 4:11 (ESV) 11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,
Jesus uses the verb ποιμαινω [poimainō], to shepherd, to Peter John 21:16 (ESV)16 He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.”
Peter uses it to other preachers 1 Peter 5:1–4 (ESV) 5 So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
Paul uses it for bishops (elders) in Acts 20:28–29 (ESV) 28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. 29 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock;
Our word pastor is simply Latin for shepherd. Christ is drawing a sharp contrast after the conduct of the Pharisees towards the blind man between himself and them.
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
Monday Aug 14, 2023
JOHN 9:28-41 JESUS SAID TO HIM, ”DO YOU BELIEVE IN THE SON OF GOD
Monday Aug 14, 2023
Monday Aug 14, 2023
John 9:28 Then they reviled him and said, "You are His disciple, but we are Moses' disciples. 29 "We know that God spoke to Moses; as for this fellow, we do not know where He is from." 30 The man answered and said to them, "Why, this is a marvelous thing, that you do not know where He is from; yet He has opened my eyes! 31 "Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him. 32 "Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind.
33 "If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing." 34 They answered and said to him, "You were completely born in sins, and are you teaching us?" And they cast him out. 35 ¶ Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, "Do you believe in the Son of God?" 36 He answered and said, "Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?" 37 And Jesus said to him, "You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you." 38 Then he said, "Lord, I believe!" And he worshiped Him. 39 ¶ And Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind." 40 Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, "Are we blind also?" 41 Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.' Therefore your sin remains.
In this section of Scripture we will see the formerly blind man being confronted by the “religious” leaders (Pharisees) of the day. Instead of jumping up and down and rejoicing for his newly found sight, they mistreat the man because they want to find the Man who broke THEIR Sabbath. These Pharisees think they are somebody and they confront this man, but little do they know that he has a new found confidence and will soon have salvation too, while they end up lost and headed for hell. This man when confronted says that Jesus is not a sinner but from God and who has ever heard of anyone opening the eyes of the blind! So the religious leaders remove him from fellowship with any Jew by kicking him out of the Synagogue. Well, Jesus goes and finds the man and asks him if he believes in the Son of God (Messiah), then man says who is He that I might believe and Jesus says I am Him. Right then and there the man believes on the Lord Jesus Christ and is saved. Then the Pharisees meanwhile demand to know whether they are the blind Jesus is talking about who are lost and Jesus says yes, you are. Are we blind, yet think we see and know the truth, or do we really know the Jesus of the Bible?
V28 The controversy exposes another deceit. No, they are not disciples of Moses. Because Jesus said in John 5:46, “If you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me.” Now we start to see who is really blind in this story.
V 35-38 And that’s the last thing we see or hear of him. That is the point of the story. Jesus does the works of God. Jesus is the glory of God. Jesus is to be worshipped. The man was blind. And then he called Jesus “the man.” And then he called him a prophet. And then he defended him at huge risk. And then fell down and worshipped. This is why Jesus came into the world. He is seeking worshipers.
39–41 The same light that leads one person can blind another
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
Monday Aug 07, 2023
Monday Aug 07, 2023
John 9:14 Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. 15 Then the Pharisees also asked him again how he had received his sight. He said to them, "He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see." 16 Therefore some of the Pharisees said, "This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath." Others said, "How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?" And there was a division among them. 17 They said to the blind man again, "What do you say about Him because He opened your eyes?" He said, "He is a prophet." 18 But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind and received his sight, until they called the parents of him who had received his sight. 19 And they asked them, saying, "Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?" 20 His parents answered them and said, "We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; 21 "but by what means he now sees we do not know, or who opened his eyes we do not know. He is of age; ask him. He will speak for himself." 22 His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed that He was Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue. 23 Therefore his parents said, "He is of age; ask him." 24 So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, "Give God the glory! We know that this Man is a sinner." 25 He answered and said, "Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see." 26 Then they said to him again, "What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?" 27 He answered them, "I told you already, and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become His disciples?"
In this section of Scripture we will see the effects of Jesus healing the blind man. It affects the blind man in that he can see now, but also begins to see who Jesus really is. He is a picture of us who are spiritually blind and cannot see the truth unless Jesus opens our eyes to it. It affects the Pharisees because they get mad that Jesus healed on the Sabbath. Instead of rejoicing that a man blind from birth can see, they want all the details, especially those pertaining to the sin they believe the healer has committed. It affects the parents, they are not sure what to think, but then they are also scared and intimidated by the Pharisees who will kick them out of the Synagogue if they admit that it was Jesus. So these parents who have probably taken care of their son all their life suddenly want him to stand on his own two feet and take care of himself, especially when it comes to talking to the Pharisees. Lastly it affects all the people who knew the man and saw the difference in him. How about you, has Jesus coming into your life affected all the people you know or have you forgotten to share that new sight with all who do not know the truth of Jesus and His saving grace.
14 Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes.
Why would he do this? To show that he was “Lord of the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:8). He defines the Sabbath. To show what the point of Sabbath rest is. The point of Sabbath rest is healing. That’s why you rest. Healing! The point of Sabbath rest is that we are helpless and God creates, God sustains, God heals, we don’t. What day could be better for God incarnate to find a broken man and heal him—to give him and his parents rest from all the struggles of blindness? That’s what the Sabbath is for—God-exalting blessing to broken and weary humans.
15 Then the Pharisees also asked him again how he had received his sight. He said to them, "He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see."
16 Therefore some of the Pharisees said, "This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath." Others said, "How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?" And there was a division among them.
Blind Man’s Spirtual Progress –
Verse 11 - All he knows is A Man called Jesus
Verse 17 - then comes to realize Jesus is a Prophet
John 9:25 He answered and said, "Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see."
Believes He is From God - John 9:31 "Now we know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, He hears him. 32 "Since the world began it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind. 33 "If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing."
John 9:38 Then he said, "Lord, I believe!" And he worshiped Him. Then he believes Jesus is from God then He believes in Him and Is Saved
As He sees more and more of Jesus his courage is strengthened more and more to the place where He does not care if he is thrown out of the Synagogue and directly confronts the Pharisees, go back to John 1 where the disciples see more and more of Jesus, John 4 the woman at the well, the man whose son is healed, Peter on the day of Pentecost and all believers who truly understand who Jesus is and will stand up for Him even to death
Note the Spiritual Digression of the Pharisees and others nearby
Not from God - Therefore some of the Pharisees said, "This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath." Others said, "How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?" And there was a division among them.
He is a Sinner - John 9:24 So they again called the man who was blind, and said to him, "Give God the glory! We know that this Man is a sinner."
Would not believe, so they remain unsaved - John 9:39 And Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind." 40 Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, "Are we blind also?" 41 Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.' Therefore your sin remains.
Jesus has himself done the works of God. And those who have eyes to see say with John 1:14, “We have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” That’s what the blind man saw. That’s what the Pharisees did not see, which is why this chapter ends with blindness just like it began, only of a worse kind.
John 12:35 Then Jesus said to them, "A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. 36 "While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light." These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them. 37 But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him, 38 that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke: "Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?" 39 Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again: 40 "He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, Lest they should see with their eyes, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them." 41 These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory and spoke of Him.
This is what Jesus was after: Clear sight of who he was, courageous confession of faith, and worship. And the expression of tragically blasphemous hearts.
V24 Give glory to God (cf. Josh. 7:19; 1 Sam. 6:5; Jer. 13:16) was a call to admit his guilt in siding with Jesus, whom they called a sinner. When they said We know, they were pressuring him. Unbelief often claims to be scientific, but here it was just stubborn and willful.[1]
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
Monday Jul 31, 2023
Monday Jul 31, 2023
John 9:1 Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" 3 Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. 4 "I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. 5 "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." 6 When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. 7 And He said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing. 8 ¶ Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind said, "Is not this he who sat and begged?" 9 Some said, "This is he." Others said, "He is like him." He said, "I am he." 10 Therefore they said to him, "How were your eyes opened?" 11 He answered and said, "A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, 'Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.' So I went and washed, and I received sight." 12 Then they said to him, "Where is He?" He said, "I do not know." 13 They brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees. 14 Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes.
We are taking a second look at this section of Scripture because there is so much that is going on that we missed last week. Jesus cares more about the blind man than He does His own life, because it says as He passed by He saw the man. He was leaving the Pharisees who were trying to stone Him and yet He stopped to help this man. Oh, that we were like Jesus and cared about people like He did and still does. Jesus knew He was on a divine timetable and that He had a limited amount of time to work and accomplish the purposes that He was sent to do. We need to realize our time is limited too and we need to work like Jesus said to, because a time comes when our time to do God’s will is done. There are no do overs, no un do’s, no deletes, what is done is done and what has not been done will never be accomplished by us. Lastly, life’s circumstances ought to draw us closer to Jesus and when people look at us they ought to be like the people who saw the blind man and said in verse 8 "Is not this he who sat and begged?" 9 Some said, "This is he." Others said, "He is like him." He said, "I am he. We should be so different after Jesus has saved us that people wonder if we are the same person and then we get to testify that we are, but we are changed totally, completely, and only by the grace given to us by Jesus coming into our lives.
The Controversy
John 9:8 Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind said, "Is not this he who sat and begged?"
9 Some said, "This is he." Others said, "He is like him." He said, "I am he."
They weren’t sure if it was him or not because when we are changed by Jesus and given spiritual eyes to see, we are not the same person. Also having eyes now instead of sunken in places on his face changed his looks.
God changes the way we look to the world when we begin to see the light of Jesus and respond to it.
2Co 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
10 Therefore they said to him, "How were your eyes opened?" Looking to find a violation of the Sabbath, not worried about him and his healing, Asked How, not who
11 He answered and said, "A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, 'Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.' So I went and washed, and I received sight."
12 Then they said to him, "Where is He?" He said, "I do not know."
John 9:13 They brought him who formerly was blind to the Pharisees.
9:13-14. Since this miracle was so unusual, the people brought the man to the Pharisees, who were highly respected in religious matters. To the Pharisees, healing (unless life was in danger) and making or kneading clay violated the Sabbath Law.
14 Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes.
Why would he do this? To show that he was “Lord of the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:8). He defines the Sabbath. To show what the point of Sabbath rest is. The point of Sabbath rest is healing. That’s why you rest. Healing! The point of Sabbath rest is that we are helpless and God creates, God sustains, God heals, we don’t. What day could be better for God incarnate to find a broken man and heal him—to give him and his parents rest from all the struggles of blindness? That’s what the Sabbath is for—God-exalting blessing to broken and weary humans.
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don’t go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F
The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions
Monday Jul 24, 2023
JOHN 9:1-7 JESUS SAID TO HIM, ”GO, WASH IN THE POOL OF SILOAM”
Monday Jul 24, 2023
Monday Jul 24, 2023
This is the chapter that illustrates Chapter 8:12 Jesus is the Light of the World
John 9:1 Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. 2 And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" 3 Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. 4 "I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. 5 "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." 6 When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. 7 And He said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing.
In this very familiar Scripture we need to make sure we don’t think we know everything that is going on here since we have heard this story so many times. There are a lot of things happening behind the scenes as in any Scripture we read. That is why we have to be very careful when we study to make sure we are really getting the meaning behind it that GOD wants us to have. Number one his disciples assume the man is born blind because of someone sinning. We also need to understand that sometimes God allows circumstances in our lives so that He might get glory from the way we respond to it. Third, there is a limited amount of time we have to work for God and do His will for our lives. Lastly, we have to go to the source of every solution to the problems of life. Note that He doesn’t always fix everything, but He enables us to handle all the ups and downs of life, no matter how bad things get. Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
His Compassion
There are more miracles of the giving of sight to the blind recorded of Jesus than healings in any other category (see Matt. 9:27-31; 12:22-23; 15:30-31; 21:14; Mark 8:22-26; 10:46-52; Luke 7:21-22).
In the Old Testament the giving of sight to the blind is associated with God himself (Exod. 4:11; Ps. 146:8).
It is also a messianic activity (Isa 29:18 In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, And the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.
Isa 35:5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.;
Isa 42:7 To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the prison, Those who sit in darkness from the prison house.
Lu 4:16 So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. 17 And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: 18 "The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; 19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD." 20 Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." and this may be its significance in the New Testament.
It is a divine function, a function for God's own Messiah, that Jesus fulfills when he gives sight to the blind."
Ex 4:11 So the LORD said to him, "Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the LORD?
Ps 146:8 The LORD opens the eyes of the blind; The LORD raises those who are bowed down; The LORD loves the righteous.
2Co 3:14 But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ.
2Co 4:4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.
1Jo 2:11 But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
1Pe 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
This whole chapter is steeped in Controversy, Why was the man born blind v 2, was it really him 1) The Beggar and His Neighbors (Verses 8–12), The Beggar and the Pharisees (Verses 13–17) Why did Jesus do this v14, who is He really v15-41? Controversy between The Pharisees and the Parents (Verses 18–23), Again- The Beggar and the Pharisees (Verses 24–34) Controversy between Jesus and the Pharisees (V39-41)
This chapter presents the sixth of seven special miracles recorded in John’s Gospel as witnesses to Christ’s deity (20:30–31). The first three signs show how a person is saved: through the Word (water to wine), by faith (healing the nobleman’s son), and by grace (healing the impotent man). The last four signs show the results of salvation: satisfaction (feeding the 5,000), peace (stilling the storm), light (healing the blind man), and life (raising Lazarus).
The man has the characteristics of the lost sinner.
(1) He was blind (Eph. 4:18; John 3:3; 2 Cor. 4:3–6). The unsaved, though intellectual like Nicodemus, can never see or understand spiritual things. See 1 Cor. 2:14–16.
(2) He was begging. The unsaved are poor in God’s sight, though perhaps rich in the eyes of the world. They are begging for something to satisfy their deepest needs.
(3) He was helpless. He could not cure himself; others could not cure him.
John 9:1 Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth.
He is more concerned with the man than His own life. Lu 14:26 "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.
Probably Jesus healed this man in Jerusalem (8:59). John apparently noted that the man had been blind from birth to prove his helpless condition and to compare him with those who were spiritually blind from birth (cf. vv. 39-41; 2 Cor. 4:4; Eph. 2:1-3). While the Synoptics record several instances in which blind people received their sight, this is the only case of this happening to a man who was born blind. The miracle also illustrates the origin and development of faith.
2Co 4:4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.
2 And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"
3 Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.
Psalms 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork”
He is a prepared vessel to show the Glory of God, he was a miracle waiting to happen
So when Jesus said in verse 3, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him,” this is the work of God—that the man see natural light and that the man see spiritual light. That the man be given natural eyes, and that he be given spiritual eyes. That he see the glory of this world, and the glory of its Maker, Jesus Christ. And worship him.
Romans 8:28 –
God is worth more than all the troubles we go through Romans 8:18
Psalm 63:3 says, “Your steadfast love is better than life.” And Jesus said to the prisoners in Smyrna, “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.” Being loved by God, and being with God forever, is better than having eyes and better than being alive in this world. If we don’t believe that, then saying that God has wise and good purposes in all our losses, will not be much comfort. But if we do believe it, not only will God’s purposes comfort us and strengthen us, but they will make us able to patiently, and gently help others through their times of darkness.
His Purpose
4 "We must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.
There is an urgency to this command to Do God’s works, not ours, the time is short
All of us must tell others about Christ through our life, actions, words, and sharing with others about who He is
A time is coming when all work for God in leading others to Christ will be over and it will be too late for them and too late for us to get another chance to tell them. There is a time to discuss theology or Biblical teaching, but all the time is the time to share Christ.
Jesus tells them WE must work, then He proceeds to do the work Himself, see this is the way it really works because when we do our part God is really the one who is really doing the hard work that changes lives. We are partners in this work.
Eph 5:15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
Php 2:12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.
5 "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." He is the truth, righteousness, holiness, and morality that only comes from God.
Eph 3:20 – He is able to do, His Power working in us
8:12 I am the light of the world
John 12:35 Then Jesus said to them, "A little while longer the light is with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going. 36 "While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light." These things Jesus spoke, and departed, and was hidden from them
He will be hidden from all who do not believe one day. He is even now hidden to those who do not want to know the truth
6 When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. Spit on his eyes, may have motivated to get it off too because it was nasty
Jesus deliberately causes a controversy
Jesus did it because it was against the law to do it on the Sabbath—against the Pharisee’s understanding of the law—and He meant to unleash the controversy that would bring out both blasphemy and worship
1Co 11:19 For there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you.
Lu 12:51 "Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division.
God’s part – God’s Sovereignty the work He will do in our life and others if we follow Him like we ought to.
Ge 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
His Power
7 And He said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing.
What else did Jesus say to the man? Does the man have any idea of who He is at this point and if not why does he obey
John 1:3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
2Co 4:6 For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Eph 5:8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
Man’s Responsibility - If he had not went, he would not have been healed. Maybe this is where we get the term blind obedience.
God doesn’t need man, but He uses man, He sent this man on a mission and he did it and God worked, we must listen and obey God
The second reason for the mud is to show that God usually uses means in doing his wonderful works in this world. Jesus could have simply spoken and the man’s eyes would have been opened. Most of the wonders of God in the Old Testament were brought about by the use of human means. “The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord” (Proverbs 21:31). God is decisive in the victory, but he uses means. He doesn’t need the horse, but he uses the horse.
The Siloam Aqueduct: Opposite to the main part of Silwan is the "Virgin's Fount," ancient GIHON (which see), whose waters are practically monopolized by the villagers. It is the waters of this spring which are referred to in Isaiah 8:5, 6: "Forasmuch as this people have refused the waters of Shiloah that go softly,.... now therefore, behold, the Lord bringeth up upon them the waters of the River." These waters are sent from God, Jesus is the Living Water Chapter 4 and
Remember back in John 7:37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.
Early each of the seven mornings of the feast the high priest would lead a procession from the Pool of Siloam to the temple. Another priest would first fill a golden ewer with water from the pool. He would then carry it through the Water Gate on the south side of the temple and into the temple courtyard. There he would ceremoniously pour the water into a silver basin on the west side of the brazen altar from which it would flow through a tube to the base of the altar. Many Jews would accompany these priests. Some of them would drink from the pool while others would chant Isaiah 55:1 and 12:3: "Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. Joyously draw water from the springs of salvation." This was such a happy occasion that the Mishnah stated, "He that never has seen the joy of the Water-drawing has never in his life seen joy."301 The priest would then pour water into the basin at the time of the morning sacrifice. Another priest would also pour the daily drink offering of wine into another basin at the same time. Then they would pour the water and the wine out before the Lord. The pouring out of water represented God's provision of water in the wilderness in the past and His provision of refreshment and cleansing in the messianic age. The pouring out of wine symbolized God's bestowal of His Spirit in the last days. Every male present would simultaneously shake his little bundle of willow and myrtle twigs (his lulab) with his right hand and hold a piece of citrus fruit aloft with his left hand. The twigs represented stages of the wilderness journey marked by different kinds of vegetation, and the citrus fruit symbolized the fruit of the Promised Land.302 Everyone would also cry, "Give thanks to the Lord!" three times. Worshippers in the temple courtyard would then sing the Hallel (Ps. 113—118).303 This "water rite" had become a part of the Israelites' traditional celebration of the feast of Tabernacles. Essentially it symbolized the fertility and fruitfulness that the rain brought. In the Old Testament, God likened His blessings in the messianic kingdom to the falling of rain (Ezek. 47:1-7; Zech. 13:1). The Jews regarded God's provision of water in the wilderness and rain in the land as harbingers of His great blessings on the nation under Messiah's reign. Thus the water rite in the feast of Tabernacles had strong messianic connotations.
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Monday Jul 17, 2023
JOHN 8:48-59 JESUS SAID TO THEM BEFORE ABRAHAM WAS, I AM
Monday Jul 17, 2023
Monday Jul 17, 2023
John 8:48 Then the Jews answered and said to Him, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?" 49 Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. 50 "And I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges. 51 ¶ "Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death." 52 Then the Jews said to Him, "Now we know that You have a demon! Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, 'If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.' 53 "Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. Whom do You make Yourself out to be?" 54 Jesus answered, "If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God. 55 "Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I say, 'I do not know Him,' I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word. 56 "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad." 57 Then the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?" 58 Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM." 59 Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.(NKJV)
This is the section of Scripture right after Jesus tells them if the Son sets you free you shall be free indeed. They say they never have been in bondage, they are Abraham’s descendants and then Jesus tells them the truth about who they really are, so they start accusing Him of all kind of things. They accuse Him of being demon possessed, that He is a half breed Samaritan and finally say He is an illegitimate child. But Jesus has the last word as usual and tells them if they keep His word they shall never see death, nor taste it. He says He honors His Father, but they dishonor Him. They finally hear Him say that Abraham rejoiced to see His day and they are incredulous and say you are not even 50 years old how could you see Abraham. Then Jesus lets them have it by saying He is the great I AM, Yahweh, Jehovah, the Self Existent One, the one who has always existed and will always exist. Then they try to kill Him again, but as usual they fail since His time had not yet come.
John 8:48 Then the Jews answered and said to Him, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?"
Samaritans were a mixed race with a religion the Jews considered apostate (cf. comments on 4:4). To call Jesus a Samaritan was to use a term of abuse, referring to a heretic or one with a faulty worship. Their charge that Jesus was demon-possessed (cf. 7:20; 8:52; 10:20) suggested they thought He was mad, unclean, and evil. How ironic that after He said their father was the devil (8:44), they said He was demon-possessed![1]
49 Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.
When accused, Jesus did not seek to justify Himself
Jesus says, in effect, I don't need to defend myself, because God the Father seeks my glory. In other words, if you dishonor me, instead of glorifying me, you set yourself against God. If you oppose me, you oppose the one who is committed to honor me.
50 "And I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges.
But all through this whole book, the message has been: The Son of God did not come for judgment but for salvation. He did not come to condemn, but to save. John 3:17: "God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him."
So Jesus finishes his response to their indictments like this (verse 51): "Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death." In other words, you have gotten to the point where you are blaspheming me, calling me a half-breed and demonized. And you are in great danger of God's judgment, but I hold out to you once more the gift of salvation. If you will keep my word, you will never see death.
51 "Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death."
(cf. comments on 1:51(Similar expressions are “hear” His Word [5:24] and “hold” to His teaching [8:31].) It means to observe, pay attention to, or to fulfill.
John 11:25–26. He says to Martha at Lazarus' grave: "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die." Though he die, he never dies.
Yes, We Die—And, No, We Don't
Yes, we die: "Though he die, yet shall he live." No, we don't die: "Everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die." Lazarus' body lay dead in the grave. But Lazarus was not dead. His body was dead. But he was not dead. He had not died.
John 5:24: "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life."
When we were born again, we received the gift of life. Spiritual life (John 3:6–8). When we were dead in our trespasses, God made us alive (Ephesians 2:4–5). This new life is eternal life. In this new spiritual life, we are able to fellowship with God, know God, experience God, speak with God, hear from God through his word, sense the love of God shed abroad in our hearts (Romans 5:5). This is the work of the Holy Spirit
Our Bodies Die, But We Do Not
Our bodies die. They lie—looking like they are sleeping, which is why the New Testament sometimes calls death falling asleep—they lie in the grave until the last trumpet. "For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed" (1 Corinthians 15:52). But when our bodies die, we do not die. We have passed from death to life. Eternal life. Unbroken, unending life.
52 Then the Jews said to Him, "Now we know that You have a demon! Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, 'If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.'
53 "Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. Whom do You make Yourself out to be?"
Joh 4:12 "Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?"
Either Jesus is a blasphemer or he is God.
54 Jesus answered, "If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God.
55 "Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I say, 'I do not know Him,' I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word.
56 "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad."
57 Then the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?"
58 Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM."
There it is—the clearest, most forthright claim in this Gospel that Jesus is Yahweh, the God of Israel, the great "I am" of Exodus 3:14 and the prophets. If he only wanted to claim pre-existence, he could have said, "Before Abraham was, I was." But he means to say more than mere pre-existence. He says, "Before Abraham was, I am." Exodus 3:14: "God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM.' And he said, 'Say this to the people of Israel, "I AM has sent me to you."'"
Hebrews 2:14–15 14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise hpartook of the same things, that ithrough death he might jdestroy kthe one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who lthrough fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.
Hebrews says that the fear of death produces a pervasive, lifelong bondage—even when we don't realize it, fear is haunting our choices, making us cautious, wary, restrained, confined, narrow, tight, robbing us of risk and adventure and dreams for the sake of Christ and his kingdom and the cause of love in the world. Without our even knowing it, fear of death is a slave master binding us with invisible ropes, confining us to small, safe, innocuous, self-centered ways of life.
Jesus Sets Us Free
Becker has no solution for this bondage, but Jesus does. "Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death." Or as he says in John 8:32, "You will know the truth [about death], and the truth will set you free." The world desperately needs the courage and the Christ of fearless Christians who know they will never taste death. Be one.
59 Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.
Leviticus 24:16
Joh 5:23 "that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.
Joh 5:41 "I do not receive honor from men.
Joh 5:44 "How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?
Joh 8:49 Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.
Joh 8:54 Jesus answered, "If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God.
Joh 12:26 "If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.
Jn 5:41 | I do not receive glory from people.
Jn 7:20 | The crowd answered, “You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?”
Heb 11:13 | These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.
Ex 3:14 | God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ”
Jn 7:28 | So Jesus proclaimed, as he taught in the temple, “You know me, and you know where I come from? But I have not come of my own accord. He who sent me is true, and him you do not know.
Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” -John 8:32
Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.
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