Today, I am reading and commenting on  John 1-3.

I always have trouble writing my blog on this passage because there is so much here.  John manages to convey a lot of thoughts with few words in today’s passage.  I am going to start by commenting on John the Baptist’s self identification.  He denied being the Messiah, or Elijah, or “the Prophet”.  The only title he would claim for himself was “the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.'”   I think that John was doing this in the spirit of the teaching when Jesus told His disciples to call no one “Father”.  John was making clear that he was not better than others and that he was not an intermediary between them and God.  John was trying to tell them that it was the message which was important, not the messenger.  When I started this I intended to write on more than this, but I want to emphasize that point.  All too many have made the mistake which John the Baptist was avoiding: they thought that they, the messenger, were important.  John the Baptist was not important, his message was.  Billy Graham was not important, his message was.  There are preachers today, just as in the past, who have forgotten this.  They think that they are important, and as a result their message does not get through.  When preaching the Gospel, it is the message which is important, not the messenger.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on John 19-21

From time to time we will face those who seek to use whatever power over us they may have, whether that power is legitimate or just bullying, to keep us from standing up for what we believe in.  In those circumstances we should remember what Jesus said to Pilate during His trial, “You would have no power over me at all unless it were given to you from above.”  This statement is equally true of those who attempt to exercise power over us.  They will have no more power over us than that which God gives them.  Therefor we should not be afraid to stand up for what God has revealed to us in the face of such threats.

I have always identified with Thomas in this passage.  When the other disciples told him that they had seen Jesus after the Resurrection, he did not believe them.  He was a skeptic.  However, he was what I would call an honest skeptic.  He thought the claim that Jesus had risen from the dead was extraordinary and therefor required proof.  He did not call his friends liars, he merely said that he could not take their word for it.  Then he laid out what he would consider sufficient proof that Jesus had risen from the dead.  However, the most beautiful part is that when he did see Jesus in the flesh, he did not need the proof which he had demanded.  Thomas was willing to believe, but was not willing to be deceived.  We should seek to emulate him.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on John 17-18

Before He was arrested Jesus prayed for His disciples, but not just for those who followed Him while He was here on earth.  John records that He said that His prayer was also for those who believed in Jesus through the message given by those who followed Him here on earth, which includes those alive today who believe in Him.  He warned us that the world would hate us because we are not of the world, just as He was not of the world.  However, He prayed that God would protect us and make us one.

Jesus’ prayer here has always given me great comfort, even though He warns us that the world will hate us.  If we follow Christ we are not of this world, but we should not seek to leave this world.  God will protect us from the evil one and make us one with Himself.  When we allow God to shape us through Jesus’ words we will be unified in a way which reveal to the world that God sent Jesus into the world, that Jesus has sent us into the world, and that He loves us.  I am not sure I have truly expressed why this prayer gives me comfort and joy, but hopefully as you read it today it does the same for you.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on John 14-16

John records here a promise which Jesus made that has given those who read it difficulty throughout history.  John writes that Jesus said that we can ask anything in His name and He will do it.  That is a very powerful promise. We can ask anything in His name and He will do it.  However, it doesn’t always seem to work that way.  There are two reasons why and those reasons are related to each other.  First, throughout the Gospels Jesus repeatedly tells us that if we have sufficient faith, we will be able to accomplish great things.  Now, He also tells us that sufficient faith is not very much; all we need is as much faith as a mustard seed.  The second reason is one we find in the context here.  Jesus made that promise to a very specific group of people: those who believe in Him and obey His commandments.  So, in order to take advantage of Jesus’ promise you must have sufficient faith, although that is not very much, and that faith must be in Him.

That brings us to an understanding about why we fail to see this promise fulfilled.  Despite the fact that it takes very little faith, it does take faith.  But more importantly, as James says in verse 4:3 of his letter, many of those who seek to take advantage of this promise seek to do so with the wrong motives.  So, asking God to have our preferred candidate win the election is unlikely to be answered, but asking God to transform people so that they serve Him, that will be answered.  In the recent election, I believe that the selfish interests of most of the people would have been served by one candidate winning the election, but the real question is, victory for which candidate will turn more people’s hearts to God?  Let us pray for that candidate to win, even if it means suffering for ourselves.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on John 12-13

For the last several days I have been really struck by how the passages I am reading are applicable to what is going on around us.  Today’s passage is no different.  Jesus tells us that those who love their life will lose it, only those who care nothing for their life will gain eternal life.  Just before saying that He says that a kernel of wheat must be planted in the soil and die in order to be productive.  Then after saying it, He tells us that if we wish to serve Him we must follow Him.  He talks about being troubled by the suffering He sees in His near future, but He accepts that coming suffering as necessary to make the world a better place.

So, we come to what to make of Jesus’ comment in this context.  If we fail to stand up for Christ in order to avoid suffering, we will suffer anyway, but without the joy of knowing that we have done our best to make the world a better place.  On the other hand, if we embrace the suffering which may come from doing God’s will, we will see the world become a better place and even that suffering will bring joy.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on John 10-11

There are two things which Jesus said as He spoke about being the Good Shepherd which I want to write about today.  He speaks about how He has sheep in another sheepfold that would also know His voice, follow Him, and become one flock with those to whom He had already called.  I believe that Jesus was referring to Gentiles when He referred to another sheepfold. Jesus’ teaching here, and what He spoke about in yesterday’s passage when He talked about truth and those who are truly the heirs of Abraham, form the basis for what Paul wrote in Galatians 3:28-29. Those who follow Jesus’ voice are no longer divided into tribes. We are no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, black or white. We are one in Jesus.  Those who strive to divide us into separate tribes are those whom Jesus refers to as the thieves who desire to steal and kill and destroy.  As we look around us today, we can see who those people are.  Do not listen to their voices.

Jesus goes on to tell us that those who listen to His voice were given to Him by the Father.  And once again, what Jesus says here is the basis for what Paul wrote in Romans 8:38-39.  Nothing can ever separate us from God’s love, nothing and no one can snatch us away from Jesus.  God is more powerful than anyone else, and  than anything.  As bad as things may seem when we look at the world around us, let us remember that God holds us in His hands and nothing can pry us out of them.  And this connects with what Jesus said to Martha shortly before He raised Lazarus from the dead.  Not even death can separate us from Jesus.  Those who put their faith in Jesus and listen to His voice will never truly die.  You have heard the saying, “Only two things in life are sure, death and taxes.”  But, the fact of the matter is that there is one thing even more sure than either of those.  That thing is God’s love for us.  No power can separate us from God, not death, and not the government.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on John 8-9

Jesus says, “you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”  He continues by saying that those who sin are slaves to sin, but that the Son can set them free.  All too often, we lie to ourselves about our sin, just as Jesus’ listeners were lying to themselves about their sin.  They refused to acknowledge that they were enslaved by their sins and, as a result, were unable to accept being freed from those sins.  The devil and those who serve him hate the truth because it reveals their sins.  Indirectly then, lies are the root of all sin.  All of this fits in with what Jesus said earlier in today’s passage when He said that He was the light of the world.  Light and truth both reveal what was hidden by darkness and lies.  Those who wish to be freed from slavery to sin will seek both light and truth so that their sins may be revealed.  Those who wish to continue in their sins avoid light and truth so as to avoid acknowledging the hurt and suffering which their sin creates, both in themselves and others.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on John 6-7

When John wrote that Jesus said “I am the bread of life,” he was returning to the theme he touched upon when Jesus told His disciples that He had food which they did not know about after talking to the Samaritan woman at the well.  Jesus taught, and John sought to emphasize, that focusing on doing God’s will should come before focusing on our material desires.  We need to consume Jesus’ body and blood the way in which He consumed doing the Father’s work.  In a way, John is foreshadowing the saying, “You are what you eat.”  We need to make Jesus’ teachings and actions our sustenance as if we were consuming His body and blood.  We need to allow His Spirit to transform us into Him.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on John 4-5

As I read this I was struck by Jesus statement that the time has arrived for true worshipers to worship God in spirit and in truth.  The context in which He made this statement was in response to a question about worshiping God on Mt Gerizim or in Jerusalem.  The time has come when we must truthfully worship God.  If we worship God in spirit and in truth He will send us to harvest those He is bringing to eternal life.  If we worship in spirit and in truth, we will follow Jesus’ example as shown later in today’s passage.  When the Jewish leaders harassed Jesus for breaking their Sabbath rules He told them that His Father was always working, so He was as well.  We need to always be working to bring blessings to those around us, to show them how to worship in spirit and in truth.  If we listen to Jesus’ message and act according to His instructions we will receive eternal life and, more importantly, we will show others how they too can receive that eternal life.  I wanted to end there, but I need to write one more thing from this passage.  We can do nothing by ourselves, just as Jesus said that He could do nothing by Himself.  Jesus did only what He saw the Father doing.  We should do only that which we see Jesus doing.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on John 1-3

I love the way the beginning of the Gospel of John contrasts with the three preceding Gospels: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”  In his introduction to Jesus’ teachings John spends a lot of time referencing how we need to be born again and born of the Spirit.  He then revisits that in his account of Jesus’ meeting with Nicodemus.  One part of what John tells us hear is easy to miss because we tend to not associate water baptism with washing.  John links baptism with the Holy Spirit with water baptism in order to convey an idea which the other Gospels touch on when Jesus speaks about ritual hand-washing.  We need internal cleansing of our spirits more than we need external cleansing of our bodies.  Even John’s account about Jesus’ clearing the merchant’s out of the Temple relates to John’s theme about spiritual cleansing.