Category Archives: New Testament

Wednesday with John — Manifest Destiny

Posted on September 14, 2022 | Leave a comment

John 14:15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.  18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.  ESV

What is the general theme of the passage?
Obedience demonstrates love and Jesus knows we need help with that.  He has a plan…an invisible helper, a “Spirit of Truth” to show us how to practice what He preaches.  The world cannot recognize this Spirit of truth but “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him…and we will come to him and make our home with him.”  This Spirit will clearly demonstrate [manifest] everything true about who “I am” to each one individually.  “The word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me…I will not leave you as orphans.” 

What does it say about God (or Jesus or the Holy Spirit?)
The Father will give you another helper.  I am in my Father.  I will love and manifest [demonstrate] myself to those who love me.  I will not leave you as orphans, WE will come…

What does it say about people?
Not all people will see Jesus demonstrate Himself.

Is there truth here for me?
John has told us Jesus has come to nourish life, (John 6:35) give us light to see it unfold, (John 8:12) provide a door to enter into another life (John 10:9) and a guide (John 10:11,14) to demonstrate for us what will make it last (John 11:25) so we can be a complete family…forever. (John 14:6).  That’s what “the world cannot receive, because it neither sees [Jesus] nor knows Him” but thanks be to God for that “Spirit of Truth” and that Jesus has demonstrated our destiny. “You know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.”

 

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Sunday with John — Connection

Posted on September 11, 2022 | Leave a comment

John 14:8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves. 12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. 13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. ESV

What is the general theme of the passage?
Philip is unable to comprehend the connection between his belief in Jesus and the truth of Jesus’s connection to the Father.  Jesus cannot comprehend how these faithful disciples who have heard His words and seen His works still cannot see the separation between their belief in Him “Lord show us the Father, and it is enough for us” and the truth He has already taught them, “I’m am in the Father and the Father is in me.”  Addressing that separation is the last part of their preparation for the future. “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater than these will he do…Because I am going to the Father”…I will give you “more” than the comfort of belief, you will have the truth of the Father “glorified in the Son” who will always respond “If you ask me anything in my name.”

What does it say about God (or Jesus or the Holy Spirit?)
Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? 

What does it say about people?
The same “Lord” Philip is now speaking to is the one he recognized in John 1:45 as “him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote.”  What Jesus is confronting Philip with is he hasn’t yet made the connection that He is also the “Father” Philip is asking Him to show them.  

Is there truth here for me?
A relationship with Jesus is the foundation of our belief but that belief receives it’s power through its connection to the truth of Jesus’s identity as God.

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Wednesday with John — Complete

Posted on September 7, 2022 | Leave a comment

John 14:1-7 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.” 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and 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. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”  ESV

What is the general theme of the passage?
Jesus has led these disciples so many places they needed to go. Following Jesus has been their primary focus.  Now that focus must shift from primary to complete: “Believe in God; believe also in me.”  Jesus is clearly telling them their heart’s longing must now find that truth without His physical presence.  He’s told them “you know the way to where I am going,” but they’re troubled because they don’t really understand he’s talking about eternity.  Thomas asks “How can we know the way?”  Jesus answers “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” — I AM your connection to God. “I go and prepare a place for you” in the “Father’s house…Let not your hearts be troubled…From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

What does it say about God (or Jesus or the Holy Spirit?)
Jesus is the only way, the only truth and the only life the Father has chosen to fill the many rooms in His house.

What does it say about people?
“Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”

Is there truth here for me?
Sometimes my heart’s longing is just to understand eternity as a family vacation in an attractive sounding destination when the one thing it really needs to be complete is the simplicity Jesus’s comfort offers me today: “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.”

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Sunday with John — Reliably Prepared

Posted on September 4, 2022 | Leave a comment

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 will follow afterward.” 37 Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” 38 Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times. ESV

What is the general theme of the passage?
Peter was a follower of Jesus and prepared to go anywhere with Him.  He was convinced of the reliability of his own words “I will lay down my life for you.”  Jesus knew that night Peter was going to learn the answer to his question “Lord, why can I not follow you now?”  Jesus knew Peter’s preparation to “follow afterward” must include understanding the deniability of human reliability.

What does it say about God (or Jesus or the Holy Spirit?)
Jesus knew the whole plan!  He had no illusions about the present situation or that every detail would become a reliable part of Peter’s future.

What does it say about people?
Peter’s mind could not comprehend the unpredictability of his own heart.

Is there truth here for me?
Every follower of Jesus knows this story.  Any believer who’s ever professed an “absolute” belief has discovered the reliability of their words challenged by their own unpredictable heart.  My heart wants to believe the faith God has given me is a monolithic [formed of a single large block of stone] superstructure that will stand up against every challenge but then I read and ponder: why wouldn’t God choose the same preparation He required of Peter for me, or for you?  The deniability of my own human reliability is where my faith discovers it’s true dependence on the grace of God.   Grace reveals the truth that Jesus is less interested in unmovable, monolithic superstructures than He is in hearts that will be reliably prepared by Him to “follow afterward.”

Ezekiel 36:23b, 26 & 27 …Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Sovereign Lord, when I am proved holy through you before their eyes…26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.

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Wednesday with John – Jesus Loves ME!

Posted on August 31, 2022 | Leave a comment

John 13:31 When he [Judas] had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. 33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’ 34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” ESV

What is the general theme of the passage?
Jesus knows Judas going out from them has removed the last barrier to His glory.  The “new” truth was “now”  to be fulfilled.  The glory of the Son of Man was going to become the same glory God gives Himself. The disciples had been taught by the Master. They could follow Jesus’s example and inspire others longing for the truth of God but they could never substitute themselves as Jesus did to redeem lives. That truth wasn’t “new.” Longing for God’s protection wasn’t new. Longing for God’s provision wasn’t new.  Longing to please God wasn’t new.  The “new” commandment was “just as I have loved you,” your love for one another will make those longings a reality that will be a visible way to recognize followers of Jesus.

What does it say about God (or Jesus or the Holy Spirit?)
Jesus declares ”now” is the time the God is going to be reveal His glory in Him and in Himself.  Jesus is going to go where no one else can.

What does it say about people?
People long to know they are loved. The new command was for people to love  each other in the same way Jesus has loved them.

Is there truth here for me?
Learning about Jesus and desiring to live like Him are the easy things really.  The “new” thing Jesus commands is the hard thing; love one another: just as I have loved you,  It’s not hard because it requires time and effort, it’s hard because I know the truth about me. It takes a kind of sanctified egotism to believe and experience how much Jesus Loves ME!  He loves me enough to hold my hand while I tiptoe into the depth of that security.  This I know; the more secure I am knowing the depth of Jesus’s love for me, the more I will be free of my last barrier to love others that much too.

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Sunday with John — After

Posted on August 28, 2022 | Leave a comment

John 13:21 After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and testified, “Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” 22 The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke. 23 One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at table at Jesus’ side, 24 so Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. 25 So that disciple, leaning back against Jesus, said to him, “Lord, who is it?” 26 Jesus answered, “It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it.” So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. 27 Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.” 28 Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. 29 Some thought that, because Judas had the moneybag, Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the feast,” or that he should give something to the poor. 30 So, after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night. ESV

What is the general theme of the passage?
After… the example of service He’s given them, Jesus is troubled in His spirit because of what He knows; “one of you will betray me.” The disciples look at one another, “uncertain of whom he spoke.”  The whispered interchange between “one of His disciples” and Jesus must have been only one of the hushed conversations happening around that table.  Only Jesus and that one disciple know the deadly meaning of that small piece of bread Jesus gives to Judas.  But after taking what looked like a common offering  of friendship to most of his brothers, Judas knows what Jesus knows.   Satan has identified him as the betrayer but Jesus has offered him mercy, not disgrace. “So, after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out” into the darkness.

What does it say about God (or Jesus or the Holy Spirit?)
Jesus was troubled in His spirit.  Jesus chose to let Judas know Satan had identified him as the betrayer but with an act of mercy rather than disgrace.

What does it say about people?
The disciples first response was to identify the betrayer.  They clearly did not hear the exchange between the one disciple and Jesus that would connect Judas leaving to the betrayal. 

Is there truth here for me?
I saw truth about mercy in reading and pondering this whole sad story of Judas’s betrayal of Jesus.  Jesus has the power to accomplish His Father’s purposes through mercy, not the public disgrace of exposed sin.   Satan is the one who who relishes that job.

But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.  Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.
Luke 6:35-36 ESV

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Wednesday with John – Choice

Posted on August 24, 2022 | Leave a comment

John 13:12 When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, 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 also should do just as I have done to you. 16 Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. 18 I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, ‘He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’ 19 I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he. 20 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.” ESV

What is the general theme of the passage?
“Do you understand what I have done to you?” “I have given you an example.” “Do just as I have done to you.” “If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.” “I know whom I have chosen…“the Scripture will be fulfilled” “I am telling you this now” that “you may believe that I am he.” “Whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.”

What does it say about God (or Jesus or the Holy Spirit?)
He washed their feet.  He resumed His place.  He said:  I am.  I have. You ought. I have given.  You should.  I say. If you know. I know whom I have chosen.  I am telling you this now. Believe that I am He. Whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.

What does it say about people?
All these chosen men, even the betrayer, must have had a reaction to seeing Jesus stoop to this subservient position and do this menial act. Peter spoke, but surely others were confused too.  It was certainly more than Judas could accept.  Everything in their relationship with Jesus has been building their confidence that His power declared Him to be the Messiah, come from God.  This night Jesus must teach them humility and service are the other side of Sovereignty and power.

Is there truth here for me?
All these men, even Judas were chosen by the same process Luke 6 describes: 12 In these days he [Jesus] went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. 13 And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles…”  Judas was chosen, and named an apostle, by Jesus Himself.  He heard every word spoken that night as the Messiah washed the visible dirt off his “feet” but the serpent of the “heel” from Genesis 3:15 had found an ally in Judas, who’d decided just like those two original friends of God he too could make a better choice than serving his Creator.

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Sunday with John — A Sinner’s Experience

Posted on August 21, 2022 | Leave a comment

John 13:1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 During supper, when the devil had 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 back to God, 4 rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. 6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” 7 Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” 8 Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “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, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you[plural] are clean, but not every one of you.” 11 For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”  ESV

What is the general theme of the passage?
This is a radical before and after story.  “Jesus knew that His hour had come.” Their preparation “before the Feast of the Passover,” would remind His disciples of their past deliverance by God’s power.  “Having loved His own,” Jesus now chose to show them a new and radical eternal truth about deliverance they would only understand in the future. Jesus’s “laid aside his outer garments” and his own divinity, “to wash the disciples’ feet.”   Knowing “that the Father had given all things into his hands…and knowing there was one, “who was to betray him”…He still washed their feet and “loved them to the end.”

What does it say about God (or Jesus or the Holy Spirit?)
Jesus knew His hour had come.  He was going back to God. The Father had given all things into his hands.  He chose humility from that complete power to be the way “he loved them to the end.”  

What does it say about people?
Peter is a perfect example of how hard it is to keep the reality of the power of God in Jesus straight.  All those disciples had seen that power in Jesus but this is pretty intimidating; this man they’ve identified as their Messiah is now kneeling before them to wash the feet of “his own.”

Is there truth here for me?
The radical “after” of this story is Jesus’s own hand-picked “sinners” became the first people to understand He had shown them the humility of God that would save them forever and allow them to share a sinner’s experience of the Sovereign power of God that could make them clean too.

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Wednesday with John – Obedience

Posted on August 17, 2022 | Leave a comment

John 12:44 And Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. 45 And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. 46 I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. 47 If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. 48 The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day. 49 For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. 50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.” ESV

What is the general theme of the passage?
It isn’t the still small voice this time, “Jesus cried out!”  Listen up…I am the Light God has given for you to believe and see Him.  I’m not your judge, the Word God has given me to speak will be your judge. My commandment is to say and speak His Words in order “to save the world.”  “His commandment is eternal life”…yours!

What does it say about God (or Jesus or the Holy Spirit?)
Jesus assurance to Himself is His obedience to His father’s commandment…“For I have not spoken on my own authority.” Of course that‘s His assurance to us too.

What does it say about people?
Is there anyone alive who can’t hear Jesus’s frustration in the words of that first phrase “And Jesus cried out”?  Is there any believer alive who doesn’t know first-hand the frustration of longing for someone we care about to believe, hear and accept the truth from Jesus about life from God’s viewpoint of forever?

Is there truth here for me?
This exercise of answering these questions each post is where I often learn the most.  I want to assure God of my commitment to Jesus so I write.  I want to assure you of the reality of Jesus so I write.  There is another truth I saw this morning about why I spend so many hours each week writing. I saw Jesus assuring Himself because of His obedience.  I write every day to assure myself I am obediently learning to be like more like Jesus and writing to you challenges me to find the truth.a  I have one prayer before I press “publish” each time.  Lord do not let your Word be voided by my thoughts.  If there is error, correct me and let it be so obvious to the one who reads that it compels them to find the truth in your Word.

a So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. 2 Peter 1:12 NIV

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Posted in 2 Peter, John, Matthew, New Testament, Wednesday

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Sunday with John — Need

Posted on August 14, 2022 | Leave a comment

John 12:37 Though he had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, 38 so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” [Is 53:1] 39 Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said, 40 “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them.” [Is 6:10] 41 Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him. 42 Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.  ESV

What is the general theme of the passage?
The Sovereign Lord has set guidelines to control what is seen, heard and believed by every heart.  John records some of the most difficult Words in the Bible from Isaiah; that God will withhold Himself from those who’s heart’s desire would only lead them to abuse His Grace. God alone knows exactly who to reveal Himself to.  He alone knows the hearts that have created a lord of their own ideas to give them what they want.  Those hearts are not interested in wanting God who desires to give them what they need “for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.”

What does it say about God (or Jesus or the Holy Spirit?)
God sets the rules. His heart’s desire is to accept confession and heal but His perfect and timeless knowledge knows the reality of each heart.

What does it say about people?
It’s possible to know the reality of the Lord enough to know what His heart’s desires are, without understanding He knows the truth of what your heart wants and acts accordingly to preserve the integrity of His Grace.

Is there truth here for me?
I can’t even count how many times I’ve heard the phrase “wants versus needs.” Usually it’s been cherry-picking that phrase in relation to accumulating “stuff.”  John and Isaiah have thrown Grace into that picture. Can I accept admitting my need for Jesus is part of the gift of Grace rather than a crutch or weakness?  Can you?  Now I think I see what Isaiah saw; when I confess my need for Jesus, the wants of my heart change and I experience the reality of “the glory that comes from God”…His Grace for my need…Jesus.

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Posted in Isaiah, John, Matthew, New Testament, Old Testament, Sunday

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