Wednesday, October 25: John 18- I am the one.

Such an abrupt change from prayers to arrest. If you were new to the story of Jesus, I think the transition from chapter 17 to 18 would strike you as a reader like a punch to the gut. It hit me that way and I know the story!

Jesus’ calm through the whole of the evening is such a contrast to Peter’s bumbling. The master is in control, despite the situation while Peter teeters on the edge, uncertain, out of balance and about to fall.

During His arrest and questioning before the priests and Pilate, it seems like Jesus controls the events. He speaks and the arrestors fall back. Before Annas they drill Him hard but Jesus, un-phased, fires back with a retort they cannot answer. Before Pilate, Jesus is strong and resolute.

Poor Peter, he just cannot measure up. In the garden he resorts to violence, striking someone with his sword. Invited into the garden because his friend vouched for him, Peter crumbles under the weight of a servant girl and other nameless observers.

While I long to be like Jesus, too often I act more like Peter. My bravado of faith, when I am in the company of friends, fades into obscurity sometimes when challenged by outsiders.

Oh, God, seeing Peter is like holding a mirror to my own life… my sins, my guilt, my faults. I am the one stripped naked by this text and these thoughts. I am the one who falls and denies my Savior.

All I can manage to say is…

Forgive me, Lord. Save me, Lord. I am in need of Your grace and mercy again and again. Amen.

 

Tuesday, October 24: John 17- Protection.

I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled. … My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one (11-12, 15).

John records Jesus’ prayer on the eve of His death. Jesus prays for Himself, the disciples and all who will believe in Him through the message of the Gospel. As He was praying for the disciples He prays for their protection. Is His prayer for protection so that no harm will ever come to them? If that is so, how is it that many of the disciples died for their faith in Jesus and others, like John, suffered imprisonment? What did Jesus mean when He prayed for protection?

In verse 11 He follows His prayer for protection saying, so that they may be one as we are one. His protection then is to guard them so that nothing separates them from each other, so that they remain together, unified in Jesus. Certainly the apostles remained unified like this throughout their lifetime.

In verse 12 protection is linked to not falling away from the faith and again that was true. The faith and resolve of the disciples is amazing, given the persecution they at times endured.

Finally in verse 15 Jesus prays for protection from the evil one and to me that is a repeat of what he has prayed. The greatest power the evil one could have would be to pull someone from the salvation God has granted, but Jesus has protected them from that (12). Second would be to put a wedge between them so that the witness of love is destroyed. Again Jesus has prayed specifically for that in verse 11. 

My sense is that what Jesus prayed for them counts for us as well as His present day disciples. He has prayed that our faith will hold… Halleluia!. He has prayed that we remain one in spirit and in Jesus… and to that I say Halleluiah once more!

The protection Jesus offers us may not be from any and every harm, but it certainly is protection from the greatest fears… loss of faith and loss of my brothers and sisters in the faith.

Thank You, Jesus, for praying for my protection. May I live well and for Your glory under Your protection. Thank You for caring so much for me, for us, that You have protected us. Again I say, Halleluiah! Thank You, Jesus. Amen.

 

Monday, October 23: John 16- Finding Peace.

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

Finding peace in a troubled world, that is one gift Jesus brings. According to Jesus when we have him, we have peace.

While I cannot say that has been true for me every moment since confessing Jesus to be Lord of my life, I can say in the main it has been true. Despite the times I worry and fret, Jesus has always been there. During the darkest times of my life Jesus has been a shoulder I can turn to and cry on and a strong hand to lift me up. Jesus has provided peace that passes understanding. There are times I cannot explain it, but still as the waters rage about me I know Jesus is there with me. This is so hard to explain and yet so wonderful to experience. 

Trouble comes… I don’t mean to be pessimistic but life does have its share of troubles and I have found Jesus to be my peace during all times of life.

Have you confessed Jesus to be Lord and God of your life?

Confessing Jesus is the first step to finding peace amidst the trouble of life and peace with God, which brings eternal life.

Oh, Lord God, the gifts Jesus brings when we open our lives to him through faith are extraordinary. Peace, companionship, love, forgiveness, redemption, on and on the list goes. Oh, Lord, may I live in a way that point people to Jesus, the one and only Son of God. In His name, I pray. Amen.

 

Saturday, October 21: John 15- .

The vine and the branches is one of the more recognizable chapters in the gospels. As we have found with John’s gospel, he packs a great deal of teaching into each chapter.

An intriguing insight struck me as I was reading verses 5-8: I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

As I came to the words I bolded, I had the usual thought, “Wow, ask whatever you wish and it will be done” What a promise. However, is it really true. Countless believers ask for the healing of a loved one that doesn’t happen. And how many other prayers could be added to the list of unanswered prayers?

As I pondered this I realized that “remaining in Jesus” is a prerequisite. But I am wondering about Christians who do not have their wishes granted. And it seems that Christians are the ones remaining in the vine, so why are the wishes not granted?

As I pondered this verse 8 came into view, This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. Could it be that this is not some carte blanch promise that anything we wish for will come true, but that it must be heard in the context of bearing fruit for the kingdom… fruit that shows we are disciples of Jesus?

This thought doesn’t eliminate all my questions regarding the ‘ask for anything you wish’ promise but it does push me in directions I haven’t pondered deeply.

As I consider this one thing I am realizing that doing things that give glory to the Father has to rise higher on my life-goal list. Life isn’t about seeking me and mine… my pleasure, my desire, my wishes. It is about living a manner of life that gives glory to God. On this score I have a great deal still to learn.

Lord, I offer You today. Point out to me things I should, could, do that bring You glory that I ordinarily may miss or skip over. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

 

Friday, October 20: John 14- You who are the way.

There it was in the text of the day, John 14:6: Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. An amazing statement about who Jesus is and what Jesus provides for people who follow and believe in Him.

Jesus is the way… He leads us home to the Father God.

Jesus is the truth… in a world that seems to be losing the idea of truth and of right and wrong Jesus is the truth. His words ground us and stabilize us in a shifting world.

Jesus is the life… He gives us what we seek most in life… not simply living, but life and elsewhere we are told He gives us life abundantly!

I was in worship yesterday and we sang a song, which so wonderfully captures the essence of this verse. It is You who are the way by Angelo Natalie (ccli 5512911). The chorus goes like this:

You who are the Way we follow You

You who are the Truth we believe in You

You who are the Life we draw our breath from You

You who are the Way we walk with You

You who are the Truth we will sing of You

You who are the Life we'll rise again in You

 

Yes… this is Jesus. He is the way and the truth and the life. And it was such a powerful way to sing the truth of Jesus in worship and to bring the truth of Jesus into my life!

Thank You, Jesus, for coming and leading us home to the loving arms of the Father. Thank You, Jesus, for being truth, for showing us right and wrong and being an anchor of truth in the shifting sands of a relative world. Thank You, Jesus, for being life, for giving life and giving it abundantly. Thank You and praise You, Jesus, along with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

 

 

Thursday, October 19: John 13- Washing feet.

Washing feet…it is not difficult to understand that the slave who washed feet was generally the lowest slave in the household pecking order. Imagine being the one who stooped down every time a person and guest entered the house, your job to handle the bare or sandaled feed and wash them.

Jesus, Rabbi, and the one and only Son of God, stooped down and washed the feet of all His disciples –even Judas’ –because not one of the disciples were willing to do so. Rising up after the job was done Jesus said, You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them (13-17).

What are we, His followers, to make of this?

Our posture is not to lord it over others, but to be willing to stoop and wash feet. Serving someone even in a most humbling way is humbling. Yes, but it is also honoring, loving and caring.  Jesus modeled that. This is His way of life and as disciples we are to walk His way.

By humbling Himself, Jesus didn’t give up his rabbi, teacher, Lord position. He gave it dimension… He infused it with love. And that is how we are to live.

For us it could mean literally washing someone’s feet, but more than likely, it will be some other form of humble service.

Jesus looks my way and asks, “Am I willing to stoop, to dip my hands in the filth of the world and serve others, not because they are good, but because they are human?”

I am reminded that Judas’ two feet were washed along with all the others.

Am I willing to stoop, to dip my hands in the filth of the world and serve others, not because they are good, but because they are human? Are you?...

Think about it…

Words fail as my heart warms. I am Yours… direct me to whomever You need me to serve in Your name. Amen.

 

Wednesday, October 18: John 12- A gift of pure love.

Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume [worth more than a year’s wages]; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume (3).

Extravagant love… Mary took what may have been her dowry money and anointed Jesus with the whole of it. Where a few dabs would have adequately anointed Him, she poured out the whole lot. Certainly she was grateful, Jesus had just raised her brother from the dead. But Jesus understands in her gift something even deeper, anointing for His burial. Others may feel His death is coming (remember Thomas in an earlier chapter?), but Jesus knows it is coming.

Back to Mary’s gift… so extravagant, so filled with love.

I have never even come close to giving my Lord that valuable a gift. I sit here this morning humbled by Mary’s sacrifice of love.

I love You, Lord. I am humbled by Mary’s generosity and demonstration of her love. Honestly, I have no more words to say…  Amen.