Receiving Power

DEVOTION

 THE BOOK OF ACTS

RECEIVING POWER

Acts 1:6-8

6 So when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" 7 He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." 

NIV

Still after seeing Jesus crucified, buried, and resurrected, alive and well, they still can only see with their human eyes. They still are thinking he is going to restore Israel, outing the Roman occupiers, overthrowing Herod and becoming the new king of Israel. Why else would they ask such a question? But Jesus answers their question with the truth for all times, all people, and all cultures. Jesus gives them an eternal answer to their human question. It is not just the disciples who have fallen into the human way of thinking, but mankind throughout the ages has been trying to determine when Jesus will restore his kingdom, when he will return as the King of kings, the conquering King. Predictions of dates of his return have always been around, and yet none of those who predict know the truth of the words Jesus spoke here. It is not for us to know the times or the dates the Father has set by his own authority. The Father has set a time and date when Jesus will restore his kingdom and it is the Father who is the only one who knows that time and date. The only concern we should have concerning that date is that we are among the ones who belong to Jesus when that date arrives. But what we should be doing in the meantime is entirely a different story. First we must wait, but just a couple of days at most, as we already know, but when the Holy Spirit does come upon us, we will receive power. This power is not for the purpose of our own edification or our own benefit in any way, but it is for a designated purpose. The purpose of this power is so that we will be witnesses to the ends of the earth. This was not just for those disciples as they could not have possibly traveled to the ends of the earth; they never left the Middle East. But all believers are at the ends of the earth and all believers can have this power of the Holy Spirit and all believers can be witnesses for Jesus. But to be a witness we must leave the confines of the walls of the church buildings and we must travel among the people who have yet to hear the truth about Jesus. We must tell them the story, tell them what we have seen, what we have heard, what we have experienced. We cannot do this in the power of human abilities, human strength or intelligence, but only in the power of the Holy Spirit as he comes upon us. We must be receiving the power.  

Power

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

POWER

Acts 1:1-5

1:1 In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3 After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit." 

NIV

It is a certainty that Luke wrote this very accurate account of the primitive church, as it is clear he is writing to the same person in which he mentions in the beginning of his Gospel account. Luke being a physician would have such a personality that he would be sure to make exacting records. Luke makes this very clear the he is an eye witness to the life, death, resurrection and ascension and thus is able to have the facts. He also was a companion to Paul on many occasions and would be an eye witness to much of the early church activities. We start off this book, or letter to Theophilus with the beginning of a most excellent adventure. The life lesson we can learn from this beginning account is of course within the words of Jesus that Luke tells us about. Although the disciples had spent some years with Jesus and heard all his teaching, all the truth of God and witnessed so many miracles that, as John had said at the close of his Gospel, there is not enough books to contain all that he did, Jesus told them to wait. He told them to wait for the gift his Father promised. Certainly they had all the knowledge they needed to go in all the world and preach the Good News, but they did not have the power of the Holy Spirit. They might have tried to get started with their ministry, but it would have been in a human effort, a futile pitiful human endeavor that would have been doomed from the start because they would not have the power of the Spirit. Here is where we come in. We might try to do things in this life, even things that are considered ministry without the power of the Holy Spirit. Just because we are believers, does not mean we are filled or baptized with the Spirit. The disciples were certainly believers, but they had not been filled with the Spirit yet and so Jesus told them to wait for it. Anything we try to do, if we have not been baptized with the Spirit is simple being done in our human strength. This kind of effort is certain to be weak and without power thus we should do as Jesus told his disciples, wait for the gift his Father has promised. So we must consider there are two types of believers, those without the power and those who have the power, based on who hasn’t and who has been baptized in the Holy Spirit. Those of us who have the power must then go, those of us who have yet received the power, must wait. The waiting should only take a couple of days, but then the power will come, the Spirit will descend upon the waiter, and they shall be filled with power and those who are filled with spill out into the streets with evidence of that power.  

Follow me

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

FOLLOW ME

John 21:20-25

20 Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, "Lord, who is going to betray you?") 21 When Peter saw him, he asked, "Lord, what about him?" 22 Jesus answered, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me."  23 Because of this, the rumor spread among the brothers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?"  24 This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true. 25 Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.

NIV

Peter was told to follow Jesus, and of course his first thought was, well what about John? By the implication of the text we might figure that what Jesus was telling Peter is that he would in fact die because of his faith in Christ, and that he would die on a cross in the same manner as Jesus did. This was implied by Jesus telling him that when he is old you will stretch out your hands, and someone will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go. So Peter just has to ask about John and what will happen to him. Jesus tells him, not to worry about John, what happens to John is between Jesus and John, what you have to do is follow me. That is our life application that we should pay close attention to. What concern is it to us what Jesus does in another person’s life? What concern is it of ours as to what Jesus calls another person to do? If we are all living stones being built into the temple of God, then it is not up to the builder as to where he places each stone? This is not to say that we should be so self-centered, self-focused that we pay no attention to others in the body of Christ. We are in fact to serve each other, we are to encourage and build each other up. But the point here is that we should not concern ourselves with how God uses them, or blesses them, or allows them to live forever, or whatever else purpose God has for their lives. We need to be focused on what Jesus wants us to do, where he wants us to go, and how he wants us to live. What is our calling? What is our purpose in the body of Christ? We cannot be what God wants someone else to be, or go or do, we can only be what he wants us to be. This would certainly eliminate any envy or jealousy within the body of Christ. We simply should focus on the fact we must follow him. What a fitting end to this devotion of this Gospel, hearing the words of Jesus, “Follow me”.

Do You Love me?

DEVOTION

 THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

DO YOU LOVE ME?

John 21:15-19

15 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?" "Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."  16 Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?" He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep."  17 The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my sheep. 18 I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go."  19 Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, "Follow me!" 

NIV

It is doubtful we could apply this last portion of this dialog between Jesus and Peter to our lives as this was specific to Peter’s form of death, on a cross. But still we could certainly apply those words, “Follow me”, but first we should deal with the three times Jesus asks Peter if he loves him. What part of “you know that I love you” did Jesus not understand that he had to ask again and again? Perhaps the reason Jesus asked Peter three times is because Peter had denied Jesus three times and Jesus was allowing Peter to make his amends so to speak. The interesting thing is that Jesus used the word agapaoo and Peter used the word phileoo. We cannot be certain why Peter did not use the same love that Jesus did, other than Peter was unwilling to express that kind of love toward Jesus in front of all the others, at least at that time. Yet the point we can take to heart here is that question of Jesus, “do you love me?” The first time it is asked of more than these, which is doubtful Jesus meant the rest of the disciples, but more than likely he meant the fish and loaves. Peter do you love me more than food, more the material things? Do we love him more than what sustains our life? Jesus had already taught that life is more than food, so the question then put to us, is our love for Jesus more than our daily life, food, clothes, our body, our home, cars, and stuff? The other points the feed my sheep, take care of my sheep, feed my sheep. Although once again we could simply believe Jesus was only talking directly to Peter, and as some believe that placed Peter at the head of the church, but we do not know the exact dynamics of the scene. Jesus could have been looking around at all his disciples as he spoke to Peter, indicating he was meaning they all had a responsibility to feed the sheep, to care for the flock, to mentor the rest of the people in the ways of God. We cannot be sure of exactly how that all was played out, but we can be certain it is recorded for us to know that Jesus asks the same question time and time again of each one of us. “Do you love me?” We must always contemplate our answer. Do we love him enough to follow him, or just enough to include him in the life we desire to live? 

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Jump in and Swim

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

JUMP IN AND SWIM

John 21:7-14

7 Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, "It is the Lord," he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. 8 The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards.   9 When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread. 10 Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish you have just caught."  11 Simon Peter climbed aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. 12 Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." None of the disciples dared ask him, "Who are you?" They knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. 14 This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.

NIV

There has never been any reason to doubt the impetuousness of Peter. He jumps into things when others just seat and watch, like the time he cut the ear of one of the servants in the garden or when he blurred out the answer, “You are the Christ” no one else answered but Peter. So once again, he hears John exclaim it is the Lord, Peter simply jumps in the water and swims to shore, leaving the others, and all that big catch behind. Sure he most likely knew they would bring the catch into shore with the boat, but he first thought was, “it is the Lord”. That is one of the lesson we can apply to our lives. Are we jumping in the water, all out for the shore where Jesus is standing with breakfast for us? Are we too reserved to jump in and swim for shore? Why didn’t the rest of the guys jump in too? Were they hanging onto the net full of fish? Could we be hanging onto our net full of stuff, instead of jumping in and heading straight for Jesus? Maybe our net is simply filled with our own wants and desires. Maybe our net is filled with actually material things. Maybe our net is filled with our plans and ambitions. So maybe we are hanging onto our nets instead is jumping in and heading for Jesus. That could be our lesson we need to learn. Forget about the net, just jump in, and don’t bother trying to bring the net with. Another lesson we could learn is although Jesus provided them with such a large catch, when Peter arrived on the shore, he noticed Jesus already had a fire with fish cooking and some bread to have with it. Even though Jesus provides us with all we need, a net full of whatever, when we arrive on the shore, he will already have our breakfast ready. Jesus does not need our net full, although he did tell them to bring some of the fish, the story does not include him using them, but simply the net was not torn from such a large catch. What we need to see is Jesus always provides in every way, all the time. So we should not worry about our net, what is in it, how much or how little, let us simply jump in and swim for shore. 

Fishing

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

FISHING

John 21:4-6

4 Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. 5 He called out to them, "Friends, haven't you any fish?" "No," they answered. 6 He said, "Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some." When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.

NIV

Isn’t just like Jesus to provide when all our labor has been in vain. They had fished all night and caught not a single fish. They must have been a little frustrated, being fisherman and not having any fish to show for all their efforts. This was what they knew, they were educated in the art of fishing, they had the best training possible, they had studied at the finest academy of fishing, but none of that mattered this night, and they caught not a single fish. Yet when Jesus instructed them to cast their nets on the right side of the boat, they did just that and they had such a catch they could not get it in to the boat. Now we could see within this passage a parallel of when Jesus had first called them and told them he would make them fishers of men, and the great catch symbolized the great number of souls of men they would catch. But that would be spiritualizing way beyond this simple truth within this event. When we labor within the human realm our efforts will fall short of the desired goal God has for our life. Although we can study at the finest universities, receive the greatest of human knowledge available, hang degrees upon our walls, or train in the best academies or trade schools and become the finest in our skills receiving the recognition of men, without the direction of God in our lives, we will fall short of what God desires us to accomplish. They knew fishing yet their human efforts fell short, until Jesus directed them where to cast their nets. The simple truth here is that we need to be listening to Jesus. That is not to say we should not have the degrees or the skilled training, but when we look to ourselves for our benefit we may feel an empty reward, but when we look to Jesus for the direction of our life, we can be sure to experience fullness, a catch so large we cannot carry it all. When Jesus provides he provides abundantly. We can live within the human realm laboring within the confines of our own abilities, or we can depend on the voice of Jesus telling us how and where we should labor. Us or Jesus that is our choice, as to where we go fishing. 

In Expectation

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

IN EXPECTATION

John 21:1-3

21:1 Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Tiberias. It happened this way: 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. 3 "I'm going out to fish," Simon Peter told them, and they said, "We'll go with you." So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

NIV

It does seem a little odd that after having seen Jesus appear to them in the room behind a locked door in Jerusalem that Peter should decide to go fishing. They are, of course, where Jesus told Mary to tell them to go and that he would meet them there, but still to go fishing seems a little odd. Why would they not be sitting waiting for, or possibly wandering around looking for Jesus? It seems like they have a hard time waiting for Jesus. This could be just a simply solution to a financial need. We are not sure how they were supported during the years they traveled around with Jesus. Could they have been cared for by some of the wealthier followers of Christ? Peter, as well as James and John, the sons of Zebedee were fishermen, which is how they had supported their families before following Jesus. Now that Jesus was gone, it might be that the support was gone as well and being back in their home region, they needed to fish in order to be able to sell the catch in the market. But still they were not just waiting for Jesus, they had gone back to what they knew, fishing. What are we to make of this? Of course we know want happens next, Jesus being on the shore and what follows, which we will see next, but what is in this portion of the narrative for us? Certainly Jesus did not intend for them to rely on others for their support. They were not full time evangelists, or a traveling musical group, or some other ministry which needs support. They were simply followers of Christ, they were disciples, they were the chosen twelve that would change the world, they were the first of many who would be filled with the Holy Spirit and preach the Good News with such power that thousands would accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior, but they went fishing. We all need to go fishing, to make our own way in life, not relying on others, but looking to Jesus for all we need. As we will see he will provide for them when they could not provide for themselves. Nevertheless we do need to go fishing, we need to work, we need to support our families, but at the same time we cannot see our work as our source, but we must see Jesus as our source. He leads us to where we must go fishing. He directs our paths to where he will meet us, and supply our need. We cannot grow weary of waiting, nor can we simply go about fishing on our own, looking to supply all our own needs. We should always be in expectation of the appearance of Jesus. We should live in expectation.

Lord and God

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

LORD AND GOD

John 20:24-31

24 Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it." 26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!"  27 Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."  28 Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!" 29 Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." 

NIV

Well Thomas has gotten a bad rap for an awful long time being dubbed the “Doubting Thomas” and perhaps with some truth to that. Although others said they had seen Jesus, he was not convinced based on their testimony, he wanted his own verification that Jesus is alive and well. It is also true that When Jesus did appear to Thomas and he accepted his return from the dead, Jesus said it would be a huge blessing to those who accepted the testimony of others, believing without actually seeing. But there is a certain truth we should see in this attitude of Thomas. We can share the good news with everyone we come in contact with and they may not actually believe our testimony unless they have some sort of personal encounter with Jesus. This believer is a prime example of that situation, as he heard the words, but still doubted until God performed an outlandish miracle that defied the laws of science, giving this believer a very personal encounter. Thomas just wanted to know for himself that it was true, and Jesus was going to make sure he put all his doubts behind him and give himself wholly to belief. Is that not just like our Lord, he will assure even the greatest of doubters, such as this believer was? But the “Doubting Thomas” should be renamed the “Inspired Thomas” for once he encountered Jesus for himself, he was the first of all the disciples to proclaim that Jesus was his Lord and his God. This too is our life, as it is doubtful that we can truly believe that Jesus is God unless we have a real encounter with him. Yes, Jesus said that we would be blessed who believe without seeing, which does require a pure faith unlike anything the human mind or heart can stir up. This kind of faith only comes from the Holy Spirit; it is one of his gifts. As the Holy Spirit comes to convict people of sin, and they respond to this conviction, he bestows upon them the gift of faith so they will truly believe. Perhaps we should start identifying ourselves as believers rather than by some denominational title, which is of course, if we have truly received the gift of faith. If we are simply church goers, unconvinced of our sin, unresponsive to the Holy Spirit, we cannot truly be believers, but we are simply as Thomas was. As believers we are assured that Jesus is our Lord and God. 

He Breathed

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

 HE BREATHED

John 20:21-23

21 Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you."  22 And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." 

NIV

There is some truth here which is a bit weird in some sense and has been a point of great debate among those scholars who have such a great education in the scriptures. We dare not dispute them for who are we to disagree with such high minded theologians? When Jesus breathed on them they did not at that time receive the Holy Spirit, which was reserved for the day which we call Pentecost. But his breathing on them must have awaken some thoughts of their creation, when God breathed this breathe of life into Adam. Jesus was breathing the breathe of the Holy Spirit, that is for sure, but what he was showing them was that they would now have, as Adam did, the breathe if the Spirit within. As he proceeded to instruct them in what they would do in leading the new movement, the church, they would need this breathe of the Holy Spirit in order to preach the Good News about Christ. They would have the doctrine, the calling of reconciliation, to preach so that whosoever believed in their preaching of the truth would be saved, their sins would be forgiven, and those who refuse the message of reconciliation would indeed condemn themselves by their refusal; their sins would not be forgiven. We too must have this breathe from the Holy Spirit if we ever hope to be able to speak words of reconciliation to those who are still lost. This is the calling of every believer, to speak words of hope to those without hope. It would seem in the world of today, as it has been throughout history, there are people who preach without the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, but they preach from the mind of humankind, drawing followers upon to themselves for their own personal edification and material gain. One of the gifts of this Spirit is that of discernment and we should be overjoyed he dispenses this gift freely so that we can know those false teachers and stay clear of them, seeing them for who they really are, simply wolves in sheep’s clothing. Without this breathing of the Spirit no one can have the power to preach the truth. We already know that on that day of Pentecost those average, normal men were filled to the brim with this breath of the Holy Spirit and became powerful purveyors of the message of reconciliation. Come Holy Spirit, breathe on us. 

Overjoyed

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

OVERJOYED

John 20:19-20

19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!"  20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

NIV

As a normal human being after seeing what the Jews did to Jesus, anyone who was so closely associated with him might well hide as the disciples were. However, they were together, they had not scattered, going back to their old lives doing what they had been doing before Jesus called them to follow him. The truth here for us, the life application we should be focused on is the fact that the door was bolted shut keeping any normal human being from entering, and yet there stood Jesus among them. It is rather interesting that Mary had run and told them she had seen the Lord and they were not out looking for him, but then perhaps his instructions to Mary were for them to be where they were and wait for him to come to them. This idea might be just that, an idea, as Marks account indicates they did not believe what Mary had said, about seeing the Lord. So they have locked themselves in because of fear of being the next victims. With the door bolted Jesus enters, in human form, but yet not in human form. He shows them the evidence of his crucifixion, which means he is in human form, but because he was able to enter without the use of the door, he was in a human form other than that of the disciples. We have used the term, “Glorified state” to describe this condition of Jesus. It was not just because he was raised from the dead, as Lazarus would have been in that state as well, but is not. This resurrected condition was different; it was a state in which he would be able to ascend into heaven in. This will be our state as we are resurrected, one in which we will be ascending into heaven in. This is what is meant by the corruptible becoming incorruptible, the perishable becoming imperishable. We will be changed in a twinkling of an eye and we will be as Jesus is, in human form yet not in human form. This is not just a hope, this is a fact. How can we just hope this will be, when we have the historic record of it being the truth, the fact that the resurrected Lord was able to walk through walls, travel as it were by thought, outside the physical realm. This will be our state as we too will be resurrected from the dead, not as Lazarus, but as Jesus was. We too will be overjoyed upon seeing the Lord, in fact, we are already overjoyed for we have seen the Lord.

Go and Tell

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

GO AND TELL

John 20:17-18

17 Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'"  18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these things to her.

NIV

Why would Jesus tell Mary not to hold on to him? It appears from some of the other accounts, which Mary, as well as the other women who were there, fell prostrate and were holding his feet, worshipping him as the risen Lord. But Jesus did not want them to stay there, but to go and tell his disciples. By telling them he had not yet returned to the Father he was telling them he would be around a little longer and they would have opportunity to see him for a little while longer. There are several life applications here for us. One of them is about going and telling my brothers Jesus is alive and well. It is not that it was not a good thing for Mary to worship Jesus, but she was involved in just her own life, thinking only of herself, her joy of being with Jesus. He wanted her to share the good news with the others, so they too might have the joy of knowing he was alive. It is a good thing for us to have a very personal relationship with Jesus, but should we keep him all to ourselves? It does not appear that Jesus told Mary to show his disciples her good life and maybe then they would guess that he was alive and well, but he told her to go tell them. We might learn the same lesson here in that it simply may not be enough to simply live a good life, doing good deeds in our community as an individual or as a church, if we are not telling the others that Jesus is alive and well. Sure it is a good thing to help those who need help. Yes, we are told when we give to the poor, do not stand on the corner and beat our chest, doing our good deeds in front of men. But we are told to go and tell. All sorts of civic humanistic organizations do good deeds, helping the poor so what does that prove about God if we do the same things, unless we tell them Jesus is alive and well and that he has returned to his Father and God and their Father and God. Mary did exactly that, she went to his disciples and proclaimed, “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said things to her. All the good deeds we can do will never replace telling them we have seen the Lord and this is what he has said.  It might be acceptable to show and tell, but we certainly need to go and tell.

Realizing

DEVOTION

 THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

REALIZING

John 20:10-14

10 Then the disciples went back to their homes, 11 but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. 13 They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?" "They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him." 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

NIV

It is not surprising that Mary would not realize it was Jesus who was standing there as this is a time when the story was unfolding without the benefit of having all the accounts of the story for Mary to read. She had just witnessed his death, his burial and now she has witnessed his tomb being open and his body gone. Before Jesus there were not too many instances of people rising from the dead, so Mary was pretty sure Jesus was dead and someone took his body somewhere. This was extremely upsetting in several ways. She was one of the three women who had carried nearly seventy pounds of fragrances to embalm Jesus with. She was accustomed to the rituals of burial as well as this Jesus was certainly some very special person to her. Although Mary used the word Lord it is certain she did not mean the Lord God, but rather she used this term as a title of respect, her leader, or master, as one a servant would address their superior. If she knew that indeed he was actually the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God, she would have expected him to be gone but on his own account, not taken away by someone. What we learn from this encounter at least for the moment, is that people can look at Jesus and not realize who he is. What that translates to is people attending a church without really having a very personal one on one relationship with Jesus. In Fact, people do not actually have to go to church to have this one on one personal relationship with Jesus. This certainly does not mean we should not gather together to worship, but what it means is that a relationship is needed rather than church. We will see that Mary does in fact realize he is Jesus once he speaks to her and that is where we are in our relationship with him. People truly cannot know who he is until he speaks to them.

John 20:15-16

15 "Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?" Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him." 16 Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher).

NIV

We have to bring this next portion of the narrative into play at this point so to see this truth about knowing who Jesus truly is due to his speaking her name. We can attend church until we are blue in the face and never fully understand who Jesus really is. We can sing all the worship songs, listen to hundreds of sermons on how we should live, the next right thing to do, how we should be showing the community the love of God, all the good deeds, and never truly never have a personal relationship with Jesus, hearing him speak our name, call us to himself. Without that kind of a relationship, we are but a human organization operating under a title of church. We need to hear the voice of Jesus speaking directly to each one of us, and then we will know who he is. We will turn to him realizing and cry out his name. 

He has Risen

DEVOTION

 THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

HE HAS RISEN

John 20:1-9

20:1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!" 3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9(They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)

NIV

He has risen, He has risen indeed! Yes it is true, John believed, Peter believed and we believe because they were there and saw it first hand, that Jesus was no longer in the grave, it could not hold him, neither spiritually or physically. Although there is varied beliefs about where he was for those three days spiritually while his body lay in the tomb, there is no variance among all believers that both his spirit and his body were raised from the dead. Although some of the other accounts have some other details John has not included, it was John who was the first one to arrive at the tomb after the women, of course. These women were going to do a more complete embalming of Jesus, because Joseph and Nicodemus had buried Jesus in haste, but John mentions only one because he is going to give a more detailed account of events which occurred to her. But our life lesson, our life application here is the simple fact, well maybe it is not so simple, that Jesus who died, is no longer dead. It is sure that some people just cannot believe he rose from the dead, they cannot believe in Jesus at all. They refuse to acknowledge the existence of God, of Jesus, some claiming all of this is just a hoax, a crutch for weak minded people. They would rather believe hoaxes invented by man, such as climate change or evolution as well as a host of other man-made ideas, all with the intent to improve the state of those who invented them. But Jesus first coming to earth, teaching the truth about God, dying on the cross and now rising from the dead is all about improving the state of others. We believe, and because we do, our state, our condition in life has been improved. We are no longer lost, wandering in a world of human ideas, human confusion, for we now are immersed in the truth. He has risen, he has risen indeed!

Boldness

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

BOLDNESS

John 19:38-42

38 Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews. With Pilate's permission, he came and took the body away. 39 He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds.   40 Taking Jesus' body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. 41 At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. 42 Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

NIV

Where were the disciples? Why didn’t they ask for the body of Jesus? Why did it take two secret followers of Jesus to do this? Why did two secret followers now have should boldness to go to Pilate and ask for the body of Jesus? Certainly as the law of Moses stated that no one could hang from a tree until the setting of the sun Jesus and the two criminals would have to be removed from those crosses. It is were up  to the Romans, or the other Jews the three would be taken down and thrown in to a common grave. But now with the boldness never before demonstrated Joseph and of all people Nicodemus, a man who certainly was born again, secured the body of Jesus for a proper Jewish burial. What caused these two to be so bold now, when before they were afraid of what the other Jews would do or think of them for being followers of Jesus? Certainly the Holy Spirit had not poured out on the disciples yet as the day of Pentecost was yet to come, but still Jesus was no longer in his body, so he was in the presence of the Lord, and he said that he must go in order so he could send the Holy Spirit. Granted he had not ascended into heaven in the bodily form, as we will not ascend in bodily form until the day of the Rapture of the Church. Yet if we are not in the body, if we are absent from the body, then we are, as he is, present with the Lord. Jesus surely sent the Holy Spirit who gives boldness where boldness was not before, as when Peter and John prayed for boldness and the place was shaken and they were filled with the Spirit. This is our life lesson for today. We cannot be effective; we cannot be bold in our testimony about Jesus unless we are filled with the Spirit. Intelligence may have some sound finding words, but they are just that. Those filled with intelligence might be able to communicate the gospel message in ways which are impressive, but if they are not filled with the Spirit, they are but empty words. It but only takes the filling of the Spirit for any believer to be able to speak the truth with boldness. This is our destiny, to be filled with the Spirit, to be bold where we were once not. Our boldness is for the purpose of speaking the truth about Jesus, not about denominationalism, but about Jesus. We need to allow the Spirit to give us that boldness. 

Dispense with Religion

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

DISPENSE WITH RELIGION

John 19:31-37

31 Now it was the day of Preparation, and the next day was to be a special Sabbath. Because the Jews did not want the bodies left on the crosses during the Sabbath, they asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies taken down. 32 The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. 33 But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. 34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. 35 The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, and he testifies so that you also may believe. 36 These things happened so that the scripture would be fulfilled: "Not one of his bones will be broken,"   37 and, as another scripture says, "They will look on the one they have pierced."  

NIV

Once again we see the cruelty of religious righteousness or rather the hypocrisy of self-righteousness. It was not good enough they had made sure Jesus was crucified, now because they were getting ready for some religious Godly thing, they wanted to make sure the two thieves were dead and so taken down before they did their acts of religion. Crucifixion was death by suffocation, hanging by the arms causing the diaphragm to fail in its ability to bring air into the lungs. The cruelty of this type of execution was in those hanging could try to find some relief by lifting their bodies up slightly by pushing up on their feet against a little stand of sorts; this was on purpose so that their pain would last longer. But because of the Jews had to be religious they wanted the Romans to break their legs, so they would die sooner. What men do in the name of religion can be so evil, so filled with humanity, it must make God sad. Yet we also see the truth about Jesus being divine. It was spoken hundreds of years before this event about his bones not being broken and his side being pierced. Although the agony of the two others crucified along with Jesus were still alive, suffering, Jesus had purposefully given up his spirit, something only the divine Son of God could do. What can we learn from this? The testimony of John is true, Jesus was the Messiah, he was God incarnate, and he was the divine one. Yet we also can see the failure of religion. These Jews did not have a relationship with God, they only had religion, and they had their twisted views of the law. They had developed so many rules and regulations but failed to have a meaningful relationship with God. We need to that having a meaningful relationship with God is the only form of true worship. All the rules, all the doctrines, all the denominationalism, all the forms of lists containing do’s and don’ts are meaningless unless we first have a personal relationship with Jesus. Religion just doesn’t cut it, the Jews had religion, but they did not know God, they did not know who Jesus was, but we do, so we can dispense with our religion, and focus on Jesus.   

It is Finished

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

IT IS FINISHED

John 19:28-30

28 Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, "I am thirsty."  29 A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus' lips.   30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

NIV

Again we see Jesus being all knowing and thus quoting from one of the prophetic phrases in a psalm that spoke of being thirsty and being given this tart wine to drink. But the truth here for us today is in those other words Jesus spoke, “It is finished”. He had accomplished what he had set out to do. He had redeemed us, set us free from the law. Although many scholars or believers might say that it was not until he conquered death, rising from the dead, as well as his ascension into heaven that we were redeemed, set free and given eternal life. If that were the case, Jesus would not have been able to say it is finished and then gave up his spirit. It was this sacrifice which set us free. It was this sacrifice which frees us from the wrath of God against sin. It was this sacrifice which satisfied the justice of God. It was a sacrifice that only God himself could make in order to satisfy his need for justice. There is nothing else that needs to be done as it is finished. Granted, it would not be appropriate for our God to remain in a grave, he certainly could not be contained within an earthy grave, and thus he arose so that he could be our living God. But the truth is he finished all that was needed for our salvation on the cross. Jesus did not say, it is now getting started, he said it was finished. This was the end of what he needed to do. The rest is just about him being God, not being contained in a grave, not being contained in a body, but being a transcendent God, whose nature and power is wholly independent of the material universe, beyond all physical laws. Many agree that in that time Jesus descended into the dark place to free men of old during those three days, but then would he have been able to say, “It is finished” on the cross? There is much division about whether Jesus actually went to preach to the lost souls in hell. If that is true then could we say, men still have an opportunity to be saved after death? Or could we say that he just preached to those who lived before him? But then who lived before God? Did not God show himself to all mankind? Did not they have a choice before God sent Jesus? Did not Adam have a choice? This controversy may never reach a definitive conclusion, but the truth is, Jesus said, “It is finished”.

Family

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

FAMILY

John 19:25-27

25 Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Dear woman, here is your son,"  27 and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.

NIV

Although Jesus was indeed the son of Mary, at this present time he was indeed the Son of God. It is also noteworthy that as he was doing that which he came to do, he saw to it that his earthy mother was cared for. We can only surmise from all of scripture that Mary was a young teen at the time of her receiving the news of her being chosen by God to bear his Son Jesus. Joseph was an older man, which was the custom of that time for an older man to marry a young woman. If Mary was about thirteen or fourteen at the time of the birth of Jesus, she would now be forty-five to forty-seven years of age, not a young woman, and Joseph having been older at marriage was now, most likely already dead. We are not sure, as he is no longer mentioned combined with Jesus wanting John to take Mary in as his mother. We would certainly think that Joseph died of natural causes of old age, otherwise we would think Jesus would surely have healed him had he died early in life from some disease.  In that culture it was unthinkable for a woman to be on her own, without having an identity of being a daughter, wife or mother. Although she had other children, brothers and sisters conceived by her husband Joseph, Jesus wanted his disciple John to take her into his household as his mother. What can we learn from this, what life application is there here? From other scriptures we know it should be our responsibility to care for the widows and orphans, and perhaps this is exactly what Jesus was taking care of. John and his brother James were the sons of Zebedee and his wife Salome, so John was not an orphan, but Mary was certainly a widow and Jesus wanting his mother to be cared for, made this statement. So we could learn to see after the widows perhaps more than we do, taking them into our homes as our mother. That may not fly in this culture as many of the widows desire to cling to their own possessions, which remind them of their dead husbands. This is not a bad thing, although if they cling too much to the past memories it may not be in their best interest as they may not be able to serve God as he desires widows to do. Many also have large life insurance payouts and other investment incomes so they indeed have little need of caring for.  Some however may truly be in need and we should be aware of those and be willing to take them in, in a manner of speaking, but they too should not be just cared for without their serving God, without filling their life with good deeds. Surely Mary was doing all that needed to be done, and was worthy of being cared for by John as his mother. A good lesson for us all, the sons and daughters and the widows, all a part of the family.

High Priest

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

HIGH PRIEST

John 19:23-24

23 When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. 24 "Let's not tear it," they said to one another. "Let's decide by lot who will get it." This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled which said, "They divided my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing." So this is what the soldiers did.

NIV

The psalmist wrote these words regarding the dividing of and casting lots for his clothing over one thousand years before this actually happened. Once again we see the all-knowing God at work. When he inspired David to pen those words he knew this event before it occurred, at least in the time frame of human understanding. The interesting point here is this undergarment of Jesus. It was without seams and this is the very type of garment the high priest would wear. There is the life application for us here in the sense that it certainly signified Jesus is in fact our high priest. In this part of the account of John, Jesus is on the cross, nailed to the wood, for our sin. A scene too unbearable to watch is upon us, and at least John saves us from seeing it by not giving us a full in detail account of this event. But nevertheless we know what it was about, and the horrible pain that was inflicted upon Jesus all because of our sin. This action by God demonstrates just how much he loves us. To allow this  type of suffering pain to happen to Jesus, this horrific humiliation of hanging on a cross as a common criminal only shows us his unwavering love. Yes it is true that Jesus is God and that he knew he would go through this event and come back from the dead, and go back to heaven glorified, living for all eternity, but he was in this state also fully man, experiencing all the pain, all the suffering, the hurt, the humiliation put upon him by the Roman soldiers as well as the rejection of the very people he had chosen as his very own. We cannot imagine this type of pain. There have been movies which have attempted to duplicate this scene, but they have only been from the imagination of men as we cannot truly know the complete horror and compassion of this scene. The whole of our salvation is right here, the completeness of our redemption is here. Our opportunity to be returned to our rightful place with the Father is in this moment when Jesus hangs upon this cross. This is the time he takes all our sin upon himself, an action we cannot fully understand, for it is a supernatural happening. The feeling he must have felt, being sinless, to experience all our sin at once within him must have been enormously painful, yet he did it because he loves us. He is our high priest. 

Being Watched

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

BEING WATCHED

John 19:16-22

So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. 17 Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). 18 Here they crucified him, and with him two others — one on each side and Jesus in the middle. 19 Pilate had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS. 20 Many of the Jews read this sign, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek. 21 The chief priests of the Jews protested to Pilate, "Do not write 'The King of the Jews,' but that this man claimed to be king of the Jews." 22 Pilate answered, "What I have written, I have written."

The conversion from being God’s chosen people to complete heathen is complete. This is an absolute denial of Jesus as the Messiah, as their divine King. They did not want that sign indicating he was their king, but they wanted it to say he claimed to be their king, which is entirely a different meaning. But this time Pilate would have nothing to do with their protest. He was crucifying a man he found no fault in and this was his way of retaliation in some sense, putting those Jews in their place. What do we make of this as far as a life application? Perhaps we should understand the many non-believers know more about Jesus than we think they do, as well as they know how we, believers, should behave. Pilate knew what the Jews believed and he saw them behaving not in the manner of a Jew, but rather in the manner of a heathen, demanding a man be murdered, executed for being, what Pilate determined, a Godly man of truth. The world watches us believers and they watch us with some understanding of how we should live our lives. Even if they do not worship God as we do, even if they refuse to allow Jesus into their lives, they know about Christian values and they judge our behaviors. They have no reservations about writing want they have written, or saying what they have said, as Pilate told those Jews. If they see us behaving in a manner that is not consistent with our profession of faith, they will call us on it, they will point it out, loud and clear, and making sure we know about it. It would behoove us to watch our conduct, especially in the presence of non-believers. We might well also be aware of the manner in which we voice our opinions on controversial issues. Surely we have the right, as they do, in having an opinion, and ours should be aligned with the biblical truth, but how we express has a greater impact then what we express. Pilate was aware of the Jews belief, and most non-believers are aware of our belief. God said that he put the knowledge of him into every person, but some suppress that truth with their evil deeds. The Jews had suppressed the truth so much they desired their own lives, their own power and authority more than God. The non-believers of today are not much different than those Jews; they have the truth about God within, but have suppressed it with their evil deeds. This is how they, like Pilate, know how we should behave. They are watching us.