His Power

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

HIS POWER

John 19:1-11

19:1 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. 2 The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe 3 and went up to him again and again, saying, "Hail, king of the Jews!" And they struck him in the face. 4 Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews, "Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him." 5 When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, "Here is the man!" 6 As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, "Crucify! Crucify!" But Pilate answered, "You take him and crucify him. As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him." 7 The Jews insisted, "We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God." 8 When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, 9 and he went back inside the palace. "Where do you come from?" he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10 "Do you refuse to speak to me?" Pilate said. "Don't you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?" 11 Jesus answered, "You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin." 

NIV

We are in the midst of this supposed trial of Jesus. The Jews want him gone, they want him dead. He has been a thorn in their side from the start of his ministry with people coming to listen to him. Their control over the people has been slipping away and now they finally have the chance to see him discredited as nothing by a criminal being crucified on a cross.  Pilate, on the other hand, understands, at least in his mind, the Jesus has not broken any Roman law which requires crucifixion, but for the sake of appearances, he has Jesus flogged and mistreated by his soldiers. He has to think this would satisfy the Jews, but no, they want Jesus dead and nothing short of crucifixion will do. How nasty supposed spiritual people can be, or maybe we should say, religious people. Jesus had already told them they were white-washed tombs, that on the outside they appear righteous to people, but on the inside, they are filled with hypocrisy and wickedness. Having dealt with this idea before, and seeing how dangerous it is to be anything like those Pharisees and only appearing righteous or putting up those facades of righteousness. What we should notice in this limited conversation between Pilate and Jesus is that Pilate thinks he is in control of the situation or at least has the power of life and death. Jesus makes it clear the only power Pilate has is what has been given to him from above. This should give us a sense of peace and calmness in all situations in our lives. Whatever forces are applied either for our benefit or for our harm, are not independent or autonomous forces, but are given any power or effect they have on us from above, just as the Word of God should have power over us. The Word of God is profitable for correcting, rebuking, teaching, and training us in righteousness so we will be fully equipped for every good work. However, there are other forces in the world that may not seem so beneficial to us, however, if their power in our lives comes from above, then there is something being effected by those powers for us to learn. God used or rather gave Pilate the power to crucify Jesus in order for His plan to be accomplished and thus bring salvation to the world. What we have to always be aware in all situations of life, is the power of God and his plan for our lives. This then would allow us to be free of all anxiety, all fear, all frustrations, and anything upsetting or unsettling. Let us always remember to yield to the power of God.

On the Side of Truth

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

ON THE SIDE OF TRUTH

John 18:33-40

33 Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" 34 "Is that your own idea," Jesus asked, "or did others talk to you about me?"  35 "Am I a Jew?" Pilate replied. "It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me. What is it you have done?" 36 Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place." 37 "You are a king, then!" said Pilate. Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me."  38 "What is truth?" Pilate asked. With this he went out again to the Jews and said, "I find no basis for a charge against him. 39 But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release 'the king of the Jews'?" 40 They shouted back, "No, not him! Give us Barabbas!" Now Barabbas had taken part in a rebellion.

NIV

This is an incredible conversation between Jesus and Pilate. What we have to remember is that although the army of Rome is an occupying force in Israel, if the local governor wants to keep his job, enjoying all the benefits of leadership, living in the best of places, eating the best foods, having servants, etc., he must be able to keep the Jews in line, keep the peace, so to speak. He now has a mob of Pharisees, chief priests, and teachers of the law and, who knows who else they incited to follow their plot, demanding Jesus is a criminal that needs to be executed. Pilate was attempting to defuse the matter, having Jesus brought into the palace and began this conversation with a question about Jesus being the king of the Jews. Luke records for us that the Jews who brought Jesus to Pilate said that Jesus claims to be their king, but he is nothing but a rebel against Caesar. Jesus makes it clear to Pilate that he is in fact a king, but not one of this world, that his kingdom is not of this world. This should give us a clue as to how we should be living as citizens of the kingdom of heaven. If we live as citizens of the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of light, then we are do not belong to this world and should not live as though we do. Jesus tells Pilate the only reason he left his kingdom and came into the world was to testify to the truth and that everyone who is on the side of truth listens to him. So then what side are we on? The truth, of course, and therefore we listen to Jesus, he is our king, our Lord, and Savior. Why would we want to listen to any words spoken by men, who we can be pretty sure they do not speak the truth when we have Jesus to listen to? Of course, there are men, who we should be one of, that do speak the truth because they speak the regarding the words of Jesus. Pilate asks that very question, “What is truth?” which is an age-old question that is created within every person by God.  He, being the creator of man who he made in his own image, has this internal inbreed need for truth. When the truth is missing within, man has this void they cannot explain. Once exposed to the truth, who is Jesus, for he is the truth, the way, and the life, then we no longer are incomplete, no longer missing the truth and we understand we too are no longer of this world, for we have been moved from the darkness into his light. We have been relocated from being a citizen of this world to being a citizen of the kingdom of God. The world no longer wanted anything to do with Jesus, they wanted a true rebel, Barabbas instead. Again, this is just another reason we should not be of this world, even if we are still living in it for the present time, for we are on the side of truth.

Truth or Tradition

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

TRUTH OR TRADITION

John 18:28-32

28 Then the Jews led Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness the Jews did not enter the palace; they wanted to be able to eat the Passover. 29 So Pilate came out to them and asked, "What charges are you bringing against this man?" 30 "If he were not a criminal," they replied, "we would not have handed him over to you." 31 Pilate said, "Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law." "But we have no right to execute anyone," the Jews objected. 32 This happened so that the words Jesus had spoken indicating the kind of death he was going to die would be fulfilled.

NIV

It is interesting that although their intent was to have Jesus killed, they wanted to be ceremonially clean in order to eat the Passover. Were they that sure of themselves in thinking Jesus was a criminal and that justice must be served and it was actually a righteous act for them to hand him over to the Roman governor? With all that has been revealed to us through all the gospel accounts we are sure their act was not righteous, nor were their motives. The fact is they hated Jesus with every fiber of their being. They were the leading authority over the people in all spiritual as well as traditional matters. They were the teachings of the Law, they interpreted the Law for the people. They held power over the people and Jesus was taking apart all their authority and power by teaching the people the truth. They were hypocrites of the worst kind because they were using God as their excuse to kill Jesus. Their traditions were more important than the truth. Jesus even taught that very concept calling them whitewashed tombs. They looked good on the outside but were dead men inside. There was no righteousness within them although they acted as if they were righteous, they may have actually thought their attempts to live by their interpretations of the law made them righteous. The problem was their interpretations were wrong, they had created their own set of traditional beliefs and tried to force their ideas of righteousness on the people. It was the blind leading the blind, as Jesus put it. It is unfortunate that it seems this kind of thinking has been in the church throughout the ages and still exists today. The church or rather some people in the church have set up their lists of traditional concepts to live by rather than living by the truth. These traditions have been developed in an effort to appear different than the surrounding community. Those lists of don’t are not based on truth but rather either misinterpretations or use of the scripture or traditions passed down from others. When we say Christians don’t do this or that, is it based on the truth within scripture or just a tradition? Should we not be more focused on what a Christian should be doing, again based on the Word, and not on traditional concepts? As an example, we should be loving each other and if we based that love on how it is defined for us in the letter to the Corinthians we would be in the truth rather than tradition.  It is true we do certain things each Sunday and at certain times of the year, such as a Good Friday and Easter service.  It is true we have baptisms, and times of anointing with oil, but those things are based on the truth. The Pharisees, chief priests, and teachings of the Law misused the scriptures they had and ignored or rather hated the truth Jesus taught. We cannot afford to live in that same manner, we have to live out our faith based only on the truth, thus forfeiting tradition. Those traditions do not make us righteous, as the Pharisees thought, only Jesus makes us righteous and He is the Truth.

Our Word

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

OUR WORD

 John 18:26-32

26 One of the high priest's servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, challenged him, "Didn't I see you with him in the olive grove?" 27 Again Peter denied it, and at that moment a rooster began to crow.

28 Then the Jews led Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness the Jews did not enter the palace; they wanted to be able to eat the Passover. 29 So Pilate came out to them and asked, "What charges are you bringing against this man?" 30 "If he were not a criminal," they replied, "we would not have handed him over to you." 31 Pilate said, "Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law." "But we have no right to execute anyone," the Jews objected. 32 This happened so that the words Jesus had spoken indicating the kind of death he was going to die would be fulfilled.

NIV

This is the third time Peter was noticed and asked about being one of Jesus’s disciples and this is the third time Peter denied it and of course the rooster began to crow. John does not give us the details as the other three gospels do, in fact, Luke even includes the fact when the rooster began to crow, Jesus turned and looked straight at Peter. Of course, Peter remembered what Jesus had said about him denying him three times, and on that third time, the rooster would crow. Peter then left the courtyard, going outside the area and wept bitterly. He knew he had failed Jesus, he had failed miserably at being a disciple. He has promised that he would never fall away, even if all the others did. His word was meaningless. In many cultures a man’s word means everything. Today it seems that no longer applies as we have so many who say what they are going to do, and they do not do it. Promises have no merit at all for few ever keep them, especially among the leaders in government and business. But this not keeping our word has infected many of us, ordinary people, as well. How many couples make vows to each other in the sight of God and friends to love and cherish each other until death parts them, yet so many of them never keep their word. Promises seem void of meaning. However, looking at the idea of denial or keeping our word has another view. This is keeping our word to the Lord. How often have we failed to keep our word to Him? Jesus, himself, told us not to swear by anything, or make an oath, but let our yes be yes and our no is no. The idea is that Jesus knows we cannot keep our promises we make to Him, we will always fail. We just should not promise we will never sin again because we will. It is inevitable that we will keep sinning as long as we are in this body. Not a single person alive has ever accomplished a perfect life, except Jesus. When Peter understood how much he failed to keep his word, he wept bitterly. Do we weep bitterly when we fail the Lord? Have we become so accustomed to failing, to our sin, that we either ignore it, or ask a quick prayer seeking forgiveness, and go on? Maybe it is best to obey Jesus and simply keep from promising we will not do this, or that we will do that. If we say we will, then we should keep our word. Our yes should mean yes, and our no should mean no. do we even do that right? On the other side of the coin, maybe we should never ask anyone to promise us anything as that would put them in a situation which might cause them to not be able to keep that promise thus breaking their word and that could be considered a sin. So then we should not put people in a position that could cause them to sin. It is all centered on keeping our word. Peter failed to keep his word, have we failed as well? Is our word our bond?

Testify or Deny

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

TESTIFY OR DENY

John 18:19-25

19 Meanwhile, the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching. 20 "I have spoken openly to the world," Jesus replied. "I always taught in synagogues or at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret. 21 Why question me? Ask those who heard me. Surely they know what I said."  22 When Jesus said this, one of the officials nearby struck him in the face. "Is this the way you answer the high priest?" he demanded. 23 "If I said something wrong," Jesus replied, "testify as to what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me?"  24 Then Annas sent him, still bound, to Caiaphas the high priest.   25 As Simon Peter stood warming himself, he was asked, "You are not one of his disciples, are you?" He denied it, saying, "I am not."

NIV

There are two situations going on here in this narrative. First the exchange between Jesus and Annas, the high priest. Then there is the second denial of Peter. It is curious that Jesus said that he spoke openly to the world and that he always taught in synagogues or at the temple where all Jews come together. What about the times he taught from the boat, or on the hillside when he fed the thousands? Was he not outside when he spoke of the beatitudes? What about all the times he spoke in parables so only those who had ears to hear could understand? Yet, we also know Jesus would never lie, he always has and always will tell the truth, for he is truth. However, this questioning may have been only about the teachings of Jesus during those times that he was in Jerusalem where the Jews did gather, especially on special festival days. Although they wanted to find him guilty of some wrong, he wanted them to testify to exactly what he taught that was wrong. It appears from the narrative, they could not testify to anything that he taught that was wrong, but that was not to stop them from their evil plot. It is also interesting how that statement by one of the officials shows us how men respect men but refuse to respect the truth, in fact they slap the truth right in the face. Men get all puffed up in their titles and positions in society, and in this case, in religious circles or the religious society. It seems nothing has changed over the years. Mankind, the world only respects itself and ignores, in fact disrespects any truth of God. Even in the face of truth, this official and men today cannot actually defend against the truth, they can only slap it. So, not getting anywhere with Jesus, still bound they sent him off to the current high priest. Meanwhile, that other situation concerning Peter was going on. All this was happening at the same time as we know after the third denial the rooster crowed and Jesus turned to look at Peter. So Jesus was still in the house of Annas while Peter made his second denial. How is it that Peter, the one disciple who at Caesarea Philippi made that outstanding response when Jesus asked them who do they say he is? Peter was the one who said, “You are the Christ”. It makes us wonder although we are strong in our faith, and we love the Lord, and we confess that he is the Christ, the Messiah, and the Son of God, that by our silence at times, it becomes a form of denial. When we are in the midst of the world, especially among those we are in close connect with on a daily basis and we hear the disrespectful way they speak of the truth of God, do we speak up, or do we just sit there in silence? Do we engage or draw away? Do we testify to what they say as being wrong, or do we just let it go on? They may not speak directly against Jesus, but their discussions regarding the harm man does to the environment is just an example of their disrespecting Jesus, the maker of heaven and earth. Their position on the environment only proves they believe they are greater, stronger, more powerful than God, who not only created the earth but sustains it by his word. He is the only power that will either sustain or destroy this earth. They disrespect Jesus in so many other ways, but how do we respond is the question. Do we testify to the truth, or do we deny it?

The First Denial

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

THE FIRST DENIAL

John 18:12-18

12 Then the detachment of soldiers with its commander and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus. They bound him 13 and brought him first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. 14 Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it would be good if one man died for the people. 15 Simon Peter and another disciple were following Jesus. Because this disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the high priest's courtyard, 16 but Peter had to wait outside at the door. The other disciple, who was known to the high priest, came back, spoke to the girl on duty there and brought Peter in. 17 "You are not one of his disciples, are you?" the girl at the door asked Peter. He replied, "I am not." 18 It was cold, and the servants and officials stood around a fire they had made to keep warm. Peter also was standing with them, warming himself.

NIV

The arrest has happened and the procedure to have Jesus killed has begun. They have him bound, and in their grip, but for the sake of appearing righteous they are going to go through these steps. It is not absolutely clear why they needed the blessing of Annas for their evil deed. He had once held the office of the high priest and all five of his sons had succeeded him, also holding that office, now his son-in-law was the high priest. So it is assumed he still had a great deal of influence among the Jewish people and perhaps his house was the closest or first one they came to. Either way, it appears he was wealthy enough to have a home with a courtyard. It is unclear as to who the other disciple, who was known to the high priests, is. It is unlikely this was John, although he often uses the third person in describing himself. However, most of the time he describes himself as the one loved by Jesus. But this is not the person of interest here as Peter is the central figure of the disciples, which John uses this charade to show how Peter fulfills the words Jesus spoke to him about his denial. So Peter gains access to the courtyard through this other disciple. Apparently, this girl was the gatekeeper of the household, a servant no doubt of the ex-high priest Annas. Many people surely have come and visited this house and were needed to be admitted by someone. No one was able to just walk in, even to the courtyard, must less the home itself. As Peter was admitted, he must have looked different somehow then the others, or this girl may have seen Jesus with his disciples at the temple court, or some other place in Jerusalem. Either way she recognized Peter as one of Jesus’s disciples and questioned him about his identity. Was Peter that afraid to say, “Why yes I am”? Yet he still wanted to follow Jesus into this house, to be near him, maybe to watch over him, maybe to just be near because of his love for him. Nevertheless, he denied being one of the disciples of Jesus. Was this because he was in fear of being arrested along with Jesus? His love for him was not enough yet, to lay down his life for him. Later he would, but as yet, he had not been filled with the Spirit, so this love was tempered with fear. Here is where we can do some self-examination. Is our love for Jesus outright unabashed or is our love also tempered with a little fear? It is one thing to say that we are Christians, but maybe that is not enough. Many people, who are non-believers call themselves Christian because they live in this country and they are not of some other faith, such as Islam, Hindu, or Buddhist. Most people would not consider themselves Atheists either. So just saying we are a Christian may not define us as one who loves Jesus enough to lay down our life for him. There has to be another way for us to define ourselves, to separate ourselves from the masses who refer to themselves as Christians. They must be a way for us to show that we love Jesus, that we are one of his disciples, and not afraid to admit it. Perhaps we just have to use that kind of language. We love Jesus, we are his disciple, and we follow Jesus no matter the consequence. Let the chips fall where they may, we will not deny Jesus.  

Humanity or Divine

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

HUMANITY OR DIVINE

John 18:7-11

7 Again he asked them, "Who is it you want?" And they said, "Jesus of Nazareth." 8 "I told you that I am he," Jesus answered. "If you are looking for me, then let these men go."  9 This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: "I have not lost one of those you gave me."  10 Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant's name was Malchus.) 11 Jesus commanded Peter, "Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?" 

NIV

The first odd circumstance which strikes us is that Peter had a sword. It would seem this might have been customary for travelers to have a sword or two, especially when traveling up to Jerusalem. Apparently, according to Josephus, the roads were often frequented by robbers and thieves. A sword would have been proper for a defense of such offenders. However, it seems odd that the troop including Jesus and his disciples would ever need anything other than Jesus for a defense. This would be especially true considering the reputation of Jesus. Who would rob him, when he has been doing so many miracles and healing so many of the poor or common people? What makes us think this has some truth regarding the way we approach our walk with the Lord, is that the action of Peter may well represent the human effort, rather than the divine effort. Jesus again asked them who it was they wanted. Having composed themselves after drawing back falling to the ground, they said they were looking for Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus, again, made it clear that he was the one they were looking for. He also told them to let his men go, they have nothing to do with what was to happen. This is when Peter let his humanity get involved with the divine. There is the divine plan of God, and then there is the plan of man. It has been evident throughout all of scripture that God’s plan is always superior to any plan man can devise. That simply just makes sense, at least for us believers. The world certainly prefers its own plans over any plan of God. But the destiny of one who follows his own, or any other plan of man is to be cast out into the lake of burning sulfur. Now, that might be a little too harsh, so maybe we should say that whoever follows their or anyone else’s plan is in direct opposition to the plan of God. We cannot serve two masters, our plan and His plan. We will either love one and hate or despise the other. We know Peter’s plan was not God’s plan and thus we should pay special attention to any plans we consider. Do our plans fit into the plan of God, or are they simply our plans. Taking up our cross and following Jesus might well mean to crucify self, nailing our own life, our own desires, and our own plans to that cross and follow the plan of God. Jesus made it clear to Peter that he should put away his plan, that Jesus needed to drink the cup the Father had given to him, or follow the plan of God, instead of some plan of man. So the question which we are faced with is; how do we discern between our plans and His plans for our life? We would think the first thing we should consider, is does the plan bring glory to God. Another consideration would be if the plan benefits the kingdom of God. We might also want to know if we have heard from God, or at the very least felt a solid confirmation from the Spirit in regard to any plan we are considering making headway on. In other words, we better make sure we are working within the plan of God, that we are not just doing our own thing. Plans according to humanity or divine is our choice. Choose wisely.

"I AM"

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

“IAM”

John 18:1-6

18:1 When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was an olive grove, and he and his disciples went into it. 2 Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. 3 So Judas came to the grove, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons. 4 Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, "Who is it you want?"  5 "Jesus of Nazareth," they replied. "I am he," Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) 6 When Jesus said, "I am he," they drew back and fell to the ground.

NIV

We know where this garden is, having walked around it ourselves. It stands on Jerusalem's side of what is referred to as the Mount of Olives. It is an easy walk from the town of Bethany, the hometown of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, where Jesus and his disciples visited on several occasions. Surely this is why they also stopped by this olive grove, also known as the Garden of Gethsemane. As we stood at the Mount of Olives we could clearly see the city of Jerusalem, the temple mount, and this Kidron valley which was merely a drip in the terrain. But it was enough of a valley, that as one walked through it to get to Jerusalem, one who has to go up to Jerusalem, a phrase which is often used, which does not denote a southern or northern approach, but simply coming up out of the valley up to Jerusalem which stands on Mount Moriah, the very same place Abraham took his son as directed by God to offer as a sacrifice, which we know God provided a ram instead. So we see Jesus and his disciples sitting in the garden talking and praying for Jesus knew this would be the last time he would have this personal time with them as well as he knew Judas would know he would be there, and that he must be found in order to accomplish that which he came to do. As they sat in the olive grove, they would have been able to see the assembly of soldiers carrying torches coming down out of Jerusalem, crossing the Kidron Valley and coming up the slope of the Mount of Olives directly into the Garden of Gethsemane. It was not a surprise when they arrived, Jesus was waiting for them. He would have had more than enough time to make a getaway. This thought, this idea, might serve enough for us to ponder on. When we have been called to a task, do we try to make a getaway or do we stand our ground? However, what we want to get to is this time when the troop of soldiers led by Judas did arrive and Jesus made the first contact by asking them who it was they were seeking, or wanting? When they responded that they were looking for Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus made it clear he was the “I AM”. This caused all of them, Judas and all the soldiers to fall back. We can just see the whole group falling backward to the ground, lying prostrate at the feet of Jesus. Who can stand up to the “I AM”?  This gives us a great picture of the power of Jesus. Just by his pronouncing his name, “I AM”, all must fall to the ground. Of course they did not fall to worship, but out of fear, although they were many, and Jesus was one, he is the “I AM”, and just by the power of his voice, they were overpowered. We know as we will get to, he asked again and allowed them to arrest him. But for now, we know that he was in charge, and he made sure they knew. This should also give us both great comfort and concern. First, to know Jesus is the “I AM” of our life, he is in charge, he has full control of our situation in this life and our life eternal. This should also give us some concern as we try to take control of our life. All too often we want what we want and we want it when and how we want it. That is we focus too much on our wants, we may live too much of a self-orientated life, rather than a Jesus focused life.

Love Within

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

LOVE WITHIN

John 17:24-26

24 "Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 25 "Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them." 

NIV

If anyone ever had any doubt about what happens to a believer after the death of the body, these words of Jesus should demolish any doubt whatsoever. Jesus prays to the Father that he wants us to be with him where he is and to see his glory. We can imagine, to some extent, what his glory may look like. But in our finite minds it may actually be impossible to fully understand just what His glory is. However, what we can be sure of is that we are going to see His glory. We can read with understanding the description of the new city of Jerusalem in the revelation He gave to John and get a good picture of just how glorious that place if going to be. However, the actual glory of Jesus may be more than that. Some of his disciplines saw him transfigured, which seems to indicate he glowed, almost translucent. The Greek word translated as transfigured is metamorphoo, which we can clearly see is where we get our English word metamorphous or to change, to transform from into something else. He was transformed from his human form into a brilliant white light appearance, his face shining like the sun, his robe as white as light. That may be just a smidgen of what his glory might be like. But we can be sure, it will not appear as we think he looked like when he walked among men and hung on the cross. He will not look like that person who appeared to Mary or his disciples, as he told her not to hold onto him as he had not yet returned to his Father. The glory that Jesus will have exceeds anything we can possibly conjure up, but we will know it, we will see it, we will be with him in all his glory.  The other incredible truth is that we know the Father, We know God. The world does not. It might know of him, that is have some idea God exists, in some form or another, but the people of the world do not know Him. He is more than just an idea of some supreme force to us, He is our Father who is in heaven. We not only know who He is, and where He is, but we know Him, we have had an intimate encounter with Him and continue to have this encounter on a daily basis. Jesus has promised us that he will continue to make the Father known to us in order that the love the Father has for Jesus will be in us. In addition, Jesus prays that he will be in us as well as the love of the Father. We live with the love of God within us. His love is not an abstract concept that we need to grasp. His love is in us. We understand, to some degree, in our human means of expressing love to each other, especially our family, our parents, spouse, and children. Yet, the love of God for us and in us is far beyond any capacity we humans can express that love, and just to think He loves us that much and His love is in us. We are not just somebody to be loved, we have His love within us. So then let us live in His love, fully content, fully at peace, fully satisfied with His love, and know that someday we will be where He is.

Good Works Within

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

 GOOD WORKS WITHIN

John 17:20-23

20 "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

NIV

There it is, we have been included in this prayer of Jesus so that all he has been praying that seemed to apply only to his eleven actually apply to all who believe in the message. Jesus prays that we all would be one, just as the Father is in Jesus and He is in the Father. In order to fully understand what it means to be one, we need to know just how the Father and Jesus are one. This seems rather easy as we know them to actually be one, the Father and Jesus, as well as the Holy Spirit, are all God, the three in one. Somehow we accept the relationship of the Father and Jesus being one, but we struggle with all us believers being one. We might say we are one, that we are all members of the body of Christ, that we are all living stones being built into the temple of God, but it would seem we see ourselves more as individuals then as one. If we were truly one then all those feelings and behaviors of envy, jealously, bitterness, grudges, no forgiveness, gossip, spiritual competition and pride, and feeling hurt, along with a host of other feelings and behaviors, would not exist. We cannot imagine any of those conditions or feelings existing between Jesus and the Father. So then if the prayer of Jesus is heard and answered by the Father, which we know it has to have been, then we have to arrive at one of two conclusions. Either we are one and refuse to act like it, or we are not actually part of this prayer, which would mean we have not believed the message. If Jesus is in us, which is in each one of us, then the Father is in us as well, that is if we believe the message. Because we confess we are believers, then by faith, we are believers, we have believed the message. Then it must be that we are refusing to act like believers in actually being one. This idea that when one member is suffering we all suffer and when one member rejoices we all rejoice does carry that concept of being one. But again, we have to ask if we are really suffering along with those who experience actual suffering, and we have to ask if we truly rejoice when someone actually rejoices. Once again, we have to consider if any of those personal feelings that relate to self-centeredness exist within. Who said being a believer was easy? It takes effort to deny ourselves and pick us our cross and follow Jesus. Not so much a physical effort, but a spiritual one or perhaps an emotional or mental one. This is where not thinking more highly of oneself then we should, or putting others before ourselves meets up with being one. It seems no matter how long we are believers we still have more works to do, work within in order to be in complete unity so the world will know that God loves them. So all that work God prepared in advance for us to do may well be the good works within.

Protected by God

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

PROTECTED BY GOD

John 17:13-19

13 "I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

NIV

Again, we could say this prayer only pertains to the eleven apostles, however, the next words of Jesus, which we will get to later, include everyone who believes. Certainly we could not say that they are the only ones who are not of this world. There are other scriptures that speak about being in the world, but not of the world, as well as those warnings by Paul to stop acting or behaving as though we are of the world when we no longer belong to this world. In fact, we are no longer of this world as Jesus is. He left this world, although he was never of it, as he always was, and is and will forever be, of heaven. He left heaven to come to earth to provide and show us a way to heaven. When he had completed the task the Father sent him to do, he returned back to heaven. Now, just as the disciples had to remain in the world during their nature lifetime as men, so must we. We cannot remove ourselves from being in the world during our lifetime here. As some would think the responsibility of the government is to care for us from cradle to grave, the fact is we have a life to live from birth to death, here in this world. But that does not mean by any means that we must be of the world. Once we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior we no longer are of this world. What that means is that we no longer live by the standards, the principles, the ideologies, the philosophies, or any other concept the world has established. Sure, we have to work, but again, we are told to work as onto the Lord. We have to earn our way, work with our hands, so not to be a burden to others, all that is explained in the scriptures. Our particular lifestyle is surely different from believers throughout the world. Our type of homes, our mode of transportation, our working conditions, if fact, even the type of work we do, is unique to each culture or country. Even what we consider relaxation, or entertainment vary among believers, but the one thing we all have in common is that we no longer belong to this world. So then the question we are asked is why then to we look like we belong to it? If we are not of the world, how can we partner with them in any endeavor? Jesus prayed that we would be sanctified, that the Father would make us holy, to render or declare us sacred or holy. The second meaning of that Greek word translated as sanctify is to separate from things profane and dedicate to God, to consecrate. This is not an action that we can do, but is only done and can only be done by God. As hard or diligently we may try, we cannot make ourselves holy. Our behavior is never good enough to sanctify ourselves. That is why Jesus prays for us to be sanctified by the Father. Jesus can sanctify himself, but we cannot. We need that work to be done by the Father by his truth, his word is truth. So then God is the one who declares us to be holy, to be separated from that which is profane. The world is profane for it rejects Jesus. So we live in this profane world, but we are protected by God. Is that not a glorious thought, to live protected by God.

Safe and Secure

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

SAFE AND SECURE

John 17:6-12

6 "I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11 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. 12 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.

NIV

Within these words, it is evident Jesus was speaking directly about the twelve he had called out of the world. However, because we know all of scripture is for our benefit in that it is for the purpose of correcting, rebuking, teaching, and training in righteousness so we will be fully equipped. Therefore we have to take these words as applicable to our lives. It does give the impression that the twelve, and that would extend to us, already belonged to the Father and he picked them, and us, out to give to Jesus. That almost sounds like predestination. Jesus said he revealed the Father to whom the Father gave to Jesus out of the world. First, if we belonged to the Father, what were we doing in the world? We think the idea is that all mankind belongs to the Father as we are all his creation. It also makes sense that our faith is a gift from God. He gives every man a measure of faith. We do not know if there are various measures of faith, except that we also know that God does not show favoritism and thus we have to believe every man gets the same measure. So then through this gift of faith, we leave the world and come to Jesus. As long as we are in the world, we really do not know God. We might know of him, but he has not truly been revealed to us until we come to Jesus. Once we accept Jesus, once we obeyed his word, which is accepting Jesus, he then reveals the true nature of the Father to us. Having the word, having Jesus, who is the Word who became flesh and made his dwelling with us, we know with certainty that He came from the Father. Jesus prays for their protection, thus also for ours as we no longer belong to the world, but to Jesus. Again, although we always belonged to the Father because we are his creation, which means we also always belonged to Jesus as he and the Father are one and everything that was created was through Jesus. Yet, still for our better understanding, Jesus became a man, and showed us the relationship we should have with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, or simply put, God. What does the protection of God mean? Because most of the disciples ended up being killed for their faith, it would not appear the Father answered Jesus’s prayer. How is being killed for our faith being kept safe? Perhaps it has more to do with being lost, as Judas was. To be protected from the wiles of the world. To be protected from the being consumed by the temptations of the devil. To be kept safe in our salvation, or our eternal life. That almost sounds like eternal security, but it is not. The idea is that as long as we are in Jesus, the Father keeps us safe. We can of our own choice, like Judas betray Jesus, and then all bets are off. We are no longer safe. Of course, Judas may have been hand-picked for this job, so the scripture would be fulfilled. But Jesus knew all along the character of Judas, and we have been told that he was a thief and a liar all along, helping himself to money that was given to support Jesus and his disciples and their ministry. That could also give us a clue about how there might be some wolves in sheep’s clothing today, who are simply helping themselves, taking what was given to others for their own benefit. But they too are doomed to destruction. We do not listen to them, the Father has given us to Jesus, and we hear his voice. The Spirit has given or manifests his discernment and our spirit then bears as to what is true and what is not. We are kept safe by the seal of the Spirit placed on us as a guarantee of our inherence of eternal life. We are safe and secure in Jesus.

Glorify Our Father

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

GLORIFY OUR FATHER

John 17:1-5

17:1 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:

"Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4 I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.

NIV

It does not seem right to break up the prayer of Jesus into smaller sections, but how could we deal with the whole of it within this short devotional thinking, and do any justice to the truth within his prayer. The first truth we notice is that Jesus is praying that the Father would glorify Jesus, so that Jesus may glorify the Father. Jesus was not looking for the glory for self-edification, or to be seen as someone special, one with a special relationship with the Father, or has some special knowledge. Although that is very true. Jesus does have a very special relationship with the Father, they are one. Jesus does have special knowledge, he is omniscient, knowing all things. But the desire of Jesus, the Son, is to bring glory to the Father. This is the first lesson we should learn as a believer. Our task, our purpose in this life, as a child of God, is to desire to bring glory to our Father in Heaven. The world system is not set up to bring glory to God. Everything we learn from our early childhood is to seek to be the best we can be. This world philosophy thrives in self-glorification. We are honored when we achieve various levels in our endeavors. Awards, trophies, plaques, and titles or some other significant way to recognize our achievement. It would seem in the church, it would be different, but yet we have much the same methods to give honor to the achiever. Some children’s programs are based on a secular scouting system of badges for certain achievements. It seems we want to mimic the world, but make it look spiritual. How are we bringing glory to the Father? When we are honored, either by the world, or the church, how do we respond? Is our first impulse to bring glory to the Father? It should be. How can we bring glory to the Father when we are given recognition? We have to speak up, we have to say words, other than, “Thank you”. What honor are we truly worthy to have? We have the honor of being a child of God, and even then all too often we give ourselves glory by saying it is our faith which saves us. Even faith is a gift from the Father, for in and of ourselves we are not capable of having faith. There is no honor we can think of that we are worthy of, for all honor and glory belong to the Father and our life, however, it turns should be all about giving him the glory for all things. Our heart's desire should be to glorify our Father.

Courage and Cheer

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

COURAGE AND CHEER

John 16:25-33

25 "Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. 26 In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. 27 No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. 28 I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father."  29 Then Jesus' disciples said, "Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. 30 Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God." 31 "You believe at last!"  Jesus answered. 32 "But a time is coming, and has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me. 33 "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." 

NIV

From our prescriptive, Jesus has always been speaking plaining, but then we are reading all his words with hindsight, knowing the truth as we have the Spirit who leads us into all truth. His disciples, on the other hand, are currently living what we know as history. Their history is known to them through the scrolls of the Law and the Prophets. They may also have their history passed down by word of mouth. But there is no more of this to be recorded, the scriptures are complete and we have access to all of the history and all of the truth we need to come to the saving knowledge of Jesus. Yet, here are the disciples coming to grips with the plain words of Jesus that he came from the Father and he is going to return to the Father. It made sense to them and Jesus is pleased that at last, they believe. They get it, they understand. However, that does not mean they are going to hang tough and stay the course when things get tense. Jesus tells them although they actually believe he came from the Father and is going back to the Father and that the Father loves them and us so much that He will give us what we ask. But Jesus also told them they will be scattered to their own homes, they will not stay the course with him through his crucifixion. This is a bother to us, as this could also mean it is possible that we might not stay the course in troubled times. If his disciples were afraid of what the world might do to them, because they believed, then it might be possible we could be afraid of the world as well. Right now, in the place we live, life is not much trouble. We live in a rather peaceful time within our country. There are those in other parts of the world who are in great peril, some being murdered in hideous ways. This should bother us a great deal as when one member of the body suffers, we all suffer. But then when one member of the body rejoices, we all should also rejoice. We wonder if this is what is actually being lived out in the life of the universal church. Nevertheless, as we reflect on the current life we live, trouble seems to be in the distance. Although as of late this viral situation has caused many some degree of trouble. However, Jesus said that we may have peace. That even if we do experience some trouble in this world, we should take heart, because Jesus has overcome the world. What does taking heart look like? What does that mean? The Greek word translated as take heart actually means, be of good courage, of good cheer. This would then mean that we should not be down, felling any despair, or depression. We should not get discouraged over anything in this life. Nothing should bother us to the point of worry or anxiety for those feelings, or emotions are not being of good courage or good cheer. Sure, things happen that maybe we would rather not, but so what, it is how we face them which is at the heart of the matter. Having the peace that Jesus gives us has to make all the difference in the world. So then let us face life with good courage and good cheer.

Complete Joy

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

COMPLETE JOY

John 16:16-24

16 "In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me."  17 Some of his disciples said to one another, "What does he mean by saying, 'In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me,' and 'Because I am going to the Father'?" 18 They kept asking, "What does he mean by 'a little while'? We don't understand what he is saying." 19 Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, "Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, 'In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me'? 20 I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. 21 A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. 22 So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. 23 In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.

NIV

Because we are looking backward in time we understand everything, unlike his disciples, at this moment Jesus is telling about his death and resurrection and ascension. This again, makes it clear about the divine nature of Christ. Although he is living out a life in human terms, being born as a baby, growing through infancy, becoming a toddler, then a child. He had his Bar-mitzvah at twelve and grew through those teenage years into a young man. He learned the trade of Joseph, his earthy father figure, and lived as any normal man would, except for the fact he never took a wife. However, we know because of his divine nature, he knew the path of his life and where it would lead him, to the cross. But, he also knew that he would not remain in the grave, that he would be resurrected and that he would return to where he came from in the first place. All that Jesus told his disciples was about what was going to happen and that ultimately they would experience joy, in fact, their joy would be complete. Occasionally we sing that song about us serving a risen Savior and knowing he is in the world today, no matter what men might say. But the fact is he is sitting at the right hand of the father and as a result, the Spirit is in the world today. Sometimes songs include incorrect theology, as good as they sound. However, the point is that Jesus is alive, and he is with the Father and we have been told to ask and we will receive. This should give us a clue as to what kind of life we should be living. Our life should be one of joy, in fact, it should be one in which our joy is complete. We know grief, at least momentary grief. This happens when we experience the death of a loved one. Books have been written trying to assist people in dealing with grief. Perhaps the non-believer has good reason to grieve, even though they do not know it. But we believers might not have any reason to grieve, but rather rejoice at the end of this life of our loved ones, especially if they were going through some difficult times. When we believers come to end this life, it is not the end, but merely the continuation of our eternal life we began the moment we were born again. The sadness or grief we may feel, at the loss of a loved one, might just be for ourselves, as we now must continue on in this temporary portion of our life, without the presence of our loved one. But Jesus made it clear, we can ask the Father and we will receive and our joy will be complete. What that means is that because we believe we should live with joy. Grief has gone, worry has left, anxiety has vanished, sorrow has disappeared, sadness, despair, even depression has departed and anything else that opposes joy has been relocated elsewhere, and all that is left within us is a complete joy. Should we not be living like our joy is complete? Why do we let the burdens of this world steal our joy? Why do we allow the devil to even attempt to steal our joy? If Jesus gave us complete joy, then nothing in this world should be able to take it from us. But it might well be that we take if from ourselves. We might even enjoy a certain amount of worry, pain, suffering, grief, or sadness. That sounds bizarre, but why then are we not full of joy throughout our life, throughout all our experiences? We need to take Jesus as his word and live with complete joy. 

Nothing But the Truth

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH

John 16:12-15

12 "I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.

NIV

There is no need to live in the dark, to live ignorant of all truth for the Spirit dwells within us. Some would say, whom we agree with, that we have been baptized in the Spirit. John the Baptist was quite clear in his message to the people. He told them that he baptized with water, but He, referring to Jesus, will baptize with the Holy Spirit. Now it may be true that some believers have not yet been baptized with the Spirit and thus not be aware of all truth. They could know some truth, enough to be known as a believer, but there is still all truth that is not exposed to them. It is also true some believe that when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior the Spirit comes to dwell within. That seems to be right in the sense according to Trinitarian doctrine, as to how can the three be separated if they are one, yet each is a person. Although Jesus was God, he still was not the Father or the Spirit. So then it is not automatic that the Spirit arrives at the same time we accept Jesus. We need to experience what the disciples did when Jesus baptized them in the Spirit. Certainly, the disciples were believers, but they also needed the power of the Holy Spirit who came to them in flames of fire. Paul found gentile believers who had been baptized in John's baptism, and when he baptized them in the name of the Lord and laid hands on them the Holy Spirit came on them. It would seem the baptism was the moment the Spirit arrived, but that is not what is said. It was when Paul laid hands on them is when the Holy Spirit arrived. That does not mean it was the baptism, but the laying on of hands, which brought the Spirit. In either case, we do not automatically receive the Spirit, we must seek him in an experience that would be considered a baptism. Having the Spirit means everything. Without the Spirit, we lack truth. We may know Jesus, but there are still, what would be called mysteries, in the scriptures. Why could God hide the truth from us? Why would he write a mystery novel? What would be the purpose of withholding the truth from us? We simply cannot find any good reason God would do anything other than making all truth known to us through the power of the Holy Spirit. The reason he had everything recorded was so that we would know then all the truth about Him. However, he knows that us mere humans may not be able to comprehend all truth in our own finite minds, so He sent the Spirit to speak into our heart and minds all truth. So then is it essential we receive the Spirit, in the same manner, we received Jesus. So then being a believer we are fully engaged in the truth, and thus seeing no mystery. If we are not baptized in the Spirit then we lack that power, we lack all truth. Being a believer we have to take the words of Jesus as true and He is the one who says the Spirit will lead us into all truth and the Spirit will make known to us what is known to Jesus. He also says that all that belongs to the Father is His, so then the Spirit will make known to us all that is known by the Father. That is not a fiction or a mystery, but it is nothing but the truth, the whole truth.

Sin, Righteousness, and Judgment

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

SIN, RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND JUDGMENT

John 16:5-11

5 "Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, 'Where are you going?' 6 Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. 7 But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; 10 in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

NIV

Having pondering on the Trinitarian doctrine, and the fact the Holy Spirit is present in the world and has made his dwelling within us and as such has sealed us until the day our redemption is complete, we should also consider the three areas of his expertise. These reasons that he came were to convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment. Jesus expands on these three and we should take a look at how he applied the Spirits work. The Spirit convicts people, referred to here as the world, in regard to sin because they do not believe. In other words, the Spirit does this type of work among the people who have not accepted Jesus, known as the non-believers, or sinners. Of course, we sin as well, but our title is not sinner, but a saint. We have already responded to that convicting power of the Spirit and repented, or turned from our sinful ways or our life centered in sinful ways, being a non-believer. So the Spirit does this work in those who have yet to come to Christ. We might witness and witness and witness, but we cannot convict nor convince someone to repent of their sinful ways, for that requires the Spirit. The work if the Spirit in regard to righteousness has to refer to the righteousness of Christ. He was condemned as a sinner, a blasphemer, by the Jews, the very people he came as, His chosen nation. We should note the reason they were chosen is not that they are special people, but they are the people of the promise God made to Abraham, but more importantly, he chose them to reveal himself to the whole world. Nevertheless, they condemned him as a sinner, but the Spirit testifies to his innocence. The proof of which is the fact Jesus was resurrected and ascended into heaven. God, the Father, would not have raised up an impostor. So, the Spirit’s work is to show the righteousness of Christ so that we can see our unrighteousness and turn to Him, for Jesus is our righteousness. The last work we need to consider, not that it is the last work of the Spirit, for he simultaneously does all this work, is the conviction in regard to judgment. The reason for this work of judgment is because the prince of this world now stands condemned. Some would say, this is the Jewish people who condemned Jesus, and that would then extend unto any person who by their refusal to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, for they too are already condemned by their unbelief. God does not condemn them, but they are so condemned by their own unbelief. However, some say this prince of the world refers directly to Satan. He now stands condemned because Jesus won the victory over death. It would not seem, although Lucifer was cast out of heaven, at the time he was on earth, he was not yet condemned. He had free reign to tempt man, which he certainly did and still does today. He even tempted Jesus, and that was by the direction of the Spirit. However, he is now condemned because of what Jesus is doing. So today, we are still being tempted, but it may not be by a condemned spirit. James says that when we are tempted, it is because we are drawn away by our own evil desires. That sounds frightening, to think we tempt ourselves. It seems way too easier to blame Satan then self. We have accepted the prompting of the Spirit in regard to our sin, and have repented, and we accept the fact that Jesus is the only righteousness we have. We also have no doubt that Satan is already condemned and his fate is the lake of burning sulfur. But his temptation, whether it still comes from him, or we somehow still have that dark side within, that old self who tempts us to yield to desires that lurk within, has us pondering. Can we really say, “The devil made me do it”? Rather, could, and should we say, “We made us do it”? The Spirit leads us into all truth. In addition, his work deals with sin, righteousness, and judgment.

The Spirit is Here

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

THE SPIRIT IS HERE

John 16:5-11

5 "Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, 'Where are you going?' 6 Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. 7 But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; 10 in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

NIV

Here comes the Spirit. We know this may seem to be incorrect theology, in fact, we have been told it is, but we are not sure that it is that far off from the truth. Although God in three persons has always been God in three persons and all three persons, The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit have always been, it still appears that all throughout the Old Testament the Father was always the person of the trinity who interacted with his people. It was God who walked with Adam, was that the Father or was it Jesus. Who passed by Moses, putting his hand in front of him so he could only see his back after he passed? Who met with Moses in the Tent of Meeting? Who talked with Abraham from Heaven to stop him from offering Isaac? Who spoke to all the prophets? It would seem it was the Father. Then after the last prophet, there were hundreds of years that God seemed to be quiet until he spoke to Mary through an angel and the Son came to the earth. He spent a brief time among us, walking with us, and then as John tells us here, he has told us that he must go away. He must return to the Father so he can send the Spirit. Jesus says that unless he goes the Spirit will not come. So then after the Son leaves, the Spirit then comes to be with us until the last day. So it would seem that each one of the three persons of God has spent his own personal time with his creation. Yet for the reason that all three of the persons are God and God has always been involved with his creation, all three of them have always been among us, at least that is what is said to be correct theology. Still, we cannot help to think these words of Jesus mean that both he and the Spirit are not here at the same time and that he was praying to the Father and taught us to pray using the phrase, “Our Father who is in Heaven”. So Jesus and the Father were not here at the same time, as the Father was in Heaven while Jesus was here and Jesus left so he could send the Spirit. It is true that when Jesus was baptized the Father spoke from Heaven, and the Spirit did descend upon Jesus. We are not told the Spirit stayed or returned, yet Jesus says that he must go, that in fact, if he doesn’t go, the Spirit will not come. So what are we to think? There have been great literary and theological works written on the Trinitarian doctrine. Some would suggest there is no evidence of this doctrine within the Old Testament, nor any such teaching of it within the New Testament. The thoughts of some of these works are that such doctrine is found through deduction, yet is it taught because it is the best explanation? There are so many differing opinions that we have to consider them, but not necessarily accept them. So what are we back to? Jesus had to leave, so the Spirit could come. Jesus was to complete his work here and return to sit at the right hand of the Father and in doing so, he was sending the Spirit to be here among and within us for the remaining of the time if this creation. Not only would he judge the world, but he was to be a seal upon us guaranteeing our inheritance. We cannot understand why that song was written which includes those words, “Come Holy Spirit, I need thee, come in your own gentle way”. Why would we sing or ask him to come when he has already been sent to us and has, in fact, made his dwelling within us? This is one more of the promises of Jesus that we have to take as fully completed, it is done, we have Him because Jesus said so.   

Being Killed

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

BEING KILLED

John 16:1-4

6:1 "All this I have told you so that you will not go astray. 2 They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God. 3 They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. 4 I have told you this, so that when the time comes you will remember that I warned you. I did not tell you this at first because I was with you.

NIV

There are some things Jesus told his disciples that certainly seem to be directed only to them and not to future believers. It would be true, because we are not Jewish, that we would never be put out of the synagogue. We would not find any need to attend one in the first place. However, this idea of being killed by those who think they are doing a service to God has some merit for future believers, as well as the disciples. Many of them were killed for their faith in Jesus, thus they were hated and killed. Throughout the ages, the church persecuted believers who spoke out against its practices, what it has evolved into with the papal system. The period known as the inquisitions was a horrible time in Christianity and people were killed in hideous manners and in the name of God.  In other parts of the world today, we have witnessed believers murdered by the hundreds, again, in ways no human being should have to endure, and they were killed all in the name of some other god. Whether we will have to face that kind of persecution in our time, in our country, is doubtful. Although we do find many other forms of persecution, even though we are supposed to have freedom of religion. But there is another way of killing us that does not involve ending our ability to breathe and our heart to beat. The parable Jesus spoke regarding the sower, and the different types of the ground the seed fell on give us a clue into how we might be metaphorically killed. Although we might be attending church, are we really living this life of a believer to the fullest? We may not have fallen away because we have no roots. Surely we have developed some roots, we have dug our feet in, so to speak and would never consider leaving the church or our faith. Although some do leave a specific church from time to time and all too often it is due to something other than a physical moving away. However, we wonder if the weeds are choking the life out of us. The cares of the world are so burdensome that we spend far more of our time fighting those burdens than having faith in God to fight them for us. The reason we might be inclined to think along these lines is that if we truly were the good soil, we would be producing a crop a hundredfold. The question is what type of crop was Jesus referring to? Is the crop new believers? We have failed miserably in that regard. If that is the crop, we have not produced hundreds of new believers. Again, we may be choking to death by the weeds. What we do know is that good works are not producing a crop. Even churches filled with people who profess a form of Christianity, but are not born again believers, are doing good works and in the name of God or their church. They believe in God, and the Bible and so they too must be compared to ground, but that is not for us to determine as to which type. What we have to contend with is the type of ground that we are and what is the crop the good soil should produce. Our present world situation being affected by what is called a pandemic has brought newer people seeking relief in God, or religion. We saw a great influx in church attendance right after 911, but most of them fell away, having no root or were carried away or choked out by the cares of this world. In neither case were they a result of our being good soil, but it was due to some worldwide chaos. So, then are we being choked out by the concerns of the world? Are we so busy trying to make our way in the world that we have forgotten about the production of a crop for the kingdom of God? A hundredfold could mean just one person being lead to Jesus. We are one, and by duplicating ourselves, that is one hundred percent increase. Then we would be good soil and we would not be killed by the cares of this world.

Love and Hate

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

LOVE AND HATE

 John 15:18-27

18 "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember the words I spoke to you: 'No servant is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21 They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin. 23 He who hates me hates my Father as well. 24 If I had not done among them what no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen these miracles, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25 But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: 'They hated me without reason.'  

26 "When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. 27 And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.

NIV

What other conclusions could we come to other then the world is hateful of the truth. If the world has so much hate of Jesus, of God, of the truth, then we also have to conclude that we have absolutely no business being in any kind of partnership with it. Jesus has made it clear that he has called us out of the world and that we do not belong to the world. Because we do live among this world, it does not mean that we belong to it. The world has no ownership of us, it does not define us, nor does it confine us. One of the major differences between us and the world is guilt. Jesus made it clear that because the world is aware of him, but refuses to accept him, or in other words, hates him, they are now guilty of sin. If someone has absolutely no knowledge whatsoever, totally void any anything about Jesus, has never heard a word spoken regarding Jesus, it seems Jesus is saying that they would not be guilty of sin, because they do not know the truth. If they have nothing to compare righteousness from sin, then they do not know sin either. That would seem right, but then we are also told no man is without excuse because what may be known about God is plain, through his creation. But the point Jesus was making is that the world hates us because we love Jesus. That seems a little odd as it seems we do not experience all this hate from many of the people we are living among. Many of our co-workers who are not believers in the same sense we are, do not hate us, or at least, it does not appear that way. It would seem our country was founded on a person’s individual rights or freedom of religion, however, it also seems as of late, many leaders of our country are making a concerted effort to remove any reference to God from the public square. Christianity, in general, is under attack from this country as well as many others, so than the world does hate Christ. Now the reason we may not experience as much hate as we do may be due to the fact we are too close to looking like them and not like Jesus. If we do not belong to the world, then we should have nothing to do with the world’s system, its philosophies, its way of life, or its business affairs. Partnership with the world in any form is not to be part of our life. We are told not to be unequally yoked. That means working together or being a partner in some endeavor. Whatever that means, it is for certain we should refrain from it. Because we have been called out of the world, then we are out of it and we no longer live in the same manner as we once did. We no longer have our citizenship in the world and as such we are officially foreigners who speak an entirely different language and have altogether different customs. In fact, we are citizens of the kingdom of God and have been sent into this world as an ambassador for our sovereign, to speak on his behalf, to speak the words he authorized us to speak. It also means, as ambassadors, we have diplomatic immunity, which means we are not subject to the laws, or principles of this world. Sure, we are not supposed to speed or do any of those other crimes against the state. It is not the law of the land, which is meant, it is the law or ideas, or concepts, principles, philosophies, ideologies, or other matters of this world that we have immunity from. We have been told that we cannot serve two masters and in that context, it is either God or money. But the idea is the same, we cannot be a part of the world and a part of God. It has to be one or the other. Love God, the world hates us.