Believe

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

BELIEVE

John 12:44-50

44 Then Jesus cried out, "When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. 45 When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me. 46 I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. 47 "As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. 48 There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day. 49 For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. 50 I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say." 

NIV

Jesus has said a lot here, but there is one point he is making. He was sent here by the Father to do exactly what needed to be done in order to redeem mankind, to reconcile himself to mankind. Although Jesus taught throughout the years of his public ministry his main focus was always about believing that he was sent from the Father and he and the Father are one. Jesus is divine even in the human form in which he came. He is the light showing the way. When we walk in the dark we cannot see the way, we are, in essence, blind to the way to live our lives. Jesus shed light on the way to live. When he said that a person who hears his words but does not keep them, he will not judge them. This is not about keeping all his commands as the context does not support that view. This is about accepting him as the light of the world, as the Savior, the Messiah. The idea of God being the judge regarding who accepts his words, is again not about be judged how well we obey every command of Jesus, for we would be judged guilty and condemned. None of us can keep all the commands of Jesus so no one would be saved according to that view. However, what God judges, is whether someone accepts Jesus as the light, or rejects Jesus and stays in the dark. We are either in or out based solely on faith in Jesus Christ. When Jesus speaks he is speaking as the Father speaks. All the words Jesus ever spoke, the Father told him to speak. Some would say the words of Jesus are the primary words in the bible, yet they are the words of God, as with all the words, as he inspired Jesus to speak, he inspired Noah, Moses, Abraham, Jacob, Isaac along with David, Solomon and the prophets. He inspired the Apostles to write all they did, everything is God-inspired which is written in the scriptures. All of it points to Jesus. We can live under a form of law attempting to obey all that is written, or we can live by faith. Jesus points to living by faith, believing in him and what he came to do, die on the cross for our sins. Sure because of loving him we want to please him, but the best way to please him is to accept his grace, his love for us. Faith believes.  

Praise from who

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

PRAISE FROM WHO

John 12:37-43

37 Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. 38 This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet:

"Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?" 

39 For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere:

40 "He has blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn — and I would heal them."  

41 Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus' glory and spoke about him. 42 Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved praise from men more than praise from God.

NIV

It is interesting John makes this type of commentary on the state of man, quoting from the prophet Isaiah. There are just some people who are not going to believe. There are blinded, and their ears are deaf to the truth and their hearts are darkened. John uses the pronoun “He”, but the verses in Isaiah do not contain that pronoun. It sounds like it is the Lord who does this to the eyes, ears, and heart of these men, at least from the context. But want is puzzling in the last phrase, “and I would heal them”. So why would God blind them darken their eyes and hearts and if they turned he would heal them? We know the schemes of the evil one is just that, to blind people to the truth, to make their eyes and heart darken to the truth. He is the one who confuses people so they do not understand with their hearts and turn to the Lord and thus is healed from a life which leads to death. It is all about who has believed, as John started with. Who has believed the message and has been revealed the arm of the Lord? There were some, even among the leaders who believed the message, their eyes were opened, their ears were healed and their hearts saw the light and understood. Yet at the same time, they were still not able to make a complete full conversion, expressing their faith out loud. They were afraid of the earthly consequences of speaking up for Jesus. Here it is, where the rubber meets the road. They loved the praise of men more than the praise from God. It is one thing to become a believer, to be a Christian, to embrace the faith. It is entirely different to tell everyone we know that the truth about Jesus, the truth about heaven and hell and the only way to escape death, to have eternal life, to go to heaven is through faith in Jesus Christ, which means being born again. To believe in Jesus means to believe what he said, and he did tell Nicodemus in order for a person to enter heaven is to be born again. How many people have we told? Would we rather live to receive praise from them? “Job well done” “You’re really nice” “You did well” and all the kind of praise, all about us. Would it not be better to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant”? Who do we want praise from?

Sons of Light

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

SONS OF LIGHT

John 12:27-36

27 "Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name!" Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and will glorify it again." 29 The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him. 30 Jesus said, "This voice was for your benefit, not mine. 31 Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. 32 But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself."  33 He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die. 34 The crowd spoke up, "We have heard from the Law that the Christ will remain forever, so how can you say, 'The Son of Man must be lifted up'? Who is this 'Son of Man'?" 35 Then Jesus told them, "You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. The man who walks in the dark does not know where he is going. 36 Put your trust in the light while you have it, so that you may become sons of light." When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.

NIV

Jesus has said a lot within this short exchange with the people. Was Jesus really troubled in his heart? Again, we believe everything Jesus says is a teaching moment. Here we can learn that when are heart becomes troubled there is one response we should consider. Whatever the reason for our troubled heart, should we say, “Lord, save us from this hour”? Of course, in the situation Jesus is headed to, it was the very reason he came to earth. But how can we say one situation or another is not why we are in it. That is to say when we have a troubled heart over something we are going to be facing, maybe we need to see that God is doing a work in our lives to build our faith, or use us for the benefit of someone, or in the case of Jesus, our situation would bring glory to God. In this narrative, right after Jesus spoke, a voice from heaven speaks. The Father responses to Jesus, his Son. This is the second time the Father has spoken audibly from heaven. It is interesting the mixed response of the crowd to the voice of God. Maybe that is the same today. Some people did not hear a voice, but only heard thunder, while others heard the voice, but thought it was the voice of an angel. How often do we miss, or mistake the voice of God? Maybe some people have never heard him speak at all, but we know he has spoken to us in the past, and expect he will speak again. But we have to be listening, or we might mistake his voice for something else. Jesus made sure the voice of God was not for his benefit, but for the benefit of the crowd. He continued to explain what he was going to endure, again for their benefit. It would seem right to think, although God is almighty and has no need of anything, what he did in the past, and in the present and on into our future is for our benefit. All of creation is for our benefit, Jesus coming to show us the way, is for our benefit. Jesus is the light of the world, is for our benefit. Jesus is the truth, is for our benefit. His dying on the cross was for our benefit and his resurrection was for our benefit. We have the pattern for our life, we have the truth to live by and the truth to die by. There is no longer any need for us to walk in the dark, not being able to see the truth. We walk in the light of Jesus. We trust in the light. We are sons of the light.

What are we doing

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

WHAT ARE WE DOING

John 12:20-26

20 Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the Feast. 21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. "Sir," they said, "we would like to see Jesus." 22 Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus. 23 Jesus replied, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

NIV

Here we have some Greeks in Jerusalem who want to see Jesus. Who are these Greeks? Our scholars have some opinions but they admit their thoughts are just that, opinions. They are considering the ideas, the Greeks are Jews who are living in Greece, or proselytes, that is Greeks who have come to believe in Jesus, changing their religious beliefs, or they are simply pagan Greeks who, as it is reported by historians, would come to Jerusalem to give offerings to the Jewish God, Jehovah. It would seem any of those could be right, but most likely they would be Greek believers who heard about Jesus and came to believe, now having the opportunity to actually see him. Even though their request made its way to Jesus, his response is regarding his pending near future. He makes this profound statement, of course, everything Jesus says is profound. We are not sure why he has to say that he is telling them the truth. Has he ever lied? The truth is about being born again, being a follower of Jesus. The only way to have life, have eternal life, is to die like the kernel of grain, which then produces many seeds. This is our life. If we love our life as it is on the earth, being human, then we will lose our life, life eternal. But we must die to self, be buried and grow up in Christ, bearing much fruit, many seeds. But this also speaks to the very situation at hand. One person telling another person about Jesus, and another and another. Being a follower of Jesus means more than attending, or being a member of a church. Although we are admonished to assemble with other believers, not to just be together, serving ourselves. We have been called to go out into the world and tell people about Jesus. Jesus makes it clear that we should not get too comfortable here in this world, which in fact we are told should hate this life in this world. We should be looking forward to leaving this life and entering into a new life of following Jesus. That life of sin brought us death, but life in Christ brings us life. This following Jesus must mean more they just being a believer, a Christian living under a set of rules and regulations, trying to be righteous, or holy, or religious. This following Jesus means actually dying to self, taking up our cross, being on the cross until the death of self, then being buried in the waters of baptism and being raised up out of the waters a new person, a glorified person, who will eventually ascend into heaven. Just as Jesus did. But what do we do in the meantime, as new people, as born again followers of Jesus? We tell Andrew, we tell John, or Mary, or Sam, or Jim, Dave, Eleanor, Patricia, Wilma, Bob, the list goes on, about Jesus. For the most part, we might think that if we live religiously someone might ask us why. But that is not the case, what did Jesus do? He healed people, he went around telling the truth of God, he meant people right where they were, and did miracles showing the power of God in his life. Then people followed after him. Yes, we know Jesus said he would build his church. He would just bring people into our building, or into following him. But then why did he command us to go out into the world and preach the good news to all creation. Was that just for the twelve? How could they get to all creation, which would have been impossible, even for them? No, that is an eternal command for all followers, all disciples of Jesus. If we want to be honored by the Father, then serving Jesus has to mean more the just being saved. Serving implies doing. What are we doing?

Riding on a donkey

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

RIDING ON A DONKEY

John 12:12-19

12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,

"Hosanna!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Blessed is the King of Israel!" 14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written, 15 "Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey's colt."  

16 At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him. 17 Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. 18 Many people, because they had heard that he had given this miraculous sign, went out to meet him. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, "See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!"

NIV

We have come to what is known as the triumphant entrance of Jesus. We celebrate this day, calling it Palm Sunday. In just one short week, he will have been beaten, mocked, crucified, buried and resurrected, the day we celebrate as Easter Sunday. However, back to his entrance on a donkey. The symbolism of his riding on a donkey is of a king entering a city in peace. When Jesus comes back, when he comes riding on the clouds, he will be upon a white horse, the symbol of a conquering King. Thus the King of kings comes to Jerusalem as the King of peace. We know he has said that he will give us His peace, not as the world gives peace, but as He gives peace. This is not the peace as opposed to the havoc of war, although we could also see that as well, in the sense of the war that wages within us. If we trusted Jesus completely we would have peace within. But the Greek word translated peace has a meaning distinctly directed to faith in Jesus. It carries the meaning of the tranquility of the soul assured of its salvation through Christ and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, of whatsoever lot that is. This is the King of peace coming to Jerusalem to die on the cross for us. The people were so excited to see Jesus coming in such a public way. Surely they thought he was going to take over control of Israel and overpower by his authority the Roman occupiers. Their manner in which they welcomed him was all in accordance with prophecy. He's riding on a donkey, the colt of a donkey, was spoken by the prophet Zechariah.

Zech 9:9

9 Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

NIV

People from all over the city were coming to see Jesus, there was excitement in the air, anticipation as to what was going to happen. Now others who might have kept their distance because of fear from the Pharisees were now being open about their enthusiasm over Jesus. The city was in an uproar over Jesus making his way into the city on a donkey. Peace, at last, would be theirs. However, the Pharisees had other plans. They were no happy, all they could see that it was getting out of hand. They could only see the whole place was going crazy, the whole world has gone after him. Would that not be great, if the whole world would go after him? Someday that will happen, at least every knee will bow before him, as he judges the world. But for now, our concern should be to be filled with excitement, anticipation, enthusiasm because Jesus came to live in our heart. We should be in a constant state of palm waving, of laying our cloaks down, our lives down in front of him. He has come riding on a donkey to bring us peace.

Being the Cause

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

BEING THE CAUSE

John 12:9-11

9 Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, 11 for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him.

NIV

It was very tempting to move right along to the “Hosanna in the Highest entrance" of Jesus into Jerusalem, which are in the next verses. However, there is this idea if the Chief priests wanting to kill Lazarus as well as Jesus. Now come on, this is getting out of hand. Just because someone received a miracle from Jesus, they have to die. How were they going to accomplish the murder of Lazarus under the Law? What did he do that warranted death? Just because he was the reason many Jews were putting their faith in Jesus, they wanted him dead. Wouldn’t that make him, even more, a martyr and cause even more to follow Jesus? Consider over the years how some people have been put to death because of their faith. But it seems more than just because of their faith. All of the apostles, except for John were killed. Peter was hung on a cross, only upside down. Paul had been mistreated many times, tarred and feathered, so to speak, then evidentially imprisoned until he was killed. But it was more than about their faith. If they had kept quite who would have known they were followers of Jesus. We know Stephen was stoned because of his faith. Then men like Polycarp, Tyndale, Wycliffe and Bonhoeffer and more recently Jim Elliot and his friends, murdered while trying to reach a remote group of people with the gospel. It is unlikely we would be put to death in this country because we are Christians, at least in these current times. Who knows what our future holds. But it is not just about being a Christian. Lazarus was someone who caused people to believe, and so were all those other we mentioned. Are we someone who causes other people to believe in Jesus? It seems we spend more if not all of our concern about how well we live as holy people. It seems all our efforts are about us, rather than being a cause for someone to believe in Jesus. Do we think they will just believe on their own? How did we come to believe? Someone told us about Jesus. There it is. Maybe if we were a whole lot more vocal about all the miracles Jesus did in our lives, people might just believe in Jesus. But then we also might incur the wrath of others and experience a social type of death, being shunned by people. It seems there has always been and will always be those who hate to hear the truth and what to shut the mouths who speak it. We will not be silenced, we must speak up, and we must live out our faith out loud, hoping to be the cause for someone to follow Jesus. We are not much different than Lazarus. We were dead, and now we are alive. Let us be that cause for people to believe.

Give or Take

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

GIVE OR TAKE

John 12:1-8

12:1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 Here a dinner was given in Jesus' honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. 3 Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, 5 "Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year's wages." 6 He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. 7 "Leave her alone," Jesus replied. "[It was intended] that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. 8 You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me." 

NIV

Although or because the time is coming for Jesus to head to Jerusalem and suffer the agony of the cross, he is in Bethany with his friends. Again we remember Bethany is just on the backside of the Mount of Olives and very close to Jerusalem, perhaps only two hours or less walk. Here in the house of Mary, Martha and Lazarus a dinner is held in honor of Jesus. This must have been a great time, wonderful fellowship, great food, and good friends, what a combination. We can just imagine the feeling of Lazarus. Once he was dead, and now he is reclining at the table with Jesus. Isn’t that our story as well? Except, even though we were not in a grave, we were dead men walking. And now we are reclining at the table with Jesus. We are experiencing wonderful fellowship with Jesus, we are having great food, his very words, and we are with good friends, in fact, our family, our brothers, and sisters in the Lord. We could also say that we are having the body and blood at Jesus when we recline at his table with the family of God. During the dinner at this house of his friends, Mary does something unexpected. A bottle of very expensive perfume that she was keeping to use on Jesus when he was buried was used now. She took it and poured it all over his feet and then wiped them with her hair. Talk about feet washing. It was customary for the host of a home to wash the feet of their guests before dining, or as they entered the home. In this case, it was before they ate, as they were reclining at the table. Again, no chairs as we are accustomed to but they would recline on cushions or pillows with their heads facing the table and thus their feet away from the table. As it was also custom of that day, people wore sandals and with the dry and dusty ground, their feet would have been rather dirty most of the time. So at the table clean feet would be a good thing. It is sort of like the days of our youth when our mother would say, “Go wash your hands before dinner”. The question is; why did John who penned these words include the knowledge that Mary had intended to keep this perfume for the burial of Jesus? Sure he was inspired by the Spirit, but still, could he have been made privy to this information from Jesus or Mary? Had Jesus confided in his friends the whole truth of what was to happen, his crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection? Could Mary have known all this and just wanted to do this before he was dead, so he knew of her love and devotion to him? Those are questions we may not be sure of the answers, but the fact is this is what happened. Then, of course, we are informed of the Judas who not only betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver but was a thief besides. This gives us the insight to his accepting the money to betray Jesus. It seems he was motivated by greed. Many scholars want to make more of that. Some profess Judas just wanted to assist Jesus in accomplishing the will of the Father, knowing this was what needed to be done. Even if this is the case, he was motivated by human efforts rather than relying on God to accomplish his plan. What is striking is the contrast between Mary and Judas. Mary was giving it all, Judas wanted to take it all. That is the question we need to ask ourselves. Do we give or take?