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Category Archives: John

John 7:1-5 (And James’s Epistle)

16 Nov

7 After this, Jesus traveled around Galilee. He wanted to stay out of Judea, where the Jewish leaders were plotting his death. 2 But soon it was time for the Jewish Festival of Shelters, 3 and Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, where your followers can see your miracles! 4 You can’t become famous if you hide like this! If you can do such wonderful things, show yourself to the world!” 5 For even his brothers didn’t believe in him.

John 7:1-5

Dear God, what would it have been like to be Jesus’s little brother? Let’s say Jesus was perfect (which he was). On paper, one would think that Jesus would have been a great big brother. Always kind. Always helpful. Not teasing them or being mean. But I think anyone who things about it and has experience as a sibling knows that it would be annoying to have such a great brother that is above reproach in every way. It can be hard to come face to face with our own sin when we are in such proximity to perfection.

Then there is James after the resurrection. He came around. Was he the only one? Was this a relief to Mary. But I can’t help but notice that James is the only one who seemingly digs in on “works” when it comes to his message. In fact, I want to look at an outline of James’s letter and consider it while informed by the idea of James’s journey from Jesus tormenter to Jesus worshipper.

  • Trials & Temptations (Testing of Faith and Source of Temptation):
    • Consider it joy to be persecuted for Jesus. He was seeing a lot of persecution. And this was certainly Paul’s message as well. It was towards the beginning of Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount.
    • Regarding temptation, don’t think it’s you who is tempting me. Did James blame Jesus when he was younger and couldn’t live up to the example Jesus set?
  • Listening & Doing:
    • Quick to listen and slow to speak and be angry. Were these things James struggled with before the crucifixion and resurrection? Did he wish he had listened to Jesus more. Did he regret his anger and judgment of Jesus?
    • And be real. Do. Do what you tell us to do. What Jesus explicitly said to do. How much anger and rebellion did James carry around in his heart before the resurrection? I’ll bet he had a lot of self-righteous attitude as a result of being Jesus’s little brother.
  • No Favoritism:
    • Did his parents show favoritism? More likely, this is probably something he saw in Jesus. Jesus broke all the molds of traditional favoritism. Whether he liked it or not, he absorbed those lessons from Jesus even though he probably rebelled against them and resented them before the resurrection.
  • Faith & Works:
    • I wonder if he was thinking of himself pre-resurrection. Did he claim faith in you and then realize later that his faith was empty because he was also consumed with contempt for Jesus? Did he realize that the works are part of developing us. Before this section, in 2:8, he says, “If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing right.” It’s possible he grew up trying to justify himself through his own practice of worship and theology and rejected the idea of serving because he saw Jesus serving. But then he realized that it’s the serving that gets us out of ourselves and brings us into a more complete version of you who designed us to be. My works aren’t for others to experience or see. They are for me.
  • Taming the Tongue:
    • How much had he struggled to tame his own tongue in the early years of his life? Even in this story from John 7 above, was is James who was goading Jesus? And how much did James ridicule Jesus to his parents, siblings, and others? Yeah, I’ll bet this admonition from James came from his own battle in this area.
  • Two Kinds of Wisdom:
    • I get the feeling James was talking about his younger self when he said, “But if you harbor envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such wisdom does not come down from heave but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and ever evil practice.” Yeah, I think James is going through some self-reflection and speaking from a position of experience and overcoming here.
  • Submit Yourselves to God:
    • More self-reflection from James: “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” How many quarrels did James try to start with Jesus? How much of his own selfishness did he have to come to terms with and repent of? How convicted was he of his wrong motives.
  • Warning to Rich Oppressors and Patience in Suffering:
    • This is probably some stuff he learned from Jesus that stuck. And while I’m on suffering, this reminds me of something I heard a couple of years ago that I thought of again just yesterday. Jesus gave used for himself and gave us four tools, and four tools only, to impact the world around us: Prayer, Service, Persuasion, and Suffering. I think this idea is consistent with the contents of what James is teaching here.
  • Prayer of Faith:
    • James saw Jesus’s power, and he came to believe that it was available to us to through repentance, prayer, and service.

Father, I’ve come to appreciate James in a whole new way today. I’ve thought about the author who wrote these things and put them in the context of his life experience. How have I never done that before. I wonder if I should do that with some of the other epistles from the New Testament. Peter. John. Paul. Jude. How did their live experiences, both good and bad, affect their ministry? I think I might have found my next series. Be with me and teach me through all of this.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on November 16, 2025 in James, John

 

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John 1:43-51

29 Sep

43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Come, follow me.” 44 Philip was from Bethsaida, Andrew and Peter’s hometown.

45 Philip went to look for Nathanael and told him, “We have found the very person Moses and the prophets wrote about! His name is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth.”

46 “Nazareth!” exclaimed Nathanael. “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”

“Come and see for yourself,” Philip replied.

47 As they approached, Jesus said, “Now here is a genuine son of Israel—a man of complete integrity.”

48 “How do you know about me?” Nathanael asked.

Jesus replied, “I could see you under the fig tree before Philip found you.”

49 Then Nathanael exclaimed, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God—the King of Israel!”

50 Jesus asked him, “Do you believe this just because I told you I had seen you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.” 51 Then he said, “I tell you the truth, you will all see heaven open and the angels of God going up and down on the Son of Man, the one who is the stairway between heaven and earth.”

John 1:43-51

Dear God, okay, the first time I read this I thought, “Oh, how I would love to get that compliment from Jesus: A man of complete integrity.” I read one translation that said, “There is n duplicity in him.” I love that. I would love for you to be able to say there is no duplicity in me. But then I reread the story and I noticed that Nathanael is certainly flawed. Just his supremacist attitude towards Nazareth. That shows he has a bit of an attitude born out of insecurity.

I just looked it up and found that John is the only one who tells us about Nathanael. He doesn’t eventually become one of the 12. Unless Nathanael went by a different name. This story and the one in John 21 where Jesus appears to the disciples after the resurrection are the only references to him in the entire Bible. So I guess we have John to thank for helping us know both Nicodemus and Nathanael. It would be interesting to see which biblical characters John tells us about that the others omit.

But going back to my initial thing about integrity and duplicity, this is a reminder that those aren’t enough. I can have these things and still have a hard, unloving heart. In fact, they can work against me if I rely too much on them and not on you. They need to be an integral part of my life. They are an important part of my life. But I can’t build my whole life on it because, well, if I have not love then I am nothing.

Father, I’m grateful for who I am, but I can also definitely see where those shortcomings are. Well, at least some of them. I know I have some shortcomings to which I am blind. Forgive me. Love others through me. Be glorified through me. Forgive me for my superior attitude sometimes. I worship and praise you.

I pray all of this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 29, 2025 in John

 

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John 3:13-17

14 Sep

13 No one has ever gone to heaven and returned. But the Son of Man has come down from heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.

16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.

John 3:13-17

Dear God, I have a couple of people in my life right now who are in a lot of pain. Help me to both look to Jesus, who has been lifted up for me, and then point each of these people to you. Help me to know how to do this. Give me words. Give me vision for them. Give me comfort for them. Give me encouragement for them. But the first thing they need, to the extent they are able to grasp the depths of it, is faith in you and following you. Help me to offer them to you today.

I remember preaching on this passage several years ago as a guest pastor at a church. It stuck with me so much that every time I see a cross in a church I think about it. When they are processing with a cross on a staff, or when there is a big one at the front of the church, I almost always think about it. I try to remember that I am as a person struck by the snakes of my own sin and I need your redemption. I am a slave to death. I need your redemption out of that slavery.

Father, I’ve talked about one of these visits that I’m having with these people to a couple of friends, and I’ve gotten some good advice. But what I need is for the Holy Spirit to speak through me, guide me, and give me ears to hear and eyes to see. I need you to help me be discerning and loving. I need to be exactly what you need these people to have. Help me to be that for them. For your glory, Father. For your glory and not mine.

I pray this In Jesus and through your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on September 14, 2025 in John

 

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John 6:22-71

28 Aug

22 The next day the crowd that had stayed on the far shore saw that the disciples had taken the only boat, and they realized Jesus had not gone with them. 23 Several boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the Lord had blessed the bread and the people had eaten. 24 So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went across to Capernaum to look for him. 25 They found him on the other side of the lake and asked, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”

26 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs. 27 But don’t be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you. For God the Father has given me the seal of his approval.”

28 They replied, “We want to perform God’s works, too. What should we do?”

29 Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.”

30 They answered, “Show us a miraculous sign if you want us to believe in you. What can you do? 31 After all, our ancestors ate manna while they journeyed through the wilderness! The Scriptures say, ‘Moses gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”

32 Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, Moses didn’t give you bread from heaven. My Father did. And now he offers you the true bread from heaven. 33 The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

34 “Sir,” they said, “give us that bread every day.”

35 Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But you haven’t believed in me even though you have seen me. 37 However, those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them. 38 For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will. 39 And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them up at the last day. 40 For it is my Father’s will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day.”

41 Then the people began to murmur in disagreement because he had said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Isn’t this Jesus, the son of Joseph? We know his father and mother. How can he say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”

43 But Jesus replied, “Stop complaining about what I said. 44 For no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me, and at the last day I will raise them up. 45 As it is written in the Scriptures,[i] ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. 46 (Not that anyone has ever seen the Father; only I, who was sent from God, have seen him.)

47 “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes has eternal life. 48 Yes, I am the bread of life! 49 Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, but they all died. 50 Anyone who eats the bread from heaven, however, will never die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and this bread, which I will offer so the world may live, is my flesh.”

52 Then the people began arguing with each other about what he meant. “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” they asked.

53 So Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you cannot have eternal life within you. 54 But anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise that person at the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. 57 I live because of the living Father who sent me; in the same way, anyone who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 I am the true bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will not die as your ancestors did (even though they ate the manna) but will live forever.”

59 He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

60 Many of his disciples said, “This is very hard to understand. How can anyone accept it?”

61 Jesus was aware that his disciples were complaining, so he said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what will you think if you see the Son of Man ascend to heaven again? 63 The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But some of you do not believe me.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning which ones didn’t believe, and he knew who would betray him.) 65 Then he said, “That is why I said that people can’t come to me unless the Father gives them to me.”

66 At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him. 67 Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Are you also going to leave?”

68 Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. 69 We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God.”

70 Then Jesus said, “I chose the twelve of you, but one is a devil.” 71 He was speaking of Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, one of the Twelve, who would later betray him.

John 6:22-71

Dear God, this is a long passage, but it’s too easy to take one or two verses out of context so I didn’t want to not look at all of it together. The verse of the day from Bible Gateway was just verse 29, but since this all seems to be part of one scene on one day I wanted to link it all together.

I almost feel like I need to outline this to really see what John’s trying to communicate to us through his telling of this story:

  • It’s the day after walking on water the night before.
  • The crowd is surprised to see Jesus gone and they go looking for him. I wonder how big that crowd was.
  • They found him and John tells us they explicitly asked him to solve the mystery of how he ended up there without a boat.
  • Jesus doesn’t answer. He changes the subject and starts to challenge them. Was he frustrated with them? I think so. What frustrated him? Was it that they were still only wanting to use him for themselves. He tells them they are just wanting a sign and fun miracles. Jesus claims to have your seal of approval, and says they need to seek the eternal life that he can give.
  • They change it back to works and miracles. I think they are saying they would love to be able to do some miracles. That would be cool and fun.
  • Here is the verse of the day (verse 29). Jesus tells them to let go of the flash and glory of being able to do cool things and simply believe in him.
  • They hold onto the miracles and the show. They want to see a sign so they can believe in him. I have to admit, I would not have believed in Jesus if I had been there. Not just because he told me to.
  • They want him to be like Moses. At that level. That’s the kind of liberator they are looking for. Maybe he can do what Moses did and bring on some food.
  • Jesus deflects the glory from Moses and even himself to you, Father.
  • They still want bread.
  • Jesus challenges them a little more by claiming to have come to them directly from you.
  • They aren’t buying it.
  • Here’s a fun one that causes controversy even to this day. From Jesus: “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.” (NASB1995) Predestination? I’m not going there today. Your ways are too complicated for me to fully understand.
  • And now the divisive issue that permeates the church even to this day. The idea of us eating Jesus’s flesh. The living bread. Again, I have my thoughts on this, and people I love and respect have other thoughts. I’m going to trust you with our disagreements and simply move on and love you.
  • Most of the crowd leaves. He finally culled the herd a little. It’s interesting that you don’t seem to want to have every last one of us in the fold. I think you want each of us as individuals. You love us all. But it’s almost like hiring someone to work for me. I love each person, but I can’t have them all work for me. There are some that I know would be a bad fit for our team and our work. Is it the same for you? You can’t have just anyone in the fold? You need each one to be bought in and working together?
  • Jesus looks at who’s left (the twelve) and asks if they are in.
  • Peter looks beyond the tricks and miracles and simply says, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.” (NASB1995)
  • Jesus affirms his selection of them including Judas, indicating he knew all along what Judas would do.

Father, I am grateful for the successes you give me in life, but I know they are for your glory and not mine. If you are blessing me with good things it is so I can give them away and do good for others. I don’t think your desire for me to be your ambassador and hands and feet in the world takes a break. You just want me to love and worship you. To love and share you with others. Help me to be your love to others today.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on August 28, 2025 in John

 

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John 15:1-2

14 Jul

15 “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. 

John 15:1-2

Dear God, tonight I am teaching on the Parable of the Sower out of Matthew 13, but it’s really something how many agricultural comparisons you made to our relationship with you through your presence in the world as Jesus. In this example, Jesus is our source of your presence in us. He is you and he is our connection to you. And honestly, it doesn’t make sense that you wouldn’t prune off the bad branches. If the new earth was full of people who had no regard for you or goodness in general, how would it be any different than this world?

And what of the pruning? I have a redbud tree in my backyard that we planted from a six-inch sapling. now, it is the tallest redbud tree I’ve every seen. In eight years, my wife has specifically watered it just about every day, and I have pruned it to give it a canopy tall enough for me to walk under. That seems to have pushed it taller and taller. I would guess it is about 20 feet tall now. I don’t know what it would look like if I’d just let it grow with no pruning, but it looks terrific now.

What would I look like if you didn’t prune me. If I just went off in every direction trying to represent you, worship you, and love you, but also having all of this dead stuff hanging onto me. All of this stuff that wasn’t a productive use of my time and energy. Also, the stuff that got knocked off because it was part of the sin I was holding onto and you knew I needed to be humbled and lean into you more.

Father, this is a great analogy. And I am grateful for how you are forming me. I am not there yet. I am not the man I want to be. I am not the man you know I can be. And I still have pain. Please help to make this pain in my life count for my formation and your glory in this world. I have two friends who have lost fathers this week. Please be with each of these women. Love them. Comfort them. Comfort them through their husbands, families, and friends. But comfort them through your Holy Spirit too. I know both of them are earnest worshippers of you. Help them through this pain. And I want to specifically lift up to you a couple that is precious to me that is going through a difficult time with a child. Oh, Father, be merciful. Help them to navigate this difficult path. Show them your love for them. Give them your peace. Give their child your peace. Use this pain to prune and not cast out. Make it count. Be powerful. Be healing. And use it to bring others into your presence as well.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on July 14, 2025 in John

 

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John 16:5-15

15 Jun

5 “But now I am going away to the one who sent me, and not one of you is asking where I am going. 6 Instead, you grieve because of what I’ve told you. 7 But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment. 9 The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me. 10 Righteousness is available because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more. 11 Judgment will come because the ruler of this world has already been judged.

12 “There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. 14 He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine; this is why I said, ‘The Spirit will tell you whatever he receives from me.’

John 16:5-15

Dear God, it’s Trinity Sunday, and I feel like I need to sit with you and just worship who you are. The psalm of the day is Psalm 8 where it includes the line, “What is man that you should be mindful of him?” Yes, who am I? Who am I that you should be mindful of me? Who are we that you should be mindful of us?

I like this line from Jesus in verse 12 that the disciples, in that moment, wouldn’t have been able to handle what they didn’t know or understand. You keep us on a need-to-know basis and we so seldom need to know. But part of our learning is having your Holy Spirit “guide [us] into all truth.”

Father, I need to be guided, even in this day. I need to be guided as I get ready to go to church. I need to be guided as I go out to work a fundraising event this afternoon. But to be guided, I have to first submit. You can’t lead me if I am out front. So I submit to you. I worship you. You are God and I am not. I don’t understand why you are mindful of me, buy you are. Help me to let go . Help me to know what that looks like. Help me to live and life and do things that bring other into complete relationship with you.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on June 15, 2025 in John

 

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John 8:1-11

06 Jun

Painting: La Femme adultère “The woman Taken in Adultery” by Lorenzo Lotto

8 Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, 2 but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them. 3 As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd.

4 “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?”

6 They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. 7 They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” 8 Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust.

9 When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. 10 Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”

11 “No, Lord,” she said.

And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”

John 8:1-11

Dear God, I don’t think this story gets enough time. It’s quite remarkable. My wife and I were talking about something last night and this story came up. I can’t remember what we were saying or the context in which we talked about it, but she mentioned this painting by Lorenzo Lotto to me. It gave me an interesting thought: What would it be like to follow this woman after she left Jesus that day? What was the rest of that day like for her? So I decided to take a little creative break from my 1 Samuel series and spend a little time with this woman this morning.

First, I want to back up and set the context. There was a festival going on in Jerusalem when this happened. It was the Festival of Shelters (John 7:1-10). I Googled that festival and found it was a seven-day commemoration of the years the Israelites spent in tents in the wilderness. That made me think of the book I read last year, The Year of Living Biblically: One Man’s Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible by A.J. Jacobs. I remembered he had done something that seemed to line up with this so I looked it up. He called in the “Feast of Ingathering–or Sukkoth.” His description seems to indicate it’s the same thing and he said Orthodox Jewish people still celebrate it by building huts and sleeping in them (he was in New York City so he had to build one in his living room). So that’s the context. An annual festival in Jerusalem where a lot of extra people are in town. In fact, this is part of the story when Jesus’s brothers told him to go to Jerusalem and show himself off and he told them he wasn’t going to go, but then he went secretly until starting to teach in the Temple halfway through the festival.

Now, back to this passage. After I read it this morning, I had some thoughts. Let me stress here that ALL of this is my speculation and there is a great likelihood that I’m completely wrong about it. With that disclaimer said, I wonder what the previous 12 hours were like for this woman and then what were the next 12 hours like. What were the circumstances under which she was caught? Who was she? Was she the one who was married to someone else or had she slept with someone who was married to someone else but she was single? Was she a prostitute? In that culture, if she was a prostitute, would they have cared? I believe there were a lot of prostitutes running around and sleeping with married men so my guess is that she was the on who was married and caught. Perhaps her husband caught her that night before and brought her to the Temple for punishment for stoning.

It occurs to me as I write this that this could have been Jesus’s own mother, Mary, when she was pregnant with him. Wow! What a thought. The husband could easily have been Joseph, taking her to the Temple for judgment and stoning. But “Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly.” I wonder if Jesus had this same thought that morning. If this had happened to his own mother while she was pregnant with him, it would have been a disaster.

As I’m sitting here (and I think I’m going to have a lot of disjointed, random thoughts this morning), I wonder why stoning was the chosen method of execution for so many sins. Was it because it wasn’t a hands-on approach? Back then, I suppose their options were to physically touch the person and kill them with some sort of blade or do something from a distance like throw stones or shoot an arrow.

Now that I think about it, the Jews under Rome didn’t have the right to execute people (that’s why they needed Pilate to sign off on Jesus’s execution). Was there an exception for stoning? I just Googled that too. Apparently, to compare it with modern American law, there were federal crimes (crimes against the Roman Empire) and state crimes (in this case, crimes against the Jewish religious law). Jesus’s crime was a federal crime because he claimed to be king while adultery or Stephen’s crime in Acts would be against Jewish law and could be executed by the Sanhedrin.

So back to our story. There’s a festival. I’m guessing that the woman’s husband catches her sleeping with someone else during the festival (maybe in someone’s special tent?) and takes her to the Temple for judgment and execution. Lots of anger. Lots of fear. As I’ve heard said in movies and other places before, “Women need a reason to have sex. Men just need a place.” (City Slickers) So perhaps this woman had a reason to not be faithful to her husband. I don’t know. But now she’s here, and she must be both terrified and humiliated. Regretful too. What’s going to happen now?

Then Jesus shows up in the Temple and starts teaching halfway through the Festival. I won’t go into the days he spent talking and everything he said, but, suffice it to say, the Pharisees were none too pleased. Then, on the last day of the festival, what John describes in John 7:37 as “the climax of the festival,” Jesus did one last big provocation about being living water. The Pharisees apparently sent the Temple guards to arrest him but they didn’t. Nicodemus, one of my heroes, tries to defend Jesus with, “Is it legal to convict a man before he is given a hearing?” and he gets jumped on and accused of being a Jesus defender: “Are you from Galilee, too?”

So now our scene takes place on the morning after the festival. Everyone might be a little hungover. This woman might have gotten caught up in the revelry of the night. And now she is standing in front of Jesus. The men (there are likely few if any women present) are simultaneously indignantly ready to stone her and wondering what it would be like to have sex with her (let’s be real, some of them were thinking that–that’s probably the most confident I am about any guesses I’ve made this morning), and she watches Jesus through a bowed head out of the upper part of her peripheral vision. What’s he going to do. So he bends down to write on the ground.

Here’s a new thought. Maybe he bent down to write on the ground so that she could see what he was writing. Maybe he wrote it for her. We assume he was writing to her judges and accusers, but maybe her face was so downcast that he knew this was the only way to communicate love and a new life to her.

So we know this next part. He stands up and affirms they are right that she should be stoned according to the law of Moses. But then he makes an interesting statement that (and again, this is a brand new thought to me) indicates humans don’t have the authority to commit capital punishment: “Let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” This statement could be applied to any sin such as murder that we think deserves the death penalty. As sinful creatures, do we have the authority to take a life–even the most heinous life, as the result of a crime? Wars are different animals that I won’t get into right now, but in this area, I think it helps convince me more than ever that capital punishment does not align with Jesus’s teaching.

So now everyone eventually admits they aren’t able to live up to the standard Jesus has now set for capital punishment and walks away, leaving only the woman, to whom Jesus famously says, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” She says no, and he closes the scene saying, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.” End scene.

So what happened next? That’s the first thought I had last night when my wife brought up this story. What was the rest of her day like as a forgiven woman? Was her husband one of the people who dropped his stone and walked away? Did he divorce her? Did she have to move in with a friend? And what was the state of her heart from that day forward? If it was a long-term affair, did she break up with the guy? Did she take her freedom from her sin and turn over a new leaf? Did she earnestly start to follow you? Who did she become as a result of this absolution from her sin?

Father, I am not without sin. I have no stones to throw. Jesus taught such a unique…what’s the word I’m looking for? He taught a unique perspective on who we are as humans and who you are as God. Oh, Father, help me to “go and sin no more” and to offer this same opportunity of your unique perspective on who we can be through following you to others. Help me to make this the evangelism that brings your kingdom into this world and drives the hell out of people.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on June 6, 2025 in John

 

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John 3:10-21

26 May

10 Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? 11 Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should [c]not perish but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

John 3:10-21

Dear God, following up on the impromptu prayer I did last night in the chapel, I want to talk a little about the book I finished reading: What is Jesus was Serious about Judgment? by Skye Jethani. I’ve been curious about Skye’s view of how Jesus would address everything from treating people fairly and forgiveness to heaven and hell and what the cut-line is for either destination.

And to be clear, I’m not sure how much stock I put into Jethani’s theological position. I think we are all wrong and none of us can know exactly what life will look like on the other side. Of all of the possibilities, Jethani’s view could be it. If I were putting money on a theological position given all of the options different teacher’s have, I’d put my money most closely to his. I tend to really agree with a lot of his positions. But the truth is, I simply don’t know. I simply don’t know. I am certain there will be a sorting one day. Jesus was clear about that in several parables. But what happens to the goats? It’s a hazy mystery to me. I hope they don’t really suffer for all eternity. As Jethani put it, that does not seem like proportional punishment for the crimes committed.

But I also think the temptation is to get too wrapped up in heaven, hell, the apocalypse, etc., and we forget to live in justice now. Jesus did care about justice in the here and now. And, frankly, although I read the book in order and didn’t skip ahead to the heaven/hell chapters towards the end, I was still distracted by their existence and looking back I don’t remember much of what his other real points were. So let me go back and look at the table of contents to see if that will help some thoughts stick out. Here are some elected chapter titles:

  • If Jesus was serious about justice, then evil empires will always misunderstand God’s justice.
  • If Jesus was serious about justice, then God hears the cries of the oppressed.
  • If Jesus was serious about justice, then experiencing oppression should give us compassion for others.
  • If Jesus was serious about justice, then evil will consume those who practice it.
  • If Jesus was serious about justice, then just laws will lead to community flourishing.
  • If Jesus was serious about justice, then true worship lifts up Christ by lifting up the oppressed.
  • If Jesus was serious about justice, then a heart far from God lacks mercy, not emotions.
  • If Jesus was serious about justice, then justice is about our identity, not the other person’s.
  • If Jesus was serious about justice, then God can be both merciful and angry.
  • If Jesus was serious about justice, then mercy and justice are partners, not enemies.
  • If Jesus was serious about justice, then justice alone won’t rescue us from our sins.
  • If Jesus was serious about justice, then God’s mercy comes with a condition.

Everything else starts getting into your wrath and how that will ultimately be handled, and I don’t want to go there this morning. I just want to sit with how I handle justice in my life. How I handle mercy.

I think the place to start is my own sinfulness and how I handle that. Before I can look at the speck in my neighbor’s eye, I need to look at the log in my own. And the more I truly address my own sins, failures, and foibles, the more empathy and mercy I have for others. To whom much is given much is required. I have been given a lot of mercy. Should I not give a lot in return?

Father, help me to find that line between mercy and justice. There should obviously be consequences for sin. David paid terrible consequences for his sin even though you loved him and cared for him. You forgave me. You even carried your path to Jesus through the woman he stole and murdered for. Maybe you did that more for her than him, now that I think about it. You had choices. You chose the victim to redeem through Solomon and his line. Nice. Help me to love victims, love sinners (who are sinners themselves–we all are), and carry your mercy into this world.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on May 26, 2025 in John

 

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Judas and Barabbas Revisited

05 May

Judas and Barabbas

Matthew

26 When Jesus had finished saying all these things, he said to his disciples, 2 “As you know, Passover begins in two days, and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.”

3 At that same time the leading priests and elders were meeting at the residence of Caiaphas, the high priest, 4 plotting how to capture Jesus secretly and kill him. 5 “But not during the Passover celebration,” they agreed, “or the people may riot.”

6 Meanwhile, Jesus was in Bethany at the home of Simon, a man who had previously had leprosy. 7 While he was eating, a woman came in with a beautiful alabaster jar of expensive perfume and poured it over his head.

8 The disciples were indignant when they saw this. “What a waste!” they said. 9 “It could have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor.”

10 But Jesus, aware of this, replied, “Why criticize this woman for doing such a good thing to me? 11 You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me. 12 She has poured this perfume on me to prepare my body for burial. 13 I tell you the truth, wherever the Good News is preached throughout the world, this woman’s deed will be remembered and discussed.”

14 Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples, went to the leading priests 15 and asked, “How much will you pay me to betray Jesus to you?” And they gave him thirty pieces of silver. 16 From that time on, Judas began looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus.

Matthew 26:1-16

27 Very early in the morning the leading priests and the elders of the people met again to lay plans for putting Jesus to death. 2 Then they bound him, led him away, and took him to Pilate, the Roman governor.

3 When Judas, who had betrayed him, realized that Jesus had been condemned to die, he was filled with remorse. So he took the thirty pieces of silver back to the leading priests and the elders. 4 “I have sinned,” he declared, “for I have betrayed an innocent man.”

“What do we care?” they retorted. “That’s your problem.”

5 Then Judas threw the silver coins down in the Temple and went out and hanged himself.

Matthew 27:1-5

15 Now it was the governor’s custom each year during the Passover celebration to release one prisoner to the crowd—anyone they wanted. 16 This year there was a notorious prisoner, a man named Barabbas. 17 As the crowds gathered before Pilate’s house that morning, he asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you—Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?” 18 (He knew very well that the religious leaders had arrested Jesus out of envy.)

19 Just then, as Pilate was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him this message: “Leave that innocent man alone. I suffered through a terrible nightmare about him last night.”

20 Meanwhile, the leading priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas to be released and for Jesus to be put to death. 21 So the governor asked again, “Which of these two do you want me to release to you?”

The crowd shouted back, “Barabbas!”

22 Pilate responded, “Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?”

They shouted back, “Crucify him!”

23 “Why?” Pilate demanded. “What crime has he committed?”

But the mob roared even louder, “Crucify him!”

24 Pilate saw that he wasn’t getting anywhere and that a riot was developing. So he sent for a bowl of water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. The responsibility is yours!”

25 And all the people yelled back, “We will take responsibility for his death—we and our children!”

26 So Pilate released Barabbas to them. He ordered Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip, then turned him over to the Roman soldiers to be crucified.

Matthew 27:15-26

Mark

14 It was now two days before Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread. The leading priests and the teachers of religious law were still looking for an opportunity to capture Jesus secretly and kill him. 2 “But not during the Passover celebration,” they agreed, “or the people may riot.”

3 Meanwhile, Jesus was in Bethany at the home of Simon, a man who had previously had leprosy. While he was eating, a woman came in with a beautiful alabaster jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard. She broke open the jar and poured the perfume over his head.

4 Some of those at the table were indignant. “Why waste such expensive perfume?” they asked. 5 “It could have been sold for a year’s wages and the money given to the poor!” So they scolded her harshly.

6 But Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. Why criticize her for doing such a good thing to me? 7 You will always have the poor among you, and you can help them whenever you want to. But you will not always have me. 8 She has done what she could and has anointed my body for burial ahead of time. 9 I tell you the truth, wherever the Good News is preached throughout the world, this woman’s deed will be remembered and discussed.”

10 Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples, went to the leading priests to arrange to betray Jesus to them. 11 They were delighted when they heard why he had come, and they promised to give him money. So he began looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus.

Mark 14:1-11

6 Now it was the governor’s custom each year during the Passover celebration to release one prisoner—anyone the people requested. 7 One of the prisoners at that time was Barabbas, a revolutionary who had committed murder in an uprising. 8 The crowd went to Pilate and asked him to release a prisoner as usual.

9 “Would you like me to release to you this ‘King of the Jews’?” Pilate asked. 10 (For he realized by now that the leading priests had arrested Jesus out of envy.) 11 But at this point the leading priests stirred up the crowd to demand the release of Barabbas instead of Jesus. 12 Pilate asked them, “Then what should I do with this man you call the king of the Jews?”

13 They shouted back, “Crucify him!”

14 “Why?” Pilate demanded. “What crime has he committed?”

But the mob roared even louder, “Crucify him!”

15 So to pacify the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He ordered Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip, then turned him over to the Roman soldiers to be crucified.

Mark 15:6-15

Luke

22 The Festival of Unleavened Bread, which is also called Passover, was approaching. 2 The leading priests and teachers of religious law were plotting how to kill Jesus, but they were afraid of the people’s reaction.

3 Then Satan entered into Judas Iscariot, who was one of the twelve disciples, 4 and he went to the leading priests and captains of the Temple guard to discuss the best way to betray Jesus to them. 5 They were delighted, and they promised to give him money. 6 So he agreed and began looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus so they could arrest him when the crowds weren’t around.

Luke 22:1-6

13 Then Pilate called together the leading priests and other religious leaders, along with the people, 14 and he announced his verdict. “You brought this man to me, accusing him of leading a revolt. I have examined him thoroughly on this point in your presence and find him innocent. 15 Herod came to the same conclusion and sent him back to us. Nothing this man has done calls for the death penalty. 16 So I will have him flogged, and then I will release him.”

18 Then a mighty roar rose from the crowd, and with one voice they shouted, “Kill him, and release Barabbas to us!” 19 (Barabbas was in prison for taking part in an insurrection in Jerusalem against the government, and for murder.) 20 Pilate argued with them, because he wanted to release Jesus. 21 But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”

22 For the third time he demanded, “Why? What crime has he committed? I have found no reason to sentence him to death. So I will have him flogged, and then I will release him.”

23 But the mob shouted louder and louder, demanding that Jesus be crucified, and their voices prevailed. 24 So Pilate sentenced Jesus to die as they demanded. 25 As they had requested, he released Barabbas, the man in prison for insurrection and murder. But he turned Jesus over to them to do as they wished.

Luke 23:13-25

John

12 Six days before the Passover celebration began, Jesus arrived in Bethany, the home of Lazarus—the man he had raised from the dead. 2 A dinner was prepared in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, and Lazarus was among those who ate[a] with him. 3 Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance.

4 But Judas Iscariot, the disciple who would soon betray him, said, 5 “That perfume was worth a year’s wages. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor.” 6 Not that he cared for the poor—he was a thief, and since he was in charge of the disciples’ money, he often stole some for himself.

7 Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. She did this in preparation for my burial. 8 You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

John 12:1-8

2 It was time for supper, and the devil had already prompted Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus.

John 13:2

38 “What is truth?” Pilate asked. Then he went out again to the people and told them, “He is not guilty of any crime. 39 But you have a custom of asking me to release one prisoner each year at Passover. Would you like me to release this ‘King of the Jews’?”

40 But they shouted back, “No! Not this man. We want Barabbas!” (Barabbas was a revolutionary.)

John 18:38-40

Dear God, I came across this prayer from December 2023 recently, and I wondered if it wouldn’t make a good Sunday school lesson. I’m teaching this Sunday and then I’m also starting a weekly Bible study next Monday the 14th so I want to dust this off and sit with it again for a bit.

The prayer I did back in December 2023 was long. Honestly, I’m surprised I spent that much time with it. I wonder how long it took me to put all of the scriptures together from all four gospels. Regardless, it’s interesting to think about and then compare the world then and the world now. Are we really that much different? Does the perceived weakness in Jesus then still frustrate us today. Is his way (read: your way) too soft? Don’t you realize the only way to get things done is to do this like Barabbas tried, but with your power?

I was talking with a guy on Friday, and he was rattling off presidents he thought were too week and wimpy. It was basically everyone since Reagan with the exception of the current president. H.W. and W. were to wimpy. I pushed back a little on W., saying I hadn’t heard that or thought that about him, but he was saying W. was too nice.

Oh, Father, help us. I get the feeling that’s what the church now thinks is true: nice gets you nowhere. Nice leaves you vulnerable. Nice is weak. Nice will lead to your destruction. We need tough. We need warriors. We need to fight. I said a couple of years ago that the logical fulfillment of Christian Nationalism is the Spanish Inquisition and, ultimately, the Crusades. As I look at what is happening now and how we are trying to nationalize Christianity and punish our allies for not being more like us I think it’s happening faster than I thought it would. And oh, how it will destroy trust in you. The first- and second-century churches were seen as loving and caring. That’s all they had to offer, and that’s still all we should have to offer because that’s who you are. You are loving and caring. Do you judge? Sure. Do you condemn? Yes. But that’s up to you to do. Our job is to love you with everything we have and love our neighbors as our selves. That includes our enemies. So help me to do that today. And help me to take that attitude into the world. I love you. I want to love like you.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on May 5, 2025 in John, Luke, Mark, Matthew

 

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John 21:18-25

04 May

18 Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go.” 19 Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He *said to him, “Follow Me!”

20 Peter, turning around, *saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; the one who also had leaned back on His bosom at the supper and said, “Lord, who is the one who betrays You?” 21 So Peter seeing him *said to Jesus, “Lord, and what about this man?” 22 Jesus *said to him, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!” 23 Therefore this saying went out among the brethren that that disciple would not die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but only, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?”

24 This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and wrote these things, and we know that his testimony is true.

25 And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they *were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself *would not contain the books that *would be written.

John 21:18-25

Dear God, I want to sit with John towards the end of his life for a moment. He could have sat down and told these stories for someone to write a long time ago. He could have done it immediately. But he didn’t. The end of John actually gives us, or at least I think it gives me, a little image of him sitting on the Island of Patmos deciding to get all of this down before he died (I know there are debates about when he wrote this, but I’m sitting with the “old John” as the author).

What’s always struck me about this book is that almost a third of it is spent on the Last Supper and that it ends so abruptly. Why not finish Jesus’s earthly life or end on a more grand scale. Matthew ends with the “Great Commission.” Mark and Luke end with a quick reference to the ascension (although Luke also starts Acts with a more detailed description of the ascension). But John just tells this story about Peter’s restoration and conversation with Jesus. It’s almost like the last thing he wanted to do was ensure everyone knew that Peter was the leader.

It makes me think of the stories that involve just Peter and John. The two that come to mind immediately where it’s just the two of them without James is when they run to the tomb, John gets there first, but Peter goes in first. Then there’s the story in Acts of the time they are walking about the fountain, the beggar cries out to them, and Peter answers, “Silver and gold have I none…” The common denominator in these stories is that Peter is the leader. Peter is the one willing to go into the tomb. Peter is the one who speaks to the beggar. Even during the Transfiguration, Peter is the one who is foolish and tries to say something in the midst of the amazing situation. And John loved him.

I think John loved a lot of people. I think he loved Nicodemus since the first story of Nicodemus is gentle,, and every reference to Nicodemus after that is flattering towards him. I think, to a certain extent, he loved Pilate. In my opinion, he paints the most gentle image of Pilate of any of the gospels. And he loved Peter. He knew the story of Peter’s betrayal of Jesus was out there. He wanted to make sure the restoration picture was out there too. He’s the only one who tells it.

Father, as I search for a takeaway for myself today, I think what I see is the need to love really love people. John is generous in how he portrays others to us. Help me to be that generous as I portray people I know to others. Help me to build up. And that includes people I don’t like or people who are against me. Help me to be generous of spirit to them. Help me to be kind to them. Help me to love them. Help me to give them the benefit of the doubt. Help me to be curious and not judgmental. Help me to not be jealous, but instead to delight in their good.

I pray all of this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on May 4, 2025 in John

 

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