Category Archives: John

²⁹ Then his disciples said, “At last you are speaking plainly and not figuratively. ³⁰ Now we understand that you know everything, and there’s no need to question you. From this we believe that you came from God.”

³¹ Jesus asked, “Do you finally believe? ³² But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when you will be scattered, each one going his own way, leaving me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me. ³³ I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

John 16:19-33

Dear God, I kind of like in this how the disciples think they know what is going on from what they say in verse 30: “Now we understand that you not everything…” But do they? Do they really? Jesus answers them that their knowledge and faith are fragile. They will be tested. Their metal will be tempered. They will be tried and sifted. They will be challenged. But they will grow from all of this. They will learn from all of this. As John is sitting and remembering all of this from that last night before the crucifixion, he is doing a good job of painting the picture of their confusion and Jesus’s clarity.

Will I ever have a time when I am clear on what is going on around me? Do I need to be clear? Is it maybe better for me to not be clear and completely lean on you in each moment? In a lot of ways, I think it’s the struggle that makes me more useful to you. It keeps me humble. It keeps me on my knees. It also keeps me compassionate for those who also struggle.

Father, I have some work to do today. Help me to do it well. I have people to love today. Help me to love them well. There are some people I know who are struggling right now and need your angelic protection. As I run through their names in my mind, please be with them. Let your angels be with them to protect them. Let your angels me with me as well. Move in this world. Move in this world through me and through your church. But I also know that you can move in anyone, so I simply pray that you will let your kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And forgive me. And help me to truly forgive others. Please keep me from temptation. Help me to avoid it and walk the other way. Help me to love you, keep my heart pure, and love everyone I can.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

¹³ “Now I am coming to you. I told them many things while I was with them in this world so they would be filled with my joy. ¹⁴ I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. ¹⁵ I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. ¹⁶ They do not belong to this world any more than I do. ¹⁷ Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. ¹⁸ Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. ¹⁹ And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth.

John 17:13-19

Dear God, thank you for not taking the disciples out of the world. Thank you for the work they did after Jesus’s resurrection and ascension. Thank you that you were able to take the hate the world had for them and use that hate to spread them throughout that part of the world and that those dominoes ultimately got knocked over until they reached my small life. I am here today because of the lives they lead. Thank you.

And I suppose it is my turn now. It is my turn to let my life be one that leads to others knowing you. I don’t feel like I am nearly as good at it as they are. Perhaps I’m too safe. I live in an area that is similar to the one where Jesus lived in that it is filled with a bunch of people who believe in you, but do not follow you in discipleship. They believe, but they are spiritually dead. It seems to me that the apostles were most effective when they went into the world beyond that area and lived among those who had never heard of you at all. I’ve thought about that before. What would it be like to live in a godless place on the west coast where they are hostile towards you? What would it be like to be salt in that environment? It feels like when I try to encourage believers into real discipleship here, it falls on deaf ears. There are times when it feels like I am making very little difference when it comes to introducing people to you and being part of deepening their relationships with you.

Father, you have not taken me out of this world. I am not home yet. Protect me from Satan. Make me holy your truth. By your word. Hold me close, and use me. Prepare hearts that will encounter me and help me to take you to them. And prepare my heart for those who you have to minister to me. Love me through others. Build your church in our community. Do it all for your glory and so that your kingdom will come and your will will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

Dear God, the verse of the day from Bible Gateway today was Jesus’s response to Judas (not Iscariot) at the Last Supper in John’s Gospel when he asked why Jesus was only revealing himself to them and not the whole world. I thought that was a really good question on his Judas’s part. So I decided to sit down this morning and just look at what John records the disciples asking Jesus that evening to see if I can get a feel for what that confusing time must have been like for them.

It starts after the foot washing scene and Jesus’s prediction of Judas Iscariot’s betrayal when Peter says this:

³⁶ Simon Peter asked, “Lord, where are you going?”

And Jesus replied, “You can’t go with me now, but you will follow me later.”

³⁷ “But why can’t I come now, Lord?” he asked. “I’m ready to die for you.”

John 13:36-37

Peter was, indeed, ready to go to battle for Jesus as is evidenced in John 18:10. He just wasn’t ready to go willingly to his death for Jesus without a fight. Jesus’s way was different.

In John 14, Jesus starts by telling the disciples he is leaving and they know the way, to which Thomas replies in verse 5, “No, we don’t know, Lord. We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?” It’s interesting to see the confusion and the complete inability for these men who knew Jesus better than anyone to understand what was happening and get their heads around this new paradigm he was laying out.

Next, it is Philip’s turn. After Jesus tells them they will know you through him, Philip answers, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” What exactly did Philip think he was asking for there? I have to tell you, the idea of seeing you with my own eyes terrifies me. I think was Philip was saying is much like the father who wanted Jesus to heal his son and when Jesus challenged his faith said, “I believe. Help my unbelief.” I think at this point, maybe Philip and the rest were getting a little rattled and he was wanting something that would help any unbelief that was creeping in. That’s just a guess on my part, but when you put that statement in context, it makes sense.

Now we are up to what I think is a great question from Judas (not Iscariot):  “Lord, why are you going to reveal yourself only to us and not to the world at large?” On one level, he is probably wanting you to reveal yourself to the world so the world wouldn’t that they, as your disciples, were crazy. This was all weird and unprecedented. And then on another level, it’s a good question. Isn’t it time for you to reveal yourself to the world as the Messiah? Isn’t it “go-time”? Of course, I know now that the plan was for you to die and rise again–and even then you were selective about who you revealed yourself to. And it was for a reason. A resurrected Jesus in the eyes of an entire society would still have elicited a paradigm of nationalism and rebellion against Rome. But that wasn’t the plan, either before or after the crucifixion and resurrection. But it’s a good question on Judas’s part.

Judas’s question sets off, according to John, as long speech by Jesus as he tries to explain to them what they need to know, but ends with them asking in chapter 16, “What does he mean when he says, ‘In a little while you won’t see me, but then you will see me,’ and ‘I am going to the Father’? ¹⁸ And what does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand.” This is one of the reasons I think it would have actually been difficult to hang out with Jesus on a regular basis had I been alive then. I get the feeling I would have been in a state of constant confusion. Although, I guess that’s not much different than I am feeling now and every day. I am always at least a little confused.

Finally, after Jesus gives them a little more explanation, although it doesn’t seem that much clearer to me than what he said before, they say, “At last you are speaking plainly and not figuratively. ³⁰ Now we understand that you know everything, and there’s no need to question you. From this we believe that you came from God.” Frankly, I’m not sure they really understood. I think this is one of those times when I pretend to understand something because I am tired of feeling and appearing foolish.

Father, it was fun to spend a little time with Jesus’s disciples at the Last Supper this morning. Man, they were doing their best, but they were so confused! But is it any more confused than I am at any given moment. I won’t understand what you are doing in this world until after it has happened. So my job now is to ask you to give me my direction today. Show me what to do. Show me who to love. Show me how to worship you. And lead me not into temptation, including looking at political stuff and starting to fret over an idol I am tempted to create in government, but deliver me from evil.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen