Showing posts with label john. Show all posts
Showing posts with label john. Show all posts
why did you write that?
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.(John 20:30-31 ESV)
John wrote these things (his book) for a reason and he gives us that reason here at the end of chapter 20.
This is not a book about a vague God but a particular person, Jesus. It's a book that shows that Jesus is the Christ, the messiah, He is the culmination of God’s plan throughout history. It's book that tells us that Jesus is the Son of God, not just someone who tells us about God. God exists in a glorious loving community that pours love outwards towards us, the rebels who have rejected him.
This book was written so that we can have life - real life. Separation from the author of life is death, there is no life outside of him. This life is not an ethereal event in the future, but fulness of life now into eternity. It's a book that makes it clear that the way we can have this life is by believing in Jesus - not doing something, not following his example - simply believing that He is who He says He is. When we believe in Him, our life is in Him. We are in Jesus, we are as accepted and loved as he is, we are empowered by the same spirit he is, we are united in him, he is with us.
Good news!
how to have your life transformed
Mary has been devastated by Jesus' death and is distraught that his body is missing. Her tears are transformed into joy when he says her name.
The disciples have been on a rollercoaster over the last 3 years and are now meeting in a locked room, more confused and terrified than ever. Ther fear is transformed into peace as they receive his spirit.
Thomas wasn't present when Jesus appeared to the rest of the disicples and can't believe what he is hearing. His doubt is turned into worship as he considers Jesus' wounds
These encounters continue in the next chapter and in the other gospels - Peter at the beach, the disciples on the road to Emmaus. No one who encounters the risen Jesus is left unchanged.
This is still true today.
- Tears are turned to joy as Jesus says your name
- Fear is turned to peace as you receive his spirit
- Doubt is turned to worship as you consider his wounds
nobody wants a king
Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.”
(John 19:14-15 ESV)
Pilate’s motivation is not clear, but it seems as though he is trying to spare Jesus’ life by making him seem as little like a king as possible - slapping, mocking, flogging, crown of thorns, purple robe - when he says 'behold your king' they are looking at a pathetic specimen.
Their response, that they have “no king but Caesar” - shows they are willing to say anything to have Jesus killed. They hate the Roman Empire, these words must have stuck in their throat, but for them it’s not enough to humiliate him, they want him out of the picture entirely. This is not a technical matter of the law, they don’t want a king that challenges their position. As they said in 12:19 the whole world is going after him, and they needed to stop that.
We are the same. We don’t want a king. We want to be our own king. Jesus is the ultimate King, regardless of what we want, but he is also willing to go to the cross for us.
“the essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man. Man asserts himself against God and puts himself where only God deserves to be; God sacrifices himself for man and puts himself where only man deserves to be. Man claims prerogatives which belong to God alone; God accepts penalties which belong to man alone.” John Stott
an incomparable king
Now it was the day of Preparation of the Passover. It was about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.”
(John 19:14-15 ESV)
Throughout the trial and crucifixion of Jesus, he is repeatedly referred to as the King of the Jews. Despite the motives of the people saying it at the time, it is true.
Jesus is more than (but including) the king of the Jews, as he tells Pilate in 18:36, his kingdom is not of this world. Jesus created the universe, He sustains it, He chose to enter it and he will return and rule it for ever. At the point, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that He is in his rightful place!
His kingdom is so far above this little power struggle in a particular local area at a particular point in history it’s laughable to compare. At that point in history, Jesus didn't seem like a king and Pilate and Caesar held all the power. But now, Pilate and Caesar are confined to the history books while Jesus is worshiped by a billion people around the world. Jesus is the true King.
dying for the people killing him
- Judas betrays Jesus. We don’t know the motivation but we do know it’s the betrayal of someone who has been a friend, it’s the violation of close relationship.
- Annas questions Jesus with the appearance of a proper trial. Jesus exposes the questions are not legitimate enquiries about his teaching because all of that has been public. They are looking for reasons to carry out what they already want to do.
- Peter is scared and denies Jesus. His bravado of earlier chapters has disappeared. He really meant it when he said he would die for Jesus, but regardless of his emotional good intentions, he turns his back on Jesus in order to preserve himself.
- Pilate shows frustration and contempt for the Jews, impatience as he questions Jesus about his kingship, yet seems convinced of Jesus’ innocence. He hears about Jesus’ kingdom of truth and seems close for a moment - asking, what is truth? - then turns away before he can hear the answer. He rejects the heavenly kingdom (where Jesus holds all of the power) in favour of the one he sees right in front of him now (where he holds all the power).
- The crowds want Barrabas, a known criminal, to be released and an innocent man to be condemned
- We also see the irony of the Jews trying to keep themselves pure by not entering Pilates house while at the same time plotting the murder of God!
Everyone else is setting themselves up against Jesus, and we do the same thing is the same ways
- Like Judas we have violated our friendship with Jesus
- Like Annas we find reasons to do what we already want to do. How often do we become a legal “expert” when it comes to Jesus - with reasons and sub clauses why certain things don’t apply to us, or to explain and excuse what we have done?
- Like Peter, no matter how serious our intentions we let fear of others lead us to disassociate ourselves from Jesus
- Like Pilate we turn away from the kingdom of heaven in favour of earthly kingdoms.
- Like the crowds we are easily swayed to choose someone else just a week after chanting Jesus’ name
Like the Jews we think that we are keeping God onside with religious regulations while at the very same time rejecting his son.
Jesus chose the cross, for us
Jesus is in control here. He is doing this for them, and us. This is the scandal of the gospel. Jesus was dying for the sins of those putting him to death.
The account of Jesus’ betrayal, arrest and trials remind us again of our great sin and of His greater love for us.
who's in charge here?
Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?” They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am he.” Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground. So he asked them again, “Whom do you seek?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.”
(John 18:4-7 ESV)
How can we worship someone who died. Surely is he was the son of God, then he, or God could have stopped it. What sort of God can be killed by his creatures? If I can physically destroy God, why should I worship that God?
Throughout Jesus' betrayal, arrest and trials in John 18, we are reminded over and over again that Jesus is in charge here.
- v4 Jesus knows what is about to happen
- v4 He comes forward
- v6 He speaks and knocks them over! For a moment we get a glimpse of the reality. Soldiers are coming up against the Lord of heaven’s armies. The only way this arrest is happening is if Jesus lets it happen. And he does let it happen.
- v9 "to fulfil the word he had spoken" Jesus had predicted these events
- v11 He doesn’t want to fight - "shall I not drink the cup?" The cup is an image used throughout the bible for the wrath of God. Jesus is going to drink that cup
- v14 a reminder of Caiaphas’ “prophecy”
- v32 "this was to fulfil" - again, Jesus had predicted all of this
- v37 for this purpose I have come
This is the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, creator, sustainer and ruler of the universe, willingly submitting to betrayal, arrest, slapping, interrogation and death.
No one takes my life from me, I lay it down of my own accord.
John 9:18
He is in charge, he is in control, this is not out of control, this is the plan. This is his hour.
He was in charge in the darkest hour of human existence. He’s still in charge now.
a different glory
All sorts of "gods" are seen as glorious because they are seen to be powerful. Only the God of the bible is glorious because of his outgoing love. All other gods give instructions about how to get to them. Only the God of the bible comes to us.
If God is glorious just because he is the creator and ruler of the world, then we can acknowledge his rightful position and even be grateful that he forgives us for breaking the rules but without fully enjoying the gifts of a loving Father as part of the family of God
If God is glorious just because he is powerful, we can pray with knowledge that he can act in any situation but no assurance that it is for our good.
If God is glorious just because he is holy, we can bow in awestruck worship but only as we draw back in fear aware of our own uncleanliness
If God is glorious just because he is judge, then we can be satisfied that all wrongs will be righted but only as we watch from afar in our just position of separation from God.
God is all of those things but he is more. He gives. He sends. He loves. He gives to us so that we can give. He sent Jesus to us so that we can be sent out to others. He loves us so that we can love others. We are welcomed into the family, let’s extend the good news of that welcome to others.
glorious sending
I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.
(John 17:15-18)
We
could do everything better if we were taken out of the world and glorified with God right now,
except one thing - spread the gospel with those who don’t know Jesus. That is why Jesus is not asking the Father that we would be taken out of the world.
Jesus was sent and so are we. We are sent in the same way Jesus was sent. What does that look like?
“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.
(John 17:20-23)
The glorious, giving love that exists within the trinity overflows in creation and continues to go out to us, even when we rebel against it. That's how Jesus was sent. That’s the same way we are sent. Jesus prays for our unity so that the world may believe in him and know him. The world seeing the christian community truly loving each other, not self-serving but giving and serving others, is seeing something of the glory of God. Jesus was sent with the authority to give eternal life and what is that eternal life? v3 - to know God. It’s not a transaction, it’s being welcomed into the family.
Glorious giving
Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
(John 17:24 ESV)
We associate glory with receiving praise/adulation, maybe occasionally some glorious person “gives something back”. God’s glory is entirely different. God’s glory is other-focussed. God’s glory is giving.
“The life of the Trinity is characterized not by self-centeredness but by mutually self-giving love. When we delight and serve someone else, we enter into a dynamic orbit around him or her, we center on the interests and desires of the other. That creates a dance, particularly if there are three persons, each of whom moves around the other two. So it is, the Bible tells us. Each of the divine persons centers upon the others. None demands that the others revolve around him. Each voluntarily circles the other two, pouring love, delight, and adoration into them. Each person of the Trinity loves, adores, defers to, and rejoices in the others. That creates a dynamic pulsating dance of joy and love.”
TimKeller, The Reason for God
And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.God is glorious for many reasons, but the primary display of his glory is his love. He gives and gives. When we think of glory we might think of an image of a footballer with arms outstretched, lapping up the adulation of the crowd. God’s glory can also been seen with arms outstretched - in giving himself on the cross.
(John 17:19 ESV)
responding to hate
Hate is going to happen, but we can have peace. How should we respond when we encounter hate? We can respond in peace rather than panic or pride
- We can have peace because Jesus said it was going to happen
- We can have peace because it is temporary - there will be no hate in the new heaven/earth. Complete joy is Jesus’ plan for us
- We can have peace because of the Holy Spirit - He is with us, we are not isolated. He is the spirit of truth, revealing the truth of Jesus to us and helping us see his glory through his word, giving us solid foundations rather than the shaky basis of human approval
- We can have peace because the Holy Spirit can turn haters into friends.And we can have peace because he has overcome the world. But how did he overcome the world? By sacrificial love… for the haters - us. We were haters of God who have been shown mercy and grace and are now called friends of God. Haters are going to hate, Jesus is going to love, and so can we.Jesus responded to hate in peace and with love. He has responded to our hatred of him with peace and love. That love has brought us back into the family, we are in Christ, we have the Holy Spirit in us, enabling us to respond to hate in peace and with love.
peace in unpeaceful circumstances
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
(John 16:33 ESV)
Jesus tells us that haters gonna hate, but he also says we can have peace in the midst of that. How?
- We have a helper 15:26 - you are not on your own
- Our helper is the Spirit of truth 15:26 & 16:13 - We’re not living our lives based on the path of least resistance or the most popular option, the Holy Spirit is guiding us into truth. He is reminding us that God is in control, that we are sinners, that we are loved and forgiven. We can have peace in the midst of tribulation because of the truth of the gospel
- Jesus has prophesied that this will happen 16:4 - The wheels are not falling off God's plan. We can have peace in the midst of trouble when we remember “he said this was going to happen”. None of this is taking God by surprise, he is not getting caught off guard.
- It is better for us to have the Holy Spirit than Jesus walking around! 16:7
- The Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgement. 16:8-11 We are free to engage the haters but it is not our job to argue them round or convict them of sin. God’s got that in hand. The amazing thing is that haters can be turned into brothers/sister in Christ by the work of the Holy Spirit - look at the example of Paul
- The Holy Spirit glorifies Jesus. 16:14-15 & 15:26 We can have peace in the midst of trouble because the Holy Spirit shows us Jesus’ glory
- It is temporary v16 -22 "a little while" - death followed by resurrection. Jesus uses the example of childbirth: pain turned into joy. We can have peace because the resurrection shows us that something better is on it’s way. We are in the labour stage now, but that’s only temporary
haters gonna hate
“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’
(John 15:18-25)
It shouldn't be a surprise to us when we encounter opposition, or persecution, or hatred, because Jesus encountered those things. Christians live with a different worldview, have a different allegiance, have a different king. Sometimes that is unnoticeable - two people doing the same thing for different reasons. But it will come out at some point. Honesty when there’s pressure to lie, generosity in a selfish environment, lack of participation in gossip. When the different allegiance becomes obvious it leads to hate. The world is happy with nominal Christianity, what it doesn’t want is a Christian who is not willing to compromise on whatever area is currently in view.
This hatred does not mean the wheels have fallen off God's plan. In chapter 16:33 Jesus says he has said “these things” so that we can have peace in the midst of tribulation. "These things" are what he says in chapter 16, which we'll look at in the next post.
how much does he love his friends?
Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
(John 15:13 ESV)
This principle is pretty much universally respected. This is what Jesus' love is like - he is going to lay down his life for his friends. Therefore, as in v12, this is what our love for each other should be like - laying down our lives - this does not (just) refer to a life or death situation but daily seemingly mundane decisions to put others needs before our own.
He is committed to the good of his friend because he loves them. How committed? How much does he love? "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends". Jesus laid down His life for you, He is committed to you, He loves you.
friends of God
No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.
(John 15:15-16 ESV)
We friends of Jesus. We say this flippantly and it sounds cheesey, like this:
but this is a massive statement. We are, by nature, enemies of God. He turns enemies into friends.
He chooses that friendship. We can’t choose to be friends with the Queen, she would have to choose to be friends with us. If one person has betrayed another, the betrayer can’t just choose to friends again, it would need the betrayed person to make a choice. We don't deserve friendship from Jesus but he has chosen us to be his friends.
pruning
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
(John 15:1-2 ESV)
Pruning seems counter intuitive but it results in more fruit. The gardener knows how to prune. God prunes us through Jesus’ words as well as through circumstances, suffering etc. It seems wrong and even painful to us but God knows best how to make us more fruitful. Does something in God's word challenge you or disturb you? God is pruning you. Are you going through difficult circumstances? God's desire is that you would bear more fruit due to that process. We don't get the big picture, but we are just the plants. God is the gardener and he knows what he is doing.
no fruit?
Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
(John 15:2 ESV)
If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.
(John 15:6 ESV)
A branch bearing no fruit shows it is not connected to the vine. There's no such thing as nominal Christianity here - if you're a branch in name only but not doing what a branch does then you are not part of the vine anymore. There is no such thing as a christian with no fruit. You might be struggling, it might be difficult to see much fruit, but if Jesus has had no effect at all on your life, then it’s likely that you’re confused about what it means to be a christian.
are you just nailing apples to the tree?
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
(John 15:4-5 ESV)
We don't bear fruit by effort. Fruit comes from abiding, living, remaining in the vine - Jesus. The fruit comes from being part of the vine. As Paul Tripp describes below, so much of our effort in the Christian life is nothing more than nailing apples to a tree that is not growing them.
Jesus is the source of life and fruit (v5), he speaks and we are clean (v3). He is the root and we grow when we are attached to him.
the true vine
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser."
(John 15:1 ESV)
Throughout the Old Testament, Israel, God’s people are often depicted as a vine. They had vines on their coins and sculpted vines across the entrance of the temple. More often than not, the prophets talk about the lack of good fruit from the vine.
What more was there to do for my vineyard,that I have not done in it?When I looked for it to yield grapes,why did it yield wild grapes?
(Isaiah 5:4)
When Jesus calls himself the true vine, he is bearing the fruit that the vinedresser (Father) is looking for. Blessing used to come from being part of Israel, now it comes from being part of him.
peace
[27] Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
(John 14:27 ESV)
Jesus has been talking about his impending departure, Judas' betrayal, Peter's denial. The disciples are understandably concerned - it looks like the wheels are falling off this mission. Jesus comforts them by promising the Holy Spirit.
Part 1 - help
Part 2 - family
Part 3 - teacher
Jesus gives us peace - Shalom - not just the absence of conflict but positive fulfillment, everything as it should be. That peace is a gift. It's not like the peace that the world offers which is, at best, temporary "peace and quiet". Our greatest conflict is not in our circumstances, it is between us and God - and that is where Jesus has brought peace. Once that relationship has been reconciled we can experience peace in the middle of unpeaceful circumstances.
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