Devotions from the Book of John.

 

    Each of the Gospels tell of different incidents in the beginning of the life and ministry of our Lord, and it is hard to put it into consecutive order. Matthew tells of His birth, His baptism and temptation before going into the sermon He gave on the Mount; Mark tells of John Baptist’s ministry of repentance and baptism…of the baptism of our Lord, then His time in Galilee when He met and called Peter and Andrew, then James and John, and later on the rest of the twelve. Luke gives a full account of His birth and then of John’s preaching and ministry, and finally his imprisonment. Then he tells of His baptism and temptation and how the people of Nazareth rejected His teaching. John tells us nothing of His birth, but launches straight into the ministry of John the Baptist, our Lord’s baptism and the calling of the first four disciples…..

 

                                The Word.

John 1:1-3

John begins his Gospel with a statement that cannot be argued with….In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word WAS God! He then goes on to show what the Word did…”All things were made by Him and without Him was not anything made that was made”……

We read later in the Bible that it was God’s Son Who made the  universe, making the earth within it to be the home of human beings who would be able to fellowship with Him. This One is the brightness of God’s glory and the exact mage of His Person, because He is part of the Godhead (Hebrews 1:2-3). We are told so many things about the Word of God….there is the Living Word who is our Lord Jesus Christ, and there is the written Word which we have as the Bible.

God’s Word, both living and written, is powerful, even today, and pierces into our very being, speaking things that do not leave us alone until we act on them . Everything that we say and do is open before God and His Word, and we cannot escape it (Hebrews 4:12-13) .

Jesus Christ, the Living Word, Came forth to man from His Father God,

The Word is full of power indeed, But we must read and to it take heed.

***              ***             ***

                           The Word is Light.

John 1:4-5

John now expands what he knows about this One. He lived with and walked beside this One for three years, and is himself described as the “one whom Jesus loved”. For three years he watched what He did and heard what He said, and saw Him rise from the dead and then rise into heaven. Now he writes, “In Him was life and the life was the light of men”……

It is because of this One that man has life and understanding, and can share in the light of God. Man is made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26), in that he can reason, fellowship with others and more importantly, have fellowship with God, his Maker.

There is a dark side to things, and man is meant to be a  light shining bright against this dark backdrop,  light that reflects God’s greater light of goodness and love. Man des not have this light coming from himself, man is meant to be a reflection of God’s light in the way he lives. This is only possible through Jesus Christ  living within that man. No other created being on earth has that capability, and no other created being on earth stands up in rebellion against its Maker either! All the animal and plant life follows exactly the pattern that God laid down for it when it was made, but man was given a free will to follow God or not.

 Jesus Christ, who made and redeemed man, Sent him forth according to plan,

Man now has to make a choice, To praise or not , God with his voice .

***             ***             ***

Enter John Baptist

John 1: 6-8

John’s birth was an unlikely one, having parents deemed too old to ever have children  (Luke 1:6-7),  and he grew up to be a “different” sort of man. He liked his own company and lived out in the desert, eating locusts and honey from the wild bees (Mark 1:1-6)…..

John no doubt, had been told by his parents how he was a child specially sent by God, and as he was growing up h must often have pondered about this. The day came when he felt led by God to start preaching, and people flocked to hear him. He wasn’t promoting himself or some new doctrine, he was telling the people that the Messiah was about to arrive on the scene, and that they were to prepare themselves for Him by repenting of their sin and being baptised.

John’s job was to tell people that the Coming One was the Light of the World, and would show them the true way to God. Man was created to have fellowship with God, and has always had a desire deep within to know Him…with some, this desire has been squashed and eventually gone unrecognised, but others have followed it until it came to fruition.

 Jesus Christ gives heaven’s Light, To bring man out of sin’s dark night,

Many did not understand, Bt others came and made God’s band.

                                ***             ***             ***

                     God’s Sent One.

John 1: 9-14

John doesn’t mention anything about the birth of Jesus Christ, but gets straight to the point. This is the Tue Light that he is writing about, the One who came as the God Man to earth to redeem mankind back to God. He is the True Light that can totally identify with man and all his troubles…..

There was not one problem that Jesus Christ did not experience apart from sin. Because of this, He is able to help us today as we go through the trials and troubles of life. Here he was, the Creator of all things, and of the people who surrounded Him, and yet people didn’t recognise this; He came to His own chosen people, the Jews, and they didn’t want Him. What rejection! Not even his own brothers believed in Him until after the crucifixion!

These ones received salvation and the position of sons of God…what a wonderful gift! They had availed themselves of the second birth which gave them new life in Christ, an eternal life with God that will never cease.

John goes on then to give his own testimony of his time with this wonderful One…even though He was a human being, there was a glory there, a glory of the Eternal Father God, and He was full of grace and graciousness in His dealings with others, and completely truthful. If people thought differently, the problem was with them, not in Him.

If we feel that He is far away from us, it is we who have moved or allowed some sin of resentment or  untruthfulness to creep in, it is not He Who has moved from us. Let us always remember this, and cry out to Him in confession and have that closeness restored once more. (1 John 1:9). Let us not allow our pride to keep us from enjoying His fellowship.

 Jesus Christ has come to earth, To give each human second birth,

It  now is up to each  down here, To keep that fellowship still near.

***             ***             ***

                         John Baptist’s Witness.

John 1: 15-23

John’s job was to announce the coming of the Messiah, and He was there among the people as a humble carpenter doing daily work just like everyone else. But now it was God’s time for Him to come out and to do the work that His Father had sent Him to do….

John knew this….we wonder if they had spoken together of this beforehand. They were both men in their prime, aged thirty, with the wisdom of maturity and yet still with the energy of youth. They were ready to do God’s work.

John already had a following as a preacher of righteousness, and he told the people that there was One who was coming after him who had actually been before him! This was probably all a bit puzzling to the people, but John made it very clear that this One was from God, and He would show this by His life.

The religious leaders were expecting the Messiah to come, but not as a mere humble carpenter from the little-known town of Nazareth…they thought He wasn’t even well educated ! They thought maybe John was the one, but he made it very clear that he was only the announcer of this Coming One, he wasn’t even  Elijah come back to life or any of the other old prophets! When they asked him again who he was, he said he was what the prophet Isaiah had called “a voice crying in the wilderness to make their ways straight”

 Jesus Christ was come indeed, To fulfil man’s deepest need,

John announced that He was here, That He would always remain near.

***             ***             ***

                                John Baptising.

John 1: 24-34

The Pharisees were puzzled….“Why are you baptising people then, if you aren’t the Messiah or one of the prophets?” they asked. John was at the river Jordan and people were coming to him to be baptised to show their repentance of sins. Jesus came to him there too while he was doing this…..

John doesn’t actually tell us of His baptism, but we read of it elsewhere. Jesus asked John if he would baptise Him too. John was puzzled, he knew this Man had no sin to repent of, he knew that this was God’s  pure and perfect Messiah. “I need to be baptised by You”, he said when Jesus made His request, “Not for me to baptise You!”

“Do it” Jesus said, “It becomes us to fulfil all righteousness”. So John baptised Him and as He came up out of the water, John saw God’s Holy Spirit descend in the same manner as a dove upon Him and heard God’s voice proclaim from heaven, “This is My Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased!” (Matthew 3:13-17). This was all the confirmation that John needed to be sure that Jesus was the Son of God, and that he could preach this with all confidence. This was indeed the Lamb of God who had come to be the sacrifice for man’s sin!

 Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, The One and only Truth and Word,

God’s Holy Spirit fell on Him, Remained and filled Him to the brim.

***             ***             ***

                                The Disciples Come.

John 1: 35-51

John was watching Jesus the next day and said to two of his disciples who were with him, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” One of those listening was Andrew, and  he and his friend followed Him home. They stayed with Him…we wonder what the conversation was!

Andrew was convinced that Jesus was indeed the Messiah, and he went to find his brother Peter and tell him bout Him. Peter too, went to see Him, and Jesus said, “Your name should be Cephas”, and Peter was known by this name (which means “a stone”) as well.

The next day, Jesus met Philip and asked him to follow Him as well. Philip was so impressed, that he went to his friend Nathanael and said, “We’ve found the One who Moses and the prophets wrote about!”

Nathanael’s response was, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”

“Come and see!” said Philip, so Nathanael went with him to meet Him.

“You’re an honest man!” were Jesus’ first words to Nathanael.

“How do you know me?” asked Nathanael.

“I saw you under the fig tree before Philip went to you”, was Jesus’ reply.

“Oh Master!” Nathanael cried, “You are truly the Son of God!”

We wonder what it was that Nathanael was pondering on under that fig tree…was he in some deep thought about the future? What was bothering him? Whatever it was, it was enough to convince him that Jesus was the Prophet he was waiting for.

 Jesus Christ was King indeed, Nathanael then would take all heed,

To the  things He said that day, He then followed Him all the way.

***             ***             ***

                                The First Miracle.

John 2: 1-11

John’s narrative from here on reads as though all the disciples were with Jesus….he doesn’t tell us about the call of any of the others, in fact from a careful look at all the records of this, it seems there may have been several meetings between Jesus and His disciples before they followed Him as an entire group all the time….

We have the account here of this wedding in Cana where everything was going well until they ran out of wine. Over the years, Mary knew that Jesus could provide things when they were needed, so she went to Him and said, “They’ve run out of wine!”

Although His reply seems rather harsh, yet she understood that He was telling her that He would take care of things, and to let Him do things His way. She went to the servants and said, “Whatever He tells you to do, do it!”

So when He told them to fill the water pots with water and then take them to governor of the feast, they obeyed. We wonder what their thoughts were when the Governor took the first sip and exclaimed, “This is beautiful wine!” He called the bridegroom over and said, Usually people put out the best wine first, but you’ve kept the best until now!. Amazing!”

What a challenge this is to us! How often things have looked hopeless, and we’ve been cast on God for the problem, and then we have to wait and see how God will work things out! We have to learn to obey the principles that are given in God’s Word, and stand firm on them. It may not be easy, and others won’t understand, but this is what trusting God is all about.

Jesus Christ is faithful still, If we do His royal will,

He will never let us down, If we do not pout or frown.

***             ***             ***

                                Cleansing the Temple

John 2:12-25

We see here the beginning of the public ministry of our Lord…He had demonstrated His power in the miracle of turning the water into wine, and now He moved across to Capernaum briefly with His mother, brothers and disciples. Capernaum was on the shores of the Sea of Galilee….we wonder if this was when He saw and called James and John to leave their fishing and follow Him….

John doesn’t dwell on his call, but goes on to tell of our Lord’s trip to Jerusalem and what He found when He got to the temple. Things had got so slack in the sacrificing of the animals at the temple, that the agents who handled them had moved right into the temple court with them. There was noise, smell and confusion as the selling and bargaining went on in the place where there should have been peace and quietness with the priests going about their tasks of presenting the sacrifices to God.

Jesus went into the midst of this busyness, and had a small whip with Him which He used to chase the animals out and tipped the money changer’s tables over saying as He did so, “Take these things away, and don’t make My Father’s house a place of business!”

The religious leaders asked what He thought He was doing and He made one of His cryptic comments that He was so famous for….”If you destroy this temple, I’ll raise it up again in three days!” They thought He was talking about the temple building, but He was actually referring to the temple of His body and His death and resurrection three days later. So many times in His ministry, He used physical things which the people understood to teach them spiritual truths! This was one of them.

 The temple was built for worship and prayer, But greedy men had  their business there,

It had to be cleansed and fit for the Lord, Then praise to Him could be freely poured.

***             ***             ***

                                Concept of New Birth.

John 3: 1-21

We now read of Nicodemus, one of the religious leaders who came to Jesus one evening to talk to Him. We are not told why he came at night, and it is not for us to give reasons why he did. The main thing is that he came, and his first words were an acknowledgement that Jesus was come from God…..

This is where each one of us has to start in our relationship with Him…He is the ONLY way, truth and life (chapter 14:6) to God the Father. Jesus immediately went straight to what Nicodemus was really wanting to know…He said, “You have to born again to see God’s kingdom!”

This concept was totally foreign to Nicodemus…”However can that be? I’m a grown man!”

“You’re a teacher of the people and yet you can’t understand that I’m talking of a spiritual birth, not a physical one? Remember how Moses put the snake on the pole in the wilderness so the people could look at it and live when they were bitten? Just as the snake was lifted up, so must I be lifted up to bring spiritual healing. All you have to do is to believe with all your heart that I am He, God’s only begotten Son, and you will have everlasting life! If you don’t believe this, you will remain condemned and in the darkness that you’ve been born in. I have come as a light to the world, but men love darkness rather than light in case their evil deeds are shown up!”

There, the record of the conversation ends. But we have one more indication of Nicodemus’ heart belief…he helped in taking down Jesus’ body off the cross after the crucifixion. Then he fully understood the meaning of Jesus’ illustration of the snake being on the pole!

 Parables were used to fully explain, God’s truths to men so they would gain,

Understanding of deeper things, Things that to God glory bring.  

***             ***             ***

                                John Understood.

John 3: 22-36

Jesus moved around from one end of the country of Israel to the other. He moved to the area of Judea, and taught the people, calling for repentance of sins and baptising people there. John too, was moving around baptising people as he had not yet been imprisoned…..

John’s disciples were a bit concerned about the fact that Jesus was baptising people too, and told him this. John reminded them that he had always said that the Messiah would come after him, that he was only like the friend of the bridegroom standing by him. He was watching Him increase while he (John) knew he must decrease in the face of this One who had come from heaven.

“He is far superior to any prophet on earth, He is the actual Son of God! People must believe on Him, Jesus Christ, to receive everlasting life, and if they don’t then God’s wrath and judgement will be on that person for ever!” John told his disciples, and with that the conversation ceased.

These are serious words and are still valid today, two thousand years after they were spoken. This is still the message for today and we must take heed to it if we want to be sure of entering God’s presence for ever. The alternative doesn’t bear thinking about. We really have no option at all….believe in Jesus Christ or be damned for ever!

 Jesus Christ has come to earth, To give to man the second birth,

Man has no option but to  believe, Eternal life will then receive!

***             ***             ***

                              The Needy Woman.

John  4:1-15

Jesus left the area of Judea and headed north again for Galilee. Instead of skirting around the area of Samaria which most Jewish travellers did, He insisted they were going to go through it. He had an important mission there, a date with an unnamed  woman…..

It was midday when they reached the town of Sychar, and Jesus sat on the edge of the well, knowing that this woman was about to come and draw water from it. The disciples went off into the town to buy some lunch, and so He was alone when she arrived.

“Can you give me a drink?” Jesus asked.

We wonder what attitude this woman had when she replied…was she being smart or was she being saucy? “How come that you being a Jew, asks me, a woman of Samaria, for a drink? Jews don’t speak to Samaritans!”

“If you knew Who I am, it is you who should be asking Me for Living water to drink!” He said.

She was puzzled and didn’t understand what He was getting at.

“You haven’t got anything to get water with”, she said, “Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob who gave us this well?”

“You are going to get thirsty again after drinking this water”, Jesus said, “those who drink of the water that I give will never thirst again!”

Now her attention was really caught. Never get thirsty again?

“Sir”, she said unbelievingly, “Can you give me this water to save me coming out here  each day to get it?”

The woman was still thinking in terms of the physical, and what a saving of time and work it would be if she didn’t have to come and get her water each day!

 Jesus Christ gives the water of life, Water that satisfies and ne’er gives strife,

The water of life brings the greatest of peace,  Gives  life eternal that never will cease.

***             ***             ***

                              Light  Dawns.

John  4:16-30

Jesus now confronted the woman with her style of life. We too have to face our need if we are to come to know the Lord in a meaningful way. She had to face the fact that she was a sinner, and in the same way, we have to come to Him and confess the same thing….until we do this our hearts are no different to what her’s was!

It was time to change her thinking, so Jesus told her to go and bring her husband there.

“I don’t have one”, she said.

“ No, you don’t”, He agreed, “You’re right, you’ve had five husbands and the one you’ve got now isn’t your husband at all!”

The woman cringed. She knew He was right. How did He know? “You must be a prophet!” she said, “You Jews say that Jerusalem is the place to worship, but we’ve always worshipped here in this mountain!”

“I tell you that the time is coming when people won’t have to go to a PLACE to worship God, they will be able to worship Him in their spirits  because God is a Spirit and this is how He wants people to worship Him.”

Light seemed to dawn on the woman and she said, “I know that the  Messiah is coming who will tell us everything we need to know”.

“I am He”, Jesus said simply. More light dawned on the woman then and when the disciples returned  with the food, she left her water pot there, and ran back to the city. She told the men congregated there, “Come and see a Man at the well who has told me everything I ever did….. this must surely be the Christ!”

We wonder what they may have been talking about, because they immediately followed her out to see what she was on about.

Until we face the truth that Jesus gives, We never more will be able to live,

In His presence and light divine, That He freely gives within to shine.

***             ***             ***

                              The Needy Men.

John  4: 27, 31-43

The disciples had returned with the food they had bought and were amazed to see Jesus talking with this woman who had come to the well. “What’s He talking with HER for?” they wondered, but no-one had the gumption to say so….

Then we come to another passage where our Lord talks in spiritual terms about things the disciples thought were physical.

“Master”, they said, “Have some of this food we’ve brought”.

“I have food to eat that you don’t know about”, was all He said.

They looked at each other, “Has someone else brought Him food?”, they wondered.

“My food is to do the will of My Father”, He said, “ and to finish the work He sent Me to do. You think that it is another four months before the harvest is ready, but I tell you it is ready to reap now! You will be able to gather fruit for eternity….others have sown the seed and you can enter into their work too  in the harvest, and you will both rejoice together!”

By this time the woman had returned and the men with her. They listened to what He had to tell them, and then said to the woman, ”Now we know what you were talking about! We believe on Him because of what He says, and know now that He is truly the Messiah!”

They crowded around Him, drinking in His every word. He stayed with them for two days, teaching them what they needed to know.

What a wonderful time that would have been for them, a time they would never forget as long as they lived! They knew they had met the Saviour of the World!

 God meets with  those who have deep needs, Teaches them, and also leads,

Opens eyes to see His truth, Gives to them eternal growth.

***             ***             ***

                                Healing the Boy.

John 4:44-54

Jesus and His disciples left Samaria after two days of intensive teaching and continued their journey to Galilee. The people there were ready to listen to His teaching because they had seen what He did in Jerusalem at the Passover feast, and heard Him there…..

When He arrived back in Cana  where He had performed the miracle of turning the water into wine, word quickly got around that Jesus was back in the area. There was a certain official in Capernaum whose son was very ill, and he was beside himself to know what to do. When he heard that Jesus was back, he went immediately to see Him and begged Him to come and heal the boy.

“Please come before my son dies”, he cried.

“You can go home”, Jesus said, “Your son is alive and well!”

The man believed what Jesus said, and went straight back home. He had the utmost confidence that what Jesus said was right. His servants came to meet him on the way and told him that the boy was quite healed.

“When did he start to improve?” the man asked.

They told him the time of the previous day when he started to improve, and the man knew then that it was the very same time that Jesus had told him his son would live! The man then knew that Jesus was no ordinary healer, he believed in Him along with everyone else in his household.

We too, can think of times when our prayers have been answered the way we want them to be, and how thankful we were! But there are other times when our requests have not been granted….we must always remember that our prayer WAS answered, but with a “No” for God’s own reasons. Sometimes we can look back and see the reason why, but other times none of it makes sense. We still have to rest in God’s wisdom and Master Plan for our life, and praise Him for Who He is!

 Jesus Christ , the great healer of all, Healing our body, and also our soul,

Answering prayer in His own way, For all our good every day.

***             ***             ***

                                The Man at the Pool.

John 5:1-15

Jesus once more went to Jerusalem for a special feast. He had in mind one special man, a man who had been lying unable to help himself for thirty eight years. We aren’t told anything else about him, and are not even told his name…he comes into John’s narrative here and then disappears again….

But Jesus knew he was there. We are told that there was a great crowd of handicapped people sitting around this pool at Bethesda waiting  for the water to move…they believed that an angel came down periodically and stirred it up, then whoever was able to get into the water first would be healed.

This man was there waiting and hoping that somehow he would be able to get into the water at the right time. But he had no-one with him to help him. He was one of the dregs of humanity, with no-one to care about him. This was the one who Jesus was coming to help. We wonder what he thought about…did he think about God at all? Did he yearn for some sort of relationship with Him? We aren’t told.

Jesus went to the pool that day and asked him,  “Do you want to be healed?”

“I can’t get into the water in time”, the man said, “Someone always gets in ahead of me!”

Jesus said, “Get up and pick your bed up and go!”

The man didn’t hesitate, he did just that. The religious leaders told him he had no business to be carrying his bed as it was the Sabbath. When they found out that it was Jesus Who had told him to do this, they plotted once more to kill Him. But it was not His time to die yet, and they couldn’t touch Him. Later on Jesus found this man in the temple and told him to not sin any more unless some things worse would come on him. We know that leaving God out of one’s life is the worst thing we could do.

Some things to notice about this man….he knew his need, he believed what Jesus said  and obeyed without arguing. Then the first thing he did was to go to the temple, we presume to give thanks. We too, have to recognise our need as sinners and to believe and obey His word before we can be healed of our soul’s diseases. Then we are to find a place of worship where we can meet with God and give Him thanks. What a difference this made to this man’s life! And we will find it makes a difference to us too, as we then follow His ways…we are new creatures in Christ! (2 Corinthians 5:17)

 Jesus Christ can make us whole, And give us each a different role,

Newly made in Him we are, Praising Him, of Him aware.

***             ***             ***

                                The Jews’ Hatred.

John 5: 16-47

The religious Jews hated the works and words of our Lord. They thought He was a charlatan but couldn’t deny the acts of healing. The more the people thronged around Him, listening to His teaching, the more they hated Him. But when He claimed that God was His Father, that was the last straw and they began plotting to kill Him…

They had no concept of God as their Father or the fact that He is a loving God; they didn’t even recognise that God could raise the dead back to life, and when He said that He could as well, they were incensed.

“The Father doesn’t judge people, but has given His judgement to the Son. People will honour the Son”, He said, “Just as they honour the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you”, He carried on, “Those who accept My word have everlasting life and will not come into condemnation but  have passed from death to life”.

He went on to speak of His authority from His Father God, and of the resurrection when all men would be raised back to life to face God in judgement. “I can’t do anything by Myself”, He said, “It is God’s will that I do what I’m doing!”

He reminded them about John the Baptist. “You were willing to listen to his teachings”, He said, “He bore witness to Me. But I have greater witness than even John, the things that I am doing bear witness of Me. My Father in heaven also bears witness to Me. The Scriptures  which you believe also bear witness of Me…..even Moses wrote of Me! If you won’t believe what he wrote about Me, how are you going to believe what I say?”

 Jesus Christ hid nothing from the Jews, He plainly told what they would lose,

If they continued to refuse His Word, And not own Him as their Lord.

***             ***             ***

                                Feeding the Crowd.

John 6: 1-14

Jesus was back in the Galilee region again, and was teaching the crowds that followed Him. They weren’t so much interested in what He taught as they were in seeing the miracles He performed on diseased people…they were more interested in what they could get out of Him for themselves!

Aren’t we all like this! “What is there in this for me?” is our cry! “I want to see for myself !” This  particular day people got far more than they were reckoning on. Matthew tells us that Jesus and His disciples had received the news of John the Baptist’s death and then gone off across the lake to a deserted place  (Matthew 14:12:21). We can imagine the disciples wondering why this had happened to John when there was still so much preaching to do! It would have been a time of mourning for them. But the crowds saw them go and ran around the shore line to follow them up the hill where they had gone for peace and quiet.

Jesus saw the great crowd and felt compassion for them, and healed the sick….this went on all day and by the time it was evening, the disciples were getting hungry and tired and said to Him,  “Send them away to get food”.

“No, you feed them!” Jesus said to them. Andrew said, “There’s a lad here with five buns and two fish, but that’s only enough for one!”  (Luke 9:11-17) . It wasn’t much but our Lord took it and gave thanks then distributed it to the crowd…there was an abundance of food and they picked up twelve baskets of left-overs!

There are several lessons for us to learn from this incident…little is much in the hands of the Lord! Never underestimate what you can do with His help. When God supplies, there is always more than enough, and what a good lesson in not leaving litter in a place!

 Jesus Christ supplied the need, For the people to have a good feed,

There was far more than enough, For God knows how to supply good stuff!

***             ***             ***

                                     The Storm!

John 6:-15-21

The people were so amazed at the provision that Jesus had supplied, that they said, “This is indeed the prophet that God is going to send! Let’s make Him our King!” thinking how nice it would be to have someone to provide their food miraculously for them!  But that is not how God operates. Neither was it the right time. Jesus dissuaded them and went further up the mountain on his own to pray…..

    Night was beginning to fall. Jesus told His disciples to go across the lake in one of the boats while He sent the people away. So they went down to the shore and set off in their boat leaving Jesus still up the mountain. The weather changed as they were halfway across and they were finding it heavy going with a head wind. As they were struggling with making headway, they saw a figure walking on the water near them. They cried out in fear thinking they were seeing a ghost, when a familiar voice said, “Don’t be afraid! I’m here!”

Peter immediately said, “Lord, if it’s really You can I come to You?”

“Come”, said Jesus, and Peter clambered out of the boat and found that he too was walking on the water. But it was still dreadfully rough, and as he took his eyes off Jesus, he began to sink down into the water.

“Save me Lord!” he cried and Jesus put out His hand and took hold of him, helping him back into the boat. The wind stopped immediately, and they found themselves miraculously at the beach where they were heading to    (Matthew 14: 24-33; Mark 6:47-51). At this demonstration of His power, they were full of amazement and worshipped Him on the spot.

There are several points to notice here…Jesus knew when He sent them off what was going to happen, He knew the storm was going to come, and He didn’t prevent it. It was for His purpose of teaching them this lesson. So often when we find ourselves in a bad situation, we think we have made a wrong decision, but the Lord knows all about it, and can we learn some of our most valuable lessons through these storms that He allows us to go through  (Romans 8:28). We realise that He is with us at ALL times, good and bad, but we have to keep our eyes on Him to keep afloat!

Another thing to notice is that ALL storms have an end….when we are in the middle of a hard situation, there seems no light at the end of the tunnel, but once we see the Lord with eyes of faith, we are at the beach we were heading for. God always remains faithful to His people, and it is up to us to remain faithful to Him! We are in this storm together!

Jesus Christ knows what will come, As He gently leads us home,

He is there to help and guide, Will always be along our side.

***             ***             ***

                                The Bread of Life.

John 6: 22-71

The next morning, the people looked for Jesus again and when they couldn’t find Him, they set off around the lake to find Him. Jesus went straight to the point with them…”You’re only looking for Me because you got a free feed yesterday!” He said, “You should be looking for the eternal food from the Son of Man”…..

This wasn’t what they were expecting to hear and they asked how they were meant to do God’s work then? Again, the answer wasn’t what they expected to hear….  “all God expects from you is to believe on the One He has sent”.

They immediately got on the defensive…. “Give us a sign then so we can believe You!”  (They completely forgot the miracles they had already seen Him do!) We then come to the famous discourse on the Bread of Life….”I am the Bread of Life”, Jesus said, “You’ve seen Me and what I do but you don’t really believe in Me!  All those who come to Me, I will never throw away. I’ve come to do my Father’s will, and He will never allow anyone who comes to Me to be lost. Those who will believe on Me will have everlasting life!”

The local religious leaders began to complain, “Who does He think He is? We know He is only the son of Joseph the carpenter, how can He say He came down from heaven?” Jesus reiterated that He was the living bread from heaven, and that those who came to Him would live with Him and He would be with them for ever. “Just as your ancestors ate the manna and lived, so you will live if you eat of Me”, He said.

This was too much for many of those listening to Him, and even His disciples muttered about it….”This is too hard!” they said.

But Peter spoke up and  said, “Where else can we find the words of eternal life if we leave Jesus? We believe and are sure that You are the Son of God!”

This can be our confidence too…it is no use just believing ABOUT Him, we have to believe and put our faith and trust IN Him…our head believes about Him and our actions and very being take Him in just as our physical body takes in bread to live.

 Jesus Christ has come to men, To bring God’s life to them again,

Men respond and take His Word, And obey what they have heard.

***             ***             ***

                                Opinions Divided.

John 7: 1- 53  

Jesus continued teaching and healing in the Galilee region, and then when the time for the feast of tabernacles (which devout Jews still kept) came, His brothers said, “Why don’t You go up to Judea and do Your miracles there?”

His brothers didn’t really believe He was anyone special, even at this time! But He didn’t go with them to Jerusalem as there were so many men there who wanted to get rid of Him. It wasn’t His time to die yet……He went there secretly instead.

The people were looking for Him, and then one day He appeared in the temple teaching. The people were divided in their opinion of Him. “He is a good man!” some said. Others said, “No, He is deceiving the people!”

Jesus spoke of doing God’s will, of circumcision, and about judging others. Then He announced yet again, that He had come to do God’s will, and said that He had been sent by God. The Pharisees heard about this and tried to arrest Him, but it wasn’t the right time  and they couldn’t touch Him. On the last day of the feast, Jesus spoke and said, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink! If you believe in Me, you will have the living water!”

Once again, the people’s opinion was divided…some said, “This is the Prophet that is to come!” Others said, “Christ isn’t supposed to come from Galilee, He is supposed to come from Bethlehem!”

Officers were sent out to arrest Him and when they returned without Him, the priests said, “Why haven’t you brought Him?”

“We haven’t heard anyone else speak like He does!”

“You’re deceived too!” the priests said in disgust.

Nicodemus spoke up again, “We can hardly arrest anyone who hasn’t committed a crime and gone to court first!”

So the whole thing came to nothing for then, and they dispersed. His time was not yet come.

 They didn’t understand the things He said, As He spoke of water and of bread,

The rulers wished to take him then, But could not on Him  lay a hand.

***             ***             ***

                                Sin Condemns.

John 8: 1-11

Jesus went back to the temple again the next day, and He continued to teach the people. The religious leaders thought they would catch Him out this time. They  were full of self-righteousness as they brought a woman to Him who had been found in the very act of committing adultery….

We wonder why they didn’t bring the man as well, after all it takes two to commit adultery! “Moses told us that this woman should be stoned for doing this!” they announced, “What do You say?”

Jesus didn’t answer them but bent over and wrote in the dust on the ground. Again, we wonder what He wrote, and if they could see it! They asked Him the same thing again, and this time He stood upright and said, “The ones among you who have never sinned can throw the first stone!” and then bent down and continued to write in the dust.

The woman’s accusers were convicted by the words of Christ, and one by one they left the place until there was only the woman left. Jesus stood up again, and said, “Where are your accusers? Are there any left to accuse you?”

“No-one Lord”, she said.

“Neither do I accuse you,” He said, “But go and sin no more”.

This is a small picture of what it is going to be like when we all face God at the judgement day. These men knew deep down when faced with God’s holiness in the Person of Jesus Christ, that they too were sinners, and they were no better than this woman. They didn’t need the judgement of Jesus Christ. They judged themselves and left His presence. So will those do who can’t claim the blood of Christ to take away their sins in that coming day.

Another thing to notice is that the woman acknowledged Jesus as “Lord”, and in doing this she was forgiven and given a second chance. How thankful we can be that there is a  second chance for those who confess their sin! Let’s make sure that each one of us have done this.

Jesus Christ forgives all those, Who come before the door will close,

Those who come, their sins confess, Will then receive His righteousness.

***             ***             ***

                            Jesus Frees from Sin.

John 8: 12-37

Jesus continued teaching in the temple, and made His famous statement…. “I am the Light of the World…anyone following Me won’t be in darkness but will have the light of life!” Jesus continued speaking about His Father and once more they took exception to this….

“Where is your Father?” they demanded rudely.

Jesus replied, “If you REALLY knew Me, you would know My Father as well!”

They were badly wanting to arrest Him there and then, but were powerless to touch Him. “You will die in your sins”, He told them. “If you don’t believe who I really am, (the I AM which they recognised as God’s Holy Name) you will die in your sins!”

The leaders who should have known better, couldn’t understand what He was on about because they didn’t believe what He said, but many of the ordinary people did, and followed Him. But even they didn’t understand much, and He told them that they were to continue in His teachings and then they would know the truth which would make them free.

The religious leaders butted in again, “We’re Abraham’s descendants and aren’t in bondage to anyone (they must have forgotten the Romans!) so how can we be made free?”

Jesus then spoke plainly, “Anyone who sins, is in bondage to sin! You can’t be free from sin unless the Son (of God) makes you free. You want to kill Me because you don’t believe what I’m saying!”

This principle is just as true today as it was then. We aren’t sinners because we sin, we sin because we are born sinners! Paul wrote, For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 6:23), and While we were yet sinners Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). He is truly the only One Who can set us free from the bondage of sin!

Jesus Christ can save from sin, If we will but let Him in,

He will cleanse from every stain, For this is why to earth He came.

***             ***             ***

                                Accusations.

John 8: 38-59

Jesus continued talking to the ones who were still sceptical…. “You can only be free from your sin if the Son (referring to Himself) makes you free. I know that Abraham is your ancestor, but you are wanting to kill Me because you don’t believe My word. I’m telling you what My Father wants you to know. You don’t know Him!”

They got mad at this and said, “Abraham is our father! We weren’t born because of fornication! God is our Father!” This was a slur on the fact that Mary was pregnant before her marriage to Joseph.

“If God were your father you would love Me!” Jesus said, “You can’t understand what I’m saying because the devil is your father. He is a murderer and a liar, and you can’t believe the truth which I’m telling you!”

“You’re just a Samaritan and a devil!” they said.

“I’m telling you truly”, Jesus said, “If you believe what I’m saying, you will never die!”

This was too much for them. They were taking His conversation from a purely physical point of view, while He was talking to them from a spiritual point of view…they didn’t have a clue what He was on about. We are told too, that it is the Spirit of God that shows a person the things of God, and that they can’t be understood without His insight…someone who hasn’t the Spirit of God has never been born again and CANNOT understand these things (1 Corinthians 2:10-15).

Jesus continued….”Your father Abraham rejoiced to see the day when I would come, and was glad!”

This was far too much for them to comprehend…”You aren’t even fifty years old, and you reckon you’ve seen Abraham?” they said.

Jesus made the great statement whether they were ready to hear it or not….”Before Abraham was, I AM”

They weren’t  prepared to accept this, and started picking up stones to throw at Him, but He suddenly became invisible and they couldn’t see Him among the people. His time to die was not yet.

 Jesus Christ spoke truth to them, They would not take this at all  from Him,

Shut their ears to His Word, Would not accept Him as their Lord.

***             ***             ***

                                Blind Man Sees.

John 9: 1-41

This whole chapter is about this un-named man who had been born blind. The disciples asked Jesus who had sinned, the man or his parents, as to why he was born blind. “Neither”, Jesus said, “The work of God will be shown in his blindness. The day is coming when it will be too dark to work. While I am here, I am the Light of the World!”

How true this statement is! Our Lord is still the Light of the world through His people. He then spat on the ground and made a paste from the spit and dust, put it on the eyes of the blind man and told him to go to the pool of Siloam and wash it off. He did this, and was able to see! The neighbours couldn’t understand what had happened….”How is it that you can now see?” they asked him. He told them what had happened, and they took him to see the priests. They immediately were on the defensive…..this happened on the Sabbath day! Some said that Jesus must be a sinner and others asked how a sinner could do miracles, so there was a division because of it.

They couldn’t agree so they asked his parents what had happened. They said to ask him, he was old enough to speak for himself! They were afraid of  being put out of the synagogue if they said anything about Jesus doing this miracle. The man didn’t  want to be drawn into the argument any further, and he said simply, “I don’t  know anything about Him being a sinner or not, all I know is that before I couldn’t see, and now I can! If He wasn’t  from God, how could He do a miracle like this?”

They got annoyed with him then, and told him to leave. Jesus knew that this had happened and He found the man and asked if he believed on the Son of Man.

“Who is He Lord?” the man asked.

Jesus said simply, “You are looking at Him”.

“Lord, I believe”, the man said, and worshipped Him there and then.

Some of the Pharisees there said, “Are we blind then?”

“If you think you can see when you can’t then your sin remains!” was all that Jesus said.

And that remains true today. If we think that what we think is the truth without checking out what God says, then there is  no hope for us!

 Jesus Christ is the truth for men, We need to be told this again and again,

Tis only through Him we can see, And with Him live eternally.  

***             ***             ***

                              All We Like Sheep.

John 10: 1-6

Jesus is speaking here and He used an illustration that they all understood. Everyone was used to seeing sheep being looked after by the shepherd, so they knew exactly what He was referring to…..

“There is only one way to get into the sheepfold, and that is through the door”, He said, “If anyone tries to get in another way, he is a thief and a robber!”

The point of this passage is that the sheep are being carefully looked after in the sheepfold by the shepherd and they will not go out until He takes them. They won’t follow anyone else because they don’t know the voice of strangers, they will only know the voice of their shepherd. What a beautiful picture this is of the care of our Shepherd for us! The problem is never with the Shepherd, it is always the sheep who go astray!

We read in the Old Testament that we are all like sheep who go astray (Isaiah 53:6)….we seem to prefer to follow each other rather than our Shepherd! Those who have had sheep to look after know the frustration of bringing them to a gateway to go through only to have them all mill around afraid to take the first step through. Yet when one of their own takes a leap through the gateway, they all follow suit and one sees these silly animals all leaping over an invisible bar  as they finally do what the shepherd wants them to.

How many times have we seen some charismatic teacher come into a district with wrong teaching, and the  people all flock to hear him! When the Shepherd wants them to learn something from His Word, they hesitate before embracing it  because it doesn’t conform with the latest fashion or idea. The challenge for us is how much are we prepared to follow our Shepherd, and to flee from the voice of the world that tries to squeeze us into its mould?

 Jesus Christ is our Shepherd dear, He will always keep us near,

Then we have nothing to fear, While we see Him by us here.

***             ***             ***

                                Our Great Shepherd!

John 10:7-18

Jesus continued His teaching on the Shepherd and the sheep….”I am the door of the sheep”, He said, “All those who come through Me will be saved, and I will care for them and feed them”…..

What a wonderful promise this is of our Shepherd’s provision and care! Not only that, He told them then that He was prepared to give His life for His sheep. Looking back, we can see that this is what He literally did when He died on the cross.

“No-one else will do this for the sheep”, He said, “Everyone else will run off when they see danger ahead. I am the good Shepherd,” He continued, “I know My sheep and they know Me”. Then He stated again that just as He knew His Father and was known by Him, so He was prepared to lay down His life for His sheep.

Not only that, but He continued, “I have other sheep not in this present fold, and I will bring them together too, and there will be one flock and one Shepherd”. What a wonderful promise this is! Not a whole lot of divided folds, but one complete fold, all united in their love for the Shepherd, and all cared for by Him!

He finished off His talk this time by saying, “This is why My Father loves Me because I’m prepared to lay My life down for the sheep. No man is going to take My life from Me, I’m going to lay it down Myself and I’m going to take it again. This is in agreement with what My Father wants Me to do”.

What an amazing statement! Wicked men thought they had power over Him to execute Him, but it was only in accordance with God’s eternal plan that was put in place BEFORE the world began! It was God’s plan A right from the beginning, there was no plan B to be needed!

 Jesus Christ was God’s loved Son, He was the great obedient One,

He came to do His Father’s will, Which He totally fulfilled.

***             ***             ***

                               

                                  The Leaders’ Hatred.

John 10:19-42

   The Jewish leaders were divided in their opinion about Jesus. Some said that he was mad, and others asked how He could do these wonderful healing works if He wasn’t from God. So they didn’t agree among themselves….

He was still in Jerusalem teaching in the temple, and His teaching was still bothering them “Why don’t you tell us plainly who you are?” they asked, “Are You really the Messiah?”

“I don’t need to tell you,” He said, “What I’m doing is proof of Who I am. But you refuse to believe them because you aren’t of  My sheep. My sheep listen to  Me and follow Me, and I give them eternal life and no-one can take that away from them.  My Father gave them to Me and He is keeping them safe in His hand. My Father and I are One !”

Once again, the Jews got mad and picked up stones to throw at Him.

“I’ve only done good things for you,” Jesus said, “Why do you want to stone Me?”

“You’ve made out You are equal with God”, they said, “That’s why we’re stoning You, it’s because You are blaspheming!”

They tried once more to arrest Him, but He disappeared from them and went to the place where John had done his baptising. Many people followed Him there and listened to His teaching and watched His  miracles. “Everything that John said about this Man is true!” they said, and many there believed on Him.

 The Jews  were mad and tried to stone, God’s only Son who could alone,

Give to them the life and light, Showing to  them God’s great might.

***             ***             ***

                                        Why?

John 11:1-16

Jesus had very close friends in the town of Bethany not far from Jerusalem. There were two sisters and a brother and it seems that they had never married and  that Martha, the eldest sister, was in charge of the household. We read of them in Luke  10:38-42 where Mary sat at the feet of Jesus listening to what He had to say while Martha was busy in the kitchen….

   Here we read that Lazarus was very ill, and that Martha sent a message to Jesus to come quickly and help them out. We are told specifically here, that Jesus loved this family, each one of them individually. When He received this message, He said, “This sickness is so the glory of God can be seen in His Son,” and stayed another two days where He was. Then He told the disciples that He was going back to Judea where the Jews had tried to stone Him before.

They couldn’t understand why He would want to go into the danger zone again, but He said He had to go to see Lazarus and wake him out of sleep. They thought he was talking about being asleep, but then He said plainly, “Lazarus has died, and I’m glad that you will be able to see what’s going to happen to help you believe in Me.”

We see here how God works in people’s lives to bring them to a knowledge of Himself. None of this made sense to them, and we often see things happening in our lives that don’t make sense. But everything that happens is to teach us another facet of God working in our lives.

Thomas dolefully said, “We might as well go and die with him too!”

The disciples seemed to be so dense at times, and yet we are no different. We must pray for enlightenment, to try to see past our disappointments to see what God is trying to teach us at times like this. Everything that happens in our lives that is not of our own  making, is for a purpose…..let us make sure that we don’t  allow the disappointments of life to swamp us and drive us into depression!

Jesus Christ has plans or us, Plans that bring us to what He pleases,

All that happens is to make us strong, As to Him we now belong.

***             ***             ***

                                Miracle Beyond Belief!

John 11:17-27

By the time Jesus and the disciples got to Bethany, Lazarus had been dead for four days. The funeral was all over and he was buried in the tomb. But the sisters were still in deep mourning with all the other friends and relations still at the house comforting them….

A message reached the sisters that Jesus was coming at last, but it was too late for them. We can imagine how impatiently Martha must have been waiting for His arrival, and her grief that He didn’t get there before Lazarus died. How often we think that God is moving too slowly for us! We have to remember that God’s timing is always perfect (Psalm 18:30), and learn to curb our impatience.

Martha rushed off to meet the new visitors, and her first words were, “Lord, if You’d only been here my brother wouldn’t have died! But I know that whatever You ask God, He will give it to You.”  We wonder what was in the back of her mind when she said that. But she had the utmost confidence that now that Jesus was there, everything would be alright!

“Your brother will come back to life”, Jesus said.

“I know he will do that when all are resurrected at the last day”, she replied.

Jesus then made another great “I am” statement. “I am the resurrection and the life, even if a person is dead, if he believes in Me he will live. Those who believe in Me will never die. Do you believe this Martha?”

“Yes, I do Lord,” she said, ”I know that You are the Son of God who is to come!”

This was from Martha who hadn’t seemed to listen too much to what He had said, but she knew deep down Who He really was. This shows us that we aren’t always right in our assessment of where people are at. Some wear their heart on their sleeve as it were, while others keep their thoughts to themselves. But we know that Martha was a hospitable lady who loved to entertain others (John 12:2)….she felt that this was her gift while Mary was quite different.

 Jesus Christ the healer of all, Keeping his own from making a fall,

He gives comfort and joy to those, Who look to Him when deep in their woes.

***             ***             ***

                       Great Sorrow turns to Great Joy!

John 11:28-44

Martha went back to the house and told Mary that Jesus had arrived near the town. She went out to meet Him and fell at His feet when she arrived saying the same words that Martha had said… “Lord, if You’d only been here, my brother wouldn’t have died!”

All the friends at the house had followed her, thinking she was going to the grave. Jesus said simply, “Where is the grave?” and they all went to it. There was such an outpouring of grief from everyone that Jesus Himself was overcome and wept with them….not at the fact that Lazarus had died, but simply at the hopelessness of the people mourning him. There was no hope that one day they would see him again….what a difference to those who die in Christ today…relatives and friends have that sure and certain knowledge that they are with Christ which is far better!  (Philippians 1:23; 1 Thessalonians 4:13). The Jews there were saying to each other, “Couldn’t He have healed Lazarus if He had been here?”

By this time they had arrived at the burial place, and Jesus said to them, “Roll the stone away”.

“Lord, it’s four days since he died, and by this time, he’ll be stinking!” said Martha horrified at the idea.

“Didn’t I tell you that if you only believe, you’ll see the glory of God?” Jesus asked. The stone was rolled away, and Jesus stood at the mouth of the cave and  prayed saying, “ Father, I know that You always hear Me, but I’m praying for the benefit of the people here.” Then He said in a loud commanding voice, “Lazarus, Come out!”

To everyone’s utter amazement, they saw Lazarus walk out, still bound up in the grave clothes. “Take them off him”, Jesus said, “and let him go”.

 Jesus Christ the Life Giving One, Is truly God’s Beloved Son,

The One to give life to those all, Who heed and obey His loving call.

***             ***             ***

                                    The Aftermath.

John 11:45-57

Once more this miracle left the people divided. Many who saw this happen believed that Jesus was indeed the Messiah, while those who didn’t went off and told the chief priests what had happened…..

The religious leaders were dismayed by this news. They couldn’t deny that a great and genuine miracle had been performed, but they felt that their position was being threatened. “If the Roman authorities get to hear of this”, they said, “They’ll come and take away what privileges we have left!”

Caiaphas was the high priest, and he now spoke up. “Let’s get rid of Him once and for all”, he said, “It’s better that one man should die rather than the whole nation perish at the hands of the Romans!”

Little did he know how true and prophetic his words would prove to be! But it would happen in a totally different way and for a different purpose than he thought. Jesus would indeed die for the whole of the nation and also for the whole of the world, in that ALL peoples, tribes and nations who would believe in Him after His death would have eternal life  (John 3:16; Romans 5:6-21).

Just as Christ was the “one man who was to die for the nation”,  so it was part of God’s eternal plan that this would happen, and these religious leaders would have a part to play in it unwittingly. So they actively looked for Him after this to arrest Him, but He had taken His disciples to a small town near the desert where they stayed until it was the time for the Passover Feast. His time was not quite yet.

 Jesus Christ the Son of God, Went where none other had ever trod,

On the lonely path ahead, Just as He had always said.

***             ***             ***

                                Mary’s Understanding.

John 12:1-11

A week before the Passover was due to begin, Jesus came back to Bethany where Martha and her sister and brother lived. A communal supper was prepared at Simon’s house (he had been healed from leprosy by Jesus), and they were all there, with Martha serving as usual. Lazarus was sitting down making conversation with the others (we wonder what they were talking about!) Mary isn’t mentioned as yet……

The meal began and everyone was there when Mary came in and went to where Jesus was sitting. She had brought  a box of very expensive ointment that she had and opened it up  putting some of it on His head (Mark 4:3-9) and then rubbing it on the feet of her Lord. The perfume of it filled the room.

Judas Iscariot, who was always conscious of money, said, “What a waste of money! It could have been sold and the money given to the poor people!”

But Jesus understood what was behind Mary’s action, and spoke up in her defence. “Don’t criticise her!” He said, “You have always got the poor with you to do good to! But I won’t be with you for much longer. She has done this ahead of time for my burial”.

Then He gave Mary a wonderful promise, “Wherever the Gospel is preached in all the world, this action of Mary’s will be mentioned as a memorial to her!”

He knew and appreciated this action of Mary’s which she had done out of love for Him, understanding what lay ahead. She seemed to have had more perception than even the disciples had at this time.

There were many people at this feast who had come out of curiosity to see Lazarus, the man who had come back from the dead, and they went away more firm in their belief of Jesus than ever. But the chief priests were more angry than ever at the way people were taking notice of what had happened in recent days, and they started talking about putting Lazarus to death as well as getting rid of Jesus.

It was after this feast, that Judas went to the priests and promised to take them to where Jesus was so they could arrest Him for the sum of thirty pieces of silver  (Matthew 26:14-16). The net was tightening.

 Jesus Christ knew Mary’s thoughts, As to Him the cream she brought,

He knows too our heart’s desires,  He knows all and never tires.

***             ***             ***

The King Arrived!

John 12:12-19

These were momentous days…tensions were rising and people felt that something was about to happen. Our Lord knew exactly what lay ahead of Him, and He knew that much prophecy concerning Himself would be fulfilled in the next short while….

The people were on a high level of expectancy, and when they heard that Jesus was going into Jerusalem  they gathered on both sides of the road as He approached. But He wasn’t walking this time…He was riding on a young donkey! He had asked two of His disciples to go into a nearby town and there they would find a donkey with its young colt beside it…they were to take the colt and bring it to Him (Matthew 21:2-3).

The disciples must have wondered whatever He was going to do with this animal, but it led quietly and didn’t flinch when clothes were put on its back. Then Jesus got on it, and it quietly walked at His bidding even though it had never been ridden on before  (Zechariah 9:9). The people were calling out as they went along the road and were waving palm branches, and yet that donkey never balked at all! It was amazing!

“Hosanna to the Son of David!” the people called out, “Blessed is He that comes in the Name of the Lord! Hosanna!”

The procession made its way into the city, and everyone was asking, “Who is this coming?”

“Jesus of Nazareth”, the crowd answered.

This whole procession was a bit of a mystery to the disciples…they didn’t realise that they were seeing the fulfilling of prophecy, and it all came back to them much later how everything was falling into place according to the Scriptures. So it is for us….it is only when looking back that we can realise the significance of things that have happened in the world…at the present time it is only conjecture and wondering if this is the time we have been told about.

The procession continued into the city and they made their way to the Temple, still waving their palm branches and calling out….even the children joined in the celebrations! It didn’t go unnoticed by the authorities! They said, “The whole world is going after this fellow…we have got to get rid of Him soon!”

 Jesus Christ came as their king, The people did their praises bring,

“Hosanna to David’s  Son, He’s come at last, the Holy One!”

***             ***             ***

                                    In the Temple.

John 12:20-43

Jesus arrived at the Temple and the other Gospel writers tell us  that He went in and once again found the merchants all selling their wares and animals for sacrifices right there (Mark 11:15-18). Just as He had done at the beginning of His ministry, He strode into the courtyard, and tipped over the tables of the money changers and drove out the animals and doves, saying with authority as He did so, “It is written My house is a place of prayer and you have made it a den of thieves!”

There was a group of Greek people who had come to worship at the temple and they found the disciples and said they would like to meet Jesus. We aren’t told whether they did or not, but they would have been in the crowd when Jesus said, “Unless a seed falls into the ground and dies, it stays just a seed, but if it dies it will grow and have fruit. Those who love their life will lose it, but those who put their life (desires and wants) to death, will gain it in eternal life. If anyone follows Me, My Father will honour them. I’m upset and troubled at what lies ahead…..Father save Me from this hour  even though it is what I came for! Father, glorify Your Name!”

Suddenly the people heard a great noise….it was God speaking directly from heaven… “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again!” The people heard the Voice but didn’t catch the words…some of them said it was thunder, while others thought it was an angel talking to Jesus.

Jesus spoke to them…”This voice didn’t come for Me, but for your benefit. The prince of this world is going to be thrown out and if I’m lifted up, I will draw all men to Me!”

No-one understood what He meant. “You keep saying that the Son of Man must be lifted up…who IS this Son of Man?”

“The Light is only with you for a short while longer…make sure you walk with Me because if you don’t, you’ll be in the darkness not knowing where you are going”, Jesus said.

Most of the people there that day didn’t believe what He was saying, and this too was a fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecies when he said “who has believed our report?” But there were some who believed, even from among the religious leaders.

 Jesus Christ was not afraid, He’d come to see sin’s debt was  paid,

The time was near to go through this, ‘Twas something that He couldn’t miss.

***             ***             ***

                         The Light and  the Word

John 12:44-50

We see here how God and His Son are indeed One…”He who sees Me, sees the Father,” Jesus said, “And whoever believes what I say, believes the Father”. The concept of God being the Father, wasn’t in the Jews’ vocabulary until the Lord Jesus brought it…..

He  also brought light to man’s understanding, and opened their eyes to see spiritual truths and concepts they had never thought of before . He had come to save the world, not to condemn it, but if a person refused to believe what He said, then they would be condemned in the Judgement Day by the words that He had spoken.

Everything that He spoke came from the Father…He didn’t speak His own words but what His Father wanted Him to say. Everyone who believed what He said, would receive eternal life. He was totally obedient to God….the only human being who has ever been that. We read of Job who was a just and perfect man and one who hated evil (Job 1:1), but he didn’t reach the same standard, nor did David who was a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22). God says that ALL have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), but that Jesus Christ alone was without sin (Hebrews 4:15). What a perfect child He would have been! Never to pout or answer back, never to do or say a mean thing! Adults can cover up, but children never do….they let it all out in their screams and yells! Yet He was never like that, it just wasn’t in Him!

 Jesus Christ alone without sin, Perfect in all, without and within,

He was the One who for sin did pay, So we could be  in heaven one day.  

***             ***             ***

                                The End Looming!

John 13:1-17

John doesn’t tell us how Jesus and His disciples came to be in the room where they celebrated the last passover together, but we can read about that in the other Gospels. He starts off when they are all sitting at the table together after having eaten the celebratory supper, and after Judas had left the room…..

  To the utter surprise of the disciples, Jesus got up from His seat, removed His coat and called for (or got) a basin of water and a towel. Then He began to wash each of the disciples’ feet. This was a rite that was usually performed as people arrived (maybe it had already been done), and it seems that none of the disciples made any comment until Jesus came to Peter.

“Are You washing my feet too?” Peter asked.

“You don’t know now why I’m doing this;” Jesus said, “But you will know why later on.”.

“Oh no !” Peter exclaimed, “You aren’t going to wash MY feet!”

“If you don’t want Me to do this now, you wont have any further part with Me!” Jesus replied.

This thought was more than Peter could bear and he said, “Wash my feet then Lord, and also my hands and head !”

Peter seemed to be missing what Jesus was getting at, and He said, “No, Peter, you only need your feet to be washed to be clean. Now you who are here are clean but not all of you”. He was referring to Judas who had already been to the priests to betray Him. He went on to say, “You call me Master and Lord, and so I am, but this is an example I am leaving with you to wash each others’ feet. A servant is not greater than his master, and you will be happy if you have this serving attitude.”

What a challenge this is to us! Do we have this same serving attitude of wanting to help others? It reminds us of other words of our Lord Jesus ‘that it is better to give than to receive.’ (Acts 20:35)

 Jesus Christ gave an example to follow, One that was not empty or hollow,

He showed by His deeds and did as He said, In His footsteps we too must tread.

***             ***             ***

                                Judas’  Foul Deed.

John 1:18-30

Jesus  went on to say, “I know you all, and one of you has turned against Me….this fulfils the Scripture that says, ‘He who has eaten bread with me has turned on me’. I’m telling you this before it happens so when it does happen you will believe on Me”. There was silence for a moment, and Jesus seemed to be troubled in Himself……

He carried on saying, “I’m telling you truly, that one of you is going to betray Me to the authorities.” The disciples looked at each other wondering what He was referring to. John turned towards Jesus and said, “Lord, who is it?”

“It’s the one I give the sop to,” Jesus replied. (This was a special part of the meal.)

Jesus dipped the sop and passed it to Judas Iscariot. “What you are going to do, do quickly”, Jesus said to him. Judas knew at that moment that Jesus knew what he had already done, and his heart was hardened as he allowed Satan to take him over. The other disciples didn’t have a clue what Jesus was referring to, and they thought that He must have previously given Judas instructions on what to get, seeing he held the money bag.

But Judas knew what he was going to do, and he left the room immediately and went out into the darkness of the night. Not only was it dark outside, but it was also dark in Judas’ soul….he had given in to the temptation of Satan and was determined to follow it through.

We wonder what he was thinking as he hurried to see the priests, and tell them to come with him and he would take them to where Jesus would be. He knew where they would be going after the meal was over. Perhaps he thought that Jesus would just vanish from their sight as he had seen happen once before, or that perhaps He would just walk away while the priests stood helplessly looking after Him. Judas had seen that happen too. Or perhaps he just didn’t care as long as he got the money. He little realised that he was fulfilling prophecy himself as he took the group of officials out to the mount of Olives.

Jesus Christ knew Judas’ part, He knew what was in his heart,

Darkness reigned within that night, As Judas turned from Jesus’ light.

***             ***             ***

                                Jesus Christ Glorified.

John 13:31-38

We might wonder how Jesus could be glorified in the events that were to immediately follow. But He was about to fulfil the purpose for which He came to earth, the purpose of becoming the Saviour of the World. It was His obedience to His Father’s will that glorified both Him and His Father. He was about to open His heart to His disciples….

“You  are going to see the Son of Man (meaning Himself) glorified”, He said to them, “I’m only with you for a short time longer and I’m telling you that you won’t be able to come where I’m going.  But I’m giving you a new commandment before I go….make sure you love one another, and everyone else will be able to tell that you are My disciples.”

“Lord, where are you going?” Peter asked.

“You can’t come now”, Jesus replied, “But you will come later.”

“Why can’t I come now?” Peter burst out with, “I’ll lay down my life for Your sake!”

“Will you Peter?” Jesus said, “I tell you truly that before the rooster crows three times tomorrow morning you will have denied that you know Me three times!”

The others all agreed that they wouldn’t either…what a lesson to us! We might have great ideas of what we will do for the Lord, but when the time comes we fail miserably! We can only do great things through the power and help of Jesus Christ, and our Lord knew exactly what lay ahead for them all whereas they didn’t have a clue!

They felt that something momentous was about to happen, and started arguing among themselves who would have the top place in the new regime that they thought was about to come  (Luke 22:24). Jesus gently rebuked them, and then gave them the beautiful discourse that John alone records. We can take heart from this, that even though we let the Lord down by our attitudes, He never leaves us, and will always encourage us if we allow Him to.

Jesus Christ knows the thoughts of all, Even when we stumble and fall,

He gently lifts us  as He sees, And helps us His Father once more to please.

***             ***             ***

                                Don’t Be Afraid!

John 14:1-12

Jesus  knew their troubled thoughts, and how the future was unknown to them. “Don’t be troubled”, He said, “You believe in God….believe also in Me”. This is where we have to start in our search for comfort, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. So many people believe in God, but won’t have a bar of Jesus Christ….He is only a swear word to them. They will never find comfort without believing and trusting in Him…..  

“In My Father’s home, there are many places to live,” He went on, “I’m going to prepare a place for you, and then I’m going to come back again to get you. You already know where I’m going and how to get there.”

People today think that Jesus is still building these homes, but He still had the work of the cross to do ahead of Him when He spoke these words, and without this work completed, no-one would be able to be with Him. We know that He is the way, the truth and the life to get to these homes that are waiting for His people.

The disciples didn’t really understand what He was meaning at this time, and Thomas spoke up…. “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus gave him that wonderful answer that has already been quoted… “I am the way, the truth and the life. If you know Me, you know the Father too.”

But they still didn’t understand. “Lord, show us the Father”, Philip said.

Jesus looked at him and said, “Don’t you really know Me yet Philip? Those who see Me, see the Father. Don‘t you believe that I am in My Father and My Father is in Me? Everything I’ve said and done has come from My Father. Believe what I am saying, and you will be able to do these things that I’ve been doing and more besides, because I’m going back to My Father.”

Jesus Christ, and Father God, Together are the wondrous God,

Lord of all that’s made in earth, Giver of the second birth.  

***             ***             ***

                                Words of Comfort.

John 14:13-15

Jesus continued talking… “Whatever you ask in My Name, I will do it.” We tend to think that this is an open cheque as it were, to get what we want. We almost demand of Him to grant our requests because we say “In Your Name”, but let’s look at what exactly is involved in this statement….

To act in the name of anyone, means that we must be totally in agreement together. It implies one greater person and one lesser who has been appointed for a certain task on behalf of the other one. When we come to the Lord with our requests, do we come totally in agreement that the answer we get will be the right one? We are told to make our requests known to God with thanksgiving for the answer we will be given, THEN we will know God’s peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:6-7).

We have seen times when we have begged God in absolute faith that He will do what we ask because we tack on the end of our request “In Jesus’ Name”, and it hasn’t happened as we wanted. We have asked what WE wanted, but have we asked what HE wants for us? Have we asked with a thankful heart for all He has already done for us and for what He is going to do in our lives as a result of this request?

We come to the crux of the matter next… “If you love Me, then keep My commandments!” Jesus said. This means that we will live how He wants us to, and agree totally with what He gives us, and in doing this we can know His wonderful peace.

Jesus Christ promises much, His loving words and comforting touch,

On our side we loyally wait, The best will come, it’s never late.

***             ***             ***

                                The Comforter.

John 14:16-31

Jesus now expands His teaching to His disciples….”You will have another Comforter who will come and be with you for ever; He is the Spirit of Truth and those who don’t know Me can never know Him. You will be comforted by Him, and I will come to you through Him”…..

These words are just as true for us today as they were when they were spoken to the disciples. “Because I am alive, you can have everlasting life,” Jesus went on, “The world can’t understand or see these things, but you can know that My Father and I are with you. If you understand these things, you will love Me and keep My commandments…what I am telling you is what the Father wants you to know. It all depends on you…if you love Me and keep what I say, then We will show Ourselves to you.”

What a wonderful promise this is! We know in ourselves that when we confess our sins to God, that He has cleansed us, and we are able to have fellowship freely once more with Him. None of us are free from sinning, and just as we need a daily shower to keep our bodies clean, so we need this daily spiritual cleansing too (1 John 1:6-10).

He went on to talk more about this Comforter….”He is the Holy Spirit who the Father will send in My Name. and He will teach you all things and bring what I’ve said to your remembrance. Because of this I’m leaving My peace with you, so there is nothing to  worry about or be afraid of! You’ve heard Me say that I’m going to leave you, and if you really loved Me, you would be glad that I’m going to My Father….He is so much greater than I am! I’m telling you this now so that when it happens you will believe in Me. I haven’t got much more time to talk with you because the ruler of this world is coming but he won’t have any power over Me.”

We need to remember this. Even though the power of darkness was about to surround them all, yet it was only within God’s boundaries and according to His will. So when we feel we are drowning in circumstances beyond our control, it is only within what God is allowing for His purposes as in the case of Job (Job 1:8-12).

Will it be pleasant? No! Will it last for ever? No! So it is up to us to stay strong and firm and look to Him for the strength we will need.

Jesus Christ comforts His own, He gives it freely as He alone,

Can bring to us all that we need, Let’s follow Him in word and deed.

***             ***             ***

                                Abiding in Christ.

John 15:1-7

Jesus now went in to His talk about being the true Vine, and how we are the branches. We must abide in Him (remain attached to Him in our attitudes) to have the full benefits that He will give us. These promises are totally conditional….they all depend on us!

“ I am the True Vine,” He said, “ and you are the branches! My Father is the husbandman. You can be clean by listening and doing to what I say. You must abide in Me (our part) and I will abide in you (His part)….you can’t bear fruit for Me unless you do.”

We have to remember that it is no use doing anything good that will receive merit from God unless we take Him on board with us. When we do this, we can bring forth much fruit for Him….He is our captain and we can’t do a thing without Him.

So we can see that if we don’t do this,  all our good works count for nothing. We will wither away if we don’t remain attached to Christ….notice that it is men that gather  these withered branches up and burn them. If our deeds don’t match our words, people won’t take any notice of what we say anyway!

“If you remain attached to Me, you can ask for anything and I will do it for you!” Jesus carried on. This continues on the thought we had before in that we must ask in His Name, and according to His will. Indeed, we will be afraid to ask for anything that He does not want for us…the Psalmist could say…’Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart’ (Psalm 37:4). This is because His desires then become our desires.

Sometimes we ask for things for others that we know they should be doing (or NOT doing!), but they are far away from the Lord and determined to go their own way. These prayers often don’t work because we cannot cut across another person’s will. But if we ask anything for ourselves with a sincere heart, and the desire to do and be better, then these prayers are always granted. We desire what God desires for us in this case and have a tender and obedient heart.

Jesus Christ, the living Vine, We can make Him truly “mine”,

We must do all that He says, To keep us from the evil one’s snares.

***             ***             ***

                                     True Love.

John 15:8-27

Jesus went on to point out that to follow His words and ways are glorifying to God….this is how we can abide in Him. We can see how important it is to do this to have the joy of the Lord in our very being. Christ’s new command is to love one another as we would love Him….

We might cry out that it is far more easy to love Him, in all His goodness and faithfulness than it is to love our fellow believers who let us down! We have to remember that to complain about other Christians, is complaining against Christ! He said to Paul on the road to Damascus, “Why are you persecuting Me?” when Paul was persecuting the Christians!  (Acts 9:4-5).

What wonderful words we read next…. “You are My friends if you do what I tell you! You are more than servants, because I’ve told you everything that I know. I’ve chosen you so that you can go and bring forth fruit for Me.” Wonderful words, but look how hard the next ones are….”I’m telling you that you must love one another. I’m telling you too, that the world will hate you because it hates Me without a cause!”

We can see from this that there is a cost to following the Lord….not only do we have to take the hatred of the world, but we are told to love each other, and this is sometimes the hardest thing of all  to do!

“Those who hate Me, hate my Father also”, Jesus went on. We know too that this is very true….there are many people who will acknowledge God but refuse to admit that our Lord Jesus is God’s Son. They will admit that He was a good man and a great teacher, but refuse to say that He is the Son of God! This is the mark of those who are true believers and those who are not.

“But the Spirit of Truth which I will send to you, will comfort and strengthen you to testify of Me”, Jesus said, “and you will be able to tell others what you know about Me because you’ve been with Me all this time!”

We are not alone! We have the Holy Spirit with us to help us!

Jesus Christ will help His own, He does not leave us all alone,

He has loved us to the end, He is our true and faithful friend.

***             ***             ***

                                           Remember These Things.

John 16:1-21

Jesus once more told His disciples that He was going to leave them, and that hard times lay ahead. “I didn’t tell you these things at the beginning”, He said, “Because I was with you then, and now I am about to leave you. But I will send you the Spirit of Truth who is the Comforter, and He will remind you of these things”….

“He will guide you into all truth, and will not speak of Himself but will glorify Me. He will show you the things of Myself and My Father. You won’t see Me for a little while and then you will see Me again before I go to My Father.”

The disciples were puzzled by this. “Whatever does He mean?” they asked among themselves, “He’s going to leave us and then He will see us, it doesn’t make sense!”

Jesus knew they didn’t understand, and He said, “It’s like a woman in her labour pains, they get worse and worse and then the baby is delivered and she doesn’t remember the pain any more for the joy of the baby beside her! You are sad now, but you will be glad again later on. Remember, whatever you ask the Father in My Name, He will give it to you. You haven’t had to do this before, but ask and you will receive and be joyful!”

What a wonderful promise! Whatever we ask for, whether it be strength to break a bad habit, or patience to deal with hard times, or wisdom to know what to do for the best, or to have a better attitude in difficult circumstances,  God will do it!. Each person has to ask for themselves. We can’t ask for the next person, much as we would like to at times, but we can ask for ourselves. It is all between us and God. We must ask and we must WANT it to happen….so often we can see the faults in other people but can’t (or won’t) see them in ourselves to correct them.

“I came from My Father, and now I am about to return to Him”, Jesus said once more.

“Oh, now we can see what You mean!” they exclaimed, “Now are we sure that You know all things, and we believe that You came from God”.

“ Do you really believe? It won’t be long before you will be scattered, every man to his own, and will leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. I’ve told you these things so you will have peace. You will find that you will have tribulation in the world, but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world!”.

Little did they know at what a cost it was going to be !

Jesus Christ has paid it all, The cost of sin in bitter gall,

He loved His own unto the end, He is the sinner’s greatest friend!

***             ***             ***

                              The Lord’s Prayer  (1)

John 17:1-9a

Jesus now spoke to His Father in heaven at this most critical time in His life. He knew what lay ahead. He knew what it was going to cost Him. His sensitive soul cringed from the thought of all the waves and billows of God’s wrath poured over Him in payment for man’s sin, disobedience and rebellion. Yet here, He is not thinking of Himself, He is giving an account of His work on earth to His Father and praying for His disciples…..

His first thought is to glorify His Father in heaven…what a lesson to us! How much do we think about giving God the glory? When we are in pain or things are going wrong, how much does God come to the fore in our thoughts?

Then He spells out what eternal life really is….it is far more than an endless existence, it is the ability to know God, the Eternal One, and Jesus Christ who He sent. Not to just know ABOUT Him, but to actually KNOW Him! We are able to make a start in this right now in this life, and we will never come to an  end of it! It will carry on into the eternities of eternity, something which is beyond our comprehension in this life. We are told that our eyes haven’t seen nor our hearts conceived the wonderful things that God has in store for His people (1 Corinthians 2:9). What a wonderful future lies ahead for those who know the Lord here and now! It is just the same as a caterpillar grub has no idea what it will be like for it to have wings and fly when it turns into a butterfly!

Now He gives an account of His work on earth….”I have glorified You on earth”, He said, “and have  finished the work You gave Me to do. I have shown Your Name to the men You gave Me here….they have kept Your Word and believed that I came from You. Now I am praying for them as I am about to leave them…”

Jesus Christ lays bare His soul, Before His Father Who alone makes whole,

His own lay heavy on His mind, As He prayed  for peace for them to find.

***             ***             ***

                                The Lord’s Prayer (2).

John 17:9-26

Jesus continues His prayer for the disciples…”I’m praying for them, not for the world, because they are Your’s and You have given them to Me. I’m going to be leaving them, and I pray that You will keep them united as we are. While I was with them, I kept them (all but the wicked one), and now I am leaving them I pray that they will have My joy within them….”

We see the care the Lord Jesus had for His own, and it is still the same today. When we squabble amongst ourselves, it grieves Him….the thing that He wanted more than anything for His people was that they would be one…united in all their aims and ideas. Alas! We do not see that today….the church is split into so many different groups, all with different ideas on how to conduct things. Yet, all must agree on the core things of salvation or they do not belong to the true church of God.

His prayer now turns to the spiritual protection of His people…. “The world hates them because they aren’t part of it; I pray that they will be kept from the evil one. Your truth will sanctify them (set them apart as different) and I am sending them out into the world…I pray for those who will also believe on Me through their preaching. I pray again that they will all be united in You, so that the world will be able to see You have sent Me.”

He reiterated this thought again and again… “that they may be one , even as We are One. Father I want them to be with Me and to see My glory which You have given Me, because You have always loved Me, even before the world began! O righteous Father, the world doesn’t know You, but I do, and these have known that You sent Me. I’ve told them Your Name (the things that You stand for) that they may understand Your great love for Me and also for them!”

We see that God’s glory and His love are intertwined, and that they are part of His character along with His holiness and justice…we cannot major on one facet of His character at the expense of the others. Let us never forget that we are one with Him and one with each other….none of us are more right than others, we are different yes, but all God’s people are loved by Him. Let us glorify Him in this and not criticise others.

Jesus Christ loves all His own, Prayed for them to seek Him alone,

Be united in all His ways, And seek His Face for all our days.

***             ***             ***

                                The Arrest of Jesus.

John 18:1-13

Jesus  finished His prayer which had made a deep impression on John who was able to remember it many years later when he wrote it down as it came to his mind by the Holy Spirit. The group left the place where they had eaten the Passover, and made their way across the Kidron Valley to the Garden of Gethsemane where they often went….

Judas had a fair idea of where they would all be as they often went there, and he gathered together another group of men to go and arrest Him. John doesn’t mention the prayer time in the garden, or the agony of our Lord as He contemplated what lay ahead in the next few hours. The main group stayed in the garden, and the Lord took Peter, James and John and went a little further on where He began to agonise in prayer to His Father.

“Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me”, He prayed, “Nevertheless, not what I want, but Your will be done !” His agony was so great that His sweat became like great drops of blood (Mark 14:32-42; Luke 22:39-46).

Peter, James and John were so tired that they had dropped off to sleep while waiting for Him, but they woke up with a start when Jesus said, “Come on, get up. The soldiers have come to get Me!”

It was dark, and the soldiers were carrying lights and torches, and there was some confusion as they approached where Jesus was. But He went towards them saying, “Who do you want?”

“Jesus of Nazareth”, they replied.

“I AM” He said. As He spoke these words, the power of God surrounded them and the soldiers all fell over backwards onto the ground . As they hastily scrambled to their feet not knowing what had hit them, Jesus asked again, “Who do you want?”

“Jesus of Nazareth”, they said.

“Well, I’ve told you already that I am He,” Jesus said, “Here I am, but let My friends go.”

Peter came to the fore now with his sword ready, and slashed wildly at the nearest man, cutting off his ear. “Put away your sword Peter,” Jesus said, “These things must be,” and he touched the man’s ear and it was instantly healed (Luke 22:50-51).

The soldiers tied Jesus up and led Him away, back into the city. The disciples quietly melted away into the darkness, all except for Peter and John who followed at a distance to see what would happen.

Jesus Christ was taken that night, He yielded to them without a fight,

Taken as a lamb to be killed, That  the Scripture might be fulfilled.

***             ***             ***

                       The Beginning of the Trial

John 18:13-27

Jesus was taken to the house of the high priest, and then surrounded by the group of accusing and hostile men. John had some connection to the high priest and went in with them, but Peter hung around at the door. It was dark and it was cold, and after a bit John went out and took Peter inside where it was warmer…

As he went in, the servant girl at the door said, “Aren’t you one of this Man’s disciples?”

“Not me”, said Peter and then went over to the fire.

Meantime, the high priest was interrogating Jesus about His teaching. “I’ve always spoken in public”, Jesus said, “Ask those who heard what I said!” As he said this, one of the officers standing nearby struck Him on the face.

A maidservant going by, looked hard at him and said, “This man is one of them too.”

“No, I’m not!” said Peter loudly.

Another one standing at the fire said to Peter, “Didn’t I see you in the garden with the disciples just now?”

“Not me”, said Peter  and he began to curse and swear saying, “I don’t know the man!”

Suddenly, clearly and distinctly, a rooster was heard to crow outside. Jesus turned and caught Peter’s eye across the room, and he remembered what had been said earlier, and his bold words about never denying the Lord. He immediately left the room and went outside weeping bitterly. (Luke 22:54-62)

Jesus had known all along what Peter would say….what a lesson to us to be careful what we boast about!

Jesus Christ knew Peter’s heart, Knew what he’d do right from the start,

But He loved him just the same, Even though he’d denied His Nme.

***             ***             ***

                             The Trial Before Pilate.

John 18:28-40

The priests felt they weren’t getting what they wanted by continuing their interrogation, so they took Jesus off to Pilate, the Roman governor, for the sentence they wanted. It was very early in the morning by this time, the day before the main Passover, so the priests wouldn’t go into the building to keep from being defiled and then unable to eat the Passover,  but stood outside…..

Pilate went out to them and asked what the accusation was against this prisoner. They wouldn’t give a straight answer, so he told them to go and judge Him themselves. Then they said that they weren’t able to condemn Him to death as it wasn’t lawful….only the Romans could do this. It seems that they already knew that there was going to be a crucifixion held that day, and wanted Jesus to be included.

So Pilate went back inside and said to Jesus, “Are You the King of the Jews?”

“Do you really want to know?” Jesus asked.

“What have You done?” Pilate asked.

“My kingdom is not of this world, or else My servants would fight,” Jesus replied, “this is the reason I came into this world, that I should spread the truth. Those who want to hear the truth will listen to Me.”

This wasn’t what Pilate wanted to hear, and he felt very uneasy in the presence of this Man standing before Him.

“What is truth?” he muttered. He went outside to the Jews again and said, “I can’t find anything wrong with this Man at all! But you have a custom to let a prisoner go….shall I this Man go?”

“Not this Man!” they all cried out, “Let Barabbas go instead!”

Barabbas was a notorious criminal who was waiting on death row with two others and due to be executed that very day.

Jesus Christ endured His trial, Standing there in truth, upright without guile,

Pilate tried to let Him go, But the rest all cried to kill Him so.

***             ***             ***

                                The Sentence.

John 19:1-16

As we read the four Gospel accounts and the ancient prophecies of this event,  there emerge four plus different pictures that together make a whole. As we read the Old Testament prophecies, we see the full brutality  of the whippings and scourgings that they gave Him that day….things that the New Testament writers don’t say. His face more marked and bloodied that any other human being had ever been, it was pulped by the beatings He received around His head (Isaiah 52:14), His back was cut to ribbons by the cruel Roman whips that had bits of steel embedded in them (Psalm 129:3)….

We see that they actually pulled His whiskers out, and spat on His face….we can’t imagine people acting like this in  a manner worse than animals (Isaiah 50:6). Worse than all this physical pain that they inflicted on Him,  was the spiritual agony of knowing that His Father would turn His back on Him as He took the weight of the world’s sin upon His soul. Even though His Father was in Him through this ordeal (2 Corinthians 5:19), He knew that He (the Father) could not bear to look upon this sin  (Habakkuk 1:13) that He (Christ) was bearing for every single person on earth, and that His  (God’s) face was turned away from this spectacle. We cannot begin to imagine what our Lord suffered to pay the price of our sin!

Pilate ordered His whipping, and the soldiers found a purple robe somewhere that they draped over Him while mocking Him, and someone else made a rough circle of a sharp thorny plant which they jammed onto His Head. Pilate took Him out to the priests again, and said, “Look at your King! I don’t find anything wrong with Him!”

All they could do was to shout out, “Crucify Him! He has to die because He said He was the Son of God!”

This made Pilate more afraid than ever, and he tried again to let Him go. “If you do this , you aren’t Caesar’s friend!” the priests shouted out. Now Pilate’s position was in danger. “Take Him then and crucify Him!” He said and called for a basin of water, “I’m washing my hands of the whole matter!” he said as he washed his hands in front of them all (Matthew 27:24). “His blood can be on us and our children!” they cried out.

Little did they know what a curse they were bringing on themselves and their nation for saying this! We have seen down through the years how the Jews have been a hated nation, expelled from countries and imprisoned in torture cells and even today the surrounding nations are still calling for them to be wiped off the map!

Jesus Christ so patient and kind, Now thrashed until no more could find,

Mocked and despised, unwanted and weak, On Him their anger and wrath they did wreak.

***             ***             ***

                                The Crucifixion

John 19:17-42

As we see things  unfold, we remember that there was every human emotion tied up in this event…Judas full of remorse at what he had done; Peter in bitterness of soul for having let his Master down; Pilate uneasy at his part in this whole thing, with his wife extremely upset at her husband’s involvement, to say nothing of the women followers’ (including His mother) horror at this turn of events….

John doesn’t mention the visit to Herod that Luke tells us about (Luke 23:6-12),  nor the fact that He was unable to carry the weight of His cross on His sore and bleeding back  (Mark 15:21), nor the conversation between the thieves crucified with Him and His comforting words to the repentant thief (Luke 23:39-43). He doesn’t say anything about the darkness that fell over the whole scene for three hours from midday while our Lord paid the price of man’s sin and His Father turned away from Him, nor the fact that the veil in the temple was torn from the top to the bottom (not man’s doing) and the great earthquake that happened when He gave up His spirit to God and died (Matthew 27:51-54).

But he does tell of how he went to stand beside the cross along with the Lord’s mother and some of the other women, and the care that Jesus showed for His mother even in that dark hour of His suffering, in charging John to look after her. Even in these events, prophecy was being fulfilled when He said, “I’m thirsty!” and they gave Him some vinegar to suck, and when His leg wasn’t broken because He was dead already (Psalm 34:20). But some thoughtless soldier thrust his spear into His side and that too was a fulfilment of prophecy (Zechariah 12:10).

We see how Joseph of Arimathea came out into the open, and begged Pilate for the body to be released to him along with Nicodemus and how they wrapped the body up with spices and lay it in Joseph’s own new tomb, and then went home to keep the Sabbath Day which was on the point of beginning. This too had been foretold hundreds of years earlier when Isaiah said that He was with the wicked (the thieves) and the rich in His death (Joseph), having borne the sin of many and was now able to make intercession for those who had transgressed and sinned (Isaiah 53:9, 12). How much we have to be thankful for in these events that happened so long ago!

Jesus Christ means all to those, Who turn to Him, those  who He chose,

His blood will cleanse all those who turn, Those who seek His Word to learn.

***             ***             ***

                                All it Meant.

What did all this mean? What did it achieve? Was it all a dreadful mistake? Many of those who went sorrowfully home that day from the scene must have been wondering these things. For them there was no sign of the victory that was won during these events they had just witnessed….

Yet some could see a glimmering of something great that had just happened. The Roman centurion in charge of the event, as Jesus gave up His spirit and died crying out “It is finished!”  said, “Truly, this was the Son of God!”  (Mark 15:39).

The priests would have thought that it was a good job done….they had now got rid of this teacher with His radical teachings. Little did they know that it was just the beginning of something that is still carrying on until today! We wonder what the ones in charge of the inside of the temple thought when they saw the inner veil torn from the top…they would not have realised that the way to God was now made open for all those who would believe in the One they had just got rid of (as they thought) As we read Hebrews chapter nine, we see how that the tabernacle that Moses had made, and then the temple with all the sacrifices and rituals that were necessary before a person could be clean before God, were done away with, when Jesus Christ offered Himself as THE ultimate sacrifice, without spot, to pay for man’s sin.

We read that God was in Christ as He hung on the cross, even though He turned His face away from the sin of mankind, reconciling the world to Himself (2 Corinthians 5:17-19)….it cost Him (the Father) more than we can ever realise. We who are born in sin and live in a sinful world, just have no conception of how repugnant sin is to God! It was decreed right from the beginning that the soul that sins (disobeyed Him)  will die  (Genesis 2:16-17). But now that Christ’s suffering and death was all over and man’s sin was atoned for to God’s justice and satisfaction, our Lord could see the travail of His soul and be satisfied….He was (and is) now able to make intercession for the sinners who come to Him and point to His sacrifice that paid the debt of sin. A good job well done! (Isaiah 51:11-12)

Jesus Christ has paid it all, All to Him we owe,

He has shed the crimson tide, Now we can be as white as snow!

***             ***             ***

                                    What Next?

John 20:1-18

John’s account of the resurrection centres on what he saw and did that morning. The other Gospels tell of the group of women that had got up before daylight to go and attend to the body properly, as everything had been done in such a hurry on the day of the crucifixion…..

As they hurried along the road, they wondered how they were going to get the stone at the tomb’s mouth rolled away. The ground rumbled and shook again as there had been continuous aftershocks all weekend after the big one on the day of the crucifixion, and when they got there, they saw the stone was already rolled away and an angel was sitting there on it.      (Matthew 28:1-8).

The first that John knew about it, was when Mary Magdalene arrived panting and in quite a state at the door of the place where John and Peter were staying.

“They’ve taken away the Lord out of the tomb and we don’t know what they’ve done with Him!” she cried when they answered the door. John and Peter immediately ran to the place, and went in to the cave where the body had been. Mary was right, there was nothing there except for the material that He had been wrapped in!  They left the place more puzzled than ever and went back to the others.

The other women had gone back home, not knowing what else to do, but Mary stood there outside the tomb crying to herself. She plucked up courage and looked inside the tomb once more, and this time she saw two angels wearing glistening white clothes, sitting there where the body had been.

“What are you crying for?” they asked her.

“They’ve taken Him away and I don’t know where to find Him,” was all she could say.

She went outside again, and saw another Person standing there. “Why are you crying?” He asked. Mary still didn’t recognise Him, and thought He was the gardener. “Oh Sir,” she said, “Tell me if you’ve taken Him away and I’ll go and get Him!”

“Mary,” He said gently, and with that voice, recognition came.

“Master!” was all she could say.

“Don’t touch Me,” He said, “Go and tell My brothers that I have risen and am going back to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God!”

What a wonderful statement that was! An all encompassing statement that takes in all God’s people from all ages! He is our Father! He is our God! All those who have come to Him in repentance are part of His family, and He will never turn them away. We CAN be forgiven, and we never need to feel forsaken by God again!

Mary ran back to the others, and they heard her story with disbelief, (Mark 16:11) but she knew what she had seen and heard.

Jesus Christ is risen indeed, He now is able to meet man’s need,

We are part of His family great, As for His coming we now can wait!

***             ***             ***

                                Life Goes On.

John 20:19-31

The disciples heard with disbelief what Mary had to tell them, and no doubt that was all they could talk about during that day. They were all gathered together again that evening behind closed doors, when two of their number who had gone home to Emmaus returned, panting from their haste to return and full of the great revelation they had just had…..

“He IS alive!” they said, “We’ve just had the most marvellous time!”, and they poured out their story of how they had met Jesus on the way and not known Him and then how they had dropped to it when He gave thanks for their meal. The group were also bubbling with news…. “We know,” they said, “He’s been talking with Peter too!”  (Luke 24:33-34).

Suddenly in the midst of all this talking, Jesus appeared to them in the room, and we can imagine the silence that fell. Luke tells us that they were all petrified, until He convinced them that He was just the same as before, and yet not exactly the same. Even though He could show them the marks of the cross still on His body, yet He was in His heavenly body which wasn’t subject to the laws of gravity, time or space. He could appear and vanish most unexpectedly. But He had flesh and blood, and could eat the same as they did….they were full of wonder and joy, hardly able to believe what they were seeing and hearing!

Jesus told them that they would receive the Holy Spirit and would then, on the authority of God’s Word, be able to say whether people they were counselling would have their sins forgiven or not. This is still the same today. We know that when a person comes to the Lord in true repentance, their sins ARE forgiven, and if they refuse, they still remain in their sins, and we can tell them this on the authority of Gods Word.

Thomas wasn’t there at this initial meeting, and when he heard about it, he scoffed.

“I won’t believe it until I can actually touch His scars!” he said with finality.

A week later they were all together again in the same place, and Thomas  was with them this time. The doors were tightly closed as they were the week before, and they became aware that Jesus was with them again.  “Peace to you all”, He greeted them with, and then turned to Thomas, “See the marks on My hands and feet….feel them, and here is the scar in my side. Feel them and make sure that you know it is I !”

Thomas was speechless and then burst out with “My Lord and My God!”

“You’ve been unbelieving until you saw for yourself, but those who believe without seeing will be blessed indeed!”

Each one of us today who believe, fall into this category. In a sense we have seen Him by faith, and are then convinced of the reality of Him. How thankful we can be that He has spoken to us and brought us to this point! The purpose of John’s writing this account has been reached when we believe it all.

Jesus Christ is live indeed, He tends and cares and meets our need,

Blessed indeed when we believe, And His eternal life receive!

***             ***             ***

                              Fishing for What?

John 21:1-17

The disciples had gone back north to their home territory, and decided to go back fishing ….after all, what else was there to do? Nothing more had happened down in Jerusalem and there was no point in staying any longer, they thought. There were seven of them who went out fishing the first night, and they caught nothing. As they lifted their net, they saw a man standing on the shore line who called out and asked if they had caught anything.

“Nothing!” they said.

“Try putting it out on the other side”, He said……

They did that and this time there were so many fish that they could hardly pull the net in.

“It’s the Lord!” said John to Peter.

Peter immediately dived into the water, and swam to shore ahead of the others, and began to haul the net in to land…there were 153 fish in the net and it hadn’t broken!

By this time they knew it was indeed their Master who was there on the beach, and He had a fire going with some cooked fish and bread for them to eat. This was the third time  they had seen the Lord after His resurrection.

“Come and have something to eat”, He said

After they had eaten, we have the lovely passage where Jesus asked Peter in front of them all three times, “Do you love Me more than this fishing?” and then told him to feed His lambs and His sheep. Three times Peter affirmed in front of all the others that he did indeed love the Lord.

Was this because three times Peter had denied the Lord at His trial? We know that there had already been a private meeting between Peter and his Lord  (Luke 24:33-34) but because he had publicly denied Him three times, now it was being put right publicly. This is an example to us for dealing with matters today….that which is known publicly must be put right publicly and that which is just between two people, only needs to be put right between them.

Jesus showed them many things, How He provides their needs and brings,

Them into serving Him alone, Leaving all for His great throne.

***             ***             ***

                                John’s Last Word.

John 21:18-25

Peter had just affirmed for three times that he did indeed love the Lord, and Jesus said, “When you were young you could do what you wanted, but when you are old others will take you where you don’t want to go. But for now, follow  Me!”

Peter understood from this that He was referring to Peter’s ultimate death. So, always curious, :Peter said, “Well Lord, what shall this man (referring to John) do?”

“That is none of your business,” Jesus replied, “If I want him to wait until I come again, it’s nothing to do with you! You follow Me!”

What a lesson to us! What the Lord is doing with others, is nothing to do with us….our job is to make sure we are right before Him and to follow Him. So often we see the faults in others and don’t see our own shortcomings!

Then the next lesson for us is to make sure that we correctly hear what has been said…. we see how the others who heard this conversation immediately spread around that Jesus had said that John would not die. This was not what He had said at all. We have to be so careful that what we are repeating is correct.

There were many other things that Jesus did and said at this time, that John thought it would be impossible to write them all down! But we have been told all that is necessary for us to know…it is now up to us to follow these teachings the best that we can.

John did indeed live a  long and productive life, and has left us a wonderful legacy in his writings, both in this Gospel , his letters and finally in the book of Revelation.

Christ has left us all we need, In writings of His words and deeds,

It’s up to us to do our best, Leaving to Him to do the rest!

***             ***             ***

                                    Summing Up.

As we come to the end of John’s Gospel, we are left with the disciples still at the lake of Galilee trying to go back to their old job of fishing. But the Lord had different ideas for them….He was going to leave them physically, but He wanted them to carry on His work….  

He was not going to leave them without help….He was going to send them His Holy Spirit to empower them, guide and strengthen them in this task. He told them to go back to Jerusalem and to wait for this to happen. Then they would know what to do.

For forty wonderful days after the resurrection, they never knew when He would suddenly appear where they were. He came and went supernaturally, and Luke tells us in the book of Acts how He was eventually taken up to heaven as they were with Him. They saw Him going up….there was no doubt about where He now is. And to confirm it, two angels appeared to them and said that He would one day return in the same way that they had seen Him go (Acts 1:9-11).

So the work began once the Holy Spirit had been given to them, and has continued right down to this present age. The mere fact that this is being read, is proof of this….each one of us has a part to play, even if in nothing else but by our attitudes to others!

Jesus Christ is alive today, He’s shown us His wondrous way,

Let us go on and obey His Word, Showing that He is our Lord.

***             ***             ***