John Part Two

‘The Jewish leaders began harassing Jesus for breaking the Sabbath rules. But Jesus replied, “My Father is always working and so am I.” (Jn.5 v.16, 17)’

Jesus walked down the steps and surveyed the sick laying under the arches by the pool of Bethesda. Several decades ago archaeologists discovered and excavated part of these arches and the pool: I have been there as a tourist and remarkably at least two arches remain intact buried below the modern ground level for nearly two millennia. Jesus went there on the Sabbath and healed one older crippled man who had been brought there each day for many years. Jesus told him to pick up his bed and go home which he did. However he was soon picked up by the religious police and accused of breaking the law.

The police soon discovered that it was Jesus who had encouraged him to break their Sabbath laws, and so they harassed Jesus, who confronted the official interpretation of the Law by pointing out that God who made the law doesn’t stop working on the Sabbath and since Jesus was carrying out God’s work in healing the sick, then Jesus was following God’s example rather than the example of the Authorities who forbade all work including acts of mercy on the Sabbath. This incensed the authorities further and they plotted how they might kill him.

The Evangelist records this miracle of Jesus and subsequent teaching (next section) to set out the authority under which Jesus worked which was in sharp contrast to the authority exercised by the religious leaders. Jesus deliberately set out to challenge them by selecting a lame man who would provoke the authorities when healed by carrying his bed in a public space: not that Jesus was opposed to human authority, but he wanted to confront the spiritual blindness and self-seeking power by which they operated.

The authorities narrowly focused on the challenge Jesus made to their interpretation of the Law which laid a burden of obedience to a raft of interpretations on the populace thereby boosting the power and control that the leaders exercised over the people. Thus even when confronted by a miraculous healing ministry they focused on the fact it took place on the Sabbath rather than giving glory to God because the timing challenged the means by which they controlled the people.

In the synoptic Gospels the spiritual blindness under which the authorities operated is brought out even more sharply for example in Matthew 10 where confronted by the undeniably miraculous healing ministry exercised by Jesus the authorities sought to denigrate his authority by propounding their explanation that Jesus miracles were the work of the Devil rather than God.

Food for thought: Jesus was often highly critical of religious bigotry and hypocrisy of the religious leaders and authorities and he directed much of his teaching to expose this. Jesus authority was undeniably from God as his miracles demonstrated: that the authorities needed to find a theological explanation to denigrate Jesus rather than to deny the miracles is reasonable proof that Jesus enemies (those who sought to kill him) believed that miracles were taking place.

The modern Gospel reader may wonder how miracles that reverse a natural status quo might take place. There may be some scientific explanations, but generally I believe we are dealing with powers that science can’t investigate. Rapid remissions from cancer for example may have a scientific explanation, but as yet the medical world has not found it; however other true explanations are possible without needing to overturn the absolute natural. The point is that what we think of as natural is quite likely in reality to have blurred edges that we aren’t aware of. For a clear thinking philosophical exposition on whether or not we can rationally accept miracles I refer the reader to CS Lewis book titled Miracles.

As a Christian I believe there are likely to be powers we may now call supernatural that can displace what we may now call natural laws. This is because I believe God exists and is personal and that God upholds the whole natural universe: thus it is quite reasonable for me to believe that prayer for example can release powers that exist alongside what we now observe as natural laws or powers, and that these can be triggered to release unobserved powers to produce effects that we would otherwise have observed differently.

Challenge: To what extent do we operate under the authority of our church doctrines and leadership? Do we ever denigrate other Christians because we fear their influence? We should seek to be living each day under the authority of God’s Spirit.

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John 5 v.19 to 30 ~ (The Evangelist expounds the basis of Jesus Authority)

19Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does whatever he sees the Father doing...20bIn fact, the Father will show him (Jesus) how to do even greater works than healing this man. Then you will be truly astonished.”

24 “I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life”.

26The Father has life in himself and has granted that same life-giving power to his Son. 27And he has given him authority to judge everyone because he is the Son of Man. 28Don’t be surprised! Indeed, the time is coming when all the dead...will hear the voice of God’s Son, 29and they will rise again. Those who have done good will rise to eternal life, and those who have continued in evil will rise to experience judgement.

Jesus spelt out a radically new approach to God-relationship. He called God his Father and claimed intimate relationship to the extent that he constantly did what God showed him to do. This relationship was based on mutual love and Jesus faith expected God to show him ever more significant things to accomplish that would demonstrate the effectiveness of his God-relationship (v.20b). The logical conclusion to this relationship would be God’s judgement of humankind through Jesus Christ (v.22-30).

It is noteworthy that the Evangelist presents a ‘gospel message’ here in terms of ‘those who have done good (v.29)’ will rise to eternal life with God, whereas those ‘who have continued in evil’ will rise to experience God’s judgement. This is prefixed with the explanation, that ‘those who listen’ to Jesus’ gospel message (v.24), and believe in God who sent him will not be condemned for their sins, but have ‘already passed from death into life.’ The Evangelist implies that listening to Jesus message means acting on it (exercising faith and commitment) and believing that Jesus is God’s way of bringing humankind into eternal God-relationship – a relationship that can start here and now (v.24b).

Food for thought:-By ‘those who have continued in evil’ the Evangelist is referring to those who have continued to live their lives without drawing on God’s life-giving Spirit through faith in Jesus and he states that they will be facing judgement through the risen Christ. This does not mean that all possibility of repentance is gone – that remains a potential in the mystery of God’s mercy!

Challenge:- Are you drawing continuously on God’s life-giving Spirit through faith in Jesus?

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John 5 v.31 to 45 ~ (The Evangelist presents Jesus’ defence of his authority)

“33In fact, you sent investigators to listen to John the Baptist, and his testimony about me was true. 34Of course, I have no need of human witnesses, but I say these things to you so you might be saved.”

“43For I have come to you in my Father’s name, and you have rejected me....44No wonder you can’t believe! For you gladly honour each other, but you don’t care about the honour that comes from the One who alone is God.”

In this passage the Evangelist continues to present the defence of Jesus’ authority to the Jewish leaders who eventually had Jesus crucified. He has so far explained how Jesus acted on what ‘he saw Father God doing,’ i.e. Jesus claimed he was always acting on the Holy Spirit’s immediate authority. This would have angered the Jewish leaders who did not themselves know God’s personal leading.

Now the Evangelist turns the conversation to terms that the Jewish leaders could relate to, that of legal authority. The evangelist points out that this is a further attempt to bring the Jewish leaders to repentance (v.34). They were appointed as priests under the authority of the Law of Moses, so they would have been interested to know about the legal authority that Jesus acted under. The Jewish leaders were on somewhat uncomfortable grounds when it came to the Hebrew prophets, since prophets like Jesus claimed direct communication with God; hence the chief priests had sent out agents to carefully monitor what John the Baptist taught. It was quite apparent to them that John was held to be a prophet and equivalent to the OT prophet Elijah, and John the Baptist had testified about Jesus being the ‘lamb of God’ whose shoes John was not worthy to untie.

The Jewish leaders would have been aware of the Baptist’s testimony and so here the Evangelist reminds his readers that under Jewish law, it only takes the testimony of two witnesses to settle the legality of a case. And so the Evangelist now describes the testimony of the second witness in the case of Jesus legal authority to act and teach as he had. He calls on Father God as his second witness. It is the fact that the people who listened to Jesus teach recognised that he taught with real authority unlike the teaching that emanated from the establishment, and further Jesus performed miraculous signs which the people also took to show the Jesus authority came from God. Hence the evangelist’s case for Jesus legal authority stood based on the testimony of two witnesses, viz. John the Baptist and almighty God (whose testimony was evident through the recognition that Jesus’ audience afforded)!

Having proved the legal case for Jesus authority, the Evangelist then has Jesus turn the tables on the Jewish leaders. “You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me! Yet you refuse to come to me to receive this life. (v39, 40)”

Food for thought: Why did John the Evangelist select this particular ‘sign’ to include in his Gospel? It may be that since the fall of Jerusalem to the Roman armies and the dispersal of all temple worship that many devout Jews were questioning God and their own religious leaders. Whereas prior to this catastrophic event Paul had written that by enlarge the Jewish nation had turned a deaf ear to the Gospel message. John the Evangelist now sensed that the time was ripe for the Gospel message to reach the Jews as well as non-Jews. Essential to reaching the Jews was to show that the authority exercised by Jesus Christ was much superior to that exercised by the Jewish chief priests, and to show that they had done wrong in not heeding the Messiah’s message. Is it possible for us like the Jewish leaders to live in the comfort zone of people who think and feel like we do and give our friends a greater level of credence than those whose Christ like character we may find challenging.

Challenge: How much do we rely on the support of others to justify ourselves rather than seeking God’s face and rely on God’s Spirit?

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John 6 v.1 to 21 ~ (Jesus feeds five thousand)

2 A huge crowd kept following him wherever he went, because they saw the miraculous signs as he healed the sick....

11Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the people. Afterwards he did the same with the fish. And they all ate as much as they wanted. 12After everyone was full, Jesus told his disciples, “Now gather up the leftovers, so that nothing is wasted.” 13So they picked up the pieces and filled twelve baskets with scraps left by the people who had eaten from the five barley loaves. 14When the people saw him do this miraculous sign, they exclaimed, “Surely, he is the Prophet we have been expecting!”

15When Jesus saw that they were ready to force him to be their king, he slipped away into the hills by himself...

19They had rowed three or four miles (i.e. were not far from Capernaum) when suddenly they saw Jesus walking on the water toward the boat. They were terrified, but he called out to them, “Don’t be afraid, I am here!”

The miraculous sign of Jesus feeding the five thousand is recorded in all four New Testament Gospels. Apart from this ‘sign’ and the one that immediately follows it (Jesus apparently walking to the disciples on the Sea of Galilee later that night), the Evangelist selected from his sources only those miraculous signs not previously recorded in the Synoptic Gospels. The fact that he can do this demonstrates eyewitness sources not used by the Synoptic Gospel writers (and these two signs that are common have differing details). So why did he select these two signs that had been previously recorded? The two clearly hang together, but I would venture that the feeding sign was the more significant for John’s purposes.

The importance of this sign was its parallel to Moses feeding the Children of Israel ‘bread from heaven’ in the wilderness. Christ is shown as being greater than Moses and John uses Jesus teaching the crowds following this event to bring this point home.

Food for thought: The Jews who heard Jesus teaching in the wilderness (without allowing it to transform their minds), wanted to make him into their champion in the image of the temporal king they craved who would rid them of the Roman occupation. When Jesus gave them the slip, they found him in Capernaum and, when challenged about their true motives, they demanded further signs before they would submit to following in Jesus’ way.

Challenge: How much of our discipleship is for our convenience and for our benefit? Do we balk at going the narrow way God’s Spirit would lead us?

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John 6 v.22 to 59 ~ (Jesus teaches about the Bread of Life)

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

58”I am the true bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will not die as your ancestors did (even though they ate the manna) but will live forever.”

The Evangelist contrasts the spiritual bread of Christ (his teaching and the experience of new birth by God’s Spirit that people receive through faith in Christ) with the temporal physical food (called Manna) that had miraculously fed the Israelite refugees as they wandered through the Sinai wilderness with Moses. John provides us with the words of the risen Christ, the logic of which is as follows:

The Jewish leaders reasoning (we may surmise) was as follows:-

1. The Jewish scriptures teach that our ancestors were miraculously fed by Moses in the wilderness

2. This shows that the spiritual food (the Jewish law) that Moses introduced was fully acceptable to God

3. God is one and God’s Law given through Moses is complete

4. Therefore any other ‘way’ (i.e., other than the Law of Moses) claimed to please God must be false

5. Therefore to please God Jews (and their proselytes) only need to follow the Law of Moses

Jesus counter reasoning (we can surmise) was as follows:-

1. God, not Moses, fed your ancestors in the wilderness to meet their physical need at the time and to show them that God cared for them

2. Eating Manna in the wilderness didn’t do the Jewish ancestors any spiritual good since a whole generation still died in the wilderness as a result of their rebellion.

3. Jews as much as all people need more than the Law of Moses to transform them spiritually (i.e., so that they won’t die in their sins like the Jewish ancestors)

4. God cares for people’s spiritual needs as much, if not more than their physical needs

5. God offers people spiritual food through Jesus Christ (by his life, teaching and deeds)

6. This spiritual food that Jesus offers will transform people through God’s grace so that they love God and do what God wants

7. This spiritual food lasts for eternity unlike the Manna in the wilderness which perished overnight.

Food for thought:- What really mattered for the Jews that Jesus reached on earth, was not the miraculous feeding from God with physical bread, but rather that they reached out and ate the spiritual bread God offered them through Jesus their Messiah.

Challenge:- Are we feeding on the living bread that Christ offers us?

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John 6 v.60 to 71 ~ (Many Disciples Desert Jesus)

53”Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you cannot have eternal life within you.” 60Many of his disciples said, “This is very hard to understand. How can anyone accept it? 61Jesus aware...said to them, “Does this offend you? 62Then what will you think if you see the Son of Man ascend to heaven again? 63The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64But some of you do not believe me.” ...66At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him.

The Evangelist writing with the benefit of post resurrection faith in the risen Christ, depicts Jesus deliberately shocking his disciples with teaching about eating his body and drinking his blood. The Synoptic Gospels show us that Jesus close disciples were indeed slow to grasp his meaning when teaching about yeast of the Sadducees as a metaphor of their teaching. And they also make clear that Jesus taught mostly in parables and occasionally unravelled these for the benefit of his close disciples. The Evangelist’s words here are unlikely to be the literal words spoken by Jesus prior to the resurrection. However if they were they would have been intended to shock people into realising that Jesus words are words that had the power to bring them eternal life, which his precisely what the Evangelist wanted to get across in this passage.

Food for thought: It could be that John has included this teaching here in reference to the early church doctrine on the ‘Breaking of Bread’ (Mass, Holy Communion, etc.). It is possible (though speculative I think) that some early version of what became the Roman Catholic understanding of transubstantiation (the changing of the elements of bread and wine into the flesh and blood of Christ) was already emerging. Jesus last supper with his disciples before his crucifixion was the occasion of the Jewish Passover celebration during which Jesus introduced new dimensions to that feast so as to call his disciples to continue this practice as a sacrament (i.e., a practice that reminds us of spiritual truth). Jesus intended that the broken bread symbolised the gift of the Holy Spirit that God would give to whoever believed in Jesus as God’s Messiah (which I understand was implied by the practice during the Jewish Passover festival), and he clearly stated that the cup of wine that they then shared was to remind them that his blood (which would shortly be shed) was given for the sin of the world and would cleanse believers from sin and give them a new standing before God.

Challenge: Do you seek to meet with Christ anew each time you celebrate Communion?

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John 7 v.1 to 52 (Jesus travels incognito to Jerusalem)

2Soon it was time for the Jewish festival of Shelters...10Jesus also went, though secretly, staying out of public view. 11The Jewish leaders tried to find him at the festival and kept asking if anyone had seen him...13... no one had the courage to speak favourably about him in public, for they feared getting into trouble with the Jewish leaders.

37On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! 38Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’”

39When he said, ‘living water,’ he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him. But the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet entered his glory.

40When the crowds heard him say this, some of them declared, “Surely this man is the Prophet we’ve been expected.” 41Others said, “He is the Messiah.” 43...the crowd was divided about him.

At the climax of the festival water from the pool of Siloam was solemnly offered back to God in grateful thanks: this pool is the pool into which fresh spring water flowed via Hezekiah’s the rock hewn tunnel. Many Jews were aware of Scriptures such as Zech.13 v.1 “On that day a fountain (fresh water) will be opened for the dynasty of David and for the people of Jerusalem, a fountain to cleanse them from all their sins and impurity”, and Isaiah 44 v.3b, “And I will pour out my Spirit on your descendents, and my blessing on your children”, and Isaiah 55 v.1 &3, “Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink – even if you have no money! Come take your choice of wine or milk – it is all free!...Come to me with your ears wide open. Listen and you will find life.”

The Evangelist infers that Jesus publically pointed to himself as the fulfilment of such prophecies and tells us that the crowd was confused by what he claimed, but that the authorities did not have the courage to actually arrest him. The Evangelist tells us Jesus was teaching about God’s Spirit who would be given to all who believed in Jesus as God’s Christ.

Food for thought: This Jewish festival is rich in symbolism for Christians. It marked the harvest festival which is a type for the gathering of the spiritual harvest of believers into God’s kingdom through faith in Christ. It is also a further type for the outpouring of God’s Spirit (symbolised by pouring fresh water) on the Christian church which occurred at the feast of Pentecost.

The evangelist has already pointed his readers to the promise of this refreshing ‘water’ of eternal life that Jesus came to give believers when he spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well (Jn.4 v.13), and in that earlier passage he also talked about the spiritual harvest Jesus came to inaugurate (Jn.4 v.34-38). The Evangelist ends his Gospel with an account of Jesus resurrection rather than the subsequent outpouring of God’s Spirit on the early church, and so it is here in chapter 7, that he emphasises the reality that occurrence which followed a few weeks after Jesus’ resurrection (Jn.7 v.39).

Challenge: To what extent do we show the overflow and joy of God’s Spirit from our hearts?

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John 7 v.53 to John 8 v.11 ~ (Jesus judges a case of adultery)

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

7”All right,” Jesus said, “but let the one who has never sinned cast the first stone!” 8Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust. 9When the accusers heard this they slipped away one by one... 10Then Jesus stood up and said to the woman... “neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.”

Textual criticism suggests this passage was inserted into John’s Gospel after it had been copied a few times, so the passage was possibly an early church oral recollection that a first century scribe realized was not recorded in any of the four Gospels and so decided to include it here in John’s Gospel. It fits here quite well as an incident in Jerusalem when Jesus was being tested by the authorities. It comes between a passage where the Jewish authorities have failed to arrest Jesus (John 7 v.32) due to a lack of resolution and the sequel (John 8 v.13ff) where the Pharisees challenge his claim of direct authority from God. The cameo shows the spiritual power and wisdom with which Jesus deflected direct challenges from the religious leaders while at the same time keeping the crowds amazed at his teaching.

It also shows God’s compassion and justice to the woman caught in adultery. Under Moses Law, the man she was with was as guilty as her, but he was not brought to Jesus in this request for rough justice. Jesus doesn’t condemn her while simultaneously he calls her to end her adulterous life-style.

Food for thought: Jesus did not come to condemn the world, but to save us all from ourselves. He called disciples to follow his example and receive his promised Spirit so that we are transformed into better people from the inside as we focus on sharing Christ’s love in our world through our daily lives.

Challenge: Are we embracing the salvation God offers us by his Spirit so that we live altruistically to build a good and wholesome society?

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5 God’s Logos: the light of the world

John 8 v.12 to 30 ~ (Jesus the Light of the World)

12Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”

23...”unless you believe that I am who I claim to be, you will die in your sins.”

28Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man on the cross, then you will understand that I am he. I do nothing on my own but say only what the Father taught me. 29And the one who sent me is with me... For I always do what pleases him.” 30Then many who heard him say these things believed in him.

As Jesus taught these things in the temple, the Evangelist tells us that Jesus was continually challenged by the Pharisees (v.13 to 21) particularly about the grounds of his authority to be teaching, but they didn’t arrest him. The Evangelist here briefly returns to the defence of Jesus authority which he has already spelt out in greater detail in chapter 5. (There he recounted that Jesus claimed two witnesses, viz. the Father and John the Baptist).

The subject passage is the Evangelist’s prelude to presenting Jesus as the spiritual light of the world in greater detail as he draws on Jesus healing of a man who had been blind from birth to bring this teaching home in chapter 9.

Food for thought: One test of how closely we are walking with God is the evidence of God working with us. To hope to achieve a closer walk with God we need to ask God to work in us and spend time in God’s presence.

Challenge: Are we walking in Christ’s light day by day?

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John 8 v.31 to 58 ~ (Jesus is much greater than Abraham)

31Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. 32And you will know the truth and the truth will set you free....34everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is a part of the family forever. 36So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.”

Jesus said to the Jews who (apparently) believed in him, “37I realise you are descendants of Abraham. And yet some of you are trying to kill me because there is no room in your hearts for my message. ...39...if you were really the (spiritual) children of Abraham, you would follow his example (and welcome someone who comes from God)...42If God were your (spiritual) Father, you would love me, because I have come to you from God...”

“43Why cant you understand what I am saying? It is because you can’t hear me and understand what God is saying to you (implied). 44For you are children of your father the Devil, and you love to do the evil things he does......He has always hated the truth because there is no truth in him...45So when I tell you the truth you just naturally don’t believe me!”

The account the Evangelist gives us is a little confusing since it seems as if Jesus is addressing the same group of listeners and yet we perceive Jesus telling them that they are incapable of hearing spiritual truth because they love evil (v.43-45) and yet also telling them to be faithful to his teaching because the spiritual truth Jesus has given them will set them free from the deceit of the evil one (v.31-36). A rational explanation is that Jesus was aware that in the group he was teaching there were those who had ears to hear his spiritual truth and there were others who appeared to listen to him but who were incapable of understanding spiritual truth. This explanation is borne out in the Synoptic Gospels by Jesus use of the expression ‘let those who have ears to hear take care how they listen.’ It seems in this lengthy passage in John’s Gospel that Jesus is bringing out the unbelief of those who appeared to be learning from him but were not. Hence the conversation gets more animated as it progresses. What we don’t see is those in whose hearts Jesus words are bearing spiritual fruit.

Food for thought: When we bear faithful witness in the face of opposition, God is quietly challenging and growing some of the onlookers through our witness that we may never know the results of on earth. So be encouraged and be faithful!

Challenge: Reflect Christ likeness in all your conversations with people.

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John 9 v.1 to 49 ~ (Jesus heals a man born blind)

1As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. 2”Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind?”...3”It was not because of his sins or his parent’s sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him. We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. The night is coming when no man can work. 5But while I am here in the world, I am the light of the world.”

In this simple statement Jesus throws out any doctrine that holds that human defects and diseases are somehow God’s judgement on the sins of our ancestors (inclusive of the sin of the notional ancestors of the human race, Adam and Eve). This has important implications for Christian faith today. Jesus is in effect stating that all human diseases, defects and sufferings should be regarded as a challenge to the rest of humanity to work urgently to alleviate the suffering both of those directly affected as well as for the prevention of suffering. Jesus goes on (as he usually did) to demonstrate physically this truth by healing the blind beggar.

39Jesus told him “I entered this world to render judgement – to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they can see that they are blind.”

The Evangelist wants us to understand that Jesus healing of the blind man was part of his purpose to expose the spiritual blindness of the religious leaders who thought they had God’s light, but didn’t (Jn.9v.39-41).

Food for thought: Jesus statement (verse 3) should be sufficient to refute the modern (and I submit wrong) Young Earth Creationist notion that human diseases are the result of ‘original sin’. The human genome itself provides conclusive evidence that the human species has evolved from lower order life forms and that those life forms that cause human disease are among the earliest life forms on the planet. Whereas it is true that humans do pass on genetic diseases, it is meaningless to suppose that an ‘original sin’ was the cause of all human death and disease.

Challenge: Are we really open to Jesus challenge to be fully committed to ‘doing the work of God’ while we have the ability to do so?

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John 10 v.1 to 5 & 10 to 21 ~ (Jesus the ‘good shepherd’)

“1I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief. 2But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognise his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. 5They won’t follow a stranger.”

“11I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. 12A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming.”

Jesus teaches here about himself as the good (Palestinian) Shepherd: today we might identify more easily with the illustration of a good dog owner – the dog (or sheep) recognise and trust the owner’s voice and will follow him/her. When a group of dogs are playing together while their owners converse, and then one owner decides to leave, he/she only needs to call their dogs’ names and their dogs will leave the others and follow that owner. It was apparently similar when a particular Palestinian shepherd called his own sheep from out of a common sheep pen; his sheep followed the voice they recognised.

Sometimes dog owners have been known to risk their lives to rescue their dog when it was in danger and it was the same for Palestinian shepherds when their flocks were under threat of attack by wolves. The Evangelist points to Jesus as the good shepherd who lays down his life (reference the Roman cross that Jesus died on) for the sake of the sheep (reference the Gospel message that Christ died to save us from the consequences of our sins).

Jesus also teaches here that those who are born again of God’s Spirit (refer to John ch.3) can see the kingdom of God and recognise Christ’s teaching as coming from God’s Spirit, and so they can be said to follow Christ because they recognise God’s voice in him.

Naomi Starkey has pointed out (NDL 5 Dec.13, BRF) that ‘We must not forget how shocking Jesus’ words would have sounded to the original audience. He is applying to himself imagery used by the prophets to refer to the Lord God...he is here explicitly identifying himself as that shepherd, the true ‘Good Shepherd’ of Israel. The religious leaders were conspicuously failing in their pastoral duty of care for the people. The identity of the ‘hired hand’, who runs away (v.12) – in contrast to the Good Shepherd- therefore would have been all too obvious to his listeners.’

Food for thought: In verse sixteen the Evangelist quotes Jesus saying, “I have other sheep too, that are not of this sheepfold. I must bring them also.” This statement (probably inspired by the Spirit of Christ post resurrection) can only sensibly apply to the saying about Jesus being the ‘good shepherd’ and not to Jesus being the ‘right gateway’. First century Christians would have read this as a reference by Jesus to reach the Gentile (non-Jewish) world as against the fold of Jewish nation. It was and is the Spirit of Christ that reaches these new ‘sheep folds’ on earth through his body of the universal church on this planet. In a futuristic context the statement would also refer to life on other planets (as yet unknown to us) in other solar systems and galaxies.

Challenge: Are we being Christ’s hands and feet in taking or extending God’s good news to other people on earth?

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John 10 v 6 to 9 ~ (Jesus the ‘right gateway’)

6Those who heard Jesus use this illustration didn’t understand what he meant, 7so he explained it to them: “I am the gate for the sheep. 8All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep didn’t listen to them. 9Yes I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures.”

The evangelist claims here to explain Jesus parable of the ‘good shepherd’, however it seems to me that he fails to provide an adequate explanation (other than later in verse eleven as the one who lays down his life for the sheep). However in verse six, the Evangelist instead provides a different saying about Jesus being the ‘right gate or entrance’. The evangelist appears to have mixed up two different sayings of Jesus, one about Jesus being the ‘right gate way’ to the sheepfold and the other about Jesus being the ‘good shepherd’ of the sheep.

Jesus was not only claiming to be the Good Shepherd of Israel (a claim to divinity), but also to be the proper gateway, i.e., the means that seekers can find true relationship with God, their heavenly Father.

I have already provided above a possible explanation for Jesus’ Good Shepherd saying and a possible explanation of Jesus’ Right Gateway saying is as follows. Jesus is the only way God intends for people to enter into God’s kingdom and to find the eternal life God has for us all. We need to find God through faith in Jesus Christ and to nourish our spiritual life by continuing to live by faith in Jesus Christ. False prophets (including some of the religious leaders of Jesus day) will come and deceive people by avoiding God’s true gateway (viz. Christ): these prophets and leaders steel people from God and rob those they steel of the eternal life God has for them.

Food for thought: The fact that the author may have accidentally blended these two different sayings of Jesus provides textual proof that these sayings attributed to Jesus are authentic. If the Evangelist had made up these sayings to expound what he believed about Jesus, he would have made his message clearer and not muddled it. Interestingly the author of the book of Revelations refers to the twelve gates of the city of God’s eternal kingdom, each being formed from a single pearl (Rev.21 v21) and Jesus had also taught that he is the pearl of great price that we each need to go for (Matt.13 v.45).

Challenge: Are you buying into Jesus being your pearl of great price?

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John 10 v 22 to 42 ~ Jesus claims to be the Son of God

24The people asked, “..If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” 25Jesus replied, “I have already told you and you don’t believe me. The proof is the (miraculous) work I do in my Father’s name. 26But you don’t believe because you are not my sheep.” ...31Once again the people picked up stones to kill him. 32Jesus said, “At my Father’s direction I have done many good works. For which are you going to stone me?” 33They replied, We are stoning you not for any good work, but for blasphemy! You, a mere man claim to be God.”

It seems that in calling God his father, the people understood him as blasphemously claiming to be God. Jesus went on (v.34ff) to challenge their view that he was speaking blasphemy by quoting their Scriptures, where even God himself called the unrighteous Jews, ‘Gods, sons of God, but who will die like morals (because of their sins)’ Psm.82 v.6.

Jesus avoided arrest this time, but his appeal was for his hearers to consider the good works in the form of the miraculous signs, that he performed in God’s name in healing the sick, etc. However his hearers were not inclined to change their prejudiced outlook by acknowledging God was working though him, they were more inclined to find fault with him because he challenged their lack of spiritual strength and the comfort of their religious outlook and status quo.

Food for thought: The prophet Muhammad took a similar view as Jesus’ Jewish listeners here, in that he considered that Christians were blasphemously claiming that God had sired Jesus as his son. In his eyes this was a double error, first that almighty God might get involved in procreating a human and second that Christians were claiming that God had an equal in the form of a son. Muhammad considered this both blasphemous and idolatrous.

The Christian gospel presents a profound challenge to human perception in any age. Humanity generally likes to keep a status quo where leaders feel they are comfortably in control of their people and the people feel they can tolerate their leaders, and where their God (or the gods) is worshipped comfortably at arm’s length: their God’s ‘will’ is sufficiently known for them to feel they are sufficiently compliant and that their unrighteous enemies can be dealt with, and where the God (or gods) are not so out of control as to expose the leaders’ and people’s hypocrisies.

The Christian claim is that the creator God of the universe desires to live in each of us and with each of us such that all our hypocrisies are exposed and dealt with. And further our Christian claim is that God was in Jesus Christ to achieve this personal relationship for us, by exposing our utter helplessness, showing us forgiveness (through Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross) and then by filling those who call out to him with the strength of God’s Spirit.

This claim was as uncomfortable to the Jews as it was later to Muslims and continues to be in the modern era.

Challenge: Is the Christian claim continuing to challenge you to a closer walk with God?

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John 11 v.1 to 44 ~ The raising of Lazarus from physical death

4But when Jesus heard about it he said (to his disciples), “Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God so that the Son of God will receive glory from this.” 5So although Jesus loved Martha, Mary and Lazarus, 6he stayed where he was for the next two days. ... 11Then he said (to his disciples), “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but now I will go and wake him up.” ...13They thought Jesus meant Lazarus was simply sleeping, but Jesus meant Lazarus had died. 14So Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. 15And for your sakes, I’m glad I wasn’t there, for now you will really believe.”

20When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. ..21Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.”...23Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise again.” 25Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection...Anyone who believes in me will live, even after (physical) death.

35Then Jesus wept. ... “39Roll the stone aside,” Jesus told them. ...41Jesus said, “Father, thank you for hearing me...”. 43Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus come out!” 44And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in grave clothes... Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!”

Jesus hears that Lazarus is sick, but he also hears God Spirit telling him to wait because God was going to perform a miracle to convince the disciples that he was the Christ. This must have been hard for Jesus since he had close human friendships and did not like the prospect of Mary & Martha suffering the loss of their brother and also feeling that Jesus had slighted them by delaying coming and so missing his funeral. It is clear from the text (verse 6) that Jesus and his disciples had travelled north to Galilee when they received news that Lazarus was seriously ill. It would have taken the messenger two days to reach them and Jesus two days to return to Bethany and since Jesus waited a further two days in Galilee, it would seem Lazarus had died about two days after the messenger had been dispatched. The dead were usually buried the same day that they died (there were no modern cold storage funeral parlours) and so Jesus was aware through God’s Spirit that Lazarus had died and would have been entombed for three or four days before he arrived.

The Evangelist records that Jesus tested Martha’s faith in him and that she passed with flying colours (v.27). However it is clear from the context that Jesus intended to perform the miracle of restoring Lazarus to this life so as to bring home the message to his disciples (including Martha and Mary) that those who believe in him will receive eternal life and so will never suffer spiritual death. I do not think that there is any thought here that those who believe will not have to face physical death even though the Apostles initially seemed to think that Jesus return in glory was so imminent (following Pentecost) that most of them would not die physically before Christ’s second coming (Matt.16 v.28) when they would be caught up into heaven (1 Thess.4 v.17).

The pithy statement, “I am the resurrection!” may be interpreted as meaning that Christ has come into our world so that those who embrace God’s gift of grace through faith in Jesus, will pass from physical death to eternal life with Christ. The Evangelist probably did not have intend us to understand this process will involve a further (or extended) physical life on earth: he was well aware that most if not all the early disciples had already died when he wrote his Gospel. For a fuller discussion of this point please refer to my reflections on Matt.16 v21-28 (food for thought).

This was the last miracle that the Evangelist records Jesus doing before his crucifixion (one of five he records unique to this Gospel). For comment on the defence of miracles refer to Discussion on the occurrence of miracles in the Appendix.

Food for thought: The experience of being accurately directed by God’s Spirit in respect of a particular event (and without any other means of knowledge) is not uncommon to those who spend time in God’s presence by prayer.

Challenge: Do you recognise Christ’s voice and trust and act on what God’s Spirit tells you?

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John 11 v.45 to 57 ~ The plot to kill Jesus

47Then the leading priests and Pharisees called the high council together. “What are we going to do?” they asked each other. “This man certainly performs many miraculous signs. 48If we allow him to go on like this, soon everyone will believe in him. Then the Roman army will come and destroy both our temple and our nation.” 49Caiaphas, who was high priest at that time, said, “You don’t know what you are talking about! 50You don’t realise that it’s better for you that one man should die for the people than for the whole nation to be destroyed.” ...53So from that time on, the Jewish leaders began to plot Jesus’ death.

It is clear from this account that although it would be some thirty years before the Roman armies did destroy the Jewish nation, tensions were running quite high and the Jewish quisling leaders were strongly committed to maintaining the status quo with the occupying forces. This meant they need to quash all potential rebellion against their Roman masters, lest they themselves loose the limited power they had. They feared a popular uprising that Jesus might cause if the people made him their ruler. The Jewish leaders expected that Jesus would allow himself to become the popular hero to lead the people to overthrow the Roman occupation. The fear of this expectation was greater than any rational consideration of God being with Jesus for him to perform miraculous signs such as raising Lazarus from the dead and healing the sick.

Food for thought: When religious people are preoccupied with maintaining their own position in society, they can easily lack faith in what God is doing under their noses. They consequently quash the work of God’s Spirit in the attempt to protect their personal status.

Challenge: Are you putting God’s rule higher than all personal considerations?

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6 God’s logos prepares for the Cross

John 12 v.1 to 11 ~ Jesus anointed at Bethany

1Six days before the Passover celebration began, Jesus arrived in Bethany, the home of Lazarus – the man Jesus had raised from the dead. 2A dinner was prepared in Jesus honour. Martha served and Lazarus was among those who ate with him. 3Then Mary took a twelve once jar of expensive perfume..and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair...4Judas Iscariot ..said, “..5it should have been sold and the money given to the poor.”...7Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. She did this in preparation for my burial. 8You will always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me.”

The Evangelist has put this account of Mary anointing Jesus six days before the Passover immediately after the account of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. However the two stories are not sequential. The raising of Lazarus occurred on an earlier visit. The synoptic Gospels have this dinner and anointing occurring only two days before the Passover and after Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem and cleansing of the temple. However the Evangelist wants his readers to link the popular interest in Jesus and the plotting of the authorities with the miracle of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead (refer v.17 to 19).

There are minor discrepancies of the timing of events leading to the crucifixion between the Synoptic Gospels and John’s, however we need to use our spiritual eyes to discern what is important just as Mary did when she saw that anointing Jesus with her treasured Nard perfume was more important than keeping it or giving it away for the poor.

Food for thought: Mary was no doubt given the perfume by her father who had been a merchant. She had treasured it wondering for what occasion she might use it. Now she realised that Jesus meant what he said that he was soon going to suffer a terrible death. Jesus had told his disciples what would be happening, but they had not truly taken it in. It may be that she had been a known sinner (as the Synoptic Gospel writers suggest), but I doubt that was why she was weeping. Mary wept for Jesus and over him.

Challenge: How much do we feel Christ’s pain in the suffering and unbelief of the world around us?

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John 12 v.12 to 18 ~ Jesus triumphant entry

12The next day, the news that Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem swept through the city. A large crowd of Passover visitors 13took palm branches and went down the road to meet him. They shouted, “Praise God! Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!” 14Jesus found a donkey and rode on it, fulfilling the prophecy that said: 15”Dont be afraid, people of Jerusalem. Look your king is coming riding on a donkey’s colt.” 16His disciples didn’t understand at the time that this was a fulfilment of prophesy.

The Synoptic Gospels tell us that Jesus planned this entry before reaching Bethany (which is some 2 miles from Jerusalem) and that he sent two disciples ahead to collect the donkey from Bethany. They also tell us that the joyful procession began from Bethany and continued to Jerusalem. John adds that people also came out from Jerusalem to meet and join the procession as it neared the city. This popular stir would have alarmed the authorities but also made them cautious about taking action.

The most likely destination for the Messiah to go on arrival was the temple and the most likely timing for cleansing the temple followed by teaching the people was this event. It was a time when the authorities would not have been able to arrest Jesus as a trouble maker because of his popularity and when his message would have reached into the minds of many visitors to the temple. The fact that John moved the incident of the cleansing of the temple from when it probably occurred, viz. after the triumphant entry into Jerusalem (as the Synoptic Gospels have it recorded), is due to the fact that John wanted to weave the message of that incident early into his Gospel. In my view there is no justification for suggesting as some have, that Jesus cleansed the temple twice: such duplication is not consistent with Jesus perfect walk with God’s spirit. Furthermore, any clearing of the temple event by Jesus would have been chronologically near the end of Jesus ministry since it was an event that certainly would have stirred a fierce response from the Jewish authorities (who were in fear of the Roman oppression and consequently of Jewish trouble makers), however the Gospels generally indicate that the start of Jesus ministry was not occasioned by such response. This developed later and led to Jesus crucifixion, so we can reasonably conclude that there was only one clearing of the temple event by Jesus, and this was near the end and not at the start of his ministry.

Food for thought: The author John adds some new data in telling us that the disciples at the time did not realise that Jesus was fulfilling a Scriptural prophesy. This detail indicates that Jesus knew what he was doing, but did not always share his reasons with his disciples. It further demonstrates the authenticity of the Gospels.

Challenge: We need to act when we see by God’s grace the tide rising for action to be effective.

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John 12 v.20 to 36 ~ Jesus predicts his death

20Some Greeks who had come for the Passover celebration paid a visit to Philip. They said, “Sir, we want to meet Jesus.” 22Philip told Andrew...and they went together to ask Jesus. 23Jesus replied, “Now the time has come for the Son of Man to enter his glory”...

27”Now my soul is deeply troubled. Should I pray, Father, save me from this hour? But this is the very reason why I came! 28Father, bring glory to your name.” Then a voice spoke from heaven, saying, “I have already brought glory to my name and I will do so again.” 29When the crowd heard the voice some thought it was thunder...

This incident was instigated by some Greeks coming to look for Jesus and it seemed to trigger a response in Jesus that he had been anticipating. Jesus knew he was walking a tightrope between bringing in the challenge of a new revelation of God that radically challenged the Jewish authorities and so upsetting them that they arrested him before his ministry was completed. Jesus also knew that he would suffer crucifixion in fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecies regarding the Messiah before entering his glory, however he didn’t know the precise timing and was looking for the Spirit’s guidance hour by hour. Hence it seems that the visit of Gentiles asking after him, was to Jesus the sign he was waiting for that he would shortly be handed over to suffer at the hands of the Jewish authorities.

At the precise public moment that Jesus openly prayed, ‘Father, bring glory to your name,’ there was a physical sign (such as by an earthquake or roll of thunder) that convinced the onlookers that God had responded to his prayer. For Jesus and his close disciples there was a voice from heaven encouraging Jesus in his lonely walk to the cross.

a) Food for thought: Under the ‘The Purpose of John’s Gospel’, F.f.t. section, I stated that I believe it is evident from the New Testament letters of John and from the testimony recorded in John’s Gospel that the Evangelist believed the disciple John bar Zebedee came to a vital personal faith as a result of three transforming experiences, viz.:- when the Holy Spirit gave witness to Jesus being God’s unique son,

 at Jesus baptism in the river Jordan (Jn.1v.36,37),

 while Jesus anticipated his crucifixion (Jn.12v.20to36).

 while he witnessed Jesus death on the cross (Jn.19 v.25-37).

This second occasion was instigated by some Greeks looking for Jesus. Jesus was conscious that his ministry was primarily to the Jews (witness his brief trip to Tyre & Sidon and his conversation with the Gentile woman recorded in Mark 7 v.24 to 29). It may be that God spoke directly to Jesus’ heart and that he shared this confirmation with his close disciples, or it may be that there was a miraculous audible voice that only his close disciples heard (while others only heard thunder), however the explanation is not relevant to the encouragement that God’s Spirit gave to Jesus through the event and nor was it relevant to the growing conviction that this gave to John bar Zebedee that Jesus really was the Christ.

The Evangelist has clearly written the account to favour his interpretation that a miracle happened (an audible voice) rather than an occasion of spiritual encouragement from God in response to prayer. If we believe that God is uncreated Spirit and has created the natural universe (of which we also partly comprise), then it is reasonable to believe that God is capable of doing the miraculous not by suspending the laws of nature but rather by means of introducing other un-natural laws to effect a natural result that God intends.

However we need to be careful to ask ourselves whether a particular event has a spiritual purpose and if so whether it may have been occasioned by physical means or whether the evidence is such that the intervention of a spiritual law was necessary. To give you a trivial example, I was yesterday taking photographs in Battersea Park having first put the lens cap in my pocket. When I got back, I searched all my pockets twice over and concluded the lens cap had fallen from my pocket in the park, so I set off back to search for it. I am currently reading C.S. Lewis philosophically book (Miracles) supporting the rationality of miracles and the irrationality of ‘Naturalism’ (the belief that there is nothing beyond the natural universe), hence when, as I set out, I put my hand again in my pocket only to find the lens cap immediately in my fingers, the thought did pass though my mind as to whether or not a miracle had happened. There could indeed be a spiritual reason for it, viz., to convince me that God still performs miracles today.

Was a miraculous intervention required, or had the lens cap merely been hidden for example by means of my handkerchief from my previous searches that I had thought were thorough?

Challenge: Are we open to hearing God speak to us and responding in faith, without being dogmatic about precisely how God achieves his purposes?

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John 12 v.37 to 50 ~ Unbelief of the people

37Despite all the miraculous signs Jesus had done, most of the people still did not believe in him. 38This is exactly what Isaiah the prophet had predicted: “Lord, who has believed our message? To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm?” 39But the people couldn’t believe, for as Isaiah also said, 40”The Lord has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts – so that their eyes cannot see, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and have me heal them.” 41Isaiah was referring to Jesus when he said this, because he saw the future and spoke of the Messiah’s glory.

The Evangelist has here avoided the modern excellent Bible exposition discipline of first explaining the meaning of the passage in its original context before applying it to his contemporary context. He has jumped straight into applying the passages he quotes to the context that the early church leaders found themselves, namely much hostility and unbelief from the very nation Israel that they would have rightly expected to respond wholeheartedly to the Gospel message.

It is clear from the New Testament writings of both John the Evangelist and of Paul the Apostle that the early church leadership had come to the (I believe) quite wrong conclusion that God (for God’s own good reasons) was in the business of stopping some people, notably the majority of the Jewish nation, from believing the Gospel message. This is discussed further under F.f.t. below.

The Evangelist goes on (in v.44 to 50) to describe how Jesus shouted to the crowds, “If you trust me, you are not only trusting me, but also God who sent me.” At this stage Jesus clearly taught that he was God’s message to the Jews and that he spoke God’s words to them as they should have expected their Messiah to do.

Food for thought: In a parallel passage to John 12, St. Paul, in Romans ch.9, agonises over the unbelief of the Jewish nation and finds a precedent for God apparently choosing Gentiles in preference to his own people the Jews, in OT passage where the author of Exodus quotes God as stating ‘I will harden Pharaoh’s heart (Exodus 4 v.21)’ so that God would be glorified in redeeming the Jewish nation from Egypt. But this interpretation does not fit with the Biblical context as a whole and needs to be countered by the clearer Biblical understanding that God knows what is in each person’s heart and how they will respond to his message; consequently God works both with and round each person’s unbelief and stubbornness. We should never interpret this as meaning that God somehow deliberately prevents anyone from responding in faith.

If we read the actual Old Testament passages, for example Isaiah 6 v.10, that the Evangelist quotes, the text does not state that God would harden the hearts of the people. When during Isaiah’s vision in the temple, he realised he was part of a sinful nation that God was going to cleanse, he responded to God’s call and he was then commissioned by God to go and proclaim to the people, ‘Listen carefully, but do not understand. Watch closely, but learn nothing.’ 10Harden the hearts of these people. Plug their ears and shut their eyes. That way they will not see ...nor hear...nor understand...and turn to me for healing.”

God told the prophet this would happen as a result of his preaching, it does not say that God would harden their hearts. Nor do I believe that the Spirit of God intended such an interpretation. What is clear is that God knew that the people would become hardened against faith in God’s word as a result of continuing to refuse to believe it. The somewhat poetic way that Isaiah puts his message, should not be read as meaning that God ever prevents anyone from coming to faith; but it should be taken as a warning against continued human stubbornness when hearing God’s message.

In the Isaiah 6 passage (see below), God is revealing that the nation will be cleansed only by God allowing them to suffer the full consequences of their stubbornness as they are first slaughtered by the Assyrians till only a remnant remains and that remnant will then go on and bring salvation to their descendants. And by Isaiah chapter 52 through to chapter 54, and in the context of the nation, God reveals that God will redeem Israel by giving her the faith in her suffering that will purify her descendants and then bring glory to her when God finally brings her to salvation from her enemies. In the context of the nation this was only ever partially achieved at the time of Judas Maccabeus, however in the context of God’s purposes for the whole earth this was gloriously achieved in and through Jesus Christ!

There was a far greater revelation in Isaiah’s prophecy than I believe the prophet was actually aware of when he was inspired to write his text. This understanding was given by God’s Spirit to the Apostles and by Isaiah 53 forms a marvellous picture prophetically foretelling Christ’s suffering and our redemption

Challenge: We need to rightly interpret the biblical text and not jump passages out of context to support our views. (I trust that I may have not done so in this review.)

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John 13 v.1 to 17 ~ Jesus washes Peter’s feet

4Jesus got up...5poured water into a basin...and began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had round him. 6When he came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”..8 “No you will never wash my feet!” 7Jesus replied, “Unless I wash you, you won’t belong to me.” 9Simon Peter exclaimed. “Then wash my hands and head as well, Lord, not just my feet!”

This incident is unique to John’s Gospel, but then the Gospel also uniquely leaves out any mention of the sacrament of Holy Communion (Breaking of Bread, Mass, etc.); however along with the Synoptic Gospel’s, the Evangelist does mentions Peter’s denial and Jesus prediction of it. It is almost as if the Evangelist is shining a search light on Peter’s character and actions, but is not interested in a key Christian institution. Luke while not mentioning the foot washing incident, nevertheless does link a related teaching with this last Passover supper that Jesus celebrated, viz., about the need for humility amongst the disciples (the other Gospels put that teaching earlier in Jesus ministry).

So why does John record this incident which has the marks of an eye-witness account describing much detail, whereas the Gospel nearest to Peter makes no mention of it? Mark by tradition wrote down in his own words the eye-witness testimony of Peter and Jesus washing Peter’s feet in the presence of his contemporaries would have been personally very significant for Peter, so it is surprising that Mark does not mention it, whereas he does describe Peter’s denial and Jesus prediction of that. Some possible explanations are:-

a. John is concerned to merely fill in the gaps left by the Synoptic Gospel writers

b. John is mainly concerned to provide key teaching episodes of Jesus ministry in great detail and is less concerned at the historical detail other than that which he needs to wrap round the episodes

c. John wants to focus on the last few days of Jesus ministry and uses fresh eye-witness material not previously written down

d. John records early church traditions some of which may be apocryphal or stories made up to help convey important Christian teaching.

I believe it is very unlikely that this incident was apocryphal since it fits well with Jesus character and as such is contrary to human nature and most pre-Christian cultures. It also reads as a genuine eye-witness account. Jesus had to struggle to teach his disciples the meaning of humility and he is very likely to have undertaken this physical teaching demonstration, just as he was inclined to sit a child on his knee and teach the disciples that unless they became as children generally are, they would not enter God’s kingdom.

It is true that the author of John’s Gospel is fairly selective in recording incidents that were supportive to his lengthy teaching discourses, but he is not exclusive in this. For example he is careful to record a post resurrection experience (not recorded elsewhere) in which Peter is firmly re-instated as Jesus friend despite his earlier denial.

However we need to remember that the Evangelist was writing at a time of fierce persecution and after the martyrdoms of both Peter and Paul. So he was naturally concerned to record character studies of Jesus close disciples as well as give detailed Christian teaching that would comfort and strengthen the church in its suffering and world-wide mission of evangelism. The evangelist most likely had access to John-bar-Zebedee’s eye-witness detail and was inclined to write down greater detail relating to Jesus’ final days on earth than Mark did. We can only suppose that Mark in the racy stile of his Gospel has only recorded some of the key eye-witness details relating to the same period, even though more was available to him.

Food for thought: ‘Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. ...He gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave...(Phil.2 v4 to 7 extract).’

‘Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. (Gal 6 v2, 3)’

Challenge: Do you help others while also helping them to stand strong in God’s strength?

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John 13 v.18 to 30 ~ Jesus predicts his betrayal

21Now Jesus was deeply troubled, and he exclaimed, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me!” 22The disciples looked at each other wondering whom he could mean. 23The disciple Jesus loved was lying next to Jesus at the table. Simon Peter motioned to him to ask, “Who’s he talking about?”

27When Judas had eaten the bread, Satan entered into him. Then Jesus told him, “Hurry to do what you’re going to do.”...30So Judas left at once, going out into the night.

This prediction of his betrayal would have had a powerful effect on all the disciples, challenging their loyalty. However in sharp contrast to modern dictators seeking total power over their followers, Jesus was not concerned to prevent his own betrayal, since he realised that God would use Judas’ unfaithful act to bring about his purposes. The evangelist simply says he made this prediction in order to further strengthen their conviction that he was God’s Messiah. The point being that if Jesus had not predicted it (as well as predicting his crucifixion) the some disciples would have questioned why Jesus had not prevented his betrayal, or why God had not saved him, if he really was the Messiah. They had yet to learn that God’s Messiah had to suffer to enter into his glory and so that the burning love of God could reach all humankind.

Food for thought: God is not looking for fanatical loyalty based on fear, but rather to establish co-operative relationships based on love.

Challenge: Do we serve God out of fear, or out of love?

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John 13 v.31 to 38 ~ Jesus predicts Peter’s denial

31As soon as Judas left the room, Jesus said, “The time has come for the Son of Man to enter into his glory, and God will be glorified because of him... 34Just as I have loved you, you should love each other....35Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” 37Peter said, “I am ready to die for you.” 38Jesus answered, “Die for me? ...Peter – before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny three times that you even know me.”

Peter had yet to find the true depth of his commitment to Jesus: he thought he was strong, however when the chips were cast, he buckled. However Jesus knew this would happen and so tells Peter in advance at the same time emphasising that he loved Peter and all the disciples who would also flee when he was arrested. In this way Jesus was helping Peter and the others to regain self respect and turn back to God once their ordeal was past based on God’s love for them rather than their love for God. This coming ordeal would teach them that they had to draw on God’s Spirit in order to overcome temptation.

Food for thought: The faithfulness God seeks in us is that which is determined to bring God into our all our circumstances, rather than that which is determined to be loyal.

Challenge: Do you recognise where/ when you might be tempted and then pray for God’s help to overcome?

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John 14 v.1 to 14 ~ Jesus the way to the Father

Jesus said to his disciples, “1Trust in God, and trust also in me. 2There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. ... 4And you know the way to where I am going.” “5No we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas replied. 6Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”

8Philip responded, “Lord, show us the Father and we will be satisfied.” 9Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father!....10Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? ...12Anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father.

We are now getting to the heart of the Gospel that John the Evangelist wants to communicate. How to come into a true relationship with God the creator of all? Look at Jesus and you will see into the truth of God and how the relationship God wants with you operates.

The context is of Jesus gently letting his disciples into the truth that he will soon be parted from them by crucifixion and death, and he comforts them with the idea that he is going ahead of them to prepare a place in heaven for them. This needs to be understood in the metaphorical sense that it would be through Jesus’ actions that the disciples will develop the faith that will prepare them for life with God beyond death.

The disciples were still thinking in a literal way that somehow Jesus could show them a physical route or a plan by which they could follow him on to glory (v.5) or that he could reveal God to them in all his glory (v.8). But Jesus points them to the only physical example of the route to heaven they can ever have and the only literal revelation of God they will ever see, viz. quite simply himself and his relationship with God.

According to John the Evangelist, Jesus told his disciples that the quality of this promised relationship between them and God (and applying to all future Christians) is the same as Jesus himself demonstrated in the works that he achieved. We should therefore expect no less – our limitation being our willingness to receive God’s Spirit and to give God the glory!

Food for thought: We each need to come to God trustingly like a small child, knowing we are forgiven and completely loved. Through Jesus ministry we can do this: it is possible! Jesus is the way, so act on it! We need to know the truth of God by allowing God’s Spirit to guide us into it. Through Jesus ministry on earth, we can know the truth of God’s love and ever present reality of that truth. Jesus embodied God’s truth, so embrace the redemptive relationship God brings you. We need to follow the life God’s Spirit will lead us into and walk in the confidence that Christ’s Spirit is in us and works through us. Jesus demonstrated God’s life for us, so submit yourself to God’s leadership through Christ’s Spirit in you.

Challenge: Have you found through Jesus, the way to God, the truth of God and the life God will help you to live?

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John 14 v.15 to 31 ~ Jesus promises God’s Spirit

“15If you love me, obey my commandments. 16And I will ask the Father and he will give you another advocate (or encourager), who will never leave you. 17He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world ...doesn’t recognise him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and is in you....19Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you will also live. 20When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21Those who accept my commandments and obey them are those who love me. ...I will love them and reveal myself (in my risen glory) to each of them.”

22Judas...said to him, “Lord why are you going to reveal yourself only to us, and not to the world at large?” 23Jesus replied, “All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them.”

This passage in itself demonstrates the truth of its text. It is also apparent to those who believe, that the communication contained by this text was directly revealed to the author (possibly based on eye-witness testimony), rather than being the detailed unaided eye-witness memory from several decades earlier. The risen Christ tells us that God’s Spirit leads us into all truth (v.17) including that of recognising that we (who love God) are one with Christ and that we have his peace in our minds and spirits (v.27).

In the passage the other Judas asks (v.22) why, following his resurrection, Jesus is apparently only intending to reveal his risen glory to the disciples and not to the world at large. Jesus refrains from answering this question directly. Indirectly Jesus had already answered this question when he told them that anyone who becomes a committed believer will do the same works that Jesus had done (see v.12). In other words, Jesus in his risen glory will be revealed to the world at large through the lives of the believers. Instead Jesus replies that they need to concentrate on sacrificially loving God and one another (v.23ff).

It may reasonably be asked, how Jesus will reveal himself (in his risen glory, v.20) to every believer (v.21)? And how will the future believers then ‘see Jesus (v.19)’, when he comes to live with each of them and to be in them (v.23)? The answer plainly is by the Holy Spirit. When Jesus says of the Holy Spirit, ‘But you know him, because he lives with you now (v.17)’, he means that the disciples in living with Jesus were seeing the Holy Spirit at work (in and through Jesus). And when he adds ‘he lives with you now and is in you (v.17)’, Jesus means that later the believers will recognise the Holy Spirit coming to live in their minds as they believe and ask God to come into their lives. It is not that God (by his Spirit) was not previously there, it is that they did not recognise this and were not open to his influence (ref.v.17) on them.

Food for thought: The evangelist included a discourse on the ‘coming’ of God’s Spirit to new believers when he recounted Jesus encounter with Nicodemus (John 3 v. 1 to 21). As I stated back there, God’s Spirit can just as easily breathe spiritual life into a small child as he/she responds to the message of God’s love, as God can bring new spiritual birth to a grown woman or man as they respond to the message of Christ. This ‘new birth’ as Jesus called it, feels like a spiritual new birth to all believers, refreshing and sensitising their minds to the truth God’s Spirit shows them. The experience that faith brings to the believer is a releasing into our spirits of God’s presence and power which has latently been available since physical birth. God is a totally independent reality and can’t be ‘engineered’ into someone’s mind or spirit. God reveals himself to all those who believe and sincerely call on him in prayer.

Challenge: Have you found that God in Christ in the Holy Spirit is released in you as you believe and call on this truth?

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John 15 v.1 to 17 ~ Jesus, the ‘true vine’

“1I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. 2He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. 3You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. 4Remain in me and I will remain in you. ...5Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.”

“12This is my commandment: love each other as I have loved you. 13There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14You are my friends if you do what I command.”

Jesus gives us a measure of our true status when it comes to relationship with almighty God. If we are in relationship we will supernaturally bear the fruit Jesus speaks of. To be in relationship we need to abide in Christ. This means having his message indwelling our minds and wills and it means with God’s help, living sacrificially for all those who also love God, those whom Jesus would call his friends. Jesus gave the measure of this relationship by laying down his life so that all who have faith in what God was doing for humanity through him would enter eternal life. Christ calls us to that same kind of relationship.

Having Jesus message indwelling our minds is not like remembering a set of regulations (such as the Muslim Hadith or the Hebrew law): it is much more living by a principle, the principle of God’s love for all other people. It is not possible to live by this principle until we believe in God’s real love for us. Once we really believe God loves us we will find by God’s grace, that it is natural to love ourselves and all other people as God loves us. To metaphorically look at Jesus is to come to know that God really loves us and is the key to receiving God’s Spirit and continuing in that love; hence Jesus says ‘those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit.

Food for thought: There are countless examples from around the world of such sacrificial living and dying and more in the last century than in the previous two millennia.

A commandment could also be thought of as the makers’ instructions; Jesus commandments are deliberately not detailed because he wants us to get hold of the principle so it is practiced without thinking about it. It is somewhat like learning to drive. There are headline instructions such as keep us to the correct side of the road in the country we are driving in, and there are lower order instructions that become so normal that we don’t think about them, such as using the clutch to change gear (in a manual car). Jesus’ headline instructions are, ‘love God with all your heart and mind and love those you come across as you love yourself.’ If we truly love God then we will learn to love ourselves in the way that God does; not self indulgently, but with the respect that God gives us. We will want ourselves to become like God is i.e., like Jesus demonstrated for us, viz., altruistically thinking about others so that they may also walk in the way of God’s love.

Challenge: Are you abiding in Christ and loving others sacrificially?

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John 15 v.18 to 16 v.4 ~ Jesus speaks of the world’s hatred

18If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. 19The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you. 20Do you remember what I told you?....Since they persecuted me they will naturally persecute you. 21They will do all this to you because of me, for they have rejected the One who sent me.

These words would not have made much impact on the disciples before the resurrection, but coming from the risen Christ these words are powerful for all believers facing persecution. It is inevitable that if we ‘abide in Christ’ and follow the principle of loving others as God loves us, we will fall foul of the worldly values of self centred pride and self preservation. Such pride is comfortable with those who conform to their particular social norms; norms by which people can measure their pride and demonstrate their righteousness to others in that way. Facing self-sacrificial love that is more interested in people than in social norms is very upsetting to those who are comfortable with their status in society (whether that is a non-Christian group or a supposedly Christian group).

Food for thought: Jesus Christ presented people with a stark choice: truly love God and all other people, or continue in your self-righteous pride. Those who reject loving God and all other people will soon hate those who do! Conversely, those who truly love God will never hate anyone!

Challenge: On what is your status in the particular social groupings to which you belong based? Is it based a humble love for God and people or on what you work on so to improve your reputation?

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John 16 v.5 to 15 ~ The work of God’s Spirit

13When the Spirit of truth comes he will guide you into all truth.

8When he (the Spirit of truth, the Advocate, Comforter, Holy Spirit) comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgement. 9The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me. 10Righteousness is available because I go to the Father... 11Judgement will come because the ruler of this world has already been judged.

Jesus had already been teaching his disciples that those who remain in him, and he in them, will produce much fruit and that apart from him we can do nothing (John 15 v.5). He now goes on to explain how this fruit is actually produced. The ‘Christ in us’ notion is not merely having his message indwelling our mind and will, it is also very much allowing God’s Spirit to enable us to live the way of Christ. (This is the meaning of God’s grace to us and as St. Paul says, Christ in us becomes our hope of glory.)

Jesus goes on to describe the effect that God’s Spirit has on the unbelieving world, i.e. those people who reject faith in God and the work of Christ in particular. The evangelist inspired by the risen Christ tells us that God’s Spirit as evidenced through Christ’s church (i.e., by believers filled with God’s Spirit living in the world and showing the works of Christ in their lives), will have the effect of convicting unbelievers of their sinfulness. Their Gospel message will also convince unbelievers that God’s righteousness is available through faith in Jesus Christ, and they will be warned of God’s judgement to come. The degrading and destructive power of evil (whether personified or not) and unbelief as evidenced wherever God is rejected in the hearts and minds of people and where faith and love for God is ostracised, has been judged. God’s intervention through Christ in this world means that the ultimate goal for humanity of redemption is clearly in view and, from an eternal perspective, the outworking of all evil and unbelief will finally be brought to an end.

Food for thought: I discussed earlier ( John 1 v14-18 Food for Thought) that one meaning of verses 12-13 is that where contradictions in Scripture are apparent, we have the authority of Jesus to expect that God’s Spirit will guide us into the truth which will remove those contradictions. This will inevitably mean a development of the spiritual understanding of God’s purposes within the church may sublate particular passages of Scripture such that a possibly more spiritual and or metaphorical interpretation can be made.

The Holy Spirit’s work in the church, if allowed, will also clarify for us what it means to live Christ’s way in the world and clarify difficulties of Scriptural understanding. For example Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matt. Ch.5, 6 & 7) could be read as a set of rules for living a godly life, since Matthew presents Jesus teaching as laying down the law even more stringently than had been applied by the Scribes and Pharisees. This seems to contrast with the teaching presented by John in his Gospel. However this difficulty may be resolved if we interpret Jesus teaching as presented by Matthew as a description of the kind of life that God’s Holy Spirit produces in a believer. Keith Ward elaborates in his book ‘The Philosopher and the Gospels’ (Lion Hudson plc, Oxford, 2011) on how the outworking of Jesus principle of love might be evidenced, when he paraphrases some of the verses from Jesus’ sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5 v.21-48) as follows:-

Those who keep the law of God will not kill; nor will they give way to anger or contempt. They will seek to heal and meet conflict with patience and understanding, so far as is possible.

They will not commit adultery; nor will they destroy faithful friendships; nor will they allow selfish passion to destroy loyalty and faithfulness.

They will not lie; nor will they deceive, mislead, or fail to seek the truth, whether it is pleasing or not.

They will not take vengeance; nor will they knowingly cause harm even to those who do evil, except with the intention of bringing them to good.

They will not hate anyone, even their enemies, nor will they allow personal feelings to prevent them from aiming at the welfare of all sentient beings.

They will not do good ...in order to be esteemed by others, but they will act always and secretly for the sake of good alone.

I trust that this brief extract will illustrate the point that God’s Spirit can guide the church into all truth, especially when it comes to understanding the Bible.

Challenge: Do you keep on asking God’s Spirit to lead you into the truth?

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John 16 v.16 to 33 ~ The disciples’ sadness will be turned to joy

“20You will weep and mourn over what is going to happen to me, but the world will rejoice. You will grieve, but your grief will suddenly turn to wonderful joy. ...22b..then you will rejoice and no one can rob you of that joy. 23At that time you will ask the Father directly and he will grant your request because you use my name. 24b.Ask, using my name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant joy. ...27for the Father loves you dearly because you love me and believe that I came from God.”

“33I have told you all this so that you will have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

Jesus goes on to describe how he will overcome the worldly unbelief that opposed his message. He foretells the resurrection faith and joy the disciples will experience and encourages them to continue in that faith by asking God to extend his kingdom through them, and he encourages them to take heart in their struggles since he has shown them and will continue to show them, the way to overcome the worldly opposition that they themselves (and all succeeding generations of Christians) will experience. Hence Jesus calls the disciples to pray knowing that God is there for them.

Food for thought: Jesus’ message is in essence that of God’s reconciling purpose through sacrificial love. Jesus would show the world God’s way supremely by his own sacrificial death on a Roman cross, but also he also promised to show all future believers by means of God’s Holy Spirit working in them, the way to overcome worldly unbelief through sacrificial love

Challenge: Do you ask God to help you overcome worldly unbelief that you may be facing by demonstrating God’s love in the world?

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John 17 v.1 to 25 ~ Jesus prayer for his disciples

“6I have revealed you to the ones you gave me from this world. They were always yours. .. 7Now they know everything I have is a gift from you, 8for I have passed on to them the message you gave me. ... 9My prayer is not for the world, but those you have given me, because they belong to you. ... Holy Father, you have given me these, now protect them by the power of your name so that they will be united just as we are.”

“17Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. 18Just as you sent me into the world, so I am sending them into the world. 19And I gave myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth. ... 20I am praying ... for all who ever believe in me through their message. 21I pray that they will all be one, just as I and you are one. ... may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.”

This passage is known as Jesus’ ‘high priestly prayer.’ The prayer opens with the Gospel claim that Jesus Christ brings people into eternal life with God (v.1-8). 'This is the way to have eternal life – to know you (God) and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth (v.3).’ Verse 4 continues with Jesus' words, ‘I brought glory to you here by completing the work you gave me to do.’ John's Gospel presents Jesus most significant work as that of dying on the cross, and it seems unlikely that Jesus would have actually claimed to have completed his work for God before his crucifixion. Jesus no doubt did pray aloud for his disciples before leaving the ‘upper room’ and heading for the garden of Gethsemane. And John 17 may not be the actual words Jesus prayed before his crucifixion, but the author writing down these words some 20 years after Christ's resurrection was inspired by God's Spirit to bring out the truth behind these events: truth that is received by the faith of those whose spiritual eyes are open.

The prayer continues (v.9 to 19) with the request that Father God protects the believers by the power of His name (v.11) and with Jesus consecrating himself to the Father's will so that the disciples will do likewise. What did the early Apostles believe by the ‘name’ of God (v.6, 11, 12 & 26)? Clearly they were all Jews and so were nurtured with a very deep respect for the ‘name’ of God, but this is not what the thrust of this word used in this context is about. In my view, the author's use of these words, recorded here as Jesus speaking of the power of the ‘name’ of God, is in effect a short hand for the Gospel message that Jesus brought in his lifetime. Jesus revealed the true heart and nature of God (both by his teaching and in his death). He had revealed this ‘name’ or ‘character’ of God to the disciples and Apostles: and it is this new revelation of the heart of God (as shown through Jesus) that will protect all believers as they come to faith, receive God's Spirit and strength to stand firm against evil in the world.

In the last section of this ' high-priestly' prayer (v.20 to 26), Jesus prays for all (down the ages) who will believe as a result of the testimony of the first disciples (and those in succeeding generations) that we will all be united as the one body of Christ. We know from the inspiration of God's Spirit given to the New Testament authors that ' Christ ever lives to make intercession for us (Heb.7 v.25).' And this prayer of the risen Christ is about unity. It is the glory of the Christian church that we should be one, united by God's spirit with ' Christ in us' as our hope of glory. I have tried to express the sentiment of this prayer in the following verse of a poem about the risen Christ:

'O Light eternal

Truth and splendour

Mixed in one self-giving love!

Join us close with you in union

Father, Son and Spirit, One!'

Food for thought: The words ascribed to Jesus in verse 26, ‘I have revealed you to them and will continue to do so’, point to the on-going ministry of God’s Holy Spirit in the church. To me the interesting points of the prayer are that by the time it was authored the various themes of this prayer were being reflected in the lives of believers, viz.,

* God’s Holy Spirit had enabled the early disciples to absorb the thrust of Jesus teaching and to reflect that teaching in their changed lifestyles (e.g. Acts Ch.1 & 2).

* Their belief in and use of the ‘name’ of God as a powerful spiritual protective force (e.g. in their prayer for the release of Peter from prison).

* Jesus’ call to the disciples to follow his example in committing himself to the way of the cross (several of the believers and Apostles had been martyred).

* The ‘glory’ that Jesus gives to all believers (e.g. at Stephen's martyrdom).

* Jesus ongoing unifying ministry through the Holy Spirit (v.26) was in evidence (e.g., the Gentile Christians helping Jewish Christian poor in Acts).

What is the ‘glory’ that Jesus gives to all believers? It is surely the confidence, love and spiritual unity that God’s Spirit brings to all believers by means of their faith in Jesus Christ: and in eternity the glory of sharing with God in his love which is beyond our understanding.

Challenge: Since Jesus committed himself to the way of the cross for us, should not we also follow that way as he calls us to do?

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