Leaves from the Tree
Studies from God's Word

Leaves from the Tree Studies from the Old Testament "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness..." — II Timothy 3:16

John 1

1:18 - "No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him."

There is one great mystery in all of life and all of history that overrides all lesser mysteries. It is the mystery of God Himself. Who is He, what is He like, and how can we possibly ever know for sure? Every religion ever spawned from the heart of man has attempted to answer these questions by defining god, but each in an entirely different way. They are like the story of the four blind men each attempting to describe the elephant but all failing miserably to describe what is true, because they cannot see what they are describing.

John declares that no one has seen God at any time. Since no human being has ever seen Him as He actually is in His fullness, then no one is really qualified to give a full and final description of God, because they are all speaking from a position of relative ignorance. However, there is one uniquely qualified person to speak regarding God. Jesus alone is qualified to declare the full truth about God, because Jesus alone has seen Him in His fullness and knows Him exactly as He is. All others who have ever lived began their life on earth and strive to understand heavenly things from an earthly perspective. Jesus alone came to earth from heaven and in the continuing intimacy of His special relationship with His Father, He has unpacked the mystery of Who God is and what He is like. Jesus has done so in His teaching, His works, and His person, which all reveal God to us.

1:19-21 - "This is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent to him priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, 'Who are you?' And he confessed and did not deny, but confessed, 'I am not the Christ.' They asked him, 'What then? Are you Elijah?' And he said, 'I am not.' 'Are you the Prophet?' And he answered, 'No.'"

As John the Baptist came and began his ministry of baptism crowds began to gather to him by the Jordan River. The religious leaders in Jerusalem heard of this prophet from the desert and sent an official delegation to confront John and determine his identity and purpose. They asked John specific spiritual questions based upon the common expectations all of Israel had of what God might do next, and who He might send. The three points they wanted clarified were whether John was the Christ, Elijah, or the Prophet.

For all three questions John answered no, but for different reasons. Two of these questions could only be answered yes by Jesus, while one John could answer, but not according to their expectation. John clearly denied he was the Christ. The Christ is the Greek term for the Hebrew word, Messiah. It referred to the specially anointed One, Who would come as King of Israel. They wanted to know whether John was proclaiming himself to be the Messiah, but John strongly denied that. Next, they asked if he was Elijah.

It was a common belief and expectation that Elijah from the Old Testament who had been carried away alive in the chariot of God, was still alive, and would one day return to Israel to call Israel fully back to God. John also denied he was Elijah, because he was not literally the same person as the prophet that had lived hundreds of years before. However, Jesus later described that John had come in the spirit and power of Elijah to fulfill the prophecy of Elijah's return. The final question they asked was whether John was the Prophet. John denied this also, even though he was a true prophet sent from God. The reason was, they were asking about a specific special Prophet spoken of by Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15). Jesus was this special Prophet.

1:31-33 - "I did not recognize Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in water.' John testified saying, 'I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, 'He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.'"

Over the last 100 years there has been an ongoing controversy among some Christian groups over the issue of the "Baptism of the Holy Spirit." Some try to downplay its significance altogether. Others highlight its significance for the Christian life, but teach that only some believers have received this blessing, while the majority of Christians live without the experience. This declaration by John should help shape our perspective regarding this in the truth.

The experience of being baptized in the Holy Spirit is extremely important to the degree that it is essential to the Christian life. The comparison John makes is to his baptizing in water to Jesus baptizing in the Holy Spirit. John baptized in water every person that came to him in repentance. In the same way, Jesus baptizes in the Holy Spirit every person that comes to Him. A person would not be considered a disciple of John unless they had been baptized by him in water. In the same way a person is not a disciple of Jesus unless they are baptized in the Holy Spirit. This is the defining experience of being united to Christ as a Christian. It is not something we do to ourselves any more than we baptize ourselves in water. This is another way to describe the spiritual entry point into a New Covenant relationship with Christ. When a person is born again they are also baptized in the Holy Spirit.

John 2

2:3-4 - "When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, 'They have no wine.' And Jesus said to her, 'Woman, what does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come.'"

This is an interesting exchange between Jesus, and His mother Mary. Her concern apparently is for the social problem of the wine-less wedding feast. In that culture wedding feasts could run as long as a week and it was the groom who was socially obligated to make full provision for the feast as long as it lasted. The wine running out would be an awkward and embarrassing situation at best for the groom on his wedding day. Mary turns to Jesus with the expectation that He would know what to do. His response, while not rude, is at least a mild rebuke which literally means "what do we have in common". Mary may only have wanted Jesus to resolve the situation on the groom's behalf, but Jesus was all along intending to turn the water into wine. She saw only the social ramifications, but He, as always, saw this situation as it would impact the kingdom of God. Jesus does alleviate the groom's wine problem in a spectacular and entirely unexpected way, but He did so, not based upon the emotional appeal of His mother, but because it served the Lord's greater purpose to do so. Jesus is not a "Mama's boy", but in the greatest sense He is His Father's Son.

2:9-11 - "When the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom, and said to him, 'Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.' This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him."

John identifies this as the first miracle Jesus did. This settles the question of the apocryphal (false traditions) stories of Jesus doing miracles as a young boy. For His first 30 years Jesus did not do a single miracle. Now, He begins to reveal His glory, not in its fullness, but in measure, and through a display of His power to transform water to wine. It is also worth noticing what Jesus chose as His first miracle. He did not do this on the spur of the moment under social pressure to fix a problem at a party. He chose this miracle in this setting for its spiritual symbolism.

He chose a wedding, because the ultimate goal of all He would do in His ministry and final sacrifice was a wedding. His work is all in preparation for His own wedding to the bride of Christ on the final day. The free flow of wine at the wedding feast is a recurring symbol of the coming Messianic age of blessing prophesied several times in the Old Testament like in this passage from Jeremiah 31:12, "They will come and shout for joy on the height of Zion, And they will be radiant over the bounty of the LORD-- Over the grain and the new wine and the oil, And over the young of the flock and the herd; And their life will be like a watered garden, And they will never languish again." This first miracle perfectly pictures the end of God's plan from the beginning of His earthly ministry.

2:18-22 - "The Jews then said to Him, 'What sign do You show us as your authority for doing these things?' Jesus answered them, 'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.' The Jews then said, 'It took forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?' But He was speaking of the temple of His body. So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken."

In reading this portion this morning, I was struck by the degree to which Jesus was misunderstood. After just cleaning out the temple precincts, the religious leaders approached Him and demanded to know what His authority was for disrupting the temple business in this way. Jesus answers cryptically, not directly. He could have said, "God told me to do it", but they would have disputed that. Instead, He gives the true spiritual basis that authorizes Him far above their authority. His authority is based in His future resurrection from the dead. He declares that to them, and symbolically links his actions regarding the temple by referring to His physical body as a temple which they will destroy through death, but which He will raise from the dead three days later.

They had no real clue what He was talking about. They immediately leapt to the conclusion that He meant He would raise in three days the physical stone structure of Herod's temple in Jerusalem that had taken 46 years to build. Then, as if their lack of understanding wasn't enough, His own disciples did not understand Him, and only later, once He was raised from the dead, did they remember His words and understand the full implications. What I see from all this is that Jesus was not insecure to need to be fully understood by everyone around Him at all times. He knew full well they did not really grasp what He was saying. When we are operating at a truly spiritual level we should expect to encounter misunderstanding along the way from those who just don't yet get it. When we do, our security needs to be in understanding the Lord, not in having others understand us.

Questions from John 1:

Question: 1:49-50 - Jesus responds to Nathanael in a way that sounds almost like a rebuke. In other portions of the gospels we see Jesus praising others for this type of faith. Is there a difference in how Jesus responds here to Nathanael (if so, what is the significance) or am I reading something into Jesus' tone that isn't really there?

Answer: You raise an interesting issue in Bible interpretation. Picking up on the "tone" or the subtle signals in a person's communication is far more difficult when reading than when you can see their face and hear their inflections. I don't know for sure what tone Jesus used with Nathanael, but Bible teachers have historically taken this as Jesus paying a spiritual compliment of sorts to him for his faith and readiness to declare Jesus the Son of God and the King of Israel. However, in the response Jesus gave, there may be a corrective element. The only possible issue with Nathanael's declaration is that his only basis for faith is the little he was told by Philip and one display of supernatural knowledge by Jesus about him. It seems as though Jesus is telling him, "Just wait, you are going to be given even greater reasons to believe."

John 3

3:3-5 - "Jesus answered and said to him, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.' Nicodemus said to Him, 'How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?' Jesus answered, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.'"

In this late night conversation with one of the religious leaders of Jerusalem, Jesus identifies the essential spiritual difference between religion as they have known it, and the spiritual experience that is at the core of the New Covenant that Jesus is going to establish. This is the first time that the term "born again" is used in the Bible. The Lord had given hints and descriptions of this through the prophets of the Old Covenant, but now Jesus is describing it not as some far distant future experience, but one which a present reality. Of course, as Jesus declares it to Nicodemus, he is confused and thinks that Jesus is talking about a second physical birth.

He did not understand that Jesus is describing an experience of the regeneration of a person's heart, their spirit. This is far more significant than Nicodemus can grasp. This experience is where God, Who alone is the source of spiritual life renews the spiritually dead heart of a person and fills it with His life. The change in the person that is born again is at the deepest core of their being. It is not something we can do for ourselves or to ourselves. We cannot cause ourselves to be born again any more than we were in control of our natural birth. This new life is entirely from God and is His gift of grace to those who have experienced it.

3:13 - "No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man."

Here Jesus declares that the source of this new experience of the new birth is heavenly and not earthly. Because this new birth originates in heaven and not on earth, He is uniquely qualified to speak about it. It is also understandable that Nicodemus is confused about it even though he is a religious teacher of Israel. Nicodemus cannot possibly understand yet, because he is from the earth and of the earth. Even though he has spiritual interests and concerns, he is limited as a natural man to seeing only from a natural perspective. Jesus, on the other hand, is declaring things to him that have their source in heaven. Jesus alone, at this point, fully understands these heavenly things because His home is in heaven and He came to this world from heaven.

Every person who has ever been born in this world has this world as their home and began their life in this natural world. Jesus is the only exception to this rule. He was born into this world, but before His birth here, He had always lived in heaven. To be born here, Jesus had to descend from heaven to the earth. Not only that, but until this moment in history, no man had ever ascended to heaven. Not even the prophets of the Old Testament had ascended to heaven at the end of their lives. At death, their souls went to Paradise, also called Abraham's bosom, to await the arrival of the Messiah. This was a truly pleasant place, but was not in heaven. Only Jesus had ever been to heaven, and so, only Jesus could speak with certainty about heavenly things.

3:14-15 - "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life."

Jesus is here giving an early description of His death on the cross and unfolding the meaning of His death by tying it symbolically to a famous event in Israel's history. It was during the wilderness journey of Israel from Egypt to the Promised Land. The people had begun to bitterly complain against the Lord and rebelliously question why He had taken them from Egypt where they at least had food to eat that they enjoyed eating. In response the Lord sent among them fiery serpents. He also spoke to Moses and had him make a serpent of bronze and place it upon a pole and lift it up for all the people to see as a symbol of their sin and the judgment upon their sin.

The Lord's mercy and grace was revealed in that any person that was bitten by the fiery serpents, but who then looked upon the bronze serpent lifted up would live and not die. Jesus compares his impending death on the cross to this event. He would be lifted up on the cross the way the bronze serpent was lifted up. His death would signify at the same time both the judgment of God upon the sin of man, and also the great mercy and grace of God in providing His own salvation from the certain death of sin. Everyone has been bitten with the bite of sin and will die without God's only antidote. The one and only answer to this deadly bite is God's Son Who has sacrificed Himself so that we can live.

John 4

4:6 - "and Jacob's well was there. So Jesus, being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour."

It's a fairly common impression that Jesus almost glided through His life here in this world. I think that impression has been given in large part to the way He has been portrayed in almost every Hollywood version of His life. In an effort to show that He was extra spiritual and special the actors playing Christ have usually tried to maintain a look on their face as though they are almost in some kind of trance. It is true that Jesus came to this world from heaven and in a sense, He was different than everyone in this world because they were all fallen and He was not. But, this verse is one of many that highlights for us the reality of the incarnation of Jesus.

When He was born into this world, "the Word became flesh". He was born with a natural physical body. He experienced all the limitations we do. He became hungry and thirsty. He slept at night (and even sometimes took naps during the day). He knew what it meant to need to sit down and rest after a long exhausting walk through the country. Here He was "wearied from His journey." Christian theologians later described Him in His incarnation in this way; "fully God and fully man." Throughout His life on earth, He never ceased being God the Son, but He was also a real man.

4:10 - "Jesus answered and said to her, 'If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.'"

In this conversation with this Samaritan woman, Jesus gives her spiritual hints to awaken within her a holy curiosity leading to her salvation. One hint that she did not catch as He said it was a reference to "the gift of God." She did pick up on the living water hint and that fully piqued her curiosity since she had come to draw water. We should also catch His emphasis on living water as a metaphor for the work of the Holy Spirit in our salvation, but we should not miss the hint about the gift of God. In the way He words it, He is clearly connecting the gift of God with Himself as the giver of living water. The living water is His gift to those that He saves, but He Himself is the gift that the Father gives to us.

This is following the same theme from John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." Throughout the generations, God has graciously and generously given to all people everywhere many gifts beyond number. He gives daily, the sunlight to warm the earth, air to breathe, food to eat, water to drink, etc. But, one gift so exceeds them all that it can truly be identified as the gift of God. God's fullness of grace and mercy has been given to us in sending His Son.

4:22 - "You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews."

Jesus spoke these words in an important historical context. There had, for generations been a running religious dispute between the Jews and the Samaritans. Both groups claimed and believed that they represented the true way to God. The Samaritans had taken some elements of Old Covenant religion and mixed it together with some of their own concepts into a religious blend of truth and error. With this statement, Jesus ends the debate. Salvation does not come from the Samaritans, even though they are blessed to experience it. Salvation comes from the Jews, and the Jews alone. Salvation does not come from the Indians, the Chinese, the Europeans, the Americans, the Africans, or any other group. God chose the Jews beginning with Abraham to reveal His covenant and His salvation. When He chose for Jesus to be born into this world as a Jew, it forever sealed the source of God's grace and truth, physically speaking.

Questions from John 3:

Question: 3:34 - "...for He gives the Spirit without measure." - how does this relate to the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost?

Answer: Excellent question. Believers in Christ received on the Day of Pentecost the same Holy Spirit that Jesus received on the day of His baptism. We also today receive the same Spirit at our salvation. The question is, do we receive the same "measure" of the Spirit that Jesus did? This passage in John 3:34 identifies that Jesus was given the Spirit "without measure" as though that was an unusual or notable distinction.

When believers receive the Spirit, we are filled with the Spirit, but we are not given the Spirit without measure. That does not mean we receive "part" of the Spirit, because He is a person, not a substance. We receive all of the Spirit, but not the entire measure of His grace. When the Spirit fills us, He gives each of us a measure of grace or gifting in which to serve the Lord and His kingdom. None of us has received the full measure of all of His grace and gifts. So that none of us can say that we have no need for the other members of the Body of Christ. However, Jesus was given the full measure of the Spirit and all of the gifts of God in full measure. He is the perfect model for us as leader, apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, teacher, healer, mercy shower, etc.

John 5

5:19-20 - "Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will marvel.'"

God has revealed Himself to us as a Trinity, in which there are three persons in one nature. Because this is an inherently mysterious concept to understand, there have always been those who go too far and mangle some aspect of the relationship within the Trinity. This is an eternal relationship between Father, Son, and Spirit that is beyond our ability to "figure out". We are entirely dependant upon what the Lord Himself chooses to reveal to us about Himself.

Here, in this passage, Jesus gives us an awesome glimpse into the relationship of Father and Son in the Son's ministry on earth. Even though they are one in nature and both fully and equally God, here, Jesus shows us that He is the perfect Son. He served His Father. He was not pursuing His own agenda. He lived only to do His Father's will, and pleasing Him was His first priority in all things. The Father's heart is also on display here. The Father loves the Son and shares with Him everything He is at work to accomplish. This is the real story of the life and ministry of Jesus. Yes, Jesus is the One that incarnated and was physically present to do the things He did, but in His every Word, and in His every work, the Father was speaking through Him and working though Him for the accomplishment of their plan.

5:21-23 - "For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes. For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him."

This cooperative interaction between the Father and the Son is not a temporary arrangement for the sake of a short 33 year life span, only to change to some better long term arrangement. Their relationship will transition intact into eternity. Even on the final day of history at the final Judgment all people that have ever lived will once and for all see their relationship as it truly is. Most people will spend their entire life here on earth denying Jesus the honor that they owe Him. They disregard Him by redefining Him according to their own preferences. They may consider Him to be just another religious fanatic, a misguided self proclaimed messiah figure, or a good and righteous man. But, none of these give Him His due.

On that final Day, however, they will no longer be able to deny, or disregard Him. He will be sitting on His throne of judgment revealed in stunning glory and power. Each person that has ever lived will individually stand before Him and be judged by Him and their eternity determined by Him. An important detail is given to us here as to why it will be the Son sitting in judgment on that day and not the Father. The Father wants all people to honor His Son, and so He has given all judgment to the Son to insure that all will honor Him on that day.

5:45-47 - "Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?"

These words of the Lord Jesus were directed to the Jewish religious leaders in Jerusalem who saw Him as a threat to their positions and were already seeking to kill Him. In their rejection of Him, they had convinced themselves that He must be a false messiah, even though they had already seen undeniably evidence of His true identity such as the healing of the man in this chapter who had been ill for 38 years. Jesus warned these leaders that their rejection of Him was going to have dire and eternal consequences. He also revealed that their guilt would be established and confirmed before God, not by Him accusing them, but by Moses Himself accusing them. This, of course, struck right at the heart of their deceived religious self assurance.

They were convinced that they were doing God's will to seek to kill Jesus because they were (in their own eyes) the close followers of Moses. Jesus exposed here the true nature of their relationship to Moses. They were not followers of Moses at all. How could He say such a thing, when they studied the writings of Moses and made such efforts to adhere to many of his Laws? Jesus declared that there was a previously unseen spiritual connection between Him and Moses. When Moses wrote His Laws and the stories we know as Genesis and Exodus, he did so with Christ as the main theme. If a person truly believes what Moses wrote, then they will truly believe in Christ.

John 6

6:9-13 - "There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these for so many people?' Jesus said, 'Have the people sit down.' Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. Jesus then took the loaves, and having given thanks, He distributed to those who were seated; likewise also of the fish as much as they wanted. When they were filled, He said to His disciples, 'Gather up the leftover fragments so that nothing will be lost.' So they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten."

There is a part of this account of the feeding of the five thousand that I believe is aimed at encouraging the hearts of all those who serve the Lord. Service in the kingdom of God involves learning to put other's needs before your own. This runs contrary to natural inclination, and as we serve, there arises the question of whether we will lose out in giving ourselves fully to the Lord's service. In this situation there was a real need for the large crowd of people to be fed. Jesus had done a miracle of multiplying the food, but He had His disciples serve the people as they sat down in an orderly manner.

Serving 5000 people with only 12 servers is no small task. Each of them served over 400 people. The encouragement that I see the Lord built into this miracle was that He continued on purpose to multiply the food beyond the need of the 5000. He then directed His disciples to gather up what remained from their distribution. When they finished gathering there were twelve baskets filled with miraculous food. There was one filled basket for each of the twelve who served. It's true that they worked hard to serve the others, and also had to wait to eat until everyone else had their fill, but in the end, those who served were given more than those who were served. This is the Lord's way in kingdom service. Serving the Lord does cost us something, but in the end we end up even more blessed then those we serve.

6:14-15 - "Therefore when the people saw the sign which He had performed, they said, 'This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.' So Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone."

The crowd of people were truly impressed by the witnessing the miracle of the multiplied food. They rightly recognized that in order for Jesus to have done this miracle, He must have a special spiritual significance. They identified Him as the Prophet that Moses had prophesied would one day come, who would be in one sense like him, but also surpass him. Once the crowd agreed that Jesus must be this Prophet of whom Moses had spoken, they decided that the next necessary step would be for them to come and proclaim Him to be the king of Israel. If needed, they were ready to take up arms to establish His kingdom. Of course, Jesus perceived their plan. We know that it was also God's plan for Jesus to be the King. So, we might expect Jesus to respond with acceptance and even encouragement to their desire to make Him king.

Instead, Jesus responds in an unexpected and opposite way. He immediately leaves the crowd behind and seeks out a private place in the mountains. The issue at stake here is the nature of the Kingdom of God. Jesus was not there to satisfy the desires of the crowd. He would not submit to their agenda even when their desire was so similar to God's purpose for Him. Their plan would have made Him a king, but one based in politics, the sword and the flesh. Their plan would have meant a kingdom without the cross. God's plan was for Him to become the King, but of a spiritual kingdom. God's agenda was for Him to sit on a heavenly throne beside Him. God's pathway would take Him first to the cross, then the resurrection, the ascension and finally to the throne.

6:44 & 64-65 - "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day... But there are some of you who do not believe.' For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him. And He was saying, 'For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father.'"

In our desire to see as many people saved as possible, the church at times has repackaged the Gospel in ways that make the Lord's message more palatable to the world. This is not always a good thing, because we run the risk of changing not just the way we say it, but the meaning of what the Lord wants said. Efforts at mass evangelism have often attempted to portray salvation as the most accessible thing there is. Lost people are encouraged to "Just try Jesus", or "Just pray the sinner's prayer" as if salvation were dispensed from a heavenly vending machine as long as the lost person is shown the right button to push. True salvation is not determined on the human side of the equation. We are not in charge of whether we will be saved, even though most evangelists tend to imply that. If we are not in charge of our own salvation, then who is?

The Father God is in charge of salvation. Spiritual accessibility to Jesus as Savior is determined by the Father, not by any man. Jesus strongly emphasizes this essential principle of salvation in these passages. "No one can come to Me unless..." Jesus makes the point that the sinner is spiritually unable to come to Jesus unless the Father first does something in their heart to enable them. What the Father does when He intends to save someone is draw the sinner to Christ. The word draw that Jesus uses here does not mean to "woo" as many think. It is used elsewhere in the Bible to describe drawing water from a well, and to draw fish in a net into a boat. It describes using power to pull something to oneself against the natural resistance of what is being pulled. As lost people, our natural inclination is to continue to follow ourselves. The Father must apply His greater power to pull us from our own path to His Son and salvation. Unless the Father first does this in our heart, we will not come to Christ.

John 7

7:18 - "He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him."

This is one of many public confrontations between Jesus and the religious leaders in charge of the temple in Jerusalem. Their goal was to seek ways to discredit Him in the eyes of the people and try to dissuade the people from following Him. Jesus did defend Himself in these situations for the sake of the people wavering, not knowing who to believe, and for the sake of the truth. In this verse, Jesus is speaking about Himself and giving testimony publicly about both the motive of all of His ministry and His unique qualification to speak for God. His testimony is mildly confusing at first because He refers to Himself as "He".

Once we understand that He does so in order to formally give testimony regarding Himself, we can let His own words speak for Him. His true heart motive in all He does and says is the glory of God, and not His own glory. His unique qualification to speak for God is in this; there is no unrighteousness in Him. God is the holy and righteous One. Jesus represents God in a way that no man had been able to do in all of history. Even the prophets of God who are considered holy men of old were spiritually tainted by the effects of sin. Because Jesus never sinned, He not only can speak God's Words, but He embodies the Word of God. For Jesus to boldly proclaim His own spiritual purity like this and declare that there was zero unrighteousness in Him leaves people with only two options regarding Him. He either was speaking the truth and is the sinless One, or He was greatly deceived about His own purity, and therefore was a false prophet and false Messiah.

7:24 - "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."

Perhaps the most famous and commonly misused verse from the New Testament is the statement from Jesus' teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, "Do not judge so that you will not be judged." (Matthew 7:1) This is usually quoted in an effort to portray all spiritual judgment as always wrong to exercise. In other words, if you are judging, you are automatically wrong to do so. Of course, as we saw back on Day 7 of this study, the warning Jesus was giving with that statement was a warning against making hypocritical judgments. That is, a judgment in which I have failed to first apply the standard of judgment to myself before judging others.

Jesus never anywhere in Scripture urges us to abstain from ever making any judgments. To stop judging entirely would be spiritually irresponsible and unloving. Here, in this verse from John, the Lord Jesus warns once again about making the wrong kind of judgment. This time it is the danger of judging by appearances without understanding the underlying spiritual context. He then actually urges us to judge. The verb tense that Jesus used is called the present imperative. It means that He is commanding them to make this kind of judgment every time the necessity arises to do so.

The kind of judgment they (and us) are to make is "righteous judgment". In other words, we are to draw conclusions and respond to those situations according to the righteous perspectives gained from God's Word and understanding what God is actually doing in that situation. To not judge at all would result in a world in which literally anything goes, and there are no standards of right and wrong. That is so far from what God desires that it cannot be further from the truth. God is at work to train us in how to judge without hypocrisy and with righteousness.

7:37-39 - "Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, 'If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'" But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified."

This is one of the earliest descriptions in the Gospels of the huge spiritual changes that were on the horizon in the transition from Old Covenant to New Covenant. The Holy Spirit was both present and active throughout the events of the Old Covenant. His activity was primarily revealed in special circumstances as the Spirit of God would "come upon" one of the judges or prophets of Israel for a period of time to accomplish some supernatural thing. For instance, the Spirit came upon Samson in such a way that he was able to defeat hundreds of Philistines single-handedly armed only with the jawbone of an ass. Or, when the Spirit came upon Elijah and he outran the king's chariot back to town.

Following these events the Spirit would lift from these men. What Jesus was describing in this passage is something far more glorious as the Spirit would work in a new and greater way in the New Covenant. Now, our relationship with the Holy Spirit is not external and temporary. Instead, the Spirit has come to permanently dwell within our innermost being (our heart or spirit). From there He continuously is at work to refresh and sustain, not only our life, but the lives of others through us. This is the glorious gift of God's Spirit that is given to us once Jesus is crucified, resurrected, and He ascends back to His glory in heaven.

Questions from John 6:

Question: 6:42 - "And they said, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?" As we never hear of Joseph after the birth I thought maybe he died but apparently not. Do we know anything about him after the birth of Jesus?

Answer: Actually there are two other mentions of Joseph after the birth of Jesus. In Matthew 2, Joseph takes the family to Egypt for protection from Herod approximately two years after Jesus was born. Then in Luke 2, there is the time when Joseph and Mary took the family to Jerusalem for the Passover and later found Jesus in the temple discussing the Scriptures with the scholars. Joseph's death is never specifically mentioned, so we cannot know the timeframe. However, he did live long enough to train Jesus in his trade as a carpenter. Typically, a father would begin formal training of his son's trade at age 12. We do know that by the time Jesus begins His ministry at age 30, Joseph does not appear in any of the events like Mary does. So, Joseph most likely died sometime between age 12 and 30 in Jesus' life.

John 8

8:31-32 - "So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, 'If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.'"

Jesus addresses here an issue that has only increased in our generation. What is the nature of a true spiritual relationship with the Lord in the way He defines it? In this case, as Jesus taught publicly, there were many people who, after hearing Him speak, were impressed in their heart and came to believe in Him. However, Jesus pressed beyond their initial belief in Him, and challenged those believers to show by their continuing response that they were more than casual believers, and were true disciples. A disciple was someone that followed and learned under the authority and instruction of a master.

The implication of the words of Jesus is that He was challenging these people to be more than believers who are unchanged by what they believe. He urges them to be disciples who are continually changing as they follow the Master Who is teaching them. A discipleship relationship with Jesus involves a continuing relationship with His Word. As the disciple continues in their study and application of the Master's Word, they will continually grow in the truth. The truth holds its own power; the power to change a person's heart from the inside out. That growth leads a specific direction. Growth in the truth leads always to greater spiritual freedom. Sin has a darkening and enslaving effect upon our hearts.

Truth has the opposite effect. Truth enlightens us and frees us from sin. In our generation the great majority of people in this country identify themselves when polled as Christians. Some polls place the number as high as 70-80% that claim to believe in Jesus. This same principle applies here as it did when Jesus first spoke these words. Do those same people that claim to believe in Him truly continue in His Word? Are they true disciples of Jesus? Are they growing in their knowledge of the truth and walking in greater freedom from sin?

8:39-44 - "They answered and said to Him, 'Abraham is our father.' Jesus said to them, 'If you are Abraham's children, do the deeds of Abraham. But as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do. You are doing the deeds of your father.' They said to Him, 'We were not born of fornication; we have one Father: God.' Jesus said to them, 'If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.'"

There is perspective that has become popular in even some Christian circles in the last generation that is in clear contradiction with the meaning of this exchange between Jesus and the religious leaders of Jerusalem. It is the perspective that sees all people in the world as the children of God and one big spiritual family. What Jesus has to say in this passage reveals the opposite. There are actually two spiritual families with two quite different spiritual fathers as the head of the family.

These men arguing with Jesus were convinced and confident that they had a secure relationship with God. They based their confidence upon their own inflated sense of their righteousness, and ultimately upon their physical ancestry which they could trace to Abraham. Because of this, they believed they were true children of God. Jesus confronts their belief and with shocking boldness He denies their claim, and identifies their true spiritual ancestry. Jesus declares to them that if they were the true spiritual descendants of the godly man Abraham, then they would follow his example.

Jesus also makes it clear that if they were the children of God, that they would have an entirely different attitude toward Him. Since He is the Son of God, they would love Him if they were also God's children. Instead, their hatred and rejection of Jesus serves to expose their true family connection. Rather than God as their Father, their spiritual father was actually the devil. Our spiritual standing before God is not determined by whether I feel that God is my Father. These men were deceived regarding their true spiritual condition. What matters is whether God really is our spiritual Father. This is why a person must be born again to become a true child of God.

8:56-59 - "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.' So the Jews said to Him, 'You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?' Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.' Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple."

The Bible teaches that the true identity of Jesus is the Son of God. However, Jesus chose not to introduce Himself in each situation with a direct statement like, "Hi, My name is Jesus, and I am the Son of God." Instead, Jesus made himself known in more subtle ways. In this case, Jesus and the religious leaders are in a dispute regarding relationship to Abraham. The leaders are claiming Abraham as their spiritual father. Jesus reveals that Abraham knew about His coming and rejoiced at the knowledge that He would some day come.

When the leaders, not fully understanding that Jesus was describing the prophetic knowledge that God had given Abraham about the Messiah Who would come, they asked Jesus with sarcasm how He could know this since Abraham lived so long ago. Jesus' response is surprising and revealing. Jesus answers with one of His "truly, truly" statements. Whenever Jesus used the phrase "truly, truly", He did so to alert the hearers that a particularly important spiritual declaration was being made by Him. What Jesus said was that "before Abraham was born, I am." Jesus was implying that even though Abraham lived hundreds of years in the past, that He personally was present.

The verb tense Jesus used is significant also. He could have said, "before Abraham was born I was", but He used the present tense I am on purpose. This was a strong hint and connection to the famous story of Moses at the burning bush. When Moses asked God about His name, God answered, "I AM..." (Exodus 3:14). The strong hint is that Jesus was identifying Himself with the One Who spoke that name to Moses. The leaders that day understood the hint, because they immediately picked up stones with the intention of stoning Him for blaspheme.

John 9

9:1-3 - "As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, 'Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?' Jesus answered, 'It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.'"

There was a common tendency among the religious teachers of that day just as there is today to work from general Biblical principles to draw very specific conclusions. In this case, even the disciples of Jesus are functioning under a common misunderstanding in the category of the connection between specific sins and specific diseases. As they passed by this man who had been born blind the disciples, wanting to grow in their understanding ask Jesus a question about the spiritual nature of the man's condition. However, they asked Jesus a leading question showing they had already drawn a conclusion even before asking.

The disciples assumption is that if the man was born blind, his blindness must be the judgment of God in response to a specific sin he committed (Jews then believed even a baby could sin in the womb), or his parents committed. The disciples were working from a right Biblical starting point to an unbiblical conclusion. In the big picture, all disease in the world is the down-line result of the sin of Adam. So, in that sense, his blindness was a result of Adam's sin in general. But, the Bible does not teach that every individual disease is always the direct result of specific personal sin by the person with the disease. Jesus opened the perspective of His disciples to see that God had a greater sovereign purpose in this man being born blind. God chose him to display the glory of His Son through this healing of his eyes.

9:7 - "and said to him, 'Go, wash in the pool of Siloam' (which is translated, Sent). So he went away and washed, and came back seeing."

In this detail of the process Jesus chose for the healing of the blind man there are subtle spiritual references that were more familiar to the people then, than they are for us today. The pool of Siloam was fed from a river and the name meant, "Sent". Jesus had the man go wash in the waters of the "sent" river in order to complete his healing. Symbolically this is a hint that Jesus is the "Sent One" who has come to open the eyes of the spiritually blind and bring them the light of the world. There is also a double meaning here, because in this event, the religious leaders reject the One who healed him. This calls to mind the passage from the prophet Isaiah that mentions the leaders of Jerusalem that rejected the waters of Shiloah (same river in view here). "Inasmuch as these people have rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah (Isaiah 8:6)

9:24-25 - "So a second time they called the man who had been blind, and said to him, 'Give glory to God; we know that this man is a sinner.' He then answered, 'Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.'"

There is a powerful example and encouragement for all of us that have come to know the Lord in this man's testimony of the Lord. Oftentimes, Christians have the desire to share the good news of the Lord with others in their lives, but are hesitant or even fearful of how to speak up and what to say. This concern is magnified when we are trying to speak on behalf of the Lord in the midst of spiritual opposition such as in this case when the people we are speaking to are set against the Lord in their hearts.

This man was not a trained theologian. He did not have years of practice regarding how to say just the right thing. He had literally just come to know the Lord, yet his testimony was powerful. When confronted by the religious leaders and put on the spot to give an answer, the formerly blind man did not give an in depth, spiritually technical response, nor was one needed. The man gave the one answer he was qualified to give. He testified as to what he had personally experienced. He knew what the Lord had actually done for him, and he could with boldness declare that. That was a testimony that none of them could refute or contradict. His answer truly glorified the Lord in its simplicity.

John 10

10:24-27 - "The Jews then gathered around Him, and were saying to Him, 'How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.' Jesus answered them, 'I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father's name, these testify of Me. But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;'"

In this confrontation with the Jewish religious leaders, Jesus raises the issue of faith. They questioned Him directly trying to draw a clear declaration from Him as to His true spiritual identity. Jesus responds by essentially telling them that He has already given them more than enough evidence to conclusively prove His identity. The many miraculous works that He did were irrefutable proof that He was the Son of God. He exposes the true reason they do not believe in Him. Their lack of faith in Him is not a result of a lack of evidence or proof, but their heart's unwillingness to believe. Then Jesus makes a surprising statement that is often misread. The statement is, "But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep..."

The common misreading flips the wording to make it more familiar and less mysterious regarding salvation. The flipped misreading sees this as, "But you are not of My sheep because you do believe." The meaning of the misreading would make our own faith the determining factor in whether we are identified as the sheep that belong to the Lord. This is not what Jesus was emphasizing at all. What Jesus actually said makes whether a person belongs to Him as a sheep the determining factor of them believing in Him. The order is significant. It is not our faith that creates the relationship between sheep and Great Shepherd. It is the Shepherd Who creates the relationship with the sheep and gives to His own sheep even the grace to truly believe in Him. We are not His sheep because we chose to believe in Him while someone else made a different choice. We are His sheep because He chose us and gave us the grace to believe in Him.

10:28-29 - "and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand."

One of the great debates among Christians through the generations is over the issue of what is called "eternal security." The debate revolves around the issue of whether a true believer can ever "lose their salvation." On one hand, some Christians believe that once they are truly saved, they will always be saved. Other Christians are convinced that some are truly saved, but because they do not continue in faith and obedience, that on the final day they will be forever lost.

What does the Bible teach on this controversial topic? Well, depending on which verses are emphasized without paying attention to the context, either case can be made. However, I am convinced that the spiritual security of true believers is settled in heaven and in the heart of God where it matters the most. My own security is established, not in myself, but in the Lord Jesus, and His Father. If my final salvation really depended upon me; my faithfulness, my obedience, and my righteousness, then I would live my Christian life in constant uncertainty, fear, and insecurity.

The bottom-line is that I know I can't trust myself with something of eternal significance. But, just as much as I cannot trust myself, I can trust Jesus and His Father. I can trust their faithfulness, their love, and their commitment to safeguard me until that final day. My security is in the Hand of the Lord Jesus. My security is in the Hand of the Father. Why in their Hand? Because, their Hand is upon me! They have laid hold of me in saving me. Their grip on me is not weakened in my weakest moments, even though my grip on them wavers.

10:29-30 - "My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one."

One of the great mysteries of the nature of God is clarified a bit for us in this passage. I say, "a bit" because what the Lord Jesus addresses here remains a difficult concept for us even following full explanation. God reveals Himself to us in Scripture as a Trinity. Here, Jesus describes two parallel aspects of the relationship between Himself and the Father. In their relationship as God the Father and God the Son, they are at the same time both equal and unequal. This is not meant to confuse us, but to lead us to a deeper understanding. When Jesus identifies the Father as "greater than all", even Jesus Himself is included.

The Father is in some sense greater than Jesus. However, He immediately says that He and the Father are "one". So, in some sense, Jesus and the Father are equal. At the same time, the Father is both greater than, and equal to the Son. Here is how they are equal. The Father and the Son are both equally God by nature. The Father is not more God than the Son. The Son is not less God than the Father. They are equally divine. Yet, the Father is also greater than the Son. Within the Trinity, they fulfill agreed upon roles. In those roles, One holds greater authority that the Other. The Father holds greater authority than the Son. The Father sends the Son. The Son submits to the Father's authority. The Father gives the Son His authority and establishes His throne and His kingdom.

Questions from John 9:

Question: 9:4 - "I must work the works of Him who sent Me. While it is still day; the night is coming when no one can work." Is this the time immediately after the cross but prior to the Holy Spirit coming on the scene?

Answer: Yes, I believe that is the exact time Jesus was describing. The period of time between the cross and the resurrection was a time of heightened danger for the disciples. They would not be free to publicly proclaim their allegiance to Him without putting themselves in great danger. Then, once He rose from the dead, the Lord Jesus instructed them to wait for the promised Holy Spirit to come. Once the day of Pentecost arrived and they were all filled with the Spirit, a new and greater phase of public ministry began.

John 11

11:5 - "Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus."

In one sense, we can say that Jesus loves everyone. There is a general sense in which Jesus loves every human being as the creation of God and the image bearers of God. But, it is important for us to notice that the Scriptures are also careful to point out that Jesus loved certain people above the general way that He loved everyone. John, the apostle that wrote this book refers to himself later in the book as the disciple that Jesus loved. Of course, Jesus loved all of His disciples, but He loved one disciple above the others.

Here, His special love for Martha, Mary, and Lazarus is purposefully mentioned. What I see in this is a subtle emphasis on the true humanity of Christ. We all have certain people in our lives that we hold a special place for in our hearts. We do not love all people exactly the same way. Some people we love on principle so to speak. Others, we love easily because they are precious to us. Jesus loved in this way. There were some few people in His life like John, Martha, Mary, and Lazarus that specially touched His heart. His response to them was a special love for them.

11:23-27 - "Jesus said to her, 'Your brother will rise again.' Martha said to Him, 'I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.' Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?' She said to Him, 'Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world.'"

Martha's dearly loved brother Lazarus had just died. She was struggling because she had sent word for Jesus to come and she had been confident that had He come on time, Lazarus would never have died. She had seen Jesus heal others, and knew that He could have healed her brother also. She did not yet see that Jesus planned this with the Father in order to raise Lazarus from the dead. When Jesus does arrive on the scene she greets him with a veiled rebuke for being late, but also professes her faith and confidence that even now God will grant Him whatever He asks.

Jesus says only this to her, "'Your brother will rise again". She responds with a kind of statement of faith regarding the resurrection on the final day at the end of history. Jesus shifts the emphasis of her faith with a powerful declaration regarding Himself. When He says, "I am the resurrection and the life", He is declaring that the resurrection is not so much about a great event, but a great person. Jesus is the source and fulfillment of the resurrection. Therefore, the resurrection is present at this moment because He is present. As the life giver, Jesus can call anyone forth from the grave at His own discretion. All Jesus requires of Martha is whether she believes this about Him. She now proclaims her faith, not just in a future event, but in the present Lord of Life.

11:32-38 - "Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, 'Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.' When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled, and said, 'Where have you laid him?' They said to Him, 'Lord, come and see.' Jesus wept. So the Jews were saying, 'See how He loved him!' But some of them said, 'Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have kept this man also from dying?' So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it."

There is another powerful testimony of the true humanity of Jesus in this passage. Jesus planned all along to raise Lazarus from the dead. He knew that in a few moments, when He raised Lazarus from the dead, that everyone would be rejoicing and forget the tears and sorrow of the moment. Yet, because Martha and Mary are so deeply affected by sorrow over their brother's death, Jesus is Himself touched in His heart. He is deeply moved in His heart and weeps.

John wants us to see the heart of Jesus in this situation, and twice describes how He was deeply moved. Jesus is at the same time above the circumstance and fully engaged by the circumstance. He fully knows the good plan and purpose of God and at the same time moved by the impact of the difficult situation upon the hearts of those that mattered most to Him. When we are passing through our great trials, we can be confident that Jesus is at the same time, fully in charge of our circumstance to work out God's purpose for us, and also fully engaged at a heart level with us, and feeling the full weight of our trial upon our heart.

Questions from John 10:

Question: 10:34-35 - Jesus quotes Psalm 82:6 "I said, you are gods." Is He being sarcastic or what? I don't get why Jesus would quote that scripture in talking about His own identity.

Answer: Actually, this was the perfect Old Testament Scripture for Jesus to quote in order to establish His identity against their false accusations of blaspheme. The religious leaders confronting Jesus were outraged when Jesus said, "I and the Father are one", and picked up stones to stone Him. Their great concern was that He was essentially claiming equality with God. Of course, in reality, He was and is equal with God in His nature. They did not see how this could possibly be the case and thought that a man was blasphemously claiming divinity for himself. Jesus chose to quote from Psalm 82 in response. In quoting this passage, Jesus was wielding a two-edged sword.

The psalm is addressed to unrighteous religious leaders of that day similar to the men Jesus is addressing. It contains both a description of the awesome high calling of their office, and a rebuke for their unfaithfulness to the Lord. It is the description of their high calling that Jesus quotes. God Himself describes the rulers of Israel as "gods" and "sons of the most High". Of course, the Lord does not mean that they are deities, but that by exercising the authority of God, they function as His image bearers in the earth. In that sense, they are like God. By quoting this, Jesus is not using sarcasm, but irony. If those who were appointed by God as rulers can rightly be described as gods and sons of God, then is it such a big stretch to see the chosen One, the Messiah as the Son of God?

Question: 10:16 - "And I have other sheep, which are not of this fold..." - Is Jesus referring to the gentiles here?

Answer: There are two parts of the imagery Jesus uses in this verse; this fold and the other sheep. This fold in this verse refers to Israel; the physical descendants of Abraham. Sheep that are not of this fold would refer to sheep that are of the Gentiles, and not descended from Abraham. So, yes, Jesus is referring to the Gentiles, but He is not meaning all Gentiles. He refers to other sheep which implies that He has sheep among the Gentiles which belong to Him as the Great Shepherd. Among both the Jews and the Gentiles there are those that Jesus identifies as His sheep and who will respond to His voice when He calls them. There are also goats in both groups that do not belong to Him and will not respond to His call to be saved. But this verse is one of the early hints from Jesus that His plan extends beyond the borders of Judea, and will reach out throughout the entire world.

Question: 10:10 - states that I came that they "might" have life, and have it abundantly. The word "might" stood out to me, in a way I had never really seen in this verse. What does this imply?

Answer: I'm not sure which translation you are reading from, but the wording in the NASB Updated edition that I am using for this study is closer to the original text in this case. "I came that they may have life..." There is no hint here of uncertainty as the word "might" could imply. The simple meaning is that Jesus came so that the sheep would have abundant life. In the original Greek text the phrase "they may have" is one single word describing holding or possessing something. In other words, Jesus came in order for the sheep to hold or possess abundant life.

John 12

12:3-5 - "Mary then took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, who was intending to betray Him, said, Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and given to poor people?"

Mary's actions in this are rightly called extravagant love. She chose to show her love and appreciation for Jesus in an expression that made everyone except for Jesus uncomfortable. She pushed the envelope of what was considered socially acceptable to display the extent of her love for Him. The way she chose to wipe His feet with her hair was an intimate act that was normally reserved for private expressions between husband and wife, in that a woman normally did not even wear her hair loose in public. She also used this precious perfume to anoint His feet. This was most likely her own possession and would have been part of her dowry to be saved for her marriage.

The Scripture identifies it as "very costly", and indeed it was. Judas mentions that it could have been sold for 300 denarii. The denarii was an average day's wage for a laborer. An amount of three hundred denarii was almost an entire year's wages. It would be something like an expense of $20,000-40,000 dollars in today's economy. Can you imagine someone bringing a bottle of perfume to church one Sunday that they spent $20,000 to purchase, and then pouring it all out in an expression of love for Jesus? If they did, and others knew that it cost that much, don't you think some questions would be raised about the "waste" of the money? After all, so much good could be done with that much money, such as giving it to the poor, or missions, or some church project. Yet, Jesus did not rebuke her, and instead defended her choice. Jesus did not perceive it as a waste, but received it as it was intended; a costly worship.

12:23-24 - "And Jesus answered them, saying, 'The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.'"

Jesus is anticipating the culmination of His life and ministry. His death on the cross will fulfill the plan of God for our salvation, and bring the greatest glory to Himself. In describing the significance of His death for His disciples, He compares Himself to a single grain of wheat. As the world observed His death on the cross, they perceived no special significance to it. Yet, in His death the harvest to come is unleashed.

Had Jesus chosen to not go to the cross, He would have always remained a single solitary special life. By offering Himself for us in His death, He produces a great harvest of innumerable grains of wheat. A single grain of wheat contains within it the potential to feed the entire world. Of course, unplanted that single grain cannot even adequately feed one person, but if planted, and then its grains replanted, eventually that single grain can fill the world with grains. The death of this one man, will mean life for the entire world.

12:20-23, 32-33 - "Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast; these then came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and began to ask him, saying, 'Sir, we wish to see Jesus.' Philip came and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip came and told Jesus. And Jesus answered them, saying, 'The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ... And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.' But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die."

There is an important connection from these two sections of John 12 that is often overlooked. Jesus began to speak about His death on the cross and the significance of His death for the entire world. But, His speaking about His death was triggered by the approach of this group of Greeks at the feast. These were among those that were called God-fearers. They were Gentiles who respected the religion of the Jews and came to Jerusalem to participate in worship as much as they were allowed to do so as uncircumcised Gentiles.

When these Greeks heard about Jesus, they approached Philip, who was from a region with a heavy Gentile population and expressed their desire to meet Jesus. When Jesus heard of their interest He immediately began speaking about the cross and the impact the cross would have not just on the Jews, but on the entire world. He declared that in His death He would be "lifted up." This is in reference to the physical lifting up from the earth on the cross. It also spiritually points to how His death would lead to His being lifted up in the eyes of the world. Jesus also said that when He was lifted up He would "draw all men" to Himself.

This is commonly taken to mean that once Jesus dies, He will begin to try to spiritually attract every single person in the entire world to begin to believe in Him and be saved. That is not what Jesus meant. Following His death Jesus does not try to attract anyone. The word, "draw" used here is the same word we discussed in an earlier study. It means to powerfully pull something to oneself against resistance. It was used for drawing fish in the net to the boat, or drawing water up from the well. Once Jesus dies He is powerfully pulling people to Himself to save them.

Does this mean that every person will be saved? No, when Jesus used the phrase "draw all men" He was not addressing every single individual, but rather all groups of mankind. The Greeks who were seeking Him that day were a foretaste of what would happen world wide following His death. The point was that up until now, salvation was localized among the Jews and in the temple in Jerusalem. Once Jesus dies on the cross, He will begin to draw people to Himself "from every tribe and tongue and people and nation." (Revelation 5:9) He will draw both Jews and Gentiles unto Himself.

Questions from John 11:

Question: 11:51 - "now this he did not say on his own initiative; but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation...". Was Caiaphas knowledgeable in the Scriptures or did God give him the ability to be prophetic because he was the high priest that year?

Answer: Caiaphas both was and was not knowledgeable in the Scriptures at the same time. As the High Priest, he would have been well versed in the Old Testament Scriptures, and would have committed the Law of Moses to memory. At the same time, he only understood them from a natural perspective, and their true spiritual meaning was hidden to him as Jesus described elsewhere (John 5:39). This statement by Caiaphas is an example of the sovereignty of God at work in his heart without his knowledge or understanding. Because he was the High Priest at that time, the Lord chose to have him speak prophetically regarding the sacrificial and substitutionary death of Christ. Caiaphas did not see the spiritual implications of his own words. This is roughly equivalent to the Lord speaking through Balaam's donkey (Numbers 22:25).

Question: 11:8-10 - "...but if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him". Is He saying they'd travel during the night as the people looking to stone Him will not likely be out then or is there a greater spiritual principle He is trying to teach?

Answer: No, Jesus is not referring to traveling at night here, and He is aiming at a deeper spiritual principle. He is addressing the natural concern of His disciples. Jesus had recently been threatened with stoning, and the disciples were confused as to why He would want to go right back to the place of greatest danger. His response to their concern uses a common practice of the culture. The typical day was divided into 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of relative darkness. Work was for the daylight hours. The hours of darkness were for rest. He is revealing to His disciples that He must return to Judea to continue the Father's work while it is still the "daylight" of His ministry. The implication is that while He is finishing the Father's work, He will be protected from all harm. He also implies that those trying to kill Him do not really belong to the daylight, and so they are stumbling because there is no light in them.

John 13

13:1-3 - "Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. During supper, the devil having already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, to betray Him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God,"

As the final night of the ministry and life of Jesus has begun, circumstances are about to unfold one right after the other. To the casual observer it may seem that politics and the personal agendas of those in power are going to carry Jesus to an end outside of His control. John wants us to understand that all of the events about to take place are part of a larger plan between Father and Son. Jesus is not going to be caught off guard by what happens later this night. He is fully aware and fully in charge of what is to come. Even as this "last supper" with His disciples begins, Jesus already knows that this was the "hour" of His death.

He knew exactly who, how, and when He would be betrayed. He understood the circumstances of the arrest, trials, abuse, and eventual crucifixion that was immediately ahead for Him. But, He also knew that His story was not going to end on the cross. He knew that the cross was only the necessary prelude to the resurrection and ascension back to His home back with His Father. Jesus was in no sense an ignorant victim of circumstances spinning outside of His control. He was, even in this critical moment, the One into Whose hands the Father had "given all things."

13:6-10 - "So He came to Simon Peter. He *said to Him, 'Lord, do You wash my feet?' Jesus answered and said to him, 'What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter.' Peter said to Him, 'Never shall You wash my feet!' Jesus answered him, 'If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.' Simon Peter said to Him, 'Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.' Jesus said to him, 'He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.'"

This is another of the classic exchanges between Jesus and one or more of His disciples where He is declaring deep spiritual principles and they do not yet have any real clue about what He is talking about. Later, when they are filled with the Holy Spirit, all of these moments of relative spiritual ignorance will be understood by them the way Jesus meant them to see it. In this case, Peter is objecting to having his feet washed by Jesus. Peter's objection is based in social boundaries and the impropriety of the master taking the role of the lowest slave and serving well beneath His station.

Jesus' answer to Peter's objection clues Peter in to a deeper spiritual lesson being taught here, even if he does not really understand it. When Peter sees that submitting to this is necessary for His relationship with Jesus to continue, he welcomes the foot washing and in his usual zeal he now appeals to have more than his feet washed. His natural perspective is that if foot washing will keep me close to Jesus, then he wanted to get even closer with head and hand washing too. Jesus corrects his zealous, but ignorant appeal with a spiritual principle that applies even to our own relationship with Him.

The bathing Jesus mentions is referring to the washing of regeneration (Titus 3:5) that we experience when we are born again. What we are meant to understand is that at the new birth, all Christians are made "completely clean." Our sins are forgiven and cleansed in such a way, that they never need to be washed again. However, there is a need for one ongoing type of regular spiritual washing after being saved. Foot washing perfectly symbolizes the washing we need on a consistent basis after being born again. As we still walk in this world, our "feet", or where we directly contact a spiritual dirty world around us, need to be washed of the dirt they pick up. In other words, even though we have been forgiven and once and for all cleansed in our salvation, we still benefit from regular cleansing by Jesus of the spiritual dirt (influence) we pick up from our interaction with the world.

13:34-35 - "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

Whenever the Lord establishes a covenant, He also gives commandments to follow appropriate to that covenant. When God established a covenant with Moses and Israel, He gave the two tablets of what was then a new Law. Those ten words from God formed the foundational law of that covenant relationship with God. Those who were part of that covenant were responsible to keep those 10 commandments. This night, Jesus is forming a New Covenant. The new covenant will supercede the old covenant with Moses. Jesus also gives a new law framework for His disciples to follow as they live out their lives within the new covenant.

The new commandment is brief in comparison with the old commandments, but it is not less significant. The new commandment of the new covenant is actually greater than all of the individual commands of the old covenant because it sums up all of the old covenant commandments in one single command (Romans 13:8-10). Jesus also elevates our understanding of what is involved in fulfilling this commandment. It is not simply a command to love one another based on our own ideas and concepts of what love means. He commands His disciples in the new covenant to love one another even as He loves us. This calls us above and beyond natural human love. We are commanded to love each other in the same way and to the degree that Jesus has loved us.

Questions from John 12:

Question: 12:1-8 - One of my Bibles is the NASB New Open Bible and above these verses, it cross references Matt 26:6-12 and Mark 14:3-8 (but not Luke 7?) for Mary anointing Christ. John's account of a woman anointing Jesus mentions Lazarus (after Jesus raised him) and Martha (serving) which makes me think the Mary in the story is their sister Mary (six days before the Passover). Luke's account notes a sinner in the city anointing Him, Mark and Mathew's accounts refer to "a woman" anointing Him (and it was poured on His head to prepare Him for burial). Was there only one instance of Mary anointing Jesus and four different perspectives?

Answer: The comparison of these accounts in the four Gospels is one of the more complex cases of determining how they are meant to fit together. An in depth study typically takes several pages to cover in the best commentaries. I'll limit my self to a necessarily short answer of what I believe to be the best explanation and most likely answer. Your Open Bible does not cross reference the Luke 7 passage for good reason. While there are a couple of similar elements in Luke, there are also significant differences that are best explained by a different event.

It seems that John 12, Matthew 26, and Mark 14 are all describing the same event toward the end of Jesus ministry, in Bethany, at the home of Simon the Leper, being anointed by Mary, with the objection being focused upon the waste of the value of the pure nard. Luke's account however, is toward the beginning of His ministry, in the home of a Pharisee named Simon, with an unnamed sinful woman, with a vial of unnamed perfume (which doesn't draw attention for its great value), and the objection is from the Pharisee that Jesus must not be much of a prophet for letting a sinner do this to Him. So, I believe Luke is telling a different story of an earlier event with a couple of interestingly similar elements.

John 14

14:4-6 - "And you know the way where I am going.' Thomas said to Him, 'Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?' Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.'"

In this last night together with His disciples before the cross, Jesus tells them that things are permanently changing and He is leaving to return to His Father. He assures them, though that they know the way to where He is going (heaven). Thomas still doesn't really understand what Jesus is talking about and asks Jesus to clarify. Jesus responds with one of His most powerful declarations of His role in God's plan of salvation. He Himself is the way to heaven. Then to emphasize that His role as the way to heaven is unique and essential, He boldly states, "no one comes to the Father but through Me."

If this is read without spiritual understanding, this statement can sound arrogant and exaggerated. Did Jesus really mean to claim that no one will enter heaven except through Him? This would of course elevate His importance above every other person that has ever lived. The answer is yes! Jesus was and is God's appointed single entry point into heaven. Back in John chapter 10 He used a word picture to describe the same thing when He identified Himself as the Door into God's sheepfold. This principle of one single entrance into God's presence is critical to understand, because it identifies all other claims of the way of salvation as false.

There are symbols of this principle that God gave us throughout the Old Testament to point forward to Christ's role in His plan of salvation. When Noah built the ark which was his salvation from the flood, God instructed him to build it with only one door. When Moses built the tabernacle by God's design it was built with only one entrance. When Solomon built the temple following God's blueprints it was built with a single doorway. Jesus is the only way to be saved and to enter into heaven. Period!

14:16 - "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever;"

Since Jesus is about to leave to return to heaven, the disciples are going to be separated from their Lord Who has taught them, guided them, provided for them, trained them, and corrected them when they needed it. Jesus assures their hearts though that He and God the Father have a plan to provide for them when He leaves. When Jesus returns to heaven He promises to ask the Father on their behalf and that the Father will send them "another Helper" and that He will be with them forever. The word translated Helper is the Greek word paraclete. It means one who acts as a helper, counselor, advocate, and intercessor for another.

Jesus had been all of that to them for the last three years since He first called them to be His disciples. He had been their constant and consistent Helper. Now He is leaving and would no longer be physically present to help them in the same way. But the Lord will send them another Helper. There are two words in the Greek language that can be translated another. One means another of a different kind. The other means another of the same kind. It was this second word that Jesus used here. He and the Father are going to send to the disciples a Helper of the same kind that Jesus Himself has been to them. Jesus is referring to the Holy Spirit. He will be in heaven, but the Holy Spirit will fill their hearts and be forever the same kind of Helper for them that He has been.

14:25-26 - "These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you."

There are some promises of the Lord that are aimed at all believers in Christ and apply in the same way to us all. There are other promises that are given specifically to some and are not meant for all Christians. This promise Jesus makes in this verses is of the second kind. It is also one of the most important promises Jesus ever made. Even though it was not given directly to us, it was given for our sakes. Jesus spent three years with His disciples. During that time they heard Him speak many words on many topics.

Every single word He ever spoke is of greatest significance and they would want to remember as much as possible of what He said. However, it is difficult to remember so much information spoken over a three year period without forgetting some things and imperfectly remembering others. Jesus promised the apostles that when the Holy Spirit later filled them that He would "bring to your remembrance all that I said to you." This describes the special work of the Holy Spirit in the minds of the apostles to remember everything Jesus said to them. Nothing would be lost to history. His words are the Word of God and God would insure His words would be preserved by the Holy Spirit reminding them of everything He taught them so that they could write it down. My assurance that I have the full teaching of Jesus to read in the four Gospels is this promise He made.

John 15

15:2, 5, 8 - "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit...I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing...My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples."

We are familiar with the image Jesus chose to describe our spiritual relationship with Him and the Father. The Father is like the vinedresser. Jesus is like the grapevine, and believers are like the branches of the vine. I know many believers who are troubled with the question of their life purpose. They struggle with trying to figure out the meaning of their life. This image of the vine and branches is meant to simplify the answer to that issue for us all. Our life finds its full meaning in our connection to the Vine. We exist in order to fulfill our purpose in connection to the Vine. What is that purpose? It is simply to bear fruit...and much of it. In bearing much fruit the Vine is glorified and the Vinedresser is also glorified.

The Vinedresser purposefully shapes our lives for the sake of the fruit He desires from us. He will even prune things from us that hinder our fruit-bearing capacity. Or course pruning involves cutting away things that He sees as unnecessary. The Vinedresser has the wisdom and the skill necessary to cut away those parts of the branch that were bearing no fruit. Everything is aimed at greater fruitfulness. I've found it periodically helpful to evaluate areas of my life from the standpoint of discerning whether it is contributing to my spiritual fruitfulness or hindering it. It is also helpful to consider the Vinedresser's work when some sudden change happens in your life outside of your control.

15:16 - "You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you."

Jesus and His disciples had formed a close and strong bond over the course of the previous three years of being together. Now, on the eve of an imposed physical separation, Jesus reminds them and reinforces in their perspectives the spiritual origin of their relationship. The starting point of their connection to Him is critical to understand properly because they will be sustained into the future in the same way they began. Jesus wanted them to understand that the beginning point of their connection to Him really boils down to an issue of who chose whom.

Did they become disciples originally because they saw something worth following in Him, and they chose to make themselves His disciples? Jesus answer is no! "You did not choose Me but I chose you..." They did not initiate the relationship with Him, He did. He selected them, He sought them out, and He called them to follow Him. They needed to be reminded of this just like we need to be. If they began the relationship with Him then they will also have to sustain it until the end of their lives. Yes, it is at first unsettling to learn how much we are not in control of our relationship with the Lord, but it is also the perspective that brings our hearts the deepest peace and security.

15:26-27 - "When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me, and you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning."

Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, the Savior and the Lord. This is the truth. Yet, the world does not see this or believe it. His identity and work is constantly called into question and put on trial in the court of public perception. God the Father is concerned for the reputation of His Son and so He has provided witnesses to testify in this ongoing trial. The Biblical standard established in the Law of God for what is considered the minimum standard to establish a disputed fact as truth is two witnesses. "On the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses, he who is to die shall be put to death; he shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness." (Deuteronomy 17:6)

The witnesses that the Father has "called to the stand" so to speak to testify on behalf of His Son are the Spirit of truth and the apostles. The Spirit has testified in the many works that He accomplished through Jesus (Acts 10:38) that proved conclusively that Jesus was the true Son of God. The apostles also confirmed that Jesus is the Son of God after having observed Him up close on a daily basis for three years. Their testimony is forever recorded in the four Gospel accounts of His life and ministry.

Questions from John 14:

Question: 14:12 Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. (NASB) This seems to be telling me that we all (believers) will be doing greater works than what the disciples witnessed Jesus doing. Is this possible?

Answer: I'm glad you asked this question because I did not address it yesterday, but it's a verse that seems mysterious at first glance. The answer is yes, since Jesus said it would be so. What we have to discern is not whether we will do greater works than Jesus, but in what way we will. Here are the possibilities. Jesus could mean that the works we will do will be more spectacular than His. Clearly this is not what He meant since you just can't get any more spectacular than raising the dead, opening blind eyes, walking on water, etc.

He could mean that the works we as the church will do will me greater in number. This is a real viable interpretation. Because the church is spread now throughout the world and there are millions of true believers, and the Lord works through the church to confirm the Gospel that is proclaimed, therefore the total number of miracles that the Holy Spirit does through the church is "greater" than the miracles that Jesus did. I am comfortable with this interpretation, but I believe Jesus had something else in mind beyond just a greater total number of miracles through the church.

I believe He was referring to people who are born again doing works in the New Covenant that are greater in nature than any of the works done up until that point in history. What works are greater in kind than the miracles Jesus did? The work of being used by the Lord to bring new birth and new life to someone dead in their sins is the greatest work. A later passage in John points this direction. "And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.'" (John 20:22-23) When Peter stood on the day of Pentecost and proclaimed the Gospel of salvation and by doing so unlocked the door of the kingdom for 3000 souls who were born again, I see this as a greater work.

Question: 14:17 - "...He abides with you and will be in you" - could you explain what He means by "abiding with you" vs. "will be in you"? He hasn't breathed the Spirit upon them yet so what does that "abiding" look like at this point?

Answer: Jesus is describing the essential difference in the believer's relationship with the Holy Spirit in the Old Covenant contrasted with the relationship in the New Covenant. In the Old Covenant the Spirit of God came upon believers for specific purposes. His relationship with them is described visually as a mantle or cloak that clothed them to spiritually enable them to accomplish things beyond their natural abilities. The Spirit would also lift, or leave from clothing them once the assignment or task was completed. In the New Covenant, the Holy Spirit fills the heart of those who have been born again and He makes their heart His permanent dwelling place.

John 16

16:7 - "But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you."

Jesus is here preparing the hearts of His disciples for His impending departure. He is not leaving for a brief time only. When He leaves, He is ascending in His return to heaven and will not return until His Second Coming. The disciples were understandably disoriented and concerned as He was talking about leaving them. They had grown more than emotionally attached to Him in their three years together. They were spiritually dependant upon Him as they should be. Because they could not yet understand where God's plan was taking them, they saw the prospect of Jesus leaving them as their great loss.

Jesus assures their hearts here that what He has planned for them is better than they could imagine. He describes His leaving them as advantageous to them. He meant they would be better off without Him there. How could this possibly be? You have probably imagined as I have what it must have been like for these men to see Jesus face to face, to hear Him teach in person, to walk with Him and have conversations with Him. Nothing could possibly be better than that could it? Jesus said it could be. In God's plan it was necessary for Jesus to return to heaven and be enthroned and together with the Father to send the Holy Spirit to fill His church. When the Holy Spirit comes the disciples will be better off than if Jesus had stayed with them. They will be better off, because the Spirit will come to live inside of them and fill their hearts. He will help them, teach them, counsel them, guide them, and be all that Jesus had been for them, except in a new and even more intimate relationship of being joined to their spirit forever.

16:13-15 - "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you."

The Spirit of God has His own priorities in His ministry just like the Lord Jesus had priorities in His ministry in this world. This means that there are certain concerns of His heart that are the focal point of all that He does. Two of those priorities are revealed in this passage. The first is shown by the name that Jesus chose to use to identify Him here. In most passages identifying the Spirit of God throughout the Bible He is known as the Holy Spirit which emphasizes His own nature of holiness. Here, Jesus calls Him the Spirit of truth. This means much more than He is the Spirit that doesn't lie.

His name describes His role. Just like the name Jesus, which literally means "the salvation of God", the Spirit of truth is named to identify for us His priority which is to guide His people into all the truth. The Lord desires His people to know, understand, and walk in the truth. The Spirit of truth fills our hearts in order to lead us into a greater relationship with the truth. His job is to lead us out of all deceptions and into all truth. The primary way He accomplishes this is by taking us deeper in His Word of truth, the Scriptures. The other spiritual priority of the Spirit's ministry revealed in this passage is found in the words, "He will glorify Me."

The Spirit did not come to glorify Himself, but to glorify the Son of God. His role is focused on working in our hearts and minds to open our eyes to see the glory of God's only begotten Son. The world works hard to defame Jesus and deny Him His glory, but the Spirit of truth works more powerfully to honor the Son, to give Him His rightful place, and to glorify Him. This is one of the quickest ways to distinguish false religion from true religion. What do they say about the Jesus? Do they honor and glorify Him or do they downgrade Him and redefine Him?

16:33 - "These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."

There are many that in becoming Christians expect that their life from that point forward will improve in every way. They are under the naive impression that God has promised His people that He will remove all difficulties from their lives. Jesus does not want His disciples to have an unrealistic expectation of their own future, and He does not want us to have an unrealistic expectation of our own future. As long as we live in this present fallen world we, as Christians, will "have tribulation." This is inevitable and unavoidable. Yet, some believers go to great lengths to try to avoid the inevitable.

Entire movements within Christianity periodically arise focused in the avoidance of tribulation. The so called Faith Movement of a few years ago exploded in popularity because the leaders promised Christians that if they believed well enough, long enough, and hard enough that they could and would have a tribulation free life of health and wealth. Who wouldn't be attracted to that? Jesus did not promise His disciples in this passage a difficulty free life. In fact, He promised them tribulation! But, He also urged them to be encouraged when they faced tribulation, because they would face it filled with His peace. He also wanted them to know that He had previously faced tribulation Himself and that He had fully overcome it. Because He was fully victorious over the greatest tribulation, they could be confident that He would sustain them as His followers in their own personal trials.

John 17

17:2, 9 - "even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life... I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours;"

As Jesus is praying, we are given an opportunity to "listen in" as God the Father and God the Son discuss from the highest perspective the great concerns of the kingdom. Here Jesus is praying, not for everyone in the world in general, but for a smaller specific group of people. He is praying for all of those the Father had given to Him. Without further explanation we are left to draw conclusions on the implication of this statement of the Lord's. It is clear, because He mentions the plan to give to this same group "eternal life," that He is referring to those who will be born again and saved. The strong inference is that not everyone in the world will be saved.

Beyond that, we can say that God has planned the salvation of some out of the world. God the Father knew them even before they were actually saved, and He gave them to the Lord Jesus for the purpose of Him saving them. The Father gave them to the Son in order for the Son to give them eternal life. Some are troubled by the implications of this passage, but I am comforted by it. It helps me tremendously to know that the Father knew me before I ever knew Him. I am secure in the knowledge that He gave me to the Lord Jesus and my belonging to Jesus is beyond my own inclination or decision. My salvation is first before anything else the result of a heavenly transaction between the Father and the Son.

17:4 - "I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do."

Since this is the last night before His death, this prayer gives us an insight into the priority concerns in the heart of Jesus. The things He prays about in this chapter are His heart desires. One thing that Jesus lived for above all else was that His Father would be glorified by His life. As His disciples we are also called to follow in His footsteps and live our lives for the glory of the Father and the Son. Often though, believers are uncertain in what way their lives could bring glory to God. Jesus gives us in this prayer a strong hint in how to glorify Him. He glorified the Father by accomplishing the work which the Father had given Him to do.

We glorify God in the same way. Jesus did glorify His Father beyond our capacity because He perfectly accomplished all of the work which He was given by the Father, and at best we do the same imperfectly and incompletely. We are meant to see, however, that we are to focus our efforts in this direction. The work which the Father gave the Son to accomplish we could call His life assignment. The Bible teaches that every believer is given their own life assignment from the Lord. We also refer to this as our calling and our ministry. It is fulfilling the work which the Lord assigned to us that we will bring glory to Him. Now, in order to accomplish our own assignment, it is necessary to first discern what our assignment is.

Many Christians fill their lives with activities, but not always the activities the Lord has assigned to them. To discover our assignment it helps to identify your spiritual gifts. God equips us for the assignments He gives by giving us the spiritual tools needed for the work we are to do. Evaluating what tools God gave you is a first step toward seeing what work the Lord has given you. For instance, God has given me the assignment to teach His Word. I began to recognize His call to teach when I saw that He had given me a strong desire and capacity for reading along with the ability to communicate and a great love for His Word. Discovering the gifts God has given you and accomplishing your life assignment will bring glory to the One Who gave you those gifts and that assignment.

17:22-23 - "The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me."

One of the highest goals of our spiritual life is true spiritual unity. The unity that Jesus prays for here is the same kind and quality of unity that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit have enjoyed between themselves throughout eternity past and throughout history. It is a unity that will permeate heaven in eternity future. Yet, it is a sad but real issue for the last 2000 years of church history that this level and type of unity has for the most part been absent from the Christian community.

I read recently in the World Christian Encyclopedia that there are today in the world some 34,000 Christian denominations. It is worth noting that in the book of Acts there was one and one only "denomination." All of these 34,000 denominations identify the differences among Christians, not the unity among all believers. Most of these 34,000 different church groups were started as a result of some group dividing over some doctrinal or practical difference of opinion. In spite of the history and continuing existence of such extensive disagreement, Jesus prayed for all who truly believe in Him and who truly belong to Him to truly be united in Him in "perfected" unity. His prayer will be answered by His Father.

John 18

18:3-6 - "Judas then, having received the Roman cohort and officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, came there with lanterns and torches and weapons. So Jesus, knowing all the things that were coming upon Him, went forth and said to them, 'Whom do you seek?' They answered Him, 'Jesus the Nazarene.' He said to them, 'I am He.' And Judas also, who was betraying Him, was standing with them. So when He said to them, 'I am He,' they drew back and fell to the ground.'"

There is a significant detail for us to notice in John's account of the arrest of Jesus. There are some who see Jesus as the victim of political forces spinning out of His control that ultimately led to His untimely death. It is true that political agendas as seen in the actions of the Jewish Sanhedrin (the ruling council), and Pilate as the Roman Governor charged with keeping the peace at all costs were factors in the trial and death of Jesus. However, Jesus is the farthest thing imaginable from a victim of uncontrolled circumstances. The scene of His arrest unfolds in a way to confirm beyond a doubt Who is really in charge in spite of outward appearances.

The chief priests had arranged with Judas to arrest Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. The chief priests sent the temple guards to participate in His arrest representing their interests, but the real political authority on the scene was represented by the Roman cohort. The cohort was the Roman garrison of soldiers headquartered next to the temple in Jerusalem in the Antonia Fortress. A cohort consisted of about 500 soldiers. We don't know if the entire cohort was assigned to the arrest detail, but we can be certain that a large number of Roman soldiers followed the betrayer Judas to arrest Jesus. These soldiers were battle hardened legionnaires.

When they arrived at the garden, Jesus met them, fully knowing the circumstance was going to lead to His crucifixion. When the soldiers declared they were there to arrest Jesus the Nazarene, Jesus responded by proclaiming, "I am!" I emphasize His response in this way, because in the original text, the word "He" in not there and is added by the translators. Jesus actually said "I am." The spiritual significance of His answer echoes the holy Name of God, Who had revealed Himself to Moses as "I am" (Exodus 3:14). When Jesus spoke these words, they impacted the men there to arrest Him by causing them to draw back and falling to the ground. This was no victim speaking. This was the Lord of Glory speaking and the soldiers were knocked off their feet by the sheer power of His words in spite of themselves.

18:28 - "Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas into the Praetorium, and it was early; and they themselves did not enter into the Praetorium so that they would not be defiled, but might eat the Passover."

There is a strong spiritual irony in this verse. The chief priests have come from Caiaphas with Jesus in tow to seek out Pilate. They have already judged Jesus as guilty of blaspheme and they want Him killed. However, under Roman rule, the Jews were not allowed to carry out the death penalty. Therefore, they had to appeal to Pilate to order the death penalty for Jesus. The Praetorium was the place where Pilate as governor sat in judgment to hear and rule on cases.

The Jews refused to personally enter the Praetorium because they believed they would be ceremonially defiled by entering this gentile headquarters. This would ruin their own celebration of the Passover taking place this day. Of course what they completely failed to see was that their own celebration was being permanently ruined by their actions this day. The reason was that the man they had condemned and they were seeking to kill was Himself the fulfillment of what the Passover feast had symbolically pointed forward to ever since the days of Moses. Jesus was and is the actual Passover lamb of God. They were in spiritual blindness focused entirely on the external ceremony of the Passover and totally missed seeing the fulfillment of what the Passover was meant to prepare their hearts for.

18:36 - "Jesus answered, 'My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.'"

The nature of the kingdom of God and how our becoming part of His kingdom is to shape our lives has been a source of misunderstanding, debate, and problems within the church throughout church history. The church has swung like a pendulum between extreme expressions of the meaning of the kingdom. Some Christians have taken the kingdom concept to the extreme of seeking by armed conflict to establish the kingdom of God in the earth, such as in the times of the Crusades. In doing so they have completely missed the emphasis of the Lord Jesus on the nature of His kingdom.

Other Christians have taken His words to mean that we are to withdraw from this world entirely in a retreat from a culture and world that rejects Christ as King. In doing so, they take the words of Jesus here too far. These words by Jesus in His conversation with the representative of the greatest human kingdom in existence at that time are critical for us to understand. The essential nature of His kingdom is spiritual and heavenly, not natural and earthly. However, we know from other passages (salt of the earth and light of the world), that we are to have a direct and powerful influence on this world and culture representing His kingdom. But, our influence is not with the sword of steel, but the sword of the Spirit. Our warfare is spiritual, Our influence is in how we live and what we say as we demonstrate the reality of His kingdom with our lives.

Questions from John 17:

Question: 17:24 - If Jesus had a separate "identity" (having a form or body?) before the world was created (John 1:2), what happened to that "identity" in Heaven when He came to earth as a man?

Answer: I think I understand your question. Jesus did exist before the world began. He was in heaven with God the Father and they enjoyed perfect fellowship with each other and the Holy Spirit. He did not have a physical body at that time. His outward expression in heaven prior to His incarnation was in a spiritual form. He did not "take on" a physical body until He incarnated at His birth as a human being. We do know that He was / is spirit in essence because God is spirit in terms of describing His nature. So, when He became a man, His identity did not change in terms of losing any of His essence. He only gained a physical body. The Scripture also describes that He in a sense laid aside His glory in His incarnation. That means that He chose to not fully display the nature of deity within Himself throughout the time of His life here on earth. But, He did not leave any of Himself behind in heaven when He became a man. His fullness incarnated.

John 19

19:10-11 - "So Pilate said to Him, 'You do not speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?' Jesus answered, 'You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.'"

The demeanor of Jesus while on trial before Pilate sets an example for all Christians that we should seek to understand and follow. Pilate was a man fully accustomed to being feared. He held the power of life and death over all the people in this region of the world that he governed with Rome's authority. When Jesus was brought before him on trial, Pilate expected to interview a man desperate to please him and driven by fear of punishment and execution. Instead, in Jesus, Pilate encountered a man Who was shockingly calm, composed, peaceful, and seemingly unconcerned for Himself.

Pilate was so surprised by this attitude in Jesus that he even asked Him if He really understood the situation and whether He knew that he could order His crucifixion. Jesus' response exposed that the one who did not understand the full implications of the circumstance was Pilate. Jesus made known to Pilate that there was a higher authority at work here than his, or even Caesar's authority. The only authority that concerned Jesus in this situation was heaven's authority. Pilate's authority to hold, punish, and crucify Jesus ultimately was traced, not to Rome and Caesar, but to heaven and God the Father. Because Jesus knew this beyond a doubt, He could face even death with calmness of spirit. If we really understand and believe that God is in control then we find this same grace to settle our hearts in our most trying circumstances.

19:13 - "Therefore when Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus out, and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha."

There is a hidden detail in this verse that the translation does not immediately identify for us. The trial of Jesus has reached the point of final judgment. Pilate has attempted to release Jesus and not indulge the Jewish Council's strong desire for His death. However, Pilate is constrained politically. If he does not grant their request they have implied they will stir up trouble in Jerusalem and that word of the trouble will reach Caesar's ear in Rome. Seeing his own political career at stake, Pilate decides to accede to their demand for His execution. The normal procedure when rendering final judgment as the governor was to first ceremonially sit upon a special seat to do so. This seat is translated "the judgment seat" in our translation. In the original Greek text it is a single word, "bema". It was the special seat symbolically representing the full authority of Rome and Caesar.

Pilate sat upon the bema and pronounced the death sentence of crucifixion upon Jesus. There is a supreme irony here. Read this verse from Paul's second letter to the Corinthians. "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad." (II Corinthians 5:10) Paul used the exact word, bema, to describe the events at the end of all of history. Christ will one day return to this world. When He does, He will be revealed in His full power and authority. He will sit upon His own bema. On that day, Pilate, every member of the Council that was demanding His death, Caesar himself, and every person who has ever lived will be brought before Him. Jesus will render judgment from His Bema!

19:30 - "Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit."

In last year's study, I commented upon this verse and the key phrase, "It is finished!" This is the final statement of the Lord Jesus in this world before His death. We recognize the special place that final words play in anyone's death. Final words represent true heart priorities and impact those who hear with greater significance. Jesus chose this final statement as His final Word! The three word phrase in our translation is actually a single word in the original text and as Jesus spoke it. He declared from the cross the one word, "Tetelestai!"

It is a word that was in common usage in the marketplace to identify the completion of business transactions. It was similar to our phrase "paid in full" which is marked upon a bill that has been completely discharged. It was the declaration of Jesus that His death on the cross has finished all that was necessary from God's standpoint for our salvation. The implications for us are awesome. Jesus has paid the full price to satisfy God's justice that was previously offended by our sins. We can add nothing to the price He paid. Our salvation is a completed transaction between Father and Son. We are the beneficiaries. We don't and indeed, can't "chip in" to participate in any degree to the price Jesus paid for us. All we can do in response is believe that He has paid the full price, and rejoice in the completely gracious gift of His salvation.

John 20

20:11-12 - "But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying."

Throughout the four Gospels there are dozens of subtle hints given of the true identity, nature, and special role of the Lord Jesus. These hints are often given in relationship to some Old Testament passage that reveals more than the event in the Gospel seems to do. Our understanding of the hint is dependant upon our familiarity with the Old Testament passage in view. For this reason alone, the Old Testament is more than worth the time and effort spent reading it, even though many Christians struggle to do so.

In this event, we have Mary at the scene of the resurrection uncertain of what to think. She looks into the empty tomb of Jesus. When she does she sees two angels. The subtle hint given about Jesus is in the interesting position of the angels. She sees them separated from each other and sitting one at the head and one at the feet of the where the body of Jesus had been lying in His burial. Inside tombs of that day the bodies were not laid on the floor, but typically on a raised stone slab. The angels were sitting at either end. It is possible that this is an unnecessary detail given by John without any spiritual significance whatsoever, but I doubt it.

The Lord usually does not waste words in the Bible. I believe this scene is aimed at reminding us of Exodus 25:16-22. This is the passage where the Lord has Moses make the Ark of the Covenant. It is to be constructed with two angels on either end of the lid of the box. This lid is called the mercy seat because it is where the blood of the covenant is to be sprinkled to assure Israel of God's forgiveness due to the sacrificed lamb of God. The angels are present to be like two witnesses that God's judgment is satisfied. These angels were positioned in the tomb to show that in His death and resurrection Jesus has become God's mercy seat for us and we are assured of forgiveness through Him.

20:17 - "Jesus said to her, 'Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, 'I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.'"

In the instruction Jesus gives to Mary to go and tell this message to the other disciples we are given greater insight into our relationship with God. Jesus has here pass on to them that He is ascending back to heaven. But, He chooses an unusual way to describe His ascension. He wants the disciples to know He is returning to, "My Father and your Father, and My God and your God." It would have been a more simple communication if He had said that He was returning to "Our Father."

Jesus chooses not to describe the relationship between Himself and the Father with the disciples relationship to the Father in that way for a critically important reason. It would not be spiritually and theologically right for Him to say "Our Father" in this context. To do so would imply that we have the same Father to Son relationship with God that He enjoys. It would eliminate any distinction between His relationship with the Father and ours. Instead, Jesus said it in such a way to at the same time preserve the unique relationship He has with the Father, and to show us what aspect of relationship with God we can share with Jesus.

Because Jesus said, "My Father...My God" we are meant to understand that He is distinguishing Himself as the only begotten of the Father and the unique Son of God. At the same time, when He says "your Father...your God" we are meant to understand that we are not left out of this relationship entirely. Our relationship with God does not rise to the level of the connection between the Father and the Son, yet it is a real Father to child relationship in which we can now legitimately call God our Father!

20:23 - "If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained."

In this post-resurrection meeting with His disciples, Jesus instructs them about one of the greater aspects of their role in representing Him in this world. The Catholic church has taken these words and historically applied them only and exclusively to the apostles and those the Catholic church identifies as the spiritual descendants of the apostles. This becomes for them one of the key passages to establish the authority of the popes as the exclusive dispensers of God's forgiveness in each generation. Did Jesus mean for this event to be understood in that way throughout church history? Hardly!

Jesus was not creating here a super group of leaders who alone would hold the power to forgive. We do not see any evidence of that understanding in the writings of the apostles. In fact, in Peter's own letters he is careful to identify himself to the other leaders of the church as their "fellow elder." We must avoid the error of Catholicism in this passage, but we are also meant to understand the implications of what it does describe to us. This was a spiritual principle of the New Covenant that Jesus declared to the apostles as representing the entire church. It means that the church is the Lord's chosen representative to the world. We are called to discern when someone has truly believed the message of the Gospel and to declare to them that because of the Gospel their sins are forgiven. We also have the responsibility to declare to those who do not believe that they remain in their sins, and that apart from Christ there is no forgiveness for them.

Questions from John 19:

Question: In 19:26-27 it talks about a disciple? Do you know who? And why did His mother need to be in another household? I don’t quite understand that part.

Answer: The disciple in these verses is the apostle John, who wrote this Gospel. He refers to himself in this way more than once in the book. It was his way of humbly referring to himself since he was part of the event without drawing too much attention to himself. The decision of Jesus to transfer Mary to John's household was an interesting one. One aspect of His decision is practical and one is spiritual. The practical aspect is that in those days women were not able to easily provide for their own living. Jesus was insuring Mary's welfare by committing her provision to John.

The spiritual aspect of His decision enters in because Jesus did have other brothers such as James who were adults and probably capable of providing for her. The only element they could not yet provide for her was a spiritually healthy home. The evidence we have points to James becoming a believer after Jesus rose from the dead. At this point the brothers of Jesus still considered Him to be on the strange side, and not the Messiah. By giving Mary into John's care He was providing for both her physical and spiritual welfare.

Question: John 19:39 - "Nicodemus, who had first come to Him by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds weight." Can we infer from this that Nicodemus was a born again believer?

Answer: I believe that the new birth is the fundamental spiritual experience of the New Covenant. Since Nicodemus was still living in the Old Covenant and Jesus had not yet risen from the dead, I do not believe he was born again yet. However, he is for sure a believer by this point in the same sense that the other disciples were believers. Nicodemus had apparently been greatly impacted by his conversation with Jesus back in chapter three. It's also likely that he continued to follow the teaching and miracles of Jesus, especially things Jesus did in Jerusalem. His actions here demonstrate his true connection to Jesus because he was risking his own position as a religious leader in Jerusalem by doing this kindness for Jesus since Jesus had been identified as a blasphemer by the Jewish high council. Early church history also confirms that Nicodemus had become a believer in Jesus by this point.

John 21

21:15-17 - "So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?' He said to Him, 'Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.' He said to him, 'Tend My lambs.' He said to him again a second time, 'Simon, son of John, do you love Me?' He said to Him, 'Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.' He said to him, 'Shepherd My sheep.' He said to him the third time, 'Simon, son of John, do you love Me?' Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, 'Do you love Me?' And he said to Him, 'Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.' Jesus said to him, 'Tend My sheep.'"

Jesus singles Peter out from the 11 disciples for this conversation because of the unique circumstances of Peter's failure when Jesus was arrested. Peter had denied he even knew Jesus three times out of fear for his own safety. In those moments of greatest fear and weakness, Peter valued his own welfare above his relationship and faithfulness with Jesus. Now, Jesus mercifully and graciously takes this time to fully re-establish the heart relationship between Him and Peter. He does so with a series of three questions which test the love Peter has for Him. There is a subtle element in the conversation that is not seen in our translation, but is there in the original text.

In English we have one main word to express the concept of love. In the Greek language there are different words to express differing aspects of love. When Jesus asked Peter if he "loved" Him, the first two times, He used the Greek word "agape", which is the kind and quality of love with which God loves us. Peter answers with a different word. All three times, Peter answers that he has "phileo" love for Jesus. This is what we would call the love of friends. What is revealed in this difference is that at this point Peter loves Jesus like a true and deep friend. However, Jesus is calling Peter to an even greater love for Him. He is calling Peter, and us also, to love Him like He loves us. Even good and deep friends can over time and circumstances drift apart from each other. Jesus calls Peter to love Him with a committed love that will never fade or drift.

21:18-19 - "Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go.' Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, 'Follow Me!' Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; the one who also had leaned back on His bosom at the supper and said, 'Lord, who is the one who betrays You?' So Peter seeing him said to Jesus, 'Lord, and what about this man?' Jesus said to him, 'If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!'

After the exchange in which Jesus reaffirms Peter's love for Him, Jesus in a sense brings Peter back to square one in his walk with the Lord. Peter's fist encounter with the Lord years ago consisted of Jesus finding him by the water involved in his career as a fisherman, and calling Him to a new and greater purpose of following Him. Now, Jesus once again finds Peter fishing and twice this time He issues the call to Peter's heart to follow Him.

Peter had impulsively decided to return the night before to what was most familiar to him, the fishing boat. Now Jesus was making clear to him that his future was in a new path that the Lord was calling him to follow. In this double call to follow the Lord, Peter's heart will be tested in two ways all disciples must eventually face also. Jesus wants Peter to finally understand that the call to follow Him is one which will consume our entire life. Disciples are meant to learn that once called by Jesus to follow Him, our lives are not our own any longer. Our future is in the Lord's hand; even to the extent of Him choosing the time and manner of our death. We are no longer in charge of our lives.

In addition, the call to follow the Lord is one which is not based on fairness in comparison even with other disciples. Peter was concerned to ask whether John would be required to die like Jesus implied he would. Jesus does not answer Peter's question directly, but exposes instead the self oriented concern at the heart of the question. The real issue from the Lord's perspective is not whether each disciple is treated fairly by Him, but whether each disciple will fully follow Him in whatever He assigns to each one. In essence Jesus tells Peter that it is none of his business what He has planned for John and to only concern himself with following Him fully in what He has planned for him.

21:25 - "And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written."

John chooses this way to end His Gospel in order to convey a sense of the enormity of his subject matter to us. As perfectly as his Gospel has been written (because it was written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit), nevertheless it does not contain all that could be written to try and describe the fullness of its focus. Writing on the life of Jesus is essentially different than writing about the life of anyone that has ever lived.

Many biographies have been produced of the lives of great personalities of world history, but even for the very greatest, there is only so much that can be written about them before the writer ends up merely repeating himself. Because of the unique nature and purpose of the life of Jesus, there is an unfathomed depth and layered spiritual substance in His story. So far in church history, more has been written of Him and His works than on any other person or subject, and yet the subject is nowhere close to being exhausted yet. After my own studies of 27 years on His life, I feel as though I am just getting started in truly understanding what there is to learn of Him.

Questions from John 20:

Question: 20:22-23 - "And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit. 'If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.'" Is there any stipulation for the disciples that they must "forgive the sins of any" to "receive the Holy Spirit" in that particular instance? (like a cause and effect)

Answer: No, there is no connection of that kind between their instruction from Jesus regarding forgiveness and their receiving the Holy Spirit from Him. The Holy Spirit was given to them by the Lord Jesus, not on the basis of their obedience, but purely on the basis of His grace. There is however, a different connection between the two we should notice. They first received the Spirit, and are then instructed regarding forgiving others as His representatives. This instruction is a part of their commission to represent Him to the world. The connection is that their receiving the Spirit is their being equipped for ministry, while the instruction is the direction for their ministry. The reception of the Spirit is an essential precursor for them to be spiritually equipped to do the ministry of the New Covenant.

Question: 20:22 - were they given the same amount of anointing as the others received at Pentecost (Acts 2)?

Answer: Based on what I think you are asking the answer is really both yes and no. Yes, because the anointing in the New Covenant is not a thing, but a person and you either have this person within you or you don't. When the disciples received the Holy Spirit they did not receive part of Him only.

At the same time, no, because the experience on the Day of Pentecost was by God's design a fuller experience. Not that they received more of the Spirit on Pentecost, but that they experienced a greater measure of His gifts. In John 20 their experience is limited to receiving the Spirit and receiving an instruction regarding ministry in the future. At Pentecost the same 11 apostles and 109 other disciples experienced the sound of a rushing mighty wind, tongues of fire upon each of their heads, and speaking in languages they had never learned. So we could say in comparing the two events that there was not a difference in the presence of the Spirit, but in the experience of His gifts.