"LOVE ONE ANOTHER JUST AS i HAVE LOVED YOU" Bible Reading Thoughts for Sunday Sunday 20/4/14

“LOVE ONE ANOTHER JUST AS I HAVE LOVED YOU”                                                                                    Apr 20                                                                                                                                           

    Love is probably the most common word in both Christian and non-Christian literature.  It is used in a wide range of situations with many different meanings.  It is usually used in common speech today in a very casual way!  Are those who read God’s word influenced by this? If we are - it will undermine our appreciation of what this word means in Scripture?  In the Greek there are two different words and the one we focus on is ‘agape’ which occurs so much in the Gospel of John; he uses it 27 times; 9 times in today’s chapters (13 &14).  

    Chapter 13 today contains a key statement of the Master, “A new commandment I have given you, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” [v.34]. So how did Jesus love them? How did he set an example?  What events and words show this?  He had just washed their feet and he used this as an example of how to serve one another; however to make a ritual of this would destroy the lesson.  It is an example of love and humility toward one another. Jesus said, “I have given you an example that you also should do as I have done to you.” [v.15].  Not many hours later he would tell them of the ultimate act of  “love” soon to occur – saying “greater love has no man than this” [15 v.13]

        Jesus asked, “Who is the greater, one who reclines at table, or one who serves? I am among you as one who serves” [Luke 22 v.27]   So the love that Jesus showed was one of serving, he came as a servant – but will return as a King.  

     In serving Jesus, we must ourselves seek to show love by what we do.  There will be times when we need to be gentle as he was with his disciples when they faltered, and he said “O you of little faith” [Luke 12 v28]; but read v.22-31].  We might think of what we want, but our heavenly Father knows what we need.

    He did not send anyone away, they went away themselves when they found his sayings “hard” [John 6 v.60,66]  When John, years later, wrote his epistles he made one particular point which echoed these words of Jesus, “let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and in truth” [1 John 3 v.18] or as the NEB puts it, “love must be genuine and show itself by actions.”  

"EVEN THE AUTHORITIES BELIEVED" Thoughts from Bible Readings for April 19th

“EVEN THE AUTHORITIES BELIEVED”

            What is it to believe in Jesus?  Are there different kinds of belief?  There are verses in today’s 12^th chapter of John that challenge and open up our understanding of this.  It is a question it is vital we ask ourselves.  We read, “many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; for they lovedthe glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.” [v.42,43]

            So in what sense did many of the authorities believe?  Could yours or mine be similar? The first 8 verses in our chapter indicate the belief that Judas Iscariot had – and think of all the many and different miracles Judas must have witnessed!  Judas was one of the 12 and when Jesus sent them out he would have performed healings, &c see Matt. 10 v.5-8.

            We read today that at Bethany, 6 days before the Passover  (v.1) when Jesus was there, “Mary … took a pound of expensive ointment and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair.  The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume” [v.3]  Judas Iscariot reacted by asking, ‘Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii (300 days pay for a .labourer) and given to the poor, he said this … because … having charge of the money bag  he used to help himself to what was put into it”   [v.5,6]

            What kind of “heart” did Judas have as a result of all he had experienced?  No doubt there are similar hearts today who diligently read and know God’s word – but who try to serve both God and money, but Jesus bluntly warns of the impossibility of doing this, see Luke 16 v.13.   To “serve” God and His Son in this way – is not service at all.

            Our ultimate thought on Judas is that, as he witnessed Jesus escape on several previous occasions, for e.g. Luke 4 v.29,30 when the Nazarene’s in the “synagogue were filled with wrath … and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill … so they could throw him down the cliff.  But passing through their midst he went away”   so, when Judas was offered 30 pieces of silver he accepted agreeing to betray him in the darkness and quietness of the night, but he fully expected Jesus would escape again.  Such illustrates ways in which the minds of those work who believe, “even as the authorities believed” but, for whom there is no depth to their belief, it has no genuine foundation!  Make sure yours has!  

            Finally, note and deeply meditate on v.48 in today’s chapter,  “the word that I have spoken” said Jesus, “will judge him (us) on the last day”  We must more and more take the fullness of his word into our hearts and let it guide our thoughts and actions.

18 April 2014 - Thoughts from Today's Bible Readings

18 April 2014

Deuteronomy 1
Proverbs 28
John 11

"THE GLORY OF GOD"

What is "the Glory of God" ? Is it something utterly wonderful such as the awesome temple that Solomon built? Will it only be seen in the future when Jesus returns to set up God's kingdom?

Jesus uses this phrase in a wonderful and challenging way in today's reading in John 11. Jesus had returned to Bethany and the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus, but Lazarus had died ­ and there was very much grief. We read, "now when Mary came to where Jesus was and she saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, 'Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died.' When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled." [John 11:32-33]

Jesus was truly human, as we read in Hebrews 4 he was "one who in every respect has been tempted as we are" [Hebrews 4:15]. Jesus says to Mary, "'Where have you laid him?'  They said to him, 'Lord, come and see.' Jesus wept."  [John 11:34-35] It is good to try to imagine the scene, they come to the tomb, a stone lay against it.  "Jesus said, 'Take away the stone,' Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, 'Lord, by this time there will be an odour; for he has been dead four days.' Jesus said to her, 'Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God.'"  [John 11:39-40]

God's glory is in his power, and Jesus had been given "The spirit without measure"  [John 3:34]. At the tomb Jesus "lifted up his eyes and said, 'Father I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.' When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, 'Lazarus, come out'."  [John 11:41-43]

Imagine the situation, if you had been in the audience! We cannot conceive the wonder of the glory to come!  How near at hand is that time? Some are saying, "Very soon". Martha is confident in her belief about what will happen, let us share her confidence, for she said before Lazarus was raised, "'I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day'."  [John 11:24]  How utterly great will be the glory of God then for "the dead in Christ will rise first" (see 1 Thessalonians 4:16) Live now ­ so that you will be there.
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- DC


Thought for the Day

18 April 2014

"The saint ... is a man of peace; he thinks peace, he lives peace, he preaches the glad message of peace, and in its embrace he waits for the coming of the one who gave it to him: The Prince of Peace. A saint who is truly of this spirit has no need to argue about "peace at any price", for he is of the same spirit as his Master, and follows him in the way he met the problems that arise from the spirit of the flesh."

- John Marshall
Portrait of the Saint

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"I AM MY FATHER ARE ONE" Bible Reading Thoughts for April 17th

"I AND MY FATHER ARE ONE"                                                                                                                 

    In his Gospel John records several challenging sayings of Jesus.  How are we to understand, “I and my Father are one” in today’s chapter 10 (v.30)?  In what sense are they “one”?  We know he prayed to his father all night on at least one occasion. (Luke 6 v.12) and in his prayer in the garden of Gethsemane he said, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” [Matt.26 v.39]  So we ask, in what sense was Jesus “one” with his Father when they had separate ‘wills’?  We will soon read [Ch. 14] and his words, “I am going to the Father for the Father is greater than I” [v.28]. 

    The solution to this conundrum unfolds in Ch. 17 in his final prayer before his betrayal. He is praying for his disciples and says, “I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me” [v.10].  It was after his all night prayer (in Luke 6) that Jesus chose his 12 disciples (v.12-16).  Now note the verses which follow in John 17. Our Lord prays, “I am coming to you Holy Father, keep them in your name … that they may be one, even as we are one.” [v.11]    His prayer for his disciples is that they may have unity of mind, a unity of understanding creating a harmonious team in carrying on his work after he ascended to heaven. Up until this stage there had been times of jealousy, a competition “among them as to which of them was the greatest” [Luke 9 v.46] 

    Jesus, and God his Father, had a unique oneness – and this was to be the disciple’s role model. But Jesus extends his vision of oneness further, he prays, “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us …” [v.20,21]

    All those who believe the original gospel as established by the disciples’ preaching should aim to be “one” in this wonderful way.  Those who have achieved and maintained this wonderful oneness will be the ones to reign with him when he returns to set up his world-wide kingdom.  Paul was very conscious of this and stressed this.  He counselled the Ephesians to “maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace … just as you were called in the one hope … one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all” [Ch.4 v. 3-6]

Bible Reading Thoughts for April 16th

John 8 - 'the word'

If we follow the usage of 'the word' in this chapter:
EXHORTATION:
v31 - If ye continue/abide in my word, then you are really my disciples, true believers.
WARNING:
v37 - if Christ's word does not have a place in us (to affect us), then we are in danger of killing him.
v43 - if we do not hear Christ's word, we will not understand/know his speech.
PROMISE:
v51 - if a man KEEP my WORD, he shall never see death.
OUR EXAMPLE:
v55 - I (Christ) know him, and KEEP his WORD.

With keeping Christ's word in mind, the last words of Christ to his servants who hear is voice:
"Blessed is he that readeth, and they that HEAR the WORDS of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein (within this prophecy of Revelation), for the time is at hand"

“YOU ARE OF YOUR FATHER THE DEVIL”

     John’s gospel records in greater detail the sayings of Jesus.  Sometimes Jesus did not speak in a straightforward manner, especially to those who were jealous of his popularity and who were trying to challenge him; often he uses figures of speech: these were beyond their ability to understand.  Our chapter 8 today is full of this kind of language.  His opponents claim, “Abraham is our Father” causing Jesus to say ‘If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing what Abraham did … you cannot bear to hear my word.  You are of your father the devil … He was a murderer from the beginning….” [v.39, 43, 44]

     The way Jesus uses the word ‘devil’ challenges our understanding, it becomes clearer when recall that in ch. 6 we read, “Did I not choose you, the Twelve?  And yet one of you is a devil”[v.70] clearly referring to Judas Iscariot.

     There is no neutral position in Bible language. The first murderer was Cain, he was the first to make himself an ‘enemy’ of God – even before he murdered his brother, he wanted to set his own standards in approaching God.  It has been so ever since!  We show our genuineness in acknowledging God in the way we live.  In those early centuries, the acknowledging of God descended to virtual nothingness by Noah’s day.  And today?

      Let’s give more thought to the word “devil”!  Sometimes the translators do not render the Gk word ‘diabolos’ as devil. Remember Paul’s description of attitudes in “the last days …(when) people will be lovers of self, lovers of money … unholy … slanderous … lovers of pleasure …” [2 Tim. 3 v. 1-4].  The word ‘diabolos’ occurs in the Gk., but the translators choose use the word ‘slanderous’ to translate it  – the A V has “false accusers” – those whose heart is “false” – as Judas’s became. How many today have ‘true’ hearts?

      We sense more and more that we are living “in the last days”  and the world seems to have many “devils”  But the vital point we grasp is that we must think and live as “children of God” – a greater vision still than the Jews wanted to have as “children of Abraham.”  Let us strive to succeed, where they failed,

     Do you remember what we read in Luke’s Gospel last month?  Jesus said, “Whoever is not with me is against me, and who ever does not gather with me scatters.”  [ch.11 v.23]  The place to “gather” is in God’s word, notice how often Jesus quoted from it, let us do the same and show that we are children of our heavenly Father. 

"HAVE YOU ALSO BEEN DECEIVED?" Bible Reading Thoughts for April 15th

“HAVE YOU ALSO BEEN DECEIVED” 

     This was the question, the comment, the Pharisees made when the officers they sent to arrest Jesus returned without him.  They reply, “No one ever spoke like this man!”  [John 7 v46,47]

     John, the most intimate of the disciples of Jesus (John 21 v7,20) records his teaching in great detail, one often needs to reflect and meditate deeply about the points he records Jesus as making.

     There was a 7 day feast in Jerusalem, many were looking for Jesus, but it was only “about the middle of the feast (that) Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching.” [v.14] They marvel at his words ; then Jesus says, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me.  If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God …” [v.16,17]  And that is equally true today as we read his words and the other words God inspired men to write. Paul was later to declare, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness …” [2 Tim. 3 v.16]  The Proverbs we are presently reading are an outstanding example of this.

     If our hearts are genuinely operating on a spiritual wavelength we will accept the point Jesus makes, “The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory, but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood.” [v.18]

     Ever since the days of Jesus the existence of human self-seeking among those claiming to follow him can be observed: Jesus sums up this part of his message by stating, “Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”[v.24]

     The religious leaders, dismayed at the popularity of Jesus were blinded by jealousy, there was no humility in their make-up, this is why they said to those who failed to arrest Jesus, “Have you also been deceived?” [v.47]

     Every generation since has had those who are self-deceived – it is the kind of pride that so easily springs from human nature.  Our careful and prayerful reading of God’s word is the antidote.  John made an essential point in his first letter, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” [1 v.8] Let is make sure the “truth is …in us” and read and meditate on God’s word every day and come closer to him and his Son who came to give real meaning and purpose to our lives.