Jeff Englund

May 9, 2019May 8, 2019

Believe – John 14: 1b

The book reads, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”

You believe in God; believe also in me.

A prerequisite for believing in Jesus is believing in God. The Jews already believed in God, they just didn’t know Him very well. The Gentiles in the days of the early apostles all believed in gods, too. They simply didn’t know about the real God. Today we are confronted by a new thing. People believe that everything, including life, thought, and emotion is some kind of cosmic accident.

To the Jews, Jesus said, “You believe in God…”. In essence, he is speaking to the only race of people on the planet that had a unique and ongoing relationship with the Creator of All That Exists. When God spoke to His people, he told them about the coming Messiah. They heard the message but they did not understand it.

May 8, 2019May 7, 2019

Story Time – John 14: 1a

“Do not let your heart be troubled.”

Spending time in God’s Word is the best investment a person can make. The book is packed with life treasures. Whatever your needs are, God’s Word has something for it.

Lately, I’ve been struggling. You know how it is. Personal issues can be like a stone in your shoe. Small things at first, but as the days go along they become more and more irritating. Finally, it gets to the point where a person wonders if they can go another step.

Which reminds me of a story…

May 7, 2019May 6, 2019

Mirror Mirror – John 13: 37-38

Peter asked, ”Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”
Then Jesus answered, ”Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!”

How well do we remember what we really look like?

May 6, 2019May 6, 2019

Later – John 13: 36

Simon Peter asked him, ”Lord, where are you going?”
Jesus replied, ”Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.”

Peter wants to know where Jesus is going. He is thinking in human terms, like the Pharisees. Jesus, of course, is speaking from a heavenly point of view. Jesus knows where he is going.

When Jesus says “…you cannot follow now, but you will follow later,” we see a foreshadowing of Peter’s fate. He, too, will be crucified. Thanks to Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, he will also see Jesus in Heaven.

May 5, 2019May 4, 2019

Uniforms – John 13: 35

By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

Do other people know you belong to Jesus?

May 4, 2019May 3, 2019

One Another – John 13: 34

Images of faces - all different kinds of people

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

Why does Jesus consider this a “new” command?

May 3, 2019May 3, 2019

Not Exactly a Vacation – John 13: 33

My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.

Where is Jesus going?

May 2, 2019May 1, 2019

Third Person – John 13: 32

If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.

Jesus often speaks of himself in the third person. It is a bit like royalty would speak if we had a king. He also adds a kind of equation to his last statement about being glorified.

If God is glorified in Jesus
Then God will glorify Jesus
In himself (God)
At once.

This formula is really another rather elaborate way of saying that Jesus and God are one.

May 1, 2019April 30, 2019

Rock Star – John 13: 31

When he was gone, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him.

I have always thought that God’s idea of “glory” is different than mine. My idea of glory is more like being a rock star. You remember that time that I played in front of 80,000 people and they all loved me and were going nuts and screaming and yelling how cool I was? You don’t? Oh… well. That’s because it never happened. Very few people ever win that kind of human glory. If they do it never lasts long.

God’s kind of glory is more involved than my kind. It is also more long-lasting. The Greek word for “glorified” is doxazō. Strong’s Concordance defines it as “to render glorious” and to be full of glory and honor. Thayer’s Greek Lexicon ascribes the word with meanings like “praise, extol, magnify, celebrate.” These are more sober accolades than those typically given to a rock star.

So how does Jesus arrive at the conclusion that now the Son of Man is glorified? Sitting in an upper room with eleven of his disciples and the twelfth one on the way to betray him doesn’t sound very glorious. I think the answer, once again, is that Jesus doesn’t see things as men do.

April 30, 2019April 29, 2019

Odd Night – John 13: 30b

And it was night.

To write his gospel account of Jesus’ life, John looks back on the three years of Jesus’ ministry on earth. This Passover meal made a big impression on him. The evening was poignant because Jesus kept talking about having to go away. There was something else, too. Jesus was acting differently. It was almost like he only had a few hours left to spend with them. He kept giving them what felt like last minute instructions.