Jeff Englund

April 29, 2019April 27, 2019

Secret Place – John 13: 27b-30a

So Jesus told him, ”What you are about to do, do quickly.” But no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the festival, or to give something to the poor. As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out.

When Jesus gave the bread to Judas Iscariot, there were only two people in the room who knew what was going on. Judas, who thought what he was doing was in secret was one. Jesus, who is God and knows everything and everyone’s heart was the other.

At this point, Judas has already made arrangements with the Pharisees to betray Jesus. He has collected his thirty pieces of silver and is carrying the dirty money with him. (We know this because he later tried to give it back to the Pharisees.) As he accepts the bread from Jesus’ hand he must have looked at Jesus.

Inside each of us is a secret place where we keep our innermost thoughts. They are safe there from prying eyes, but not from God. When Judas looked at Jesus to receive the bread, he was looking into the eyes of one who knew every secret thought he ever had. Up to that point Judas had thought his secret was safe. When he looked at Jesus did he understand that Jesus knew what was in his heart?

April 28, 2019April 28, 2019

Old Rag – John 13: 26b-27a

Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.

The text tells us that “Satan entered into him.” What did that feel like? Was Judas suddenly filled with a sense of importance? Did Satan play on Judas’ emotions? Did he twist Judas’ reasoning? John doesn’t record any words Judas might have said, so it appears he kept his mouth shut and left.

Once outside, Judas would have been alone with his thoughts. Filled with Satan, his thoughts would have been influenced by the Evil One. He had already made a deal with the Pharisees who were now technically dealing with Satan! Judas, filled with Satan, made his way to where he was to meet the Pharisees.

April 27, 2019April 27, 2019

Door to Darkness – John 13: 26b-27a

Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.

It is helpful to examine how Satan has been at work in Judas’ life. Back in verse 2, we are told that “…the devil had already prompted Judas.” In chapter 12, verse 6 John tells us that Judas was a thief. He would actually steal money from the disciple’s common purse.

Judas was a bad egg. He accepted Jesus’ invitation to be a disciple. He traveled with Jesus for three years. Yet he didn’t really see or hear Jesus. Instead, he was thinking about himself. One thing led to another and in the end, Judas became completely owned by Satan.

Dabbling in the darkness is dangerous. It opens the door to the things that live in darkness. Those spirits lead to dark thoughts and dark ways, and a fear of the light.

April 26, 2019April 25, 2019

Clouds – John 13: 21-27

After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, ”Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.”
His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant. One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, ”Ask him which one he means.”
Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, ”Lord, who is it?”
Jesus answered, ”It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. So Jesus told him, ”What you are about to do, do quickly.”

In today’s passage, we see Jesus “troubled in spirit.” Have you ever been there? The problem with being Jesus is that he knows what the trouble is about. He knows what is going to happen, and he knows who is going to betray him. Because of these things he is troubled.

In our world, we are often troubled about things we do not understand. We are not God so we cannot “know” what will happen in the future. (We might believe we know what will happen, but that is not the same kind of knowing that God is privy to.) Maybe it is a feeling of foreboding. Perhaps it is someone else that you know who is in trouble, and that troubles you. What are you going to do?

In Jesus’ case, he meets trouble head-on. “Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.”

BOOM! There it is. Right out in front of everyone.

Of course, everyone but Judas is now troubled. (Judas might have been troubled for other reasons.) Who is the traitor?

April 25, 2019April 24, 2019

The Nose of the Camel – John 13: 20

Very truly I tell you, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.

There is an old saying that goes something like this: “If the camel gets his nose in the tent, the rest of him is soon to follow.”

The mental image this creates in my mind seems funny to me. The lonely camel wanting to be inside the tent with his master. It is cold outside, and nice and warm in the tent. Somehow he gets his nose under the tent flap and is able to wiggle it in just a little. Later, his whole head is in the tent. While the camel’s head is small enough, the rest of the camel is not. By the time he has wiggled his whole body into the tent, all the tent pegs are dangling from their strings. The tent is now little more than a blanket on the back of the camel.

The story is a great metaphor for many things. How many bad habits start with something small and innocuous? Only later do they take over a person’s whole life and destroy it. How many people are in debt over their heads because they allowed themselves to get a credit card? The little plastic card seems so innocent, and yet it can lead to uncontrolled spending and enslavement to debt.

But these are all examples of bad things that happen. What about good? Does the camel ever represent something good happening? If we tweak the metaphor a bit we can illustrate today’s verse in a new light.

April 24, 2019April 23, 2019

Convinced – John 13: 19

I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am who I am.

Imagine that you have the ability to tell the future. By closing your eyes and concentrating on a question about the future, the answer comes to you. And it is always right. How would you use this power?

Some might use it to build a fortune in the stock market. Others might use the power for political gain. Still, others might want to impress their friends. But how would you do that?

If you wanted to convince people that you could predict the future the obvious thing to do is tell people what will happen tomorrow. When it happens as you predict, people will say … what?

April 23, 2019April 22, 2019

Connections – John 13: 18b

But this is to fulfill this passage of Scripture: ‘He who shared my bread has turned against me.’

As a writer, I write a lot of words. Some here, some other places, and a lot that ends up in the recycle bin. Do I remember everything I have ever written? The answer to that is, “No.” There is simply too much. (Of course, the other factor is my imperfect memory!)

Referring to yesterday’s post, there are things that Jesus knows that we do not know. Some of that knowledge is hidden from us, some we are incapable of grasping. Some is right in front of our noses.

As I have come to know God over the years, I understand that He is the author of all Scripture. Not just the parts where he is quoted as saying something. Jesus, being one with God the Father, also knows Scripture. All of it.

April 22, 2019April 21, 2019

Filed Under “Jesus Knows” – John 13: 18a

I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen.

I am tempted to lump several of the verses from verse 18-30 into one or two posts and be done with it. This part about the betrayal is disturbing for me to read. Yet, even in these verses, there are jewels among John’s words.

In today’s passage, Jesus has just finished talking about the washing of feet and following his example. He then adds, “… you will be blessed if you do [these things].” Immediately after saying that he clarifies his meaning by adding, “…I am not referring to all of you…”

That must have gotten their attention!

April 21, 2019April 20, 2019

Happy Easter!

May the blessing of our risen savior, Jesus Christ, be upon you and your family today and forever.

He is risen!

April 21, 2019April 20, 2019

Blessed – John 13: 17

Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

Cool! Okay, Jesus. I think I understand. Forgive people as you forgive us. (Even enemies!) Serve others in personal ways that glorify God. We disciples are not greater than our teacher.

Then Jesus adds, “you will be blessed if you do them.”

Sometimes things become so common that we lose sight of them. Have you ever noticed that? We have a grandfather clock in our house that BONGS on the hour and chimes on the quarter hour. If you have never heard it before it is quite noticeable. After hearing it for months it starts to fade into the background. Lately, after years of having the clock in the house, it has become invisible to me. Even trying to listen for it to chime is hard. I almost never hear it.

Then recently we had the clock mechanism serviced. It was taken out of the cabinet and moved to the clock shop where it waited its turn to be cleaned and serviced. Good clockmakers are hard to find so it had to wait several weeks before he even started working on it.

Do you know what happened?