Jeff Englund

April 11, 2019April 10, 2019

Agapaō – John 13: 1b

Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

The Greek word translated as “loved” in this verse is “agapaō.” Unlike English where we use the word, “love” for a variety of purposes, agapaō has a very specific meaning. The Strong’s Concordance defines this word as, “to love (in a social or moral sense).” This is not a possessive love, or a casual love, or even an emotional love. Agapaō is caring for someone who is not worth caring for. Agapaō is being patient with someone who doesn’t understand what you are trying to tell them. Agapaō is valuing a relationship in spite of the million obstacles that tend to come between people. Differences in opinions, beliefs, moods, wants, needs, and yes, even smell all conspire to frustrate love.

April 10, 2019April 9, 2019

Destinations – John 13: 1a

It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father.

Imagine that you are an interstellar traveler. You have a vehicle that is able to transport you across the galaxy so fast that you can travel from solar system to solar system in a few hours. Because you are able to go anywhere in the galaxy that you want, the earth becomes just a “destination.”

But the earth isn’t just a destination, is it? It is our world. It is the only place we know. Like a lifeboat in an infinite sea of space, we cling to our beautiful planet for dear life.

Now imagine that there is another world in another place that is not in the galaxy. In fact, it is not even in the universe. The universe is constructed inside of this other place as one might put a ship in a bottle and set it on the fireplace mantle. There is only one small problem with this other placed. To get there, you have to die.

Jesus came from this other place. He came by allowing Himself to be born into this world. He left by allowing himself to be put to death.

April 9, 2019April 8, 2019

Ambassador Jesus – John 12: 49-50

For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken. I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.

A good ambassador is one who is faithful to their mission. They speak only what they have been authorized to speak. They do not agree to anything that they have not received approval for.

This can be a tough job. Who doesn’t want to look good in front of people you are trying to impress? Life is so much easier if you can “grease the skids” a bit by agreeing to give up something to the people you are negotiating with. It doesn’t have to be a big thing. Probably no one will ever find out. Really, who is going to care?

The temptation is real enough. It is hard to hold the line you have been told to hold, especially if you do not understand why the line is there. Our Lord understood the Father’s mission for Him. He was faithful to His mission in every way. He did not succumb to temptation, or bend to pressure. Our Lord held fast during His time on earth. He sets the bar high and challenges us to do the same.

April 8, 2019April 7, 2019

Consequences – John 12: 48-49

Sad picture of toy car upside down on a street.

There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day. For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken.

Jesus is telling us something very important here. He has said that he did not come into the world to judge the world, but to save it. (Verse 47) In today’s verses, he explains what he means. Just because he is not going to judge people does not mean there is no judgment! Instead, the “judge” will be the words Jesus has spoken.

So how does this work?

In my job, I have to review collision reports for car crashes in our city. There is a parallel here that might help explain what is going on. I think it works something like this…

April 7, 2019April 7, 2019

Judged? – John 12: 47

If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world.

Sometimes it feels like the pace of this blog could be picked up a bit. After all, how much detail can you expect from one verse? Well, quite a bit as it turns out.

Today’s verse turns the picture of God as JUDGE OF THE UNIVERSE upside down. Instead of threatening plagues or floods, Jesus says he is not here to judge. What?

Is this the same God we read about in the Old Testament?

Well, yes.

It turns out that God had a plan to save the world from the very beginning. (Genesis 3: 15) Jesus could have come in chapter 4 of Genesis, but who would have crucified him and why? There needed to be an understanding established. God needed to explain what righteousness is, and what the cost of sin is. The animal sacrifices conducted by the early Jews demonstrated the messy, bloody, deadly price required for sin. The priesthood established by God acted as an intercessor between God and man. Both sacrifice and intercessor are needed.

Finally, the time was right, and Jesus entered the world. His job: Not to judge the world, but to save it.

April 6, 2019April 6, 2019

Fear – John 12: 46

Fear: Man running from light into darkness

I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.

Why would anyone want to stay in darkness? I can think of one reason: They don’t want to be seen.

And why would someone want to avoid being seen: Maybe because they don’t want to get caught doing what they are doing?

To believe in the light is to want to be in the light. Not everyone who wants to be in the light can be. In Jesus’ day, slavery was rampant. The Jews themselves were subject to the Romans. Lives were difficult and physically demanding. Achieving wealth was possible only for the very few. Today we live in a deeply divided world. Not only are we divided by wealth into the haves and have nots, but we are divided by our fears.

Those who live in the darkness of their fears are sometimes trapped by those fears. Some want to get out. Some believe in the fear.

Jesus offers us an alternative to fear. It is as simple as believing in Jesus. When that happens, the light breaks in and the darkness starts to fade.

April 5, 2019April 4, 2019

WYSIWYG – John 12: 44-45

Then Jesus cried out, ”Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me.”

In the early days of personal computing (This would have been late 80’s or early 90’s in my world) computers were sort of a glorified typewriter. Getting a paper printout that looked like a professionally typeset page was next to impossible. Even if the software you had was good enough, there was another level of frustration waiting in getting a printer to print what you wanted.

Then some genius came up with WYSIWYG. This stands for “What You See Is What You Get.” It was the beginning of being able to print what you saw on your computer screen and have it look exactly the same way on the printed page.

People in Jesus’ day were used to hearing what righteousness was supposed to be about. They just never seemed to see it in real life. Until Jesus. When Jesus started His ministry, people caught a glimpse of the Real Deal. God incarnate talked the talk and walked the walk. He forgave sins, he healed infirmities, he cast out demons and he confronted the phony-baloney establishment.

April 4, 2019April 4, 2019

Secret Admirer – John 12: 42-43

Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved human praise more than praise from God.

What good is a “secret admirer?” I don’t know if I have ever had one, but I have been one. There were a few girls whom I admired during my school years but never asked out on a date. They seemed above my station I suppose. Does it do a girl any good to have an admirer she doesn’t know about?

April 3, 2019April 2, 2019

Puzzle – John 12: 38- 41

This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet:

”Lord, who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere:

”He has blinded their eyes
    and hardened their hearts,
so they can neither see with their eyes,
    nor understand with their hearts,
    nor turn—and I would heal them.”

Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.

There is a lot in this short passage from Isaiah. John includes these words from long ago because they refer to a human condition rather than a particular time and place.

So what is the condition that Isaiah is referring to? Unbelief?

April 2, 2019April 1, 2019

Accepting Change – John 12: 37

Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him.

What is it going to take to get you to believe?

Skeptics are a hard lot to convince of anything. Skeptics with a vested interest in being skeptical are even harder to convince. A believer in a false construct is the hardest to convince of all.

Where do such beliefs come from? How do people get drawn into them? Why do they stay?