Three Minute Bible

June 22, 2019June 21, 2019

The Pieces of the Puzzle – John 15: 15a

I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business.

Sometimes things look easy even when they are not. In fact, when someone is really good at something they make it look easy. Have you ever watched professional ice skaters and found yourself thinking, “That doesn’t look so hard”? And then you tried to stand up on skates and discovered that just staying upright was harder than you ever imagined?

There are a million things people do well that require skills and knowledge. What they know is invisible to others. If you want to learn how to do what they do you have to go to the School of Hard Knocks or find someone to teach you. Both ways are expensive.

Jesus spent three years with his disciples. During this time they knew nothing and understood less. Yet Jesus persisted. Now, on the last evening Jesus would spend on earth, he graduates them from servants of the Messiah to friends.

He has explained everything to them. Even though they do not yet understand, they have all the pieces of the puzzle before them. In a few days the Holy Spirit will come and will open their eyes to the truth. Then the pieces of the puzzle will start to fit together and they will understand what Jesus was doing, who He is, and what He is all about.

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June 21, 2019June 19, 2019

Loveometer – John 15: 14

You are my friends if you do what I command.

If you have been following along for the past few days you have noticed that Jesus has emphasized doing what he commands. Today he reformulates his message again.

In verse 10 he tells us that those who keep his commands remain in his love.

In verse 12 he tells us what his command is: Love each other as Jesus has loved us.

Today he tells us that we are his friend if we do what he commands. Tomorrow he will distinguish between a friend and a servant, but today we want to look at two things. The relationship between ourselves and Jesus. And the relationship between what we do and Jesus.

It is clear that what we do affects our relationship with God. In the first six verses of this chapter, Jesus draws a line between remaining in him and being fruitful. What we are able to do depends on our relationship with Jesus. In this verse he again draws a linkage between doing what he commands (“Love each other as I have loved you.” Verse 12) and being his friend.

He tells us this because He wants us to be His friend. Because He wants us to remain in Him. Because He wants us to live.

Is Jesus telling us that we are saved by what we do? Well, no. Not really. Without Jesus, we would not be able to love as he does in the first place. Without Jesus, no matter what we did we could not compensate for our own sins. So no… we are not saved by what we do. But what we do is an indication of whether or not we are saved.

In a sense, our relationship with Jesus is a bit like the speedometer on your car. The speedometer indicates your speed, but the speed does not happen because of the speedometer. What we do, if it reflects Jesus, is an indication of our relationship with Jesus, not a payment for sin.

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June 20, 2019June 19, 2019

The Other Side – John 15: 13

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

Everything Jesus said while on earth is noteworthy. He is a man from the OTHER SIDE. A man from the place we call death. A man who brings news of new life after death. While here he spends a lot of time explaining what it is like on the OTHER SIDE.

One of the things he works hard at telling us is that this life is not all there is. In fact, this life is not all that important. Of course, it is important … to us. It is all we know. Yet Jesus wants us to know that there is more. And to prove it, he wants us to know that his death is not an accident. Instead, it is planned. Long planned since the beginning of time. Jesus lays down his life for us so that we might live with Him forever.

Where I live, the threat of death is very limited. There are very few opportunities to literally lay down my life for a friend. Some places in the world are not like that. The risks are high, and often. But here, the biggest challenge I face is to lay down my emotional life for a friend, to lay down my ego.

Why is it so hard to put pride aside? Why would we rather fight to the death than admit a weakness or allow someone else to appear stronger or more right? Human beings are interesting constructs. We imagine ourselves willing to face down a fierce enemy, but the idea of being kind to an enemy rankles.

Jesus did both.

His friends were his disciples. His enemies were his own people. Jesus did more than lay down his life for his friends. He laid down his life for his enemies, too.

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June 19, 2019June 18, 2019

SLOW DOWN – John 15: 12

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.

I drove by a church on my way to work this morning. In front of the building was a large signboard that read, “Love More.”

What do you suppose they meant?

The word “love” holds different meanings depending on your perspective. A worldly view might understand this to mean doing more of what you love. A Christ-like perspective might understand this to mean doing more Christian type stuff.

Let’s assume that the people who wrote the sign know Jesus and were thinking of his command to, “Love each other as I have loved you.” What then, does the “more” mean?

Occasionally I will see a yellow caution sign along the road that says, “SLOW” or “SLOW DOWN.” I wonder if most people assume that they are already going slow enough and think the sign is for someone else? But what if you are already driving slow? How slow are you supposed to go?

The same holds true for loving “more.” Jesus doesn’t say we should feel more love for others. He doesn’t assume everyone is loving too little and should love more. Instead, he says that we should love each other as he has loved you and me.

This is a difficult thing. Jesus loved the people who crucified him. That is why he came to earth: To be killed by those he loved. How then can we refuse to care for those who hate us? I don’t know what “love more” means, but I do have a glimpse of what Jesus meant by “love each other” when I look at how he lived and died.

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June 18, 2019June 18, 2019

Joy – John 15: 11

I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

In this chapter Jesus spends considerable time talking about the fact that He is the source of life. If anyone does not remain in Him they can do nothing, and will be “thrown in the fire and burned.” (Notice that this description of Judgement is very non-judgmental. It is of no more consequence than picking up a dead stick from the ground and throwing it into the fire.) Next, Jesus talks about what He will do for the believer, and then he discusses the importance of keeping His commands.

Why? Once again we are faced with questions. Why is Jesus saying this? Why does He want us to remain in Him? Why does he warn us about the fire? The answer, it seems, is Joy.

Jesus, for all his cares and sorrows, is full of joy. It is a joy that comes from being in right relationship with the Father. It is a joy that results from being aligned with the Father’s will. Golfers call this the “sweet spot.” Some people call it being in “the groove.” An old-time phonograph only makes music when the needle is tracking along the groove of the record. Being “in the groove” is what a phonograph was made for. If the word “joy” can be applied to such a simple machine as a record player, then doing what it is made to do brings it joy.

Hopefully, everyone has experienced some joy. The glory of knowing Jesus is that in Him, our joy can be complete.

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June 17, 2019June 16, 2019

The New Agreement – John 15: 10

If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.

What are the commands that Jesus has given us? How many of them are there? Are they hard? Are they difficult? What does he want us to do?

These questions can be a little confusing for those of us who are not Jewish. Jesus was born a Jew. The Jews of Jesus’ day were the chosen people of God. Their history was rich with traditions and replete with all kinds of rules and commands. Much of the discussion between Jesus and the Pharisees is a very technical debate over rules and regulations.

But Jesus is here on earth to institute a new agreement between God and mankind. The old agreement, or covenant, has run its course. There is nothing left of it but a tattered worn out prayer shawl. The Israelites have turned against God even when they claim to be doing His will.

In John 13:34 Jesus says, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” This command to love is really the sum of his commands. In essence, there are no others. Love one another.

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June 16, 2019June 16, 2019

A Wonderful Love – John 15: 9

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.

How has the Father loved Jesus? After all, it was the Father who arranged for Jesus to be born a human. It was the Father who sent his son as an emissary to an ungrateful nation. It was the Father who told Jesus he needed to die on the cross. Is that love?

Well… yes. It is the deepest kind of love.

We believe that God and Jesus are one. In some sense, God Himself came down and became part of His creation. That I do not fully understand how this is possible is not important. What is important is that God sees His creation for what it is: Broken and needing redemption.

Some cities have laws that regulate who owns garbage and when. For example, when the garbage goes into the bin, the garbage company technically owns it. Whatever you put in there no longer belongs to you. In a sense that is what happened to humanity. We collectively jumped into the garbage bin of sin and ownership was transferred to “Satan’s Garbage Collection Service.” (Motto – “When we burn trash it burns forever!”) To reclaim His creation from the garbage, God had to pay a terrible price. He had to die on the cross.

How did the Father love Jesus? He resurrected him from the dead. How does Jesus love us? He does the same thing his Father did for him: He resurrects us from the dead. What a wonderful love! What a wonderful place to remain.

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June 15, 2019June 14, 2019

Reasons Why – John 15: 8

This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

As we listen to Jesus talk, we get to the root of the matter. We learn more and more about the thoughts behind his words. Why does he want us to remain in him? As he begins speaking he explains we are to remain in him so that we can live. Without remaining in him we have no life, no hope, and no future. So from our own perspective, if we want to live we need to be in Jesus.

In today’s verse, we learn that when we bear fruit by remaining in Jesus, we bring glory to God the Father. Of course, this makes sense because everything Jesus does is centered around his Father. Every act and every word brings glory to his Father. Why should this truth be any different?

We also learn something about what it means to bear much fruit. When we show ourselves to be Jesus’ disciples, we are bearing fruit. Now we are getting a sense of what it means to “bear fruit.” Being a disciple is all about Jesus. A disciple listens to Jesus, obeys Jesus, and does his or her best to be like Jesus in terms of being faithful to the Father, loving others, and enduring persecution.

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June 14, 2019June 13, 2019

Wish – John 15: 7

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

In the post titled “Wants” (May 18, 2019) we looked at a similar verse. In John 14: 13-14 Jesus says, “And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” In that post, we talked about the fact that Jesus always does whatever his Father wants.

In today’s verse, Jesus repeats his offer. Only this time there is a clarification of what he means. “If” you remain in Jesus, and “if” Jesus’ words remain in you, whatever you wish will be done for you.

Now the question becomes if you are in Jesus and if his words are in you, what would you wish for? I have a feeling that being in Jesus alters what we wish for.

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June 13, 2019June 12, 2019

Branches – John 15: 6

If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.

In this passage, Jesus is speaking to his disciples. He is speaking Truth, with a capital “T”. This means it is also true for you and me. He has already told us that branches that bear no fruit will be cut off (Verse 2). Then he tells us in verses 4 and 5 that we must remain in Jesus to bear fruit, or even to be able to do anything at all. Now he describes what happens to people-branches who do not remain in him.

The disciples remained with Jesus even when the going got tough. When Jesus leaves them, they remain together trusting in his promises. Then Jesus sends his Holy Spirit and they remain faithful to his Word, his Spirit, and their mission.

And what is the mission God has given us? In John 13: 34 Jesus says, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” This is easy when things are going well. When believers remain in Jesus, their hearts are soft and they reciprocate in the kind of love (agape) that Jesus is referring to. It gets more difficult when believers do not remain in Jesus. Then hearts get hard and priorities get confused.