Daily Meditations on the Bible / We stand with Israel
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.
When do you need God’s peace most?
Sometimes when I am awake in the middle of the night, my mind churns over the problems of the day. Sometimes Satan seems to use these lonely times to remind me of my shortcomings. The lack of peace can be excruciating.
When I come to my senses, I remember what Jesus says in today’s verse. “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.”
Continue reading “Peace – John 14: 27a”
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?
Continue reading “Not Exactly a Vacation – John 13: 33”
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.
Continue reading “Door to Darkness – John 13: 26b-27a”
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.
Continue reading “Connections – John 13: 18b”
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?
Continue reading “Blessed – John 13: 17”
When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. ”Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them.
If you have read the Gospel of John before, you know that Jesus answers his own question in the next few verses. Even so, I want to stop here for a moment and think about Jesus’ question.
‘’Do you understand what I have done for you?”
Imagine that you were in the upper room with the disciples and Jesus. He has finished washing the feet of everyone there. Maybe you are puzzled by this. You think to yourself, “What is he doing?”
Continue reading “Test Time – John 13: 12”
”And you are clean, though not every one of you.” For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.
Does anyone out there remember a corny sci-fi TV show from the ’60s called, “Lost in Space?” I don’t remember a lot about it, but I do remember that the character named Dr. Smith. He was always trying to cause trouble. Oddly, the people he was trying to hurt always seemed to be willing to overlook his faults at the end of each show.
Jesus has a similar problem. He has twelve disciples who travel with him everywhere. They know everything about Jesus and every move he makes. Jesus loves them all but one of them is his enemy.
Continue reading “My Enemy – John 13: 10b-11”
Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God…
If this were a mystery story we would want to know what Jesus knew and when he knew it. John tells us what Jesus knew. He knows that all things are under his power. Presumably that means all things. Even Judas. Even the Romans.
John also tells us that Jesus knows where he had come from and where he was going. That alone is worth a blog post. Who among us knows where they are going? Do you know someone who has a plan for their life and is on a mission? Is this person spectacularly successful? Do they really know where they are going or is there an element of chance in their life?
The real mystery is how did Jesus know? Again and again, in John’s gospel John points to the fact that Jesus is more than just a man. He is a Traveler. He has come from someplace and is going someplace. His time in the Middle East was short but powerful. In three years Jesus changed the world forever.
Continue reading “Mystery – John 13: 3”
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.
Continue reading “Ambassador Jesus – John 12: 49-50”
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…
Continue reading “Consequences – John 12: 48-49”