Q—Query

Journey through the Gospel of John with rookie bloggers who are seeking to honor their good friend, Tina.

That moment when everything seems to change. Of course, everything has been building up to it, but it seems that one action is what put everyone on a different path. Like when a young man gins up the courage to invite a treasured woman to become his life partner. Everything seems to change in that one moment when she says, "yes." Suddenly he is on the path to becoming a bridegroom.

Today's passage marks such a moment.

But first, some background. John has recorded seven miraculous signs that point to Jesus as the Messiah. The Pharisees have become increasingly antagonistic to this Nazarene upstart who is intruding on their turf. The raising of Lazarus has escalated the conflict, and intensified speculation about Jesus.

Many people, because they had heard that he had given this miraculous sign, went out to meet him. So the Pharisees said to one another, "See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!" —John 12:18-19

And then it happens. It is as if the "whole world" HAS gone out to Jesus when a simple query, a request to see the Master, precipitates a change:

Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the Feast. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. "Sir," they said, "we would like to see Jesus." 
Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.  
Jesus replied, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.     —John 12:20-26

The arrival of these god-fearing Gentiles mark the moment when Jesus announces that His "hour has come." The gospels make it clear that Jesus did not come eagerly to this climactic point. But He determines to face it head on and say, "yes," to His Heavenly Father's will.

"Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!" —John 12:27-28

And suddenly, we see clearly that Jesus is the bridegroom, and on a seemingly irrevocable path.

Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and will glorify it again." 

Jesus makes it clear to the crowd that things had changed:

"Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die. —John 12:31-33

And nothing would ever be the same.

P—Plan

Journey through the Gospel of John with rookie bloggers who are seeking to honor their good friend, Tina. Today's post was written by Ellen.

 P is for Puzzle.

I remember the first time I saw a Rubik’s Cube puzzle. A six sided cube with a different set of colored squares to be matched on each side. I spent hours trying to figure out how to get all of the colored squares lined up on all sides. I managed to get a couple of the sides right, but then got stuck. 

Then, someone showed me the trick to solving the puzzle. “Aha, that’s how it works!”

I experienced something similar this year when we were studying the Jewish feasts that serve as a backdrop for so much of the Gospel of John. I have always thought of those feasts as being yearly celebrations just for the Jews, similar to Easter and Christmas for Christians. I discovered the feasts are more than anniversaries to commemorate a special event. They also serve to foreshadow God’s plan for our salvation. They aren’t just one side of the puzzle. They illustrate the whole puzzle that fits together in God’s plan for the ages.

                Acts 2:23………the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God…..

God had this planned from the beginning.  When we get to heaven, we will say, “Aha, that’s how it works!”

      The Jewish Feasts                              Our salvation

         Passover                                   Jesus is our Passover lamb

         Feast of Unleavened Bread      We must clean out the sin from our lives

         First Fruits                                 Jesus was the first one raised from the dead

         Feast of Pentecost                    The church was formed and the Holy Spirit came

           

            Current Interlude

             

         Blowing of Trumpets              Israel is gathered

         Day of Atonement                  Israel will recognize Jesus as Messiah

         Feast of Booths                      Families of earth all come together & celebrate

P is for Plan.

 We've reached a turning point in the Gospel of John.  Tomorrow we will see the pieces of God's solution begin to fall into place. The Lord has prepared the Perfect Passover Lamb and the feast approaches.

O—Overt Expressions of Faith

Journey through the Gospel of John with rookie bloggers who are trying to honor their good friend, Tina.

Today we Journey into the twelfth chapter of John. Here  the popularity of Jesus soars in the aftermath of the raising of Lazarus. Jesus is now a celebrated hero in Bethany. As He makes His way to Jerusalem for Passover, He is treated to enormous acclaim from those who have witnessed His power in the life of Lazarus.

Overflowing Devotion

Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.  
Here a dinner was given in Jesus' honor.  Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. —John 12:1-3

Mary channels all the relief, joy and amazement of having her brother restored to her into lavish devotion to Jesus. Humbly and lovingly, she gives all that she has and is to serving her Lord. Though she is criticized for her outrageous act, Jesus defends her choice. He alludes to His own death as He affirms her gift as being His burial anointing.  Hers is an act of worship. And the scented oil that she has poured upon her Master's feet lingers in her hair.  Everywhere she goes, the pleasing aroma of worship hovers around her.

Ongoing Profession

The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting:
        "Hosanna!"
        "Blessed is he who comes 
         in the name of the Lord!" 
       "Blessed is the King of Israel!"  
Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written: 
        "Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion;
        see, your king is coming, 
        seated on a donkey's colt." 
At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him. Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. —John 12:12-17

Jesus comes with the humility that is foretold by the Prophets. As we consider how celebrities of our day have their heads turned by all the attention they receive, we see a sharp contrast with how Jesus was fixed on God's purposes.  

Before long, Jesus and all who supported Him would be in the cross-hairs of the Pharisees' wrath. For now, let us linger over these images and remember that Jesus gladly received the King's worship from Mary and the King's welcome from the crowds. Jesus understood that His Father's purposes must be fulfilled.

N—Never without Hope

Journey through the Gospel of John with rookie bloggers seeking to honor their good friend, Tina.

Chapter 11 narrates the last—and perhaps most dramatic—sign that John records: the raising of Lazarus from the dead.

Once again, Jesus' unique interactions with the individuals in the story are of particular interest. The people highlighted here are the family at Bethany:
"Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus."

Martha
Martha is known principally from the story told in Luke 10. There she complains about her sister, who isn't helping with the work of hosting Jesus and his companions.  We see her "distracted by all the preparations."  And often sympathize with the loving rebuke she receives from our Lord.  "Martha, Martha...you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed..."

But in John 11, this sister is portrayed more positively. Martha's propensity for activity is seen in how she rushes to meet Jesus.  She is the one to whom the Lord reveals what he is going to do, "Your brother will rise again." She is the one, to whom Jesus pronounces:   "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies."   And she is among the seven witnesses in this gospel who testify to Jesus' divinity, "I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world." 

Mary

There is a  marked difference in the way Jesus deals with her sister.

In this story, expressive Mary looks a lot like Martha. Both sisters greet Jesus in the same way, saying: "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died."  But Mary's grief is more pronounced, Mary is weeping and "falls at his feet."  Jesus responds to her in kind, and is moved in His spirit, He weeps. His emotional response is so strong that the crowd comments on how much He loved Lazarus. But there is a real sense that it is Mary and the mourners that He is responding to.

Both of these grieving sisters feel that their situation has moved beyond hope because of their limited expectations.  They both felt that it was too late for Him to help. To practical Martha, Jesus sought to expand her understanding of His power. With sensitive Mary, Jesus empathizes and weeps. 

Lazarus
Jesus' beloved friend seems the most hopeless of all.  Bound in grave clothes and entombed for four days, what could seem more pointless? Martha, practical Martha, tries to dissuade Jesus from having the stone moved away from the cave where Lazarus had been lain.

"But, Lord," said Martha, the sister of the dead man, "by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days." Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" So they took away the stone...Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go."  Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him.  —John 11:39-45

Imagine the shock and the joy of this family!  They had put their hope in the idea that Jesus would act to restore Lazarus before he died. They were now just beginning to understand that they could trust in the person of Jesus and all that HE IS. They were just beginning to glimpse that He Himself was "the resurrection and the life."


Us
Jesus is ready to meet us right where we are at. He sees the challenges in our lives and knows our need. We are NEVER without hope when we hold on to Jesus. We just might see Him work in ways that are outside of the box of our expectations.

Have you seen Jesus work in surprising ways?

M—My Shepherd

Journey through the Gospel of John with rookie bloggers who are seeking to honor their good friend, Tina Downey.

Chapter 10 of the gospel of John offers two more "I AM" declarations that speak of the Messiah's mission. Here Jesus draws on images familiar to His agrarian audience.

"But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep ...Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.... If anyone enters by me, he will be saved... I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."

The link between these two seemingly unconnected images, "the door" and "the good shepherd", may not be readily apparent to our modern experience.  But the meaning becomes clear when you learn about how a shepherd of that time might care for the sheep at night.  As evening approached, the shepherd would lead his flock into a stone enclosure that had only one opening. The shepherd himself would lay down in the entrance, and serve as the door that kept predators out while keeping the sheep together and inside the sheepfold.

I am the Good Shepherd...I am the Door

When Jesus speaks of the good shepherd "laying down" His life, He summons two images—the shepherd literally lying in the doorway, and the shepherd sacrificing his life for his sheep.  Even in this bucolic image, Jesus points to the cross. At the same time, He presents Himself as the only legitimate way into God's flock.  "I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture." —John 10:9

One of the most meaningful aspects of this discourse lies in how Jesus characterizes His relationship to believers. As the good shepherd, He calls each sheep by name. He cares and contends for His flock. He knows His own, and each one knows Him and His voice and follows after Him.  

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. —John 10:27-28

In these remarkable statements, Jesus is affirming His commitment to those who follow after Him. Surely, the intimacy described here is one of the distinctives of the Christian faith. This is the underlying idea of t-shirts and bumper-stickers that read, "It's not about religion, it's about a relationship." 

Knowing Jesus as my good shepherd has strengthened me in the hardest times of my life. It has granted peace and assurance to me when I felt lost.  It has brought deep comfort when life was darkest.

The meaning behind this image is laid out in one of the best-loved psalms of David. Jesus draws on this picture and amplifies it to communicate the depth of His love and effective care for anyone who would follow after Him.

Do you know Jesus as your Good Shepherd?  
What has that meant to you?

L—Light of the World

Journey through the Gospel of John from A to Z with rookie bloggers who are seeking to honor their good friend, Tina.

Throughout this gospel, John emphasizes themes of light and darkness, and portrays Jesus as the source of spiritual light from whence flows life. These strains are introduced in the Prologue, of course:

In him was life, and the life was the light of men.  The light shines

in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it —John 1:4-5

Then, in the Temple at the Feast of Tabernacles, perhaps before the grand candelabras that were used at that festival, Jesus proclaims:

"I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me

will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."—John 8:12

The power of this imagery is illustrated in the drama that unfolds in the healing of a man that had been blind from birth.  

The story, told in John Chapter 9, traces the development of faith in the man born blind in parallel with the hardening rejection of the religious leaders.  

From the moment Jesus declares that He is "the Light of the world," the leaders reject His testimony, knowing that His popularity and claims threaten their position.  But their resistance grows as they challenge the authenticity of this healing, and scornfully intimidate and persecute those who support Jesus as they insist that Jesus was "not from God," and "a sinner."

In contrast, the man has nothing to lose by trying out Jesus' strange prescription of washing mud off his blind eyes in the pool of Siloam.  He responds to Jesus first with the obedience that leads to his eyes being opened.  More significant is the gradual opening of his eyes to the One who healed him.  The man's descriptions of Jesus evolve throughout the story.  First, he says his healer is "a man" then "a prophet", then he defends Jesus as "a godly man" that does God's will, before boldly confronting the Pharisees with the fact that Jesus could not have healed him if he weren't from God.

As with others, we see Jesus taking this formerly blind man further into faith. You can sense the man's eagerness to believe everything of Jesus.

Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?"  
He answered, "And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?"  
Jesus said to him, "You have seen him, it is he who is speaking to you."
He said, "Lord, I believe," and he worshiped him.  
Jesus said, "For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind."  —John 8:35-39

Jesus also addresses the increasing hardness of the Pharisees.
Again, you sense the inclination of their hearts:

Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, "Are we also blind?"  
Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, 'We see,' your guilt remains. —John 8:40-41

Have you come into the light of Jesus?

K—Kindness

Journey through the Gospel of John from A to Z with rookie bloggers who are seeking to honor their friend, Tina.

Today we examine a story that exhibits the kindness and compassion of Jesus toward one who has erred.  It carries a message we all need to hear.

This story, preserved for us in John 8:3-11, 
is set in the temple where Jesus was teaching.  Some religious leaders interrupt Him and bring in a woman, forcing her to stand in the temple court before the crowd that had gathered to hear Jesus.

Accusers:    Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 
                    In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. 
                   Now what do you say?

We are told that this question is a trap.  Perhaps they wanted to see how Jesus would balance the two legal systems that they lived under: the Roman law that did not permit the Jews to execute someone, and the Mosaic law that sometimes called for stoning. What makes this story so captivating is how beautifully Jesus balances grace and truth and addresses the heart.

The accusers persist in questioning until Jesus answers.

Jesus:        If any one of you is without sin, let him be 
                 the first to throw a stone at her. 

Gradually, the crowd dissipates. The audience disappears one at a time.  At last, only Jesus and the women are left.  

Jesus:        Woman, where are they? 
                  Has no one condemned you?  

Woman:     No one sir.

Jesus:        Then neither do I condemn you,
                  Go now and sin no more.

It is not difficult for us to imagine the superior attitudes of the accusers, or the woman's shame, humiliation and fear.  But Jesus did not have to imagine.  John makes it clear that Jesus knew what was in the heart of man in John 2:24. We see Jesus demonstrate his intimate knowledge of others when He speaks to the woman at the well about her husbands, and to Nathaniel about the fig tree.

Here we have Jesus addressing the needs in the heart of each person present. He points the audience in the direction of humility, suggesting that they cannot consider themselves better than a fellow sinner.  Without condemning the woman, He admonishes her to stop sinning.

The tender mercy demonstrated here is breath-taking.  The gentle nudge toward humility and holiness so inspiring. The kindness from One who knows the depth of sin in the human heart, so divine!

Surely, John's word's from the Prologue are echoed here:  "we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth." —John 1:14