Month: March 2021

^{John 6.15-21}

In these six verses we see two examples of being in the presence of God. The first is Jesus who went up the mountain to pray and the second is when Jesus met the disciples in the stormy sea.

Jesus did not miss out on spending time in prayer and fellowship with his Father. At the beginning of the chapter Jesus had crossed to the east side of the Sea of Galilee with his disciples to find time to pray. This had been interrupted by a huge crowd seeking him and he then spent an exhausting day teaching, healing and finally feeding the crowd. He then withdrew on his own. His disciples had lost track of him. He went back up the mountain and stayed alone except for being in the presence of God through the evening and on into the night. This was not a one off, there are frequent references to Jesus spending time like this with his disciples and alone. At times he behaved in this way before a major event, prior to choosing his twelve disciples, ^{Luke 6.12} before Peter’s profession of faith ^{Luke 9.18} and before the transfiguration. ^{Luke 9.28} Perhaps the times of greatest significance and recorded in the most detail were following his baptism ^{Matthew 4.1-11} and on the eve of his crucifixion. ^{Matthew 26.36-46}  However, Jesus did not leave times of sustained prayer to times of greatest need, prayer to him was a necessity of life not to be postponed. Luke tells us that Jesus, ‘often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.’ ^{Like 5.16} Jesus provides the ultimate example of choosing to spend time in the presence of God. He also needed those times to be uninterrupted and so found places where he could be quiet.  It was to him as great a need as food, drink and sleep.  Jesus did not let the business and urgency of the day crowd out quiet time. He normally chose to rise earlier or spend time at the end of the day to be with his Father.

The disciples having lost Jesus made the decision to row the six miles back across the Sea of Galilee even though it was going to take them well into the night to achieve it. Over half way across they hit trouble with high waves and strong winds.  They were not fools, some were experienced sailors on the Galilean Sea, they knew they were at serious risk. At that point Jesus came alongside walking on the turbulent sea. Now they were more afraid from seeing Jesus walking on the water than they were of the stormy sea.

The importance of this event is not that this was simply an amazing feat, it lies much more in what it says about the identity of Jesus and the significance of the words Jesus spoke. Jesus in walking on the sea demonstrates that he is the Lord of all the natural world because he is the creator and sustainer of the world and beyond that the universe. When we are in his presence, this is who he is. How does that relate to the troubles we find ourselves in? Jesus reassures his disciples with the words, ‘It is I; don’t be afraid.’ ^{John 6.20} This was not a carelessly chosen phrase. Jesus deliberately chose to say ‘It is I’ to remind them of Exodus 3.14 where God said to Moses when the people ask you who sent you, say to them ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ When Jesus said these words to the disciples he was preparing them for the time when he answered Jewish leaders with the words, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.’

The impact of Jesus’ presence was that the disciples calmed down and welcomed him into the boat and they immediately reached their destination. ^{John 6.21}

What kind of King is this, the great ‘I AM’? “He is far greater than we can imagine, and his claim upon our lives is more significant than our tendency to domesticate God so often allows.” ^{Josh Moody, John 1-12 For You}

Do we make time and space within each day as Jesus did for spending that valuable time in the presence of God?

Do we allow the storms of our lives to triumph over the scale of the majesty of Jesus?

Here In Your Presence – New Life Worship

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John 6.1-15

If you have taken the step to active belief in Jesus and as they say committed your life to him, how did you reach that point. It is typical that such a personal journey can be complicated although not for everybody. Listening to people’s personal stories is a helpful process when planning how a church should reach out with the good news of Jesus. It rapidly becomes evident that individual journeys are frequently very different and what made the greatest impact also varies greatly. Misunderstanding and changing motivations are common features. We can draw comfort that even the way people reacted to Jesus and his teaching was a complicated picture.

Jesus had been attracting large crowds despite opposition from the authorities. As it neared the Passover festival the general level of anticipation would have risen because it was at Passover time people expected God to act. Jesus chose to cross the Sea of Galilee, we know from the other gospels that Jesus wanted a quiet place to pray and be with his closest disciples. However, a great crowd followed him. Their motivation was simple, they had seen him perform miraculous signs especially healing the sick. This was incredibly important as medical knowledge was very limited and there were a huge number of ailments and disabilities for which there was no treatment. The crowd were not foremost interested in his teaching.

Jesus and his disciples had climbed a mountain, probably the Golan Heights, and could see the crowd coming from a long way away. Luke tells us, ‘he welcomed them, and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed to be cured.’ ^{Luke 9.11} Jesus then did not turn away the opportunity to both meet people’s physical needs or teach them about the kingdom of God. He was prepared to stop what he had wanted to do to put others’ needs first. This alone is a serious challenge for all of us and the church in general.

Secondly, he did not hesitate to teach about the kingdom of God even though that was not the main reason people came to him. There would have been those who did seriously desire to hear Jesus teaching amongst the crowd but Jesus did not discriminate. He healed all and he taught all. As churches it is easy to appear as if we are only interested in people if they accept what we have to say even if that is not how we feel.

Jesus questioned Philip about how they were going to feed the crowd as a test. John doesn’t say what Jesus was testing but Jesus was about to perform a sign. ^{John 6.14} By miraculously feeding a vast crowd Jesus was providing a sign as to who he is. The connections to God’s provision for Israel in the desert, the provision of meat in Numbers 11 and Manna in Exodus 16 were there for all to see, only God could do this. The test for Philip then could well have been, how much did he understand of Jesus’ identity?

Once Jesus had fed the crowd and they themselves had participated and had time to absorb what was happening, a change occurred in their understanding. It was not a complete grasp of the truth regarding Jesus but they did understand that what they had seen was in the same category as had been performed through the great prophets of the past. ^{John 6.14}

They responded by wanting him to be their political ruler, a king, a rebel leader against Herod and the Romans. They had translated the sign of Jesus’ divinity and concern with the eternal as well as the temporal into a political movement. The crowd had shifted its understanding and interest, grasping that Jesus was from God but not understanding the implications as yet.

Does this mean that what Jesus did that day was not worthwhile and members of the crowd had missed out on promised salvation? No to both those questions, what was happening was an evolving message. Jesus later in the chapter follows up the feeding of the five thousand with teaching that he is the bread of life, making the links between the miracle, his identity and his salvation ministry. In the middle of that teaching Jesus repeats the salvation message of John 3 and John 5, ‘For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.’ ^{John 6.40} What is building here through the gospel of John is a connected account with significant signposting events that establish the evidence of Jesus’ identity, purpose and accomplishments along with how the people of the time and we should relate to him.

Equally the church should allow for and be sensitive to the stepped approach many take to faith.

What are the misunderstandings that confuse people about who Jesus is?

How should the church help people on their journey to faith?

Do we show the same flexibility as Jesus did to people’s needs even when it causes a change to our plans?

Lift Him Up, Lift Him High – Dave Bilbrough

John 5. 28-47

‘A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established.’ ^{Deuteronomy 19.15}

In the record at the end of John 5 Jesus applies the principle in Mosaic law of accusations being supported by two or three witnesses. Jesus uses it again in Mathew 18.16 when teaching about how to settle disputes between his followers and Paul also does so in 2 Corinthians 13.1 when he warns them about his coming to settle disputes. ‘This is the third time I am coming to you. Every charge must be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.’ The Jewish leaders accuse Jesus in the name of Moses and Jesus turns it back on them. ‘There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would have believed me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words.’ ^{John 5.45-47}

On the question of belief, a misunderstanding can occur when Jesus was claiming he has the authority to execute judgement on the final day as the dead are raised. ‘And he (the Father) has given him (Jesus) authority to execute judgement, because he is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of Judgement.’ ^{John 5.27-29}

This passage in isolation can be read as salvation or justification by works, that is on balance one is saved if one generally lived a good life. However, previously in verse 24 Jesus said, ‘Whoever does not honour the Son does not honour the Father who sent him. Truly, truly I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life.’ The “good” then is belief in Jesus as the one sent by the Father and obedience to him. Evil is the rejection of Jesus.

Jesus turns the subject to who are the witnesses that testify that he is the “Son of God”. ^{John 5.25} He turns initially to the testimony of John the Baptist who at this point is still alive and greatly respected, even feared, as a contemporary prophet and hero of the masses, if not liked or welcomed in the circles of Jewish leadership. John had publicly endorsed Jesus as the Messiah. ^John3.22-36 (The famous, “He must increase, but I must decrease” speech.) We see something at this point that is easily overlooked, Jesus remains concerned for the salvation of his accusers even though they are plotting to take his life. The consistency of Jesus’ underserved love continues even as he is dying and prays for the forgiveness of the soldiers who are hammering nails through his flesh and bones. Jesus referred to John’s testimony because the Jewish leaders had been, ‘willing to rejoice for a while in his light.’ ^{John 5.35} For that reason then, they may have been willing to believe in him.

Jesus does not need the testimony of John or any other person. The works of the Father that he accomplishes are testimony in themselves. The miracles of mercy he has performed including the healing of the man at Bethesda and the royal official’s son along with many others were all works of the Father, done in the open for all to see. Jesus calls upon the word of God as a third witness. ‘The Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent.’ ^{John 5.37,38} When Jesus spoke of the Father’s voice it is possible he was making reference to the words God the Father spoke at his baptism by John, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.’ ^{Mathew 3.17} but he is certainly referring to the whole of the Old Testament scriptures through which the Jewish Leaders accepted that God had spoken. Jesus is making the claim that all scripture points to him.

What the Jewish leaders found difficult to understand and accept was that studying scripture was not intrinsically life giving but that it pointed to Jesus who is. ‘It is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.’ ^{John 5.40}

Finally, Jesus identifies the obstacle that prevents the Jewish leaders from recognising Jesus for who he is. It is their own pride. They want their own expertise as teachers of the law to bring them praise and credit whilst at the same time not realising that the law itself points to Jesus. ^{John 5. 45,46} Jesus spoke plainly when he said, ‘How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God.’ ^{John 5.44} Their pride had become their idol. As we read the bible do we ask the Spirit to reveal to us in what ways it reveals Jesus?What things do we place in our life before seeking the glory that comes from God?What is the evidence we are confident of, that Jesus is the Christ?

Who Is There Like You? – Paul Oakley

John 5.19-29

Mathew’s gospel records the Pharisees accusing Jesus of performing his miracles by the power of the devil. (Mathew 12.22-32) It was at the same time one of the most ridiculous accusations as well as one of the most heinous. A man had been brought to Jesus who was demon possessed, blind and unable to speak. Jesus heals him to the extent that he could both see and talk ^{Matt 12.22} which naturally caused amazement in all those who saw it and knew the man in question.  Jesus puts down the Pharisee’s accusation with the now famous statement, ‘Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.’ ^{Matt 12.25} Abraham Lincolns “House divided” speech (1858 on his acceptance of his nomination to the Senate when the nation was profoundly divided over slavery) did not prevent, drawing on this biblical principle, but it did provide the basis for unity following the civil war. In modern times we saw the echo of this in the Peace and Reconciliation process following the abandonment of apartheid in South Africa, led by Bishop Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela.

In the passage in John’s gospel we have Jesus explaining that his authority comes from God the Father in obedience to him. In doing so he is also claiming equality with God the Father. Jesus is demonstrating the unity of the Godhead. Each has their role. How is this equal partnership worked out?

Jesus, the Son, does what he sees his Father doing demonstrating his divine insight. He limits his own actions to those of his Father’s will. ^{John 5.19} We see Jesus aligning himself to the will of the Father in all he does and in this way he reveals the invisible God to us. God the Father reciprocates by showing all he is doing to the Son. ^John5.20 The basis of this reciprocal relationship is equal love. The relationships within the Godhead are demonstrations of how our relationships with God himself, between members of his church and especially in marriage should be ones of unity and love.

Jesus obedience will lead on to the demonstration of greater works than the disciples and the general public including the Jewish leaders had yet seen.  This includes the raising of the dead that demonstrate that the Son is the life giver. ^{John 5.21} Later Jesus raises from the dead Jairus’ daughter, the son of a widow in Nain and his close friend Lazarus. These of course lived to die again but Jesus’ true divinity and proof he has authority over eternal life is shown by his own resurrection from the dead. The raising of the dead is achievable by God alone.

A second feature of divinity is the right to render final judgement. Here Jesus reveals that the Father has ‘given all judgement to the Son, that all may honour the Son, just as they honour the Father.’ ^{John 5.23} Jesus here is claiming the same honour as the Father meaning he is worthy of the same praise.

The third God defining feature is the authority to raise the dead on the final day and execute judgement. ^{John 5.27} He is able to do this because as God the Father has life within himself and so does the Son. ^{John 5,26} Jesus is able to grant eternal life to those who have believed in him. ^{John 5.24} ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear, the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. The NIV Study bible explains it in this way. “Hears, includes believing and obeying. ‘My word’ brings either eternal life and cleansing or judgement. Because the Son, in all he says and does, mediates the Father to us placing one’s faith in the Son is placing it in the Father.”

We see in this passage the closest unity between the Father and the Son. This unity is worked out throughout the gospel until it is tested without being broken, to the greatest degree in the Garden of Gethsemene.

Jesus showed the way the people treated him showed how they really treated God the Father. How do we treat Jesus?

Rend Collective – Church Online (Be warned it is a 20 minutes collection

John 5.9-18

We know John included the events around the healing of the paralyzed man at the pool of Bethesda as the third sign that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. It is not a sign simply because of its miraculous nature but also because of what Jesus said regarding his actions in the follow up to the healing. The day of the healing was the Jewish Sabbath and Jesus’ instruction to the man was to pick up his mat and walk, which he immediately did. ^{John 5.8} There is no record of the man objecting that he couldn’t possibly do that on a Sabbath. He was in receipt of grace and mercy. The pool though was a large crowded place and he was seen by Jewish leaders who challenged him. ‘It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.’ ^{John 5.10}

At this first point the first chasm of understanding is exposed. For the Jewish leaders salvation was dependent on keeping the law meticulously. Salvation in their mind was earned and if one was ‘good’ at keeping the law one was better than those who were not so good at it.  It took a great deal of effort and study to achieve so little. However, being so meticulous and interpreting the law so rigorously, fed their self-righteousness. It also, in their eyes, gave them the right to judge and condemn. Can you see how in adopting these attitudes they were attributing to themselves god like status about their own righteousness and right to both judge and condemn? In their apparent effort to be obedient they were in fact going down the line of idolatry, for only God who is truly righteous is both the one who judges and has the right to condemn.

The man replies that he has no idea who healed him. This seems to be the most extraordinary lack of curiosity and thankfulness. Jesus had just completely changed his life beyond anything he could have realistically thought and he didn’t even ask Jesus’ name. At this point the object of the Jewish leader’s wrath moves from the healed man to the healer who had instructed him to carry his mat. But this was just the start of an escalating situation. When Jesus later saw the man again he stopped and spoke to him, ‘See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.’ ^John5.14 For some reason the man thought it would be a good idea to promptly find the same Jewish leaders and tell them it was Jesus who healed him. The motivation for this is interesting, he was clearly aware that the Jewish leaders were hostile to Jesus for his act of mercy on a Sabbath day but was more interested in keeping in with them than protecting the very person who had healed him. This raises for ourselves the need for self-awareness of our own motivations for the things we do and say.

Our own receipt of God’s mercy can be thrown back in his face whilst at the same time as we continue to benefit from the mercy of God. If we connect that with the warning Jesus gave the healed man, to ‘stop sinning’ ^{John 5.14} it raises the question of how many times we throw Jesus mercy towards us in his face by our own persistence in carrying on sinning. How seriously do we take our continued sin? Jesus’ warning to the man that, ‘something worse may happen to you’ was not a reference to another malady brought on by his sin either administered by God or otherwise but a warning of God’s judgement.

The response to Jesus, who is the one who is genuinely righteous and has the right to judge and condemn, was to set about persecuting him. When the word persecute is used in this context it does not mean say hateful things or make life difficult. It is absolutely clear it means plot to kill Jesus. ^John5.18 In addition to Jesus acting mercifully on the Sabbath was added the charge that he was making himself equal to God.

A second chasm opened at this point was over the identity of Jesus. In response to the Jewish leader’s accusations Jesus spoke directly to them. It confronted their understanding of the Sabbath, a fundamental pillar of their religiosity, and Jesus’ relationship with God the Father. Jesus’ statement that God the Father works on the Sabbath bringing grace, mercy and salvation to people conflicted with their own beliefs about the Sabbath. God, Jesus was saying, does not become detached from the world and people’s need on the Sabbath, he continues to be a merciful and loving God active in people’s lives.

Additionally, no Jew would term God their Father as Jesus did. Jesus by saying God was his Father and he was about his Father’s work was making a statement that Jesus was equal to the Father. He was indeed God incarnate. Jesus was saying he is the Lord of the Sabbath and his healing of the man was evidence that both he and God the Father were at work. He had the right to heal on the Sabbath and to tell the man to carry his mat because he was Lord of the Sabbath.

A divide had arisen, “between God’s Son and God’s historic people who want to kill him”. (John’s Gospel: Read, Mark, Learn. Marshall Pickering.)

Are we comfortable with our own sin?

Is there a danger of succumbing to the idolatry of legalism?

Have we taken in the significance of Jesus’ equality with the Father when we reflect on his words?

Lord Reign in me – Brenton Brown