John 15

What are the things that deeply trouble us as human beings? The things in life that we cannot control, reversals in relationships, difficult financial situations, poor health, uncertainty, and ultimately death are all great causes for distress and anxiety. We wonder what our earthly future will hold for us. Will we experience good or will evil come our way? Jesus now explains to His disciples that He is about to leave them, and they cannot follow Him. Jesus has warned Peter that he would deny Him, and all the rest would abandon Him. They have given up everything to follow Jesus and have lived in anticipation of God’s kingdom being realized, as an earthly kingdom. This message of Jesus’ departure is shocking and troubling. They are struggling to grasp what Jesus is saying to them. Denial is often our response to unpleasant realities.

Jesus now speaks words of reassurance in their crisis, which was necessary to move their lives forward. This was not just an answer to those handful of followers over two thousand years ago, but Jesus is also addressing the ultimate challenges that we all face, the issues of future uncertainties, and death itself. How can we find the right response to life’s most troubling events? How can we overcome the most dire, intimidating, and overwhelming experiences in our lives? Here in John 14, we will discover the hope and comfort that we find in having a relationship with God.

One of life's most painful experiences is being betrayed by someone close to you. It is a devastating experience. What is interesting is that Jesus knew all along that, given the right situation, Judas would betray him. So, why did Jesus keep Judas on as one of the twelve, knowing what he was doing and was about to do? A couple of things come to mind. First, Jesus is showing the depth of his concern for humanity by constantly reaching out to those who were his enemies, including one who was in his closest company of followers. The second thing we can learn from this is that Jesus was concerned about fulfilling the word of God and bringing glory to the Father. In obedience to these concerns, Judas was allowed to be a part of Jesus’ leadership team. We know from the biblical text that Jesus knew that betrayal would be a part of the experience from Scripture and that through His death, Jesus would bring glory to the Father.

Warren Wiersbe shares this insight regarding Judas' moral responsibility in light of the amazing exposure that he had with Jesus. “Judas was exposed to the same spiritual privileges as the other disciples, yet they did him no good. The same sun that melts the ice only hardens the clay. Despite all that our Lord said about money and all of His warnings about covetousness, Judas continued to be a thief and steal from the treasury. Despite all our Lord’s warnings about unbelief, Judas persisted in his rejection. Jesus even washed Judas’ feet! Yet his hard heart did not yield. Jesus had spoken before about a traitor (John 6:70), but the disciples did not take it to heart.

Not only had Judas not taken to heart all the warnings from Jesus and responded in repentance, but it is also apparent that the disciples were not paying much attention to Jesus’ warnings about a traitor in their midst.

As they approach the last Passover, which Jesus will celebrate with his disciples, we find a dark undercurrent flowing. Jesus is carrying the weight of what he is about to experience but also addressing two very painful relational experiences that we may encounter at some point in our lives. How will we handle them? How did Jesus handle it?  How do we handle betrayal and rejection?

Transitions in life are extremely painful but necessary for new chapters to begin. Jesus knows his time was at hand in the final week of his earthly life. He knew he was about to leave; therefore, in John chapters 13-17, he is preparing his disciples for his death and resurrection and their new role in God’s kingdom. Jesus knows there will be sorrow before joy will be restored. Jesus will be leaving them, but another comforter will come and empower them to take on a greater role in the life of the new institution which we call the church, God’s called-out people.

In this introduction, we see how Jesus models how we ought to love and serve one another. Yet, there is a need to define a term that we think we understand, but is often abused and loses its fundamental meaning, which is the word love. If we look at the biblical definition of God’s kind of love, we will discover that it is a self-giving action. But love is not a wimpy idea of letting people do whatever they want, as if that is the loving thing to do. Paul describes love as a church that tolerated sin and thought that meant they were loving. Listen to how he describes the nature of love.

Love is patient; love is kind. It does not envy; it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others; it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. (1 Corinthians 13:4-6)

Jesus, in this chapter of John, is going to address some of the unloving issues that the disciples were struggling with, pride, self-seeking behavior; that needed to be exposed and addressed for them to mature into the kind of leaders that the early church would desperately need.

Our response to every incident in our lives is a revelation of the true nature of our heart’s condition. So, how do we respond to crises when they come? Where do we find hope to sustain us in that time? We see that Jesus knowingly went to Jerusalem to face the greatest challenge to his life.

So why did Jesus go to Jerusalem knowing this would lead to His death? What is the real significance of Jesus's entrance into Jerusalem on what we now call Palm Sunday? I see three things that will help us find hope in times of crisis.

In less than a week, Jesus would be crucified. He was returning to Jerusalem to become the paschal lamb that would take away the world's sins. Even though this action had not happened yet, Jesus’ self-giving extravagant love inspired devotion and a similar heart in the lives of others. One such person was Mary from Bethany, the sister of Martha and Lazarus. Jesus arrived in Bethany, the village just 2 miles on the outskirts of Jerusalem, where an amazing expression of extravagant love and devotion became a prophetic picture of Jesus’ upcoming death. How do we inspire extravagant love? How can this love be demonstrated through our lives to Christ and those around us? 

John Series, John 11:1-40

Shattered dreams are difficult to handle. Tragedy and losses come in many faces: it can be an overwhelming health issue or a relational one. It can be huge financial reversals or the loss of a loved one to death. When tragedy strikes, life can quickly lose its luster and meaning. We can struggle with the desire to move forward because life, as we know it, will never be the same. One of the great sermons of all time was preached by a Scottish minister named Arthur Gossip, who, the Sunday following the sudden and unexpected death of his beloved wife, entitled his message, ‘When Life Tumbles In, what then? We all need to answer this question in our hour of trial and tragedy. I want us to look at an event that triggered what was about to happen to Jesus, his death and ultimately, his resurrection. An hour of great victory would trigger one of the most tragic moments, the cross. John tells us that the resurrection of Lazarus was ‘the straw that broke the camel’s back.’ it triggered the course of events, which we call the passion week, or the suffering of Jesus. This incident is found only in John’s gospel, and we discover something disturbing and delightful about this story. This incident raises both painful questions and gives comforting answers. The story shatters dreams but ultimately restores hope in life’s most devastating moments.

John Series

In management courses, a concept often raised is an awareness of something called, ‘cognitive bias.’ This is dealing with how we think about and perceive issues. This is true for the work environment and maybe even more critical in understanding how it affects personal relationships. So, what is cognitive bias? “While we believe that we receive information objectively, our brains unconsciously filter data, distorting our perception of reality. Because bias can distort our critical thinking, we become prone to irrational decisions and inaccurate judgments about others.” What makes this even more critical is we think we are right. Cognitive bias causes us only to receive information that agrees with our thinking. This is known as ‘confirmation bias,’ which means we are unwilling to hear the opposing point of view and are looking for those who agree with our point of view. The ancient wisdom literature spoke of this very danger in the book of Proverbs of not carefully considering the other side of the story.

“The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge, for the ears of the wise seek it out.” (Proverbs 18:16). In other words, wisdom allows us to hear another point of view.

"In a lawsuit, the first to speak seems right until someone comes forward and cross-examines.” (Proverbs 18:17)

The Living Bible, a paraphrase, states this text like this: “Any story sounds true until someone tells the other side and sets the record straight.”

One of the great tragedies of Jesus's interaction with some of the religious leaders in his hour was that they were unwilling to consider what Jesus was saying and doing. Therefore, their blind prejudices kept them from responding positively. This is true not only regarding our relationship with God but also with others. Are we trying to understand and love others for who they are or want them to be?

Pentecost Sunday