That You May Believe | The Gospel of John || On this fateful night, Judas betrays Jesus, leading to His arrest. The night, however, is more about Jesus than Judas. In His sorrow, Jesus surrenders Himself to the Father’s will and offers Himself as the substitute for His people, proving that He is in fact the Messiah.

That You May Believe | The Gospel of John || Included in Jesus’s prayer to the Father in John 17 is one of the most profound statements in all of Scripture. He says that the world will believe that the Father sent him by our unity. In light of this, the questions must be asked—what does unity mean, and how do we maintain unity as the body of Christ?

That You May Believe | The Gospel of John || Jesus concludes his farewell discourse with a prayer. Though we see Jesus spend countless hours in prayer throughout the gospels, the content of most of those prayers is hidden from us. Of his prayers revealed to us, John 17 is the longest. And what a joy! Because this prayer gives us a glimpse into the intercessory prayers Jesus prays for his disciples, even to this day!

That You May Believe | The Gospel of John || The disciples are mere hours away from their hopes and expectations of what it means to be Jesus’s followers being turned upside down. They unknowingly approach deep sorrow as Jesus will soon be crucified and each of the disciples will see their own zeal and strength fail. And it's in this moment Jesus delivers a promise that is core for all Christians…our sorrow will turn to joy!

That You May Believe | The Gospel of John || As we approach this moment in the upper room discourse, a theme within Jesus’ parting message to his disciples becomes abundantly clear – the Trinity. In John 16 we see that Jesus speaks on this complex doctrine because of the simplicity it will provide to his disciples who were with him and to the life of any future disciple to follow him in an otherwise confusing and broken world.

That You May Believe | The Gospel of John || On the eve before He would demonstrate the greatest form of love, Jesus offers us encouragement—encouragement that comes with a surprising challenge, too. A command to love people, even when they hate us for the truth.

That You May Believe | The Gospel of John || In John 15 Jesus tells us if we abide in Him, He will abide in us. It’s through our abiding He prunes us to produce fruit in our lives and ultimately conforms our desires to His desires.

That You May Believe | The Gospel of John || Jesus continues encouraging His disciples for His departure. Jesus promises to ask the Father to send the disciples another Helper. This Helper is the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, which results in the believer's permanent union with Christ and their continual obedience to God's Word.

That You May Believe | The Gospel of John || On the eve of his crucifixion, Jesus gathered his disciples together to prepare them for what was to come. Immediately following his foretelling of Peter's denial, which was troubling for the disciples to hear, Jesus encourages them by saying "Let not your hearts be troubled" and then reminds them again why they can trust in him.

Humble Beginnings Advent 2020 || John's gospel gives us a snapshot into eternity past and establishes "the Word" as God, eternal, and creator. But rather than clinging onto his rightful position, "the word became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:14) by emptying himself and taking on the nature of a servant. God became man and the creator became a created one, all for the sake of love.