Thinking on Scripture with Dr. Steven R. Cook

Love is an act of the will that obeys God and seeks His best in others.  God commanded the Israelites to “love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deut. 6:5) and to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev. 19:18).  Jesus provided a new commandment to love as He loves (John 13:34-35; 15:12).  Jesus’ love modeled obedience to the Father (John 14:31), commitment to His disciples (John 13:1), and humility and sacrifice for the undeserving (John 13:1-17; 1 John 3:16).  Christian love is modeled on the life and teaching of Jesus Christ (Matt. 5:44-47; Luke 6:32-35; John 13:34; 14:15; 15:12; 1 Cor. 13:4-8a; Eph. 5:1-2; 1 John 3:23; 4:10-11).

In relation to God, Christian humility is not a sense of worthlessness, but unworthiness of the Lord’s love and blessings (Eph. 2:8-9).  In relation to others, humility is not thinking less of self, but more of others (Philip. 2:3-4).  True Christian humility is voluntary—or self-imposed—as the believer surrenders his personal desires in loving service to others for their spiritual and material benefit.  Humility has the notion of child-like dependence, as Jesus taught His disciples (Matt. 18:3-4).  The greatest display of humility is found in God the Son who left His glory in heaven (Phi. 2:5-8; cf. John 17:5), became a man (John 1:1, 14; Heb. 10:5), became the servant of others (Mark 10:45; John 13:1-17), and ultimately “humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phi. 2:8).  The glory of humility is seen at the cross (John 12:23, 32-33), where Jesus gave His life as an atoning substitutionary sacrifice for others (Rom. 5:6-10; 1 Cor. 15:3-4; 2 Pet. 3:18).

The Central Idea of the Text is that Jesus’ signs and teaching hardened those who were negative (John 12:37-41, 47-48) and softened those who were positive (John 12:42-46). Jesus had performed many signs as a witness that He is Messiah; however, no amount of evidence would suffice for those who were negative to Him and His message (John 12:37).  Isaiah too had experienced negative volition concerning the message God gave him for Israel (Isa. 6:8-13; 53:1; John 12:38-41).  Though most did not believe in Jesus as Messiah, there were some who did, even among the rulers, though they loved the approval of men more than God (John 12:42-43).  Jesus’ final public words revealed that to believe in Him was the same as believing in the Father who sent Him (John 12:44-45).  Jesus came as the Light into a world of darkness and those who believe in Him are transferred to His kingdom (John 12:46; cf. Col. 1:13-14).  Those who reject Jesus’ words will, eventually, be judged by those words (John 12:47-50).

God is love (1 John 4:8), and He demonstrated His love for us through His Son, Jesus, who humbled Himself to do the Father’s will (Mark 10:45; Phil. 2:5-8).  God loved us and gave His Son to die for us (John 3:16; Rom. 5:8; 1 John 4:10).  He loved us while we were helpless sinners who were in a state of hostility toward Him (Rom. 5:6-10).  He loved us while we were dead in our sins, under wrath, and living in disobedience (Eph. 2:1-3).  The benefits of God’s love for those who believe include: forgiveness of sins (Eph. 1:7), eternal life (John 10:28), the gift of righteousness (Rom. 5:17; 2 Cor. 5:21; Phil. 3:9), justification before God (Rom. 3:24-28; 8:33-34), peace with God (Rom. 5:1), spiritual blessings (Eph. 1:3), union with the body of Christ (Eph. 1:22-23; Col. 1:18), the indwelling and sealing of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19; Eph. 1:13), deliverance from the domain of darkness (Col. 1:13), citizenship in heaven (Philip. 3:20), a future resurrection body (1 Cor. 15:50-58), and a future home in heaven (John 14:1-3).  The more we understand and accept His love for us, the more our lives will respond in thankful-obedience to Him (John 14:15, 21, 23-24, 31; 1 John 2:3; 5:3), and will manifest love to others (1 John 4:11, 19-21), even our enemies (Matt. 5:44-45; Luke 6:27-28; 35).

The events leading up to the cross—and Jesus’ words about leaving them—had shaken the disciples and Jesus knew it.  Their souls had become troubled and Jesus sought to stabilize them by strengthening their faith.  The word troubled translates the Greek verb ταράσσω tarasso, which means “to cause inward turmoil, stir up, disturb, unsettle, throw into confusion.”[1]  The passive form of the verb means they had received troubling circumstances into their souls.  The pressures of life are inevitable and none of us are completely impervious to them.  Even Jesus—in His humanity—was troubled when facing the cross (John 12:27; 13:21); however, He was sustained by keeping focus on the Father’s will (John 4:34; 5:30; John 6:38; cf. Matt. 26:39), and there was joy in the midst of the trial (Heb. 12:2).  Each believer is responsible for what he/she allows to enter their heart (Prov. 4:23).  Adversity is unavoidable, but how we handle it is optional.  The believer cannot always control negative circumstances, but neither does he/she have to be controlled by them.  God’s Word—applied by faith—provides a shield for the soul that can stabilize the believer in times of adversity (Eph. 6:16; 1 Pet. 5:8-9; 1 John 5:4). Mental and emotional stability is obtained when the believer looks to God (Prov. 3:5-6; Isa. 26:3-4; Jer. 17:7-8), learns His Word (2 Tim. 2:15; 3:16-17; 1 Pet. 2:2; 2 Pet. 3:18), walks in dependence on the Holy Spirit (Eph. 5:18; Gal. 5:16, 25), lives by faith (Heb. 10:38; 11:1, 6), becomes thankful for adversity (Rom. 5:3-5; Eph. 5:20; 2 Cor. 12:7-10; Jam. 1:2-4), develops a discipline of prayer (Col. 4:2; Phil. 4:6-7; 1 Thess. 5:17), and learns to focus on God in everything (2 Cor. 10:5; Phil. 4:8; Col. 3:1-2).

 

[1] William Arndt, Frederick W. Danker, and Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 990.

     To be in Christ is to be identified with Him in a real and personal way. The Christian who is advancing spiritually must, at some point, learn to live in the reality of his new position in Christ. By faith, his life experience should grow to reflect the reality of his position in Christ and in the family of God. Truth, love, mercy, grace, righteousness, sacrifice, and other Christian virtues should become increasingly evident as the believer engages in his daily pursuit of God, as he seeks to lay hold of the One who in love laid hold of him and by grace saved him and displayed His wonderful riches upon him. Here are just a few the blessings for the believer:

We are blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (Eph. 1:3).

We are children of God (John 3:6; Gal. 3:26; 1 Pet. 1:23; Tit. 3:5).

We are given eternal life (John 3:16; 10:28; 20:31).

We are made ambassadors for Christ (2 Cor. 5:20).

We are transferred to the kingdom of Christ (Col. 1:13; 1 Thess. 2:12).

We are all saints in Christ Jesus (Eph. 1:18-19; 2:19).

We are made kings and priests to God (Rev. 1:6).

We are indwelt and sealed with the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19; Eph. 1:13).

We are guaranteed a new home in heaven (John 14:1-3).

We have special access to His throne of grace (Heb. 4:16).

The larger list of blessings are here: http://wp.me/p3bc4W-4Y 

Love is an act of the will that obeys God and seeks His best in others.  God commanded the Israelites to “love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deut. 6:5) and to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev. 19:18).  Jesus provided a new commandment to love as He loves (John 13:34-35; 15:12).  Jesus’ love modeled obedience to the Father (John 14:31), commitment to His disciples (John 13:1), and humility and sacrifice for the undeserving (John 13:1-17; 1 John 3:16).  Christian love is modeled on the life and teaching of Jesus Christ (Matt. 5:44-47; Luke 6:32-35; John 13:34; 14:15; 15:12; 1 Cor. 13:4-8a; Eph. 5:1-2; 1 John 3:23; 4:10-11).

Jesus’ object lesson of washing feet is a picture of forgiveness and humble service to the undeserving.  Jesus stated to His disciples, “If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet” (John 13:14).  Here, the Lord instructed His disciples to forgive and humbly serve each other (cf. Eph. 4:32; Col. 3:12-13; 1 Pet. 5:5).  In relation to God, Christian humility is not a sense of worthlessness, but unworthiness of the Lord’s love and blessings (Eph. 2:8-9).  In relation to others, humility is not thinking less of self, but more of others (Philip. 2:3-4).  True Christian humility is voluntary—or self-imposed—as the believer surrenders his personal desires in loving service to others for their spiritual and material benefit.  Humility has the notion of child-like dependence, as Jesus taught His disciples (Matt. 18:3-4).  The greatest display of humility is found in God the Son who left His glory in heaven (Phi. 2:5-8; cf. John 17:5), became a man (John 1:1, 14; Heb. 10:5), became the servant of others (Mark 10:45; John 13:1-17), and ultimately “humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phi. 2:8).  The glory of humility is seen at the cross (John 12:23, 32-33), where Jesus gave His life as an atoning substitutionary sacrifice for others (Rom. 5:6-10; 1 Cor. 15:3-4; 2 Pet. 3:18).

The Gospels give prominence to certain women in Jesus’ life and ministry.  There are unnamed women that Jesus healed: Peter’s mother-in-law (Mark 1:30-31), a widow who had lost her son (Luke 7:11-15), a woman who had been crippled for eighteen years (Luke 13:10-17), and a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years (Mark 5:22-29).  There are unnamed women who were impressed with Jesus: the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:1-42), a woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears (Luke 7:36-50), those who traveled with Jesus and funded His ministry (some are named and others not; Matt. 27:55-56; Luke 8:1-3), and those who followed Him after His arrest (Luke 23:27).  Those specifically named include: Mary, Jesus’ mother (John 2:1-11; 19:25-27), Joanna and Susanna (Luke 8:3), Mary and Martha of Bethany (Luke 10:38-39; John 11:1-44; 12:1-8), and Mary Magdalene who was the first to see the risen Lord and report His resurrection to others (John 20:1-17).

In the Old Testament, God is referred to as the Shepherd who leads, feeds, and protects His people (Isa. 40:11; Ps. 23:1-6; 80:1; 100:1-3; Ezek. 34:10-16).  Under the Mosaic Law, God appointed human leaders who shared His values and modeled His behavior, to lead His people (2 Sam. 5:1-3; cf. 1 Sam. 17:34-37; Jer. 3:15).  However, throughout Israel’s history there have been many false shepherds who devoured God’s people and gave nothing in return (Isa. 56:9-12; Jer. 23:1-4; Ezek. 34:1-10).  In the midst of such poor leadership, God promised He would raise David to shepherd Israel in the future (Ezek. 34:23-25; 37:24-28).  In the New Testament, Jesus is called the Good Shepherd (John 10:11, 14), the Great Shepherd (Heb. 13:20), and the Chief Shepherd (1 Pet. 5:4), who provides (John 10:7-9, 11, 14, 16-17) and instructs His people (Mark 6:34).  In the Church age, God has appointed under-shepherds (i.e. pastors) to lead, feed and protect His people (John 21:15-17; Acts 20:28-32; Eph. 4:11-14, 1 Pet. 5:1-2).  Pastors are appointed by God (Acts 20:28; cf. Eph. 4:11).  They are referred to as elders, bishops, and overseers (Acts 20:17, 28; Tit. 1:5-7; 1 Pet. 5:1-5), who work within the church, and with the church, serving as examples, and not “lording” their authority over others (1 Pet. 5:3).  Pastors are servants, doing God’s will and serving others in truth.