John 17:20-26

John 17:20-26

“And I do not ask regarding these only, but also regarding the ones who believe in me through their word in order that all should be one just as you, Father, are in me and I in you in order that they should be in us in order that the world should believe that You sent me.  And I have given to them the glory that You have given to me in order that they should be one just as we are one.  I in them and You in me, in order that they should be having been kept as one in order that the world should know that You sent me and You loved them just as You loved me.  Father, those whom You have given to me, I desire in order that where I am these also should be in order that they should see my glory which You have given to me because You loved me before the beginnings of the world.  Righteous Father, even though the world did not know You – but I knew You – even these ones knew that You sent me.  And I made even Your name known to them and I will make it known in order that the love which You loved me should be in them and I should be in them.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

The purpose of Christianity is believing that Christ comes from the Father.  Jesus says as much in the opening sentence of this section.  Christ prays for our unity so that we should be united with the Father and the Son.  But Jesus then tells us that the purpose of such unity is so that others should believe that Christ comes from the Father.  We are inherently supposed to be a people of mission.  Yes, our belief does speak to our own salvation bought by Christ on the cross.  But that’s done at the beginning of our relationship with Christ, not the end!  From the moment we receive salvation, our purpose is no longer for ourselves but rather for the world!  From the moment we receive salvation, we live and draw closer to God so that the world might see us and follow.  Christianity is not a self-serving religion.  Christianity is a faith where people find salvation and spend the rest of their time living for the sake of others and their relationship with God.

Do you think most Christians see Christianity this way?  Do you think most Christians are focused on helping the people around them exist in a relationship with God?

Second Thought:

This prior point is so vitally important to Christ that He says almost the exact same thing twice in this prayer.  However, in the second time of stating this He also adds that in knowing that the Father sent the Son the world might also know the love of the Father.  Many people think of God as a vengeful and wrathful God.  And yes, God is capable of true righteous judgment.  But He does not desire that we should live or exist in wrath.  He desires that we should know salvation and truth.  He desires us to know His love in spite of our sinfulness.  This is why he sent the Son!  In knowing that the Son came from the Father so that we could be saved, we can truly know the depth of the love that the Father has for us.

When you think of the Father, do you think of love or wrath first?  Why is this true for you?

Third Thought:

At the end of this passage, Christ talks about His glory.  Remember that His glory first is the cross – which comes through His obedience to God.  Afterward, His glory is in the resurrection and then the ascension followed by eternal life with the Father.  This is what Christ means by glory.  Christ’s disciples embrace the cross first.  We embrace obedience to God, we embrace laying down our own lives, and we embrace picking up God’s calling for us.  We become obedient – even to the point of denying ourselves as Christ denied Himself upon the cross.  Through this glory of obedience to God we will find the glory of our resurrection and life eternal with the Father.  So often when we think of glory we simply think of the good parts like eternal life.  But we must remember that for Christ and His disciples, the glory of eternal life only comes through obedience to God as we pick up our own cross.

Are you obedient to the Father?  Have you laid down your life only to pick up the life that God truly desires you to have?  What does that even mean to you?

Passage for Tomorrow: John 18:1-11

John 17:13-19

John 17:13-19

“But now I come to you and I say these things in the world in order that they should have my joy having been made complete in them.  I have given Your Word to them and the world hated them because they are not out of the world just as I am not out of the world.  I do not ask in order that You should take them away out of the world but in order that You should keep them out of the evil one.  They are not out of the world just as I am not out of the world.  Make them holy in truth.  Your Word is truth.  Just as You sent me into the world, I also sent them into the world.  And for the sake of them I make myself holy in order that they themselves should be having been made holy in truth.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

As Jesus begins this passage we have two really cool perfect tense verbs: “my joy having been made complete” and “I have given your Word.”  Again, remember that the perfect tense is used when an action is completed in the past but the effects of that action are occurring in the present and expected to continue into the future for some time.  So what Jesus is telling His disciples in His prayer is that His joy is already complete.  It’s already done.  It can be counted on.  It’s not still up in the air.  Jesus’ joy is already a guarantee and because Jesus says “in them” He is telling the disciples that they have it too.  It’s already been transferred to them!  That’s cool.  But then we immediately hear Jesus say, “I have given your Word.”  Jesus clues them in to why His joy is complete.  They have the Word of God within them.  They have life-giving testimony of the character and nature of God already within them.  They have access to the Father.  That’s an awesome thing indeed.  And both of these things are expected to have continuing effects!

Would you consider that Christ’s joy has been made complete within you?  If so, what does that mean?  If not, how can you get there?  Do you believe you have been given God’s Word to live and dwell within you?  If so, what does that mean?  If not, do you want it?

Second Thought:

However, there is a consequence to having Christ’s joy made complete in us and having been given God’s Word.  The world hates us.  The world hates us because we are not like the world.  The world wants to serve its own passions, its own pleasures, and its own desires.  But that is not the model of Christ.  Christ came to serve others through obedience of the Father and denying Himself.  The world hates that.  The world rebels against and rejects the denial of the self.  The world rejects and rebels against all who live and teach in a similar manner.  Furthermore, even knowing this truth, Jesus does not ask God to take His disciples away from it!  Jesus knows that even though we are to be rejected we are needed here.

How do you feel knowing that if you are truly following Christ that the world will hate you?  How does this impact the way that you see scripture and your need for God and His Word?

Third Thought:

Remember that the word holy really means “separate.”  When Jesus prays for us to be holy, He is not praying for us to be “holier than thou” or “capable of being more religious than other people.”  He is asking the Father to make His disciples separate from the world.  Christ’s prayer for us is that when it comes to choosing between the Father and the world that we choose the Father.  We are not to choose the world.  We are not even to be some crazy half-breed.  We are called to be separate from the world, choosing the ways of the Father instead of the ways of the world.

Have you been made holy under this definition?  How has God done this in your life?  How is the Father continuing to do this?

Fourth Thought

We also see a really neat expression from Jesus.  “As You sent me, I sent them.”  Jesus is showing us that imitation is the key to discipleship.  The Father acted.  The Son imitated the Father so the disciples could see what it looks like when the Father acts.  As we make disciples, this is the same process.  We need a mentor to show us what the action of the Father looks like.  When we’re ready, we need to imitate our own mentor so we can show others what it looks like when the Father acts.  If Jesus was willing to imitate and be imitated, we should be willing to imitate and be imitated as well.

Who do you imitate in your spiritual walk?  To whom are you willing to give a look into your life so they can imitate you?  Are you capable of being imitated?

Passage for Tomorrow: John 17:20-26

John 17:6-12

John 17:6-12

I made your name manifest to the people whom you gave to me out of the world.  They were for you and for me; you gave them and they have obediently kept your word.  Now they know that everything – as much as you gave to me – is from you because the words that you gave to me I have given to them.  And they received and they knew truth because I came from you.  And they believed that you sent me.  I do ask regarding them – I do not ask regarding the world but regarding those whom you have given to me – because they are for you.  And everything that is of me is you and everything that is of you is me.  And I have been glorified in them.  And I am no longer in the world – and they are in the world – and I come to you.  Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given to me in order that they are one just as we are.  When I was with them, I was keeping them in your name that you have given to me.  And I guarded closely.  And not one out of them perished except the son of destruction in order that the scriptures should be fulfilled.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

There are three things that Jesus keeps revolving around in this prayer as well as even looking back into the last chapter.  The first two go together.  The disciples received the Word of God and obediently kept it.  That doesn’t mean that they were occasionally sinful.  They were human beings.  Of course they sinned!  However, their default position switched from “selfish human desires” to “receiving and obeying God.”  This is a slow and difficult process for us.  We seldom move from sinner to saint in one decision – and when we do it is almost always short-lived.  Rather, the process of discipleship is a slow transition of receiving the Word and then learning how to keep it.  When we’re ready we receive more Word and then learn how to keep that.  It is a process.

When have you tried to change your life quickly?  How did it work out in the long run?  Why is this process of receiving the Word and then learning to obey it best done as a gradual process of growth?

Second Thought:

The third theme that Jesus carries into this section is belief.  Once more Jesus says that His disciples believed that He came from the Father.  The disciples believed that Jesus was the Son of God.  Anyone can admit that He was a great teacher.  Anyone can admit that He was an agent of selfless change.  Anyone can confess that He did some powerfully supernatural acts.  But the disciples claimed that Jesus came from God.  They were willing to believe and witness to the unimaginable.  They were willing to place their lot in the unthinkable.  They were willing to side with God in the face of the illogical.  They truly believed.

Do you believe?  When faced with belief in God and the logic of the world, where do you side?

Third Thought:

In this passage we have another fairly controversial point.  Notice that Jesus specifically prays for His disciples.  In fact, He actually draws attention to the fact that He isn’t praying for the whole world!  Once more in the life of Christ we see evidence that Jesus focused upon those that God had clearly given to Him.  Jesus came to change the world, but He didn’t change the whole world personally.  Jesus changed twelve, who changed dozens more, who changed hundred more, who changed thousands more, who changed millions more.  Jesus is clear, here.  He is praying for those whom the Father has given to Him.  He’s not praying for the whole world, but instead for those who have heard Christ and who have believed and followed.  Even tomorrow we’ll see that when Jesus expands the scope of His prayer He’s still only praying for those throughout all time who hear, believe, and follow.  Jesus’ goal may be to save the world, but His focus is clearly on those who are in His life and following the call of God.

How does this make you feel to hear Jesus pray this way?  Do you agree with Jesus’ focus and His words?

Passage for Tomorrow: John 17:13-19

John 17:1-5

John 17:1-5

Jesus said this and after lifting up His eyes into heaven He said, “Father, the hour has come.  Glorify your Son in order that the Son should glorify you.  Just as you gave to Him authority of all flesh in order that all who you have given to Him, He should give to them life eternal.  And this is life eternal: in order that they should know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent.  I glorified you upon the earth after finishing the work that you have given to me in order that I should do it.  And now glorify me, Father, from yourself by the glory that I was having from you from before the world was.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

In this passage Jesus gives us the definition of eternal life.  Take note of this definition very closely.  Eternal life is knowing the Father and the Son.  Do you notice what is conspicuously missing from this?  Jesus doesn’t talk about knowing our dead relatives (although I confidently believe that those who are in Christ will be with us).  Here’s Jesus’ point, though.  So often when we think of heaven what we are really trying to think in our brain is a simple carryover of this earth.  We want all our loved ones to be there so we can continue to love the ones we love.  We just want life on this earth to continue.  What is usually conspicuously missing from the human perspective of eternal life is any kind of focus on God and His glory!  (Read most modern stories of people who died and went to heaven and compare how much is said about God versus how much is said about being comforted by seeing all of the person’s deceased loved ones.  It’s shameful.)  In fact, did you know that in all of the visions of heaven found in the Bible, God and His glory is not only the primary focus but it is the sole focus?  Again, I do believe that all who are in Christ will be with the Father in eternal life.  But our deceased loved ones and our reunion with them will not be the focus.  Our focus will be on the Father, His glory, and the Son.

When you think about heaven, do you think more about the Father and His presence or about your deceased loved ones?  Why is this true for you?

Second Thought:

Jesus claims that He glorified the Father.  I think Jesus does this in three very broad categories.  First, there is verbal glory.  Jesus teaches others about the Father and that gives the Father glory.  Second, there is physical glory.  Jesus heals people, has miraculous events happen, and has command over demons.  This glorifies the Father.  However, I think the most important way that Jesus glorifies the Father is in being crucified.  You may wonder how it is that the cross brings glory to the Father.  It is not the cross that brings glory but Christ’s obedience in going to the cross.  The Son glorifies the Father most by being obedient to Him.  The same is true for us.

Are you obedient to the Father?  How do you glorify God through your words, actions, and obedience?

Third Thought:

This section begins the part of our Bible that is called the High Priestly Prayer.  I am always amazed at the profound depth of Christ’s prayer as He prays this.  I suppose it isn’t the depth – He is the Son of God, after all – as it is the timing.  This prayer comes after the foot washing and after the Lord’s Supper.  This is the last thing that Jesus does before going to Gethsemane.  If that were staring me in the face, I don’t think that I would have the composure of Jesus to prayer deeply over His work, His disciples, and the world.  As you read through John 17, keep in mind that these are the last words of Jesus before His arrest and crucifixion.

Since these are Jesus’ last words with His disciples, how does that impact what we’ve already said here?  How does this impact Jesus’ emphasis upon things like obedience and glory?

Passage for Tomorrow: John 17:6-12

John 16:25-33

John 16:25-33

“I have spoken these things to you all in allegory.  An hour comes when I will no longer speak to you all in allegory but I will proclaim to you all regarding the Father.  In that day you all will ask in my name and I do not say to you all that I will ask the Father regarding you all.  For the Father Himself loves you all because you all have loved me and you all have believed that I came from God.  I came out from the Father and I have come into the world, again I leave the world and I go to the Father.”  His disciples say, “Behold!  Now you are speaking plainly and no longer do you speak in allegory.  Now we have known that you know everything and you have no need for anyone to question you.  In this we believe: that you have come from God.”  Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe?  Behold, an hour comes and has come in order that you all should be scattered – each to his own – and you all will leave me alone.  And I am not alone because the Father is with me.  I have spoken this to you all in order that you all should have peace in me.  In the world you all have affliction.  But have courage.  I have conquered the world. 

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

The last verse is humbling and powerful for me today.  Jesus gives a command and then gives reason to believe the command.  Jesus tells His disciples to have courage.  They may have dark days ahead; they need courage.  But then Jesus gives them the reason.  He uses the perfect tense for it.  He tells them that He has conquered the world.  Not that He will conquer it.  Not that He is about to conquer it.  He tells that that He has conquered it.  It’s already done.  Even before the cross, victory was assured.  Jesus conquered the world, and the effects of that conquering continue into today.

Recently I heard Mike Breen speak on a similar topic.  He said that the cross is like D-Day.  At D-Day, victory of World War II was assured.  But that didn’t mean that there weren’t battles yet to be fought.  D-Day didn’t mean that the Germans rolled up like a cheap carpet.  No, they fought to the bitter end.  The life of Christ is like D-Day.  Jesus has already won.  But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t going to be battles.  The enemy is strong and will resist to the end.  We shouldn’t expect a cake walk.  But we can take courage.  He has conquered.  Victory is assured.

Why is it important to know that victory is assured?  What does that mean to you in your life today?

Second Thought:

This can actually help take us back to something Jesus said earlier in the passage.  Jesus told the disciples that the Father loves them.  Remember that this is before the cross.  So often we like to paint God as an angry God that changed His opinion through the cross.  This is just not true.  God loved us enough to send us Jesus in the first place!  (See John 3:16)  God loves us.  It is our sinfulness that made us enemies with God.  That much is absolutely true.  But God still loved us even while we made ourselves His enemies.

How is this a powerful description of God’s love?  Why do we tend to think of God as an angry God and not a loving God?  Why is this wrong?

Third Thought:

I cannot help but laugh at the disciples as they say, “Oh, we get you now, Jesus.  We know you came from God.”  I can see Jesus grimace and shake His head slowly.  He then tells them that they don’t get it, actually.  The hour is coming when they’ll abandon him because they don’t get it.  They’ll leave Jesus and go back to their own things.  So often we think we get God.  We really don’t.  The only time we truly get God is in hindsight, where His hand is always clearly seen.  The best we can do is wait in a poised manner so that when we see God at work we can join Him as quickly as possible.

When have you thought you had God figured out?  When were you wrong?  Which is better, to figure out God or to wait poised for Him to call out to you?  How do you accomplish this poise?

Passage for Tomorrow: John 17:1-5

John 16:16-24

John 16:16-24

“A little while and you all no longer see me and a little while longer and you all will see me.”  Therefore out of His disciples they said to one another, “What is this that He says to us: ‘A little while and you all do not see me and a little while longer and you all will see me’ and that ‘I am going to the Father?’”  Therefore they were saying, “What is this little while?  We have not known what he says.”  Jesus knew that they were desiring to ask Him, and He said to them, “Do you all seek with one another regarding this, that I said, ‘A little while and you all do not see me and a little while longer and you all will see me.’  Amen, amen I say to you all that you all will weep and you all will lament, but the world will rejoice.  You all will be sorrowful, but your grief will become into joy.  When a woman should give birth she has sorrow because her hour came.  But when she should give birth to a child no longer does she remember the affliction because of the joy in that a man was being born into the world.  Therefore you all have sorrow now on one hand, but on the other hand you all will again see and your heart will rejoice and nobody takes away your joy from you.  And in that day you all will not ask anything from me.  Amen, amen, I say to you all, anything that you all should ask of the Father in my name He will give to you all.  Up to now you all did not ask for anything in my name.  Ask and you will receive in order that your joy is having been made full.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Jesus makes a very interesting comparison to what the disciples are about to experience.  He knows that He is going to be crucified and raised again.  But His disciples have not picked up on this fact in spite of having told them.  So he tells them that they are about to feel like a pregnant woman who has given birth.  No woman enjoys the process of giving birth.  It’s misery – or so I’ve been told.  But once it is done and the fruit of the labor is born (pun intended) the pain is quickly put into the back of the mind and joyful life continues.  This is a great analogy for the disciples.  They will know great pain as Jesus is crucified and they flee to save their own skin.  But when they see the fruit of the event, their pain will turn to joy.

When have you had a rough moment in life only to have your pain turn to joy once you are through it and you understand what God was doing?  Does this make it any easier to get yourself ready to go through the next moment?

Second Thought:

Another thing that we can learn from this analogy is that it is not easy being Jesus’ disciple.  Many women speak of pregnancy and childbirth as some of the most uncomfortable and painful times of their life.  Not that the joy of having a child isn’t better in the end, but it is still a difficult process full of struggle for many women.  The same can be said for following Jesus.  It is difficult to trust Him and not always know where He is leading.  It is difficult to have to deny the ways of the world.  It is difficult to resist temptation.  It is difficult to sin and have to repent.  None of these things are easy, but the reward is great.

What parts of following God are less than easy?  What parts of being a disciple of Jesus would you give back if you could?  Why do you think even these parts are necessary for you?

Third Thought:

Jesus is again speaking fairly cryptically to the disciples at the end of this passage here.  He began this chapter with a bit of rebuke in reminding them that He said He was going away but nobody took the time to ask Him anything about it.  (John 16:5)  But He tells them that in the end they will not need to ask.  Here’s what Jesus is saying.  Pre-crucifixion, the disciples are so clueless that they don’t even know what to ask.  Post-resurrection they’ll have seen something so incredible that they know enough to trust fully in God with whatever they don’t already know.  That’s a fundamental shift in being a mature disciple.  The immature disciple wants to know everything.  The mature disciple knows when they need to know more and when they can leave the details in the hands of the Father.

Using this standard, are you mature or immature in your discipleship?  Do you find yourself going to God and needing answers or do you find yourself being able to rest comfortably in His plan?  When is it hard to be a mature disciple?  When is it easy?

Passage for Tomorrow: John 16:25-28

John 16:12-15

John 16:12-15

I still have many things to say to you all, but you all are not powerful enough to bear them now.  And when that one comes – the Spirit of truth – He will guide you in every truth.  For He will not speak from Himself, but whatever He will hear He will speak.  And He will announce the things that come to you all.  That one will glorify me because He will receive out of me and He will announce to you all.  Everything that the Father has is mine; because of this I said that He will receive out of me and announce to you all.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the Spirit of truth.  The task of the Holy Spirit is to reveal truth to humankind.  The task of the Holy Spirit is to guide us.  He is to lead us.  He is to take what comes from the Father through the Son and convey it to us.  Thus, it is God who owns all truth.

Does the Holy Spirit lead you?  How do you feel the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life?  Do you believe truth only comes from God?

Second Thought:

However, the revelation of God’s truth is not all at once.  Notice here that even after three years with God’s own Son the disciples hear, “You aren’t yet powerful enough.”  Even after three years under the direct tutelage of Jesus the disciples weren’t ready to hear everything.  So it is with us.  God’s revelation comes to us as we are ready for it as well.

Why do we think we’re ready for God’s truth right now?  Looking back in hindsight over your life, were you always ready to know what you know now?  Did you always have the spiritual maturity to understand God as you do now?

Third Thought:

Notice that Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit will reveal all truth.  There are no secrets that God knows that He does not desire us to know.  Sure, there are absolutely things that we do not know.  But we don’t know them because we aren’t ready for them, not because God wants to keep secrets from us.

What truth do you not know that God does know?  Why might you not know it?

Passage for Tomorrow: John 16:16-24

John 16:5-11

John 16:5-11

“But now I am going away to the one who sent me, and nobody out of you all asks me, ‘Where are you going?’  But because I have said these things to you all, sorrow has filled your heart.  But I say the truth to you all.  It is an advantage to you all in order that I should go away.  For if I should not go away, the Helper will not come to you all.  But if I should go, I will send Him to you all.  And after that one comes, He will convict the world regarding sin and regarding righteousness and regarding judgment.  In one case regarding sin because they do not believe into me.  In another case regarding righteousness because I am going to the Father and you all will no longer see me.  In another case regarding judgment because the ruler of this world has been condemned.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Jesus knows that some of the things that He has to say bring sorrow to the heart of Jesus’ disciples.  Who wants to think about rejection?  What wants to think about beings ostracized?  Who wants to think about being cast out, arrested, or even killed?  However, Jesus chooses to prepare His disciples even though it makes them sad in the heart rather than let them live in their own bubble unprepared.  So it is with all of His disciples.  We will all be saddened at some point in our walk with God.  We’ll be saddened by what we are asked to give up.  We’ll be saddened by how people respond to God.  It is a part of life; it is a part of choosing God instead of choosing what the world chooses.

When have you experienced sadness because of your faith?  Did you get over it or is it still lingering?

Second Thought:

Jesus tells His disciples that it is better for Him to go so that they can receive the Holy Spirit.  Imagine being one of Jesus’ disciples and hearing these words.  If you get to hear that the guy you’ve given your life to is going away to be replaced by someone else, would you take the deal?  Would you think it a fair trade?  His disciples are being told that they are trading in a real life – flesh and blood – Jesus for a Spirit they do not even know.  I can imagine how it just wouldn’t compute for them at all.  But we know Jesus’ greater plan.  His disciples are going to go all over the world, spreading the message of God’s love.  He cannot be physically with them all.  Thus it is truly better that Jesus leave and the Holy Spirit come.

Would you trade in a real flesh and blood Jesus for the Holy Spirit?  Do you ever get frustrated that you can’t see Jesus face-to-face?  How does that show our humanity rather than our willingness to abide with the Father and do His will?

Third Thought:

Jesus tells His disciples that the Holy Spirit will do three things. 

• The first thing is regarding sin.  They have not believed Jesus, nor believed in Him.  In a very real sense, the conviction of the Holy Spirit is that Jesus went to the cross because of our sinfulness.  Why did Jesus die?  Because the Jewish leaders did not believe in Him.  Why do we sin?  Because we believe in the lies of the world more than the truth of Jesus. 
• The Holy Spirit also is to witness to righteousness.  The fact that Jesus goes to Father immediately is a sign of His righteousness.  We die and go to the graves, waiting for Jesus’ return so that we might become righteous and go to heaven.  Jesus went to heaven immediately because He was already righteous. 
• The third thing the Holy Spirit does is come regarding judgment.  The ruler of this world – sin and the Devil – has already been judged and found lacking.  When we follow the world, we approve of the crucifixion and killing Jesus.  That demonstrates our guilt.  When we turn to Christ, we see that His shame turns to His glory and through His righteousness we are also made righteous and become free of the condemnation.

Where are you convicted of sin?  Where is the Holy Spirit trying to bring about Christ’s righteousness in you?  Where do you stand condemned but find yourself released from judgment?

Passage for Tomorrow: John 16:12-15

John 16:1-4

John 16:1-4

I have said these things to you all in order that you all should not be scandalized.  They will make you all expelled from the synagogue.  But an hour comes in order that all the ones who killed you all should think it is done to bring religious worship to God.  And they will do these things because they knew neither the Father nor me.  But I have said these things to you all in order that when their hour comes you all should remember that I said these same things to you all.  And I did not say these things to you all out of the beginning because I was with you all.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Many times in the stories of Jesus were hear Him telling His disciples about the difficult life of a true follower.  He often says things like “take up your cross” and “he who loses his life for my sake.”  Here Jesus tells his disciples that they will be put out of the synagogue.  He tells them that they will not be accepted in Jewish communities.  Essentially, Jesus is telling His disciples that they would be ostracized and would not be able to find religious fellowship outside of themselves and whatever community they happen to make on their own through the Holy Spirit.

How has your true belief in God caused you to be ostracized?  In what way has your community changed because of your beliefs?

Second Thought:

Jesus also tells His disciples that they will be killed for their faith.  Church tradition tells us that this is true.  Every disciple of Jesus’ dies from unnatural causes except John, who was sentenced to isolation upon the isle of Patmos.  But it is worse than that.  Jesus tells us that other people will be doing this persecution to them under the belief that it is bringing them closer to God!  As proof of this, we know that James is killed by Herod in order to please the Jews – see Acts 12:1-3.  But this very fact points them to one thing: the persecutor does not know the Father.  They think they do, but they do not.  It is scary what people will do in the name of God.

Is this true of you?  Do you fear being killed for your faith?  Have you ever experienced religious persecution where the people persecuting you thought it was bringing them closer to God?

Third Thought:

Jesus is preparing His disciples, clearly.  He didn’t tell them these things from the very beginning because Jesus knew that He was going to be there in the beginning to shelter them from reality.  But as the disciples grow, they will be exposed to more and more truth.  As Jesus prepares to leave this earth, He won’t be there to protect His disciples as much.  Such is the life of the disciple.  As the disciple grows, he becomes more aware of the true world around himself and therefore must prepare for that reality because the disciple-maker should not always protect them from where God is leading.

Where has your spiritual mentor sheltered you in the past?  How have you grown out from under the protection of the mentor?  What truth has this revealed to you about the reality of the world around you?

Passage for Tomorrow: John 16:5-11

John 15:22-27

John 15:22-27

“If I did not come and speak to them, they were not having sin.  But now they do not have any real excuse regarding their sin.  The one who hates me also hates my Father.  If I did not do works in them that no other person did, they were not having sin.  But now they have also seen and they have hated even me and my Father.  But now, in order that the words that have been written in their Law should be fulfilled, ‘they hated me without cause.’  When the Helper whom I will send to you all should come from the Father, the Spirit of truth which proceeds out from the Father, that one will testify regarding me.  And you also testify because from the beginning you all are with me.  

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

In this opening line we have a subtle theme that runs the scope of the Gospel of John.  Knowledge and proximity to God brings increased responsibility.  Prior to Christ’s coming, people could not know a true relationship with God as we see taught and lived out in Christ.  However, once we are shown this reality anything besides embracing it is rejection of it.  Jesus knows that the religious leaders around Him are ultimately rejecting the relationship God desires with humanity when they are rejecting Him.  When Jesus comes into our midst, we are given a great opportunity to know the Father intimately.  But we are also given the opportunity to reject such a relationship by choosing something else in the world, too.

So what is it for you: relationship with the Father above all else or not?  How do you live out that reality?  How do the people outside of your life see that in you?

Second Thought:

However, Jesus is doing more than offering relationship.  In order to receive relationship we must also receive the diagnosis of sin.  In order to truly know the Father, we must confess and repent of our sinfulness.  We must be willing to stare into the blackness that lies within and turn away from it in turning to God.  Coming to Jesus is like going to a doctor and having an illness diagnosed.  Just because we know what the illness is, unless we take the prescription and take the medicine and live as the doctor tells us we need to live we won’t actually get any better.  The offer of relationship with the Father necessarily implies dealing with and turning away from our sinfulness.  Otherwise we’re like a sick person who refuses to do what it takes to cure what ails him.

How readily do you recognize your sinfulness?  What are you doing to turn away from it?  Are you willing to let Jesus purge your life from what ails you?

Third Thought:

At the end of this passage, Jesus talks about our witness.  Yes, Jesus tells us of the Holy Spirit that will testify through His disciples regarding Him.  That Holy Spirit is truth and His testimony is true.  But what I find fascinating is the truth that Jesus says regarding His disciples.  Jesus isn’t using a future tense verb here.  Jesus is using a present tense verb.  It is, “You all testify,” rather than, “you all will testify.”  Jesus is telling His disciples that the Holy Spirit will bring absolute truth among them.  But they are already a witness to Christ even without the Holy Spirit.  Even through their stumbling and inability to grasp deeply what Jesus is teaching, they are still a testimony.  The fact that they continue to walk beside Jesus and not abandon Him is a testimony.  The fact that they are trying – even if they are not always successful – is a testimony.  They will not be a testimony, they already are a testimony.

Are you a testimony for God?  How?

Passage for Tomorrow: John 16:1-4

John 15:18-21

John 15:18-21

“If the world hates you, you all know that it has hated me before you all.  If you all are out of the world, the world was loving you as its own.  But because you all are not out of the world, but I chose you all out of the world, because of this the world hates you.  Remember the words that I said to you all.  A slave is not greater than his lord.  If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you all.  If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.  But they will do all of these things into you all because of my name, because they have not known the one who sent me.”

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Wow.  The Greek tense of the verb “hated” at the end of verse 18 is absolutely powerful.  Jesus says, “… the world has hated me …”  This is a perfect tense verb.  Jesus is saying that the world hated Him prior to Him saying this to the disciples and the effects of this hatred continue into the present and the future.  We who follow the example of Christ should expect to be hated by the world because it is the natural effect of the world hating Christ.  Jesus isn’t simply saying to the disciples that “I’ve been there and done that so I can empathize with you when the world hates you.”  Yes, He is saying that.  But it goes deeper than that.  Jesus is saying that “when the world hates those who follow me it is the natural effect of the world hating Him in the first place.”  It’s not that Jesus can only empathize but even more that Jesus knows His followers will taste the horrible fruit of the world’s hatred of Him.

What did the world’s hatred of Jesus look like?  What were the effects of that hatred?  Do you ever feel hated because of your attempts to imitate Jesus as Lord of your life?

Second Thought:

In order to drive home this point, Jesus continues His idea in verse 20.  Again, notice the tenses.  “If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you all.”  Jesus’ persecution is past tense.  The disciples’ persecution is future tense.  The Jewish leaders already rejected Jesus.  When Jesus is physically gone from this world, the religious leaders will have no one at whom they can direct their anger.  So the wrath will come to Jesus’ disciples.  Again we see the cause and effect.  The disciples will get persecution because of Jesus, His teachings, and what He represents.

How does it make you feel to know that Jesus told His disciples that persecution was a certainty?  Does this draw you closer to Jesus or make you want to separate yourself from Him?

Third Thought:

At the end of this passage we hear a scathing critique of the world.  “They have not known the one who sent me.”  Hear what Jesus is saying.  Those who do not know God will bring persecution because of the name of Jesus.  Those who live in His name will bring persecution upon themselves.  Jesus’ point is simple.  The world hates what it does not know.  The world hates that which is different than itself.  Don’t believe me?  Go to any middle school or high school.  It is the people who are the most different who are also the most picked upon.  The same is true in our culture on a broad perspective.  Try holding an opinion different from that of the popular media and see how long it takes for people to think you strange, weird, or archaic.  Among the world, persecution can be counted on when you are different – especially when you are different in the name of Christ.

When have you been persecuted in your life because of your relationship with Christ?  What do you do in your life that separates you from the world?

Passage for Tomorrow: John 15:22-27

John 15:12-17

John 15:12-17

This is my commandment, in order that you all should love one another just as I loved you all.  Nobody has greater love than this, in order that someone should set down his life for his friends.  You all are my friends if you all should do that which I commanded you to do.  No longer do I call you all slaves because the slave does not know what his lord is doing.  But I have called you all friends because all that I heard from my Father I made known to you all.  You all did not choose me, but I chose you all and I set you all up in order that you all should go away and carry fruit and your fruit should remain in order that anything for which you all should ask the Father in my name He should give to you all.  I command these things to you all in order that you all should love one another.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Jesus is once more clear when it comes to His disciples.  They are to imitate Him.  As Jesus loved His disciples, they should love one another.  Of course, Jesus knows that this is not always going to happen.  After all, Jesus says His disciples should, not that they necessarily will.  But that doesn’t change Jesus’ teaching.  Jesus loved His disciples.  We should love one another.

Who among God’s followers in your community do you have little difficulty loving?  Why?  Who do you have much difficulty loving among your community?  Why?

Second Thought:

Notice what makes the difference to Jesus in John 15:15?  Jesus calls them friends because they have heard what Jesus has heard from the Father.  The disciples have submitted to Jesus.  They have learned from Him.  They have listened and practiced and tried and failed and occasionally even succeeded.  But in all things, they have been willing to listen.  All that the Father has said to Jesus, the disciples have received as Jesus relays what the Father says.

How well do you listen?  How well do you listen to the Father?  How well does this impact your life?

Third Thought:

Also notice that Jesus tells the disciples that He chose them rather than them choosing Jesus.  This might seem to make a contradictory point to what we saw early in John when the disciples follow Him around and seem to initiate.  This is not a contradiction.  Genuine discipleship goes something like this.  The disciple-maker teaches.  The disciple listens and comes looking for more.  The disciple-maker then teaches deeper, increasing the relationship with each teaching.  So in this sense, Jesus initiates the choosing by the teaching.  His disciples were merely responding to His initial teaching.  Their response is still significant, but it is Jesus’ initial teaching to the crowd that provokes their response.

Have you ever been intrigued by the teaching of another?  How did you respond – or did you not respond?  Why is the initial teaching important?

Passage for Tomorrow: John 15:18-21

John 15:6-11

John 15:6-11

If anyone should not remain in me, he was being cast out as a branch and was being dried up and these are being gathered together and they are thrown into the fire and they are being burned.  Should you all remain in me and should my words remain in you all, then whatever you all should desire you all asked and it will become to you all.  In this my Father was being glorified in order that you all should carry much fruit in order that you all should become my disciples.  Just as the Father loved me, I also loved you all.  Remain in my love.  If you all should keep my commandments, you all will remain in my love – just as I have kept the commandments of my Father and I remain in His love.  I have said these things to you all in order that my joy should be in you all and the joy of you all should be made complete.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

In this passage we hear Jesus contrasting those who remain in Him and those who do not.  Of course there is the part that catches our attention.  If you don’t remain in Him you are cut off, dried, gathered together, and thrown into the fire.  But notice that Jesus is specific at what prevents this fate.  It is not our works and our greatness that prevents this fate.  What prevents this fate is that we remain in Him.  That which prevents being thrown into the fire is contact with Christ.  Let that last thought sink in for a while.

What does “contact with Christ” mean to you?  How do you remain in Him?

Second Thought:

Coming off of the previous questions, we arrive at just how works do fit into the equation.  We know that we are saved through Christ, not our works.  That was the point of verses 6-8.  But in verses 9-10 we begin to talk about works.  The works help us remain in Him.  Obeying the commandments of God demonstrates that we are remaining in Him.  Our works do not save us; they are the evidence – or response – to that salvation.  As we have been grafted into the vine of Christ, we can respond by doing His work so that we remain in His love.  Doing the will of God helps us keep proximity and contact with Christ.

How do you obey the commandments of the Father?  What are the commandments of the Father?

Third Thought:

In the last verse of this section, Jesus speaks about joy.  Here is the context of joy in which Jesus speaks: remaining in Him as He remains in the Father.  Our joy is to remain in Christ.  Our joy is to know God.  Our ultimate joy is to know the Father, experience His love, and be with Him.

Where is your joy located?  Are you satisfied merely with knowing God’s love?  Do you consider this being “complete?”

Passage for Tomorrow: John 15:12-17

John 15:1-5

John 15:1-5

I am the true vine and My Father is the one who tends the vine.  Every branch in me that does not carry fruit He does away with it.  And He Himself purifies every branch while carrying fruit in order that it should carry much fruit.    You all are already purified because of the word that I have spoken to you all.  Remain in me, and I in you all.  Just as the branch is not powerful enough to carry fruit from itself unless it should remain in the vine, in the same way neither are you all powerful enough unless you all should remain in me.  I am the vine and you all are the branches.  The one who remains in me and I in him – this one carries much fruit because apart from me you all are not powerful enough to do anything.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

In the opening verse, Jesus sets out the definitions for the next 17 verses.  Jesus is the vine.  The vine is responsible for growth and carrying the nutrients for the fruit to the branches.  The Father is the vinedresser.  The Father is the one who decides which branches get cut off and which ones are retained.  In verse 5, we hear that we are the branches.  The branches have the task of carrying the fruit.  As branches, we are not in charge of deciding what other branches get to stay connected to the vine – that’s the job of the Father.  As branches, we’re not in charge of deciding in which direction the vine grows – that’s the task of Jesus.  As branches, we have a single purpose: doing what it takes to carry the best fruit possible.

Do you ever try to do the work of Jesus or the work of the Father?  When?  Where?  Why do you do this?  What does it mean for you to do what it takes to carry the best fruit possible?

Second Thought:

In verse 2, we hear that the branches who bear fruit are purified.  The Greek verb here is “καθαίρω.”  This verb literally means to purify from filth or impurity.  However, the word has a secondary meaning which means to prune a plant.  This makes sense if you think about it.  What is pruning other than cleansing a plant of the growth that isn’t good for it?  Thus, we hear a deep teaching in this verse.  While the Father cuts off and does away completely those branches that bear no fruit, He purifies those that do bear fruit.  The branches aren’t perfect.  The growth that happens isn’t perfect.  The Father needs to purify the branches – even the ones that bear fruit!

How does this understanding of the word purify/prune help us understand the Christian life?  How does this word help us understand how we can be in Christ in this life yet still wrestle with sin and temptation?

Third Thought:

At the end of this passage, Jesus tells us that apart from Him, we are not powerful enough to do anything.  There is a reason people do not build out of wood that comes from vines.  It grows too quickly to be hard enough for any kind of construction.  It literally is good for carrying fruit when it is attached to the vine or for burning up in a fire.  So we have two choices.  We can either carry the fruit that Christ sends our way or we can be cut away.

Do you carry the fruit of Christ?  What does it look like in your life?

Passage for Tomorrow: John 15:6-11