Truth Before [denominational] Tribe

This Week’s Readings

Monday, July 2: John 13-15
Tuesday, June 26: John 16-18
Wednesday, June 27: John 19-21
Thursday, June 28: Psalms 42-45; Proverbs 15
Friday, June 29: Psalms 46-49; Proverbs 16

Next week we will begin Isaiah. I gave us 3 weeks to work on that 66-chapter book.

The overall year’s plan is here.

John 19:1-5: Roman Scourging

Pontius Pilate found Jesus innocent, but when the people asked for Barabbas in his place, Pilate took Jesus and scourged him.

There’s a lot written about this scourging. All of the Christian sources I’ve found say the same thing, and it’s pretty gruesome. I have to admit, though, that I haven’t seen a good source yet for standard practice in Roman scourging. It’s entirely possible that I just haven’t looked hard enough.

However, I did find two doctors who describe what the scourging would have been like, assuming that the scourging they describe is really what the Romans would have done. Those descriptions are here and here. You might want to be careful about reading or showing those to kids. It’s pretty gruesome.

I also found a reference to Roman scourging in general from just a couple hundred years after Jesus’ death. Eusebius writes about some martyrs who were put to death under Decius (most likely) around A.D. 250. He writes:

They say that the bystanders were struck with amazement when they saw them lacerated with scourges even to the innermost veins and arteries, so that the hidden inward parts of the body, both their bowels and their members, were exposed to view. (Eusebius, Church History IV:15:4)

John 19:6-16

Here we see an example of the inconsistencies of those who oppose God. They don’t care what’s true or consistent at all, even going so far as to cry out, "We have no king but Caesar," a proclamation that they would never dare make on any other day in the streets of Jerusalem.

Having said that about those who oppose God, let me warn those of us who wish to cooperate with God that we are not guilty of the same thing. So often, our doctrinal disputes devolve into arguments like this, where in order to bolster our position we say things that are illogical, unreasonable, or even inconsistent with our own position as Christians. It can take great effort to keep ourselves in a state of loving truth, especially when cherished doctrines are at risk or when we are personally convicted of some sin or weakness.

We can trust the Truth to take care of itself. The Truth, who is Jesus himself, does not need to dodge or hide evidence and arguments, because he is the Truth. An honest look at reality will point to him, and his power as giver of grace and truth will bring those open to the truth to him without our needing to become deceptive or dishonest.

John 20:1-18

John and Peter both went into the tomb, but it was not until Mary Magdalene peeked her head in the tomb that the angels appeared. It was no accident that Mary was the first person to whom Jesus revealed himself. It is possible that this is because she loved him the most. Whatever the reason, it was not chance. Jesus purposely chose to reveal himself to Mary after the two most prominent apostles had already left the tomb.

A lot of reasons have been advanced as to why Mary didn’t recognize him. In fact, today I read that the brutality of the scourging scarred him so much that he was unrecognizable after rising from the dead, though I really don’t care for that explanation. My favorite is that after the resurrection, we will recognize each other spiritually, not physically. Only those with a spiritual relationship with Jesus could recognize him when he appeared.

John 20:22-23

I think everyone knows these are Roman Catholic verses. Protestants don’t use verse 23 because for the most part we don’t believe that there’s ever a situation where we should not forgive someone’s sin.

The Roman Catholics believe these verses have to do with the authority of the church, and they are obviously correct. Jesus gives the apostles the authority to retain and remit sins. That authority would have been passed on to the elders that the apostles appointed to lead the churches after their death.

That authority is not capricious. It is desperately needed today. It is based on the fact that the church, and especially the shepherds of the church, should actually know the members of the church. They should know their weaknesses and strengths, and we should all be praying for one another.

Forgiving sin is to set a person free who cannot find forgiveness in themselves. Retaining a person’s sin is also to set a person free, only in this case it is for those who cannot find repentance or honesty within themselves.

All of this requires us to know one another. Elders especially, who are charged with shepherding the Lord’s flock, should know the members of the church and care for them with the same care Jesus has for them. How will an elder leave the 99 to go find the straying one if he does not know the sheep to recognize one is gone? (Matt. 18:12).

John 20:28-31

Yesterday or the day before I mentioned memorizing a verse or story from each chapter of the apostles writings in order to have an excellent overview of the New Covenant writings. These four verses provide both a story and a memory verse for John 20.

The story of doubting Thomas is famous and easy to remember, though it’s a little harder to remember, at least for me, that we need to avoid being like him. Trusting Jesus’ words—his commands, instructions, and promises—when it seems horribly frightening to trust him is the way to be blessed because we’ve believed without seeing.

Verse 31 is the memory verse to which I’m referring: "These have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name" (NASB).

John 21:1-14

One more appearance of Jesus is described here. Again the apostles don’t recognize him. I’ll repeat, I like the explanation that this was on purpose because Jesus wanted to be recognized spiritually, not by physical appearance.

John 21:15-17

This is a much more interesting passage in Greek. There are two Greek words for love used in this passage. One is phileo, meaning a friendship kind of love. The other is agapeo, which is a word that was put into common use by Jesus and his apostles, so it is their usage that infuses it with meaning. Christians normally define it as divine love, a love unmoved by circumstances or feeling.

Jesus asks Peter if he loves him using the word agapeo. Peter answers that he loves him with phileo love.

This happens a second time, then the third time Jesus uses the word phileo as well. Using those Greek words, Peter’s reaction to Jesus’ third question reads like this: "Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, ‘Do you phileo me?’"

I don’t have a deep teaching or commentary based on this information. My comment would only be that Peter was not yet ready to love with agape love until the Holy Spirit descended on the day of Pentecost. So, too, we may love with a natural love, but to agapeo others or even the Lord requires the descent of the Spirit, who sheds the agape of God abroad in hour hearts (Rom. 5:5).

John 21:18-25

The Gospel of John ends with an anecdote about Peter and John. Jesus prophesies (somewhat cryptically) that Peter will be martyred. When Peter asks about what will happen to John, Jesus gives him an answer that really means "None of your business; we’re talking about you, not him." However, because John was the longest lived apostles, that statement became a rumor that John would live forever.

One of the traditions about John is that he was thrown in boiling oil and was not burned. This, too, would have fueled rumors that he would live forever.

John’s last statement is that there is very much more that he could have written. That is more true now because Jesus has continued to good works through his corporate body, the church, for 2,000 years.

Yes, there’s been much counterfeit Christianity, but where men and women—and even boys and girls—have submitted themselves to God through Jesus, great deeds have continued to be accomplished. Without those men, women, boys, and girls, the Gospel of Jesus would not have continued to our time. Let us be among the people who give themselves to Jesus, walk by the Spirit of God, and carry the Gospel in power to the next generation of believers!

This Week’s Readings

Monday, July 2: John 13-15
Tuesday, June 26: John 16-18
Wednesday, June 27: John 19-21
Thursday, June 28: Psalms 42-45; Proverbs 15
Friday, June 29: Psalms 46-49; Proverbs 16

Next week we will begin Isaiah. I gave us 3 weeks to work on that 66-chapter book.

The overall year’s plan is here.

John 16

Jesus’ words about the Holy Spirit convicting the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment are a little cryptic, or I’ve always found them so. I looked at some commentaries, and they all took these words pretty simply.

• Sin: Primarily referring to the Jews refusing to believe in Jesus, but also referring to the future when the Holy Spirit would convict those who hear the Gospel of their sin and need for repentance.
• Righteousness: After Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, his righteousness and innocence would be established. He had been accused of many things, even of having a demon, but the resurrection would prove him to be Lord and Christ.
• Judgment: Several different explanations of this were offered, but it seems simple enough to me. Jesus mentions the ruler of this world being judged. Satan’s power was broken because of the cross and the resurrection. The Holy Spirit is going to convince the world of this judgment and bring those who repent into the freedom of that judgment.

In verses 12-15, Jesus is speaking primarily to the apostles. The Holy Spirit will lead them into all truth because the Gospel has been committed to them. Today, we occasionally teach that the Holy Spirit will lead us individually into accurate Bible interpretation, but all of that is wrong. The promise that truth will be revealed to us is directed at the church, as evidenced by the fact that all the "you’s" in those verses are plural (1 Jn. 2:27).

Also, truth is not the equivalent of "accurate Bible interpretation." Truth, as I hope you will see over and over again as we go through the apostles writings, has more to do with behavior, with obeying Jesus’ commands, than it does with accurately interpreting the Bible.

For too often, "accurately" interpreting the Bible results in proud proclamations that lead to division. Creating division is a terrible violation of the Bible and of the will of God. God is not so much interested in renewing our intellects and making us Bible scholars as he is in renewing our hearts and minds so that we are humble servants of God filled with the Spirit and power.

To "accurately" interpret the Bible, and then create division with your accurate interpretation renders your accurate interpretation completely useless; in fact, it makes it evil.

In verses 16-22 we should have some patience with the apostles. Today, we have grown used to (and perhaps even take for granted) the death and resurrection of the Messiah. We can easily put those verses into that context. Jesus was still alive and standing in front of the apostles here, and the thought that Jesus would die and rise again would seem very strange to them.

In verses 23-30, the apostles appear to understand, but that is only because Jesus’ death is no longer being discussed. Instead, Jesus promises that they will be able to pray to the Father in power just as he had been doing for three years in front of them. They understood this. Death and resurrection they still did not understand.

In verses 31-33, Jesus corrects their mistaken perception about how well they understand. He explains that he has said these things so that when they see what is happening, they will have something to fall back on so that they do not utterly despair.

John 17

John 17 is entirely a prayer.

We’ve already addressed the whole subject of the divinity of the Word of God back in chapter 1, so we shouldn’t have to address why Jesus calls the Father the one true God in verse 3. (See The Trinity if you want a more indepth discussion of the subject, or get my book for a thorough analysis of the Trinity and the Council of Nicea.)

In verse two, it’s important—especially the way we think today—to catch that Jesus is the one who gives eternal life. Eternal life is not an automatic thing that happens if you learn about the atonement and can pass a test on it. Eternal life is in the possession of Jesus Christ, and he gives eternal life to those who believe in him, which means that they become his disciples. The teaching that we can simply believe that Jesus died for our sins, then do whatever we want is a falsehood that needs to be driven out of the church until every vestige of it is gone.

Do people really teach that? Charles Ryrie, the person who put the notes in the Ryrie Study Bible, wrote a very popular book called So Great Salvation about 20 years ago that teaches that false gospel. (John MacArthur answered it with a book called The Gospel According to Jesus.)

Verses 6-19 may need to be read a couple times (or more) to fully catch what Jesus is saying. Overall, the basic message is that Jesus is returning to the Father, and he is asking his Father to work through the apostles the way he has worked through Jesus. Jesus is the living Word of God, and now he has given the Word to the apostles, who will proclaim that Word to the world.

In verses 20-23 Jesus prays for a certain result to the preaching of the Word. That result is unity. Through that unity, he prays, the world will know that the Father sent the Son.

Our Protestant traditions have caused us to forget the importance of unity. We love our denominations and our right to choose our own church—and sit in the pew and be non-participants—more than we love the Word of God, which says that by our division we are testifying against the authenticity of Jesus as the Son of God.

Of course, that’s not everyone, but the fact is that Christianity in general is not known for its unity. It is known for its division, and this is a horrible contradiction of what Jesus prayed for.

John 18

In verses 4-8, it is commonly held that Jesus is referring back, just as he certainly was in John 8:58, to the burning bush, where God told Moses, "I am that I am" (Ex. 3:14). You will notice that in most translations the "he" in "I am he" is in italics, indicating that it’s not in the original Greek, but added in English for clarification. Of course, if Jesus meant to say "I Am" as a title, rather than "I am he," then the addition of "he" was not a clarification, but an error.

It is possible that the "he" was understood in Greek. I don’t suppose there is any way to be certain that Jesus meant to use "I Am" as a title in these verses, even though it’s clear he was using it as a title in John 8:58.

Of course, we do have to pay attention to the fact that the soldiers fell backwards when he said it. That seems evidence that he meant to identify himself as the great "I Am" in this passage.

The "other disciple" who is mentioned in verse 15 is supposed by all, including me, to be John himself. Tradition has it that he was related to the high priest’s family.

In verse 19-24, it is easy to wonder who the high priest is, Annas or Caiaphas? The answer is that at that time, Annas and Caiaphas were switching off as high priest every year. Verse 13 tells us that it was Caiaphas’ year to be high priest, so Jesus wasn’t really addressing the high priest when he addressed Annas. Annas had been the high priest the year before.

Verse 28 raises a real quandary, at least for those for whom inspiration means that there can be no historical errors nor any differences between the various witnesses of Jesus’ life. John tells us that the Pharisees did not go into the praetorium because they did not want to be defiled for the Passover meal. However, we read in the other Gospels that Jesus had eaten the Passover meal the evening before.

You can read through various explanations of this. There are two main explanations offered:

• That eating the Passover is a reference to the rest of the feast, which lasted seven more days, and not to the Passover meal itself.
• That Jesus ate the Passover early, knowing that he was going to be arrested, and that he was crucified at the actual hour that everyone else was eating the Passover. A day for the Jews ran from sunset to sunset, so if Jesus and the apostles at the last supper after the sun set on Thursday evening, then they would have still eaten it on the same day as any Jews who ate the Passover meal before sunset on Friday.

Of course, the proponents of these explanations both refer to the other explanation as unlikely.

I’d like to throw in a third possibility, which is that John wrote his Gospel some 60 years after the events that happened, and that he got the timing wrong because of memory. I don’t know that is the case, but I wish we didn’t rule it out. I wish that we didn’t confuse inspiration with "complete historical and scientific inerrancy down to the tiniest detail, even if there was no way for the writer to have understood modern science."

If we could get free from such an interpretation of inspiration, we could quit making bizarre excuses for why Genesis one and two are so contradictory or why the book of Job says that the sky is as hard as metal (Job 37:18). We might even be able to extract the real spiritual lessons that God inspired through Moses and the standard Hebrew creation myth in Genesis one, rather than trying to explain how there could be water above the "firmament" even though the firmament includes the sun, moon, and stars.

Verse 36 was a pretty central verse to the early churches. In case you don’t know, until the fourth century, Christians were opposed to participating in war. They talk about it over and over, calling war murder on a mass scale.

Part of the reason for that was Jesus’ statement here that his kingdom was not of this world. Ancient Israel fought wars because their kingdom was of this world. The Israel of God, however, which is the church, the kingdom of heaven revealed on earth, does not fight with carnal weapons but with spiritual weapons.

Primarily, though, they referred to Isaiah’s prophecy in Isaiah 2:2-4. They applied "out of Zion" to the apostles, and they pointed out that the hearers of the apostles would "beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks … neither shall they learn war anymore."

This chapter ends with the Jews asking for Barabbas to be released. It is of note to me, and I’ve pointed it out before, that "Barabbas" means "son of the father." The real Son of the Father was rejected by the Jews (and by us all through them) and a lesser, criminal, human son of the father was taken in his place.

This Week’s Readings

Monday, July 2: John 13-15
Tuesday, June 26: John 16-18
Wednesday, June 27: John 19-21
Thursday, June 28: Psalms 42-45; Proverbs 15
Friday, June 29: Psalms 46-49; Proverbs 16

Next week we will begin Isaiah. I gave us 3 weeks to work on that 66-chapter book.

The overall year’s plan is here.

Intro Comment on John 13-15

Today we have three very famous chapters of the Bible. Chapter 13 has the story of Jesus’ washing the apostles feet. Chapter 14 is where Jesus talks about going to prepare a place for us, so that we can be where he is. Chapter 15 is the vine and branches chapter ("I am the Vine; you are the branches").

It got me to thinking that if we were to memorize one verse or a story for each chapter of the apostolic writings, then we would have an excellent overview of all the New Covenant books that the church accepts as inspired.

For example, verse 1 would be a great memory verse for John 1. Lots of people have it memorized already, and they often include John 1:14 with it. In John 2, you could simply remember that the story of the wedding in Cana, where Jesus turned the water to wine, occurred there. John 3 is the born again chapter, containing the talk with Nicodemus, and of course it also has John 3:16 which even many non-Christians have memorized.

And so on.

John 13:1-20

Jesus washes the apostles feet, and he says that he did this as an example for them. He says they will be blessed if they follow his example.

Jesus did a lot of work to show the apostles another way, a way in which the greatest among us would be servants. It is very easy to lose that mindset and begin to take seats of honor and titles of honor. In fact, let’s harken back to a previous Gospel and discuss titles. It seems as though in the church today we have completely forgotten that Jesus ever said anything about titles.

Do not be called rabbi, for only one is your guide, Christ, and you are all brothers.
Call no one on earth your father, for only one is your Father, he who is in heaven.
Nor be called teacher, for only one is your teacher, Christ.
But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.
Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he that humbles himself shall be exalted.
~ Matt. 23:8-12

What’s embarrassing is how often we who are not Roman Catholics have used this verse (rightly) against the Roman Catholic practice of addressing their clergy as "Father." However, we completely ignore this passage when it comes to our use of "Pastor Jones" or "Reverend Wilson." (Those names are made up; no actual people are intended.)

This does not mean that you cannot call your dad "father." The passage is entirely about religious leaders who love "to be called by men ‘Rabbi, Rabbi.’" It’s about taking religious titles to honor yourself, or even about accepting religious titles from others who want to honor you. "Don’t be called teacher," Jesus said. That is not the usual word for a teacher in the New Covenant writings. The word Jesus uses means guide or leader.

To refer to someone as being a shepherd or a teacher is one thing. To give them a title is what Jesus is talking about. I’m supposed to be just Paul, one of the brothers, even if I’m a shepherd or a teacher. I can’t be set apart by a title like "Pastor Pavao," while others wind up with "lower-ranking" titles like "Brother Frank" or "Deacon Smith."

I’m not a pastor, by the way, though I teach a lot in my church and occasionally others. I was just using that as an example.

There is a difference between knowing who the elders are in your local church and giving them a title of honor. The apostles’ writings give numerous examples of the former, and Jesus strictly forbad the latter.

But I guess we’ve forgotten.

John 13:20: Those Whom God Has Sent

We tend to think, "I just listen to the Bible."

Well, that’s a bad idea. According to Jesus here in verse 20, the way to receive him and his Father is to receive the ones that Jesus sends. I believe in this verse Jesus is primarily referring to the future ministry of the apostles. He is sending them out with the Gospel, just as his Father sent him to earth with the Word of Life, and those who do not receive the apostles don’t receive Jesus, either.

We can find ourselves in the same position.

Today, that’s really tough. We can receive the apostles by receiving the apostles’ writings, which are what the "New Testament" consists of. (I suppose you’ve noticed that I don’t like to call their writings "the New Testament.") While not all books of the "New Testament" were written by apostles, the early churches understood them all to have at least been approved by apostles. (Peter approved the Gospel of Mark, and Paul approved Luke’s Gospel, for example.)

However, what about others? In the late first and early second century, that was easier, too. The apostles appointed leaders in the churches, and the churches were confident that the majority of those leaders were preserving the truth, passing it on to the church as they had received it from the apostles, changing nothing.

Today, though, the argument of ancient churches that they can show a lineage of bishops back to the apostles means nothing. The "telephone game" doesn’t work across 2,000 years. The likelihood that the faith got passed on unchanged from one leader to the next across 20 centuries is slim indeed. We need more than just a roll of bishops back to the beginning.

Jesus has spent a lot of John telling us that if the Word of God is in us, we will recognize the words of God when they come. His sheep know his voice. When we hear the words of God, we must receive the messenger as well as the words!

Years ago, a pastor came to visit the Christian community of which I am a part. In one sense, he loved what he saw. He wrote, "In stark contrast to the petty backbiting and self-centeredness that characterizes so much of the church today, this gathering of Christians is a living testimony of what the church should be; a harmonious body of believers loving and laying down their lives for one another."

But did he receive the messengers that had produced this fruit? Not at all. He labeled the head elder of our community a wolf, and since I was the main writer on our web site, he labeled me a wolf as well. Why? Because he disagreed with one or two things that we had said, one of his main issues being the interpretation of a parable!!!

John 13:21-33

The reason the apostles didn’t understand what Jesus said to Judas was because his statement about passing the morsel of bread was whispered to John. None of the other apostles, including Judas, heard it.

When I was told I had leukemia last year, I took a moment to make sure that I really believed the verse that says, "All things work together for good for those that love God and who are called according to his purpose" (Rom. 8:28). After that, I treated the news of leukemia as a great blessing. People have even tried to correct me when I called it good or an adventure rather than a trial.

In verses 31-33 we see Jesus filled with glee and praise as the end comes upon him. He was going to be crucified, one of the worst deaths imaginable (much worse than leukemia). Later, he would sweat tears of blood in the garden getting himself geared up for what he was about to go through. At this point, however, Jesus knows to trust his Father, and he rejoices.

For the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Heb. 12:2).

John 13:34-35: Love and Evangelism

Jesus says that everyone will know we are his disciples if we love one another.

It is good to love others. James even says that true and undefiled religion includes helping the orphans and widows in their distress. However, our best testimony to the world is not our love for those outside the faith but for each other.

Our example of getting along and taking care of each other is, according to Jesus, the ultimate testimony of the truth of the Gospel (see also Jn. 17:20-23).

Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially those who are of the household of faith. (Gal. 6:10)

John 14:1-3: Mansions in Heaven?

The King James Version uses the word mansion in verse 2, but that is not accurate. There are many "mansions" in Jesus’ Father’s "house"? Does that even make sense?

The word the KJV translates mansion is only used one other time in Scripture. It’s in this chapter, in verse 23. There it says that if anyone keeps Jesus’ words, then he and his Father will come make their "abode" with him. In other words, in verse 23, the Greek word mone is applied to us. We are the home.

Most modern translations render mone as "dwelling places."

What place is Jesus’ preparing for us? What house is the Father’s house?

• " … in the house of God, which is the church of the living God" (1 Tim. 3:15).
• "Christ [was faithful] as a Son over his own house, whose house we are, if we hold fast the confidence and rejoicing of the hope until the end" (Heb. 3:6).
• "You also, as living stones, are being built into a spiritual house" (1 Pet. 2:5)

The house that Jesus is preparing for the Father—and for us—is us. Not only can the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit take up residence inside of us, but spiritually, we can create dwelling places for one another. We can have one another in our hearts.

I believe this is the primary meaning of John 14:1-3. It’s entirely possible that Jesus is also talking about the eternal kingdom, but I highly suspect that even then, God’s house will still be us, and we will still bethe dwelling places that Jesus has prepared.

John 14:6

In verse 6, Jesus tells us that he is "the Way, the Truth, and the Life." Those are rich statements, worth meditating upon. Beyond that, though, he also tells us that the is the only route to the Father. That is questioned a lot today, even in the church, but it’s what Jesus said.

Back when we went through Romans, I mentioned in Romans 2 that I thought it was possible for Gentiles to be excused at the judgment by their conscience because they lived a life obedient to their conscience. I felt free to say that, despite the fact that I know about John 14:6, for two reasons:

• Romans 2:14-15 states this is true, pretty plainly. I don’t like to play the game of saying, "Yeah, I know Paul said that, but he knew it was impossible when he said it." I don’t think Paul or God talk like that.
• According to Peter, Jesus preached to "spirits in prison" and "the dead" after his death and before his resurrection (1 Pet. 3:19; 4:6). I am presuming (along with most Christians) that these were righteous people who were awaiting the crucifixion of Christ so that they could be partakers of the great gift of the New Covenant and receive the Spirit of God and be equipped for immortality. Why would the modern righteous, who have not heard the Gospel, not be given the same opportunity?

John 14:7-14

We read back in 1:18 that the Word, after he became flesh, "exegeted" (interpreted, explained) the Father to us. The Son reveals the Father for they share the same nature. The Son is the Father’s Word and Thought.

John 14:15

If you love Jesus, you will keep his commandments.

The mark of loving Jesus is not saying that you love him. It is keeping his commandments. The person, John says in his letter, who says he knows God and doesn’t keep his commandments is a liar (1 Jn. 2:3-4).

John tends to be very straightforward.

John 14:16-31

Here is the very heart of the New Covenant again. This is what Jesus came to do. He came to bring us the Holy Spirit, who is called the Comforter here.

The Greek word for Comforter is one that even non-Greek-speaking Christians have been familiar with for centuries. It is parakletos, and it is usually written as Paraclete in English. The word can mean not only Comforter, but Exhorter, Encourager, and even One Who Pleads. It has such a wide usage in the apostles’ writings that I like to translate the verb form of parakletos (parakaleo) as "to use words in any manner to persuade someone to do something."

This is a great passage not necessarily to memorize, but certainly to be familiar with. It is better, yes better, for Jesus to have gone to sit at God’s right hand because this allows him to live in all of us by the Holy Spirit. Jesus had a singular body that could only be in one place at one time. Now he has a corporate body that can be all over the world, controlled by the head of the body, the Son of God, seated at the right hand of the Father.

John 14:28

We’re a little scared nowadays to repeat Jesus’ words that the Father is greater than he is. That’s because somewhere around the beginning of the fifth century, someone wrote a creed called the Athanasian Creed (not written by Athanasius, despite the name), which says that in the Trinity "none is before or after another, none is greater or less than another."

It appears that we put more stock in a creed written by an unknown person, the official creed of no church at all, over the words of Jesus. That’s kind of scary.

We explain John 14:28 by saying that Jesus meant that the Father was greater than he was only while he was on earth. The problem is that if that’s what Jesus meant, then he was a very bad communicator—either that or the apostles were—because every comment about John 14:28 before about A.D. 350 takes Jesus’ statement as applying eternally:

The Father is the entire substance, but the Son is a derivation and portion of the whole, as he himself acknowledges: “My Father is greater than I” [John 14:28] … Thus the Father is distinct from the Son, being greater than the Son, inasmuch as he who begets is one, and he who is begotten is another. (Tertullian, Against Praxeas 9, c. A.D. 210)

I have several more quotes on John 14:28 from the second century to the early fourth century at Is the Nicene Creed Heretical? (And far more in my book, In the Beginning Was the Logos.)

John 15:1-9

A very famous and very important passage. I want to highlight verse 5: "Apart from me you can do nothing" (v. 5, NASB).

It’s crucial that we believe this and learn how to abide in him.

The easiest, simplest way to abide in him is going to sound like a surprise to most Protestants: Simply remain in the body of Christ.

We tend to spiritualize everything, and I most certainly emphasize walking in the Spirit of God, but the church is Jesus living in his people on earth. It is his body, and if we are in his body, then we are remaining in him.

The Scriptures say some amazing things about the church. We grow up into Christ together, speaking the truth in love to one another, each part doing its share (Eph. 4:11-16). Attending a meeting and listening to one gifted (or not so gifted) person is not what we are called to. We are called to be together in such a way that we "may all prophesy one by one" (1 Cor. 14:31).

It seems unquestionable to me that the person living in what Eph. 4:11-16 describes is abiding in Christ, no matter how he feels.

There is a book called Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret, which makes the powerful point that if we belong to Christ, then we are in Christ whether we feel like it or not. It’s not about feelings; it’s about what Christ has done for us, and we should believe and walk in it (cf. Rom. 6:11). Hudson Taylor was powerfully effective as an evangelist in China, but he says that the last five years of his ministry, after he knew this principle, were more fruitful than the first thirty.

John 15:10-17

Jesus calls us friends. If it is a great honor to be known as children of God (1 Jn. 3:2), it is just as great an honor to be known as friends of Jesus. This offer is made to those who obey Jesus commandments, not just to those who believe nice things about him or can pass a theology test on the atonement.

The commandment Jesus emphasizes, because with the love of God it is the greatest commandment, is that we love one another. By this everyone will know that we are his disciples.

John 15:18-25

Christianity is not a popularity contest. In fact, if you are too popular it is a very bad sign ("Woe to you when all men speak well of you"—Luke 6:26).

John 15:26-27

It is not just the Holy Spirit that bears witness to Jesus. The apostles would bear witness to Jesus because they had been with him from the beginning. This is why, when they had to replace Judas, they looked for someone who had also been with them from the beginning (Acts 1:21-22).

Today we picture the Bible as the authority in the church, and it does have authority. It must be obeyed, as long as we are obeying God’s interpretation of it and not our own. (We must not be like the Pharisees—John 5:39-40.) It is inspired (God-breathed), and it is profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness, the purpose of which is to equip us for every good work (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

To the early churches, however, the primary authority was the apostles. God had sent the Gospel to the earth through Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ had sent the apostles. Thus, we are exhorted not to fight for the writings once for all delivered to the church, but for the faith once for all delivered to the church (Jude 3). That is also why they collected the 27 books that they collected, which we call the New Testament. These are the ones that the churches believed were approved by the apostles. (It’s a bit more complicated than that, but it’s accurate enough. Something very close to our 27 books were settled on by the early second century.)

The apostles have preached the Gospel to us from the Lord Jesus Christ; Jesus Christ [has done so] from God. Christ therefore was sent forth by God, and the apostles by Christ. … Having therefore received their orders, and being fully assured by the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, and established in the word of God, with full assurance of the Holy Spirit, they went forth proclaiming that the kingdom of God was at hand. (Clement of Rome, 1 Clement 42, A.D. 96)

We have learned from none others the plan of our salvation, than from those through whom the Gospel has come down to us, which they did at one time proclaim in public, and, at a later period, by the will of God, handed down to us in the Scriptures, to be the ground and pillar of our faith.3309 For it is unlawful to assert that they preached before they possessed “perfect knowledge,” as some do even venture to say, boasting themselves as improvers of the apostles. For, after our Lord rose from the dead, [the apostles] were invested with power from on high when the Holy Spirit came down [upon them], were filled from all [His gifts], and had perfect knowledge: they departed to the ends of the earth, preaching the glad tidings of the good things [sent] from God to us, and proclaiming the peace of heaven to men, who indeed do all equally and individually possess the Gospel of God. (Irenaeus, Against Heresies III:1:1, c. A.D. 185)

Sorry I’m late with this! I was up late last night (almost) finishing it, and I wanted to review it after a good night’s rest because I was getting too tired to trust my writing. Chapter 12 was partially done; I’ll put it up in a few minutes when I’m finished with it.

This Week’s Readings

Monday, June 25: John 1:1-3
Tuesday, June 26: John !:4-3
Wednesday, June 27: John 4-6
Thursday, June 28: John 7-9
Friday, June 29: John 10-12

Next week we will finish the Gospel of John, then cover more Psalms and Proverbs on Thursday and Friday.

The overall year’s plan is here.

John 10

In chapter 9, Jesus talked about having the Word of God within so that we could hear God’s words. Here in chapter 10, the illustration is a different, but the message is the same. Now he is talking about sheep who know the Shepherd’s voice. These are the same ones who have the Word of God within them. They recognize the voice of the Shepherd, and they follow him; however, they will not follow a stranger, for they do not recognize his voice (verses 4-5).

To those who are not his sheep, Jesus says, "I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name, these testify of me. But you do not believe because you are not of my sheep" (verses 25-26, NASB).

There are some theological issues we should address here, too. Verse 27, where Jesus says that no one can pluck the sheep out of his hand, is used as an "eternal security" verse quite often. Eternal security teaches that once we believe, we are going to heaven, and nothing can happen that will change that. Verse 27 doesn’t say that. It does say that once we believe, nothing can take us out of his hand. That is true, but this verse says nothing about those who walk away; who by their own volition do not stay in his hand.

I once heard a radio preacher quote John 10:27 as a "clear" verse that we ought to listen to and believe. He was contrasting it with 2 Peter 2:20-21, which, he said, was a "difficult" verse that we should interpret in the light of clear verses like John 10:27.

Let me post 2 Peter 2:20-21 here for you. Do you find anything difficult to understand about this verse?

If after they have escaped the pollutions of this world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, their final end will be worse than their beginning. It would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than, having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them.

What’s difficult about that verse is that the radio preacher didn’t believe it. It wasn’t difficult to understand. It simply didn’t fit his theology—his "traditions of men"—and so he chose to interpret it "in the light of" a verse that did fit his theology.

It is true that nothing can snatch us from Jesus’ hand and the Father’s hand. It is true that nothing can separate us from the love of God, not even principalities and powers, nothing present and nothing that shall be (Rom. 8:38-39). If we continue in the faith, grounded and settled in it, then Jesus is going to present us to his Father as a trophy of grace, blameless and without fault …if we continue in the faith … (Col. 1:22-23).

It would be nice if we didn’t have to issue such warnings, but it is human nature to turn the grace of God into a license for sin. The remedy for that is to use the Scripture to reprove, rebuke, exhort, and instruct in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16). We must be reminded to continue in the faith. When Paul and Barnabas returned to the churches they had started, the Scriptures sums up their message to those churches in just one sentence: "… strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that through many troubles we must enter into the kingdom of God" (14:22). Christians, even good and godly Christians, need to be exhorted and encouraged (Heb. 3:13).

In verse 30, Jesus says that he and the Father are one. The Jehovah’s Witnesses like to argue that this simply means that he and the Father are in spiritual unity. John 14:30 is not a "Trinity" verse, they say. It’s a little more complicated than that, as we talked about Monday when we looked at John 1:1, but basically they are correct. You and I, assuming that we are both New Covenant disciples possessed by the Spirit of God, are told to be as one with each other as the Father and Son are (Jn. 17:20-23).

In fact, even the source of our unity is the same. The Father and Son are united in their very nature. According to Scripture, we escape the corruptions of this world because we partake of that divine nature. We are empowered and united by the very nature of God. Christianity should be a supernatural religion!

That’s more than a theological position. It’s a command (Php. 1:27-2:4) and a necessity: The Father and Son are one, and we must be one exactly as they are one if we expect the world to believe the things that we say! (Jn. 17:20-23).

John 11

This chapter is famous for the resurrection of Lazarus.

There are many things we can learn from this passage, and if you let your mind work on this passage repeatedly (like a cow repeatedly chews on the cud), then you will get much more out of it than I could possible cover in this small commentary. I do want to highlight a couple things.

Jesus waits two days, on purpose, after he hears that Lazarus is sick. He knew that he would have to raise Lazarus from the dead (vv. 6,11).

Despite the fact that Lazarus was four days dead, Jesus is in no hurry. He wants to talk to Mary, apparently away from the crowds and mourners, and he simply waits right where he talked to Martha for Mary to arrive (v. 30). Most of us, in such a tense situation, would have been in a hurry even if we knew the things Jesus knew, which is that Lazarus was dead and that Jesus would raise him from the dead.

It’s entirely possible that the reason Jesus wanted to see both Martha and Mary was to make sure that they had real faith, which would help him. He questioned Martha about her belief in him, and Mary volunteered her faith, "Lord, if you had been here he would not have died" (v. 32). He had experienced the people of Galilee being so unbelieving and so opposed to the work of God that his ability to work miracles there was impaired (Mark 6:5).

In verse 35, the shortest verse in the Bible, we are told that Jesus wept. Jesus was not weeping because Lazarus was dead. He was weeping over Mary’s tears, and he loved not only Mary, but also the crowd, which he longed to gather under his wing as a chicken does her chicks (Matt. 23:37).

At Rose Creek Village, we like to apply verse 44 to new believers. Just as Lazarus came out of the tomb in grave clothes, needing to be unwrapped, so those who are newly come to Christ are still in need of the removal of layer and layers of burial cloths put on them from their previous life. We must help them escape their old grave clothes and come into the freedom of Christ. Those grave clothes come in many forms, including false beliefs, fears, insecurities, self-righteousness, etc.

In verse 49-51 we are granted an unusual look into how prophecy works. Caiaphas, who refused to hear the Word of the Lord even after Lazarus had been raised from the dead, was moved by the Spirit of God to prophesy because he was the high priest, even though he himself was not aware of it!

John 12

A lot of modern movies and stories like to portray Judas Iscariot as a basically good man who hoped to provoke Jesus to reveal his great power by betraying him. The apostle John didn’t believe that. He believed Judas was a thief and stealing from the money bag (v. 6).

We should remember that Jesus had his reasons for keeping a son of the devil among his disciples. It should help us when we begin to wonder about imperfect churches and some of the people that are in them. We need to obey God, and if there is wickedness in the midst of the church, the wicked man must be removed (1 Cor. 5:7-8,13). But where we have situations where we cannot obtain repentance, nor can we get others to carry out proper church discipline, then we should remember that even Jesus had a Judas with him.

In verse 10, we see how remarkably and persistently blind the chief priests were. They were going to try to kill Lazarus! Again!

Note verse 16. I know I point out verses like this every chance I get, but I think it’s important. Many Christians wander off into speculative prophecy about end times, and they are always wrong in their predictions–always. Many messages from God, especially long term prophecy, are not meant to be understood in advance. They are for the time that the prophecy occurs, at which time they will "remember that these things were written."

In verse 20, the Greeks mentioned are Gentiles. There is a similar word (similar in Greek) that refers to Greek-speaking Jews and is used in Acts 6:1. That word is generally translated Hellenists, but it is not used here (ref). These Greeks came up to worship at the feast, so they were in some stage of being converted to Judaism.

They wanted to see Jesus, and Jesus’ answer to them is cryptic, but full of meaning if we understand why he answered in this way. The time of the Gentiles had not begun. In Paul’s letters, Paul explains that the bringing in of the Gentiles to be part of the Israel of God was a great mystery hidden since the foundation of the earth (Eph. 3:2-6; Col. 1:25-27). It was not time for the Greeks to see him yet. The time had come for Jesus to be glorified. He would soon move from his individual physical body to his corporate body, consisting of many members, the church. There the mystery of the bringing in of the Gentiles would be fully visible. The "wealth of the glory" of that mystery among the Gentiles is "Christ in us." That is what the Greeks needed to see, and that is why Jesus responded by talking about his death. He mentions that he is to be glorified, and he explains how they will find him. They must fall into the ground and die like a grain of wheat. They must believe and follow him. Then they will find him, but coming to see his physical body now, on the way to the cross, was not the right thing.

Let’s talk about verse 31 a moment. The ruler of this world is cast out? Is the ruler of this world really cast out? The apostles would still cast out demons after the resurrection. Today we are still locked in battle with the devil, and John tells us that the whole world lies under his sway (1 John 5:19).

The answer to this puzzle is that in Christ, the devil’s power over us is broken. We are transferred from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of God’s beloved Son (Col. 1:13). The ruler of this world is cast out in Christ. As we enter Christ, as we live as part of his kingdom, the authority of the devil is no more. We can simply resist him, steadfast in the faith, and he will flee from us (Jn. 4:7).

Before Christ, we are slaves to the spirit that is in this world. We may not know it, but it is nonetheless true. We were all dead in our trespasses and sins, and we were all moved by that great deceptive spirit, the spirit that now works in the sons of disobedience (Eph. 2:1-3).

In verse 36 we are told again about the fact that the night is coming. The great light that not only rules the day, but makes it day, is departing this life. Jesus calls his hearers to believe in him so that they may become children of light and thus light the night that is coming. We are the lesser light that rules the light. We must live as children of light, exposing the unfruitful deeds of darkness (Eph. 5:8-14).

In verse 40, let’s address predestination again briefly. Did God harden the hearts of those who did not believe out of capriciousness? He just randomly chose some to harden and some to enlighten?

Not at all. It is as many as he foreknew that he predestined, not as many as he decided to rescue from perishing. We are told repeatedly that God wants everyone to be saved (1 Tim. 2:4; 2 Pet. 3:9). God hardens those who will not listen, who choose their own way. He taught us through his Word, Jesus, that we are not to throw pearls before pigs nor give that which is holy to the dogs, and he gives that advice because that is what he does. He doesn’t waste his time with those who refuse to hear. Because he’s God, he doesn’t have to block his own ears and not listen to them. He blocks their ears.

In verses 42 and 43, we read first a positive comment about some of the Pharisees, that many secretly believed in him, but then we read a negative one: They loved the approval of men over the approval of God.

Verses 44-50 ought to move our hearts. Jesus is saying, "Listen, this is not my idea. This is my Father’s idea. I do the will of the Father, and I have come here to save you. I’m the Servant who is going through all this trouble … for you! I know that the Father is offering eternal life, so here I am showing you the way to eternal life through great suffering and effort on my part."