Month: July 2024

The love of God so rich, so pure, like the endless waves of the ocean, like the sand on the shore. Thank you Lord for the attitude of love towards your creation which has motivated all your actions.

” I conceived and created the whole concept of love. Behind every action I take and behind every relationship I have is a banner – the banner of love. It is easy to speak of love and the word is so widely used it has lost much of its original significance and meaning, but in its purist form it is inseparable from the idea of mercy and grace. The greatest gift anyone can receive is the knowledge and understanding of my love – which I demonstrated practically in the sacrifice of my Son. Starting by knowing that intellectually opens the door for you to experience it throughout your whole being. It is a lifelong growing experience and that is why Paul in his prayer in Ephesians prayed that you should know the height breadth, depth and length of my love which is inseparable from my almighty power.”

We move on to John 6:1-15, which describes what has been suggested is His most important miracle. Up till now His miracles have all had to do with healing and exorcism. This one is totally different.

The scene is set in the first paragraph. The place and the large crowd, who by now were following Jesus, are described . Then there is a small note which is quite important. v 4 Tells us the Passover feast was near. Now we must remember that the Passover was big for the Jews. It embodied the most important event in the Israeli history. The rescue of God’s people from slavery in Egypt was the great backdrop to the Israeli culture and faith. God had made it clear that the people should continue to remember this event annually with a feast. We’ll come back to that, but first let us note a few things.

In v 5 we see that the events described here were clearly initiated by Jesus, as He set the scene to do what He was going to do. The next vv highlight the impossibility of the situation. 5 small bread rolls and two fish was all that was apparently available.

Unfazed by the apparent impossibility of the situation Jesus instructs the people to sit down. Once again the number of people is mentioned to show the hopelessness of the situation.

Nevertheless Jesus starts distributing the food. In the other accounts in the other gospels we are told that the disciples actually handed out the food, but clearly it was Jesus who was multiplying it. The amount that was left over is staggering and just acts to reinforce the magnitude of what Jesus had done.

Up to now in this gospel we have been following John’s description of how Jesus was gradually revealing who He really was/is. The context and the magnitude of what Jesus did serves to connect the reader and presumably those who were there and able to understand to the great Exodus from Egypt. We are reminded here of how God took the people into a desert and in the light of the complete lack of food and water provided for them, bringing water from a rock and then providing daily the manna that they needed to live on. This manna was provided for them the entire time they were in the desert.

Who could do this? Only God Himself. Hence – who is this man Jesus? The people make some sort of connection. They speak of the “prophet who was prophesied to come” in Deuteronomy. One of the early prophecies of a Messiah who would eventually come. However they are looking for the wrong sort of King. They are looking for a king who would, 1. save them from the Roman yoke and 2. be someone who would provide for their needs (6:26). Hence Jesus slips away. He is not ready to reveal the true nature of His mission yet.

What did this mean to me? Well obviously the growing picture of who this man is has continued to reinforce my faith. On a micro level there is also a reminder that, while this was not His prime goal, there are many references to the fact elsewhere in the scriptures that, if we are part of the New Kingdom, God will never let us want. He is always there and always able and willing to make sure we are cared for.

As we move further on into the gospel we will see that John/Jesus uses this story as a prologue to His later discussion on being the “Bread of Life”. See you next week, God bless.

As the deer pants for water – so my soul pants for you oh lord. I sit at the Master’s feet and wait on what He wants to give me. I am reminded that He is always a giving God, eager to share His grace and love.

” Yes, from the beginning of time, as I decided to create – I had this desire to give, to make out of nothing, to turn around that which may be evil or negative. To turn that so that My people may experience My immeasurable generosity. Even as I have allowed evil and pain into the world it has been allowed benevolently so that you can truly appreciate My love, mercy, grace and generosity. Even that longing you feel for Me and My grace and love has been placed there so that you will turn away from your own desires and plans to gaze upon Me and to follow Me, so that I can gather you up into My arms along with all those others who have responded to My love.“

We come now to John 5:31. Up to now we have been introduced to Jesus by John, the Baptist and by the miracles He performed. Jesus now starts putting the miracles into perspective. Remember that the theme of John’s gospel is described in John 20:30,31. The miracles have been described so that the reader may believe and in believing have eternal life. However, how do they know who this is that they are seeing doing miracles? So there needs to be an explanation or commentary (testimony) which will explain who the miracles are pointing to.

Jesus is addressing the Jews, who were completely hostile towards Him. He starts by saying that His testimony, at this stage cannot just be from Himself, so where must it come from? Firstly, there has been John the Baptist. However as much as that shone a light forward which they had enjoyed, it did not, on its own carry enough weight to be a final proof of who He is.

So, vs 36 Jesus turns to the miracles (note: He calls them signs as they were done to point to Him), as proof that “The Father” was behind them, thus revealing His deity. He turns then to the very testimony of the Father Himself. Where should they find this testimony? He is bringing them to the point of this whole section. That testimony is in the very scriptures which the Jews pride themselves on being such experts.

What is the problem? He comes back to that at the end of the piece in v 45. They base their whole lives on the law of Moses. Yet in doing this they are simply following the law, a list of rules. They don’t see or understand that this very law points beyond itself to the person of Jesus, the expected Messiah. The problem is one of faith, belief. cf v 40. It is not just that they don’t believe, according to Jesus they “refuse to believe”.

What is the proof of this? The proof is in their fruit (vs 41-44). They show no real love for God because they are more interested in receiving praise for themselves. Their focus is entirely on themselves and are not interested in finding how they can praise God and receive praise from Him.

Ultimately the very “signs” He was doing were meaningless unless they were put into the context of scripture, explaining who He was/is. Basically, the problem started with their self-centered attitude. They were more interested in themselves and being praised for their knowledge than submitting to the scriptures and letting God reveal Himself in them.

Friends, our denomination’s motto is: “Thy word above all things”. It is a very good motto, however we need to remember that knowing and reading God’s word, the scriptures are not, in themselves enough to live our Christian lives. The scriptures are always a conduit, a “way” of finding and meeting the Lord Himself. We “listen to Jesus” in and through the scriptures and look at how they point to Him and then we derive from that what He is saying to us, so that our lives may be changed by understanding them and by the application and power of the Holy Spirit.

If we read them in any other way, we just become legalists, like those Jews, trying to please God by obeying the “rules”. It is very easy even for us, as Christians who love the Lord to fall back into reading the Word as an end in itself, without seeing them as part of our dynamic relationship with Jesus. What a privilege that is, we should never pass that up for second best.

A thought-provoking reminder. See you all again next week.

The Lord is my Shepherd, I will not want. He leads me by still, still waters, and I will trust in You alone, surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life.

” I am your Goodness, I am your Grace, I am your Mercy and yes, I follow you all the days of your life. But there is more, I not only follow you I go before you, preparing the way and all the time as you make your way through this life I am by your side. When the sun shines and when the rain comes, in the green pastures and also through the dark, dark valley. So – yes, rest in Me and trust in Me, I am totally trustworthy, I will never let you down. I hold you close to my bosom with my arms clutched around you.“

As we proceed in John ch 5, Lilly has made a very insightful point in the comments column. To read it just tap the title of last week’s blog and it will open up.

John uses this healing miracle (the lame man by the pool) as a springboard for Jesus’ discussion which relates to how the miracle reflects His divinity which is closely associated with His relationship with the Father. Behind the discussion is the thread that this miracle, as all the others were merely predictions of our ultimate healing at our resurrection. In vs 29 He says, “All those who have done good will rise up and live”, speaking of their resurrection. The Greek word for rise up is the same as the one Jesus uses in vs 8 where He says to the paralyzed man, “Get up“.

Jesus opens the discussion from vs 19 concerning the unique relationship He has with His Father. We must remember He is speaking from His incarnate nature. He reveals He is totally dependent on the Father to be led what to do. He is motivated only by the Father’s love for Him and doing His will. From the Father He draws the power which even reaches the raising of the dead, which He had not shown up to that time yet.

Ultimately it is only the Father that can give life. He has delegated this power to the Son as well as giving Him the independence to decide whom He should raise. Ultimately God has delegated the task of Judgement to the Son. This task is extremely important and according to vv will be exercised at a future time when everything will be drawn to a close.

The question of judgement is closely associated with the provision of eternal life and Jesus in v 24 reminds us that this eternal life is only available to those who hear Jesus’ word and believe Him who sent Jesus. IOW faith. The results of His judgement are shown in vv 28 ff.

There is an important remark in v 23 that the way we treat the Son reflects what we think of the Father. The two are inseparable. The whole theme of this section is interwoven with continued reaffirmation of the close relationship of the Father with the Son.

As we read this section, we can see how John is drawing the various events which he has been describing up to now in Jesus’ life together to show a more complete picture of who Jesus is and what He has come to do. I find the whole question of the interaction within the trinitarian relationship still a mystery. Just as one thinks you have fully grasped it, it seems to slip away. Truly God yet truly man at this stage.

There are several points that struck me from this passage: The way the material takes us forward to the future. The importance again of seeing eternal life from faith and the remarkable danger of judgement for those outside of this relationship that we may have with Jesus. Also, being reminded that the way we treat and speak about Jesus reflects what we think of God.

Enjoy meditating on this discussion which will be taken up again next week. God bless you all.

As the rain teems down, I am reminded that it represents Your abundant blessings on me and Your whole creation, at the same time the enigma is that it also represents hardship and difficulty for many. The enigma of Christianity is that what appears as weakness and disaster is often actually the way to greatest blessing – even as we view the cross – perhaps apparently the greatest moment of weakness and disaster – was and is Your greatest triumph.

”Yes, there is apparently much in this world which appears as an enigma. Something beyond your comprehension. How weakness and hurt can actually be for My glory and your good. Only I, as a loving and all-powerful God – full of grace, can see the bigger picture and see how all these enigmas fit together and contribute to your good, as well as the good of all My loving children. I see everything, I see the finest details of your thoughts and motives and I am drawing them all together for my glory and your good“.

The next story in John 5:1-18 picks up the theme of healing and presents the third miracle described in the gospel. Remember, according to 20:30,31, the miracles are presented as proof of who Jesus is. So, the central question of this passage is in v 12 “Who is this fellow…?” There is no direct answer, the reader is left to draw his/her own conclusion.

There is another clue however. That is in the fact that Jesus chose to do this miracle, openly on the Sabbath, in what may appear a purposeful provocation of the people here referred to as “the Jews”. vv 10, 15, 18. This is another move by Jesus to show the difference that the coming of the New Covenant was going to make. Just as in His coming Jesus was going to replace the temple as the place to worship God, so He also was replacing the Sabbath. The Sabbath which represented rest and the opportunity to worship God was now to be found in Jesus. In Him we find our true rest and through and in Him we worship the Father in spirit and truth.

In the background we also see the storm clouds gathering. vs 16 Shows how this open confrontation of the traditions of the Jews was going to contribute to His final persecution and death.

What about the healing, which I have not yet mentioned, which actually acts as a backdrop to the main theme in this part of John’s gospel?

There is the sharp contrast to the healing in the previous chapter, where the subject was the child of an important royal official. Here the subject is a “nobody”, who has been disabled for 38 years. What is not so apparent is the answer to the question, “Why did Jesus choose this man from the number who were all needing healing?” After all Jesus took the initiative here. There is no answer and we could guess anything. It does seem to highlight the whole question of God’s election, which is another Christian enigma and best not attempted to be explained here though.

The other question is in the statement to this anonymous man in vs 14, “See you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you”. We may be tempted to link his disability to the fact that he had committed a specific sin or in his general state of being a sinner. This, according to the rest of the bible does not seem to fit eg, the story of Job. Later in John’s gospel Jesus also heals a blind man and gives an explanation that his blindness was for God’s glory. John 9:3. I take this warning that Jesus gave the man was simply to repent and turn his life around.

So. in the last 3 chapters we have been shown Jesus’ interaction with several people, with diverse backgrounds and it shows how He was interested in people from every sphere of life. What an encouragement it should be for each of us. His wings are spread over the whole of His creation, knowing and caring for each one. No-one is outside His reach.

As the story of Jesus is unfolding, I am sure we are all enjoying a growing faith as we see the proofs of who He is and what he has come to do. Enigmas? There are always things which appear strange to our limited human brain, but if we can relax and trust Jesus and let Him be who He is that takes all the tension out of these apparent contradictions.

God bless you all in the rain till next week. Stay warm.

None above Him, none before Him, all of time in His hands – because my God is the Ancient of Days – yet he knows my name.

Glorious, massive, wonderful, beautiful – all the adjectives you can gather together to describe Me. Yet this name – the “Ancient of Days” has special meaning because it shows how I have always been and will always be. No new development or invention takes me by surprise – because I am already there. I am outside of time and will take you outside of time when you come to be with me. Then you will truly see and comprehend what you were singing about that I am the Ancient of Days. Yet I am also “I am” – so I am always present with you, always contemporary, always one step ahead of you as you walk with me. Enjoy me today for who I am, the “Ancient of Days.”

We go back today to where Jesus is leaving Samaria after spending a few days in a village which has been transformed by His presence. We pick up the story in John 4:43. There is an interesting editorial comment in vs 44 that Jesus had pointed out that He was not honoured in His own country. Presumably this explained why He was again leaving the area to take His ministry elsewhere, ie Galilee. He was becoming more prominent there after visiting Jerusalem for the Passover feast.

We are now treated to the next miracle that Jesus did, the second one according to 4:54. This section then describes His encounter with another man, this time a royal official, who is probably a gentile. The progression is interesting as some commentators suggest that it parallels Jesus’ instruction to the disciples in Acts 1:8, where He told them to go to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth. He had met Nicodemus in Jerusalem, ministered to the woman in Samaria and now was ministering to someone outside of the Jewish faith.

Be that as it may, this encounter once again is with a person of some importance and influence, contrasting to the Samarian woman and incidentally with the man Jesus heals at the pool in ch 5, which we will look at next week. Here we see the official approaching Jesus for His help, similar to the Meeting with Nicodemus, where Jesus had instigated the meeting with the Samarian woman and would do so with the man at the pool in ch 5.

So, what is the main message of this passage and the whole section since the miracle of turning water into wine in ch 2? The two miracles sort of bracket the whole section, indicating a common theme. The clue is in vs 48 which links with the main message of John. Jesus makes the statement after the man had asked for a miracle, “Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders you will never believe”. This almost seems incongruous as Jesus then says to the man, “You may go your son will live”. The NIV translates the latter part of that verse 4:50 as “the man took Jesus at His word“. The Greek actually says simply “the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken“, using the same word that is translated elsewhere as believed, “pisteo”. (The ESV gets this right.)

Remember the main message of John in 20:30,31 “Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name”.

So, despite Jesus’ apparent accusation, this miracle has been recorded to bring us, the reader to faith. Now if we step back and look at this whole section, bracketed by two miracles, one of the main themes has simply been an emphasis on believing or on faith. In this section alone the word “believe” is repeated 5 times: vv 39, 41, 42, 50, 53.

So, are you tired of hearing this word “faith” or the concept of “believing” repeated constantly? It seems to me that one of the main purposes of Jesus in our lives is to continue to build our faith. He uses many ways, but one of the main ways is through His word and reading and understanding passages like this and the whole of the gospel accounts. Worth spending a bit of time pondering how your faith is doing.

May God bless you all until we meet again next week.