Home thoughts from abroad.wordpress.com

John 18:28: Hypocrisy.

^“28 Then the Jewish leaders took Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness they did not enter the palace, because they wanted to be able to eat the Passover.” NIV

We can easily be blind to the glaring hypocrisy in our lives. Others may be able to see most clearly what we can’t. As I read this verse today, the blatant hypocrisy of ”the Jews” slaps me about the face. I can’t miss it. But I may yet fail to see the ways in which I’m playing a game.

Basically, the Jewish people wanted to be religious. They wanted to keep the religious rules and remain part of the religious club. They were happy to settle for religion without transformation. So long as they could have the benefits of their faith, they were content to do without repentance and heart change. They were truly concerned, in their ‘washing up’ exercise, to clean the outside of the cup but leave the inside filthy. It was okay in their thinking to kill Jesus, but not to enter Pilate’s palace. Hypocrisy can take us to some tragic, sad and ridiculous places.

To paraphrase Burns, ‘O would that God the gift would give us, to see ourselves as He sees us.’

PRAYER: I recognise that I can be like this. I want to be part of the church, and break bread with brothers and sisters; I desire to share in fellowship. But I don’t really want to be challenged, and I don’t want to change. I want to have my cake and eat it. I want to keep my God and my sin at the same time. From such corrupt and flawed thinking deliver me dear Lord, that my hypocrisy might not bring your Name into disrepute.

John 18:1-11: Who’s in charge around here?

When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was a garden, and he and his disciples went into it.² Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. ³ So Judas came to the garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons.⁴ Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, ‘Who is it you want?’⁵ ‘Jesus of Nazareth,’ they replied. ‘I am he,’ Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) ⁶ When Jesus said, ‘I am he,’ they drew back and fell to the ground.⁷ Again he asked them, ‘Who is it you want?’‘Jesus of Nazareth,’ they said.⁸ Jesus answered, ‘I told you that I am he. If you are looking for me, then let these men go.’⁹ This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: ‘I have not lost one of those you gave me.’¹⁰ Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.)¹¹ Jesus commanded Peter, ‘Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?’NIV 

At one level, you could say that Jesus is the victim here. The plot hatched against him, aided and abetted by Judas, begins to unfold. But it doesn’t FEEL like Jesus is the victim. He is presented as the Victor (4-6). The Christ we see in these words is a commanding figure. He is portrayed as in control. He’s the One in charge, even as He is arrested. He appears as a majestic figure, inspiring awe and fear. Clearly there was no lasting change in Jesus’ assailants. At least, the text gives no good reason to think that there was. They quickly recovered their composure and got on with the task in hand. But let’s not lose our grip on this great truth that even when it looks like the opposite, Jesus is Sovereign. He is always in charge around here.

Just another thought. It’s good to have a familiar meeting place with the Lord (2). It can be indoors. It may be outdoors. Do you have a ‘garden’ where you regularly meet with Christ? Although it’s important to meet with Jesus alone, don’t neglect meeting with Him together with other disciples (Hebrews 10:25). Such meetings are precious and lie at the heart of what it means to be the church. You don’t have to have a building. You don’t even need to have large numbers. Two or three will do, so long as you come together in Jesus’ Name (Matthew 18:20).

John 17: 20-26: On Jesus’ prayer list.

^“20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, ²¹ that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ²² I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— ²³ I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.²⁴ “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory,the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.²⁵ “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. ²⁶ I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.” NIV

It is an incredible thought, is it not, that just before He died on the cross, Jesus prayed for all those who would come to believe through the preaching of the first disciples (20)? This includes you and me. The apostles ‘set the ball rolling’ in terms of announcing the good news; it eventually reached us, and we responded in repentance and faith.

You can’t read this prayer without seeing that, for Jesus, the unity of His followers was very important. It was on His prayer agenda for His first disciples (11), and it was very much on His heart for we believers living in later generations (21, 22 and 23). Jesus saw that the unity among His people should reflect the unity in the Godhead, and it is enabled by our relationship with the Godhead. It is an expression of God’s own love which is planted within us. We can love each other like the members of the Trinity when God sheds His love abroad in our hearts. Furthermore, this unity carries evangelistic clout. As we read in ‘The Message’, it gives ”the godless world evidence”. Church historians tell us how the ancient world was so impacted by the witness of the early church, it caused them to exclaim, ”See how these Christians love one another!”

Every Christian must surely take to heart the words of Jesus in this great prayer. If He cared so much for the unity of the church, how can we care less? Let’s join Him in this prayer for ”complete unity” (23), at the same time doing all we can to ”maintain the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3). Work at mending fences and preparing broken bridges. Don’t let the sun go down on your anger and thereby give the devil a foothold (Ephesians 4:26, 27). Be an agent of reconciliation. And look beyond the borders of your own local church and denomination. Seek to have unified relationships with all who truly know and love Jesus. Go as far as you can, without compromising the truth. Some Christians are strong on love, but can be doctrinally woolly; others are strong on truth, but seem hard and even aggressive. We actually need to be strong on both, for finally there can only be real unity in the truth.

PRAYER: Lord, I need to ask your forgiveness for not caring enough about the unity of your church, and for not always living in a way that will promote peace and harmony. I repent, asking for mercy, and that you will make me a ”channel of your peace”.

John 17: 6-19: The Lord’s Prayer.

^“6 “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. ⁷ Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. ⁸ For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. ⁹ I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me,for they are yours. ¹⁰ All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. ¹¹ I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of  your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. ¹² While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by  that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.¹³ “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. ¹⁴ I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. ¹⁵ My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. ¹⁶ They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. ¹⁷ Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. ¹⁸ As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. ¹⁹ For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.” NIV

Again, we are reminded that the life of discipleship begins with the action of sovereign grace (6-8). God takes the initiative.

It could be said that this chapter also contains ‘the Lord’s prayer’. In today’s verses we overhear Jesus’ prayer for the 11 (as they now were: verse 12b). It provides an insight into his heart; we get to feel His pulse, and this can surely helps us to know how to pray for fellow-Christ followers.

He prayed for:

PROTECTION

Protection by the Name of Jesus (11, 12). The Name stands for all that He really and truly is. It’s more than a label. The Name ‘Jesus’ means ‘Saviour’, ‘Deliverer’, ‘Rescuer’.

Jesus prayed for protection:

 because they were ”still in the world” (11), and the world is a dangerous place for disciples of Christ (14). We are ‘in’ it, but not ‘of’ it (16). It is the Word of God that makes the difference. Life lived according to Christ’s Word marks us out as different. We become travellers in an opposite direction. It puts us on a collision course with the  current, evil world system: ”I gave them your word; the godless world hated them because of it, Because they didn’t join the world’s ways, Just as I didn’t join the world’s ways…They are no more defined by the world Than I am defined by the world.” The Message. The world hates and persecutes such people;

from the devil (15). As in the other Lord’s Prayer, He prays for deliverance from the evil one. He does not ask for their removal from the world. They are sent on a mission into it, as He was (18). He just asks for their protection from Satan;

for unity (11b). How insightful was this prayer of our Lord. He knew that relationships among disciples would always be under threat from the evil one, and He prayed for protection in this area.

JOY (13)

It was obviously going to be a difficult life for Jesus’ disciples. He was only too aware of the fact. But He wanted them to experience the joy He Himself had in the face of the trials, the temptations, the onslaught of evil.

SANCTIFICATION (17)

The Word of God may get us persecuted, as we have seen. But it also brings purity into our lives. It is God’s main way of shaping, forming His people into the image of Christ. So let’s give ourselves to reading, studying, knowing and living the Book of God.

”Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” (John 6:68).

John 16:23-24: Standing on the promises.

^“23 In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. ²⁴ Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.” NIV

This is a short passage, but one rich in promise. As you meditate on it you will surely become convinced of a number of things:

1. Convinced that Jesus wants you to pray: ”This is what I want you to do: Ask the Father…” The Message. In this post-resurrection era, Jesus wants His followers to know that they can ask. Indeed, He positively encourages such asking. Here is a way to please Jesus – pray!
2. Convinced that Jesus wants you to pray in His will: ”Ask the Father for whatever is in keeping with the things I’ve revealed to you. Ask in my name, according to my will…” The Message.
3. Convinced that the Father is generous: ”…and he’ll most certainly give it to you.” The Message. Jesus taught us to pray, saying, ”Our Father…” We human fathers, even though we are flawed; seriously affected by the sin virus, nevertheless we love to give good gifts to our children. We will give them everything we can so long as we are convinced that it is for their good, and that we can afford it. Just think of the heart of the perfect Heavenly Father towards His own; He who is rich without limitation.
4. Convinced that a life of answered prayer is one of overflowing joy: ”Your joy will be a river overflowing its banks.” The Message. Who would not want such flooding, internal joy that bursts out to saturate the external world with all its need? A joyful life is not possible if you are a stranger to prayer. I am persuaded that a faithful, believing, praying life is one of excitement and adventure. Turn your Bible into prayer; let Scripture be the rails upon which the ‘train’ of your prayer life travels, and watch where it leads. But I know the devil will try to tell you that it will be boring. Bishop Ryle, in his book ‘Holiness’, celebrates the proliferation of many large Christian meetings and missions across the country in his day.(He was writing in the late 1800’s). But he gives this warning, that public religion must be accompanied by private religion. There can be a lot of ‘froth and bubble’; much sensationalism and emotionalism surrounding large Christian gatherings. So he writes about the need for Christians to have deep roots in a personal walk with God. Over a hundred years later his clarion call remains relevant: ”The root of a plant or a tree makes no show above ground. If you dig down to it and examine it, it is a poor, dirty, coarse-looking thing, and not nearly so beautiful to the eye as the fruit, or leaf, or flower. But that despised root, nevertheless, is the true source of all the life, health, vigour and fertility which your eyes see, and without it the plant or tree would soon die.” Bishop J.C. Ryle, ‘Holiness’, p.305.

PRAYER: Lord please enable me to live a life deeply rooted in you.