John 18:1-9 Two of the Five Symbols in this Chapter

My commentary urged me to pay attention to the symbolism in this chapter.  The first two symbols are the garden and the kiss.  It said the garden dealt with obedience.  Adam had failed to obey in the first garden - Eden - but Jesus fully obeyed in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Adam's disobedience brought us sin and death, while Christ's obedience is righteousness and life to all who will trust Him.

The kiss Judas used to identify Jesus to the Roman guards is the next symbol -- a symbol not of love but of treachery.  "Jesus was in full control; He knew what would happen.  Judas expected some kind of deception, so he arranged to identify Jesus by kissing Him.  But Jesus shocked both Judas and the arresting officers by boldly presenting Himself to them.  He had nothing to fear and nothing to hide."

If we could only live like that!

Finally, I read, "When people today pretend to know and love the Lord, they are committing the sin of Juas.  It is bad enough to betray Christ, but to do it with a kiss, a sign of affection, is the basest treachery of all.  It was born in the pit of hell."

Father, any time You know I'm heading toward a sin that would betray Christ, please wake me up and tell me to stop!

 

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford

John 17 -- The "Holy of Holies" of the Gospel

My commentary said that this chapter is the "Holy of Holies" of the gospel record.  "To think that we are privileged to listen in as God the Son converses with His Father just as He is about to give His life as a ransom for sinners!"

It also answered the question about defining eternal life:  "It is knowing God personally.  Not just knowing about Him, but having a personal relationship with Him through faith in Jesus Christ ... The Father answered His Son's request and gave Him the glory."

"He has also given the revelation of the Father's name ... In the Bible, 'name' refers to 'nature' ... By His words and deeds, He revealed to them the nature of God, as they were able to bear it ... Our safety depends on the nature of God, not our own character or conduct ... How precious we are in His sight!  How He watches over us and even now prays for us!"

The third section tells us how the Word of God enables us to overcome the world.  "It gives us joy, it assures us of His love, and it imparts God's power for holy living."

In the last section, I read:  "The lost world cannot see God, but they can see Christians, and what they see in us is what they will believe about God.  If they see love and unity, they will believe that God is love.  If they see hatred and division, they will reject the message of the gospel ... We must make sure that our witness is true and loving.  Some Christians are prosecuting attorneys and judges, instead of faithful witnesses, and this only turns lost sinners away from the Savior."

Father, thank You for sharing Jesus' prayers for His disciples with us.  Please continue to direct me to a much closer relationship with You.

--

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford

John 16:16-33 Our High Priest And Our Advocate

The disciples were sorrowful and confused and afraid while listening to Jesus talk about what was coming.  They were real men with real problems, just like us.

What Jesus wanted them to understand, my commentary says, is that "God brings joy to our lives, not by substitution, but by transformation."  God does not substitute something else to relieve our pain.  Instead He uses what is there already and transforms it, it explained.  A parent buying a new toy every time their child breaks an old toy is practicing substitution.  

"God takes seemingly impossible situations, adds the miracle of His grace, and transforms trial into triumph and sorrow into joy."

As an example, it mentioned Joseph, sold as a slave by his brothers, and how God transformed his situation to save them all.  "While we are waiting, we must deal with out trials and hurts on the basis of transformation (what are You bringing out of this, Father?), and not substitution (get me out of this, Father) if we expect to mature in the Christian life."

Here is also where we read, "Ask, and you shall receive."  Jesus was creating "a new situation in their praying."  He would be returning to be with His Father, and He would minister as our High Priest, making intercession for us.  He would also minister as our Advocate.  "As our High Priest, Jesus gives us grace to keep us from sinning.  As our Advocate, He restores us when we confess our sins."

Father, help me to watch for Your transformations in my life.  Remind me that You are also my Advocate and that You will restore me when I confess my sins.

 

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford

John 16:1-15 The Holy Spirit's Job

esus continued to tell His disciples about the Holy Spirit, who would personally empower them once He returned to Heaven.

My commentary summarized what Jesus was telling them here:

-- We are identified with Christ

-- We do not belong to the world

-- The world is spiritually ignorant and blind

-- The world will not be honest about its own sin

-- The Holy Spirit empowers us for life and witness, while the ascended Savior intercedes for us at the heavenly throne of grace

-- The Holy Spirit is the prosecuting attorney, bringing to light the evidence against the world as to their belief in Christ; however, the purpose of this indictment is not to condemn but to bring salvation

-- The world's one particular sin is unbelief, which condemns the lost sinner

-- The Spirit, as Teacher, guides the church

We would be wrong to think that we have been left here alone until Christ returns.  Through the Spirit, we each receive what Jesus has for us as we never could while He was on earth, because now people all over the earth can experience Him at the same time.

Please continue to empower and teach me through the Holy Spirit, Father.

 

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford

John 15:12-27 What It Means To Be His Friend

Jesus told His disciples and us what to expect from an unbelieving world when we follow Him.  He chose us out of the world.  The world stands guilty because they don't know God who sent Jesus and they have the Word but won't heed it.  "They have no excuse for their sin," verse 22 says.

Here, too, is where Jesus promised to send the Helper -- the Holy Spirit.  The disciples were about to experience what we can only read about, and they would surely need the Helper!

Jesus here calls us His friends.  My commentary explained that the Greek word refers to "a friend at court" -- a friend of the king who is close to him and knows his secrets, but is also subject to him and must obey his commands.  "There is no conflict between being a friend and being a servant," it said.

Thank You for making me Your friend, God!  I am still amazed that You chose me in my sin and brought be back to You!

 

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford

John 15:1-11 Abiding In the Vine

My grandmother had a vine-covered wire fence on the east side of her driveway, next to the alley.  We would go into the alley, where we had formed a "tunnel" through the vines, thinking we were unseen by the world, protected by the vines.

I always remember that when I read passages in the Bible about the vine and the branches.  No matter how we hurried in for cover, those branches held to that strong vine and rarely ever snapped off.

Of course, the Vine here is Jesus Christ, and we are the branches.  We draw life from the Vine spiritually.  Understanding that we are but branches helps us to "know our own weaknesses and confess our need for His strength," my commentary said.

"Abide" is used eleven times here, it says.  "It means to keep in fellowship with Christ so that His life can work in and through us to produce fruit.  This certainly involves the Word of God and the confession of sin so that nothing hinders our communion with Him," it continued.  I think of how our running to hide under those vines did damage the way sin does.

The vines at my grandmother's were for show only.  They didn't produce fruit like the vines in Jesus' example.  We as Christians aren't to be "just for show" though, but fruit-bearing.

As we abide, we also experience the Father's pruning, which is done to allow us to produce more fruit, which leads to us experiencing "a deepening love for Christ and for other believers ... Abiding demands worship, meditation on God's Word, prayer, sacrifice, and service."

Father, keep me close.  Help me to abide in You!

 

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford

John 14:12-31 Peace of God in our Hearts

Jesus told His disciples they had the privilege of prayer, and so do we, and He said for us to have peace in our hearts, we must make sure our prayers meet certain conditions.  According to my commentary, they are that we must pray in faith, pray in Christ's name, and pray in loving obedience.  Psalms 66:18 says, "If I see and approve iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me."

"To keep His commandments means to value them, treasure them, guard them, and do them... To ask anything of the Father, in the name of Jesus, means that we ask what Jesus would ask, what would please Him, and what would bring Him glory by furthering His work."

We also have the Holy Spirit and we enjoy the Father's love and claim His gift of peace.  "When the sinner trusts Christ, he is born again and the Spirit immediately enters his body and bears witness that he is a child of God.  The Spirit is resident and will not depart.  But as the believer yields to the Father, loves the Word, prays and obeys, there is a deeper relationship with the Father, Son, and Spirit.  Salvation means we are going to heaven, but submission means that heaven comes to us!"

Thee was also an important warning I saw:  "Since we are in Christ, Satan can get no foothold in the believer's life unless we permit it.  Neither Satan nor the world can trouble our hearts if we are yielded to the peace of God through the Holy Spirit."

Father, keep me yielded to you.  Strengthen me so that I will not allow Satan a foothold in my life.

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford