John 7:1-36 More Distrust

Having just lost a multitude of followers, Jesus also was being cautious by staying in the region of Galilee, because in Judea the Jews were wanting to kill Him.  How strange then for his own half-brothers to say, “You should leave here and go to Judea!”  They were sarcastic in their words, trying to goad Him into revealing His supposed divinity in much the same manner that Satan suggested during the temptations in the wilderness.  “Even Jesus’ brothers did not believe in Him.”  How that must have hurt for Him own family not to be believers!

Jesus did attend the Feast of Tabernacles, but on God’s timetable, and He hid Himself from the crowds until He began openly teaching in the Temple.  Again, people were amazed at what He knew.  Once again He acknowledged in words they understood that He is indeed God:  “I was sent by the One who is true, whom you don’t know.  But I know Him, because I am FROM HIM and He sent Me.”  He’d just revealed that He had pre-existed in Heaven before His birth on earth, and this stoked the crowd and the Jewish leaders against Him.  They sent Temple guards in an attempt to arrest Him.

There was something important in there, and my commentary mentioned it:  “He was not suggesting a shallow taste test but rather the deep personal commitment of the person to truth.  The Jews depended on education and authorities and received their doctrine secondhand, but Jesus insisted that we experience the authority of truth personally.  The Jewish leaders were attempting to kill Jesus, yet at the same time they claimed to understand God’s truth and obey it.  This proves that an enlightened and educated mind is no guarantee of a pure heart or a sanctified will … Satan offered Adam and Eve knowledge, but it was knowledge based on disobedience.  Jesus offered knowledge as a result of obedience:  first the yoke of responsibility, then the joy of knowing God’s truth…”

Father, help me to find Your truth as I search for it.  Remind me that it comes from obedience to Your Word and a deep personal commitment to truth.  Don’t let me think that an enlightened and educated mind is all that is needed to find it.  I’ve made that mistake before.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

John 6 -- It's Not Over Yet

Jesus said to the crowds, “The words I told you are spirit and they give life.  But some of you don’t believe.  (Jesus knew from the beginning who did not believe and who would turn against him.)  That is the reason I said, ‘If the Father does not bring a person to Me, that one cannot come.’”

The next verse was telling – “After Jesus said this, many of His followers left Him and stopped following Him.”

Was Jesus surprised?  No.  He knows men’s hearts.  Was He heartbroken?  He turned and then asked His disciples, “Do you want to leave, too?”

I don’t know the answer, but I know how it feels when You’ve poured yourself into someone you love and tried your best to explain God’s goodness and love for them, only to watch them turn away from that love.  But Jesus was on a divine timetable.  He knew His mission and He knew that His Father would draw those to Him that He had chosen.  It wasn’t hopeless yet.

Father, give me the same calm assurance that Jesus displayed in the face of what we would consider disappointing circumstances.  After all, You are God, and You will draw to Yourself those You wish to have with You for eternity.  It’s not over yet!

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

John 5:30-47 Some Of Jesus' Most Important Words?

“I can do nothing alone.  I judge only the way I am told, so My judgment is fair.  I don’t try to please Myself, but I try to please the One who sent Me.”

His total dependence upon God the Father and His singular devotion to His mission on earth really come out here.  He sets Himself aside for use by the Father, even unto death.

The Jews were always demanding signs or witnesses before they would believe.  John the Baptist was one witness, He said.  The miracles He performed were another, and the Scriptures were a third witness – all that was needed according to the Law to validate His ministry.

Jesus plainly told them what was wrong with their hearts – they didn’t have God’s love in them, they were trying to get praise for themselves, and although they revered Moses, they didn’t really believe what He said about Christ, either.  “They were religious and self-righteous, but they were not saved,” my commentary said.

Father, I know it’s not enough to have just head-knowledge about You and Your Son.  Besides believing with our minds, our wills must be submitted to You and our hearts must be filled with Your love or else we are not saved.  Please reveal this to those You place in my path and allow me to show them what You’ve shown me over the years.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

John 5:1-29 All About God's Sovereignty

Out of all the people suffering and waiting for healing at the pool at Bethesda, Jesus picked out one man to bestow grace upon.  The man had done nothing to deserve healing, and many others were not healed.  He didn’t even know Who’d healed him until later.  There’s no evidence that he even became a Christian as a result.  To me this points us to the sovereignty of God, Who can do what He pleases for whom He pleases.  “Unlike the healed blind man in John 9, this man was not excommunicated,” my commentary said regarding his later discussions with Jewish authorities.  To the religious leaders, his only sin appeared to be carrying his mat on the Sabbath, when he’d never been able to walk before!  Yet Jesus had healed him.  “It’s possible to experience an exciting miracle and still not be saved and go to heaven!” my commentary added.

Jesus claimed here to be equal with God by calling Him “My Father”.  He spoke of being equal in His works, equal in executing judgment, equal in having honor, and He claimed to have authority to raise the dead.  Jews attribute that power only to God, so they’d see this as a claim of divinity as well.

Father, thank You for speaking of Your sovereignty today.  You are the Almighty and Holy God and You can choose to do anything and we cannot dispute it.  Help me therefore not to question anything You decide to do, for that is Your prerogative.  Let me be satisfied with just knowing that You chose to save me, with no merit of my own to deserve it, simply because of Your grace and mercy.  Lead me to use that knowledge to remain humble, to want to know You more, and to help others to come to saving faith in You and Your Son.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

John 4:43-54 A Progression In Faith

Jesus returned to Cana where He’d turned the water into wine at the wedding feast.  Only this time, He was approached by an officer of the king, who had traveled the twenty miles from Capernaum to find Jesus and beg Him to heal his dying son.  According to my commentary, the text indicates that he kept imploring Jesus to travel with him to Capernaum, because his son was on death’s door.  Seeing his faith, Jesus simply told him, “Go.  Your son will live.”

My commentary trace an interesting progression in the man’s faith:

“He began with crisis faith.  He was about to lose his son and he had no other recourse but the Lord Jesus Christ … The nobleman’s crisis faith became confident faith:  he believed the Word and had peace in his heart.  He was even able to delay [overnight]  his trip home, knowing that the boy was out of danger.  His confident faith became confirmed faith.  Indeed, the boy had been completely healed!  And the healing took place at the very time when Jesus spoke the Word.  It was this fact that made a believer out of the nobleman and his household.  He believed that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God, and he shared this faith with his family.  He had contagious faith and shared his experience with others.”

Father, I thank You for making these same changes to my faith over the years.  I’ve come to know that I can always trust You to do Your very best for me.  You’ve confirmed my faith so many times, and I pray that my faith is now contagious, so that others will see You through me.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

John 4:1-42 The Appointment

Jesus had a divine appointment to meet the Samaritan woman at the well.  My commentary described her as having shallow soil spiritually, by the fact that she wanted the living water He described, but she didn’t understand what it was.  “The only way to prepare the soil of the heart for the seed is to plow it up with conviction.  That was why Jesus told her to go get her husband.  He forced her to admit her sin.  There can be no conversion without conviction.  There must first be conviction and repentance, and then there can be saving faith.  Jesus had aroused her mind and stirred her emotions, but He also had to touch her conscience, and that meant dealing with her sin.”

She tried to detour the conversation rather than talk about her sin, as we all would.  But as He kept talking to her, eventually she said, “I know that Messiah is coming.”  That’s when He made His startling announcement:  “I am He – I, the One talking to you.”

That’s all she needed, and she set off for the very town the disciples had just returned from.  They’d only bought their meal there, but she went back there to witness and evangelize.

After she left for town, Jesus told the disciples that “doing the Father’s will – in this case, leading the woman to salvation – was true nourishment for His soul,” my commentary said.  It continued, “Seek your life’s nourishment in your life’s work.  The will of God ought to be a source of strength and satisfaction to the child of God … If what we are doing tears us down instead of builds us up, then we may well question whether it is the will of God for us … It takes faith to sow the seed, and we must do it even when the circumstances look discouraging … There is no competition in the Lord’s harvest.  Each of us has an assigned task and we are all a part of each other’s labors … Those who sow may not see the harvest, but those who reap will see it and give thanks for the faithful labors of the sowers.”

Father, help me to know what You would have me doing.  I want to be pursuing Your will and Your plan for my life and nothing else.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

John 3:23-36 Not About John

John had to explain to his followers why it wasn’t a competition between Jesus and him.  Jesus was the One John was to announce to the world.  Jesus was the bridegroom and John was only the best man.  Jesus was also a witness to the truth, and John listed several reasons that He was, according to my commentary:

1)       He came from heaven.  He was the only messenger who could claim that.

2)      Since He did come from heaven, everything He said, He’d seen and heard from the Father.

3)      God sent Him, gave him the Word and the Spirit, and gave Him all things.  He was therefore AUTHORIZED by God.

4)      We might escape the wrath of God through a living, learning, and loving relationship with Christ.

My commentary also said, “We must never forget the cost of those blessings.  For us to be born into God’s family, Jesus Christ had to die.  For us to enter into the loving relationship of salvation, He had to endure the hatred and condemnation of men.  He had to be lifted up on the cross so that we might experience forgiveness and eternal life.  May we never take this for granted!  He must increase, but I must decrease!”

Father, I want to be doing what You will me to be doing, at Your direction and in Your timing.  Please keep me ever mindful that it is never a competition with others.  I am simply to lift up Your Son.  Help me to magnify Christ through my words and actions, and never let it be about me.

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford