the Spirit of truth

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 “what seemed to be tongues of fire”

Gospel of John 15: 26-27, 16: 4b-15 (NIV)

²⁶ “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father – the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father – he will testify about me. ²⁷ And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.
^4b “I did not tell you this from the beginning because I was with you, ⁵ but now I am going to him who sent me. None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ ⁶ Rather, you are filled with grief because I have said these things. ⁷ But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. ⁸ When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: ⁹ about sin, because people do not believe in me; ¹⁰ about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; ¹¹ and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
¹² “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. ¹³ But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. ¹⁴ He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. ¹⁵ All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”

I drafted this reflection between the Thursday when many commemorate Jesus’ ascension to be with the Father in glory (Ascension Day) and the Sunday ten days later when the Spirit of God was poured out on “the believers” (Pentecost). We know from Acts 1: 3b that Jesus was with his apostles for forty days after his resurrection. I surmise that, after his ascension, the apostles and other believers endured a period of considerable uncertainty, though nothing like the agonising days immediately after Jesus’ death when those who loved him thought he had gone forever. On this later occasion they were constantly in prayer (Acts 1: 14) as they readied to be his witnesses “to the ends of the earth”.

In our earthly lives, periods of transition abound. Many are a function of just being alive: forming and building relationships and progressing through stages of age or (un)wellness. Spiritual transition affects us too, in our individual walks with God and corporately in our roles as members of the body of Christ.

With transition can come uncertainty, doubt, hesitancy and, occasionally, fear. Jesus knew about this; he understood that adjustment can take time. We see evidence of this in his words to the disciples: “I did not tell you this from the beginning because I was with you” (verse 4b). He allowed them to gain understanding over time as they progressively learned more about who he was and what he asked of them as his followers.

Jesus promised to send “the Advocate”, “the Spirit of truth”, to testify and to reveal Jesus to the world through his followers. He sends the same Spirit to us. We bear the same witness, so long as we remain faith-filled towards Jesus and invite his Holy Spirit into our lives.

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Of the world, or not of the world?

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 Family of Crimson Rosellas

Gospel of John 17: 13-19 (NIV)

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.

Reflections on the earlier verses of this chapter may be accessed in the side bar or here: 10 May 2016 and 27 May 2017.

The ones to whom Jesus had given the Father’s word (verse 14) were those the Father had given him (verse 2). They were in his company, even as he spoke, listening to this prayer he was praying to the Father. Why would Jesus have said that the world hated them?

Jesus has given as a reason for the world’s hatred that “they are not of the world any more than I am of the world” (verse 14). Is not the world God’s own creation? Why would the world hate both the Son and those given to the Son by the Father?

The influence of the evil one, referred to by Jesus in verse 15, seems to be pervasive though not quite all-pervasive. Not only is the evil one’s presence as evident in the world now as it was in the first-century, it manifests itself not only in individual human beings but in human institutions as well.

Should God have an arrangement in place to take out from the world those whom he has given to the Son? Should there be a progressive evacuation from the world of those who have committed their lives to Jesus? That would insulate them permanently from evil; without the evil one to harass them, they could be guaranteed a post-earthly life in which trials and temptations were no longer a threat!

Jesus clearly does not want the Father to remove his Church from the world. His verse 15 prayer is “not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.” And then Jesus said, “I have sent them into the world” (verse 18).

R. V. G. Tasker explains it this way*:

The society of the Church has been created by God for a specific purpose. Its raison d’etre is to convey to the world the revelation imparted by Jesus, and to reflect the self-sacrificing love manifested by Jesus on the cross.

The world seems to have its own agenda, at odds in almost all circumstances with God’s agenda for his people, the Church. Have you considered the extent to which you are moulded to conform to the agenda of the world? If you and I are willing to regard our foremost reason for living as being to know Jesus Christ and to make him known, what parts of the world’s agenda do we need to jettison today? Are we willing to do that, despite the personal cost? Jesus was willing, regardless of the cost. How then can a true disciple be less willing than the Master?

 

* R.V.G. Tasker, John: an introduction and commentary, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, IVP, Leicester, 1979, p. 189.

… he ascended into heaven …

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 Morning sunlight

First Letter of John 1: 5 (NIV)

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.

Prayer for Ascension Day 2018

Risen and ascended Lord Jesus, as the morning sunlight upon the waters brings forth countless flashes of light, so may our lives endlessly reflect your love in order to illuminate with your truth the lives of others. Amen.

“Love each other.”

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 Wollemi Pines (foreground) – until recently, genus known only from fossils of late Cretaceous era

Gospel of John 15: 9-17 (NIV)

⁹ “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. ¹¹ I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. ¹² My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command. ¹⁵ I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. ¹⁶ You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit – fruit that will last – and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. ¹⁷ This is my command: Love each other.”

Jesus’ command could not have been more clear: “Love each other.” This was a different matter from remaining in his love, something in which his disciples would be able to delight so long as they (we) keep his commands.

“My command is this:” he said. “Love each other as I have loved you.” This sets a high bar for those who aspire to be disciples of Jesus. The standard is to love as he has loved. That requires that the good of the other takes precedence. He explained specifically what he meant: “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” That is the example Jesus gave us, in fact he gave an even more loving demonstration in that his death was not only for his friends. His death was also for those who were hostile to him but who, like Saul of Tarsus, would later repent and return to him.

To lay down one’s life for one’s friends requires that we regard our lives as of secondary importance compared to our contributing to the well-being of others and this begins with the Church of God.

In many parts of the world today the Church of God is suffering violent persecution. This is of concern to our Lord, I am certain. “Laying down our life” for the persecuted church is not a rallying call to take up arms. It is a call, however, for us to eschew complacency and to bring earnest prayer to God in support of our Christian brothers and sisters elsewhere. We can assist in practical ways, too. Reputable organisations* provide those of the persecuted church with sanctuary, with aid and assistance and with spiritual support. We can and should assist in resourcing such organisations, forgoing some of our comforts in order to contribute to the survival of others of Jesus’ family.

Lord Jesus Christ, we lift to you our Christian brothers and sisters who live with the constant threat of violence or injustice solely because of their faith in you. Be a shield to all who take refuge in you. Help those who have had to leave family, friends and all that is familiar, in order to make a fresh start after violence or injustice; bless them in their new beginnings and keep them safe. We praise you for those who endure injustice and imprisonment. We ask you to strengthen them and their families. Amen

*Barnabas Fund and Open Doors (see Links in sidebar) are two such organisations. There are several more.

Lord, do you really mean “nothing”?

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 Vinedressers, La Valtellina Italy

Gospel of John 15: 1-8 (NIV)

¹ “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. ² He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. ³ You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ⁴ Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
⁵ “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. ⁷ If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

Whereas Jesus’ allusion to bearing “fruit” can be found throughout the Gospel according to Matthew, in the Gospel according to John, Jesus referred to the bearing of “fruit” only in the first sixteen verses of chapter 15. His metaphor regarding “fruit” is clear. Those hearing him would have been familiar with the task of the vinedresser who would prune the vines each year to prepare for the next crop.

Just as no branch can bear fruit once separated from the vine, so the disciples of Jesus are not able to bear the “fruit” which he calls for unless they remain in him. The worst thing that can befall a disciple of Jesus is to be separated from him. He has expressed it starkly: “apart from me you can do nothing.”

Do you find there is a temptation to do things in your own strength, perhaps selecting what to do according to your own agenda, perhaps imagining God will think you praiseworthy because you have exercised your initiative and come up with a plan you think God might not have thought of yet?

Jesus will brook none of that. He has made it clear: “If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.”

We can only remain as his disciples if and when we remain in him. There is an additional factor: his words are to remain in us. That means he requires that we know his words, to be familiar with what he taught to his first disciples and what is recorded for us in Scripture as a consequence of that teaching.

Only then are we able to bring glory to the Father by bearing much “fruit”. As branches of the vine which is Jesus, we are to accept the Father’s pruning. We are to ask him to bring us to a state of fruitfulness for his kingdom.

Great David’s greater Son

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 Smoky sunset

Gospel of John 10: 11-18 (NIV)

¹¹ “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹² The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. ¹³ The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
¹⁴ “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me – ¹⁵ just as the Father knows me and I know the Father – and I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶ I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. ¹⁷ The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life – only to take it up again. ¹⁸ No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

Jesus spoke of himself as “the good shepherd”. Over the preceding centuries, Israel had known many shepherds. Until Jesus, there had been none like David. 2 Samuel 5: 2 records the people saying to David, “The Lord said to you: ‘you will shepherd my people Israel, and you will become their ruler.’”

Despite all his kingly characteristics, David had failed as a shepherd. Jesus, “the good shepherd”, never did. Compare the responses of each when tempted by the devil.

• When Jesus was tempted by Satan to satisfy his physical appetite (hunger) (Luke 4: 2-4), he resisted. When David was tempted by Satan to satisfy his physical appetite (lust) by committing adultery with Bathsheba, he succumbed.
• When Jesus was tempted by Satan to exploit his relationship with the Father and leap from the temple roof, expecting to be saved (Luke 4: 9-12), he refused. When David was tempted by Satan to exploit his relationship with the commander of his army, to corrupt Joab into being an accessory to murder, he succumbed.
• When Jesus was tempted by Satan to worship him rather than the Father (Luke 4: 5-8), he refused. When David was tempted by Satan to jettison his relationship with God and to murder Bathsheba’s husband Uriah rather than have his sin exposed, he succumbed.

In each case Jesus relied on Scripture, the word of God, to defeat the temptations of Satan.

Jesus is “the good shepherd”; he cares for his sheep. He does not exploit them. As “the good shepherd” he laid down his life for his sheep. He went to the cross in order that we would not have to suffer the punishment rightly ours because of our own sinfulness. His complete obedience to the Father has compensated for our lack of obedience to him.

We are called to emulate “the good shepherd”. We are to resist daily the temptations of the evil one. We are to know and rely on God’s word, on Scripture, to recognise evil and to turn away from it. We are to be willing to lay down our own lives when called to do so, to sacrifice our own self wills, in order to protect God’s people in our care.

Great David’s greater Son is our example for living but more than that, he is our Saviour and our friend. Praise him!

Open our minds, Lord.

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 Patrolling plovers

Gospel of Luke 24: 36b-48 (NIV)

^36b Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
³⁷ They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. ³⁸ He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? ³⁹ Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”
⁴⁰ When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. ⁴¹ And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” ⁴² They gave him a piece of broiled fish, ⁴³ and he took it and ate it in their presence.
⁴⁴ He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”
⁴⁵ Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. ⁴⁶ He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, ⁴⁷ and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. ⁴⁸ You are witnesses of these things.

Jesus as a man knew the Hebrew Scriptures. He had been schooled in them since his youth as had every Jewish male. He would have been an active member of the synagogue in Nazareth since his early teens.

Jesus as the Son of God knew the Hebrew Scriptures. He, the Word of God, with the Father and the Holy Spirit was inspiring Moses and the Prophets and those who wrote the Psalms and the other Wisdom literature of the Jews. He with the Father and the Holy Spirit was the source of these Scriptures. He could state with the authority of the Author that “Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms” (verse 44b). He could state with the authority of the Author that “repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his (the Messiah’s) name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (verse 47).

In the book of the prophet Isaiah we read:

This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says:
‘In repentance and rest is your salvation,
    in quietness and trust is your strength’ (30: 15);

and

Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you;
    therefore he will rise up to show you compassion.
For the Lord is a God of justice (30: 18).

In the book of the prophet Ezekiel we read:

Turn away from all your offences; then sin will not be your downfall (18: 30).

and

I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live! (18: 32).

The book of the prophet Isaiah emphasises* that forgiveness is not only for the  people of Israel:

‘It is too small a thing for you to be my servant
    to restore the tribes of Jacob
    and bring back those of Israel I have kept.
I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,
    that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.’ (49: 6).

We pray:

Living Lord, open our minds as you opened the minds of your disciples so that we too can understand the Scriptures and thereby be effective witnesses of these things to all nations. Amen.

* See also Isaiah 2: 3, 49: 22 and elsewhere.