I have a simple question: What is your ambition in life?

The themes of royalty and service stand out in Dr. Luke’s record of the life and work of Jesus of Nazareth. Although he is demonstrably God’s king, he never used his divine powers out of self-interest or self-aggrandizement, but for the good of others. His service is a constant theme.

In the opening lines of Luke chapter 10, we read that Jesus sent out seventy (or seventy-two) of his followers on a training mission so they could experience first-hand what ministry in his name means. Three themes stand out.

1. Prayer. In sending out the seventy Jesus wanted his disciples to involve others in their ministry. Because God’s good news is for all peoples, many more than the disciples would be needed. The harvest is plentiful,’ Jesus said, ‘but the laborers are few; pray the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest field’ (10:2).

The Book of Revelation tells us that in the last day the Kingdom of God will include a huge multitude, drawn from every nation and tribe and from every generation. It will be as countless in size as the sands on the seashore and the stars in the sky.

A vast international company like this will require the involvement of thousands – people who are willing to leave their comfort zones and commit to serving the cause of Jesus Christ; people who, left to themselves, would sit comfortably in church on Sundays and let their phones dominate their lives for the rest of the week.

In Reformation Anglicanism Archbishop Ben Kwashi writes, ‘In much of the world today there are churches seemingly everywhere and very many Christians, yet with little positive impact on society’.

How important it is that we pray the Lord of the harvest to stir up amongst his people a gospel mindset and the resources that are needed for the work of gospel ministry.

2. Partnership. Jesus’ instructions Luke records here were specific to a particular mission. The seventy were to ‘carry no purse, no bag, no sandals’ (10:5). Rather they were to trust God to provide for their material needs.

Jesus also impressed on them the urgency of their work: ‘Greet no one on the road,’ he said (10:5). Saying Hello to someone in the Middle East can be time-consuming. Jesus is saying that someone with a job to do can’t let themselves be caught up in small talk with everyone they meet. It doesn’t mean God’s people are to be dismissive and discourteous. Rather, Jesus draws attention to how easily we can be distracted from the ministry he is passionate about – namely rescuing the lost, giving them new life and hope in his name.

How then were the seventy to find bed and board? Jesus answered by saying: ‘Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house!’ And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; cure the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’’ (10:5-8).

People who are involved in ‘full-time ministry’ are to receive their support from others who are not so called. But ministers are not charity cases: ‘They work as hard as anyone,’ Jesus is saying, ‘and they deserve their wages’.

However, he also sounds a warning. Our ministry may be rejected: But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near” (10:10-11).

None of us likes rejection. But Jesus warns this is a real possibility. Christian ministry can be unpopular, even dangerous work. ‘I send you out as lambs amongst wolves,’ he says elsewhere. ‘Not everyone will want your message: in some places whole societies will reject you.’ And, he adds: ‘You are to accept the rejection; but warn those who reject you that the kingdom of God is near.

Ministry is about life and death issues. Men and women can reject other views about life with impunity, but when we reject God’s Messiah we put our souls in jeopardy. The stakes are high when we hear God’s gospel and when we open a Bible.  We are given a choice: will we reject or accept the message? “He who listens to you, listens to me” Jesus said; “He who rejects you, rejects me; and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me” (10:16).

3. Warning. The seventy returned from their mission trip and were enthusiastic about the way God had changed lives. Their ministry was authenticated as they saw people from all walks of life receiving the message of God’s kingdom. Who wouldn’t be excited?

But Jesus has some sobering words. He not only alerts his young followers to times of ministry disappointment but also alerts them to the perils of ministry success. Taking them aside he points out that the arrival of God’s kingdom heralded the downfall of the evil powers. ‘Ministers of God’s good news will see signs of my greater power and lives being changed for good. But don’t let this success go to your head. Remember Satan himself fell because of spiritual pride. Your greatest reason for joy is that your names are written in heaven’ (10:20).

We see here that God’s ambition is to draw into his kingdom countless numbers of people from all walks of life. We also see the conjunction of ministry and prayer.

What is your ambition? Whoever we are, whatever we do, Jesus challenges us to ask how can we serve in God’s plan to rescue men and women and bring them into his kingdom.

A prayer. Teach us, gracious Lord, to begin our works with reverence, to go on in obedience, and finish them with love; and then to wait patiently in hope, and with cheerful countenance to look up to you, whose promises are faithful and rewards infinite; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

© John G. Mason

With the current geo-political upheavals many fear what the future holds. The uncertainty today is exacerbated by the angry divisions within societies. Vindictiveness has replaced respectful and serious conversation. And we can feel utterly powerless when it comes to talking about our faith.

In Perelandra or Voyage to Venus, the second in CS Lewis’ science-fiction trilogy, Ransom, the main character, feels powerless in confronting an evil force at work on the untainted planet Venus. The crafty subtle evil power reflects the temptations in Genesis chapter 3. Despite being a learned scholar in philology, Ransom constantly finds himself defeated in his arguments. What can he do?

This raises an important question for us, for today people have little knowledge of the Jesus of the Gospels. So subtle and persistent has been the attack on Christianity, they are not looking to the Christian faith for answers about life. Is it time for us to review our approach?

Come with me to a parable Jesus told – the parable of the sower. It begins in Luke chapter 8, verse 4. When a great crowd gathered and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable: ‘A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell on the path and was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. Some fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it withered for lack of moisture. Some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew with it and choked it. Some fell into good soil, and when it grew, it produced a hundredfold.’ As he said this, he called out, ‘Let anyone with ears to hear listen!’… ‘Now the parable is this,’ Jesus explained: ‘The seed is the word of God.’

People travelled from near and far to see Jesus. Expectations were rising. It would have been a great time for him to call them to join him in a march on Jerusalem to set Israel free from Rome. But that was not God’s way.

We need to focus on the key to the parable: “…The seed is the word of God” (verse 11).

Causes and revolutions are staged by various means. Last century Marxists brought in Communism at the end of a gun. This century began, as we are reminded on 9/11 each year, with Islamist extremists trying to de-stabilise and destroy through terrorism. In Jesus’s day zealots tried to revive Jewish independence through guerrilla warfare.

But these are not Jesus’s methods. The picture he paints in these verses is of a farmer quietly sowing seed. The Word of God he is saying, has within its DNA the capacity to change people’s lives for good. At first the transformation is hidden but there comes a day when the change is obvious.

Churches today have often lost confidence in the power of God’s Word to change lives. So, many churches focus on the sacraments, and others on social justice. But to make these things the priority is to lose sight of the way God works. God’s Word is the key that unlocks the door into God’s kingdom and therefore to life.

In Second Timothy chapter 3, verses 16 and 17 we read: All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the people of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

The Scriptures, as the Word of God, give us exclusive information about salvation. They don’t contain exhaustive truth, but what they do give us is sufficient for restoring our relationship with God and for living as God’s people.

In the larger context of Second Timothy chapter 3, Paul reminds us we live in a world that prefers to find or invent its own religion. He tells us that our only real hope for life and meaning is found in God’s unique self-revelation. Human resources won’t provide deep and satisfying answers. Our sure hope is in dependence on the resources of the living God.

To return to the parable in Luke chapter 8, Jesus warns us that the results of sowing the seed of God’s Word aren’t uniform. Some of the crop grows well, some poorly, some hardly at all. The results are not so much caused by bad sowing but rather because of some failure in the ground. We could call this parable the parable of the four soils.

One group, having heard God’s Word, hardened their hearts through the silent, crafty work of the power of evil. A second group received God’s Word with joy, but in times of testing fell away; they had liked the preacher but there was no true repentance, no real change in their lives. A third group also heard God’s Word but had not counted the cost of commitment; they were not convicted of their sin and their need to turn to Christ in repentance; they had come as customers to buy, not as disciples to surrender.

But Jesus also speaks of a fourth group. They are true followers of Christ who hold fast to God’s Word with an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patient endurance. Perseverance in godly living is the sign of God’s grace at work. A real lesson here is the encouragement we can experience in the ministry of disciple-making and outreach.

Jesus’s references to birds, stones, and thorns could easily demoralize us. But he is saying, ‘Don’t be put off. Be realistic, yes. But the ministry of God’s Word will always have its successes, and what success that will be!’ So let’s be encouraged. Let’s never forget Jesus’s words: “I will build my church, and nothing will prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18).

And most of all, remember the key to ministry is letting God’s Word do its work.

To assist you in your own faith and equip you with a small book to pass on to others who don’t know what to believe, I have written The Jesus Story: Seven Signs that focus on the miracles of John’s Gospel. You can access it through the banner below if you are in the US, or through Amazon anywhere else in the world.

A prayer.  Blessed Lord, you have caused all holy scriptures to be written for our learning, grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn and inwardly digest them, that, encouraged and supported by your holy Word, we may embrace and always hold fast the joyful hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

© John G. Mason

Note: I have adapted material here from my book, Luke: An Unexpected God (2nd Edition, Aquila: 2019)

In this world of turmoil and suffering, we long for a day when all will be put right.

A scene in the public ministry of Jesus of Nazareth helps us.

They arrived at the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. As he (Jesus) stepped out on land, a man of the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs… (Luke 8:26-27).

While today the man would probably be diagnosed with some form of psychosis, Luke the physician says he was demon-possessed.

Alien powers. Which raises an interesting question for us. The world of the Bible did not have the fields of psychiatry and psychology, yet the Bible does teach that we human beings are strange creatures who live on the boundary of two worlds – the physical and the spiritual. Sickness can invade this psychosomatic unity from either of those spheres. And when it does, it can cause symptoms that affect both the physical and the spiritual, the mind and the body.

Furthermore, just as illness can invade us from either source, so healing can come from either source. And when it is successful it can bring both spiritual and physical relief. We recognise this for example, when we bring prayer and medicine to bear on cancer. In the same way, we can bring prayer and psychiatry together for a person who is mentally ill.

Luke’s record provides a helpful clue to our question of diagnosis: the man fell down at Jesus’ feet, not in worship but in recognition of Jesus’ superior power. He shouted, ‘What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beseech you, do not torment me’ (8:28).

The man was suffering from more than mental illness or uncontrolled behaviour through alcoholism or drug addiction. Markers of his condition were the length of time he had been disturbed and his awareness of the supernatural.

His response to Jesus’ question, ‘What is your name?’ shows how true this was. ‘Legion,’ he said. The powers within him knew they were confronted by someone greater, for Jesus was commanding them to leave the man (Luke 8:29-30).

A greater power. Fearing the abyss, the restriction of their movement, these alien forces asked Jesus to let them enter a large herd of swine. They may have thought this would allow them to move around. Receiving Jesus’ permission, they entered the pigs and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned (Luke 8:33).

The destruction of the pigs graphically captures the ultimate purpose of such cosmic powers: they are hell-bent on the destruction of God’s creation.

Luke’s juxtaposition of the before and after scenes reinforces this. Under the influence of dark powers, the man had no shame. He was naked and couldn’t live in normal society – only amongst the dead. He couldn’t be restrained and was unable to enjoy meaningful human relationships, let alone relationship with God. He was alienated and alone, an outcast. The powers of darkness are intent on defacing and destroying the image of God in us.

However, released from these dark powers through Jesus’ greater power, the man’s life was dramatically changed: the townspeople found him sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind (Luke 8:35). Whereas previously he hadn’t wanted companionship, now he wanted to be with Jesus. Whereas previously he had lived amongst the dead, now Jesus told him to return …home (Luke 8:38-39a).

Jesus holds out to us the promise of restoration and hope.

The picture the New Testament paints is that the Creator’s rightful rule has been usurped by a coup – by what the Letter to the Ephesians calls the rulers of this present darkness (Ephesians 6:12). Currently there is a conflict between two distinct spheres of existence – the heavenly and the earthly. However, the scene in the land of the Gerasenes points us to the supremacy of Jesus Christ.

For the present, we are naïve if we ignore the reality that there are dark forces in the cosmos intent on controlling the lives of men and women. As the scene in Luke 8 reveals, and as we read in Ephesians chapter 6, our struggle is not simply against flesh and blood. God’s people are caught up in a struggle with the powers of darkness.

However, the Bible assures us that the day is coming when everything will be brought under the rule of Jesus Christ – as we read for example, in Ephesians chapter 1, verse 10. Christianity is not a dualistic faith. God’s king is supreme. Jesus’ restoration of the man in the land of the Gerasenes points to this reality.

A commission. There’s something else in the scene in Luke chapter 8. Despite the good Jesus had done for the man, the local property owners and townspeople didn’t want him to stay. They feared him (Luke 8:35, 37). But Jesus didn’t leave this non-Jewish world without a witness. He commissioned the man to stay and let everyone know what God had done for him (Luke 8:39). His presence and testimony would be a constant reminder of the extraordinary Jewish man who had visited and brought about an amazing transformation to his life.

From the way Luke has recorded this event, it is clear he wants us not only to grasp the impact of Jesus’ power, but also to feel the extent of his care and compassion – and not least to those who are outside Israel.

God’s good news is that a remarkable intervention has occurred in world events. The true king of the universe himself has come amongst us, not with great fanfare, let alone with an army. That was not his strategy. Rather, single-handedly he has mortally wounded the prince of darkness and is now gathering from all over the world, people who are loyal to him.

To achieve his purposes, he involves us – to pray for God’s mercy and to introduce our family and connections to the compassionate and all-powerful Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one who will put all things right.

If you will allow me a personal reference, have you taken up an opportunity to read The Jesus Story: Seven Signs to refresh your own faith as well as have a book to pass on to others? You can access it through Amazon.

A prayer. Lord God, the unfailing helper and guide of those whom you bring up in your steadfast fear and love, keep us, we pray, under the protection of your good providence, and give us a continual reverence and love for your holy name; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

© John G. Mason

Note: Material for today’s Word on Wednesday is adapted from my book, Luke: An Unexpected God (2nd Edition, Aquila: 2019).

n his Screwtape Letters CS Lewis observes that there are two equal and opposite errors that people fall into regarding the dark powers. One mistake is to disbelieve in their existence; the other is to believe in them to excess.

In Ephesians chapter 6, verses 10 through 12, Paul the Apostle writes: Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power… For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places…

Paul takes the reality of conflict in the world to another level: ‘our struggle’, literally, ‘our wrestling’, is not so much against ‘flesh and blood’ but ‘principalities and powers’. In Ephesians chapter 1, verse 10, Paul speaks of the day when all things, ‘in heaven’ and ‘on earth’ will be brought under rule of the Lord Jesus Christ. However, as we read in chapter 6, for the present there’s a war between the two spheres of darkness and light.

Spiritually speaking, God’s people live in enemy occupied territory. The epic the Gospel records reveal is that the true king has slipped into our world to rescue people enslaved by the dark powers. The Gospel of John records Jesus’s words to Pilate: he could have called on a powerful army to rescue him (John 18:36). However, knowing that he alone could defeat the prince of darkness, he came without fanfare to accomplish his mission. He knew that only through his sacrificial death could the powers of evil, and death itself, be conquered. This is clearly stated in Colossians, chapter 2, verses 13 through 15. Jesus’s resurrection from the dead validates his victory.

However, for the present the dark powers, although mortally wounded, continue to do their worst, attempting to destroy God’s ultimate and sure plan to glorify his people.

Against this backdrop we learn from Ephesians chapter 6, verse 10 that God’s people are caught up in a spiritual conflict as individuals and together. It is here that too often we are naïve. We might reckon it is only the smooth-tongued and powerful elite voices that obstruct spiritual truth in the world. No, Paul warns. There are formidable supernatural forces at work – powers that will not respond to reason. We are caught up in a conflict that involves dark powers and human choices.

Put on the whole armor of God, we read in verse 13, so that you may be able to stand your ground. There will be times when the dark forces press us morally, whispering that everybody’s doing it. Sometimes they press us intellectually: you’re too clever to believe that. Sometimes they press us psychologically: your faith is so intolerant. And there are times when we are physically persecuted. The aim is always the same: to silence the voice of God’s people.

Stand firm, Paul says. Be alert. Don’t give in. Put on the inner protection of a godly lifestyle. Our loins need to be girded with God’s truth; we need a breastplate of righteousness; our feet need to be shod with the commitment to spread the gospel of peace, and we need the headpiece of salvation. Our lives are most at risk when our inner defenses are broken. We need the qualities of integrity, righteousness, gospel readiness, and the deep assurance of God’s ultimate victory.

The dark powers will do their worst to discredit our integrity, prevent gospel outreach through lethargy and infighting, and demoralize us by discouraging us.

We need protection: the shield of faith with which we can quench the flaming darts of darkness. We can’t cope on our own. We need to trust Christ, for when we do, the darts of darkness will fall useless. ‘The victory that overcomes the world,’ John tells us, ‘is our faith’ (1 John 5:4).

The sword of the spirit. While Paul hasn’t spelled out the meaning of his metaphors up to this point, he wants us to know that God’s Word is a sword. Unlike communism or any other ‘ism’ or ideology, there is no place in Christianity for a literal holy war. God’s new society is not brought in by act of Congress still less at the end of gun. God works through his Word.

The Word of God is not a message of the freedom fighters, but one that focusses on personal repentance and God’s forgiveness: the building of God’s new society and its compassion and care for a lost world. The victory of God’s Word will have eternal outcomes.

Pray. Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints… (Ephes 6:18).

In any battle, communication is vital. In the histories of World War II there is a picture of a young soldier holding together a broken telephone line. Prayer is our field telegraph. Paul urges us to pray constantly, to persevere in prayer, and to be vigilant in prayer. We are to pray in the Spirit.

Romans chapter 8, verses 26 following, help us understand this, for there Paul tells us that the Spirit works with us in our prayer. In the midst of suffering we’re often at a loss to know what we should say. In those times, Paul tells us, the Spirit comes to our aid, putting our inarticulate thoughts into meaningful prayer, speaking to God on our behalf.

Despite the noise of opposing voices, God’s work continues to make inroads on the kingdom of darkness. When Jesus stood on the hills of ancient Israel with a handful of his followers, he said, ‘On this rock – the rock of faith – I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it’ (Matthew 16:18). He was speaking to a small group of humble, un-influential men.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the legitimate ruler of the world. No, much, much more: the universe. Nothing in all creation will prevent the return of the King.

How important it is that, by God’s grace, we hold on to the shield of faith, wield the word of God with greater confidence, and most of all, pray – for one another and for others. Pray that we will stand firm, not failing to live under God’s gospel, nor failing to take his gospel to those around us.

If you have not already done so, let me encourage you to obtain copies of The Jesus Story: Seven Signs – a copy to revitalize your own faith and copies to pass on to others who don’t know what to believe. If you are in the US you can purchase copies through the button in the book banner below. If you are elsewhere purchases can be made through Amazon.

A prayer. Almighty God, give us grace so that we may cast away the works of darkness and put on the armor of light now in the time of this mortal life, in which your Son Jesus Christ came amongst us in great humility: so that on the last day, when he comes again in his glorious majesty to judge the living and the dead, we may rise to life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.

© John G. Mason

In the concluding chapter of his book, Dominion (2019), Tom Holland draws together his theme of the ways Christianity has impacted “the rise and fall of empires, the actions of bishops and kings, the arguments of theologians, the course of revolutions, the planting of crosses around the world. Yet”, he comments, “that hardly tells the whole story.

“I have written much in this book about churches, and monasteries, and universities,” he writes, “but these were never where the mass of the Christian people were most influentially shaped. It was always in the home that children were likeliest to absorb the revolutionary teachings that, over the course of two thousand years, have come to be so taken for granted as almost to seem to be human nature. The Christian revolution was wrought above all at the knees of women.

“The success, then, of the most influential framework for making sense of human existence that has ever existed always depended on people like my Godmother: people who saw in the succession of one generation by another something more than merely the way of all the earth. Although she had no children of her own, she was a teacher, … and publicly honoured for it.

“As a Christian, … she had the hope of eternal life. It was a faith that she had received from her mother, who had received it in turn from her parents,  … And this was the tradition that my Godmother passed on to me” (p.519).

Let’s think about this. In the Letter to the Ephesians, chapter 4, verse 4 we read: Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

These words would have shocked the Roman world where a father was the autocratic head of the family, with untold power over his offspring. Paul’s command was revolutionary: parents – for mothers as well as fathers are included – are not to abuse their children, giving them cause for bitterness and anger. Rather, they are to provide a home of love and care, helping their children to grow in the knowledge and love, wisdom and self-discipline in the Lord.

The words of Deuteronomy chapter 6, verses 4 through 7, written around 1200BC, come to mind: Hear, O Israel: the Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart.

The one-ness and uniqueness of God echo a great theme of Genesis chapters 1 and 2. Behind the diversity and complexity of the universe there is one God who holds everything together and unifies it. We live in a meaningful, ordered world because everything that happens, no matter how varied, is all part of the one creation.

It’s crucial for us to understand this for it helps us begin to answer the question we all ask at some point: “Who am I?” The answer of Deuteronomy chapter 6 is that there is one God who is our creator. We won’t make sense of ourselves without him. Strip from the universe and our lives the notion of God who is Lord of his creative handiwork, and we’re left with an emptiness and sense of meaninglessness.

The God of Deuteronomy chapter 6 is not an abstract being, without meaning or message. This is even more so in the New Testament where, for example, we read in the Gospel of John: And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only son from the Father, full of grace and truth (1:14). And in Philippians chapter 2 we read: At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, every tongue will confess him as Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Our world and our children need to hear these truths. We do great harm to our society and to the next generation if we so cram our children’s lives with activities and programs that they do not hear these truths. Yet how many parents fill their children’s lives with music before school, activities after school, and success at school that they never have time with them as a family to talk about the things of God.

Who should teach these things about God? Consider Deuteronomy chapter 6, verse 6: Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise.

Parents and family are the most important educational influence on children. It’s built into the very nature of family. Children don’t stop learning when they get home from school. They are learning every waking hour of the day. It’s one of the reasons they need to be guided in their use of phones, social media, and television viewing.

Despite research that suggests parents are handing over responsibility for their children’s education and training to schools, the best people to instil fundamental attitudes and form children’s moral lives are parents and family. This involves commitment but the rewards are great.

If you are a parent or grandparent, aunt or uncle or godparent, consider the example of your life – how much time you spend on your phone or in front of the big screen. Use the precious conversations around the dinner table, on walks, and at bedtime. Be known for your reading of the Bible and living it out, not just with words but also in your lifestyle.

Be prepared to answer questions about life – about right and wrong, life and death, about drugs and alcohol, about nuclear or climate concerns, about God. Speak plainly about what Jesus means to you. These are crucial times. Children’s experiences with family, and family connections, will live in their memories for a lifetime.

It’s in the home, as we instruct our children about God and Jesus Christ, that they learn their own value and self-esteem as a boy or girl, made in the image of God. It’s in the home they learn how to get on with other people and to respect authority and discipline. It’s in the home they develop as individuals and find their individuality accepted, appreciated and affirmed.

Parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles, godparents and godly family connections are well placed to blend the demands of society and the needs of the child in a way that affirms a child’s dignity and yet also makes them ready for society, to mix with other people and not just to be a self-centered little island.

Much more needs to be said about how we can pass on God’s good news from one generation to the next. A starting point is your own understanding of and commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ. If you will allow me a personal reference, have you taken up an opportunity to read The Jesus Story: Seven Signs to refresh your own faith as well as have a book to pass on to others? You can access it through the link below if you are in the US, or through Amazon.

A prayer. Almighty God, our heavenly Father, whose Son Jesus Christ shared at Nazareth the life of an earthly home: bless our homes, we pray. Help parents to impart the knowledge of you and your love; and children to respond with love and obedience. May our homes be blessed with peace and joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

© John G. Mason

Everyone loves a story – the huge success of the Narnia books of CS Lewis, The Lord of the Rings from JRR Tolkien and, of course, JK Rowling’s, Harry Potter series, all come to mind.

But fiction is not the only form of story people long for. There is always wide-ranging interest in the personal stories of people – the successful and the unknown, recent and long-past. It is as though people find their own sense of identity and purpose in the story of others. This is especially true in troubling and challenging times – as we are currently experiencing.

With that thought in mind, come with me to the story of the man who, as HG Wells – author of The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds – once observed, is “irrevocably the very center of history. Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in all history”.

In the course of preaching sermons on John’s Gospel last year I was struck afresh by the conversations that we read in chapter 14.

The chapter opens with a dark cloud hanging over the close followers of Jesus. For three years they had followed him with increasing confidence that he was someone very different from anyone they knew. But he had just told them that within a matter of hours he was going away. They were in a state of shock.

“Do not let your hearts be troubled,” Jesus said. “Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling-places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going” (John 14:1-3).

At this, Thomas, one of his followers, expressed his frustration: ‘We don’t know where you’re going’, he said. ‘How can we know the way?’ We might sympathize with Thomas. The idea of Jesus going to heaven and preparing a place for his followers seems far-fetched.

Let’s think about this. Many people will never admit that their view about life is wrong – that there might be more to life than the material world we experience. There are even people like this in churches: they say the creed, but they don’t really believe it; they might give the impression of spirituality but there’s no substance to it.

At least Thomas is prepared to admit he didn’t understand. But while Jesus doesn’t belittle him, his response is nevertheless startling: “I am the way, the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father but by me” (14:6). ‘If you truly know me Thomas, you would know what I am talking about.’ Significantly, Jesus doesn’t say, “I’ll show you the way” but “I am the way”; he doesn’t say, “I’ll tell you the truth” but “I am the truth”; he doesn’t say, “I’ll give you eternal life” rather, “I am the life”.

It’s as though Jesus is saying, the path to life beyond the grave involves a relationship, a relationship you already have – a relationship with me. His words are incredible: he is saying that behind the universe is not a mathematical equation or a scientific formula but a person.

John Lennox, Emeritus Professor of Mathematics and Philosophy at Oxford University, has written: “The rational intelligibility of the universe,… points to the existence of the Mind that was responsible both for the universe and our minds. It is for this reason that we are able to do science and to discover the beautiful mathematical structures that underlie the phenomena we can observe.” (cited in PW Barnett, Gospel Truth, p.21)

Jesus is saying that the impossible has happened: God has come amongst us in person and that he is the one. His words echo what we read in the introduction to John’s Gospel: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

In John chapter 14, Jesus is saying that the only way to make sense of our human existence is by recognising that he is the complex person who is the Mind behind the universe. And, while it seems impossible, he is that person.

As the chapter moves on, we discover that Thomas’ frustration leads to a request from Phillip: “Lord show us the Father. That’s all we need,” he says (14:8).

Philip wanted to know what every religion wants to know: What is God like? He wanted some tangible experience of God that would sweep away his doubts. He might have been thinking of God’s special appearance to Moses at the burning bush. He wanted to see God.

Again, Jesus’ response is astounding: “He who has seen me has seen the Father” (14:9). We would not have been surprised if Jesus had replied, ‘Philip, you’re asking the impossible’. Rather he says, ‘Don’t you know me Philip, even after I’ve been among you over these years? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, “Show us the Father?”’

Some people think of Jesus as one of history’s great teachers. But this doesn’t come anywhere near to what Jesus was saying. He is saying that he is not just God’s emissary or ambassador, but God himself. He was claiming the impossible – to be God in our midst.

Consider how Jesus continues. We read his words in verse 11: “Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves.

Jesus anticipated their doubts. Think about it, he is saying. You’ve seen me turn water into first-class wine. You have also seen me perform many other miraculous acts that no-one else has ever been able to do – including bringing out of a tomb a man who had been dead for four days. ‘Doesn’t that tell you something about me?’ he is asking.

In a new book, The Jesus Story: Seven Signs, I have taken up Jesus’s words in his response to Philip’s request (14:8): “…Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves” (14:11). The works are the signs.

Many people today have no problem with the existence of Jesus and the idea that he was a good man. However, they’re unaware of the real Jesus story that points to his uniqueness and divinity, and the life and hope he offers us.

John’s Gospel is sometimes called the book of the signs. My book takes up the gospel story for those who believe and those who don’t know what to believe. It is written to encourage and reassure God’s people before being handed on to others with an invitation to find out more.

Copies can be purchased in the US using the banner below, or anywhere else from Amazon at: The Jesus Story: Seven Signs, John G. Mason.

Prayer. Lord Christ, eternal Word and Light of the Father’s glory: send your light and your truth so that we may both know and proclaim your word of life, to the glory of God the Father; for you now live and reign, God for all eternity. Amen.

© John G. Mason