Day 32 (Thursday, April 11, 2019)

Read

John 16:25-27


25 “I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures, but will tell you plainly of the Father. 26 On that day you will ask in my name. I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; 27 for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.”

Reflect

‘Why bother with prayer?’ Jesus’ words here lay an important foundation. We have the promise of a better understanding of God because Jesus and his Spirit have now spoken plainly about the Father. Further, we see that our prayers are effective because we can pray in the name of Jesus. We also enjoy a new experience of God because Jesus has opened the way to a new and intimate relationship with his Father – the Father himself loves you.

It is easy to underestimate the significance of these words. We overlook the fact that with the clearer understanding of God from the New Testament, we are much more likely to pray for the things that delight him and that he has promised to give us. Also, we forget that when we pray in the name of Jesus, we are praying to the one who has direct access to God. Further, we forget the privilege we have in speaking to God as Abba, Father. Like children confident in a parent’s love, we can enjoy a vital and personal relationship with the very best, most loving and most powerful of parents in the universe.

In this chapter, Jesus sets out implications of the drama that was about to unfold – his death, his resurrection, his departure and the coming of the Spirit. He wants us to know that if we consider prayer to be useless and a waste of time, we need to think again. If we think that prayer is a waste of breath, then we are living as if Easter and Pentecost had never occurred. We become spiritual paupers when we refuse the riches of God’s promises which are available to us.

Prayer

O God, the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven: do not leave us desolate, but send your Holy Spirit to strengthen us, and exalt us to where our Savior Christ has gone before, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for evermore. Amen. (BCP, Sunday after Ascension)

Daily Reading Plan

Read John 16:16-33

Day 31 (Wednesday, April 10, 2019)

One of the great mysteries for many about Christianity is the death of Jesus Christ. It also puzzled the disciples.  

During the hours before his arrest and death, Jesus sought to comfort them by telling them that he would not leave them bereft: he would send the Comforter who would also have a role in the wider world as the Advocate. The presence of this Comforter and Advocate was highly significant, for without his (the Spirit’s) involvement, Jesus’ disciples could not have fulfilled their special calling (for example, John 14:26). But nor would men and women come to respond to God’s good news unless God’s Spirit was active.

By way of background it is important that we remember Jesus’ words to his Jewish audience: “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe” (John 4:48). He was saying that he objected to performing signs because he knew what was in the hearts of people who asked for them: in their pride they thought they had a right to evaluate him, testing his credentials.

Furthermore, in 1 Corinthians 1:22 Paul writes of the non-Jewish mind-set: Greeks desire wisdom, … The non-Jewish world may not have asked for signs, but they considered their philosophers to be smart enough to explain the world and life. If God existed, he would need to fit into their philosophical, scientific or political framework.

But God in his wisdom knows our propensities and, in his mercy, provided and continues to provide the very Advocate we need to open our eyes to the truth.

Read

John 16:4-11


4 (Jesus said…) ‘But I have said these things to you so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you about them. I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. 5 But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, “Where are you going?’ 6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. 7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; 11 about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.’

Reflect

During the Passover meal Jesus told his disciples that he was going away but that he would not be leaving them alone. In fact his going would mean the coming of the Comforter, the Advocate. The disciples’ silence is palpable (16:5). They were devastated.

Yet through his death, which from a human perspective looks like failure, God has built a movement that will continue forever. In these hours before his crucifixion – which happened the following day – Jesus told his disciples that God would be awakening an unbelieving world to its spiritual need.

Jesus speaks of God’s Spirit as an Advocate: his work is like that of a prosecutor laying charges, though not in a court of law but rather in the human heart. The Spirit convicts the world of sin, defined now, not as failure to keep the Ten Commandments, but failure to acknowledge Jesus as Messiah. The Spirit also convicts the world of righteousness, defined by the moral goodness of Jesus’ life. Where human courts condemned Jesus, God has declared him righteous, giving him life.

Further, the Spirit alerts the world to the reality of judgment. And this is not some remote maybe. God’s Messiah has come and his kingdom is established. He has already confounded the attempt by powers of evil to usurp God’s rule. Everyone now has a choice to make – to side with the defeated enemy or commit to the victorious Jesus.

Jesus challenges us to draw comfort from God’s Spirit at work in our own lives, and to pray for the Spirit to work with mercy in the lives of people around us.

Prayer

God our Father, whose will is to bring all things to order and unity in our Lord Jesus Christ; grant that all the peoples of the world, now divided and torn apart by sin, may be brought together in his kingdom of love; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (1978 AAPB)

Daily Reading Plan

Read John 16:1-15

Day 24 (Tuesday, April 2, 2019)

Read

John 12:42-50

42 Nevertheless many, even of the authorities, believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they did not confess it, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved human glory more than the glory that comes from God.

44 Then Jesus cried aloud: “Whoever believes in me believes not in me but in him who sent me. 45 And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. 46 I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in the darkness. 47 I do not judge anyone who hears my words and does not keep them, for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. 48 The one who rejects me and does not receive my word has a judge; on the last day the word that I have spoken will serve as judge, 49 for I have not spoken on my own, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment about what to say and what to speak. 50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I speak, therefore, I speak just as the Father has told me.”

Reflect

Living with our first world comforts, we tend to overlook the hatred that some have towards Jesus Christ. John tells us that even though some of the authorities believed in Jesus they did not make it public because they feared excommunication from the synagogue and the resulting implications for their families and livelihood.

These rulers, who included men like Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, would have enjoyed wealth and status. However Nicodemus who defended Jesus (7:50f) and Joseph of Arimathea who provided for Jesus’ burial (19:39), were notable exceptions and doubtless paid the price for their loyalty.

The focus of Jesus’ words here is striking. He says again that he has been sent and that to believe in him is to believe and know God. Further, his present task is not to judge but rather to save the world. With his coming he has introduced a unique moment in time: an era of grace where we have the opportunity to be forgiven by God and enjoy new life in Christ Jesus. Every one of us has a decision to make: we either reject Jesus or surrender to his love while there is time.

Light and life, truth and love, loyalty and sacrifice lie at the heart of Jesus and his work. At this point in John’s narrative, the shadow of the cross looms large. Through it, Jesus will be glorified and supremely reveal God’s glory.

In these verses, we’re challenged not to keep our faith in Jesus hidden, despite what others might say or do. We’re also challenged to withhold judgment of others – that’s God’s job one day. This is the time to introduce them to Jesus, so that they too may find life. It will involve a cost, but we’ve nothing to lose, while others have everything to gain.

Prayer

Lord Jesus Christ, for our sake you fasted forty days and forty nights. Give us the grace we need to have such self-control that, our hearts and minds being directed by your Word and your Spirit, we may always obey your will in righteousness and true holiness, to your honor and glory; for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, for evermore. Amen. (BCP, Lent 1 – adapted)

Daily Reading Plan

Read John 12:27-50

Day 23 (Monday, April 1, 2019)

Read

John 12:20-26

20 Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. 21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23 Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.

Reflect

Christianity at its very heart is outward looking and outreaching. The Greeks who came to Philip were probably Greek-speaking Jews or Gentile god-fearers who only spoke Greek, not Aramaic. Coming from Bethsaida, a Greek-speaking region, Philip would have provided a natural connection for anyone wanting to meet Jesus. In drawing our attention to these Greeks, John wants us to see that people from outside of Jerusalem were keen to know Jesus whereas the Jerusalem leaders were keen to kill him. Jesus was going to draw proportionally many more followers from outside of Jerusalem than within. But first, a costly sacrifice had to be made.

With these words to his disciples, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified…” and the following metaphor, Jesus pointed to his coming death. Ironically through the horror of death by crucifixion he would be glorified. Through his sacrifice the extraordinary love within God – the glory of God – would be revealed for all to see. Furthermore, just as through the burial of one seed there is the harvest of many seeds, so would Jesus’ death and burial bring about a great harvest of new life.

There is something else we can notice. Unless Jesus’ followers were prepared to make sacrifices in the gospel cause, there would be no harvest. Jesus’ own death and resurrection laid the essential foundation for forgiveness and eternal life for all who believe in him. It will only be through the self-sacrifice of his followers that this good news will spread and bear much fruit. For many of us, this may mean moving to somewhere that is less than our ideal, rather than remaining in our comfort zone.

Prayer

Lord, mercifully receive the prayers of your people who call upon you; and grant that we may perceive and know what things we ought to do, and also have the grace and power faithfully to perform them; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, Epiphany 1)

Daily Reading Plan

Read John 12:1-26