John 17:1-5

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” Jesus’ “High Priestly Prayer”, in three readings… The word “glory”, with its extensions occurs five times in these five verses and three more times in this chapter. I’ve always wondered at “glory”, so I looked it up. “Glory” has “honor”, “prestige”, “magnificence”, “great beauty” (and others) as synonyms, while synonyms of “glorify” include “exalt”, “elevate”, and “dignify”. Looking at all the synonyms helps me to process that word, “glory”. Jesus truly is worthy of prestige and honor. He truly deserves to be exalted, elevated above all else and above all others. Jesus did not leave behind any great paintings or magnificent sculptures, but He and His Father and the Holy Spirit created a world, a universe of mystery, magnificence, and great beauty. While Jesus mentions only Himself and His Father in this section, together with the Holy Spirit, our Godhead Trinity is truly worthy of glory and honor. Period. GLORY!

Slava Bohu!

John 16:25-33

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” 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 of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father. (v. 25) I wondered about the “figures of speech” term. Later in this section John has the disciples saying “figurative speech” – same idea. But throughout John 13-17 Jesus seems to be speaking plainly, even though the concepts of which He is speaking remain somewhat fuzzy. I’m thinking that Jesus’ reference to no longer speaking with “figures of speech” might refer back to His parables where He is mostly alluding to His Father and the coming Kingdom. That is, when He says “I have said these things to you in figures of speech.”, His reference to “these things” is referring back to His parables, not to His earlier words in Chapters 13-16.

In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf… (v. 26) Herein we have a strange sentence, confusing at first read. I have often understood negatives and double-negatives by plugging in their opposites, so long as I do it twice to preserve the same meaning. So for the second half of the verse, I re-word it as I do say to you that I will not ask the Father on your behalf. To me the sentence is more clearly understood, but it is more confusing as to what Jesus means. So what I think He is saying is that we can go directly to the Father ourselves (in His name, but without His intersession?) because the Father loves us, as we see in verse 27: …for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came from the Father. Even with all that, it is still confusing. My Study Bible points us further to Romans 8:34, where Paul tells us that Jesus stands before the Father on our behalf: Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the One who died—more than that, Who was raised—Who is at the right hand of God, Who indeed is interceding for us. So, bottom line – not to worry…!

Slava Bohu!

John 16:16-24

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” I keep thinking about the phrase, “…in My name”. Jesus speaks that phrase twice in today’s reading and once more later in the chapter. In addition He spoke it once in Chapter 15 and three more times in Chapter 14. Six of those seven occurrences are associated with Jesus’ guiding the disciples as they ask the Father; the other is of the Holy Spirit’s being sent in Jesus’ name. We know that this phrase, “in My name” is powerful; we end so many of our prayers with “…in Jesus’ name”. But…

I wonder if that phrase has become almost cliché in our usage, that we are not really aware of what we are saying. The more I think about it, the more I come to understand that “in My name” or “in Jesus’ name” means in Jesus’ will, in His desires for us – our agreement with what He wants. That every time we end our prayers with “in Jesus’ name”, what we are really saying is “…not my will, but Your will be done”. So let’s think about that as we pray.

In Jesus’ name,

Slava Bohu!

John 16:1-15

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” Today we have a fourth “Holy Spirit” section from John 14-16, and it’s loaded with more information items about the Holy Spirit and His work in the world. Everything from verses 7 to 14 is Holy Spirit focus! Let’s unpack it a bit.

1. …if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. (v. 7)
2. He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment. (v. 8)
3. He will guide you into all the truth… (v. 13)
4. He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak. (v. 13)
5. He will disclose to you what is to come. (v. 13)
6. He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. (v. 14)

My comments:

1. We’ve seen this item before. For some reason – we don’t know why – but Jesus could not send the Holy Spirit until after His death and resurrection.
2. This is a big one – the Holy Spirit’s convicting power.
   • He will convict the world concerning sin. My Study Bible pointed out that inherently we do not see ourselves as sinners until the Holy Spirit convicts us of it.
   • He will convict the world concerning righteousness. A second item from my Study Bible… We are not righteous before God based on our own efforts, but only through Jesus’ saving grace, and we can only learn that from the Holy Spirit’s teaching. NOTE: When Jesus speaks of “going to the Father”, He is only going to the Father by way of His death and resurrection.
   • He will convict the world concerning judgment. Satan has been judged and found guilty. By contrast, our trust in Jesus’ saving grace and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit frees us from that judgment.
3. Clear, as written.
4. The three persons of the Trinity are One God. When the Holy Spirit speaks, He is agreeing with both the Father and the Son on whatever They say.
5. This item has happened to me, powerfully, on the Sunday morning following Carol’s 50^th birthday celebration. Three times I heard what was going to happen before it happened. Maybe I’ll share that this Sunday at RTB.
6. The Holy Spirit is all about giving Jesus the glory for what He has done. He does not seek His own glory. My understanding of “He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you” is that the Holy Spirit helps us to understand Jesus’ words more completely. He opens our understanding.

Whew! That’s a lot! And I haven’t even commented on anything else in today’s reading! Come Holy Spirit!!

Slava Bohu!

John 15:18-27

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” Today we have a third “Holy Spirit” section from John 14-16. We learn three more information items about the Holy Spirit, all in John 15:26:

1. The Helper proceeds from the Father
2. He is the Spirit of truth
3. He will testify about Jesus

Jesus says earlier in that verse that He will send the Holy Spirit “…from the Father…”, then later repeats that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father. So they are both involved in sending the Holy Spirit.

The second item is fairly clear, the Holy Spirit is truth! The third item is less clear – in what sense does the Holy Spirit testify about Jesus? I went online asking about this and found an item where the author first cites Acts 5:32 (We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him), then adds the following text (worth reading all the way through):

It is clear from these words of Jesus Christ and the Apostles that it is the work of the Holy Spirit to bear witness concerning Jesus Christ. We find the Holy Spirit’s testimony to Jesus Christ in the Scriptures, but beside this the Holy Spirit bears witness directly to the individual heart concerning Jesus Christ. He takes His own Scriptures and interprets them to us and makes them clear to us. All truth is from the Spirit, for He is “the Spirit of truth,” but it is especially His work to bear witness to Him who is the truth, that is Jesus Christ (John 14:6). It is only through the testimony of the Holy Spirit directly to our hearts that we ever come to a true, living knowledge of Jesus Christ (cf.1 Cor. 12:3). No amount of mere reading the written Word (in the Bible) and no amount of listening to man’s testimony will ever bring us to a living knowledge of Christ. It is only when the Holy Spirit Himself takes the written Word, or takes the testimony of our fellow man, and interprets it directly to our hearts that we really come to see and know Jesus as He is.

https://biblehub.com/library/torrey/the_person_and_work_of_the_holy_spirit/chapter_viii_the_holy_spirit.htm

What a powerful statement! This item would have been enough of a post for one day, but I do need to comment on two other verses that leapt off the page for me: If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. (v. 22) Jesus repeats the essence of this charge two verses later: If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both Me and My Father. (v. 24) My Study Bible notes that the “they” in these verses refers to the Jewish leaders in Jesus’ time, but I find that the “they” probably also refers to us today and anyone we know. This claim about Jesus’ words applying today is supported by Paul in Romans 1:20, For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. We need to continually pray for our family members and friends who are “without excuse”. Sad…!

Slava Bohu!

John 15:9-17

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” A few days ago (October 26) I commented quite a bit on the following two verses: A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35) Today we have this command from Jesus repeated twice more: This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. (v. 12) and These things I command you, so that you will love one another. (v. 17) As I tried to say earlier, I don’t want to discount Jesus’ command to “love one another”. Obviously He means it, if John has it repeated again, twice, two chapters later.

David has alerted us a few times to watch out for “so that” occurrences. Here we have two (and one-half?) in today’s reading: You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in My name, He may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another. (vv. 16-17, ESV) I’ve already commented on the last item, loving one another. As to the other one-and-a-half… Jesus has appointed us to go and bear good, abiding fruit and if we do that we can go directly to the Father in His name and ask whatever we want/need, again in His name. Jesus is telling us here that bearing fruit is to our benefit – direct access to the Father for our wants/needs, in accordance with Jesus’ will for our lives and others, always remembering “…not my will, but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42 and others)

Slava Bohu!

John 15:1-8

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” Today’s reading: Jesus as the True Vine… The word “vine” (Jesus) appears four times in these eight verses; the word “branch” (us) appears six times; the word “fruit” appears eight times. Jesus is directing His words to His disciples – and to us “down the road”? They (we?) are to bear fruit. And in our bearing fruit, the Father is glorified.

So what does it mean “to bear fruit”? It always seemed to me that the short answer, the simple answer is in our bringing converts to the faith. However, to keep the analogy reasonable, if the branches are humans (Jesus’ followers) then it would follow that an unbeliever or a potential convert, also a human being, would also be a branch – maybe a weak twig or a diseased branch, but not a piece of fruit like an apple or a bunch of grapes.

So what would the fruit be? Looking ahead, the very next section in this chapter is all about love. The word “love” appears nine times in the next nine verses (vv. 9-17). So I’m wondering if “bearing fruit” means manifesting love – love for our fellow human beings, but more importantly, love for Jesus, His Father, and the Holy Spirit. But I’m getting ahead of today’s reading. I’ll have to think deeper on this “fruit” topic.

Slava Bohu!

John 14:25-31

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” The second “Holy Spirit” section in John 14-16… But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. (v. 26) Here we have two more Holy Spirit activities. First, He will teach the apostles (us?) “all things” – presumably “all things” that we need to know and when we need to know them. I daresay that whenever the light dawns on a Scripture passage that has been confusing to me (or to you) – that’s the Holy Spirit at work.

Second, the Holy Spirit will bring to remembrance Jesus’ words to the apostles (to us also?). Again, I extend this item a bit to imagine that words, thoughts, and phrases come to mind when we need them, whether Scriptural verses or any bit of solid Biblical teaching. A Christian leader once said to me, “They can argue your theology or your religion, but they cannot argue your personal life.” That phrase came to mind just a few months ago, in early June when Carol and I were visiting with my brother, Dickie, and I began to share some “miracles” from my past. He acknowledged that he did not dispute my stories, but he still has a faith barrier. But my remembering those words spoken to me made the difference in my conversation with my brother.

I’ve fallen in love with the Holy Spirit!

Slava Bohu!

John 14:12-24

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” Some of you have heard this already. Our theme this past Creative Arts Camp was the Holy Spirit. Way back when, Kelly asked me to talk about the Holy Spirit using John 14-16 as my source material. It was transformative in me as I learned more about Him – who He is and what He does! And now we have reached that first John 14 mention of the Holy Spirit in today’s reading and three items popped out that were part of my earlier study:

1. Jesus will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper… (v. 16)
2. …the world cannot receive [Him], because it neither sees Him nor knows Him… (v. 17)
3. …He dwells with you and will be in you. (v. 17)

This last item is particularly intriguing, especially the phrase “will be in you”. I wonder if Jesus was looking forward to Pentecost, when the disciples received the Holy Spirit?

When we put it all together we see that the Holy Spirit is in the world, working, but the world cannot see Him or know Him. However, those of us who are in Christ have that Holy Spirit, both the knowledge of Him and His power indwelling us. Therefore we can pray for the Holy Spirit to work with our unbelieving family and friends. They do not know Him, but He knows them. When we ask God to work in their lives, that’s essentially what we are asking for. GLORY!

Slava Bohu!