John 15:26-16:15

Dear RTB’ers, 

Today we have Jesus’ third and fourth mentions of the Holy Spirit. First, But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness about Me. (v. 15:26) Sent from the Father, the Spirit of truth, bearing witness to Jesus… The first two items are somewhat straightforward; the third is more confusing. I see the Holy Spirit bearing witness to Jesus in His work in our hearts in bringing us to Jesus, glorifying Jesus as we come to know Him better, helping us to love Him more, and to serve Him at His will. That is, the Holy Spirit is our guide in understanding Jesus better. That’s my take. Your thoughts…?

Finally, Jesus’ fourth mention of the Holy Spirit, a full nine verses, 16:7-15. Allow me to refer you to my 2019 post when I commented at length about these verses.

Blessings!

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See also:

• November 5 (2019) / John 15:18-27
• November 6 (2019) / John 16:1-15 (referenced above)

John 15:9-25

Dear RTB’ers,

…whatever you ask the Father in My name, He may give it to you. (v. 16b) We read similar verses yesterday: Whatever you ask in My name, this I will do … If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it. (vv. 14:13-14) Those three words, in My name. So often we end our prayers with “in Jesus’ name”. Now you know why. Do we really think about those words when we end our prayers that way? Here is an interesting item I found in reasonabletheology.org: “If a servant claims to speak in the name of the king, and then acts or speaks in a way that is not according to the king’s will, he is outside the authority that has been granted to him. So it is with our position in Christ. We are approaching God in the name of our King, and we dare not request things that Jesus Himself would not desire.” Or, spoken more positively (same source), “While we have any number of requests that we might bring before God, we recognize that when we approach Him in prayer we ought to seek the same things that our Savior seeks. We are positioning our desires behind His. When we pray “in Jesus’ name” it means that we would pray in a way that is consistent to Jesus’ will.” Let’s think those things the next time we pray.

Another word from Jesus worth additional consideration: 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… (v. 16a) If you are reading this, you are among the chosen. Jesus chose you, personally, to His ends. Let that sink in!

The word “love” appears ten times in today’s 17 verses. Questions, comments…?

Blessings!

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See also: November 4 (2019) / John 15:9-17.

John 14:25-15:8

Dear RTB’ers, 

Yesterday we saw Jesus’ first mention of the Holy Spirit in John 14:16-17. Today we have a second mention, with the Holy Spirit mentioned as the Helper: 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. 14:26) Three items here, especially powerful as we apply them to ourselves: the Father will send the Holy Spirit; He will teach us all things; and we will remember as needed! From Pentecost forward we see the apostles speaking and preaching and writing, no doubt recalling Jesus’ words and Old Testament verses as needed. We see this particularly played out when Peter and John are called before the Sanhedrin and Luke offers this report on the leaders’ amazement: Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. (Acts 4:13) That same power is available to us, again, as needed.

My Study Bible offered an interesting insight on the following verse: …for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on Me… (v. 14:30b) Here’s the Study Bible comment: “Satan has a hold on people because of their fallen state. Since Christ was sinless, Satan could have no hold on Him.” Just that…

Today’s chapter 14 ends with Jesus saying, “Rise, let us go from here,” but then John has Him speaking for another three chapters before He is arrested at Gethsemane. I’ve always wondered where He was when He spoke these three chapters. Wondering…!

Blessings!

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See also:

• November 14 (2023) / John 14-16
• November 2 (2019) / John 14:25-31
• June 3 (2021) / John 15:1-27
• November 3 (2019) / John 15:1-8

John 14:15-24

Dear RTB’ers,

We have the first of Jesus’ Last Supper mentions of the Holy Spirit in today’s reading. He lists five items regarding the Holy Spirit: another Helper, to be with you forever; the Spirit of truth; You know Him; He dwells with you; and [He] will be in you. (vv. 16, 17) Jesus was speaking to His disciples, but I believe that each of these items is something that we can claim for ourselves. We will see more Holy Spirit mentions in John 15:26 and John 16:7-15.

Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?” (v. 22) Here Judas is reflecting back to Jesus words in verse 19a: Yet a little while and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. I’ve probably thought of this before, but my recollection is that Jesus appeared only to His followers following His Resurrection. He did not appear to people who did not believe in Him – in particular, He did not appear to any of the scribes, Pharisees or Sadducees who were challenging Him. I have no further comment on that, only that observation. Intriguing…!

Blessings!

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See also:

• June 2 (2021) / John 14:12-31
• November 1 (2019) / John 14:12-24

John 13:33-14:14

Dear RTB’ers,

Jesus speaking: Where I am going you cannot come. …you cannot follow Me now, but you will follow afterward. 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, that where I am you may be also. (vv. 13:33b, 36b, 14:2b-3) Jesus confuses His disciples as to His departure, just as He had confused the Jews. He would not tell them where He was going, but He did give them the consolation that He would come back for them. Should that have been enough assurance to satisfy them? Evidently not. I feel like if I had been there I would have continued asking questions: “When will that be? Where will You meet us? What should we do in the meantime?” What would have been my level of trust, such that I could just wait for events to play out? And, what is my level of trust today that events will play out, according to His time? Jesus leaves me confused, especially His words in John’s gospel, but that confusion is probably a good thing, in that it builds a stronger faith in me if I let Him take charge. There’s the rub, letting Him take charge!

See you in a few hours, I hope…!!

Blessings!

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See also:

• November 13 (2023) / Matthew 26:17-35; Mark 14:12-31; Luke 22:7-38; John 13
• May 30 (2021) / John 13:18-38
• October 26 (2019) / John 13:31-35
• October 30 (2019) / John 13:36-38
• June 1 (2021) / John 14:1-11
• October 31 (2019) / John 14:1-11

John 13:21-32

Dear RTB’ers,

Two items regarding the question of whether this meal in yesterday’s and today’s reading was the Last Supper or just another meal. I was wrong yesterday when I quoted verse 30, suggesting that “he immediately went out” referred to Jesus. Not true – that phrase relates to Judas, as does verse 31a, “When he had gone out…” However, verse 29a supports the “other meal” argument: Some thought that, because Judas had the moneybag, Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the feast…” This phrase, “for the feast” could be John’s way of suggesting a later Passover meal, lending support for the “other feast” argument.

Judas’ betrayal… Troubling. For money? Or did Judas somehow imagine that he was doing a good thing, possibly “forcing” Jesus to reveal Himself as the Messiah, “forcing” Him to begin that reign that would overthrow the Romans? Judas’ later suicide suggests some miscalculation on his part. I don’t think it was just money.

Blessings!

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See also:

• May 30 (2021) / John 13:18-38
• October 24 (2019) / John 13:18-30

John 13:1-20

Dear RTB’ers,

Back to John’s gospel for the next few weeks. By way of reminder, John 11 was Jesus’ raising of Lazarus from the dead, then John 12 was Palm Sunday. Now we are in chapter 13, clearly in the last few days before Jesus’ Crucifixion.

Now before the Feast of the Passover… (v. 13:1a). Scholars argue whether today’s reading was the beginning of the Last Supper or just another meal with Jesus and His disciples. It’s a good question. A few verses further we have Jesus leaving: So after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night. (v. 30) Then the next verse has Jesus speaking again with His disciples, and His speaking continues through chapter 17. These chapters could be the Last Supper. I’m going to go with today’s reading being the “other meal” argument, but it’s not an important issue. John does not have Jesus explicitly instituting the Eucharist at the Last Supper as do the Synoptics. See Matthew 26:26-28, Mark 14:22-24, and Luke 22:19-20. That’s the issue for us!

Jesus does His foot-washing in today’s reading. Two verses stand out for me. The first, Jesus speaking, If I do not wash you, you have no share with Me (v. 8b) We read this verse today and internalize it as Jesus washing away our sins – a good take-away from a simple conversation between Jesus and Peter. The second verse, Jesus again speaking, If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. (v. 14) Although Jesus was likely speaking of our Christian duty to serve wherever and whenever we are called, it’s also a common practice in liturgical churches to follow Jesus’ example and have a foot-washing at Holy Thursday services. Those are often moving, emotional times for many people. I can recall a few that have been more personal for me. My feeling is that it’s nice to have that service once in a while, but not every year. And you? Let’s chat about that on Sunday.

Blessings!

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See also:

• May 29 (2021) / John 13:1-17
• October 25 (2019) / John 13:1-17

II Kings 24-25

Dear RTB’ers,

Today we close the Kings books – and what a dramatic close it is! Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon has overwhelmed Assyria and set his sights on Jerusalem and Judah. We see a first deportation in 597 BC (II Kings 24:10-16, esp. vv. 15-16), then a second deportation in 586 BC (II Kings 25:6-7,11,18-21), together with the total destruction of the temple and houses in the city of Jerusalem. Total destruction – the Lord’s judgment on Judah’s failure to follow Him: Surely this came upon Judah at the command of the LORD, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, and also for the innocent blood that he had shed. (v. 24:3-4a)

We read these verses, one after another – destruction, savagery, evil – and we don’t even get the full story. Early next year we will read the book of the prophet Jeremiah, who was inside Jerusalem while all this was going on, was speaking the word of the Lord to various kings and leaders who consistently failed to listen to him. It’s a fascinating book – my favorite of all the prophets. We will also see more of the Israelite captivity in the books of Daniel and Esther, plus the return of the Jews to Jerusalem in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. So, as bad as our readings end today, all is not lost. The Lord has not forgotten His people.

As when we left I Kings and moved to John’s gospel, it will be a relief as we leave II Kings and return to John’s gospel and Jesus’ final week with His disciples. Come join us on Sunday for our discussions of these books! It is Holy Spirit time for all of us gathered!

Blessings!

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See also:

• July 15 (2023) / II Kings 24:5-17; Jeremiah 22:18-30; 13:15-27; II Chronicles 36:5-10; Jeremiah 24:1-10
• August 4 (2023) / II Kings 25:4-21; Jeremiah 52:7-27; 39:1-10

II Kings 22-23

Dear RTB’ers,

Of the 57 verses that we read today, all but eight are the author’s account of Josiah’s reign, with most of those verses relating to his purge of evil from both Judah and Samaria.

King Josiah and his sons… The contrast between father and sons is dramatic. Here’s the author’s description of the father, Josiah: He did what was right in the sight of the LORD and walked entirely in the way of his father David, and did not turn aside to the right or to the left. Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him. (vv. 22:2, 23:25). Josiah is much like his grandfather, Hezekiah, whom the author of II Kings held in highest esteem, as described three days ago: He trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him. (v. 18:5) The author’s praise of Hezekiah seems to be watered down a bit by his praise for Josiah, since the “none after him” greatness could not be applied to both. Perhaps it was Hezekiah’s hospitality to the envoys from Babylon in his later years that troubled the author? (See II Kings 20:12-18.)

Now, here is the author’s take on Josiah’s sons, the same verse regarding each of his sons: And he did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his fathers had done. (vv. 23:32, 37) Father Josiah and great-great-grandfather Hezekiah, GREAT! Manasseh and Amon, bad. How could the bad activities of Manasseh and Amon outweigh the great histories of Hezekiah and Josiah? How does bad so easily overwhelm good? A good discussion question for our RTB gathering this coming Sunday, November 2…

Blessings!

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See also:

• June 29 (2023) / II Kings 22; Zephaniah
• June 30 (2023) / II Kings 23:1-27; II Chronicles 34:1-35:19