Luke 22:39-53

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” Then Jesus said to the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders, who had come out against Him… (v. 52) So I was wrong a few days ago when I chastised the Jewish leaders for not being present when Jesus was arrested. Sometimes I do and sometimes I do not look forward to the other Gospels when I am reading the first of two or three or four recounting the same incident. Apparently I should have this time!

And there appeared to Him an angel from heaven, strengthening Him. (v. 43) We saw angels “ministering” to Jesus after His forty days in the wilderness (Mt. 4:11, Mk. 1:13), but I don’t recall any other time in the Gospels where we have seen angels alongside Jesus. So the “ministering” angels and the “strengthening” angel led me to wonder whether Jesus regularly had guardian angels. I daresay that most of us, if questioned, would agree that we have guardian angels watching over us. So Jesus’ having guardian angels should not be a stretch for us. I wonder what they did for Him. Presumably He was filled with the Holy Spirit from His baptism on. Were the angels also special envoys from His Father? Jesus had said that He had twelve legions of angels at His disposal (Matthew 26:53). So what did Jesus’ guardian angels do? Thoughts…?

Slava Bohu!

Mark 14:43-52

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” I’ve always felt sorry for Judas and wondered if his hanging himself was his ultimate repentance and that he might not be assigned to Hell for all eternity. Today’s reading strengthens that argument for me: Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man. Seize him and lead him away under guard.” (v. 44) The ESV and NASB both end that sentence with “under guard”. What struck me, however, was the NKJV translation that ended with “safely”. Did Judas want Jesus taken away “safely”? Did he have some other expectation of what the Jewish leaders would do with Jesus? Was he then shocked to see Him beaten and crucified? And did Jesus’ death on the cross drive Judas to his own suicide? What was Judas’ actual bargain with the Jewish leaders? When he threw their thirty pieces of silver back into the temple sanctuary (Matthew 27:5), was he livid with anger that they had deceived him? I often wonder about Judas…

Slava Bohu!

Matthew 26:47-56

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” First we have: …a great crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people. (v. 47b) Put that together with verse 48, Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man; seize him.” When you put those two verses together, it looks like a mob put together from the local rabble, with an escort from some Roman soldiers. But no chief priests or elders were present – otherwise these Jewish leaders would have known who Jesus was and would not have needed Judas to give Jesus that betrayal kiss. How cowardly of them, not being present to confront the accused! So when Jesus says, Day after day I sat in the temple teaching, and you did not seize me. (v. 55c), He is speaking to the crowd, not to the Jewish leaders. Had they been there, they surely would have been fully belittled by Jesus’ comment. Cowards!!

Slava Bohu!

Mark 14:32-42

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” …<He> began to be greatly distressed and troubled. (v. 33b) I remember reading somewhere that Jesus’ being distressed and troubled at the ordeal facing Him was different from the martyrs who would follow Him, who looked at their suffering and death more serenely – confident in their hope of their resurrection and meeting Jesus, effectively suffering “willingly” for Him. Jesus, however, was facing sin head-on and the Father’s wrath. Naturally He would be …greatly distressed and troubled.

…and they did not know what to answer Him. (v. 40b) Jesus had chastised the three disciples earlier when He first found them sleeping, Could you not watch one hour? (v. 37b) So they knew that they had failed Him. It really hit me – I do not know how to answer Him when I know that I have failed. The guilt overwhelms, yet still the grace is abundant when I finally come to repentance. Then I can only answer Him with “Thank You, LORD!”

Slava Bohu!

Matthew 26:36-46

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. (v. 41b) I know I’ve heard this verse (or variations on this verse) repeated probably dozens, if not hundreds of times. But I doubt that I ever reflected on the fact that Jesus spoke these words at Gethsemane. I looked online to see if Jesus had spoken these words anywhere else, but no, this is the only occurrence. We so glibly say, “Yeah, my spirit is willing, but my flesh is weak”, probably never pausing to think about where that verse came from. “I’d love to, but I’m tired.” More of the same! So when you hear that verse (or its variations) spoken and especially when you find yourself too tired to do “whatever”, stop and go back to Gethsemane with Jesus. These kinds of little reminders throughout the day grow us ever closer to Him and His suffering on our behalf. “Bless me, Father, for I have sinned.”

Slava Bohu!

John 17:20-26

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” I couldn’t possibly post today without commenting on this first verse: I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word… (v. 20) I can well remember the delight I felt when I first read these words and realized that Jesus was praying for ME, for US!! That joy continues each time I read these words. And when I ponder more deeply I am thankful for Paul and the early Christian missionaries who took Jesus’ words to an unbelieving world, down through the centuries, all the way through to Jim O’Connor, then to ME! Awesome! And now it’s my job (our job) to take Jesus’ words further into this still-unbelieving world.

I could say more on today’s passage, but I would rather leave it where it is – that we have a responsibility to carry Jesus’ message further. But don’t think of it as a responsibility or a command – think of it as an opportunity! What joy to help others believe, even as we have come to believe. YES!

Slava Bohu!

John 17:6-19

Let’s continue to pray for Jim and Marty.

“Notice what you notice.” Jesus’ “High Priestly Prayer”, in three readings… Now they know that everything that You have given Me is from You. For I have given them the words that You gave Me… (vv. 7-8a) I read this first verse and wondered at the phrase, everything that You have given Me. What had the Father given Jesus? My first thought was that the Father gave Jesus the power to do the miracles that He did. Then I read on and saw that the Father had also given Jesus the words that He spoke. Power and words. Presumably power and words are available to us. We know about words being given to us: …do not worry about how or what you are to speak in your defense, or what you are to say; for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say. (Luke 12:11b-12) I dare say that most of us have already experienced “Holy Spirit words” being given to us. But what about power? Let me just leave it at that…!

All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. (v. 10) Jesus has already said of His disciples in earlier verses that the Father had given His disciples to Him: Yours they were, and you gave them to me. (v. 6b) So when He says “All mine are yours…”, He is speaking of His disciples. Then when He says I am glorified in them, the “them” is referring back to His disciples. That is, Jesus is glorified in whatever His disciples do. Regularly I have been suggesting that much of what Jesus said of and to His disciples carries forward to us. Hence a conclusion that Jesus is glorified in whatever we do. So what are we doing?

Slava Bohu!

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!