Day 128: John 5:24-47

“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” - John 5:24 ESV

Everything we are doing now is preparing us for the moment we take our last breath. We would like to think that many of our actions are neutral, flying under the radar with God. Yet, every decision we make is a statement of death or life.

This is why believing (trusting) in Jesus is the most important decision we will ever make in this life. It not only affects our day-to-day life now but will also translate into eternity after we die.

The Apostle Paul affirmed this teaching of Jesus when he wrote:  “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.” - 1 Thessalonians 4:16 ESV

It is difficult for us to come to the understanding that all we currently see will become irrelevant. When Jesus returns, and we are all assigned our eternal destinies, what will rush through our minds? Will we be worried about the replacement of our kitchen countertops or the fact that we failed Organic Chemistry? No. Hopefully, we will be thankful that we trusted the only one who is able to grant eternal life.

Need help learning what belief in Jesus looks like? This page on our website is super helpful.

“We ought always to consider what it is that the Gospel offers to us; for we need not wonder that he who receives Christ with all his merits is reconciled to God, and acquitted of the condemnation of death; and that he who has received the gift of the Holy Spirit is clothed with a heavenly righteousness, that he may walk in newness of life, (Rom. 6:6.)” - Calvin, J., & Pringle, W. (2010). Commentary on the Gospel According to John (Vol. 1, p. 203)

Day 127: John 5:1-23

“But Jesus answered them, ‘My Father is working until now, and I am working.”' - John 5:17

Maybe like me, your mind immediately goes toward the song “Way Maker” (written by Sinach) when you read this verse. It is in the bridge that the song goes…

Even when I don't see it, You're workin'

Even when I don't feel it, You're workin'

You never stop, You never stop workin'

I love Psalm 121:4 when the Psalmist sings that God "never slumbers nor sleeps."

There is so much pressure on us to perform. In our classes. At our jobs. In our families. In our churches. On social media platforms. I got exhausted just typing out those five things, and there are even more areas where expectations are constantly high for us to be good enough.

Jesus consistently made the religious leaders mad with His insistence on doing good on the Sabbath day. He was bringing rest to those who couldn't find it on the day of rest. While the nation of Israel was stopping, He was busily re-starting the lives of so many.

Take a deep breath. There isn't as much pressure on you as you think. God is the one who is ultimately in charge. Sure, He will use your life to make a difference in this world, but it doesn't all rest on your shoulders. His shoulders alone are strong enough to maintain the weight you are trying to carry.

“In repentance and rest you will be saved, In quietness and trust is your strength.” - Isaiah 30:15 NASB

"The dawning of every day, the opening of the flowers, the flowing of the rivers, the sustenance of vegetable, animal, and human life, reveal through every moment of the agelong sabbath-rest, and on every sabbath-day, his intense and constant activity." - Spence-Jones, H. D. M., ed. (1909). St. John (Vol. 1, p. 211)

Day 126: John 4:43-54

“Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your son will live.’ The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way.” - John 4:50 ESV

Since the Reformation in the 1500s, there has been a real stigma against obedience. Many churches focused on the inner, spiritual life in reaction to the Catholic Church's overemphasis on the external. At this point, many Christians severed belief from obedience.  Yet, as we read through the ministry of Jesus and the Apostles, we see over and over that belief and obedience are inseparable.

The man we encountered in our reading today desperately wanted his son to be healed. He even had a plan, and it was to get Jesus to come down and heal his son. The persistence of the father shows Jesus how much this man believed that He could heal his son. Jesus tells the man, "Go; your son will live." The man had a choice to make. Was he going to continue and implore Jesus to come down and heal his son, or would he choose to do what Jesus had asked? He chose to trust Jesus, and his son recovered. You see, genuine belief will always activate obedience.

In what ways is your belief/trust in Jesus lacking? Can you see it surfacing in your disobedience?

We need to be reminded today that Jesus can (and should) be trusted with everything. Go ahead, step into an awakened life of obedience to the only One who can do the impossible.

"The man had faith based on Jesus’ simple affirmation. It was not until the next day that he had confirmation of the miracle when he met his servants coming to tell him that his son’s fever was gone. It had ceased at the very hour when Jesus had given His assurance to the father." - Foster, L. (1987). John: Unlocking the Scriptures for You (p. 57)

Day 125: John 4:4-42

“They said to the woman, ‘It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”' - John 4:42 ESV

Jesus, instead of doing what good Jews usually would do (go around Samaria through Perea), went straight south to have an encounter with a wild woman who obviously had an interest in theology. Jesus divulges a lot of information to this woman. He's actually more direct with her than He was with most people. He tells her about living water. He introduces her to the concept of not needing to only worship God in one place. Jesus even plainly tells her that He is the Messiah.

Their conversation has such an effect on her that she can't keep it to herself. She tells everyone in town what Jesus told her, and apparently, their interests are piqued to know more.

This last verse in our reading is so powerful. It is the heart's cry of every parent that wants their child to know Jesus. It is also the thing we desire most when we share the gospel with a close friend.

We want them to hear for themselves how amazing Jesus is; because if they do, we are confident that their lives will never be the same.

"In paganism of the first century, 'savior' was a technical term that described divine or semidivine deliverers, especially the Roman emperors. Inscriptions that read 'savior of the world' frequently applied to Hadrian (A.D. 117–138). Zeus and the healing god, Asclepius were regularly given the title, as were also the gods of the Mystery religions; for example, Isis and Serapis. Borchert called attention to the use by early Christians of the symbol of the fish as an identifying mark: the Greek word for fish was ἰχθύς (ichthys), whose letters stood for Ιησους Χριστος Θεου Υιος Σωτηρ (Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior). The term 'savior' took a prominent position in the confessions of faith in the New Testament and the early church." - Bryant, B. H., & Krause, M. S. (1998). John (Jn 4:42)

Day 124: John 3:22-36, 4:1-3

“For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.” - John 3:34-35 ESV

John the Baptist's disciples are in a panic. This "Lamb of God" that John had baptized and announced is now officially stealing the thunder from their own rabbi (and them, if they are honest). Their competitive nature has been activated!

John the Baptist's response was definitely not something they had expected. He realized that the role of his ministry was temporary in design. He was to prepare the way and be the voice calling out in the wilderness (see Isaiah 40:3). Now it was time for him to decrease so that Jesus could take His rightful place as Messiah.

The difference between John and Jesus was the truth of limitlessness. Jesus was to empower His followers with the Holy Spirit, and He was the Son of God and thus had authority over everyone and everything.

How much strength do you require? Jesus can give you what you need and more. Not only that, but He can turn to the person next to you and do the same for them.

Jesus, empower us with so much of Your Holy Spirit that we are overflowing with His fruit (Galatians 5:22-23) and assurance (1 John 3:24).

"In rabbinic literature is a statement that throws some light on this: ‘R. Aha said: “Even the Holy Spirit resting on the prophets does so by weight [or measure], one prophet speaking one book of prophecy and another speaking two books” ’ (Leviticus Rabbah 15:2), i.e. God gave his Spirit by measure to the prophets in accordance with the task he assigned them. If the evangelist is alluding to this sort of teaching, he is saying that God poured out his Spirit upon Jesus in much greater measure than he ever did on the prophets. Because God poured out his Spirit upon Jesus ‘without limit’, he can speak the words of God, and, when he does, those words are completely trustworthy." - Kruse, C. G. (2003). John: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 4, pp. 125–126)

Day 123: John 3:1-21

“And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.” - John 3:19-20 ESV

I was once privileged to hear New Testament scholar Gary Habermas in a live Q&A. He laid out so many convincing proofs for the historical validity of the resurrection of Jesus. With so much rock-solid evidence, there were many of us in the audience that wondered why more skeptics don't turn and put their faith in Jesus. This intelligent man got very quiet and replied, "They ultimately don't want to change."

John 3:16 gets most of the headlines as we share the gospel with others. I mean, it is definitely all it is cracked up to be, but there is so much more we need to consider as we share the Good News of Jesus with the nations.

One of the most challenging hurdles to get over is the fact that people love darkness. They enjoy getting what they want when they want it. They love not having to be accountable to God. I mean, it does wonders for your conscience to believe that any lifestyle is fair game as long as you don't break any laws.

Yet Jesus is calling us to so much more. A life that doesn't run from the light for fear of getting caught, but a life that welcomes the warmth that the light of Jesus offers.

Jesus, expose us. Jesus, heal us. Jesus, send us.

"Jesus and Nicodemus were talking together at night. Jesus warned that 'men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil' and that one who does evil 'will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed' (John 3:19, 20). Jesus challenged Nicodemus to accept the Light that God had sent into the world, even God’s one and only Son." - Foster, L. (1987). John: Unlocking the Scriptures for You (p. 44)

Day 122: John 2:1-25

“This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.” - John‬ ‭2:11‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Believing in Jesus is more wide-ranging and progressive than many of us realize. An initial belief is not an arrival. Instead, it is a starting line.

These disciples are going to waver from belief to denial to even doubting after Jesus rose from the dead and had appeared to them for 40 days (see Matthew 28:16). At some points, it almost seems to be a fluid experience between trusting and distrusting Jesus.

Jesus performs this miracle right at the top of his three-year earthly ministry, and the disciples are already starting to buy in. I mean, how could you not? This wasn’t just a tall glass of wine. It was six, 20-30 gallon stone jars. This would have been harder to explain as an illusion than the fact that Jesus really did do the impossible.

Your belief has to start somewhere, just as it did for Jesus’ disciples. Though we may waver at times, we know that trusting Jesus is something that can increase over time. The more we see Him move and work and display His glory, the closer He will draw us into His authentic embrace.

The Jesus we follow is unlike any other.

"The aim and result, however, are all the same—to create faith in Jesus; that is, to encourage people to accept the testimony to Jesus provided by these signs, shown to John the Baptist and to the earliest disciples." - Bryant, B. H., & Krause, M. S. (1998). John (Jn 2:11)

Day 121: John 1:29-51

“The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!’ “ - John 1:29 ESV

John the Baptist (Jesus' cousin) refers to Jesus as the "Lamb of God" twice in our reading today. Did he really look at Jesus and see Him on the cross three years from this moment? To many Jews, they would have also associated the "Lamb of God" with the one who was to bring judgment on the nations. John (the Apostle) also did this as he recorded Revelation, referring to Jesus as a Lion/Lamb figure (see Revelation 5:5-10, 17:14).

The following quote from Colin Kruse is also helpful:  “The reference to Jesus here as ‘the Lamb of God’ uses the word amnos for ‘lamb’. It is one of only four references in the NT (John 1:29, 36; Acts 8:32; 1 Pet. 1:19) that do so. The word amnos is found 101 times in the LXX (Greek translation of the OT), of which 82 are references to sacrificial lambs.”

It is probably safe to say that John the Baptist (full of the Holy Spirit, see Luke 1:15) spoke of something more than his mind could comprehend. God's plan for Jesus to become the sacrifice for all sins was well underway, and John the Baptist was just another point of confirmation.

Day 120: John 1:1-28

“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.” - John 1:14 ESV

John, one of the 12 original disciples and a Son of Thunder (Mark 3:17), opens his gospel with more information about Jesus' identity than we can even begin to fully comprehend. There are many who believe he was in his 80s or 90s while writing this book, which adds a certain something to it as we read its chapters and verses. It was the last of the four biographies of Jesus' life to be written.

He has the advantage to start from a different angle, and he will time and time again focus on Jesus as being the Son of God.

Most Christians in our world today struggle with balancing grace and truth. John believed Jesus was full of both. Our Savior extended grace (favor) to so many people that the Israelites had written off as lost causes. Yet He didn't just affirm their behavior and tell them to live their truth. Instead, Jesus invited them to live a brand new life apart from their destructive behavior. It was His truth that they needed to experience, not a fantasy of their own making.

This is our challenge for today. We must remain immovable when it comes to the tension between grace and truth, and this is what the Bible calls love.

“The expression ‘grace and truth’ (charis kai alētheia) is found only twice in the NT, here and in 1:17. It is almost certainly the evangelist's rendering of a similar expression ‘kindness and faithfulness’ (eleos kai alētheia) that is used frequently in the LXX as a translation of the Hebrew expression ḥesed we’ĕmet." - Kruse, C. G. (2003). John: An introduction and Commentary (Vol. 4, p. 70)

For a great example of what this looks like in today's world, please check out Messy Grace by Caleb Kaltenbach.

Day 119: Luke 24:13-53

“They said to each other, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”' - Luke 24:32 ESV

These two on the road to Emmaus had a unique post-resurrection experience with Jesus. Not only were they allowed to spend a considerable amount of time with Him, but they also didn't realize who He was until the end of the conversation.

We don't really know why they didn't recognize Jesus. Could it be that his resurrected body had a different appearance? Did God prevent their eyes from seeing who He really was? At any rate, the tell was in the way He broke the bread. Perhaps they noticed the scars on his wrists.

Have you ever heard someone talking about the Bible in such a way that you became sleepy? No passion. No deep belief. No conviction. Perhaps it seems tired in a way.

Then there are those who, after speaking with them about the Bible, we are immediately motivated to run and feast upon the Word of God with more attentiveness.

Hearing Jesus speak about the Hebrew Bible caused their hearts to burn (literally to ignite). This is the kind of encounter that leaves us permanently changed.

May we extend the flame of passion for God's word today.

"The recognition that it was the Lord with whom they had walked explained to them what had happened on the journey. They remembered how their hearts had burnt within them. Clearly Jesus’ exposition had stirred them deeply. They speak of him as ‘opening’ the scriptures: when he spoke the meaning hidden in the words of the Bible became clear.” - Morris, L. (1988). Luke: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 3, p. 359)