Something to Jog Your Memory

May 25, 2025

            Most of the time, when the New Testament speaks of the Holy Spirit it uses the Greek phrase πνεῦμα (new-mah) ἅγιος (ha-yos), πνεῦμα is “spirit” but also can mean “wind” or “breath” and ἅγιος is “holy”, so, πνεῦμα ἅγιος is Holy Spirit.  But John, and only John in the Bible, occasionally uses a different word.  In addition to that common πνεῦμα ἅγιος John also uses παράκλητος (pahra-kletos) which we transliterate as “the Paraclete” … or more accurately in John’s usage, as, another Paraclete.  And John uses this word not so much as a name for the Holy Spirit, as he uses it as a description of the Holy Spirit, and I think that today, we are going to find this description really helpful.

            There are probably few things in the Christian experience that raise more questions or engender more misunderstandings than the Holy Spirit.  To the non-Christian discussions about the Holy Spirit may sound a bit like hocus pocus or possibly create the impression that the speaker may just be a little bit off their rocker.  And frankly, Christians may find discussions about the Holy Spirit to be a little perplexing also.  But the simple fact is… the closest association with God that we as believers have, is found in the Holy Spirit.  When we talk about God living in us, it is the Holy Spirit about which we are speaking.  And so, I really wanted to take some time today to talk about the Holy Spirit, hopefully to give us a better understanding about this way in which God has chosen to interact with His beloved children… that would be us.

            And there is probably no better place to start this discussion than with John’s use of the word “Paraclete”.  When we look at different English translations of the Bible we find the word “Paraclete” translated as “Advocate” in the New International Version, as well as the New Revised Standard, and the New English Bible.  It is translated as “Comforter” in the King James, “Counselor” in the Holman Bible, and “Helper” in the New American Standard and the English Standard.  But I think that the New Jerusalem Bible has the best approach here, because they leave the word untranslated, just saying “Paraclete”.  Because in truth, the Paraclete is all of the above; counselor, advocate, helper, comforter, and more.  And it is here where John helps us to understand this because John doesn’t say “The” Paraclete, he says “Another” Paraclete.  And he says this because the original Paraclete is Jesus Himself. 

            And now, I need to back up for a moment because we need to talk a little bit about the Trinity.  The word, “Trinity” does not appear anywhere in the Bible, and yet the New Testament abounds in teachings that demand that we view the Godhead of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in completely trinitarian terms. 

Let’s take a quick look at three Bible passages.  First is 1 Corinthians 8:6A, which says “yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live”.  Who is God in this passage?  The Father, right?  This passage incontrovertibly identifies the Father as God.   Our second verse is Titus 2:13 which says, “while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ”.  Who is God in this passage?  Now it’s Jesus, Right?    Now THIS passage incontrovertibly identifies Jesus as God.  And finally, we have Acts 5:3A-4B which says, “Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit?  You have not lied just to human beings but to God.”  And so, who is God in this passage?  Right!  The Holy Spirit.  And so here we have, in three different verses, each person of the Godhead individually identified clearly as God.

            Throughout the New Testament we find this teaching that God is one in essence and yet three distinct persons.  Perman tells us that, “The doctrine of the Trinity means that there is one God who eternally exists as three distinct Persons — the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Stated differently, God is one in essence and three in person. These definitions express three crucial truths: (1) The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct Persons, (2) each Person is fully God, (3) there is only one God.” [1]  As difficult as it is for our finite brains to comprehend this, in light of this description it actually makes perfectly good sense that John referred to both Jesus and to the Holy Spirit as “Paraclete”, because though they are each individuals, they are indeed both one God, all sharing the same mind and the same will. 

            And so, what does this tell us about the meaning of the word “Paraclete”?  Well, it tells us that everything that Jesus did for the disciples the Holy Spirit is going to do for them also, and for us as well.  Klink tells us that, “Without exception, the functions ascribed to the Spirit are elsewhere in this Gospel assigned to Christ. [i]  The disciples (i.e,. all believers) will be granted the ability to know and relate to the Paraclete just as they have the privilege of knowing Jesus.  The Paraclete will indwell the disciples and remain with them just as Jesus is to remain in and with the disciples. [ii]  The Paraclete as the Spirit of truth [iii] will teach and guide the disciples into “all the truth” [iv] just as Jesus is the truth. [v]  The Spirit bears witness to Christ [vi] and glorifies Christ, [vii] just as it is Christ from whom the Paraclete receives what He makes know to the disciples. [viii]”  [2]  {and If anyone would like to dig further into the very rich teaching of this quote, please see to me later and I will give you the Bible references from which the author derived all of these comparisons}.

            I have more to say about today’s lesson, but I really wanted to give us this overview of the Holy Spirit first, and I would like to close this part of our discussion with a great quote from Chelsea Harmon, a person from whom I have quoted often.  “Remember that loving Jesus becomes a journey of having the fullness of God dwell inside of you… and the body of believers to which you belong. Remember that loving Jesus is about becoming God’s home: that your life and your church community is a space and reality that God LOVES to be a part of.

And Jesus doesn’t just describe this cause and effect, he tells us how we can give ourselves to it. He promises that God’s very self, the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, will teach us everything and remind us of all that Jesus has said to us. The Advocate will advocate for the Father and Son’s love just as much as the Advocate will act on our behalf with the Father and Son. The Holy Spirit is the way that the Father and Son make their home in us. The Holy Spirit helps [us to] feel and know and understand God’s love—[and also] gives us the power to actually be obedient to the kind of life the Creator has designed.” [3]

The disciples have just spent three years with Jesus.  They have traveled with Him, learned from Him, watched Him perform miracles, and they have each personally experienced the deep and abiding love that Jesus has for them.  Now, Jesus tells them that they will no longer see him, and they are deeply concerned, not only because they question what their direction will be without His presence, but also because they love Him as well, and are deeply grieved at the thought of losing him.  But Jesus is not willing to leave his beloved disciples with such thoughts. 

And so, God does remain with them, and with us, through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  As the Holy Spirit becomes a part of us, the Spirit does for us exactly what Jesus did for the disciples, and more.  The Spirit teaches us, guides us, comforts us, strengthens us, and equips us for the tasks to which God will call us… Oh, and the Spirit takes care of that “calling us” part too!  Jesus also tells the disciples that the Spirit will remind them of everything He taught them.

Most of you have probably heard my story about how, when I lost my wife, the first thing that happened to me was that a verse of scripture popped into my head.  The interesting thing about this verse of scripture was the fact that I had never attempted to memorize this particular verse.  I had never really studied it; I had never taught a Bible study on the book from which it came.  In short… there is no reason that I should have known this verse verbatim, and yet, there it was, appearing in my mind just as if someone had spoken it to me, and as it turned out, when I looked it up, it had appeared in the exact wording of my main study Bible, an NIV translation.  This verse that I had read, probably several times, but in what could probably best be described as cursory readings, was called to my mind, by the Spirit.  The exact verse that I needed for comfort in that difficult time, came to me in the exact words of the Bible that I read all the time.  A reminder, a comforter, a strengthener, an assurer; the Spirit was all of these things to me at a time when I most needed it.

And so it is with the Spirit for all of us, if we are willing to listen.  “My peace I give you” Jesus said, and He does not give us His peace as the world gives us peace, because the peace that Jesus gives is rooted in love and buttressed by the promise that Jesus made right here in today’s reading, that He and the Father would make their home with us.  And as an aside, the word that John uses here that we translate “home” is actually a word that describes a lavish dwelling place, like a mansion.  The extravagant love of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, will dwell within us and fill our hearts with the same exact love that God has for us, a love that the faithful believer will return not only to God, but to absolutely everyone.  And we will do that because God will make that love a part of our essence; a part of who we are.  And God will accomplish that through the work of His Holy Spirit. 

To the earthly mind Jesus’ statement that the disciples should be glad that He is going away seems counterintuitive, but once we understand how the work of Christ brings the fullness of the Godhead to us through the inclusion of the Holy Spirt into our hearts, then not only does it make perfectly good sense, but it is a cause for rejoicing.  Thank you, Lord, for your gracious gift of your Holy Spirit. 

Klink tells us that “If the Paraclete is the manifestation of god’s presence, – then the Christian life MUST be a Spirit-filled life, just as our churches must be Spirit filled churches. The Spirit must stop being merely a debate of prayer languages and powerful healings and must become the constant reality, [both individually and corporately] of the Christian life and experience”. [4]

My dear sisters and brothers, welcome the Holy Spirit into your lives.  Listen, learn, be comforted and strengthened, and obey.  Let God live in your hearts in the person of the Holy Spirit, let God direct your steps, let God inspire you to love and to follow.  And let God, through the Holy Spirit, teach you what it means to be loved by God, and to love others as Jesus loved us.

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[1] Matt Perman, CRU.org, Understanding the Trinity: How Can God Be Three Persons in One

[2] Edward W. Klink III, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: John, Pg. 633

[3] Chelsea Harmon, CEPreaching.org, John 14:23-29 Commentary

[4] Edward W. Klink III, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: John, Pg. 645

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[i] John 14:7, 9

[ii] John 14:16-17, 20, 23; 15:4-5;17:23, 26

[iii] John 14:7; 15:26; 16:13

[iv] John 16:13

[v] John 14:6 (See also John 1:14)

[vi] John 15:26

[vii] John 16:14

[viii] ibid

A New Command I Give You

May 18, 2025

            I find it fascinating that the Lectionary chose to use this reading from John 13 today.  First of all, because this reading was just used on Maundy Thursday so, we’ve already talked about it, and second of all, because we are only in the fifth week of Easter and we have now cycled back to the time of Jesus instructing His disciples just BEFORE His arrest and crucifixion.  And so, we begin this morning with a little bit of bewilderment as to why we are where we are in the text.  Why are we choosing to return to this particular point in time?  Why are we not just continuing to celebrate Easter and the Good News of the resurrection?

            As is so often the case, if we look a little deeper into the text here, we can see the Good News just permeating Jesus’ words.   But it’s going to take a little bit of work to find it.  “Now the Son of Man is glorified”, Jesus says, “and God is glorified in him.  If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself and will glorify him at once.”  In our reading today, Jesus is about to be arrested, illegally tried, beaten, and crucified, and He is talking about glory!  What is that all about? 

            What exactly does it mean for God to be glorified?  Let me ask a question, is there a time in your life when you have experienced glory, personally?  Most of you know that quite a few years ago I wrote a Christmas Cantata called “The Holy Child”.  “The Holy Child” is about 20 minutes of music with another 10 minutes of readings and while I have never been able to get it professionally published, I have self-published the cantata and since I did that, it has been translated into at least 7 other languages and has been performed all over the world, and several years ago an internationally award winning choir from Norway contacted me for permission to record part of the cantata.  Their CD was released with the piece from my cantata included and they were kind enough to send me a copy of the CD.  When I received it, I told Jackie that I had never been so excited to see my name written in such a small font as it was on the CD cover.  Receiving that CD, and seeing my name credited for composing one of the songs on the CD is a moment I will always cherish; a moment of personal glory.

Do you have a similar experience somewhere?  I would imagine that most people probably have, or at least I hope so.  Glory is when you are at your very best, and you accomplish something as a result.  It’s having your music recognized after years of hard work, or having your book published, or receiving a sincere compliment about how beautiful your garden is, or how spectacular that dinner was that you just prepared, or it could be being named Teacher of the Year, or being recognized for your community service, or really just anything where you have worked hard at something, to the point where that something has become an important part of who you are, and now you are being recognized for the excellence of that work.

And so, when the Bible tells us that Jesus is glorified, we are being told that Jesus is being recognized for having done something exceptional, so exceptional, in fact, that through Jesus’ actions the Father is recognized as well.  And what is it that Jesus is doing that is so exceptional?  John 15:13… ‘Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”  Jesus loved so deeply, that He gave His life for us.  What He did that was exceptional; what He did that brought Him glory and in the process brought the Father glory also, was simply to love.  But it was to love with a love that was so extravagant, so selfless, so profound, that He gave up His own life so that we, in our sinful, imperfect, state could be reconciled to God, embraced by God, and restored to a right and loving relationship with our creator.  In all of human history, no one BUT Jesus could have accomplished this.  And even though He had asked the Father to take this cup of suffering and death from Him, Jesus, in His great love for us… for YOU, willingly endured the cross. 

Why would He do such a thing?  The simple truth is that He did it because it was His nature to do so.  Jesus knew that He was our only hope for salvation and so, even though He faced His death with the same trepidation that any human would, still He made the choice to go to the cross and to die for us.  Love is so deeply ingrained in who Jesus is that he couldn’t NOT give His life for us.  And since Jesus is the exact representation of who God is, that means that this same extravagant, selfless love, is an elemental part of who God is as well.  Klink tells us that, “The cross then is the authoritative expression of the love of God for the world” [1]

Jesus is glorified because His perfect love was displayed for all the world to see, as He gave His life for His beloved children. 

And here is where today’s lesson gets really interesting… and really challenging.  I really love how the First Nations Version of the Bible translates John 13:34-35, and this is Jesus speaking.  “I am giving you a new road to walk… In the same way I have loved you, you are to love each other. This kind of love will be the sign for all people that you are walking the road with me.” 

Jesus was glorified for the extravagant, selfless, love that He lived and exhibited to us in His death.  In the Greek, the word that we translate “glory” is δοξάζω (dox-ah-zo) which is where our word “doxology” comes from.  Chelsea Harmon tells us that δοξάζω “means a heaviness—like a presence that fills the space. Here, Jesus relates his glory with the act of loving others: when we love one another, the presence of God fills the space because God is love.”  [2]

In these verses, Jesus is calling the disciples and calling us, to have this same exact, extravagant, selfless, love to be every bit as much a part of who we are as it is a part of who Jesus is.  And we are called to manifest this same love in our lives, and when the love of Jesus is manifested in our lives and in our actions, God is glorified because when we show forth God’s love in our own lives, we are revealing His love to others; helping them to SEE for themselves what God’s love looks like.  This love, which is an essential part of who God is, through our sharing of that love, becomes a part of who we are, and then we take that love and we pour that love into the world that the world may see the glory of God, manifested in love.  Love that genuinely cares, love that heals, love that reconciles, love that seeks the best for others even when that best for others comes at a personal cost to us.

And this is why Jesus told the disciples that He had a new command.  Warren Wiersbe explains to us that, “The word ‘new’ [here] does not mean ‘new in time,’ because love has been important to God’s people even from Old Testament times.  It means ‘new experience [or] fresh.’ It is the opposite of ‘worn out.’  Love would take on a new meaning and power because of the death of Christ on the cross.   With the coming of the Holy Spirit, love [will] have a new power in [our] lives.”  [3]

And this “new” love; this love that has been reshaped and enhanced by the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, who is teaching us HOW to love extravagantly and selflessly, is not an easy love to give because it is a love that goes beyond feelings.  This kind of love is not a noun, it’s a verb.  It is a conscious decision to place the needs and the wants of others ahead of our own.  And it is a love that can ONLY be attained through the influence and the power of the Holy Spirit, because it is not a love that is rooted in this world, but rather a love that springs in fullness from the Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Taylor really does a great job of explaining the nature of this love.  “What is ‘new’ is the way this command teaches us to love our neighbors, not as we love ourselves, but as Christ loves us.  The command to love is not a command to feel something. It’s a command to do something.  It’s a command to serve each other, take care of one another. How we do that shows the rest of the world what it means to follow Jesus, and what it means to be loved by God.  We are to love the people we want to love AND the people we can’t stand.  We are to love the people who live the way we think they should, AND we are to love the people who don’t.  We are to love the people who are just like us, AND the people who are so different from us [that] we can’t see how we have anything in common.  We are to love as Jesus loved, including people in our lives, walking beside them, eating with them, caring for them, listening to them, including ‘them’ as an integral part of ‘us.’  Because that is what Jesus says. Love. Each. Other.”  [4]

            No one ever said that to love this way would be easy.  But the good news is that we do not have to do this on our own.  Jesus promised the disciples, and us, that He would send “The Counselor” or the Holy Spirt to lead us and to guide us.  As we grow in faith, we learn to listen to the Spirit who, more often than not, will speak to us in ideas, and notions, and feelings.  The more we listen to the Spirit and the more we obey the Spirit, the more the Spirit will transform our lives and shape our hearts into hearts that look like God’s heart.

            This is the quest, my friends.  This is that to which we have been called.  The evidence… the proof of OUR love for God, is exhibited every day in the way that we love others.  Not as we love ourselves, but as Christ loves us.  You know, that NEW love.

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[1] Edward W. Klink III, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: John, Pg. 603

[2] Chelsea Harmon, CEPreaching.org., John 1331-35-4

[3] Warren Wiersbe, “Be Transformed”, Pg. 29

[4] Jo Anne Taylor, PastorSings.com, Love Each Other Sermon on John 13:31-35

Do You Love Me?

May 5, 2025

            So, there is something interesting going on in theological circles with the end of the book of John.  A lot of theologians believe that the book of John is actually supposed to have ended at the end of chapter 20, and that chapter 21 was something that was added to the Gospel at a later date.  And this is a bit of a strange thing to think because ALL of our earliest and most reliable manuscripts of the Gospel of John include chapter 21 and so, one would expect that the consensus would be that chapter 21 is an original part of the Gospel but the support for it being an add on is pretty significant. 

It appears that the primary reason for this is that the end of Chapter 20 has the appearance of being an ending.  Let’s take a look at chapter 20:31: “But these are written that you may believethat Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”  It does kind of sound like John is wrapping things up, doesn’t it?  But Klink says, “The argument for [chapter 21 being an add on) can only be based on internal evidence, for there is not a shred of evidence from the manuscript tradition that suggests the Gospel ever existed without a chapter 21.  No existing copy of the Gospel ever ends at 20:31, nor are the [discussions] that are in chapter 21 ever found elsewhere in the Gospel.” [1] 

Now, the truth is,  this is a rather esoteric discussion, the likes of which I would normally not bother to include in a sermon because conversations of this nature can be unsettling to some folks, and we always need to approach these kinds of conversations about the authorship or the unity of a particular book with an understanding of the fact that ultimately, the Bible is exactly what God has intended for it to be regardless of the manner in which it has been transmitted to us.  But in this particular instance, I really wanted to make a case for chapter 21 not only to be original to the Gospel, but for it to be an integral, significant, and indeed critical part of the Gospel because of the richness of its teachings.

You see, Chapter 21 begins with the disciples in Galilee, where our parallel resurrection story in Matthew tells us that Jesus commanded the disciples to go.  And while the disciples are there, Peter decides that he is going to go fishing and several of the disciples decide to accompany him.  Now, this is not a recreational fishing trip.  Peter had interrupted his life as a professional fisherman for three years in order to follow Jesus, now Jesus was gone, or at least not currently present with him, and so Peter and his friends appear to be returning to their previous vocation.  Whether that was out of habit, or out of a need to produce some income, or just out of a desire to be productive and to be DOING something, into the boats they went.  But after an entire night of fishing, they caught nothing.  Sound familiar?  As the first light of morning broke the disciples noticed someone on the shore but they didn’t, at first, recognize that it was Jesus, and here is where things start to get really interesting.

In our NIV translation, Jesus says, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?”, but a better translation would be “Children, you do not have any fish, do you?”  First, the word “friends” is translated from the Greek word, “Παιδία” (pie-dee-a) According to Strong’s, Παιδία “is used in the New Testament to refer to a young child or infant. It often conveys a sense of innocence, dependency, and the need for care and guidance. The diminutive form emphasizes the smallness or youth of the child, highlighting their vulnerability and the nurturing required.” [2]  Jesus is speaking to His disciples using language that would normally be reserved for a beloved young child.  Second, the word that Jesus uses for fish is not ἰχθύς (ick-thus), the standard Greek word for fish, He uses προσφάγιον (Pros-fag-ee-own) which is a word that means a small bite… an hors d’oeurve.  In other words, Jesus is really saying, “you haven’t caught a darn thing, have you?”

Jesus then tells the disciples to throw the net over the RIGHT side of the boat.  The disciples comply, apparently without question, and for the second time the disciples experience a miraculous catch of fish.  The disciple who Jesus loved quickly put two and two together and realized it was Jesus.  “It is the Lord” he proclaimed, and upon hearing this, Peter grabbed his shirt, put it on, jumped overboard, and swam about 100 yards to the shore to be the first one to be with Jesus.  Arriving at the shore, Peter and the disciples discovered the fact that Jesus already had a fire going and already had some cooked fish and bread to give to the disciples.

While this story seems on the surface to be a simple tale of Jesus greeting the fishermen, Jesus was well known by the disciples to teach by parables and examples and, with us recalling the fact that Jesus had told His disciples that they would become fishers of people, here, we realize that Jesus is doing two things.  He is reminding the disciples that without Him they can do nothing.  The disciples, professional fishermen that they were, were completely ineffective until they listened to, and obeyed Jesus.  And also, Jesus is reminding them that the task in front of the disciples remains that of fishing for people and not for fish.  Jesus is giving His beloved Παιδία (His children) a gentle rebuke for so quickly turning away from their responsibility as apostles to become ordinary fishermen again.  After all, Jesus has called them to much, much more.

There is a curious statement in this passage.  We are told that the miraculous catch of fish contained exactly 153 fish.  Why 153 fish??  Why the specificity?  It has been written that first century fishermen believed that there were 153 different species of fish, so if the disciples are to be fishers of people, this number is significant because it carries with it the idea of catching (or more accurately, reaching) the entirety of the people on earth, every tribe, every tongue, every nation.  When Jesus called the disciples His call to them was to carry the Gospel to the ends of the earth.  This idea is reinforced by this miraculous catch of fish, where every known species of fish is represented.

After eating, Jesus turns His attention to Peter.  But before I begin to talk about this, I need to explain the Greco-Roman concept of love.  You see, the Greeks had four different words, all four of which we translate into the English word “love” but each of the words in the Greek have a different meaning.  First, we have φιλία (fi-leah) which describes a deep and abiding friendship, such as the love one may have for a sibling or a closest friend: φιλία.  Next, we have ἔρως (er-ross) which describes love with a physical component, such as the love that one may share with a spouse: ἔρως.  Next is στοργή (store-gay) which is love that is obligatory as the love one may have for a child, or that one may have for their country: στοργή.  And finally, we have ἀγάπη (a-gop-a) which is a completely selfless and unencumbered love such as described in 1 Corinthians 13 (You know, the wedding reading, Love is patient, love is kind, love is never jealous or boastful, love is never selfish or rude, etc.): ἀγάπη.

As Jesus turns His attention to Peter, Jesus asks Peter if he loves, and that is ἀγάπη love, loves Him.  Peter, apparently not confident in his ability to love Jesus with true ἀγάπη love, responds that he loves, and that is φιλία love, loves Him.  And then, Jesus says to Peter “feed my lambs”.  A second time Jesus asks Peter, this time calling him not by his apostolic name Peter, but by his original name Simon, son of John, if he loves, and that is ἀγάπη love, loves Him.  Peter again answers Jesus that that he loves, and that is again φιλία love, loves Him.  Jesus responds to him “take care of my sheep”.  And then a third time Jesus asks Peter if he loves Him, but this time it is φιλία love.  Peter, hurt by the fact that Jesus asked him three times responds once again that he loves, and that is φιλία love, loves Him.  Jesus then said to Peter “feed my sheep”.  This is a wonderful passage where Jesus restores Peter three times, once for each of his denials of Jesus.  After Peter’s failure on the night of Jesus’ trial, I would imagine that this restoration by Jesus is deeply needed by Peter.  But there is more going on here than just a simple restoration.

Today I am looking at this passage and I am asking US the question, “if we love Jesus, how do we manifest that love?  What do we do to express our love for God and our gratitude to God?  And it is here in the 21^st chapter of John that Jesus answers that question for us.  “Feed my lambs”, “Take care of my sheep”, “feed my sheep”.  God, in His great love, has chosen to graciously accept us and to embrace us in spite of all of our imperfections and all of our impurities, He loves, and that is ἀγάπη love, loves us.  When we love Him in return, even if we are only capable of loving Him with φιλία love, we are nevertheless called to express that love for God in the way that we love and care for all of God’s other beloved children.  For the way that we feed and care for His sheep.

And here is where I find the 21^st chapter of John to be not only a significant and critical part of the Gospel, but to be a beautiful, moving, and compelling statement about our standing before God.  You see, John’s entire Gospel is telling us the story of how God sent Jesus into the world that the world might be saved through Him.  The Gospel itself tells us that the reason that it was written was so that we “may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing [we] may have life in His name.  But now, in this wonderful, beautiful, last chapter; in John’s epilogue to his Gospel, something remarkable happens.  The Gospel of John becomes no longer about God sending Jesus, the Gospel has now becomes about Jesus sending US. 

The Gospel of John becomes about us accepting the love of God in Jesus and about responding to that love by letting the love of God, the ἀγάπη love of God, the amazing, extravagant, selfless, overwhelming love of God pour out of our hearts and into the world, letting the world see in us, the incredible love that God has for His beloved children.

This is the message of John, the disciple who is almost certainly the person to whom the Gospel is referring when it speaks of the disciple who Jesus loved. This disciple also wrote three of the Bible’s letters; epistles that are absolutely drenched in love, and he is showering the love of God that is in HIM onto his readers and onto us, and is calling us; exhorting us, imploring us, to take that love and to shower it upon all those that we meet. 

We don’t have to be eloquent of speech to share the Gospel, we may not even have to say anything at all.  Because if even a fragment of God’s amazing love pours forth from our hearts into the world, we may not need to say anything else.  Because in showing that love, we will have already revealed the greatest Good News of the universe… that God loves us.

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[1] Edward W. Klink III, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: John, Pg. 890

[2] Strong’s Lexicon, Word #3813