Legion

 

June 22, 2025

Luke 8:26-39

 

We live in a world where occasionally, some of the things in the Bible seem hopelessly out of date.  We may be tempted to write off what the Bible says as a relic of a bygone age; a time when human understanding of the sciences and the natural world were far less than what our understandings are today.  And perhaps we see one of these very issues in our text today as we discuss a man inhabited by a host of demons.  In today’s story, Jesus encounters a man who, we are told, is profoundly afflicted by demons.  Jesus asks the man’s name, but it is the demons who reply, saying our name is Legion because there are so many of us.  In the context of the time, a Roman Legion consisted of approximately 6,000 soldiers, so our text is telling us that the number of demons inhabiting this man is probably quite significant.

 

And I think that it’s easy for us to read today’s passage about a demon possessed man and maybe scoff a bit because, last time I checked, modern doctors do not routinely scan for demon possession.  But I would like to read something to you from one of the premier authors of Christian Literature, C. S. Lewis, who described his condition before his conversion as, “a zoo of lusts, a bedlam of ambitions, a nursery of fears, a harem of fondled hatreds.  My name was Legion”. [1]

 

So easily do we dismiss the idea of demon possession, that we may fail to consider the possibility that the source of un-Christ-like desires that plague everyone from time to time could possibly be demonic in origin.  If we believe in God and we believe in the Holy Spirit, why would we not believe God when He tells us that Satan is capable of having influence over us?

 

So, having gotten that out of the way, let’s talk about today’s story, and I would actually like to begin by talking about our Old Testament lesson today, because it relates to our Gospel lesson in an oblique, but compelling way.  Prior to today’s Old Testament reading, Elijah had confronted the prophets of the Canaanite God Baal, had set up a contest between Baal and God which of course, God won, and then Elijah killed the prophets of Baal with the sword.  And for the 2^nd time today, we run into one of those archaic ideas that seems out of place in our modern world.  This whole idea of people bending down to worship an idol just seems so silly to us.  I mean I don’t know ANYONE who would put a gold bull on their mantle at home and then worship it as if it was a god.  But let’s take a closer look at what is going on here.  A group of scholars spent a significant amount of time studying the culture of the Northern Kingdom of Israel in Ahab’s day.  They came to the conclusion that Israel of that day and most specifically, the economic elite of Israel of that day, had close ties to the Phoenician cities of Tyre and Sidon.  In fact, Ahab’s queen, Jezebel, was a Princess of Sidon.

 

These two cities were trading cities, and in fact, Tyre was the world’s supplier of purple dye.  This purple dye was made from the mucus secretions of a specific species of snail that lived in the waters of the Mediterranean just off the coast of Tyre.  The dye could be obtained either by “milking” the snails, with the snails being returned to the sea, or by simply crushing the snails.  Either way, David Jacoby of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem tells us that “12,000 snails would make 1.4 grams of pure dye, enough to dye only the trim of one single garment.” [2]  The dye making process was laborious and time consuming and so purple dye was inordinately expensive, rendering purple cloth affordable by only the most affluent… and indeed, purple came to be associated with royalty as they were just about the only people who could afford it.  Needless to say, the trading of purple fabric made merchants fabulously wealthy and some of this affluence and its accompanying attitudes carried over into Ahab’s Israel.

 

And as is so often the case with the accumulation of wealth by the economic elite, this burgeoning wealth resulted in some of those elites exploiting the poor for financial gain.  And so, Elijah was not simply speaking out against the followers of Baal for their idolatry, he was speaking against the practices of the followers of Baal who were marginalizing and exploiting the people in their quest of profits.  I guess the prosperity gospel is older than we thought.  Anyway, it’s as common a theme as you will find among the prophets, and most certainly something that none of us would think of today as being outdated.

 

And so now, I’m sure that you are all thinking, what does all of this have to do with a demon possessed madman?  Well, there are actually two things that our stories today have in common.  First, when God, through Elijah, defeated the prophets of Baal, it was done in a most convincing manner.  Elijah, though he feared for his life, and as we read in today’s story, was pursued by Jezebel who intended to kill him, Elijah nevertheless acted with God’s authority, defeating the prophets of Baal.  And a powerful authority it was.  And as we shall soon see, Jesus acted with powerful authority also.

 

Here’s the story:  The demon possessed man lived among the tombs.  He wore no clothes and, while the townspeople had tried to bind him because of his strength and aggressiveness, he was so strong that he broke all of the bindings.  In short, this man was terribly afflicted, and dangerous.  And yet, at the approach of Jesus, the demons instantly recognized Him, saying, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.”  This legion of demons were no match for the authority of God expressed in Jesus.  And as Jesus commanded the demons to come out of the man, the demons begged Jesus to let them go into a heard of pigs that was nearby so they wouldn’t be sent into the Abyss, the place reserved for the Judgment of Satan and his demons.  Jesus consented to their request, the demons entered the pigs, and the pigs ran down the hill, into the lake, and drowned.  In the stories that surround today’s reading in Luke, Jesus displays His authority over nature (calming the storm), over disease (healing the woman with the issue of blood), over demons (with our demon possessed man today), and over death itself (with the raising of Jairus’ daughter).  And so, God’s authority, exhibited both in Isaiah and in Jesus, was indeed awesome!

 

But it is the second similarity between today’s stories that really speak to us.  Those who were herding the pigs went into the town to tell the people what had happened and to tell them how the entire herd of pigs had been lost.  The loss of this herd would almost certainly have created profound financial hardship for the owner, and possibly for the whole town.  As the town’s people came out to see for themselves what had happened, they found this very well-known demon possessed crazy man sitting at Jesus’ feet, clothed, and in his right mind.

 

One would have thought that they might see this as an opportunity to have Jesus come to their town and heal others in need, but that is not what happened.  Instead, the people asked Jesus to leave.  Now, it’s possible that they wanted Jesus to go away because He made them aware of their sinfulness, and this would not be the first time in the Gospels that this had happened.  But the way the story is constructed, it is more likely that the town’s people wanted Jesus to go away before He created any more financial hardship for them.  Warren Wiersbe says, “Apparently money was more important to them than mercy, and they asked Jesus to leave”. [3]

 

For Jesus, the emphasis was always on people and never on property.  The soul of one person was of deeply greater value than that of a herd of pigs.  And so, Jesus’ actions here mirror the work of Elijah and other prophets as He speaks out against the placing of wealth and its trappings ahead of the needs of God’s beloved children, most notably the poor and the needy.  And does anyone besides me find it fascinating that the demons recognized Jesus instantly, but the town’s people, blinded by their faith in material things, failed to recognize Him in spite of the obvious miracles that had just happened right under their noses?

 

And this brings me to the thing that I really wanted to talk about this morning.  And that is the fact that humans do have a strong tendency towards tunnel vision.  We get our minds set on something and tend to exclude even very important things that might get in the way of our pursuit of whatever.  I have been a retail manager for pretty much my entire adult life and a part of being a manager is constantly being hijacked from one task in order to address another.  I am one of those people who suffers from that “tunnel vision syndrome”, I tend to get very focused on the task at hand to the exclusion of pretty much everything else.  And so, I learned early on that when one of my staff comes to me with a question or a problem, I needed to drop what I was doing and give my full attention to that person because if I don’t do that, I may miss an important point from them or may not provide adequate direction or assistance.  It really becomes a matter of priorities, and I am NOT a multitasker, so shifting my focus is essential.

 

So very often our priorities are focused on material things, and not without reason.  There are bills to be paid, meals to prepare, family to care for, and we can easily become so focused on those daily necessities that we fail to see the bigger picture of our responsibilities as children of the Kingdom of God.

 

In both our Old and New Testament lessons today, we have groups of people who are so engrossed in their day to day lives; so intent on protecting their possessions, that they completely miss the message behind two absolutely mind boggling miracles that were performed by God, right in front of them.  I mean just completely missed it.  And on the one hand I can look at this and marvel at how someone could be so obtuse as to miss something so obvious, but on the other hand, I can see instances in my own life where I have been every bit as oblivious.  So, I really can’t judge, but what I can do is encourage all of us to stop, listen, and learn.  God is NOT silent.  He speaks to us in a myriad of ways because He knows us, and He knows that it may take time and repetition for His message of grace and forgiveness and love to break through our busyness and our preoccupations and to touch our hearts.

 

My dear friends, this is why it is SO important for us to live our faith and to speak of our faith when the opportunity is presented.  God is seeking to draw His beloved children to Himself and He has called us to be the instruments of that endeavor.  God is asking us to be a voice, a life, that breaks through the busyness of this world and touches the heart of others with the Good News of the Gospel.  And the good news for us is that as awesome as God is, and as much as He is capable of doing, He isn’t asking us to perform any miracles.  All He is asking us to do is to love others, that they may see His love, reflected in us.

[1] C. S. Lewis, Surprised by Joy, Pg. 226

[2] Jacoby D (2004). “Silk economics and cross-cultural artistic interaction: Byzantium, the Muslim world, and the Christian west”. Dumbarton Oaks Papers. 58: 210, 197–240.

[3] Warren Wiersbe, Be Compassionate, Pg. 110

Guiding Us Into All Truth (Trinity Sunday)

June 15, 2025

            Last week I ended up in a conversation with a few dear friends of mine.  Our conversation was about The Trinity.  And this conversation was interesting; and also challenging, because I honestly believe that as this conversation began, the folks who were involved in it were assuming that I would explain the Trinity.  And the truth is I do understand The Trinity, and I also don’t understand it.  But it appears that – in that which I don’t understand, I am in good company.  Theologians for the last 2,000 years have tried to explain The Trinity, all the while referring to it as a great mystery.  N. T. Wright, one of the most influential theologians of our age asks the question, “How do you talk about things that are not just out of the ordinary, but that take you into a whole new world?” [1]  As we contemplate the mysteries of God, the counter intuitiveness of the idea of three persons being one, the perplexing questions of how the Holy Spirit who we cannot see or touch – can see us, hear us, speak to us, and guide us.  And how exactly it is that the Spirit dwells within us, empowered by Jesus, speaking only what the Father gives Him/Her to speak.   It is, without question, a Holy mystery, and something that none of us, not you, not me, and not even N. T. Wright, will fully understand until the day that our faith becomes sight.

            And yet, there is a part of this that we CAN understand, because as Christians, our personal experiences speak to us loudly and emphatically about God’s truth.  Mary Rathbone lives in England and is the Church of England equivalent of a CRE.  In other words, she is a Lay Pastor just like me.  And Pastor Rathbone speaks of the Trinity, saying, “Christians believe in a gracious and loving God revealed to us as one God that exists as three distinct persons. We experience God in a Trinity; God as the creator, Jesus as our Saviour, and the Holy Spirit to empower, strengthen and enlighten us.  This most profound mystery of eternity, The Trinity, is a communion of persons united in mutual self-giving and interacting with each other in the purest expression of love.”  [2]

So, while this concept of the Trinity, or at least part of it, may be beyond our comprehension, the impact of God, expressed in the three persons of the Trinity is deeply felt by every Christian who has experienced the grace of God, the love of Christ, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  And in our attempt to come to an understanding of these things as best we can, it is most instructive to turn to our own experiences, and to the experiences of our sisters and brothers in Christ, to help us to see how it is that the Triune God is working in our lives, and, more importantly, how we can cooperate with the work that God is doing in order that our lives may become an ever increasing witness to the love of God, in Christ, through the Holy Spirit.

In our reading today, Jesus tells the disciples that, “When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth”.  And I think that one of the first hints about what The Trinity is all about is found in this verse.  Back in John 14, Jesus declared Himself to BE truth.  Not simply to be telling the truth, but to actually BE truth personified.  D. A. Carson tells us that, “Jesus is the truth, because he embodies the supreme revelation of God — He himself ‘narrates’ God; [saying] and [doing] exclusively what the Father gives him to say and do.  He is God’s gracious self-disclosure, [God’s] “Word,” made flesh.” [3]

This body of truth to which we are referring here is the complete and total body of the knowledge and experience of everything that exists; everything that is. –  God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit share one mind which encompasses this full truth of everything.

  And here is what we do know about how that works, the Father reveals Himself in His entirety to the Son.  The Son, having the same grasp of the complete body of truth as the Father, both taught and exhibited that truth to the disciples, and through the witness of the disciples to us; and then the Holy Spirit… also filled with the complete body of truth as revealed by the Son, then fills the disciples, and us with as much of that body of truth as we are able or willing to accept. 

Remember that I spoke last week about the paraclete, They who are “called alongside”.  The first Paraclete being Jesus and the second Paraclete being the Holy Spirit.  And these two… individuals… both united in common thought and mission, have been sent to US to become a part of our lives, both dwelling within us, and also accompanying us on our journey, teaching us, leading us, and guiding us.  One God, one mind, one mission, but three personalities, each interacting with us in different ways, all for the purpose of teaching us to love as Jesus loved with the Spirit as our indwelling teacher and guide.

Chelsea Harmon tells us that, the point that Jesus is trying to make to the disciples in today’s reading is this, “The Spirit is the one who makes us understand truth. The Spirit shares this same desire with the other persons of the Trinity to be known by their creations. The Spirit, the Father, and the Son have the same message for us, have the same ultimate purpose for us, and the same commitment as one another to see truth prevail.” [4]

And so, God has given us a grand invitation; an invitation the scope of which truly lies well beyond our understanding, because this invitation that we have been given is for US to become one with God. 

My girlfriend, Jennifer is a social butterfly, I mean a SERIOUS social butterfly, and I mean that in the most respectful and complimentary way.  We flew to Ohio together to attend my high school reunion.  (I went to school in Northfield, Ohio before my family moved to New Jersey).  Needless to say, Jennifer didn’t know anyone there except for me, but as I left her for just a moment to go and get something for us to drink, in the few moments that I was away from her, she had moved to another table and had become engrossed in a conversation with one of my Ohio friends.  In the hour or so that we ended up sitting and chatting with this friend, Jennifer and my friend talked about their lives, their jobs, their families, and generally got to know each other.  Before the end of the reunion, they had exchanged contact information and had friended each other on Facebook.  Jennifer basically just invited this person into her life, creating a friendship out of nothing, a friendship that is going on 2 years old now and a friendship that is based entirely on a choice that Jennifer made to become friends with this person. 

Most of my friendships tend to come about a little more organically, I meet a person and then we become friends after we get to know each other.  But Jennifer just kind of decides that, hey, I’m going to go and talk to this person and next thing you know they are exchanging email addresses.  This has happened more times than I can count, and I really wish that I had that skill set, but I don’t.  But you see, this is what God has chosen to do with us.  Through no effort of our own, God befriends us and invites us to become of part of His life; to share in His love, and as we get to know Him, to be led into a knowledge of the deep truths of the universe. And all of this happens for no reason other than the fact that God has chosen to seek to reconcile His beloved children to Himself… ALL of His beloved children who are willing to turn to Him.

The fact that we need reconciliation with God in the first place is not God’s fault.  God never abandoned us or rejected us.  It is humanity that made the choice to reject God’s wisdom and to seek to live our lives in our own way.  But in spite of this rejection God continues to pursue reconciliation with us.  And once reconciled, God seeks to draw us into His life.  He does this first by teaching us exactly who He is.  Through Jesus, God the Father has revealed Himself to us, showing us the true nature of His love, His grace, and His justice.  Everything that God the Father is, Jesus is.  Everything that Jesus has revealed to us has come directly from God the Father.  Two distinctly different personalities but one unified God.

Then, when God’s plan resulted in humanity rising up against God and Crucifying His only Son, God sent the Holy Spirit to continue the work that Jesus did revealing God to us.  Jesus empowered the Holy Spirit to teach us, guide us, inspire us, and lead us in exactly the same way that Jesus had done for the disciples, which was the exact way that was given to Him by the Father.  And so, now we have three distinctly different personalities but STILL one unified God.

Lucy Lind Hogan teaches us that, “The Holy Trinity is about relationship and indwelling. It is about collaboration and the self-communication of God. The Trinity is about the mutuality of God within the God-head, about our invitation into the God-head… by Jesus in the power of the [Holy Spirit] . And it is about our mutuality with each other, guiding, speaking, and declaring to one another the glory of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Trinity is our way of life made possible by God.” [5]

This whole idea of being made one with God is earth shattering. We are God’s beloved children, loved and accepted unconditionally, we share in His love, we share in His wisdom, we share in His glory, bringing glory to God as we show forth His love into the world.  And we share in the promise that we belong to God forever and ever.  How incredible are these promises?  We are undeserving, we are sinful, we are neglectful, and yet, for those who have received Him, none of this matters to God.  In Zecheriah 3 we have a story about Joshua the High Priest.  Joshua is standing before an angel of the Lord and he is wearing filthy and tattered clothes.  The angel commands that his filthy garments be removed and then the angel tells Joshua, “Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with pure vestments.”   This is how God works.  He is not waiting for us to get our act together.  He calls us as we are, He forgives us completely, and He places His Spirit within us that each of us may begin to become the person that He has always intended for us to be.

Today is Trinity Sunday.  Today is the day that the Church of Jesus Christ celebrates the work that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit together have done to draw a community of believers to themselves.  To reconcile us to God and to change our hearts so that we may become a people who love as God loves.  To change us into a people who learn what it means to live as members of God’s kingdom.  To make us ONE with God, in Christ, through the Holy Spirit.

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[1] N. T. Wright, John for Everyone, Pg. 59

[2] Mary Rathbone, The Holy Trinity: John 16:12-15, HopeInJesus.co.uk

[3] D. A. Carson, John, Pg. 127

[4] Chelsea Harmon, Center for Excellence in Preaching, Commentary 2025-06-09 John 1612-15-4

[5] Lucy Lind Hogan, WorkingPreacher.org, The Holy Trinity 3: Commentary on John 1612-15-2

Don’t You Know Me Philip?

June 8, 2025

            For the last few weeks, I have spent a lot of time talking about the Holy Spirit, and this is appropriate for the weeks leading up to Pentecost but now Pentecost is here!  The birthday of the church!  Yea! And the anniversary of the day when God poured out His spirit on the disciples in a very new and unprecedented way.  This morning’s reading from the second chapter of Acts is so dramatic, so sensational in its depiction of the events of the day; the rushing wind, the tongues of fire, the disciples speaking in other people’s languages, and of course, the remarkable transformation of the disciples from people who were scared and hiding in fear to people who instantly became courageous and eloquent ministers of the Gospel. 

            But while the works of the Spirit depicted in Acts can be seen as being rather flamboyant and attention-grabbing, the bulk of the work that the Spirit does is something that is accomplished more quietly and internally.  And as much fun as it might be to focus on the Acts passage today and talk about the grand revealing of God’s Spirit empowering the disciples and literally changing the world, our lesson from John presents the Spirit in a less ostentatious but somewhat deeper light; in a way that isn’t so much about changing the world as it is about changing individual hearts.  As Jesus introduces the idea of Him sending “another advocate” we get to see how the Spirit is going to impact the disciples, and eventually us, by showing us how the Sprit will provide ongoing guidance and instruction in our lives.

            Here, John again uses the word about which we spoke a few weeks ago, the Paraclete, and just as the last time John used this word it is not The Paraclete, but Another Paraclete, which we came to understand as the Spirit providing a continuation of the teaching and guidance of Jesus.  But there is something that I don’t think that I did explain in that sermon.  Though I spoke about The Paraclete being Counselor, Teacher, Comforter, Advocate, Helper, Reminderer?  (Is that a real word?  I don’t think so, my spell check underlined it with one of those squiggly red lines.)  And we spoke about how John refers to The Paraclete as another Paraclete, with Jesus being the original Paraclete, but I don’t think that I actually defined the word for you.  The Greek Παρακλητος is a compound word with “para” which means “alongside” or “accompanying” and “kletos” which means to be called, so the word literally means to be called alongside.  And so, originally Jesus and now the Spirit have been sent to be at our sides, teaching, guiding, and inspiring us to live in a way that honors and glorifies God. 

            Our reading today begins with Philip asking a question.  Jesus had just said in verses 6B and 7 that, “No one comes to the Father except through me.  If you had known me, you would have known my Father also.  From now on you do know him and have seen him.”  And Philip, clearly not yet understanding exactly what it is that Jesus is teaching, asks, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”

            I can totally understand Philip’s question.  It seems like a reasonable one, doesn’t it?  For three years Philip and the disciples have constantly heard Jesus refer to “The Father”.  It’s understandable that the disciples would love to fill in what they perceived to be a void in their understanding by being able to, at last, see the Father.  But as it turned out, the void was not a result of not seeing, but a result of not understanding.  It’s here, in these very verses, that Jesus explains to the disciples what that which would eventually be called the Trinity is all about.  As I said a few weeks ago, the word “Trinity” does not appear anywhere in the Bible, but teaching about it abounds, especially here in the 14^th chapter of John. 

            In a reply that may possibly have carried with it a gentle rebuke, Jesus asks Philip “Don’t you know me, and after all the time that we have been together?”  (that’s my translation).  With the emphasis of repeating Himself, Jesus tells Philip that whoever has seen Him HAS seen the Father, then He tells Philip that He is in the Father and that the Father is in Him, even further reinforcing this idea by Jesus stating that He speaks not on His own authority but rather says only what the Father speaks through Him. 

Since the earliest days of Christianity, Christians have accepted the fact that there is only one God, but that God exists in three distinct persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Though this concept hadn’t yet been called the Trinity, the Didache, a list of Christian teachings reliably thought to have originated in the late aughts or early 100’s, cited scripture and baptismal liturgies to claim co-equality of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  This was the first extant statement that we have about the unity of the Godhead.  The Council of Nicaea in 325 confirmed the church’s Trinitarian view of the Godhead in the Nicene Creed which we will read together in just a little while.

This Council of Nicaea was called by the emperor Constantine himself and was attended by 300 Bishops and even more Presbyters and Deacons.  Constantine, who had declared himself the “Protector of the Church” called the council in order to resolve a controversy over the claim of a man named Arius that only The Father was God and that Jesus was secondary.  The council codified the idea of the Trinity in that Nicene Creed.  Their decision still reverberates today as the church faces the occasional heresy that denies the deity of Christ.  Speaking of today’s passage, Klink says, “The statement in 14:9 emphasized the manifestation of the Father by the Son, whereas here [in verse 10] the emphasis is centered upon the relational unity between the Father and the Son.  The twofold use of the preposition “εν” (in) speaks unavoidably of the mutuality of the Father and the Son, rooted in what the church has long expressed by its Trinitarian theology.” [1]

And so, as Reformed Christians, in concert with our Catholic sisters and brothers, we are Trinitarian; confident believers in the oneness of God in the three persons of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Next, Jesus talks briefly about prayer and the certainty of God answering prayer.  And I don’t want to spend a lot of time on this, but I want very much for us to understand that, in the first century Greco-Roman world to do something in someone’s name was to do that thing with the full authority and approval of the person in whose name you are acting.  This is important because Jesus is not promising here that my prayers for the Mets to win the World Series will be answered if I just pray hard enough.  What Jesus is teaching is that when our prayers ask to serve and to glorify God, that God will be faithful to answer those prayers in a way that will glorify Him.  Of course, those prayers may not always be answered in the way that we expect but they will always be answered in the way that best serves God’s purposes and glorifies Him.

Which finally brings us to today’s discussion about the Holy Spirit.  But first, I need to tell a joke.  A man walks into a store and asks the clerk where the Arnold Schwarzenegger dolls are.  The clerk replies, “Aisle B, back”.  I have spent almost my entire adult life working as a retail store manager.  One of the things that I have always taught my staff is that when a customer asks where an item is, you never tell them, you show them.  Walking the customer to the item is not only great customer service but it also gives an opportunity to show the customer exactly what they are looking for and to answer any questions that they may have.  And believe it or not, God is doing this exact same thing with us and the Holy Spirit.  Yes, we have the Bible to tell us the way, but the Holy Spirit is called alongside us to show us the way.  To walk with us, to lead us, to guide us to our destination, and to answer questions along the way.  Because it is a matter of great importance to KNOW God.  Jesus tells us today that if we love Him we will keep His commandments.  But how are we to know how to keep His commandments if we don’t know what those commandments are?  And so, we read the Bible, we study the Bible, we fellowship with other believers, and we abide in the Spirit, in order to learn how to apply Jesus’ teaching about loving God and loving others in our own lives. 

In the Greek, the word “Spirit” is πνεῦμα (pa-nome-a), but πνεῦμα doesn’t just mean “spirit”.  It can also mean “breath” or “wind”.  In my research for the sermon this week I was directed to Ecclesiastes 1:14 where Solomon is speaking about the pursuit of earthly goals.  Solomon commented on the folly of chasing after that which does not last, calling the pursuit of earthly treasures “chasing the wind”.   And so, we seek to know God in order that the πνεῦμα that we choose to follow is God’s Spirit and not just the wind.  We seek to know God in order that our love will be genuine and that our love will be lived in a way that glorifies God.  We seek to know God in order that we may be faithful, not being distracted or deceived by false gospels or being diverted from our path of service, instead choosing a path that fails to glorify God.

There is so much that we see in our world that fails to answer in the affirmative the question “does this glorify God”.  There is so much we see that is done in our world that is hurtful or that disadvantages people or that denies people dignity or opportunity.  There is so much in our world that runs contrary to the command to love our neighbors.  “If you love me you will keep my commandments”, Jesus said.  It is this to which we are called.  To be advocates for justice in a world ruled by expedience, to be advocates for fairness in a world ruled by selfishness, to be advocates for love in a world ruled by indifference, and to be advocates for mission in a world ruled by apathy.

Today our reading tells us that Jesus said, “whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will [they] do, because I am going to the Father.”  These “greater works” aren’t greater in substance.  I don’t expect any of us to walk on water or heal a paralytic anytime soon.  But they are greater in scope as the Church of Jesus Christ works together to bring the Gospel to the entire world.

My dear friends, let us become faithful followers of the truth, which IS Jesus Christ, that we may participate in these “greater works” that teach the world the truth of the Gospel, and show the world the truth of the extravagant love of God as we show forth HIS love in our own lives.

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[1] Edward W. Klink III, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: John, Pg. 620

That All of Them May Be One

June 1, 2025

            There’s a great book that I would often read to my son Joe when he was little.  If you are a parent, you may be familiar with this book.  It’s called “The Monster at the End of This Book”.  The book features the Muppet character, Grover and at the beginning of the book Grover just skips right by the title page, saying this page isn’t very interesting.  Then, after turning the page, Grover says WAIT!  WHAT DID THAT SAY?  Did that say that there is a monster at the end of this book?  I am so afraid of monsters.

            It’s not an uncommon thing, you know.  Very often people will read things without paying full attention to what they are reading, but then shortly thereafter, what they just skipped over suddenly comes into focus and they have to go back to see if what they read actually said what they think it did.  Pop culture even has an expression for this experience.  It’s “wait… what?”  Grover (I love Grover) just had one of those moments, stopping in his tracks to rethink what he just read, and then he spends the entire rest of the book trying to keep the reader from turning another page in order to keep them from getting to the end of the book, where a monster is ominously waiting.  And I won’t give away the ending; but if you have children in your life, make sure that you read this book to them.  It is an absolute delight, especially if you can read it in a Grover voice.

            Today’s lesson has two of those “wait… what?” moments and the first one is the very first verse.  Did you happen to catch it?  My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message”.  After telling the story about Jesus washing the disciple’s feet back in chapter 13, John spends the next four chapters telling us about Jesus’ final discourse; His final instructions to the disciples that He leaves with them because He knows that He is going to His crucifixion and death.  And yet, mixed in with the exhortations to His beloved disciples, mixed in with His instructions about continuing His work and promises to be with them through the Holy Spirit, Jesus concludes His instructions with a prayer to the Father.  At first, Jesus prays for those present; His disciples; those who have followed Him for the last three years.  But then, in the opening verse of today’s lesson, those for whom Jesus is praying changes.  Starting in verse 20 Jesus is praying for “those who will believe in me through [the disciples] message”.  In other words, Jesus is praying for us!  Have you ever noticed that before?  Or am I the only one here who had that “Wait… what?” moment with this passage?

            When we read this passage… this prayer, we need to give it special attention, because this is Jesus praying for us.  Through this prayer Jesus is telling US what our role in God’s plan is supposed to be.  This is Jesus, speaking through the millennia, helping us to understand who it is that we are called to be. 

And what is the very first thing that Jesus asks of us?  It is that we would be one; united with the same mind and the same mission.  I think that often this passage is interpreted as an exhortation to ecumenism; a command that believers in the church should all be unified.  And while there is value in that thought, I think that it misses the mark of what is being taught here.  Jesus says that we should be one just as Jesus is in the Father and the Father is in Jesus.  And so, I think that this oneness to which we are called is not so much an individual calling to unity with others as it is a calling for the church universal to be unified with the Father and Son, through the Spirit.  Next, Jesus tells us that there is a reason why we are called to this oneness.  Jesus prays to the Father that we may be one so that “the world may believe that [the Father has sent the Son.]”

            God’s ultimate purpose is the reconciliation of His beloved children to Himself.  And the avenue through which God will reconcile His children will be love.  Let’s take a closer look at verses 22 and 23. “I have given them (that would be all believers, including us) the glory that you gave me (that would be the glory that the Father has given to the Son), that they (that’s us again) may be one as we (Father and Son) are one.”  And then Jesus illuminates this thought saying, “I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity.”  And then Jesus reveals the goal, “then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”

            And it’s here where we have our second “Wait… what?” moment, What did that just say?  Let’s read it again, “then the world will know that you (The Father) sent me (Jesus) and have loved them (that’s us) even as you have loved me.”  This verse is telling us that the Father loves US in exactly the same way, with the same devotion and the same passion that He loves Jesus.  How can we even wrap our heads around that?  We, imperfect as we are, willful and stubborn, prone to turning away from God, not always listening to Him, seeking our own will instead of His own good and perfect will, occasionally refusing to love Him and often refusing to love others, are STILL loved by God as deeply and as completely as the Father loves the Son.  Wow.

            And it’s here that we get a peek into the internal relationship of the Godhead.  Tim Challies describes the Trinity this way, “Through all of eternity, God has been love; he has existed in a state of love of Father to Son, Son to Spirit, Spirit to Father. There has never been a time that God has not been expressing love; nor will there ever be.” [1]  Challies explains that if God is love, and if God has always and eternally BEEN love, then there has to have been someone FOR Him to love, and so this love of God has been eternally expressed in the love between Father, Son, and Spirit.  And it is into this eternal dance of love that we have been welcomed.  We are loved every bit as much as Father Son and Spirit have loved each other for eternity.

            And we who have found this incredible love of God, we who have been blessed by God’s magnanimous gift of welcome into the very center of the love of the Godhead, now are called to share that same exact love with the world, because God’s ultimate purpose is to reconcile as many of His beloved children to Himself as He possibly can.  1 Timothy 2:3-4 “This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”  Warren Wiersbe tells us that, “The lost world cannot see God, but they can see Christians, and what they see in us is what they will believe about God.  If they see love and unity, they will believe that God is love.  If they see hatred and division, they will reject the message of the Gospel.” [2]

            My dear sisters and brothers, we have been given an extraordinarily important task.  And that task is to love one another so that when the world sees us, they see the glory of God eloquently expressed in that love; love for God, and love for one another.  Just a few weeks back we spoke about God’s glory and how glory results from doing something remarkable and doing it really well.  There is nothing more remarkable than God’s love.  And so, when Jesus said in today’s verse 22 that He is giving US the glory that the Father gave Him, what He means is that, through the Spirit, He is giving us the capacity to love, just exactly in the same way that He loves.  And again, all for the purpose of showing the world what God’s love looks like, so that the world can come to know and to love God also.

            Our calling as children of God is not about us individually, it is a calling about unity and oneness.  It is a calling first to join in the love that is shared within the Godhead, and then in so doing to become a part of a community that loves God and is loved by God, and then finally to be sent in mission, exactly in the same way that Jesus was sent, so that the message that Jesus gave his followers, becomes a message that His followers gave to others, that eventually becomes the message that was given to us, that ultimately becomes the message that we bring to the world.  And this message is that we are not only accepted by God, but that we are loved by God; deeply, thoroughly, and eternally.  The Presbyterian theologian and pastor R. C. Sproul tells us that “The greatest benefit of Christianity is not the forgiveness of sins; that is simply a means to an end.  The greatest benefit that we have is access to the presence of God and His Son.  That is where Jesus wants us to be.” [3] (In His presence).

            I said before that in this prayer, Jesus shows us what our role is to be in God’s plan.  The good news is, we simply have to love.  The bad news is, well, we have to love.  Loving others isn’t always easy.  As we all know, some folks can be really hard to love.  But the world REALLY needs for us to love the unlovable, because our witness is at its most effective when the love that we show is a love that is out of the ordinary.  Remember when I described US earlier?  Willful and stubborn, prone to turning away from God, well, you get the picture.  If God can love us so abundantly, even in our unlovable state, then we, bearing the love of God in our hearts, are called to learn to love even the unlovable, just as God loves us.  And the result of us loving in that manner, is that we exhibit the perfect and extravagant love that God has for us, as we share His love with others. 

            This unity to which God calls us means for us to have the same mind and the same mission as God; that of working towards the reconciliation of God’s beloved children to Himself.  It means living in the real world, loving real and imperfect people.  And how do we do this?  Carter and Wredberg tell us that, “The only way to draw closer to one another, the only way to grow in unity as Christians, is to become more like Jesus.  Our unity is based in, and empowered by, Jesus alone.” [4]

            It is our participation in that eternal dance of love of the Godhead that equips us to be the love that the world sees, and it is the Spirit, directed by Jesus that empowers us to love even when it is difficult to love.  Taylor comments, “This is the reason why our unity is so important to Jesus that he asks for it four times in two and a half verses. It isn’t just for our benefit. It isn’t just for Christ’s benefit. Christ’s prayer for unity has only one goal: that the world would know God has sent Jesus into the world.” [5]

            What a privilege it is to be a part of this mission; a mission that began with the apostles and will not end until that great feast takes place in heaven, where all believers from every time and place will together worship Jesus.  And what a privilege it is to bring the Good News to others; to show them the love of God by loving them in exactly the same way that Jesus loves us.  And what a privilege it is to be a part of the unity of the church; not just Hope Church in Tinton Falls, but the body of all believers of every time and place who glorify God and witness to the truth, which is Jesus Himself.  Let us not take these privileges lightly.  In fact, let us make these privileges our life’s work.

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[1] Tim Challies, Challies.com, God’s Gag Reflex

[2] Warren Wiersbe, Be Transformed, Pg. 99

[3] R. C. Sproul, John: An Expositional Commentary, Pg. 306

[4] Matt Carter & Josh Wredberg, Exalting Jesus in John, Pg. 345

[5] Jo Anne Taylor, PastorSings.com, Unanswered Prayer: Sermon on John 17:20-26

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

These are Written that You May Believe

April 27, 2025

            It’s a phrase that we, as Christians, hear all the time; Christ-likeness.  We are called to be Christ-like, but what does that really mean?  I mean, to begin with, Jesus is perfect.  We are not.  So, how are we supposed to emulate something that is completely unattainable?  Well, the first thing that we need to know is that God does not expect the impossible, and truthfully, Christ-likeness isn’t about perfect behavior anyway.  I’ve spoken often about the fact that Christianity isn’t so much about what we do as it is about who we are, or more accurately, who we are in Christ, and the good news is that in last week’s and this week’s stories, Jesus has modeled for us a lot of the attributes that comprise Christ-likeness. 

            Last week we talked about Jesus washing the disciples’ feet and we discussed how lowly this job of washing feet was, to the point where Jewish law prohibited Jewish slave owners from forcing their Jewish slaves to perform this task.  But this example, set by Jesus, was not intended to inspire us to go out and daily wash the feet of others, it was intended to teach us a foundational truth about love.  And that is that love, real love, what the Greeks called ἀγάπη (a-ga-pay) love, is selfless.  It is a love that denies self in the interest of serving others.  Jesus wasn’t calling us to become professional  foot washers, He was teaching us about the depth of love that we are called to have for others.  This isn’t about actions or behaviors.  This kind of selfless, extravagant love is an integral part of Jesus’ character; it’s WHO HE IS!  And because Jesus is the exact representation of the Father, it’s who God is as well.  And since we are called to Christ-likeness it’s an attribute that needs to be developed in our lives too.

            And so, our first step in understanding Christ-likeness today is understanding that we need to allow the Spirit to grow within our hearts that same kind of love; a love where we are willing to completely lose ourselves in the act of loving and caring for others.  This doesn’t mean that we don’t take care of ourselves; far from it.  It simply means that, at the times that God puts people or circumstances in our path, and we find that the Spirit is leading us to love and care for that particular person or that particular circumstance, that we provide that care with a love that is willing to put the needs of others first, a love that is willing to “take a back seat” as it were, in order to provide for the needs of this person or circumstance that God has asked us to care for.  The call… is to have this kind of love not just as a behavior, but for it to be a part of our character, just as it is a part of the character of Jesus. 

            But that was last week’s lesson.  In our story today Jesus shows us two more attributes of His character that we are also called to grow in to. 

            One of the things that I really love about the Bible is the fact that it tells us real stories.  There is no whitewashing of human foibles or frailties, people are not presented as heroes when they are not, and often the failings of humanity are presented with brutal honesty.  The Bible does not present a rosy picture of faith, the Bible tells the truth, even when truly faithful people fail miserably.  Over the last few weeks, the conduct of the disciples has generally been somewhat less than stellar.  They have consistently failed to understand what Jesus has been trying to tell them about His impending death and resurrection.  They have argued about who was the greatest, they have asked for preferential treatment from Jesus when He comes into His kingdom, and then as Jesus was arrested all of them, except for the disciple who Jesus loved, ran away and Peter denied Jesus three times.  Not a great couple of weeks for the disciples.

            Our story today tells us that after the crucifixion the disciples are in hiding “for fear of the Jews”.  And not without reason.  The Jewish authorities were determined to put an end to all of this “Messiah foolishness” and so it was quite reasonable for the disciples to be concerned that the authorities would be after them next.  Couple this with the fact that the Romans were well known for their brutality when dealing with insurrections and that they made a practice of pursuing and crucifying every single follower of these rebellious leaders after the leaders had been captured and crucified.  So, I think that it is fair to say that the caution exercised by the disciples was prudent.  But there is one thing that the disciples, not surprisingly, were missing.  Our story today tells us that Mary had already reported to them the fact that Jesus was alive and that she had seen Him and spoken with Him.  Our parallel resurrection story in Luke tells us that the disciples “did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense.” 

            Let me put this into perspective.  Mary had been charged by Jesus Himself to go and to bring the Good News to the disciples that He was alive, and the disciples simply refused to believe.  But I think that there is more going on here than just their fear of being tracked down and crucified by the authorities.  There also must have been, especially in Peter, an anxiety over how they may potentially be received by the risen Jesus.  After all, in spite of all of their protestations to the contrary, they had, all but one of them, abandoned Jesus, and Peter had denied Him three times, exactly as Jesus had told him he would do.  It isn’t hard to imagine that they were expecting a stinging rebuke from Jesus at best.  And yet as they were cowering behind closed and locked doors, Jesus appeared among them, and His first words to them were?  Anyone?  “Peace be with you”. 

            You see, a second part of Jesus’ character is that of being forgiving.  Jesus, in offering peace to His disciples, was seeking to dispel all of their anxiety, all of their fear.  The guilt which the disciples were feeling, while well founded, was going to interfere with the task that Jesus was about to place before them, and so forgiveness and restoration were essential.  Jesus needed to give the disciples a clean slate, to restore them, and to reassure them that He still loved them every bit as much as He always had, and that He needed for them to let the past BE the past in order that they may step up and fulfill the mission that Jesus was about to place in front of them.

            And so, after love, the second aspect of our character that we are called to develop in our quest to become more like Christ, is the aspect of being forgiving.  Harboring guilt or harboring anger prevents us from loving one another.  And if loving each other fulfills the law and the prophets, then we must be willing both to forgive in order that others may be made whole, AND to accept forgiveness in order to constructively deal with our guilt and to allow our relationships to be restored.  In both of these instances, not only are we restoring those relationships but even more, we are witnessing to the world the truth of God’s love – that is, at its very core, reconciling, restoring, and forgiving.

            And this brings us to the next part of our story today, where Jesus exhibits a third integral part of His character.  After Jesus says a second time to the disciples “Peace be with you”, He then continues, “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”  The third part of Jesus’ character, this third attribute that we are to nurture and develop… is mission.  I wrote a song several years ago that centered on the idea that God actively pursues relationship with His children.  I called the song “Relentless Love”, and while the word relentless is usually used in a negative manner, as in something bad that just won’t go away, I couldn’t think of a better word to describe God’s love than relentless.  Through all of our sins and all of our failings and all of our imperfections; through our moments of doubt and our moments of faithlessness, God is relentlessly faithful to love us and to call us to follow Him.  This steadfast refusal to give up on His beloved children and His continual pursuit of reconciliation and restoration is another integral part of God’s character, and another core component of this Christ-likeness to which we are called.

            Fiddes explains, “The reason why mission is of the very being of the church is that mission is not just imitating the sending forth of Jesus.  It is a participation in the Father’s own sending of the Son… mission is rooted in the very being of the Triune God”. [1]  And as mission is part of the character of Jesus, so we are called to be a missional people as well.

            But let’s take a look at what we just learned.  Why are we forgiving?  We are forgiving because forgiveness is rooted in love.  We can’t be loving if we are angry because of what someone else has done to us, and we can’t be loving if we are feeling guilty over the fact that we hurt someone.  And so, forgiveness pours from a heart that loves as God loves.  Forgiveness reconciles and restores loving relationships.

And we are also missional because of love.  When we know from our personal experiences the love and grace and peace and joy that are so very much a part of the Christian experience, we want everyone that we know to experience this joy as well.  At the heart of our quest for Christ-likeness is love, and one of the many ways that we show that love is helping others to find that same love for themselves.  Now, we are imperfect people and so we won’t always find it easy to love as we are called, but God, through the Holy Spirit, will guide us and teach us how to love.  And God will eagerly forgive our sins and imperfections in order that we may love as He loves in ways that are gracious and forgiving, and missional. 

Taylor says, “Not only do we need to see the resurrected Christ, we need to realize that the world is looking to us to see Him. How are we showing resurrection to a desperate world? How are we offering [peace] instead of fear?  Jesus sends us out, just as surely as he sent those cowering disciples.” [2]  Love compels us to seek to bring to others the peace that we know can only come from a right relationship with God.  And that peace can only be attained when one begins to follow Jesus; when one aligns themselves with Christ’s attributes of love, forgiveness, and mission.

Klink writes, “It is not the church but God who is the primary actor.  Before the world even knew of its condition or could recognize its Creator, God ‘sent’ Himself to the world.  God is the first and foundational missionary.  The fact that God ‘sent’ is itself a declaration regarding the true nature of God.  The actions of God are a reflection of the very life of God… that ‘God’s own life is Gospel shaped’.  Just as God is rightly described as loving or sovereign, so also is He rightly described as missionary” [3]

Leaving the story of Thomas for another day, our section concludes with Jesus imparting the Holy Spirit on the disciples and then making a rather curious statement, “If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”  This passage might lead one to believe that we are empowered to forgive or to bind sin, but a proper reading of the Greek here gives us a better understanding of what is being taught.  The eminent Greek scholar Dr. Julias R. Mantey translates this passage as “Whoever’s sin you have forgiven shall have already been forgiven them.  Whoever’s sin you have not forgiven shall have already not been forgiven them”.  Warren Wiersbe explains, “The disciples did not provide forgiveness, they proclaimed forgiveness on the basis of the message of the Gospel.” [4]  It’s not that God has given the disciples, or us, authority to forgive or to bind sin, it is that we are called to provide the Good News of forgiveness of sins in Jesus’ Name, and that acceptance or rejection of our message has eternal consequences.

In light of this understanding, our responsibility to be bearers of the Good News, to SHOW the world the love of God, in Christ-like living that is loving, forgiving, and always reaching out to others, becomes enormously, enormously important.

My dear sisters and brothers in Christ, it is this to which we are called.  As the Father sent Jesus, so Jesus sends us.  Let us always be willing and faithful to answer that call.

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[1] Paul Fiddes, “Mission and Liberty: A Baptist Connection” in Tracks and Traces: Baptist Identity in Church and Theology, (Carlisle: Paternoster, 2003) 249-73 (251)

[2] Jo Anne Taylor, APastorSings.com, John 2019-31-Thomas-Sylvester

[3] Edward W. Klink III, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: John, Pg. 867

[4] Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Transformed, Pg. 167

I Have Seen the Lord

April 20, 2025

I used to be pretty stubbornly closed minded.  I believed what I believed, and I didn’t leave much room, if any, for things that I considered to be on the fringe, or contrary to the neat little box into which I had placed my theology.  One of the things that I took a rather dim view of was speaking in tongues.  An early Christian mentor of mine had once explained to me that the tongue speaking, disease healing, demon exorcising, dead raising, first century apostles were specially gifted with the ability to do these things because some miraculous activity was warranted in order to “kick start” this new Christian faith.  These miracles, he told me, just weren’t something that happened anymore.  And I was perfectly content to live with this flawed and narrow-minded belief structure, until I made a friend.

This friend was a person who lived their faith beautifully.  And yet, they had a difficulty in their life that was far greater than anything that I could ever imagine trying to live with.  It was truly a burden on them, and a heavy one at that.  I often marveled at how this person was able to keep things together when everything about them seemed to be falling apart.  And then, one day, I found out that this person regularly spoke in tongues.  And surprisingly, the first thought that I had when I found this out was not one of skepticism, it was one of dawning comprehension.  In a circumstance where abundant grace was desperately needed in this person’s life, God granted that need with the gift of tongues.  In a person’s life that was so disrupted and so chaotic, God gently touched this person with a Spiritual gift that spoke volumes to them, re-assuring them that God was intimately active in their lives, that God loved them, and that God was walking every single step with them in their trials.

I also was often skeptical when I heard people say that God was talking to them.  Yes, I did understand the guidance of the Holy Spirit and how the spirit will lead us, mostly with ideas and notions and nudges in one direction or another, but I found the idea of having words coming to a person directly from God to strain the limits of credulity. 

Most of you know that in 2021 I lost my wife of almost 48 years.  I was 15 when we met, 16 when we had our first date, and 19 when we were married.  We didn’t have a perfect marriage, we managed to drive each other nuts on a pretty regular basis, but her love was everything to me.  On the morning that I lost her; the very first thing that happened was that a Bible verse just appeared in my mind.  It wasn’t a verse that I had ever memorized, it wasn’t a verse from a book that I had ever led a Bible study on, in all honesty it was a verse that I had never really paid much attention to, but on the morning that I lost her, there that verse was, plainly in my mind, as if someone had just spoken it to me.  The verse was from 1 Corinthians 15 and said “If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.   And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.”  At a time when I was in desperate need of comfort, God stepped into my life and reminded me of the incredibly Good News of Easter.  That Christ is alive, and that He has conquered sin and death, and that death no longer means “goodbye”.

In our story this morning we find Mary Magdalene on her way to Jesus’ tomb while it is still dark.  The other gospels tell us that other women went with her, and when Mary eventually speaks to the disciples she does indeed say “we” and not “I”, so, she wasn’t alone, but the author of John focuses his story on Mary. 

Because Jesus had died on the eve of the Passover his body was buried in haste.  Mary and the other women were going to the tomb to complete the burial ritual so that Jesus could have a proper burial.  When they arrived at the tomb Mary was shocked and dismayed to discover that the stone had been rolled away, and that Jesus’ body was not in the tomb. 

Possibly Joseph of Arimathea had moved the body, after all, it was a borrowed tomb.  Or perhaps the Jewish authorities had moved the body, not wishing for it to become a shrine for Jesus’ followers.  Or maybe grave robbers had vandalized His tomb.  Mary doesn’t know what happened.  All she knows for sure is that Jesus’ body is missing, and that the only logical explanation for this is that someone took it.  Distraught, Mary runs to tell the disciples what happened.  Peter, and the disciple who Jesus loved ran to the tomb to investigate and they found it to be exactly as Mary had told them.  But strangely, they found the burial clothes laying neatly in the tomb with the cloth that had covered Jesus’ face neatly folded and placed on the shelf where His body had laid.

Our story tells us that Peter and the disciple who Jesus loved, “still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead” and with nothing else that they could do there, they returned home.  But Mary stayed behind at the tomb, crying.  Mary was convinced that someone had taken the body.  And then, when she looked into the tomb again, she saw two angels sitting there.  But Mary just couldn’t shake the idea that someone had taken the body and so when the angels asked her why she was crying, she said it was because she didn’t know where they had taken Him.  And then Mary turned around and saw who she presumed to be the gardener, and she asked him if he knew where they had taken Jesus’ body. 

It took exactly one word from the supposed gardener for Mary to go from grief to joy.  Mary!  Jesus exclaimed.  And at once Mary recognized His voice.  And we recall the passage where Jesus taught us that His sheep know His voice.  Mary must have embraced Jesus because He told her “Do not hold on to me because I have not yet ascended to the Father.”  This seems odd because Jesus allowed Thomas to touch his wounds, but the word that Jesus uses here that we translate “touch” in the Greek is ἅπτομαι (hap-toe-my) which doesn’t so much mean “touch” as it means to cling to or to adhere.  Mary didn’t just touch Jesus, she clung to Him as if she wasn’t about to let Him go.  But now, Jesus had more important things for Mary to do than just to hold on to Him. 

Jesus told Mary to bring the news to the disciples and Mary went directly to them and proclaimed “I have seen the Lord”.  And in so doing, Mary Magdaline became the first evangelist; the first person charged by Jesus to bear the Good News that He was alive!  And please note the fact that Jesus didn’t wait for a man to come around to be the bearer of this news.  In fact, Peter and the Disciple that Jesus loved had already gone home.  It was Mary who waited, trying to solve the mystery of what had happened.  And though Mary’s proposed scenario of someone taking the body was completely wrong, she received the news of Jesus’ resurrection immediately and with great joy and rushed to bring the Good News to the others.

Mary did not keep her theology in a neat little box.  Mary instantly broadened her perspective with one word from Jesus.  Mary was not willing to put limits on the things that she believed God could do, even when one of those things was as completely impossible as a resurrection from the dead.  If we limit what we believe that God can do, whether it is having someone speaking in tongues or having God speak directly to our minds or to our hearts, or even God raising His Son from the dead, then we may miss out on some of God’s greatest blessings.  One could conceivably even miss out on the opportunity to become one of Jesus’ followers.  How many people in Jerusalem that week welcomed Jesus on Palm Sunday and then called for His crucifixion on Friday because He didn’t meet their expectations?  We need to be willing to ask ourselves the hard questions, but then, after we ask them, we really need to stop and listen to what God has to say.

Theologian Karl Barth says we come to worship to answer this one, simple question: “Is it true?” Is it true that God exists? Is it true that he created a perfect world, and that humans were part of that creation? Is it true that he wanted us to love him the same way he loves us, freely, and of our own choice, so he made it possible for us to choose not to love him? Is it true that we broke his heart and the perfect world he created by choosing the wrong thing, and he’s been working to heal our brokenness ever since? Is it true that he loves us so much he gave his only Son to die, so that we could be reconciled to him? Is it true that this same Son not only died, but rose again, to give us eternal life?  Is it true?”  If we are not open to miraculous possibilities, we may never know; we may never find out. 

            But to the heart that is open, to the heart that believes in God without limits, the resurrection stands as a brand-new beginning.  Satan no longer has any power over us, because Satan stands defeated and because God’s Spirit protects us from Satan’s influence.  And death no longer has any power over us because we know that if Jesus was raised from the dead, those who belong to Him will share in His resurrection.  There is no greater Good News than this. 

And there is one more thing that I would like to point out about today’s lesson.  Throughout the Gospels Jesus refers to His followers sometimes as “disciples”, sometimes as “servants” and sometimes as “friends”.  When He speaks of the Father He refers to Him as “the Father”, or “the Father who sent me”, or as “my Father”.  But look at what Jesus does here in verse 17, “Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”  The word Jesus uses that we translate “brother” is ἀδελφός (a-del-fos) and ἀδελφός literally means “from the same womb”.  It is a word that expresses a deep familial relationship, and this is the first time that Jesus has referred to His followers as His brothers (or more correctly as His brothers and sisters!)  It is also the first time that Jesus has referred to God as “my Father and your Father, my God and your God”.  N. T. Wright says, “Something has altered, decisively.  Something has been achieved.  A new relationship has sprung into life like a sudden spring flower.  The disciples are welcomed into a new world: a world where they can know God the way Jesus knew God, where they can be intimate children with the Father.  [1]

This new type of relationship isn’t just for the disciples.  It’s for all of us.  When we read the story of the crucifixion we read that, at the moment that Jesus died, the curtain in the Temple was torn in two.  The most holy place in the temple was the holy of holies, which was the dwelling place of God’s presence.  The holy of holies was separated from the rest of the temple by a curtain that hung 60 feet from ceiling to floor.  The holy of holies was entered only once each year on the Day of Atonement, and only by the High Priest.  So terrifying was the prospect of entering the Holy of Holies that tradition tells us that when the High Priest entered there he had bells tied to his robe so that the rest of the priests could hear him moving, and he had a rope tied to his ankle so that if  the bells stopped ringing because he had been struck dead they could pull him out without anyone else having to enter.  It was this curtain, the curtain that separated the temple from the awesome place of God’s presence that was torn in two.  Through the work that Jesus did on the cross, no longer do we need to fear being in the presence of God.  We don’t need any ropes tied around our ankles.  Through Jesus we can come to God directly and be welcomed as treasured members of God’s beloved family.

This, my friends, is the meaning of Easter.  It’s a story of God refusing to let us go.  It’s a story of God pursuing us until His love finally touches our hearts and causes us to turn to Him.  It’s a story of a God who loves His children with a love that will stop at nothing in its quest to reconcile them to Himself.  And this wonderful, gracious, extravagant, love, He holds just for you.

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[1] N. T. Wright, John for Everyone Part 2: Chapters 11-21, Pg. 103

You’re Not Washing MY Feet

April 17, 2025

            In Exodus and again in Leviticus the Bible gives very specific instructions as to how the Jewish people will celebrate their Passover.  For centuries Jewish families have followed these instructions and for at least the last 2500 years Jewish families have used variations of what we today call the Haggadah, a Hebrew word that means to tell or explain a story.  The Haggadah provides a script for families to follow during the Passover Seder.  This book includes the list of the food and drink served during the meal, the order in which it is served, and a text to read that includes the Exodus story.  Any time that children are involved in the Seder there are activities for the children that are designed to draw them into the experience and to teach them the meaning of the various symbols that are used and to teach them why the Passover matters.  The object of this is to make the Passover real and personal for each succeeding generation.  It’s not just a story, as a Jew, the story of the Exodus is an integral part of the Jewish identity.  The exodus is the great redemptive act of the Hebrew Bible.

            For the Christian, the telling of the story of the passion of Jesus shares a similar objective.  The death and resurrection of Jesus is the great redemptive act of the Christian Bible, and we as Christians also need to be striving to make this story to be real and personal to all of our brothers and sisters in Christ, and especially to our children.  Every time we have communion, we recite the story of the Last Supper and admonish those taking communion to remember; to remember Christ’s sacrifice, and to rejoice anew in His resurrection.  But there is more to the Biblical story on this special Thursday of Holy Week than just the Last Supper, and so, it’s important for us to understand all of what it is that Jesus is teaching us in the events of Maundy Thursday.

            We begin with Jesus washing the feet of the disciples and there are a few things about this event that are unusual.  First of all, it was common for a host to have a servant wash the feet of their guests when they first arrived.  But this foot washing was considered to be just about the lowliest of possible jobs.  So much so that the task would usually only be done by slaves if they were available, and Jewish law even prohibited Jewish slaves from being forced to perform this task.  So, if you wanted to wash the feet of your guests it had to be done by a gentile slave.  Our story today tells us that Jesus removed His outer clothing and wrapped a towel around His waist.  In so doing, Jesus was dressed in the way that a slave would have been dressed when they performed this task.

            The second curious thing was, that Jesus did not do this as His guests arrived.  Nor did He do it following the meal.  He actually did this right in the middle of the meal, getting up from the table while they were eating.  This was an absolutely unheard-of way of doing this.  But of course, the most unusual thing of all was the fact that Jesus Himself was doing the washing.  And I would like to take a moment for us to reflect on what this means.  The creator of the universe, He who literally spoke creation into existence, He who created the sun and the moon and the stars and earth and every living thing, including us, assumed the role of the lowliest slave and washed the feet of His disciples.  It’s not at all hard for us to understand why Peter would have had such a negative reaction.  The English translation does not adequately convey the force with which Peter vehemently opposes the idea of Jesus washing his feet.  But Jesus tells Peter that while Peter does not yet understand why Jesus has to do this, he eventually will understand, and so, it must be done.  Jesus further tells Peter that if He doesn’t do this, that Peter has no part of Him.

            And so, Jesus… God Himself, washed the feet of the disciples, including Peter… and also including Judas.  In verse 2 of today’s reading the author of John lets us in on a little secret.  When Jesus later says in verse 18 that one of the disciples will betray Him, the rest of the disciples are clueless as to who it might be, but back in verse 2 the author tells US that, “the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus.”  Before Jesus even began the act of washing the feet of His disciples, He already knew that Judas would betray Him, and yet still Jesus washed his feet.  Why would Jesus do that? 

Our answer to this question is stated in verse 1, but the answer requires us to dig a little bit.  John 13:1B, “Having loved his own who were in the world, [Jesus] loved them to the end.”  And the Greek word that we translate as “end” is τέλος (tay-los) which actually means completing something in its entirety, or the final achieving of an overall purpose.  It is as we might say, “when all is said and done”.  When we read this verse, to whom do we assume the Bible is referring when it says, “His own”?  Who is it that Jesus loves to the end?  Is it the disciples?  Is it His followers?  Is it His church?  To answer this, let’s go all the way back to John 1:11… “He came to that which was his own, but his owndid not receive him.”  It turns out that “His own” is all of humanity.  Jesus washed the feet of His disciples, and indeed went to the cross because He loved them.  And He washed the feet of Judas because He loved him too. 

God loves His entire creation.  And He loves every single one of His beloved children who He created, even Judas who betrayed Him.  God grieves at the loss of every single one of His beloved children that turns away from Him, and like the shepherd seeking that one lost sheep out of ninety nine, so it is that God actively seeks to find and to redeem as many of His lost children as He possibly can.

How badly does God want this reconciliation with His children?  Enough to go to the cross.

            Our lesson today culminates in a new command.  “Love one another”!  It’s not that loving each other is a new command.  Embedded within the Ten Commandments is the idea of loving one another, as Jesus so eloquently explained in the Sermon on the mount.  But what IS new is the understanding and the implementation of this love.  In Jesus’ washing of the disciples feet, and much more so in the cross, Jesus shows the lengths that WE need to go, in order to love as He loved.  We must empty ourselves of pride and selfishness and serve with the best interests of others standing first in our hearts.  Klink says that when we empty ourselves to serve others we “do not experience a demotion but a promotion to the kind of ‘life’ God offers to His children.” [1]

            In denying ourselves in order to serve others, in this process of giving up our lives in service, we aren’t losing ourselves, we are finding ourselves and we are finding our new home as a part of the body of Christ.  This is why Jesus washed the feet of His disciples, and ultimately why He went to the cross.  Because in so doing He showed us that His love for us is so great that there is nothing that He will not do in His mission to reconcile as many of His beloved children to Himself as He possibly can.

            This is the new command.  Love one another!  Selflessly, abundantly, extravagantly, and sacrificially, in order that through us and through our love, each and every one of God’s beloved children is given the potential to discover the opportunity to be reconciled to the God who will love them to the end.

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[1] Edward W. Klink III, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: John, Pg. 586