John 6:60-71

Some of the disciples also started grumbling. Disciples here refers to a loose bunch of people who were following Jesus, evidently they were not all fully committed. It was the fact that Jesus had spoken about eating His flesh and drinking His blood that they were arguing. Again we need to ask why did Jesus choose such an offensive way of putting things? Maybe it is the fact that believing in Jesus is equally hard to accept. When we believe in Jesus we have to acknowledge our sin, turn away from our sin, accept that we are not able to save ourselves. These things are all offensive to us.

Jesus' reference to seeing the Son of Man ascend may refer both to the cross and the ascension. His death on the cross was offensive. How can someone undergoing such an ignominious death possible be the saviour of the world?

Jesus says that we must trust in the Spirit, not the flesh. Without Christ we are flesh centred. We focus on material needs, and focus on fleshly desires, both physical and emotional. Living according to these things does and cannot bring life. Instead we need to focus on the Spirit (Rom 8:4-8). We need the Father to enable us to follow Jesus.

Many of the disciples then left, leaving only the twelve. They had come to believe, and so would stick with Jesus. Yet there was one, Judas, who would betray Jesus. Jesus knew all along what would happen.

John 6:52-29

The Jews argues about how on earth could Jesus give them His flesh to eat? Eating human flesh, and drinking any blood were totally anathema to the Jews.

We know that Jesus was referring to trusting in His death on the cross, the sacrifice of atonement, but to His first hearers His words would indeed seem strange. Why did He use such imagery as eating His flesh and drinking His blood? Why did He not just say that people need to believe in Him?

Lev 17:10-11 forbids eating of blood for the life is in the blood, and blood of atonement sacrifices was crucial. So there are obvious references to Jesus being the atonement sacrifice.

The eating of flesh perhaps refers back to the desire for manna, and Jesus is emphasising again the need to trust in Him, and that He is the true source of life. We need to focus on Jesus, not on food that will come to nothing.

John 6:42-51

The Jews now started arguing amongst themselves. When the Israelites came out of Egypt they spent most of their time in the desert grumbling against God and against Moses. Up until this point John has referred to the crowds in this section, now he uses the term Jews. This implies it was the religious leaders who were arguing and grumbling. They thought they knew all about Jesus origins, with Mary and Joseph being His parents, so could He possibly have come down from heaven?

Jesus tells them to stop grumbling, and then says again that no one can come to Him unless the Father draws him. We could read this as being a restriction on how many will be saved, but another way to look at it is that Jesus is saying that if anyone comes to Him, then it is God's will. The Jews claimed Jesus was a blasphemer, and that people who followed Him were disobeying God. Jesus is saying that quite the opposite is true. If someone does go to Jesus, then it is a sure sign that they are obeying God.

Indeed people who come to Jesus will be raised on the last day by Jesus, and will be taught by God. Again, the Pharisees and Scribes were very proud of their position as teachers of the law, but it was those who went to Jesus who would be truly taught of God.

Jesus is the One we need to believe in and the one we need to learn from. And He is greater than Moses, for all those who ate the manna died. In fact, most of them died without seeing the promised land. But when we receive Jesus our lives are changed, we are born again, we become different.

Jesus then alludes to His death on the cross, a sacrifice for the life of the world.

John 6:32-40

In saying that Moses had given them bread from heaven the people were making an error, for it was God who had sent the bread. We make similar mistakes today. If some has a very effective "ministry" while we may say it comes from God, we act as if it was actually the man or woman who was the source. The Father had given the Israelites manna from heaven, and now He was giving them the true bread of life.

Jesus then refers to Himself (v33), but the people seemed to totally miss this (v34). So Jesus makes it as clear as possible by claiming to be the bread of life. He is the one we must eat and drink of. If we do this means we will never hunger or thirst. If we rely on Jesus, then we can be sure that we will be able to cope with any situation. We may have no idea what we will face in the coming year, or we may even be dreading what we expect to have to face, but if we trust in the Lord we will find that He will see us through.

Jesus will never reject those who come to Him. He has come to do the Father's will, and so will accept all that the Father sends to Him. Moreover, it is the Father's will that Jesus does not lose any of these. We need to remember that it is not just a matter of us believing and continuing to follow Jesus. Jesus is activley working to enable us to keep following Him. In looking at situations we can focus on our own strength and resources, but we should remember that God is working on our behalf as well.

God's plan is that we have eternal life and will be raised on the last day. Note that the two are separate. Eternal life starts now, we start to experience and grow in a new sort of life the moment we believe. And this is a life that death will not bring to and end, for we will be raised from the dead on the last day.

John 6:25-31

When the crowds found Him they wanted to know when he had arrived, presumably unaware of His mode of transport.

Jesus responds with a declaration. They are searching for Him not because they saw miracles, but because they got free food. Even though the people had seen miracles, they were still focused on their daily needs. Ie they looked at the result, bread, but did not wonder how it had all happened, or who this person must be who could perform this miracle. Jesus tells them they need to be focused on eternal life, not on daily needs.

Being focused on eternal life does not mean just being focused on what happens after we die. Eternal life starts now. It is a whole different way of life. Jesus is the one who gives us eternal life, and He is the one with the seal of approval of God. This last statement was possibly drawing a distinction between Himself and the Jewish leaders. The Pharisees and Saducees may have claimed to be the arbiters of God's will, but they were mistaken.

The people asked what work they must do in order to receive eternal life, to which Jesus replies they need to believe in the One whom God has sent, ie in Jesus. The people respond by demanding a sign. Now it seems strange to be demanding this, having just seen the miraculous feeding. However, they were comparing this with the manna from heaven that God had provided through Moses (Exodus 16:4). They expected the redeemer to be like Moses, or greater than Moses. So they wanted to see something greater than manna from heaven.

Now the people were right to expect someone greater than Moses, and to expect greater food than manna from heaven, but they did not realise how this would be provided, as we will see in the next section.

Jesus often wants to give us something greater than what we are looking for.

John 6:16-24

Jesus had withdrawn to the mountain (v 15) to be by Himself. Later the disciples got into the boat and headed for Capernaum. It was dark and a storm blew up. Some of the disciples were fishermen, and this storm was not that severe. Jesus came to them walking on the water. Not surprisingly this caused them some consternation. Mark records that they thought they were seeing a ghost. Sometimes people have the notion that the first century people were very gullible and would believe anything. This is not the case, they knew perfectly well how the world normally worked, and people did not normally walk on water.

Why did Jesus walk on water? Why did He feed the 5000 miraculously? In both cases there was a need, but in neither case does it seem to have been desparate. The crowds could have gone home and would not have died on the way. Jesus could have found some other way to get Capernaum, or made better arrangements in the first place. Perhaps this should challenge our whole attitude to miracles. Miracles should not be that unusual. In both cases a miracle provided the best solution. Perhaps we shiould be much more expectant of miracles happening. There does not need to be an absolutley dire need before God will do a miracle.

The crowds who had been part of the 5000 wanted to see more of Jesus, so they set off to find Him.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to you all.
God gave the greatest gift of all, His very own Son.
Hallelujah

John 6:1-15

This is the only miracle, excluding the resurrection, that is recorded in all four gospels. Many people followed Jesus because of the miracles and healings He had carried out. Matthew's account tells us that Jesus healed many of them, and Mark tells us that He also taught them many things. Teaching and healing went together in Jesus' ministry.

Jesus saw the crowds and had compassion on them. Jesus asked Philip how they were going to feed the people. Philip could see no practical solution. Philip was asked because he came from Bethsaida, a nearby town.

Andrew says there is a boy with five loaves and two fish, but cannot see how that will help. Jesus took what He had, thanked God, and then distributed the food. The other gospels make it clear that the disciples took part in the distribution.

Afterwards the disciples collected the leftovers and there were twelve baskets of food left.

It was near the time of the Jewish Passover. The people were looking for a prophet like Moses to come, and the Passover would have heightened this expectation. It is also why the supplying of food made the miracle have such a redolent effect with the people. Jesus had no intention of letting the people make Him king.

Jesus took what He had, and used it. Often we can think that we do not have enough, whether it be material resources, or abilities. We should take what we have, give thanks to God and see what happens. Jesus was guided by compassion for the people and trust in His Father. We need to do likewise.

John 5:31-47

Under Jewish law a man's testimony about himself was not valid, it needed two or three other witnesses. Jesus' confidence was based on His Father's testimony. This could refer to the continual testimony of Scripture (Lk 24:27), or the Holy Spirit descending on Him at His baptism, or the voice of God at the same time (Matt 3:16,17).

Jesus refers also to other witnesses. First to John the Baptist. John had attracted a large following, but he had testified that Jesus was the Lamb of God. Jesus referred to John only for the benefit of His hearers.

The things that Jesus did testified that He was indeed the Son of God. The things that Jesus did demonstrated who He was.

The Jewish leaders needed to accept their true state. They had not seen God (unlike Jesus, who was with the Father from the very beginning). A key step towards true wisdom is to accept the limits of our knowledge. In terms of science we do well to recognise our limits. None of us were there at the beginning of creation, we only have scientific readings for at most a few hundred years, so any claims about what happened billions of years ago should at least be treated with a degree of caution!

They spent lots of their life studying the Scriptures, yet had learnt nothing. The mere fact of studying the Bible is not enough. We need to come to the Word of God in humility, ready to be taught by God, not looking to prove our own pet theories. We need to bow down to the person of Jesus Christ, then we can truly learn something.

The stupidity of the Jewish leaders was that they accepted other false messiahs at various times (and suffered greatly because of it), but refused to believe the one who would have given them true life.

The most galling thing for the Jewish leaders would be that at the judgement it would be Moses who would accuse them, for he testified to Jesus.

John 5:24-30

We have eternal life if we hear His word and believe the One who sent Him. Notice the link between believing in Jesus and the One who sent Him. This means recognising that Jesus is equal with the Father, that He is divine. Jesus was sent by the Father. It is not the case that God looked on the earth to find a suitable person to fulfil His task and chose Jesus. It is the case that Jesus has always existed with the Father, and the Father sent Jesus to earth as a man.

Notice also that we have eternal life now if we believe. Eternal life starts now, not just when we die or when Jesus comes back. Eternal life is manifestly NOT just a matter of living for ever, it is also the whole quality and nature of life. We will not be sitting around doing nothing in heaven, and that new life starts the moment we believe, gradually taking over more and more of our life.

The gospel is about life. The Father has life in Himself, and so does Jesus. Jesus gives life. This was demonstrated most dramatically when He raised Lazarus, but whenever Jesus comes into a persons life He brings life.

At the end of days Jesus will raise the dead to life. Note that in John's writings doing good and doing evil generally have a rather narrow definition, distinguishing between those who have believed and those who have rejected the Son.

Jesus' authority derived purely from the fact that He obeyed His Father completely.

John 5:19-23

The Father and Son are one, there is completely unity between them, yet they are also distinct. The Son does only what the Father does. The Father loves the Son and so shows Him all He does. So they would see the Son do even greater works than they had seen so far.

There is a lesson here for how we should live. When Jesus was under attack he trusted in His Father, knowing that the Father would do still greater things. We see this supremely on the cross. Jesus went through that awful agony, but then the Father raised Him from the dead. When we are under pressure we should continue to do the work the Lord has given us to do. The work He gives us to do is what He does, we will experience the Lord overcoming all obstacles.

The Father would raise people from the dead, so Jesus would give life to people. In Jesus we saw the Father at work. Similarly, people should be able to see the Lord at work in and through our lives.

Jesus did not back away from His claims to be equal with God. He goes on to say that the Father has entrusted judgement to Him, and that all are to honour the Son in the same way that thye honour the Father. Indeed if we are to honour God we must honour the Son.

John 5:10-18

One might of thought this was the end of the matter, but an issue that was a recurrent point of conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees was about to arise. Jesus had healed the man on the Sabbath and told the man to get up, walk, and carry his mat. Now the Jews had strict regulations that sought to ensure that the Sabbath was observed. These had a list of thirty two different things that one wasn't allowed to do on the Sabbath, and carrying his mat broke one of these.

Now the Sabbath principle is important, but while God had intended it to be for man's benefit, the Jews had turned it into an extra burden. The ministry of Jesus demonstrated that He saw the Sabbath as a day to bring healing and restoration to people (look in the gospels and see how many of his miracles were carried out on the Sabbath), the Pharisees saw it as a day to find fault with people.

The healed man did not know who had healed him, for Jesus had immediately gone on His way. However, Jesus did later find the man. Jesus advised the man not to sin anymore. This could be taken to imply that his lameness was a result of sin, or it could be general advice to him. I think the latter is more likely. Sometimes there is a direct relationship between sin and sickness (1 Cor 11:30), but equally Jesus warned against adopting the attitude that if someone has encountered misfortune of some sort they must have deserved it (Luke 13:2). In this instance I think Jesus is saying the following: the man's sickness had been the main preoccupation of his life for many years. In actual fact sin was his biggest problem (as it is for all of us), this was the issue he should be most concerned about.

The man went and told the Jews about Jesus. It is easy to criticise him for this, but we must remember that the Pharisees and Saducees were the recognised men of God, and it would be natural for the man to go to them. Moreover, the conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders was not at its height at this point.

From this point on, however, the conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders became very serious, and is a key feature of the next few chapters of John's gospel. John makes it clear that the Pharisees knew Jesus was claiming equality with God.

Jesus attitude in all this was to continue to do the work of His Father.

John 5:1-9

There was a place where many invalids gathered hoping to be healed. From time to time the waters in the pool would start turning and they believed that if they got into the water they would be healed. Presumably there was some evidence of this having worked on occasion, as a lot of people fathered there.

One man was there who had been lame for thirty eight years. Jesus singled out this man. He chose this man because He knew the man had been ill for a long time. It is not clear why He did not chose anyone else, though maybe most of the others had far less serious problems.

"Do you want to be made well?" has been viewed by some as a psychological question, ie did the man really want to be healed, or was he actually more comfortable in his current condition. There is no need to read it in this way, it seems better to read it as Jesus offering him the opportunity to be made well.

Although the man came to the pool hoping to be healed, he also seemed resigned to not being healed as he could not get into the pool. He was in a catch-22 situation.

Jesus had a much better solution. He simply commanded him to get up and walk, the man was healed and he got up and walked.

Often we can consider something impossible (in this case getting healed) because we are focussed on it only working out in one particular way, and that way is impossible. However, Jesus may have a completely different solution. We need to listen to Him without preconceptions about how He will answer. How often do we pray to God and tell Him how he should solve the problem. God is clever enough to work out how to solve the problem, He does not need us to tell Him how to do it.

When Jesus commanded the man to walk, it was impossible for him to do so. It only became possible after Jesus had issued the command.

John 4:43-54

After two days Jesus continued on His way to Galilee. They had a very different pace of life to us! John refers to an earlier statement from Jesus about a prophet not being honoured in his home town (Lk 4:24). Surprisingly, he then says that the Galileans welcomed Him. They had seen what He had done at Passover time (John 2:13-25), this included various signs and also the clearing of the temple.

Jesus also went to Cana, where He had turned water into wine. A royal official whose son was ill came to Him and begged Jesus to come to his house and heal his son. Now this seems a perfectly reasonable thing to do, and even showing some faith. He had seen, or heard, about Jesus doing miracles, and so believed that Jesus could heal his son.

Jesus response was to say "unless you people see signs and wonders you will never believe". Some commentators (including the notes in my study Bible) take this as a rebuke. However, at least from the reading in the TNIV, it is not necessary to read it as a rebuke. We could take it instead as a simple statement of fact. These people needed to see miracles in order to believe, for this is what in fact happened with the official. The offcial asked Jesus to come, instead Jesus simply told the man to go for his son would live. The man obeyed and trusted Jesus, and sure enough his son was healed. Clearly he had travelled quite a way to see Jesus, for it took him a day to get back (v52).

The son had been healed at the exact time that Jesus had said he would live. So the official and his household believed.

The man had acted in faith (and this involved some effort), but Jesus sought to expand the man's faith. Sometimes we will go to Jesus in faith, but He will not answer in the way we expect, but in an even better way. We need to be like the official who "took Jesus at His word".

Further thoughts on Jesus and the Samaritan Woman

It is perhaps worth looking back over the encounter of Jesus with the Samaritan women.

What was the woman's view of life like before she met Jesus?

She had had a varied life, probably quite tough. It is easy just to view her as an immoral woman, but there was probably more to it than that. She maybe just saw life as a matter of getting through it with no great prospects. On the day she met Jesus she was just going about her daily business, with no great expectations.

How did she react when she met Jesus?

She didn't realise who she was meeting. Then he started to intrigue her. She started to withdraw and try and hide behind a religious argument.

How did Jesus breakthrough?

His initial request for her to get Him some water was both mundane and yet challenged generally accepted social conventions. Jesus then built on that and started to give her spiritual truths. The key breakthrough point was when He revealed that He knew all about her. However, this was not the end of the matter. After He had gained her trust/belief with personal insight into her life, He then went on to tell her more general truths of who He is (21-26). The focus changed from who she was to who He was.

What was her response?

She went to tell people. Her understanding was far from perfect, but her witness was still effective.

Worshipping in spirit and in truth

The woman tried to hide behind religious arguments. When the gospel comes in power it gets to the heart of people's lives (Hebrews 4:12). Jesus did not come so that we could have formulaic religion (and charismatic churches are just as prone to this as more traditional churches), but to give us new life.

John 4:27-42

Jesus' followers (including you and me) are often offended at what He does. Here the disciples were shocked that He had been speaking to a woman. However, they were starting to hold Jesus in awe and no one was willing to question Him.

The woman returned to her city and told people about Jesus, wondering if He was the messiah. Even though her understanding was far from complete, her witness was effective, and people started to go out to see Jesus. Often the most effective testimony is about what Jesus has done in our and for our lives.

The disciples were concerned that Jesus hadn't eaten, but He had more important things on His mind. The thing that kept Jesus going was doing the work His Father had given to Him to do. Why was He so motivated? Because He could see that the harvest was ready for reaping. This was in an area (Samaria) that the disciples would have considered beyond the pale. May God give us eyes to see.

Our response to this sort of injunction is usually guilt, and a feeling that we must work harder, but notice what Jesus says. He tells them "I want you to reap that for which you did not labour". The harvest does not come about purely by our hard work (this is not an excuse the laziness, by the way!), but as a result of the gift of God. We need to have eyes to see what God is doing.

Many Samaritans came to Jesus and believed in Him. Originally they came because of the woman's testimony, then they believed for themselves because of the word of God.

John 4:15-26

The woman was now interested, but did not appreciate what Jesus was really saying. Jesus then reveals just how much He knows and understands the woman by asking her to bring her husband along. The woman was living with someone, and had had five previous husbands. This could either be a sign of a promiscuous life, or of being badly treated as men could divorce their wives rather easily.

The woman now recognised that Jesus was no ordinary man, and thought He must be a prophet. She then talks about the dispute between the Jews and Samaritans about where one should worship God. People will often retreat into some religious controversy to avoid having to face the issue about themselves and God.

Jesus seeks to raise her view above the controversy. For a time is coming, and indeed was arriving, when the true worship of God would be brought to earth. We are to worship God in Spirit and in truth, Man made religion almost always involves some sort of hypocrisy or deceit, and never really reaches the true spiritual issues.

True worship of God involves a life that is lived in communion with Him, in fellowship with Him, seeking God as the source of life.

Jesus then tells the woman that He is the Messiah. It is interesting that the first overt declaration that He is the Messiah is made to a woman, and to a Samaritan. Note also that the woman apparently had no moral qualities that would have made her "worthy" of receiving this declaration. Jesus came to save the lost. Our past life does is not a hindrance to receiving new life from Jesus. What matters is that we will repent and believe.

John 4:7-14

The animosity between the Jews and Samaritans was deep rooted, going back to the 8th centrury BC. In the 8th century BC the Assyrians sent most of the Israelites into exile from the northern kingdom, and repopulated the area with various other peoples. This resulted in the Samaritans being a mix raced people, and so considered impure by the Jews. After the Jews returned to Jerusalem in the 6th century BC the Samaritans offered to help in the rebuilding of the temple, but there offer was refused. As a result the Samaritans built their own temple on Mount Gerizim. In 128 BC a Jewish king destroyed the Samaritan's temple, and between AD6 and 9 the Samaritans defiled the Jerusalem temply by scattering dead bones during the Passover.

Noon was an unusual time for women to come out for water since it was the heat of the day, though not totally unknown. The disciples had gone to get food, so Jesus was alone. Jesus spoke to the woman. It was quite unusual for a man to speak to a lone woman, doubly so if she was a Samaritan, but Jesus was never hind bound by tradition. Hence the woman expressed great surprise at Jesus speaking to her.

Jesus had initiated the conversation in order to lead the woman to eternal life, as starts to become clear from His reply. The gift of God is the Holy Spirit, and Jesus is the one who has the right to and ability to give the Holy Spirit.

The woman (not surprisingly) did not understand what Jesus meant, and thought He was referring to normal water. We can learn a lot from Jesus statement "If you knew, ... you would have asked Him". The woman was going about her daily business, dealing with daily chores and her situation (to be described later). She did not look beyond them. Yet Jesus is far greater, and has something far greater to give. We too can become blinded by our circumstances, unable to see beyond them, limiting our lives. We need to realise who we come to when we come before God to pray, for He is able to do something far greater than we imagine.

By nature we seek natural means of helping us to cope with whatever our daily lives consist of, but nothing ever really satisfies. But the Holy Spirit can give us the life that truly meets our needs. Nor is this a one off. When we are born again we become a new creation (2 Cor 5:17), we become truly alive.

John 4:1-6

Perhaps the Jew mentioned in 3:25 had related the information to the Pharisees (John often used the term Jew to refer to the religious leaders). It is likely that now the Pharisees are starting to get worried about developments. John the Baptist had used harsh words about the Pharisees and Saducees (Matt 3:7,8), now someone who was linked with John, ie Jesus, was becoming even more popular. Something was afoot. John emphasises that Jesus did not actually do any baptising Himself. Again, John is trying to detract from an unhealthy concentration on individuals (1 Cor 1:10-17).

Jesus apparently did not want to have a confrontation with the Pharisees at this stage, so He returned to Galilee. The route there would take Him through Samaria. Gen 33:19 refers to Jacob giving Joseph some land (Gen 33:19; Joshua 24:32). The place is actually near the modern day Nablus.

Jacob's well is not referred to anywhere else in the Bible, but the well itself still exists today. Jesus sat down by the well for a rest.

John 3:22-36

Jesus and His disciples also baptised people, though John 4:2 makes it clear that it was the disciples who did the actual baptising. Jesus also spent time with His disciples. The last few verses of John 3 describe an overlap period between the ministries of John the Baptist and Jesus. It seems that at this point Jesus was doing similar things to John.

John's ministry was coming to an end. John's disciples were stricter about ceremonial matters than was Jesus and His disciples. Moreover, people were concerned about the fact that Jesus was attracting more followers than John. It seems that everyone was concerned about this except John himself, John knew the ministry that God had given to him, namely to prepare the way for Jesus, and he knew that "his" ministry was really God's ministry. However, his followers and others viewed things in a human manner, seeking to make division and worrying about things. Similar things have happened throughout church history and still do today. Someone has a ministry from God and fulfils it, but the followers start focusing on the man or the ministry, rather than the work that God is doing. This always leads to trouble. Jesus alone is the centre of it all, He alone is the focus.

John fully understood his role, and was content with that. The deity of Jesus is crucial, for John draws on the fact that Jesus alone is from heaven for the validity of Jesus' ministry. Jesus clearly has much greater authority to talk about heaven than anyone else, for no one else has been there!

Jesus speaks the words of God. The Greek word used for "word" here is rhema. A lot of is made of the difference between rhema and logos by some people, but there really isn't much justification for this in the Bible itself (it is still true however that God does speak to individuals, it is just that there is no need to draw a great distinction between logos and rhema).

Jesus is the focus of it all, and eternal life depends upon accepting or rejecting Jesus.

John 3:16-21

John now gives his commentary on the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus, explaining how it all works. "For God so loved the world". "so loved" is commonly taken to in the sense of "loved the world so much that He gave up His only Son". However, the "so" is perhaps better interpreted as "loved the world in this manner". Ie John is referring back to Jesus' words about the Son of Man being lifted up. The Father sent Jesus to the cross so that all who believe in Him will be saved. Just as through Moses God provided a way for the Israelites to avoid dying, so through Jesus He has provided a way for mankind to avoid eternal death.

"One and only Son" is sometimes translated "only begotten" son, but "one and only" is better as the Greek implies that the emphasis is on Jesus being the only Son.

Jesus did not come to condemn the world. Yet the Pharisees and other Jewish leaders reacted against Him, just as many today react against God. John explains this apparent paradox. Why do people refuse to accept salvation? The reason is that the path of salvation involves us recognising, acknowledging and repenting of our sin (Acts 2:38). This requires admitting our guilt and our weakness, something many are loathe to do. People may produce all sorts of clever sounding arguments, but at the root of rejection of Jesus will be an unwillingness to admit our need. For coming into the light shows us up as what we are really like.

When we do come to Jesus although it means our sins are shown up, we are not condemned (Rom 8:1), but those who refuse to come to Jesus are condemned already. People often object about why someone should go to hell simply for refusing to believe in Christ, They will not go to hell because they refused to believe, they will go because that is what their lives deserve. The tragedy is that they could have been saved if they had only believed. It is like a sick person dying because they refused to take the medicine that would have healed them.

John 3:10-15

The you in v10 refers to the Pharisees as a whole. They were supposed to be the ones who understood God's ways and so could teach the nation. In fact they knew virtually nothing. It is not certain what the "we" in v100 refers to. Leaving that aside, we testify of what we know and what we have seen. Christian witness and gospel proclamation should not be the mere reciting of mantras or of the "party line". We should know God personally (Jer 31:34), and we should be teaching and preaching from experience. If we get to the stage where we are teaching something simply because that is what we have been told to teach we are in a sorry state. The gospel is about a living relationship with the living God.

Jesus' teaching was very down to earth, and dealt with everyday things, especially in the parables. People sometimes start to get fanciful and teach of what they have supposedly seen in heaven. I must admit I get very suspicious of such ramblings and speculations. Jesus came to bring the kingdom of heaven to earth. Moreover, He is the only one who has been in heaven.

We receive eternal life by looking to the One who was crucified and raised again, not by pointless speculations.

John 3:6-9

Now Jesus explains why we need to be born again: flesh gives birth to flesh, the Spirit to spirit. This has enormous implications. It means that purely human effort cannot produce true life. For churches it means that relying on techniques, organisational structures, religious activities or rituals etc cannot on their own produce true life. On a scientific perspective it means that there is only so far that science can go. Science studies the material world, and when science is carried out within its proper boundaries it is good, indeed it is a God given activity. But there are things that science cannot tell us.

Jesus tells Nicodemus that he should not be surprised about this. Likewise the view that science can explain everything is clearly nonsense. Consider your emotions, your reactions to great events in life (whether ones of joy or sorrow and pain). It only needs half a brain cell to realise that there is far more to life than science can explain (to readers who don't know me I speak as someone with a degree in mathematics, a PhD in engineering, as an academic, and as someone who loves science).

The work of the Spirit is beyond understanding (Isaiah 40:28, 55:9). There are aspects of His ways that we cannot fathom. Jesus then says that it is the same with those who are born of the Spirit. This means that we cannot live our own lives based purely on our own intellect. This emphatically does not mean we should not think! It does mean that we should recognise that God's workings in our life will go beyond our own understanding. As it says in Proverbs 3:5:

Trust in the Lord with all you heart and lean not on your own understanding.

John 3:1-5

Nicodemus was a Pharisee and a well respected Jew. Unlike some of the others he was not opposed to Jesus. In fact, his opening comments could be taken to imply that the Pharisees as a whole were not vehemently opposed to Jesus at this stage. Though the fact that he went to see Jesus at night could be because he was reluctant to be seen fraternising with Jesus.

Nicodemus came complementing Jesus, saying that the signs Jesus performed could only come from a man of God. Jesus responds by turning the focus directly onto Nicodemus. People often make comments about respecting Jesus, or something along those lines, but they have still to make a personal commitment to Him. Nicodemus talked in general terms, but the "you" in Jesus' response was singular.

Being born again can equally be translated "born from above". Nicodemus clearly interpreted it as a second birth, and considered the prospect ridiculous. In order to enter the kingdom of God we need to be born of the Spirit. No amount of human effort, or human wisdom will get us there. We need to direct intervention of God. Entering the kingdom of God is not merely a matter of making a few adjustments, it is about a completely new life.

There are various interpretations of Jesus' words that we need to be born of water and the Spirit. It is the water part where there are differences of opinion:

1. Water refers to John's baptism. There is certainly a need for repentence (Acts 2:38).
2. Water refers to Christian baptism. Seems highly unlikely as Christian baptism would have meant nothing to Nicodemus at the time.
3. Water refers to natural birth. Seems reasonable.
4. Water refers to Spirit as well. In this case seems a bit tautologous.

John 2:13-25

There are debates about how this incident ties in with the similar ones in the other gospels. This is because John places it at the beginning of his gospel, while in the others it is near the end. There are three options:

1. They are the same incident, and John places it early on for thematic reasons.
2. They are the same incident and the others place it at the end because they didn't have much material on Jesus' early ministry.
3. They are different incidents, even though they have similarities.

Personally I think the 3rd option is the most likely.

Jesus was consumed with zeal for His Father's house, that it should perform the function it was designed for, and be the sort of place God intended it to be. Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, so we should do our best to ensure that our bodies perform the function they are intended for. Our bodies are to be a holy place, dedicated to the Lord.

Our bodies are to be a place of prayer. This does not mean we all become monks, but we are to be in constant communication with God, seeking His will, praising His name.

The Jews' question, "what sign can you show us for doing this", leads me to suspect that though they would not admit it, they knew things weren't right. Jesus replied that the cross and resurrection would be the proof that He had the right to do what He did. Today the cross and resurrection should be the focus of our faith.

Jesus did many miracles and many "believed in His name". Then it says that Jesus would not entrust himself to them. When a purely human leader finds a following that person will tend to entrust themselves to those followers to some extent. Ie the followers assume some sort of right over the one they are following. (Eg consider a politcal leader). This is not the case with Jesus. He is the full representation of the Father, he has come to change us, and we need to become exactly like Him.

John 2:1-12

Not too much is known about the nature of wedding celebrations at the time, but they could go on for several days with guests arriving at various times.

After Jesus and the disciples arrive the wine runs out. Mary remarks on the matter, and receives what seems to us a rather curt reply from Jesus. I wonder if the phrase "my hour has not yet come" is a reference to the cross, when Jesus drank the sour wine (John 19:28-30). Or in saying "what concern is that to you and me", is Jesus just saying this really isn't a problem. Just as only having five loaves and two fish was more than enough to feed the five thousand. The latter would seem to be the way Mary took it, as she instructs the servants to do whatever Jesus tells them to do.

Jesus commanded the servants to fill the jars with water. They may well have wondered what on earth was the point of all this, but they did it anyway. When they drew the drink out it had presumably turned into wine at that point. The steward, being oblivious to what had happened, and was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the wine.

John says this miracle was the first sign. John is especially interested in what the miracles signified about Jesus. So it seems pertinent to ask what does this miracle reveal about Jesus. Some things are:

• Jesus is not bound by the apparent lack of natural resources.
• He can take the ordinary and change it into the extraordinary
• Miracles will happen if we obey Him.

The miracle caused the disciples to believe in Him. However, we should note that there are a few occasions in John's gospel well people are said to believe in Jesus, but this belief is very shallow.

Capernaum seemed to serve as some kind of base point.

John 1:43-51

Now Jesus seeks out a disciple, Philip. Philip was from the same town as Andrew and Peter, so may possibly have known something of Jesus. Otherwise, the command from Jesus, "Follow me", is completely out of the blue. Note that it is a command, not a suggestion or a request.

Philip obeyed and went to tell his brother. Based on what the Law and the Prophets said (ie the Old Testament), there was an expectation of the Messiah coming, and Philip believed that Jesus was the One. How did he come to this belief? Note that it ways "we", so presumably he had come to this conclusion together with Andrew and Peter. The belief may have been partly based on what John the Baptist had said about Jesus to Andrew. Philip knew that Jesus was part of the family of Joseph.

While Philip did believe, Nathaniel did not, but was very sceptical. This scepticism was based on a low opinion of Nazareth and its inhabitants. Philip urges Nathaniel to come along and see for himself. People will only become believers when they meet Jesus for themselves.

Despite Nathaniel's negative attitude Jesus greets him with positive words, declaring him to be a "true sonn of Israel with no deceit in him". We would have been critical of Nathaniel and said he needed to change his attitude. Jesus seemed to have a greater respect for him than we would have! Perhaps we can learn something from this about the attitude we should have towards unbelievers, particularly sceptical or atheistic ones.

Suddenly Nathaniel's attitude changes when he realises that Jesus knows more about him than he could naturally know. Belief comes in. Like Thomas, Nathaniel's unbelief is quickly turned to faith. Jesus then, in effect, tells Nathaniel that he "ain't seen nothing yet".

I think there are two key lessons from this passage for us to ponder on:

1. The approach of Jesus to handling sceptics.
2. The speed with which a sceptic can become a believer.

John 1:35-42

John has included this incident to demonstrate to his readers that the whole purpose of John the Baptist's ministry was to prepare the way for people to follow Jesus, not to follow himself. John the Baptist again declares that Jesus is the Lamb of God, and the two disciples go to follow Jesus. They had obviously grasped John's teaching effectively.

Jesus greets them with a question, to which they reply with another question. There is nothing "super spiritual" about Jesus' response to "where are you staying", "come and you will see". He simply took them to the place He was staying at and they went along with Him.

Andrew, the brother of Peter, was one of the two. We are not told who the other one was. Some have said it was John himself. This may or may not be true, there is no conclusive evidence either way.

Andrew's reaction was to go and tell his brother and bring him along too. Andrew told him "they had found the messiah". How did he know this? This was based on two things (i) the teaching of John the Baptist; and (ii) the personal encounter with Jesus. Evangelism works in the same way today. We need to tell people, and they also need to have a personal encounter with the Lord.

On meeting Simon, Jesus immediately declares that he will become the rock.

Note that this incident implies that Jesus calling of Andrew and Peter from their nets to follow Him (Mark 1:16) was not the first time they had met Jesus. Jesus' call to them to follow Him did not come out of the blue, but was built on the back of previous meetings.

John 1:29-34

"Look the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world". The lamb was associated with sacrifice. The OT required many sacrifices, but God would provide the one true sacrifice. Jesus takes away the sins of the world, He was a sacrifice not just for the Jews, but for all the world.

John knew that Jesus was greater than He, "because He was before me". This is generally taken to be a reference to the pre-existence of Jesus (indeed some translations make this explicit). Some commentators say that John did not know about Jesus' pre-existence at this point, but this in itself is an assumption. God revealed to John that Jesus was the Christ, so it is perfectly possible that God told him a little more about Jesus as well.

Jesus and John were cousins, but apparently had not had much to do with each other until this point. John's testimony about Jesus was based on revelation from God (note that Paul's testimony was also based on revelation from God, Galatians 1).

Note also that John saw beyond their blood relationship. God uses families, and we need to value our family members as parents, children, cousins, etc. But we also need to look beyond that to see the way in which God is working in and through their lives. John was also required to submit to Jesus, we too need to submit.

The confirmation for John was seeing the Holy Spirit descend as a dove upon Jesus. The visible evidence of the Holy Spirit was key at Pentecost, and on several occasions in Acts. When the Spirit comes there is positive evidence of His presence.

John's gospel is the one which most clearly portrays the trinity. Time and time again we see the Father, Son and Holy Spirit working together, but in distinct ways. Some say that the doctrine of the Trinity is not contained in the Bible. This is nonsense. The term "trinity" may not be used in the Bible, but the doctrine of the Trinity encapsulates the clear teaching of the New Testament.

The evidence of someone being impacted by John's teaching and work was baptism in water, but the evidence of someone responding to Jesus is baptism in the Holy Spirit. When we respond to Jesus He does not leave us the same, but brings about fundamental changes in us.

John 1:19-28

Why were the priests and Levites sent to investigate John?

There were various people who from time to time claimed to be the messiah. So the religious authorities checked out these claims (presumably finding them all to be false! However, there was an expectation amongst the nation that the Messiah would come.

The Jews asked John if he fell into one of three categories:

• Messiah

Most of the oddballs claimed to be the Messiah, the One who would save Israel. John emphatically denies this claim.

• Elijah

Malachi speaks of Elijah coming as a prelude to the Day of the Lord (Mal 4:5). Moreover, it needs to be remembered that Elijah had not died (2 Kings 2:11). Jesus later did identify John with Elijah, so John's denial that he was Elijah seems strange. However, the expectation was that Elijah would announce the end of time, so John was correct in denying this. Jesus was affirming that John was indeed fulfilling Mal 4:5,6.

• The prophet

In Deut 18:15 it says that God will raise up a prophet like Moses.

What do you say about yourself? This was a key question they asked Jesus.

What did they understand by baptism? This was obviously what had aroused their concern.

Who did John say he was?

He quoted from Isaiah. John was preparing the way for the Lord, and he was doing this by preaching repentance. Even when we already know Christ, the way to know Him better, to experience more of Him, is through repentance. We often need to turn from our own ways so that we can turn to God's way.

Why did John say he was baptising?

Elsewhere it says it was a baptism of repentance, and John says the one who comes later will baptise with fire and Spirit. But here emphasis is on the fact that the one who comes later is infinitely greater than John.

John's message is that Jesus is the one they should be concentrating on. This applies to us as well, for we every human being has a tendency to focus on some other man or woman, rather than on Christ. We may focus too much on a particular preacher or evangelist or prophet or teacher. Nor the preacher may indeed be very good (as John the Baptist was an excellent servant of the Lord), but it is the one they are pointing too that we should focus on.

Now this is a message for hearers, more than the messenger. For John the Baptist did all he could to point people to Jesus, yet some still wanted to focus on him. And no matter how good a preacher, prophet etc someone is, we can always find fault with them and use this as an excuse not to focus on Jesus.

Christ is the centre of it all.

John 1:7-18

Some more on the first section.

John the Baptist is simply called John in this gospel. This is evidence that John the Apostle is the author, for he saw no need to specify who John (the Baptist) was. In the early church there were some who followed John the Baptist (Acts 18:25, 19:1-7), so John makes it clear that John the Baptist was only pointing to the light.

Jesus was the agent of creation. Despite this, the world did not recognise Jesus. Today, most of the West has rejected Christ. Yet if we do receive Him and believe in Him we are given the power to become children of God. Note the word receive. Jesus offers Himself to the world, we are invited to follow Him. Daily He invites us to choose to follow His ways and His voice. If we receive this invitation then we can live as children of the King. The alternative is to live as slaves of the world. We become children of God by the will of God. It is not dependent upon human power or will, but only God's will. We may wonder how can we possible be children of God, but God is the only one we need to look too. Our circumstance do not come into it, the opinions of others do not come into it. In Christ God has declared beyond doubt that He wants us to be His children. We need only to believe Him.

How do we know God wants us to be His children? Because the Word became flesh, ie became fully human and lived amongst us. If God did not like us or want us or love us He would not have come to live with us. And when He came He did not come in judgement, but full of grace and truth.

The grace He brought replaced the grace that was already there (v16). What this means is that the grace if the gospel replaced the grace of the Law. The Law told men the right way to live, Christ enables us to be the people we are meant to be.

Jesus lived and lives in close relationship with the Father (a point made several times in John's gospel). He is well suited to make the Father known to us. We can trust what Christ says completely, for He knows exactly what He is talking about.

John 1:1-18

John begins his gospel by stating clearly who Jesus is, and the opening sections sets out many themes that will be expanded on in the rest of the book. These include:

• The deity of Jesus.
• Jesus brings light and life
  
• The failure of the darkness to overcome the light.
• Jesus was rejected by the world, and by the Jews in particular
• The idea of receiving Jesus
• Being born again
• The humanity of Jesus
  
• The grace of God
• Jesus reveals the Father
  

John famously starts his gospel with the words "In the beginning was the Word ...". This is reminiscent of the start of Genesis. The term logos (word) would have been familiar to his 1st century hearers. To those familiar with the Old Testament the Word of God was very common. God created the world by His word, and He revealed His word to the various prophets. It would also be familiar to Greek readers as well. To Stoic philosophers the logos was the divine reason giving order to creation and overcoming human ignorance. Philo wrote of logos as denoting the mind of God and being the agent of creation, also mediating between God and creation,

The Word was divine and eternal. When it says the Word was with God, this can actually be translated as saying the Word and the Father looked affectionately at each other. Later in this section (v18) John says that the Word knows the Father's heart.

Jesus is the light and He brings life. If we want to know how to live, then we need to look at Jesus. We need to allow Him to shed His light into our life. John's gospel includes many instances of Jesus bringing His light into people's lives.

John's Gospel - Introduction

This should keep me going for a while. As with Joel I'll start with some background information. These are the primary resources that I use:

• The Global Concise Bible Dictionary - L O Richards
• TNIV Study Bible - Zondervan
• John - CG Kruse, Tyndale Commentary, IVP
  

John's gospel is quite different from the other three. It is far less a historical record (though this does not mean it is not historically accurate!), and far more reflective on Jesus' ministry. It also contains many more intimate details, with a large chunk of the book focused on the last days of Jesus' ministry on earth.

The overwhelming purpose of the book is to prove that Jesus is the Son of God (John 20:31), therefore the book is more structured around themes than in a strict chronological order. Though of course there is a general chronological order to the book.

The book was probably written around 90AD, and by the apostle John. There are arguments for a date around 60AD, but 90AD is more widely accepted.

There are many encounters recorded in the book. Examples include, Andrew meeting Jesus, the woman at the well, the woman caught in adultery, several between Jesus and the religious leaders, Thomas, the final meeting with Peter. All of these meetings included a revelation of Jesus and demanded a response from the people meeting Jesus.

There are many key theological themes in the book, these include: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. There is a big emphasis on the current benefits of the gospel.

Joel 3:11-21

The nations may think that they are going to do the judging, that they are going to inflict defeat upon Israel, but in reality it is the Lord who will do the judging, and it is the nations that will be judged. The judgement will be bloody, and similar imagery is used in Revelation (Rev 14:19,20, 19:15). In Rev 14 it speaks of an angel swinging his sickle on the earth, while in Rev 19 it is the Lord Himself who executes judgement. Our western mindsets find this hard to take, for it does not fit easily with out picture of Jesus, but we need to recognise that our culture has given us a distorted picture of who Christ is. The New Testament is clear that there is a coming wrath of God that people need to escape from (Matt 3:7; 1 Thes 1:10), and the only way of escape is repent and believe.

Afterwards there will be a new heaven and a new earth. There will be abundance in God's kingdom, but all other kingdoms will wither away and become desolate.

Moving on to John's gospel next.

Joel 3:1-10

These verse link the last few verses with the last days. God will restore the fortunes of Jerusalem, and bring them back from captivity. He will also gather all nations to the valley of Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat means "the Lord judges", the Lord will judge the nations. This is a common them, namely that God will gather the enemies of His people. Their enemies will think they have come to claim victory, but it will turn out that God has called them to see Him bless His people (Ps 23:5). The nations would be judged for the way they had abused the people of Israel, particularly the children. The nations that attacked Israel will suffer themselves what they inflicted on the people of Israel.

Joel 2:28-32

This is probably the most famous passage in Joel. Peter quoted it at Pentecost after the Holy Spirit fell upon the people (Acts 2:17-21). In the New Testament it sometimes talks about the promised Holy Spirit (Gal 3:14; Acts 2:33; Eph 1:13). Passages such as this, and Jeremiah 33:31-33 are probably the ones in mind.

The passage has a global significance. The Spirit will be poured out on all people. All can be taken as referring to all nations, and to all classes of people. In Joel it is probably the latter that was the most immediate application. Joel's earlier calls to repentance and seeking the Lord were directed at all stratas of society, so likewise the Lord's response would apply to all people, young and old, male and female, even on servants. Now we know that the Holy Spirit is for all believers from all nations. Indeed it was God pouring out His Spirit on Cornelius and his household that convinced Peter that God had accepted the Gentile believers on exactly the same basis as He accepted Jewish believers (Acts 10:44-48).

The pouring out of the Spirit is not the only thing referred to here, there are also signs of the end of the age. Jesus referred to similar events when talking about apocalyptic events (Matt 24:29; Mark 13:24,25; Luke 21:11).

So there are three things described here:

• The pouring out of the Spirit on many people, leading to them having dreams, visions and prophecies.
• Signs and wonders and cosmic events, heralding the coming of the Lord.
• Deliverance and salvation for all who call upon the Name of the Lord.

We have seen elements of all three, but have not yet seen all three happening together at once. When talking about the very last days we have a tendency to focus either on the doom and gloom of terrible things happening, or the bringing in of the final harvest. The truth is that all three elements spoken of by Joel will happen at once.

Joel 2:18-27

Our God is a jealous God (Exodus 20:5, 34:14), because of the way jealousy affects us humans this has negative connotations for us, but jealousy with God is different. He has the right to be our sole object of worship. If we worship or trust in other things it rouses jealousy in the Lord in much the same way a husband or wife might feel jealousy. Here we read that the jealousy of the Lord caused Him to have pity on the land. God was determined to have a land and a people who truly knew Him and lived under His blessing.

So in response to the repentance of the people God acts and promises to send blessing upon the land. The people would have all that they need, they would not be objects of scorn. Salvation today includes the same elements. Jesus told us that our Father in Heaven knows what we need and is our provider. Moreover, when we come to Christ He starts to restore our dignity.

Then the Lord will remove the enemies from the land. The stench refers to the stench of the dead bodies of the invading hordes. God will completely remove the enemies from our lives.

We should rejoice in our salvation, for God has done great things, and these are greater than anything we can imagine (Eph 3:20), and we have yet to see the full extent of His salvation, This salvation spreads to creation around us as well. The Lord will give bountiful supply, and the we will have all that we need to serve the Lord properly. Even the wasted years will be restored, With God salvation is complete.

Joel 2:10-17

The Lord will be at the head of the army. This means that the invasion will be God's doing. Joel is trying to impress on the people the awfulness of what is about to happen.

Even so, all is not lost. As I stated in an earlier section, the purpose of the Lord is always to elicit a response from us. The Lord desires that the people return to Him and repent. Whatever the situation, no matter how angry, and justifiably so, the Lord seems to be, His desire is always that we repent and turn to Him.

Repentance involves turning to God with all our hearts. It is an inward change, not a mere outward response. However, the inward response will produce outward effects. These may include fasting, weeping and mourning.

For the Lord is merciful. He is slow to anger and delights to forgive. It is in God's nature to look for an excuse to forgive, to find a reason not to punish. He would far rather bless than punish. The flipside of this is that when God does finally judge, it means that there truly was no alternative.

Joel again calls on the people to assemble before the Lord. This includes all the people, young and old, and it is to have higher priority than anything, even getting married (Luke 14:20). The priests are to call upon the name of the Lord.

Joel 2:1-9

While the current crisis is bad enough, Joel foresees an even greater catastrophe. The Day of the Lord is coming, and this will be a day of darkness and an invasion by a massive army. Why is the Day of the Lord to be dreaded? Because when a nation is in rebellion to God the Day of the Lord can only mean judgement. The invading army will be a devouring fire, consuming all in its path. The Lord is a Consuming fire (Deut 4:24, Heb 12:29). The invading army will be relentless, and set on its course.

The swarm of locusts had many of these characteristics, so the people could picture what was coming. The invading armies of Assyria and Babylon would have similar characteristics. When the final day of the Lord comes there will be no escaping it.

Joel 1:13-20

Having brought the horror of the situation to their attention Joel turns to the response required of them. When God speaks He is always looking for a response. Even if He declares that some judgement is going to come the Bible contains several examples of where God seems to change His mind (eg Jonah and Nineveh, much to Jonah's displeasure). God always responds to faith and repentance.

Joel calls first on the priests to repent and seek the Lord. They could no longer go about their normal priestly service. When we are prevented from doing what we normally do we should ask ourselves "is God asking me to do something different?". Having dedicated themselves to God, they were to call the leaders of the land, and all the people to cry out to God.

Joel gives further description of the disaster that has befallen them. Nature itself is groaning and lost. When God judges man the whole of creation is affected, likewise when salvation comes to man it affects creation as well (Romans 8:19-22).

In view of the destruction that has come upon the land, Joel cries out to God.

Joel 1:1-12

The word of the Lord came to Joel. Joel is about to interpret a naturally occurring event in terms of God's judgement, but he does this only because "the word of the Lord came to him". Ie he did soat the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (1 Peter 1:21), not because he thought it sounded good! We need to be careful ourselves. At the time of writing the world is experiencing the "credit crunch", with potentially devastating consequences. We must not claim that this is God's judgement without proper authority to do so. Now there are things that we can and should point out as being wrong with the world's economic system (eg exploitation of the poor, dishonesty, living in unreality (ie living on credit)), but we should have been pointing out these things before the crunch came, because the basis for saying them is a straightforward understanding of the Scripture. Only God can reveal what the exact nature of the current crisis is in terms oh His judgement on the world.

Joel picks out three groups of people who will suffer. First are the drunkards, for the vineyards lie ruined. Next are the priests, for they can no longer offer proper service to God. Finally the farmers, for the crops (effectively the economy of the time) have failed.

Note the oratory and graphic language that Joel uses to bring the horror of the situation to the people. We have a habit of refusing to face up to the reality of situations as long as possible, but there is a need for us to face up to them sooner rather than later.

Joel - Background Notes

A new book, this time from the Old Testament in the form of the book of Joel. I'll start off with a few background notes. I'll also change the colour scheme as well for the sake of something to do!

Joel means "Yahweh is God".

Date is unknown, variously placed between 870 and 200 BC. Earlier date is more likely as Israel's enemies referred to are Philistines, Phoenicians, Egyptians and Edom, rather than Assyria and Babylon.

Palestine was vulnerable to locust swarms. They are every green plant, they also buried eggs whose larvae then are the regenerating plants. Joel saw this as divine judgement.

Joel then talks about a time coming when a great army from the north will invade the land. He talks about the Day of the Lord. The Day of the Lord does not just refer to a single day, but to a time when God's will is finally put in place. This is a time when sin is judged, and when salvation comes. This will ultimately and supremely happen when Christ returns, but there are "mini" Days of the Lord that happen at various points in history, ie times when God intervenes in a major way. The Assyrian and Babylonian invasions are examples of this.

Peter quotes Joel 2:28-32 at the Day of Pentecost. In interpreting prophecy it is helpful to remember that prophecy sometimes has multiple and partial fulfilments. So one event which fits in with a given prophecy does not necessarily mean that prophecy can be "ticked off" as completed.

Romans 16:17-27

Paul urges us to take a strong line against those who cause dissension and offence. We might object that this is too authoritarian, but disruptive people cause a lot of damage. We are not avoid people who teach false doctrine. They are not just offering an alternative view, but are going directly against the word of God. We are to be innocent as doves, but also as shrewd as snakes (Matthew 10:16).

In our walk with Christ, and our battle in the world, God is able to strengthen us. It doesn't matter what we are facing right now, the Lord is able to strengthen us. The end result is that Satan will be crushed and gospel will spread throughout the world bringing people from every nation to faith in Christ.

Romans 16:1-16

Must admit I tend not to get too excited about the passages which list lots of names. Even so, this does reveal one or two interesting things. One is the number of women named. Paul is often accused of being a misogynist (hating women). Frankly, this is a load of nonsense and can only be based on a complete misunderstanding of the his writings.

It also noteworthy that some of his relatives were in prison with him at various times. Paul's family was involved in following Christ. Indeed, they had been believers before Paul was.

Finally, most of the people are mentioned nowhere else in the Bible, but they were still noticed by God. Everyone who serves the Lord, whether it is in a prominent way or not, will receive their reward (Matthew 10:41,42).

Romans 15:22-33

With Paul being such an important figure in the early church, the Roman Christians may have wondered why he had so far failed to visit them. The reason was that Paul had aimed to ensure that he had preached in as many unreached parts of the world as possible, it was not because of any lack of desire to see the Romans. Now, he was able to visit them, on his way to Spain (though he never actually reached Spain).

In the meantime he was on his way to Jerusalem. In fact he got arrested in Jerusalem, and was then sent to Rome as a prisoner, though with considerable freedom (Acts 28:16).

Paul sees it as fitting that the sharing of material gifts goes hand in hand with sharing of spiritual gifts. The Gentiles were sharing in the rich Jewish spiritual heritage, it was therefore perfectly proper that they should give material gifts to Jerusalem (which was undergoing a famine at the time).

Paul knew that he was going to a very dangerous situation in Jerusalem, and seeks the prayers of the Roman Christians.

Romans 15:14-21

The words in v14 are not just soft soap to try and flatter his readers. There is a constant war between the flesh and the spirit (Gal 5:17), and we need support in order to help us live by the spirit and not by the flesh. At times this may include "bold" words.

Paul was able to write boldly because of the grace given to him. The grace of God is not just a matter of forgiveness, but is enabling as well. One might object that because of Paul's past he had no right to speak firmly to others, but because of God's grace he did have this right. After the Damascus road his calling in life was proclaim the gospel to the Gentiles.

Paul delighted in serving God. We do not realise what an amazing thing it is for a 1sr century Jew to delight in working amongst Gentiles. Paul was only interested in what he achieved through the power of the Holy Spirit. He did not rely on human methods. Moreover, he did not seek to build on other people's foundations, but wanted to preach the gospel where it had not been preached before. We should beware of Christians or churches that grow by "poaching" members from other churches.

Romans 15:7-13

We are to accept each other as Christ as accepted us. In so many ways we are to treat each other in the way that God treats us. He forgave us, so we are to forgive each other, He is patient with us, so we are to be patient with others, He loves all, so we are to love all.

Paul says we are to accept each other so that God will be glorified, When we refuse to accept each other we often convince ourselves that we doing it to honour God. Now there are times when distinctions need to be drawn, but we must be very careful, for most of the time it is our own ego or sinfulness that is at the root of such actions, rather than true concern for the glory of God.

Jesus truly glorified God, and He did so by being a servant to the Jews, and sending the gospel to the Gentiles (who were outcasts as far as the Jews were concerned). Paul then quotes various Scriptures that show that it was always God's plan that the Gentiles share in the kingdom.

In v13 Paul talks about peace and joy. If we are full of peace and joy we are far less likely to waste our time considering ourselves better than others, and seeking reasons to disagree with each other. And we are to overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. It takes power to give us hope, for hopelessness can be so powerful. This is not just hope for ourselves, but hope for others. Again, we start to look down on people when we consider them to be beyond hope.

Romans 15:1-6

A key element of the Christian life is that we live not for ourselves, but for others. Jesus is the supreme example of this, but it is something we should all seek to do. However, it is essential that we do so by living by the Spirit, not in a legalistic fashion. Otherwise we turn into Pharisees and ultimately bring no honour to the Lord. In Christ we have the freedom to live for others. For we have nothing to prove, for Christ alone is our righteousness, and we have nothing to fear, for the Father will provide all that we need.

Moreover, we will find it immensely liberating. When facing difficulties our natural reaction is be even more self-centred, because we believe we have to be. Instead try focusing on the needs of others, especially those immediately around you (family, friends etc). Often times you will find that when you do this your own problems miraculously get sorted out.

In verse 3 Paul quotes from Psalm 69, and reminds us the Old Testament was written in order to teach and encourage us. We gain hope by enduring and by reading the word. Most of us find ourselves in situations where we are sorely tempted to give up, for all seems lost, but the mere fact of keeping going will bring us to a point where hope bursts forth. Another phrase for ensuring is waiting on the Lord. The Lord will always show up. In addition we are to immerse ourselves in the word, for it will feed our spirits, and bring even more hope.

When we lose hope we are more likely to look for reasons to disagree with others. We do this is as a human way of "coping" with difficulties, as it helps us avoid the real issues. We should seek a different way. Of great news is the fact that "endurance and encouragement" come from the Lord. We may feel that all our strength and hope has gone, and this may even be true, but God is our source of supply. So we should ask Him for the hope and endurance that we need.

Romans 14:17-23

The Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. How well we would do to remember this when we are tempted to get all excited about minor issues. The gospel is about us being made right with God. Because of Christ's death on the cross we are declared righteous. But this isn't just a theoretical matter whose reality we will not experience until we die, it makes a difference now. The gospel brings joy and peace now, it gives us strength to love and to overcome now.

The cross has made us acceptable to God, so we should not go around trying to find reasons why someone is not acceptable to God! Instead we should be concerned with trying to build each other up. Now this may involve correcting one another from time to time (Col 3:16), but there is a world of difference between having a critical and judgemental attitude, and seeking to help someone live a more Christlike life.

In the particular matter that Paul was dealing with at the time, he tells those who felt free to eat meat, that they should not do so if it is going to cause problems for others. Indeed, they could lead others to sin, for to go against our conscience (even if the matter is not an absolute, such as eating meat) can be sinful (Luke 17:2). The gospel requires us to have a completely different attitude to life and to others.

Romans 14:10-16

Man forgets that the Lord is God and that we will all have to give an account, instead he puts himself in the judgement seat. We need to constantly remind ourselves not to do this, and constantly passing judgement on others is an example of forgetting who the Judge really is. Jesus told the parable of the servant who was forgiven a great debt and then went on to refuse to forgive someone who owed him a little (Matt 18:21-35).

Constantly comparing ourselves to others is also a sign that we have not appreciated God's forgiveness of ourselves. We now have no need to prove ourselves, so we are free to act and think aright, Instead of trying to prove ourselves better than others, we should be considering the needs of others, refusing to put unnecessary stumbling blocks in their way.

In the matter of food Paul was convinced that all food was, other things being equal, fine to eat (Mark 7:19,20), but he would still desist from eating something if need be. We need to guard our own conscience, and that of others. If we do something that goes against our conscience then it causes us guilt it makes us less able to serve God. We are to make sure we do not unnecessarily offend someone else's conscience. Instead we are to act in love, not out of proving how "wise" we are.

Romans 14:1-9

We need to be concerned with the heart of a person, more than outward appearance and even actions. Those "whose faith was weak" were probably Jewish Christians. The reason for thinking this is that the matters referred to concern certain foods and special days. If these had been associated with pagan rituals it is unlikely that Paul would have said it was OK for them to observe these things.

It is also important to draw a distinction between the Jewish Christians here and the Judaisers of Galatia. The latter were proud and acting against the gospel (saying one needed to be circumcised in order to please God), the ones here are acting out of a genuine desire to please God. They were concerned about eating meat because this may have been offered to idols, and so would be "unclean". Others said it was OK to eat meat because we can eat anything. Both sets of people are to treat the other with respect, not considering themselves better than the other. We need to recognise what is truly important, if someone's heart is for God, then that is the main thing. For God has accepted both. We need to remember that the Church is belongs to Christ, not us, and that we belong to God.

The special days probably refer to various ceremonial days. Again the attitude of the heart is the key thing. If we live, we live for Christ. If we deny ourselves something, again we do it for Christ.

Roamns 13:11-14

hese instructions are not given in a vacuum, nor are they just the "right thing to do". They are given with understanding of the present times. Jesus has brought the day of salvation, today is the day of God's favour. So we are to be alert, not just to let life drift by.

Some might say it is two thousand years since Christ came, so how can the day be near? Peter reminds us that with God a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like a day (2 Pet 3:8). And in view of eternity a thousand years is nothing, but the key point for our own lives is that we live as wise people, knowing that the day of darkness will not last forever. One day Christ will return and His rule visibly established over everything. We are to prepare for the coming kingdom, not the one that is passing away.So we are to do away with sinful acts, and to put on Christ, to live and think in a Christlike manner.

We are to live with an eternal perspective.

Romans 13:8-10

We should pay everything that is due, taxes, financial debts, honour etc. Ie we are to fully give what others have a right to. But with love, we have an unending duty to love others. Love is freely given, we are to love people because it is right to do so, not because they have earned it. For this is how God loves. All the commandments relating to ones duties towards other people can be summed up the one command "love your neighbour as yourself".

So, Paul says, love is the fulfilment of the law. Jesus said the same thing when He said the law can be summed up by the two commandments, to love God with all we have, and our neighbour as ourself.

Romans 13:1-7

Remember that the chapter and verse numbers were not part of the original text, but were added later for our convenience. Sometimes this can make us compartmentalise sections, whereas they were written as a continuous text. Paul has just said do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Governments often do evil, and the Roman authorities were certainly no exception to this. The instructions that Paul gives here on submission to authority should be read in this context.

Authority has been instituted by God. Now, the government may not be exercising that authority properly, but we are still to submit to it. If we resist authority we are in fact resisting God. We often feel self-righteous when we object to some authority, whether it be government or at work, but we are in fact resisting God.

The godly purpose of authority is to promote good and to restrain evil. So the general rule is that if we do good then we will get on fine with authority, if we do evil we will suffer the consequences. Likewise we are to pay our taxes fully and willingly.

Of course all this raises many questions. Is it ever right to resist authority? The answer has to be yes. Peter and John refused to stop preaching, but we need to closely examine our motives.

Our starting point should be that we will submit to authority. Our sinful nature is to be rebellious, so we should always view inclinations to resist authority with suspicion.

If we then still feel we must resist we should ask ourselves on whose behalf are we resisting? Is it for our own self-interest, or is to protect others. If the former then it is highly likely that we are wrong to resits.

Another question to ask is who is going to pay the price of our resisting? Is it us or someone else? If it is someone else, again we need to closely question whether or not we should resist.

Finally we should examine our hearts. Are we feeling self-righteous? If we suffer for resisting are we going to start blaming all sorts of people and complaining "it's not fair". If so, then it is unlikely to be a godly resistance, for Christ did not complain at the suffering He had to endure.

Romans 12:14-21

The gospel produces a radically different approach to life. The natural reaction is to love those who love us, and hate those who do us harm, but Jesus tells us to love those who hate us (Matthew 5:43-45). We are to pray for the well being of those who do us harm. This does not mean pretending that what they are doing is not wrong, but we are to pray for their highest good. The natural reaction is to put ourselves in the judgement seat, but this position belongs only to God. This is what Paul means when he says "leave room for God's wrath". The best outcome is that someone repents and turns to God, and that is what we are to work towards. Now, Paul is perfectly aware that not all will do so, but we trust God to do any judging that needs to be done. In fact the very act of helping our enemies will throw them into confusion.

We are not to be self-centred, but to rejoice with others who are rejoicing, and to share in the sorrows of those who mourn. We are not to have a high opinion of ourselves, but to consider others better than ourselves (Phil 2:3). This does not mean having a demeaning opinion of ourselves, but considering others to be of great value.

As far as it is possible we are to live at peace with each other. Again, Paul is very aware that it is not always possible, but we should make sure that we do not give people a justifiable excuse for being offended by us.

Romans 12:9-13

Any notion that saying we are saved by faith alone means it doesn't matter what we do is consigned to the dustbin by passages such as this (of which there are many in Paul's writings).

We are to have a sincere love for one another. The gospel gives us the freedom to do this, for we have no need to prove that we are righteous, so we can genuinely look after the needs of others. We are free to honour one another, and to be devoted to each other. Jesus was able to give completely because He had complete confidence in His Father, we can now do likewise. We can give in practical ways, we can give in honour. For we know that God will provide, and we know that we have nothing to prove to God, so we have no need to prove that we are better than someone else (or that someone else is worse than us, which is fairly standard human reaction!).

We are to maintain our spiritual zeal. The zeal of the Lord is crucial, and we need to ask the Lord to daily renew our zeal. The events of day to day life can easily sap this zeal, but through the Holy Spirit we have an unending supply of renewed zeal.

Hope is to be a characteristic of our lives. The expectation of a great future should fill us with joy. When we go through times of affliction (as we will inevitably do from time to time) we need to be patient, for we know that the end result will be good. Prayer is essential.

Just as hope is to be a characteristic, so is generosity. Our God is a generous God who delights to give, we should emulate Him in this.

Romans 12:3-8

"By the grace given to me". When someone tells us what to do we might react against them saying "what right have they got to say that to me?" Paul had the "right" to say what he did because of the grace God gave him. He said these things because God had chosen him to be the apostle to the Gentiles to bring the good news of the kingdom to them. We tend to think of the grace of God only in terms of His forgiveness and mercy towards us. But His grace also gives authority to people, as it did to Paul. We need to look at people, particularly leaders, and ask what grace has God given to them? How does God want to work through them to bring His kingdom into our life. If we look at them only as men or women we will miss out on what God wants to do in our lives (2 Cor 5:16).

Likewise we are not to view ourselves from a human point of view. This leads to erroneous views of ourselves. We either think we are rubbish, or get to high a view of ourselves and our abilities. Instead we are to have a sober view of ourselves, a realistic view, But that is not all, we are to view ourselves according to the faith God has given to us. What we can achieve in life that is truly valuable is governed by the faith that we have.

We are not all the same, but are all part of the body of Christ. We can fall into the trap of either thinking our particular gifting is the most important one, or of thinking that we are not important because we do not have the same abilities as someone else. The body has many parts, and needs all its parts, and will function properly only if every part works as it should.

So whatever gift we have we are to use it according to the faith given to us, and to use it to the full, recognising that God works through us together with others to build the kingdom.

Romans 12:1,2

Now Paul turns to some of the practical implications of the gospel. This is a pattern he follows in most of his letters. The "theological" bits are not there for mere academic interest, they have a direct impact on our day-to-day living. What we believe will affect how we live.

God's mercy is in no way to be viewed as meaning we can do what we like and get away with it. In fact we would pout ourselves in grave danger if we treated God's mercy with contempt (Heb 6:6). Instead we are to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice. Because of what Jesus did in the cross, our lives are acceptable to God. Sometimes we can hold back because we feel unworthy. Isaiah 6 we read that once the burning coal had taken away Isaiah's sin he was willing to offer his service to God. We should do likewise. The sacrifices of the Old Testament were dead, but we are living sacrifices, our sacrifice will achieve something. The true worship is the offering of our lives to God as instruments to be used by Him for His glory and for the good of others.

We are not to be dictated tom either in our actions or thought patterns, by the world. Instead we are to be transformed, we are to allow the Holy Spirit to renew our minds. Sometimes people talk as if the mind is a problem. A renewed mind is not a problem. A mind that is submitted to God is one that will help us to live lives that are pleasing to Him. Our minds were a problem because of sin, but then so were our hearts (Jer 17:9). Jesus died to bring complete salvation to us, and that includes sanctifying our minds.

Romans 11:33-36

This outburst of praise to God by Paul is the attitude that we all ought to have. God's plans go way beyond anything we can imagine. They are infinitely wiser than anything we can come up with, and beyond our understanding. Yet when they are revealed they will prove to be full of justice, mercy, love and grace.

Here in Romans Paul is applying this immediately to Israel, warning us against putting God in a box and thinking that we have it all worked out with regard to Israel, but we can apply the lesson more widely. The error of thinking that Israel is now out of the picture can be based on a short term view, based on what Israel has just done (ie reject Christ). God looks further back than we do, and further forward than we do. If we are honest this isn't hard to do! We very easily become blinded to the truth by the way that things seem to be right now. In any situation we face we do well to remind ourselves that God has an eternal perspective on things. He knows that the final outcome will be. We need to learn to share something of the perspective.

But someone could equally well come to the conclusion that Israel has been rejected by looking at Israel's track record. As Paul points out (and Jesus as well for that matter), she had repeatedly rejected God and His ways. The rejection of Christ was the culmination of this, therefore she no longer has a special place in God's plans. Such a view ignores all the promises made by God, and, perhaps most importanty, the extent of God's mercy. We can be insituations where failure, either for ourselves or for someone we love, seems to be the only possible outcome, inded the only justifiable outcome. The glory of the gospel is that where sin abounded, graces abounded all the more (Romans 5:20).

When we look at situations two of the things we need to do are:

1. Have an eternal perspective on things
2. Be aware of the depths of God's love and grace.