John 19:38-42

Joseph of Arimathea was a rich disciple (Matt 27:57) and a member of the Sanhedrin and he had not agreed with the decision to condemn Jesus (Luke 23:51). Nicodemus, whi had met Jesus secretly at night (John 3) helped him. It was because of Joseph's intervention that Jesus was given a proper burial. Nicodemus had brought myrhh and aloes, the amounts were of the order used for royalty.

Under Jewush law the Sabbath started at sunset, so it was necessary to bury the body quickly.

John 19:28-37

The Scripture that was to be fulfilled may be Psalm 69:21. Wine vinegar was equivalent to cheap wine.

Jesus said "It is finished". This seems rather tame, but in Matt 27:50 and Mark 15:37 we read that it was a loud cry. Furthermore, "It is finished" is the victory cry uttered when a conquest is complete. Jesus had completed His work. He then "gave up His spirit". This emphasises the fact that Jesus gave His life, it was not taken from Him.

The Jewish leaders were as ever concerned about their ceremonial purity, and as the next day was the special Passover Sabbath, they wanted the bodies dealt with that day. Breaking legs was done to hasten death as it meant the person could no longer hold themselves up, and so they would die from asphyxiation.

The soldiers were surprised to find that Jesus was already dead. So they pierced Him with a spear. This may have been to check that He was really dead, or just casual brutality. The solider pierced the heart and pericardium sac, hence the blood and water. John emphasises the validity of the facts, maybe to counteract false rumours that Jesus did not really die. All this fulfilled Scripture (Ps 34:20 and Zech 12:10).

John 19:16-27

The soldiers took Jesus to be crucified. It was normal for the victim to carry part of the cross himself, though Simone of Cyrene helped Jesus at one point (Mk 15:21). Today it is normal for people to wear a cross as an item of jewellery. In those days such a thing would be unthinkable, for the cross was a thing of shame. To get the sense better we should imagine what we would think of someone who wore an item of jewellery in the form of a hangman's noose. We would consider such person warped and best avoided (or need of much deliverance or prayer!). Such is the effect the cross had in those days.

There was a criminal at either side, Jesus truly dies among sinners in every sense of the word. It is perhaps intersting that none of the gospel writers majors on the physical suffering of Jesus, in contrast to what we tend to to do these days.

It was normal for a placard to be attached to the cross stating the crime the man was guilty of. Pilate insisted that the placard stated that Jesus was the King of the Jews, and this was written in three languages, so everyone could be aware of who He is. The Jewish leaders objected, but Pilate overruled their objections.

The soldiers treated Jesus with disdain, assuming Him to be just another criminal. In casting lots for His clothes Psalm 22:18 was fulfilled.

Even in death, Jesus demonstrated concern for His mother. It is always good for us to show concern for others, even if we are going through difficulties ourselves.

John 19:1-15

This is the final part of the "trial". We see Pilate as a rather weak man, supposedly in charge, but clearly not in control of events. The Jewish leaders are utterly cynical, willing to do and say anything to get Jesus crucified. Jesus, the one supposedly at the mercy of others, is the only one acting with honour and at peace about what is happening.

Initially Pilate has Jesus flogged. There were three types of whips used for flogging. Ranging from one that was fairly light (though no doubt still very painful), to the most severe one associated with crucifixions. It isn't clear which one was used here, but I would guess it would be the latter. Pilate seemed to be hoping that flogging Jesus would placate the crowd and allow him to free Jesus, so he might hope that using a whip associated with crucifixion might achieve this aim. The soldiers further mocked Jesus by putting a crown of thorns on Him and a purple robe.

Pilate presented Jesus to the crowds in this state, and declared that he could find no charge against Him. The Jewish leaders still demanded that He be crucified. Pilate still tried to worm his way out of this. He became very worried when the leaders said Jesus claimed to be the Son of God. Remember that the Romans believed in various "gods".

Pilate went to question Jesus again, and claimed to have power over Him. Jesus reminded Pilate that any power he had was his only because God had given it to him. He also says that the Jewish leaders are more guilty than he.

Pilate acted out of fear and tried to get Jesus freed. The Jewish leaders counteracted by claiming that Pilate would be seen as favouring someone who was setting himself up in opposition to Caesar. Pilate was even more afraid of Caesar, and so allowed Jesus to be crucified.

The chief priests statement that "we have no king but Caesar" is ironic since they despised the Roman occupation, and shows the lengths they were prepared to go to in order to achieve their aims.

John 18:28-40

It was ironic that the Jews were so concerned about ceremonial uncleanness when they were about to kill an innocent man, even the Son of God! Even more so they "wanted to be able to eat the passover". The true passover lamb was in their midst and they did not recognise Him.

Pilate asked what the charges were and gets a rather contemptuous reply from the Jewish leaders. Either they had no respect or fear for Pilate (it is probable that they had no respect, but unlikely that they had no fear), or they were trying to cover up the fact that they actually had no proper charge to bring.

The Jews were not allowed to execute people. If Jesus had been executed by the Jews then it would have been by stoning, not by death on a cross. God was in control at every turn.

Pilate asks Jesus if He is the king of the Jews. Jesus responds by asking if the Jews had put this idea in Pilate's head. Pilate is rather fed up with the affair, with being presented with this problem when it seemed to be a purely Jewish matter.

Jesus declares that His kingdom is not of this world. He cannot be looked at as a normal rebel, if so the usual violence would have gone along with it. His kingdom is the kingdom of heaven.

Pilate thinks Jesus has admitted to being a king, but Jesus counteracts by declaring that His mission was to testify to the truth. If someone is on the side of truth then they will listen to Jesus. Pilate replies with the now infamous words "what is truth?". This may have been serious, said in jest, or a cynical comment. Whatever the case, Pilate knew that Jesus was not guilty, but wishing to avoid offending the Jews he left the decision to them, hoping they would free Jesus. This seemed to be a clever way out of a dilemma, but did not work. For the Jews had incited the crowd to call for Barabas to be freed. Again there is irony in the fact that Barabas would be no more popular with the Jewish leaders than was Jesus. Clearly, Jesus was considered by them to be the greater threat.

John 18:19-27

The high priest questioned Jesus. Under Jewish law it was the practice that others were called to testify against the accused, rather than asking the accused himself, hence Jesus' reply, "Why do you ask me?". The questioning was not being carried out in the correct manner. In fact there were quite a few unorthodox features of the way things were done, such as taking place at night.

Jesus' reply was essentially a rebuke to the high priest, telling him he wasn't doing his job properly (which he wasn't). One of the guards apparently took it as an insult, hence his striking of Jesus on the face. Jesus called on them to produce proper witnesses against Him, for He had spoken openly, and his ministry was public.

In the meantime Peter denies Jesus a further two times. One of the people who asked Peter if he knew Jesus was a relative of Malchus, the one whose ear Peter had cut off. It may have been that Peter's denials were partially motivated out of fear of being punished for attacking the guard. Whatever the case, Jesus' prediction that Peter would deny Him was fulfilled.

John 18:12-18

Jesus was bound and taken to the religious leaders. The crucifixion of Jesus was very much the work of the Jewish religious leaders. Annas had been high priest, but was deposed by the Romans in AD 15. However, he was probably still highly regarded by the Jews. Under Jewish law no one could be sentenced on the day their trial was held. Caiaphas was the one who had suggested it was better for one man to die for the sake of the nation.

The "other disciple" is possibly John himself. He apparently knew the high priest, and so was allowed to enter the courtyard. Peter, however, had to wait outside, but the "other disciple" arranged for Peter to be allowed in. At this point Peter is first challenged.

He was asked, in a fairly indirect manner, if he was a follower of Jesus. Peter denies this.

John 18:1-11

We now move to the passion itself, the event to which everything else has been leading. Jesus and His disciples went to the garden (presumably Gethsemane). Interestingly, John does not record Jesus' prayers to His Father in Gethsemane. John's interest seems to be more focused on the significance of Jesus for His followers.

Judas knew the place where Jesus was likely to go, and led the guards and officials there to arrest Jesus. Jesus called out to them. All along it was Jesus who was in charge. The religious leaders may thought they were getting their way, but it was Jesus who knew and understood what was really happening.

The guards fell to the ground, presumably because of the majesty that exuded from Jesus. Jesus called to the guards again, and asked for the disciples to be allowed to go. Jesus was concerned for other people, even at the time He was going to face the most punishing pain imaginable.

Peter was as impetuous as ever and sliced off one of the guard's ears. Jesus was not interested in avoiding the cross, He knew what His purpose in life was.

We will never have to go through what Jesus went through, but there are still pointers that we can take for how to obey God in difficult situations:

• We should be utterly committed to God's purpose for our life
• We should be concerned for the needs of others, not allowing the difficulties we are encountering to subsume our life
• We should act with calmness and authority

John 17:20-25

Jesus' prayer was not just for the original disciples, but for all of us who believe in Him. Jesus' request is that we are in Him, ie that we are as united with Christ as He is with the Father, and as united as He was with the Father when He was here on earth. We should look at our current Christian walk and expect a lot more! Jesus came to give us abundant life. The purpose of all this is that the world will believe that Jesus is the Christ.

We are loved just as the Father loved the Son. This unity with Christ is amazing, and we must not settle for a third rate Christianity. And we will also share in the glory that Christ has.

We are to continue the task that Jesus started when He was here, making the Father known to the world.

John 17:13-19

Jesus said these things now so that we would know the "full measure" of His joy. He wants us to appreciate the full extent of what He has achieved on the cross (Eph 1:18). There is a stark contrast between this joy and the attitude of the world towards us. We have been given the Word of God, this changes us, it means that we are no longer citizens of the world, but citizens of the kingdom of God, so we are now enemies of the world.

Jesus does not pray that we will be taken out of this situation, but that God will protect us in it. This is a principle we can often apply to our lives. Our natural reaction is usually to plead to be taken out of dangerous situations. However, our prayers are more likely to be answered if instead we pray for God's protection in the situation. Note that it is the evil one that we are protected from. As Paul said, our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers (Eph 6:12).

We need to be purified, sanctified, and it is the Word of God that sanctifies us. Jesus sends us just as the Father sent Him. There is a remarkable parallelism between the relationship between the Father and Jesus, and His relationship with us. We have been saved no just so that we can "go to heaven when we die", but so that we can be the people God always intended us to be and that we can do the works of God (Eph 2:10).

John 17:6-12

Jesus revealed Himself to those the Father had given to Him. All the people had seen Him, but only those who had faith could truly see who He was. The sign that they belonged to the Father was that they obeyed God's word, in this case shown by following Jesus. It is absolutely true that we are not saved by works, but it is equally true that the Bible knows nothing of anyone belonging to God and not obeying the word. Note also that the faith and obedience of the disciples were far from perfect.

The key element of faith was was belief that Jesus came from the Father and spoke His words, The divinity of Jesus is crucial, it is not an interpretation or a particular angle on things, it is a fundamental truth,

Jesus now prays for those who believe in Him, and prays that the Father will protect us by the power of His Name, and that we will be one jsut as the Father and Son are one. Elsewhere it speaks of Jesus being the firstborn among many brothers (Rom 8:29), God's purpose is that we become like Jesus and do the things that He did.

John 17:1-5

We now come to the great prayer of Jesus to His Father. "After Jesus said this", this came after the discourse with the disciples in the upper room. It could be that Jesus prayed this in the presence of His disciples, and this would explain how we come to know the prayer so fully. Alternatively, He may have told them about it later. Either way, the prayer seems to be largely for our benefit, and it is essential that we know and understand what He prayed.

The hour has come, the most crucial time in history is at hand, and the most significant events in history are about to happen. The Father will glorify the Son, and the Son will glorify the Father. The events declared Jesus to be the most important man in history, and the events enabled men to truly know God.

God gave Jesus authority over all people, so that He could give eternal life to all who believe. Remember from John 5:24 that eternal life starts now. There Jesus says that anyone who believes in Him has crossed from death to life. Eternal life literally means "life of the age (to come)". It is a quality of life associated with kingdom of God. We will not experience this fully until Jesus returns, but it starts now. And the fundamental feature of eternal life is knowing the Father and the Son. From this everything else flows.

Jesus would return to the Father's presence, to be where He had been even before the world began.

John 16:25-33

Jesus famously spoke a lot in parables, but after the cross and resurrection He would speak plainly about the Father. Why would this make a difference? Perhaps this is that sin and death would have been dealt with after the cross. Sin stops us hearing God properly, in particular the fear of punishment leads in to all sorts of evasive actions, and makes us unable to see clearly. On the cross Jesus took all our sin and the judgement it deserved, so now we are free to live.

Jesus showed us the Father and acted perfectly on His behalf, but He went to the cross so that we could approach the Father directly. The Father loves us.

The disciples thought they had got it, but Jesus knew that this was not yet the case. For very soon they would all be scattered and would abandon Jesus. After the cross this would be different. Once the Spirit had come they would be able to obey Jesus properly.

Jesus said all these things to them in order that they would have peace in Him. Note that this peace is nothing like a worldly peace. It is not based on the absence of difficulties and suffering, but on trust in the certainty of God's love, and of His ability to see us through them.

John 16:16-24

In a little while they would see Jesus no more, then they would see Him. This seems to be contradictory, but no longer would they see Jesus as He was, for after the resurrection He would be the same but different. Moreover, their view of Him would be radically different as well, for they would realise who He truly was.

Not surprisingly the disciples found Jesus words somewhat enigmatic. So if we are a little perplexed at times, the disciples know exactly how we feel.

Jesus knew they they were confused, and so starts to explain to them. He says that they will go through immense grief, but this would then turn to unbelievable joy. This is a pattern that I guess many of us go through in our experience of God. It can look as though everything is falling apart, but then suddenly God seems to work everything out in a wonderful and amazing way. We do well to look back on our lives and consider the number of times this has happened, then when we next face a trial (maybe right now!) we can encourage ourselves in what God has done for us in the past.

The time of pain was essential, but the fruit makes it all worthwhile. A key element of the joy will be receiving whatever we ask for in Jesus name.

John 16:12-15

It may have seemed that Jesus had told them enough tough things already, but there was more to come. However, this would have to wait until after the resurrection. Notice Jesus' timing in telling them things. He waited until the right time, He waited until they would be able to receive and understand what he had to say. We have a habit of blurting out the truth immediately (or what we think is the truth). We need to think not just about what we should say and how we should say it, but also about how it will be received.

The Holy Spirit would guide them into all truth. There are a number of things to notice here. One is the continuity between the ministry of Jesus and the ministry of the Holy Spirit. There was perfect continuity, and both worked in harmony with the Father. Secondly, note that the Spirit "guides" us into all truth. He doesn't just say what the truth is and leave it at that, rather He leads us into it, He uses experiences and other aspects of our lives to help us understand.

Remember that right at the start in Chapter 14 Jesus has said "let not your hearts be troubled". He was then going to proceed to tell them all sorts of things, including how they would suffer at times. Our natural reaction is to want suffering to go away, when we think of peace we want an absence of trouble. The peace that Jesus gives is different (see later in 16:33). We should be looking for Him to give us a peace that enables us to cope with difficulties.

John 16:1-11

Jesus told these things to them in order to prepare them for the future. For they would face difficult times in the future. They would be persecute, and some of them would be killed. Moreover, those who persecuted them would claim to be acting in God's name. They would face both physical and psychological pressure. The reason they would do this is that they do not know the Father. Jesus did not beat about the bush about what the future held for them.

He was only telling them these things now because He was going to leave them. In the previous three years, and especially in the current week, He was a living example of the truth. Now that they had seen the truth, He explained it to them. The presentation of truth, including the gospel itself, requires both words and actions.

The initial reaction of the disciples would be one of sorrow, but ultimately it was to their advantage that Jesus was leaving. For He had to do this in order for the Holy Spirit to come. Sometimes we may think how "lucky" the disciples were to actually have been around when Jesus was here, but the truth is that we are now in a better position.

The Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgement. We can sometimes feel we are on our own in the face of a world that has intellectually rejected the gospel, but this is not true. The Holy Spirit is working to convict them of the truth.

John 15:18-27

While they were to love each other, they were not to be surprised if the world hated them, for it hated Christ first. Jesus shares everything with us, this includes both the Father's love and the world's hatred. We have been chosen by Jesus out of the world, He has called us from the kingdom of the world to the the Kingdom of God. So the world hates us.

We are ambassadors of Christ, so those who will accept Christ will accept us, those who will reject Christ will reject us. When Jesus spoke to the Pharisees and others who rejected Him He brought judgement, for they no longer had any excuse. As Paul says, to some we are the fragrance of life, to others the smell of death (2 Cor 2:16). Jesus did the works of God among the people, but they refused to believe.

The Holy Spirit would testify about Jesus, so must we. See how God has aligned Himself with us, how He works with and through us. Sometimes we long for God to just do something. Now while occasionally He will act totally independently, most of the time He will act through people, this is the way He has chosen.

John 15:9-17

Jesus loves us in the same way that the Father loved Jesus. We need to remain in Christ in order to benefit from this love. And note that it is not there to enable us to get our own way, but to enable us to fulfil the purposes of God. We stay in Christ's love by continuing to obey Him. When under pressure we may be tempted to disobey Him, to go our own way, but this is fatal. We need to continue to obey Him, then we can be sure that we will remain in Him. Then the joy of the Lord will be in us, and it is a joy that no circumstance can take away.

Now Jesus makes the command explicit, that we should love one another as He has loved us. Jesus laid down His life for us, we should be prepared to do likewise for each other. Jesus is not talking about a sentimental love, but a love that shows itself in action.

We may think that all this talk about obedience makes us no better than slaves or servants, but nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus calls us His friends, and He confides in us. And it is Jesus who chose us. We did not choose Him. If it had been us who took the initiative, then there would always be the risk that Jesus could reject us. In fact, He was the one who took the initiative, so we can be secure in His love. And the purpose of all this is that we will bear fruit for Him.

John 15:1-8

The vine was frequently used as a symbol for Israel (Psalm 80:8-16; Isaiah 5:1-7; Jer 2:21 etc), with Isaiah 5 probably most in mind. In Isaiah 5 Israel is viewed as a disappointment, despite being perfectly looked after by God, she failed to produce good fruit. Conversely, Jesus is the true vine.

There is a difference between cutting off and pruning. Cutting off is an act of judgement on those who do not bear fruit. Pruning is done on fruitful branches to ensure continued and increased fruitfulness. Jesus is the vine and we are the branches. We draw out sustenance from the main vine, ie from Jesus. v2 also explains the repsonse of the Jews to Jesus. Those who were already of hard of heart would be cut off, those who genuinely loved God would become even more fruitful by believing in Jesus.

The words of Jesus had cleaned the disciples, they were already pruned. But it was essential to remain in Jesus, being in Jesus is the only way to be fruitful and to remain fruitful. If a natural branch is separated from the main tree it very quickly withers and dies. No matter how fruitful it was before, it will become utterly fruitless and dead.

Conversely, if we do remain in Christ we will become increasingly fruitful, and our prayers will be answered. Often people ask about the problem of unanswered prayer, but this really isn't a problem. The promises on prayer in John's gospel are given in the context of us doing the will of God, of us doing the works of God. They are promise that we will receive exactly the same support and co-operation from the Father as Jesus received. Jesus is an example of what we can become.

John 14:22-31

The expectation of the time was that the Messiah would show himself to the whole world, yet Jesus has just said only His disciples would realise who He was.

When Jesus returns the whole world will indeed see Him (Matt 24:30), but in the meantime it works like this. The Lord reveals Himself to us by His Holy Spirit, we are then witnesses to the world (in words and actions), and this brings more people to believe. When Jesus was here on earth 2000 years ago He did the works of God, some believed, some did not. So it is now, we are to do the works of God, some will believe, some will not. In v25 Jesus is saying (as indeed He has throughout chapter 14) that we will be in a similar relationship to the Father as He is. We are to live our lives in obedience to the Lord, and God will make His home with us.

Jesus repeats the injunction not to be afraid, and lays emphasis on the work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will continue the work that Jesus did, and this will include teaching the disciples (ie us). Peace was a common Hebrew greeting, but Jesus is using it in a different way. It is not a pious hope, but a certain promise.

Jesus' going away was all part of the plan, and all part of a good plan. Jesus knew that at the moment the disciples would not really understand, but later on they would believe and understand. In the meantime Satan was coming. Satan thought he was in control of events, but nothing could be further from the truth.

Jesus did exactly what the Father desired, we are to do exactly what Jesus desires.

John 14:15-21

Love for Jesus is not a matter of sentimentality, but of obedience. While it is absolutely true that we are saved by grace, it is also a truth taught throughout the New Testament that genuine faith and love show themselves by obedience to Jesus (Matt 7:20).

"He will give you another advocate". This is all in the context of "do not let your hearts be troubled" (14:1) and Jesus' imminent departure. He was not going to leave them alone. Christianity is not a matter of obeying a remote God, or following a set of rules. It is about a close, living relationship with God. The word translated in TNIV as "advocate" is paraclete, and this has a variety of meanings. Essentially it is one who encourages and speaks on our behalf, and is more than a legal advocate. He will help us and be with us forever. He is the Spirit of truth. The world (meaning the world system and those who do not believe) will know nothing of Him, because they reject Christ. But we know Him and He lives within us.

As far as the world is concerned, Jesus is a man who lived 2000 years ago, but we know Him now. We have a living relationship with Him now. The unity that there is between the Father and the Son, will start to develop between us and God.

Jesus revealed Himself to the disciples through the events of life, through situations that they encountered. We should expect Him to do the same with us today. Whatever circumstances we may be encountering, we should look on them as an opportunity for God to reveal more of Himself to us.

John 14:8-14

Thomas had asked to be shown the way, now Philip asks to be shown the Father. To both questions Jesus pointed them to Himself. As it says in Colossians 1:19, all the fullness of God dwells in Christ, and the answer to most of our questions is to look to Jesus.

Jesus expresses dismay that Philip does not seem to have realised just who He is. If we see Jesus we see the Father. The character of the Father is the same as the character of Jesus. What Jesus did the Father was doing. The Father and the Son are distinct, but are also in complete unity.

Jesus implores them to believe this truth. Sometimes people view the cross as a matter of Jesus placating an angry God. This is not the case. The Father and the Son were completely united in what had to be done. Even if they won't believe this, Jesus urges them to at least believe in the works He did.

Jesus then makes the amazing statement that those who believe in Him will do the works that He is doing, and even greater things. Note that v11 and v12 both refer to the works that Jesus did, some versions translate v11 as miracles, but it the original Greek uses the same word in both cases, and it is works. We find verse 12 very hard to accept, as it seems utterly impossible. The word for "greater" that is used hear does not mean "greater in quantity", but "greater in quality", which makes it even harder for us to believe.

A crucial part of the promise is "because I am going back to the Father". After He has done this the Holy Spirit would come to dwell in believers. Whatever the precise meaning of the promise, and I cannot claim to know, it does mean that there is no limit to what God can achieve through us. Believing in Jesus is definitely not a matter of getting a "ticket to heaven", it is about a whole new life, and a life lived in increasing fellowship and unity with God.

This section closes with a promise on prayer. It is important to note that this is linked to doing the Father's works. The disciples were understandably troubled at all that was happening, but they had no need to be. It was all part of God's plan. They probably feared that the whole thing was falling apart, but in fact the cross was crucial to the implementation of the plan, and after it even more of God's work would be done.

John 14:1-7

This was a very tense and naturally fearful time. The disciples had followed Jesus for three years, leaving everything, and investing all their hope in Him. Now He was talking about dying, about one of them betraying Him, and one of them denying Him. No one could expect them to be anything but troubled in their hearts. Yes Jesus tells the, not to let their hearts be troubled, but instead to believe in the father and the Son. We can all go through circumstances where everything seems to be urging us to be troubled, but we need to heed Jesus' advice.

"Do not let ..." It is actually possible for us to not be troubled. This isn't easy, but is something that we can learn to do. We put our trust in Jesus.

This is not an idle hope. Jesus tells them that He is going to prepare a place for them, and they can be sure that there is a place for them. He will return to take us to where He is. This applies to life after death, but possibly also has a more immediate application. Jesus lived a very different life than they did, but after returning from death and then ascending to the Father, He would send the Holy Spirit. We can now share in His life.

When Jesus told them that they knew the way, Thomas' reaction was to want a roadmap, but Jesus pointed to Himself. He is the way, the truth and the life. If we follow Him we will have this life, in fact Jesus is the only way to the Father.

John 13:31-38

Now that Judas has gone Jesus starts to speak intimately with the remaining disciples. Both the Father and the Son would be glorified. Jesus is referring to both the cross and the resurrection, the two go together. Together they were the most significant event in history. On the cross Jesus paid the price for all our sins, He broke the barrier between man and God. The resurrection showed that death had been conquered, and that new life had arrived.

This was something that only Jesus could do, the disciples could not follow Him at this point. No one else could pay the price that Jesus was about to pay. Yet what Jesus was about to do has a crucial lesson for our lives. We are to love each other as He has loved us. Ie we are to be ready to sacrifice ourselves for the sake of others. This self-giving love is a key part of our witness to the world.

Peter wanted to know more, and in particular why he could not follow Jesus on this journey. Jesus replied that although Peter could not follow now, he would do so later. This can be taken both as referring to life after death, but also to a life of sacrifice. Peter's response indicates that he clearly understood it to be the latter. Peter would indeed one day lay down his life for the Lord and live a life of sacrifice, but in the immediate future he would deny Jesus three times. We need the resurrection life in us to enable us to live the life that God desires. We need the cross and resurrection in order to be the people God wants us to be.

John 13:18-30

The next two sections focus on the failure of two of Jesus' disciples. One would end up killing himself, the other became the leader of the church. First we have Judas who would betray Jesus.

Jesus knew that Judas would betray Him, now He tells His disciples, quoting from Psalm 41:9. To betray someone who had given you a food was a terrible thing to do in the culture of the day. Jesus' prime concern was for His disciples, and He was looking beyond the cross to what would happen afterwards.

Jesus did not take the betrayal lightly, for He was troubled in spirit. The betrayal hurt Him. The whole matter of the crucifixion deeply troubled Jesus, yet He went through with it, and was able to walk through the events in faith, fulfilling the task given to Him by the Father. We can go through difficult situations, and we will feel the anguish of soul. This is normal, but it does not mean that we cannot get through it. Our natural reaction is to wish that the pain would go away, but our focus needs to be to obey God in the midst of the circumstances.

The disciples were shocked at Jesus' revelation. Peter asked John (John was probably the "disciple whom Jesus loved) to ask Jesus who the betrayer was. Jesus revealed indirectly that it was Judas.

When Jesus gave the bread to Judas "Satan entered him". The devil had persuaded Judas to betray Jesus, and now the final decision was made. Judas left "and it was night". Jesus had been speaking a lot about walking in the light while it is still day, so we can take this phrase as meaning more than it was dark. The devil and the world were about to do what they intended to do.

John 13:12-17

Jesus proceeded to explain the significance of what He had just done. The disciples rightly recognised Jesus as Teacher and Lord, but they did not fully appreciate the difference between God's view of what a teacher and Lord is, and the world's view. In the world these positions carry privilege, if you have a position of honour then you will occasionally (or more frequently) benefit from the perks of the position. In God's kingdom things are different.

Jesus had set them an example that they were to follow. As their teacher and Lord He was prepared to humble Himself in order to serve others. We are not greater than Jesus, so we must be prepared to do the same.

We are blessed if we know and do these things. The New Testament is clear that the word is not just for hearing, but for doing. We only truly know the Word if we do the Word.

John 13:1-11

The crucifixion was not a surprise to Jesus, He knew all along who He was, and the purpose for which the Father had sent Him. Some people sometimes talk about Jesus becoming aware of His ministry. Frankly, this is nonsense. The gospel's are consistent in portraying a Jesus who knew exactly who He was and what He was doing.

"He now showed the disciples the full extent of His love". This refers to all the events that were about to happen, not just the foot washing that we are about to read about, but it does include that. Jesus' love for us extends from the things of cosmic significance that He does (supremely the cross and resurrection) to much more mundane things of life, as He was about to illustrate. Our God is both Lord of All, and a God who loves each one if us in a very personal way. We need to make sure that we always keep both perspectives in view. If we just focus on the Lord of All angle we lose sight of the fact that Jesus loves me personally. If we just focus on His love for me we can end up viewing God as our personal servant!

People's feet got very dirty in those days, and washing them was a menial task. It was one best assigned to a servant or slave, definitely not to the master. In fact it was considered so menial that even Israelite slaves were not allowed to do it. So when Jesus began to ready Himself to wash the disciples feet there would be utter consternation and embarrassment among the disciples. There may also have been pangs of guilt that they considered themselves too important to wash each others feet.

The reason that Jesus felt able to do this is twofold. One, He knew exactly who He was. He knew that God had given Him all power and authority, so He had no feelings of insecurity. We too need to learn to be secure in who we are in Christ. Secondly, authority and leadership are completely different in the kingdom of God than they are in the world. In Gos' kingdom a leader is someone who serves more than others.

Peter objected when Jesus started to wash his feet, but Jesus replied that unless he allowed Him to do this he had no part in Jesus. In response Peter, in keeping with his character, went to the other extreme and asked for Jesus to wash all of him. Both of Peter's reactions were wrong. There are parts of our lives that we must allows Jesus to touch and cleanse. We all have aspects of our lives that need to be sorted out by Him, even areas of sin. We can be very reluctant to let Him do this, usually out of pride, but we must do so. Following Jesus means humbling ourselves before Him. Yet, we must not go to the other extreme, just thinking of ourselves as "unworthy sinners". If we follow Jesus then we have been cleaned, we have repented. We are not totlaly useless. A man or woman who has come to Christ is a new creation, we have the Holy Spirit within us, and God can do amazing things in and through us. But even in times when God seems to be working in and through us to a great extent, there will still be things that we need to let Him to do for us that we cannot do for ourselves. We need to keep both aspects in balance.

John 12:37-50

While some did believe, the overall reaction was one of unbelief, despite the many miracles. When people say they would believe if they saw miracles they are probably talking nonsense.

John explains this by two quotes from Isaiah, 53:1 and 6:10. The first is the great prophecy telling of Christ's sacrificial death, and the second is the vision that Isaiah had of the throne of God. When someone rebels against God their heart is hardened. In a sense they get what they want. They don't want anything to do with God, so God gives them their wish. The tragedy is that if they turned to God they would be healed.

There were some who did believe, but they were afraid to admit it for fear of the Pharisees.

When we believe in Jesus we believe in the Father. Jesus is the only way to the Father.