Ephesians 3:14-16

Finally we get back to the "For this reason .." of verse 1, Paul tells them more of what he is praying for them. What motivated Paul to pray so much? It was the extent and wonder of God's marvellous plan, and Paul's firm belief that God had a clear purpose for the Ephesians.

Paul kneels before the Father, and God is the Father of all. Every family derives its name from the Father. What does this mean? It implies that everyone finds their true meaning and destiny in God. Whoever we speak to or meet, the truth is that they will find their true life in Christ, whatever their cultural background, whatever their current intellectual beliefs.

Paul prays first that God will strengthen us with power. This power comes through the Holy Spirit, and will work in our inmost being. Ie we will be strengthened and changed from the inside out. If we are honest I think most (all?) of us know that their is weakness within us, there are parts of us that cannot, at the moment, conform to God's will. But we should take heart, for God is able to work with power in these parts of us and make us strong.

Ephesians 3:9-13

Paul's task was to make God's plan plain to all mankind. Prior to the coming of Christ it was a complete mystery how God was going to fulfil His plans. Moreover, most of the world did not know He even had a plan and that it included them. Does this state of affairs seem familiar? For still, most people around us do not know that God has a plan for them.

God's plan is now that His purposes are made known. They are to be made known through the church, we are His chosen instrument for making known the wonder of what He has done in Christ. And His wisdom is to be made known to the principalities and powers in the heavenly realms. This is a spiritual battle, but this most certainly does not mean it is "other worldly". Jesus urged us to pray "your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven", and later in the letter, as in all of Paul's letters, there is very down to earth instruction on how we should live.

In and through Christ we can approach the living God with confidence. Finally in this section, Paul prays that they will not be discouraged because of his situation, for it is all part of God's plan to work out His purpose (Rom 8:28). God has a wonderful plan, at times circumstances may tell us otherwise, but we should not lose heart.

Ephesians 3:7,8

Paul saw himself as a servant of the gospel, his whole purpose in life was to preach the gospel (Acts 20:24). He did not see this as an onerous task, but one given to him by God as a gift, and the gift was received through the working of God's power. Paul had no intention of preaching the gospel, in fact his intention was to persecute the church (Acts 9:1,2). God intervened and by His power turned Paul's life around.

Paul knew exactly what he had been like, and knew that by nature he was the least of all God's people. Yet as we read the New Testament he did not seem to have any "hang-ups". Why was this? Because he received God's grace. And this grace was given to him to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. We often think of grace as being a passive thing, but this is far from the truth. It was by the grace of God that Paul preached the good news to the nations.

Ephesians 3:1-6

"For this reason .." Paul starts to say something, then suddenly breaks off and starts describing his wonder and joy at the way God has worked in and through him, and only returns to his original thought in verse 14.

Before he became an apostle, before he met Jesus on the Damascus road, Paul was an ardent Pharisee, and persecuted Christians. Indeed that was his purpose in going to Damascus. He believed that God's covenant, His promises, His kingdom, were confined to the Jews, with everyone else outside it. The "administration of God's grace" is the way in which God turned his whole life around. God chose to reveal to Paul the full extent of His plan and how it was fulfilled in Christ.

Note that it was not revealed just to Paul, but to all "God's holy apostles and prophets", by the Spirit. Peter, though of a very different temperament to Paul, equally thought the kingdom was restricted to the Jews (see Acts 10), and it took a special revelation from God to convince him otherwise.

The "mystery" is that Gentiles are heirs together with the Jews. All who believe in Christ are part of one body, and are all first class citizens. Peter realised this when Cornelius received the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 2:19-22

We are no longer foreigners and strangers. Because of the attitude of the Jews the Gentiles would have had a tendency to feel this way, especially as the gospel grew out of Judaism. Today the difference between Jews and Gentiles is not important in the same way (in the sense that it does not impinge upon most people's lives, Israel still does have a crucial part in God's plan), but whatever our background, we should never feel we are second class citizens in God's kingdom. We are members of God's household, this puts a very personal touch on things.

We are built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. This refers to people like Paul and Peter, and prophets probably refers to New Testament prophets. The message they preached is the message of Jesus Christ, and Christ is the cornerstone. Everything hinges around Christ, everything is built around Him to become the temple of the Lord. And everyone of us is part of this temple being built together into God's dwelling place. God dwells amongst us by His Spirit.

Ephesians 2:17,18

Jesus preached peace to both the Jews and the Gentiles. Of course, Jesus Himself did not physically preach to the Gentiles, with the odd exception, but He did speak of having sheep in another field (John 10:16), which is usually taken to refer to the Gentiles. Moreover, when the Syro-Phonecian woman came to Him He did respond to her faith (Mark 7:29).

The OT does speak of other nations coming to God. The promise to Abraham is perhaps the most significanct, but Isaiah too speaks of such things (Isaiah 19:23-25).

The proof of all this is that we all have access to the Father through the same Holy Spirit. When Peter preached to Cornelius and his household the thing that convinced him that God was blessing the Gentiles in the same way He blessed the Jews was the bestowal of the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:47).

Ephesians 2:14-16

Jesus Christ Himself is our peace. It is Jesus who brings unity and destroys walls of hostility. This applied to the Jews and Gentiles, but is also true for today's walls of division. The only way for Catholics and Protestants to be truly at peace is for both to be found in Christ. The only way the Isreali-Palestinian conflict will be settled is for both groups to come to Christ. This does not mean we should not try "normal" peace efforts, but only Christ can deal with the root of the problem, and that root is sin, and applies to all people, whatever nationality, ethnicity, social group, of whatever other badge we might like to put upon ourselves.

"by setting aside in His flesh the law .." This does not mean that the commands such as "do not murder" are "set aside". Paul is probably referring to the ceremonial aspects, in particular the need for circumcision. These things created a clear barrier between Jews and Gentiles. On the cross Christ did something far greater, He dealt with the root of sin, this rendered all previous distinctions irrelevant an superseded. As the writer of Hebrews says, the old covenant was a mere shadow of the true covenant.

Christ created one new humanity in Himself. In His one body He reconciled all people to God. Christ reconciles us to God, and to each other.

Ephesians 2:11-13

The previous part of Chapter 2 has dealt with our alienation from God, and reconciliation to Him in Christ. Now Paul turns to the alienation between Jews and Gentiles. The Jews looked down on the Gentiles, calling them "uncircumcised". For circumcision was the sign of the Abrahamic covenant (Gen 17), and the Jews were very clear in their mind that there was an enormous gulf between themselves and the rest of the world.

Paul calls on the Gentiles to remember that "at that time" they were separate from Christ and excluded from Israel and the covenant promises. "at that time" refers to the time before they were saved. It is useful for us to remember where we have come from, not in the sense of dwelling or living in the past, but to remind ourselves what Christ has done for us. They were without hope and without God. Now for most of us the Jewish-Gentile divide does not mean a lot, but it is still true that we were without hope and God before we knew Christ. Before we came to know Christ we did not know God.

Now, in Christ and through His blood, we have been brought near. The gospel is about bringing us close to God, it is not about separation from God.

It is worth remembering that it was always God's intention that the whole world would be blessed through Abraham (Gen 12:1-3). In Christ this promise is now being fulfilled.

Ephesians 2:8-10

We are saved by grace, through faith. We are saved purely because of the unlimited and unmerited goodness and kindness of God. We need to to continually remind ourselves of this, not to make ourselves feel bad, but in order to help us realise the wonder and greatness of the plans that God has for us. It is true that "by nature we were objects of wrath", but God did not save us so that we would live in a perpetual state of feeling unworthy. Instead we are to live in a state of knowing how much God loves us and the extent of His plans for us. All that we have been reading about in Ephesians is about the wonder of God's plans for us.

"and this is not from yourselves". "this" refers to the whole process of salvation, not just the faith part. "So that no one can boast". If ever we imagine we are able to save ourselves we will quickly come a cropper, but Jesus died so that we could live. This may also be a dig at the Judaisers, who boasted of their Jewishness, circumcision in particular.

We were saved for a purpose. We are God's workmanship, created to do good works. And these were prepared long ago by God. We have not been saved just so we have a ticket to heaven, but so that we can be and do what God always intended us to be and do.

Ephesians 2:6,7

God has raised us up and seated us with Christ. Our natural inclination would be to assume that this will happen in the future, but the text clearly says it has already happened. So what on earth (or what in heaven) does it mean to say we have been seated with Christ? Well I don't have a full understanding or explanation, but here are some thoughts. The heavenly realms are the place of spiritual conflict, and the place where Christ has been seated at the right hand of God with all power and authority. Before we came to Christ we were dead in our sins, but we have been raised to new life with Christ. While eternal life will only be fully consummated when Christ returns, it starts now. Now we can start to live the new life and start to live in the new authority.

The purpose of all this is that riches of God's grace might be demonstrated in the ages to come. So verse 6 clearly talks about something that is already true, while verse 7 talks about something that will happen after Christ's return. At Christ's return God will have a people who are fully Christlike. For a long time it looked utterly impossible that such a thing could happen, for all of us, Jews and Gentiles, lived in disobedience with a naturally rebellious nature. But now, in Christ, things are changing. At the end of time God will be proved to be completely and amazingly wise and successful in His plans.

Ephesians 2:4,5

"But God .." is one of my favourite pair of words in the Bible. Everything seemed to be going inexorably in a certain direction, but then God intervened and turned everything upside down. God intervened while we were dead in our transgressions. We had nothing to commend us to God, and, as we were dead, no means of doing anything about the situation.

God did this out of mercy and out of His great love for us. We need to remember that we were utterly undeserving sinners, but we also need to be equally aware that God acted out of love. God is pleased that he has saved us, He delights in us.

We have been saved by grace, by God's undeserved favour.

Ephesians 2:1-3

The chapter divisions here are unfortunate as it detracts from the fact that Paul is still continuing the theme of the whole letter. He now begins to explain in some detail how the great plan outlined in chapter 1 is fulfilled.

In order to know where we are going we need to know where we are coming from. Without Christ we were "dead in our transgressions and sins". Our past life did not benefit us, it did not do us any good at all.

We follows the ways of the world, which are actually the ways of Satan. Many people may say there is no God and deny the existence of a spiritual realm at all, but in reality the "ruler of the kingdom of the air" is at work in them. The spiritual realm is a reality.

It is possible that the "you" and "us" in these verses refer to "you Gentiles" and "we Jews". If this is the case then verse 3 would have been devastating in Paul's day, for he is saying that the Jews were just as disobedient and sinful as the Gentiles. They lived lives according to the flesh, gratifying the thoughts and feelings of the flesh (human nature). So, just like everyone else, the Jews were by nature objects of wrath. Ie in their own right they deserved to receive God's righteous judgement.

Ephesians 1:21-23

Jesus has been seated far above all "rule and authority and power and dominion". In the very beginning Adam was supposed to subdue the earth and have dominion (Genesis 1:28). Adam failed to do this because of sin, but Jesus, the second Adam, does fulfil this.

Jesus has the name above all names, both in the present age and the age to come. Jesus is supreme over all. We need have no fear at all, for no one and no thing has authority over Jesus.

And everything has been placed under His feet (Psalm 110:1).and He is head over all things, for the church. The church is His body. The goal is that just as the Father and Son are one, so we become one as well (John 17:21, 23).

Ephesians 1:19,20

Going back briefly to v18, it says the "riches of His glorious inheritance". The inheritance actually belongs to God, we are part of His glorious inheritance. In v18 Paul is calling us to realise (or rather the Holy Spirit to reveal to us) that we are part of God's inheritance, we have an eternal place in His glorious kingdom.

This of course raises a problem as a lot of the time we don't look very glorious, and might even ask why on earth would God want us as part of His inheritance? This is where v19 comes in, for Paul also wants the Holy Spirit to reveal to us "His incomparably great power for us who believe". God has the power to transform us, and this power is the same power that raised Christ from the dead. Jesus died on the cross because all our sins, transgressions and iniquities were laid upon Him, and He was raised from death to be seated at the right of God. This resurrection power overcame sin and death, which are our two biggest problems, and it is this power which God wishes to exercise in us.

Christ was raised from death and seated at the right hand of God in the heavenly realms, and in Chapter 2 verse 6 Paul will say that we too have been seated with Him there. We need to realise the great hope and future that we are a part of, and that God has the power to make it happen.

Ephesians 1:17,18

Paul prays that they might have wisdom and insight to realise just who God is and what He has done for them,

"The Spirit of wisdom and revelation". In the Greek there is actually no indication for "the Spirit" as opposed to "the spirit" or "a spirit" (see NIV margin). God has already given us the Spirit (see 1:13), what we need is for Him to give us more wisdom and revelation. It is this that Paul is continually praying for. It is a fact that God will do certain things only if we ask for them, or will do them to a greater degree if we ask for them. Paul is praying that God will enable the Ephesians to realise more and more of what God has done for them and the extent of His plans. We too need to pray this for ourselves, we also to pray this for our fellow Christians. Then we will know Him better.

Without Christ the eyes of our heart are blinded, we cannot see things as they really are. Even after we come to Christ because of the years spent without Him, and also things that happen to us afterwards as well, we do not always see that well. Paul prays that the eyes if our heart will be enlightened, that we will be able to see things as they really are. In particular so that we may know the hope to which we have been called, and the inherticance we have. Today an inheritance is something that can be easily "liquidated". It is usually either directly in the form of money, or if it involves property, the property will be sold. In Paul's thinking an inheritance was different. An inheritance was a much more permanent asset. We have been given a share in God's kingdom, we are now an integral part of His kingdom, and an integral part of His plan and purpose. We have purpose as individuals, and are part of a greater purpose as well.

Ephesians 1:15,16

It seems strange for Paul to say "ever since I heard about ..", for he had spent a significant amount of time in Ephesus. However, as it is likely that the letter was intended for wider circulation it may be that Paul is referring to news about the church in the regional area.

"For this reason .." In the previous section (previous sentence in the original Greek!) Paul has been extolling the wonders of God's grace, His plans, and His blessings on believers. So when people believe in the gospel they enter in to all these blessings, therefore Paul gives thanks. The best thing that can happen to an individual is to believe in Christ, the best thing that can happen to a people group is that they start to believe in Christ. The world is increasingly opposed to converting people from one religion to another (proselytising), indeed in some countries it is illegal (eg Greece). At other times is said to be showing lack of respect for people's cultural background. All this is nonsense. For absolutely every individual, and absolutely every people group (not least the atheistic/agnostic/materialistic West) the best thing that can happen is to enter into the promises of God revealed and fulfilled in Christ Jesus.

Note that the blessings are not primarily things that we receive as individuals (though God does answer prayers and does give us many good material things). The primary blessing is that we have become God's children, we are part of His household, we are part of His plan. The blessing is what we are now, and what we will become in Christ.

Ephesians 1:11-14

The plan is not just a global plan, it is also an individual plan. Each one if us was chosen in Christ, and we were chosen according to His purpose and will. If we want to know the purpose of our life, we need to look to Jesus. If we want to know how to find this purpose fulfilled, we need to look to Jesus. We find our life, our meaning, our strength, in Christ, and nowhere else.

Those who first put their hope in Christ is probably a reference to the Jewish believers. This was so that they should be for the praise of His glory. To appreciate the significance of this we need to remember one of the themes of the Old Testament. Israel was supposed to be a frutiful vineyard that brought forth praise for God (Isaiah 5), but instead because of her disobedience she brought shame and dishonour on God's name. The only way a Jew can be for the praise of God's glory (which is what they are meant to be) is to believe in Christ.

Exactly the same applies to us who are not Jews. When we heard the gospel and believed, we too were included in Christ, and we are for the praise of His glory. The only way we can be for the praise of God's glory (which is what we also are meant to be) is to believe in Christ.

Now we need to remember that at the time Paul was writing the church had come directly out of Judaism, and there was a long history of Hews considering Gentiles to be second class citizens (at best!). How could Gentiles possibly now be included? Paul will deal with this later, but for now the proof of it is that God has sealed us with the Holy Spirit. God Himself comes to dwell within us, He is a guarantee that we are included, that we have an inheritance in Christ.

Ephesians 1:9,10

"He has made known to us the mystery .." God's intentions were outlined to Abraham in Gen 12:1-3 when He promised that through him all nations on earth would be blessed. Yet in the subsequent period it seemed impossible that this would ever happen. For most of the Old Testament there is enmity between Israel and her neighbours, with other nations being enemies of both God and Israel. Moreover, the Old Testament could be described as a record of Israel's sins against God. How on earth was God's plan ever going to be fulfilled? Now the answer has been revealed, it is in and through Christ. God's good will and pleasure are completely fulfilled in Christ. The cross and resurrection are the pivotal points in all this, but the plans are still in the process of being fulfilled. Ie the gospel is continuing to spread throughout the earth, reaching people from every tribe and tongue. The plans will be fulfilled when everything is brought together in unity under Christ.

Christ is the centre of it all. There is no one else, and no other creed, through which God's plans will be fulfilled.

Ephesians 1:7,8

In Him we have redemption. In the culture of the time it was possible for a slave to be set free by payment of a ransom. Jesus has paid the price for our sins, our slavery to sin. However, it is important not to press this analogy too far and go down the wrong track in asking who the ransom was paid to. The ransom was definitely not paid to the devil. The problem with sin is that we have broken God's laws, and are therefore under judgement because of it. Jesus' death on the cross paid the penalty for our sin. This is made clear here by the phrase "the forgiveness of sins". Jesus' sacrifice was made in accordance the riches of God' grace, and this grace has been lavished upon us. Paul will go on in Ephesians to make some amazing claims for God's purposes and role of the church, all this is possible purely because of the riches of His grace. And this was done with all wisdom and understanding. God knew exactly what He was doing, and His grace will achieve His purposes.

Ephesians 1:5,6

We were predestined to be adopted as sons. Under Roman law an adopted son had exactly the same rights as a natural born son. This is fundamental to our understanding of our relationship with God. God is the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and He is our Father. Jesus taught people to view God as their Father (see the Lord's prayer). It is not a distant relationship with God, but a close one. This was all done in accordance with His pleasure and will. God was pleased to do this.

And this is done to the praise of His glorious grace given to us in Christ. God's plan depends upon His grace. No one can demand to receive grace, but God has freely given grace to us in Christ. Today we often here of court judgements that we consider to be way too lenient and against all sense of justice. This will not happen with God. At the end all creation will praise God for His grace, seeing that it demonstrated great wisdom and will have achieved righteousness.

This grace is given in Christ. This means that if we want to receive grace then we need to loom to Christ, we need to be in Christ. In Christ we will find the riches of His grace.

Ephesians 1:4

We were chosen in Christ before the creation of the world. This concept blows our mind and seems beyond comprehension. Indeed the whole idea of predestination has at times caused great debate and great problems. It might be tempting to dismiss the whole notion of predestination and election, but this would be a big mistake for the Bible, and Paul in particular, keep referring to it.

There is one thing that must be said first of all. Virtually every page of the Bible makes it clear that how we live our lives matters. How I live my life and the choices I make affect my life and affect the lives of others. Any "understanding" of predestination that tends towards the idea that what we do with our lives does not matter is totally unbiblical. In fact these sorts of ideas are not predestination, but fate, an utterly pagan idea.

So let's turn now to what Paul actually said. God's purpose has always been that we should be "holy and blameless in His sight", and this would be accomplished in and through Christ. This has always been God's purpose, and He has been working at this purpose throughout time, and is working on it right now. We were always in God's mind, even before time began. How does He make us holy and blameless? Through the cross and by the Spirit. We are cleansed of our sin by the blood that Jesus shed on the cross, and we are sanctified by the Holy Spirit. When we believed God started the work of sanctification in our lives, this work is going on now, and will be brought to completion on the day Christ returns. Later chapters in Ephesians also make it clear that we have a part to play in this (see also Phil 2:12,13).

Ephesians 1:3

Verses 3-14 actually form one long sentence and is a hymn of praise to the Lord. Interestingly it is very trinitarian, including the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It is also the starting point and foundation for all that Paul is going to say later on about the church. We have been blessed by the Father in the heavenly realms in Christ. Being blessed means we have been placed in a position of favour and of receipt of God's kindness. This has taken place in the "heavenly realms". The term "heavenly realms" occurs five times in Ephesians. Heavenly realms is a term signifying the spiritual world. It is the place of spiritual conflict, but is also the place where we have been blessed by God. Greek thought made sharp division between the spiritual and physical, and much of our Western thought is still heavily influenced by this kind of thinking. Jewish thought is quite different. The spiritual world and physical world are not two totallly separate realms. When Jesus came to eath He preached that the kingdom of heaven was near. In God's kingdom the spiritual world is meant to impinge directly on the hear and now. We are meant to be a people who live by the Spirit, and we have been given every spiritual blessing. In Christ our spirits are alive and can start to influence and empower our lives.

Ephesians 1:1-2

Before starting on the book itself, here are the commentaries etc that I am reading on Ephesians so you know where some of my ideas and information comes from:

TNIV Study Bible (Zondervan)
New International Bible Commentary : Ephesians, Colossians & Philemon - A G Patzia
Paul for Everyone , the Prison Letters - Tom Wright

Paul draws immediate attention to his apostleship. Apostle means "one who is sent" as a special messenger of God. The term does not just apply to the original disciples. The conversion of Paul as recorded in Acts tells us that God chose Paul specifically to take the gospel to the Gentiles. Other places in Acts and other letters, especially the two Corinthian letters, reveal something of what was involved in this apostleship. Paul was not appointed by men, but by God. However, his apostleship was recognised by men.

The letter is addressed to the saints, or God's holy people, those who have faith in Christ. We are set apart for God's purposes, and we enter this purpose by having faith in Christ.

Paul starts many of his letters by declaring grace and peace to his readers. This grace and peace comes from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Ephesians - Analysis

Before starting on the main text it might be worth doing an overview. This will follows the section headings used in the New Living Translation and lists the main themes.

1:1-2	Greetings
1:3-14	God's eternal purpose. Spiritual blessings. Christ is the centre of it all. The Holy Spirit.
1:15-23	Prayer for spiritual insight - that we realise the enormity of what God has done and of His plan. Christ is the head of the church.
2:1-10	How God dealt with the problem of sin Saved by grace through faith Saved for a purpose.
2:11-18	Jews and Gentiles are reconciled.
2:19-22	We are all part of God's eternal plan
3:1-13	God's plan is revealed. How the promise to Abraham is going to be fulfilled.
3:14-21	Spiritual strength The extent of God's love and His unlimited plans
4:1-16	Unity in the church Equipping the church Building up the church
4:17-32	Life a life worthy of the calling Get rid of the old ways
5:1-14	Living in the light Get rid of all deeds and thoughts of darkness
5:15-20	Live as wise people A Spirit filled life
5:21-5:9	Godly relationships in the family and at work
6:10-20	Prepare for the battle
6:21-23	Farewell

Ephesians - Intro

Ephesians is quite different from a number of Paul's other letters in that, unlike Galatians or the Corinthian letters, it does not address a specific theological or church issue. Rather in this letter Paul gives a grand overview of what the church is and how it is to function. Central to all this is the role of Christ as head of the Church. Some people have cast doubt on its Pauline authorship, but there really are no grounds for this. There are some differences in style between this and some of his other letters, but it was a different type of letter, so this is to be expected. Moreover, the letter quite clearly claims to be written by Paul, and the early church accepted its Pauline origins.

It was written during Paul's first imprisonment in AD62-63. It was probably intended as a circular letter, intended to go to several churches in the region of Ephesus. The letter has some similarities to Colossians.

Ephesus was a major city in the Roman empire, with a population of several hundred thousand, and Ephesus figures largely in Acts. The city was wealthy, had a significant Jewish population, and was the home to the temple of Artemis. The temple was a mainstay of the local economy. The gospel brought a challenge to this pagan worship and threatened their livelihoods, hence the riot in Ephesus (Acts 19:21-41).

Paul spent about two years in Ephesus. Many people turned to Christ and abandoned their pagan worship and the associated idols.

John 21:15-25

Jesus then reinstates Peter. The key question is whether or not Peter loves Jesus. Prior to his denial of Jesus Peter had declared his commitment to the Lord, but this proved to be extremely fragile. Jesus first asks if Peter loves Him "more than these". It is not absolutely clear what "these" refer to. It could mean does he love Jesus more than his fishing career, but the more likely meaning is that Jesus is asking him if he loves Him more than the other disciples do.

Peter no longer claims to have a greater commitment than the others, but does declare that he loves the Lord. Jesus tells him to take care of the "lambs", presumably young believers. Again He asks Peter if he loves Him. Peter gives the same reply, then Jesus commands him to look after the sheep, presumably believers in general.

Jesus then asks a third time, and Peter is hurt. The third time the word used for love is different from the previous two times. However, in John's gospel the two terms are used pretty interchangeably, so it is probably unwise to put too much emphasis on this.

Jesus then tells Peter the type of death he would suffer. Peter would indeed give his life for Jesus. Peter then asked about John. Jesus tells him that it is no concern of his. A note is also added in the gospel making it clear that Jesus was not guaranteeing that John would live until Jesus' return.

It is futile to worry about how God is dealing with someone else, trying to work out if they are being more blessed than us, or if we are being given a harder time than others. We need simply to follow the Lord, we can be absolutely confident that His plans are the best possible plans for our life.

John 21:1-14

Several of the disciples were fishing by the Sea of Tiberias. Some people have interpreted this as a sign of disorientation, or disobedience, on the part of the disciples. Ie instead of following Jesus they have reverted back to what they knew. However, there is no indication in the Bible itself of them being criticised for this.

The disciples went fishing but caught nothing. Just after daybreak Jesus was standing on the shore, but they did not recognise Him. On learning that they had no fish Jesus commands them to cast their net on the other side of the boat. This is very reminiscent of an earlier incident (Luke 5:1-11), again they made an enormous catch.

On realising that it was the Lord, Peter put on a loin cloth. It was quite normal for fisherman to work naked.

When they hauled the catch in there were 153 fish. Some have attached significance to this number, for the Greeks believed there were 153 different species of fish, so the catch is seen as symbolic of the gospel reaching out to all peoples and nations.

The disciples were still very unsure of the risen Christ. They knew it was Jesus, but we need to remember what a shock it was to them that a man could be raised from the dead. Something utterly amazing (even more amazing than the raising of Lazarus) had happened.

John 20:24-31

Thomas had not been present when Jesus appeared to the rest of the disciples. It is easy to be harsh on Thomas for refusing to beloeve unless he saw and felt the the holes where the nails were. However, the other disciples had seen Jesus and had seen the marks, so there is no telling how they would have reacted in Thomas' position. Moreover, it does emphasise yet again that the 1st century Christians did not glibly accept that a man could rise from the dead.

It was a week later before Jesus did actually appear to Thomas. Once again they were behind locked doors, implying that they were still fearful. As usual Jesus declares peace to the disciples. He evidently knew what Thomas had said before and invited Thomas to touch His wounds.

There is indication that Thomas did actually touch Jesus, but he did declare "My Lord and my God". Belief is not a mere acceptance of facts or evidence, it involves a committment to the Lord. Jesus announces that those who believe without seeing are blessed. Just because we have not seen the 1st Century Jesus does not put us in an inferior position to the early Christians.

Chapter 20 finishes with John explaining his purpose in writing the gospel. Namely that we will believe that Jesus is the Messiah (anointed one), the Son of God, and that we may have life. Jesus is not merely God's chosen instrument, He is God. And we are not called to just believe facts or doctrines, but to have eternal life in Christ.

John 20:19-23

Now Jesus appears to His disciples. They were in fear of what the Jewish leaders might do to them, now that their leader "was gone". So they were behind locked doors, seeking to protect themselves. This did not stop Jesus breaking into their lives. Often when we are facing difficult circumstances we can lock ourselves away, seeking to protect ourselves. Or we can see people we love facing difficult situations, we know that Jesus could help them, but they seem to have shut themselves off from all help. We should be encouraged that Jesus can break through any walls we, or anyone else, puts up, and continue to pray fervently.

Jesus showed them His sides, confirming that He was indeed the same Jesus they had earlier seen die on the cross. The disciples were overjoyed. Jesus then reiterated His command, "As the Father sent me, so I am sending you". Then he breathed on them and said "Receive the Holy Spirit." This has presented some problems in terms of relationship to Pentecost which would happen some 7 weeks later. Some have seen it as another Pentecost. This is not consistent with the actual Pentecost, and there was no step change in the disciples behaviour (the true sign of someone receiving the Holy Spirit is change). Others have seen it as a kind of partial receiving of the Spirit, to be fully consumated later. This is unlikely. It treats the Holy Spirit as a force, or a dose of "christian medicine", the Holy Spirit is a person and we cannot receive a "bit" of Him. The most likely explanation is that this is a symbolic or prophetic act poiting towards what would happen seven weeks later.

Verse 23 also causes problems. It seems as though it could be read as meaning we decide whi gets forgiven and who does not. This is at odds with most of the rest of Scripture, so it is right to reject this interpretation. The Greek is actually in the passive, and reads "those whose sins you forgive, have already been forgiven .." This is then taken as meaning the phrase refers to the preaching of the gospel, if people respond they receive God's forgiveness, if they reject it they do not. Now this is true, and seems to be the best way to read it for the time being. However, I must admit I am always dissatisfied when there is verse or passage, and we give it an interpretation that fits in with everything else we know to be true, but there is a nagging feeling that this particular verse must be saying something more as well. There msut be something we are missing.

John 20:11-18

This is the first appearance of the risen Christ. It is notable that the first appearance was to a woman, Jesus completely turns upside down all human conventions.

Two angles appeared. Luke refers to two men, and we should remember that in many cases of angelic appearances the angels appear as men. Therefore there would be no reason for Mary to be alarmed or amazed at the angels' appearance. Mary was upset because she thought the body had been stolen, adding further to the tragedy of Jesus' death.

Then Jesus appeared, but she did not recognise Him. There are various reasons why this might have been so. Tears in her eyes may have obscured her sight. As mentioned before, there was absolutely no expectation of Jesus rising from the dead (Jesus was the only one who expected the resurrection), as far as Mary was concerned He was absolutely dead. When we see someone in a totally unexpected situation we can often doubt if it is really who we think it is. Finally, while there are similarities between the resurrection body and the original one (Jesus apparently still had wounds in His side), there are also differences. (In our case, if we live to a ripe old age, I don't think many of us will want to continue looking like an 80 or 90 year old for eternity!).

Mary finally recognised Jesus when He spoke to her. Jesus told her not to hold on to Him. Why did He say this? The fact that Jesus was alive was not the end of the matter, but only the start of the new life for all who believe. He had to ascend to the Father, and then send the Holy Spirit. A whole new life was starting. Instead Mary was to go and tell the disciples what was happening, that all that He had told them about in the last week was now becoming reality. The resurrection was not just a matter of "going to heaven when we die", it is a whole new life that starts the moment we believe (though of course not being fully consummated until Jesus returns).

Mary duly went to tell the disciples, thought there reaction is not recorded.

John 20:1-10

Mary Magdalene went to tomb. Mark 16:1 tells us they were going to anoint the body. When they got there they found that the stone had been removed. On finding this she ran to Peter and the other disciple (probably John). Despite having denied Jesus, Peter seemed to still be leading the group of disciples. Mary's first reaction was that "they" had taken the body of Jesus. It is not clear who "they" refers to, may have been the Jews or the Romans. Note that there was no thought of resurrection. The disciples had no concept of resurrection prior to the resurrection of Jesus.

John arrived first, saw strips of linen, but Peter ran straight into the tomb when he got there. The presence of the strips of linen (which would have been used to wrap up the body of Jesus) clearly indicate that the body had not been stolen. If it had, the thieves would have wanted to leave them on to help them carry the body. John may also be drawing a comparison with the raising of Lazarus, who came out of the tomb still wrapped in cloth. The resurrection of Jesus was an altogether different event. Lazarus was raised to his old life, and died again later. Jesus was raised to a new order of life.

John, the other disciple, seems to have realised what had happened. The disciples then returned to where they had been staying.