Pastor Billington's Blog

John 7

Some find a moral conundrum in this passage. How could Jesus say definitively that He wasn’t going, then turn around and go? Well, there is a variant reading that may shed some light on the passage. The vast majority of manuscripts say, “I am not yet going” (7:8). I believe that properly summarizes the intent here. Jesus is saying, “You can go up the feast now because no-one is trying to kill you. I’m not going up yet. I’ll come later.” The fact that His brothers didn’t believe in Him (7:5) explains the tone of their comments. They are trying to goad Him into going to the feast!

When Jesus does go, He teaches in the temple courts. The Jewish leaders are astonished at Him because He hasn’t had any formal teaching. Jesus points out that He’s merely teaching about God and seeking God’s glory, which they would understand if they really knew God! And if they truly knew God, they wouldn’t want to kill Him! Either they deny it or the crowd doesn’t fully understand, so Jesus explains Himself. It goes back to His healing of a man on the Sabbath. The religious authorities are willing to break the Sabbath command in order for a child to be circumcised, so how can anyone be upset when Jesus makes a man well? They don’t understand because they are judging superficially, without taking into account why Jesus did what He did when He did it.

Jesus continues to teach about His relationship with God, about His upcoming ascension into heaven, and about the future ministry of the Spirit. Some are amazed and are ready to accept Him as the Messiah, but many more are confused. They misunderstand Jesus’ own lineage and birth, and they have a different idea about the origins of the Messiah. In the midst of all the confusion Jesus manages to stay free, perhaps with some supernatural help, but certainly because the soldiers themselves are amazed at His teaching. Nicodemus attempts to defend Jesus to his contemporaries but is ridiculed by them.

This all happens during the Feast of Tabernacles/Booths. This is a seven-day feast that celebrated the fact that God led the Israelites for 40 years during their wilderness wanderings, where He sustained them with mana, quail, and water while they lived in tents. There was a tradition that, during the time of Jesus’ ministry, a golden container of water was carried from the pool of Siloam in the south side of the city up to the temple mount in the north. As the procession came into the inner court, three trumpet blasts rang out to mark the joy of the occasion and people recited a specific scripture passage:

Isaiah 12:2-3 (WEB) “Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust, and will not be afraid; for Yah, Yahweh, is my strength and song; and he has become my salvation. Therefore with joy you will draw water out of the wells of salvation.”

Thought for the day: Think of this context combined with Jesus words and be in awe!

John 7:37-38 (WEB) “Now on the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink! He who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, from within him will flow rivers of living water.’ ”

John 6

Because of John’s repeated mention of the Passover, we understand that Jesus’ ministry lasted a few years rather than a few months (6:4). John also emphasizes Jesus’ foreknowledge and understanding (6:6). When Jesus asks a question there is a specific reason, and much of the time it is actually a test.

We have a verification here of what was mentioned yesterday. People really are looking for a prophet like Moses, as was foretold in the Old Testament (6:14).

What is neat here is that Jesus literally says, “I am. Do not be afraid.” This is a reference to His deity, because the expression is used by God to describe Himself:

Exodus 3:14 (WEB) “God said to Moses, ’I AM who I AM.”’

When we are at our worst; when we are the most fearful; when we are facing difficult circumstances; we need to remember that God is watching over us and we don’t need to be afraid anymore (6:20). He brings us safely to shore (6:21).

We see the people continuing to “stalk” Jesus (22-24)! This reminds us of why He doesn’t always want His ministry broadcast. Sometimes He needs rest. Sometimes He has to be somewhere else. Sometimes He is avoiding the Jewish leadership. He always has a reason and a plan for what He does, even when we don’t always understand.

Jesus accuses the crowd of coming to find Him simply because they were fed! It brings up an interesting point. We understand that He did a miracle with the loaves and the fish, but how many outside of the circle of disciples would know? Jesus encourages them to not just look for literal food, but spiritual food: the food that only He can provide. They want Him to be the prophet like Moses, and to perform a miraculous sign like the manna. Were they looking for daily feeding, or for something more spectacular than loaves and fish? Either way, Jesus cautions them that it was God who actually did the miracle, and He was currently doing another one in their midst. They just need to believe that Jesus is the bread of life!

This is the first of the official “I am” metaphors in the book of John. Not only is Jesus claiming deity here, but He is sharing with them that He is the giver of eternal life. They need to believe in Him (eat of His flesh), because He is going to give His body on the cross for the sake of mankind. If they believe it’s because the Father brings them through the Spirit, and Jesus will accept them because that is the Fathers will. Once they are accepted they will be His for eternity and will participate in the bodily resurrection at the end of the age!

Some of the crowd find this hard to understand. They take his metaphor literally, and don’t understand that He is foreshadowing His death on the cross. They quit following Him at this point, but the disciples understand that Jesus has “the words of eternal life.” However, there is one among the 12 who does not believe. John makes sure to record Jesus comments about Judas here to again emphasize that Jesus knows and understands all things, and that what was foretold in the OT must take place.

Thought for the day: There are four statements here that remind us that once we know Jesus, we’re His forever!

John 6:37 (WEB) “He who comes to me I will in no way throw out.”

John 6:39 (WEB) “all he has given to me I should lose nothing”

John 6:47 (WEB) “Most certainly, I tell you, he who believes in me has eternal life.”

John 6:58 (WEB) “He who eats this bread will live forever.”

John 5

Isn’t it interesting that this man doesn’t come to Jesus for healing? He doesn’t even know who Jesus is! What a perfect example of grace. The man wants to be healed, and apparently believes that when the water is stirred it’s an indication that the first one in will be cured (this is made even more explicit in 5:4, which some newer translations don’t include). The fact that Jesus chooses him out of all those waiting is another indication of grace, and the fact that he has been disabled for 38 years speaks to the magnitude of the healing. No water or angel is necessary. Jesus just commands that he take us his bed and walk, so he does!

Now, since work was prohibited on the Sabbath day, the religious authorities had come up with specific definitions of what work was, and had 39 different categories of work. Carrying something from one place to another was one of them. The Jewish leadership doesn’t care about the circumstances. They just care about the appearance and the action. In truth, by carrying his bed the healed man was engaging in an act of worship and obedience! Rather than rejoice that the man was healed, the authorities want to learn who had the temerity to tell him to carry his mat! The man can’t even tell them that.

Jesus comes to him in the temple and gives him a warning. It’s not necessary to believe that the man had sinned before and caused his own suffering. It’s quite possible that Jesus is just making sure that the man understands that even worse things could happen to him if he isn’t willing to obey. We often look at God’s commands as His way of keeping us from having any fun. In reality they are there to keep us out of trouble!

Once the man can point Jesus out to the religious leadership, he does. We might think that’s not a great way to show his gratitude, but I don’t think the man has any concept of why it’s a problem. He simply knows that Jesus healed him, and that he can now point out his Savior to others!

Jesus is always a stumbling block (1 Corinthians 1:23). In our chapter it starts because of what He does, but soon becomes worse because of the testimony of who He is. Some Jewish authorities thought that God’s rest on the Sabbath was absolute and continual. Jesus points out that God continues to work, and that He is joining God in that work. He obeys the Father and does His will, but He also claims authority and equality with the Father. The Son has the ability to judge, to grant life, and to raise the dead, both literally and figuratively. Figuratively, those who are willing to listen and believe obtain eternal life. But there is also a literal and real physical resurrection that will happen for those who believe and follow, and doing what is good comes naturally for those who believe.

Ephesians 2:10 (WEB) “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.”

The religious leadership won’t believe because they refuse to accept both the testimony of John the Baptist and the Scriptures themselves! The law reveals that we are sinners. The sacrificial system points to our need for a Savior. The prophets predict the coming Messiah. All of Scripture points to Jesus, but they refuse to believe, so they stand condemned.

Thought for the day: Moses even pointed in a very specific way to the coming of Jesus, and to the need to believe Him!

Deuteronomy 18:15 (WEB) “The LORD your God will raise up to you a prophet from amongst you, of your brothers, like me. You shall listen to him.”

John 4

There is a lot to unpack here, but I’ll try to be brief (and some are saying, “That’ll be a first!):

• This is a significant place in Jewish history. This land was not only owned by Jacob, it was given to Joseph and he was buried there (Joshua 24:32).
• That Jesus is willing to talk to a Samaritan woman tells us something about how we should be willing to reach out. He crossed barriers (27)!
• Jesus initiates a conversation so that he can share the gospel.
• We see the issue of confusion again, like with Nicodemus. Jesus is talking about salvation when he talks about living water. The woman thinks that He is talking about moving water!
• Jesus shares that salvation is a gift that can only come through Him (14).
• Jesus wants her to understand who He is, so He asks her a question that leads to Him revealing His divine knowledge.
• The woman finally begins to think spiritually, and asks Him the most important question of the time: “Who is right about where the temple belongs and where we should worship? Jews or Samaritans?”
• Jesus tells her that the Jews are right, since salvation is coming through them. But she is really asking the wrong question. It’s not where you should worship, but who you should worship!
• Worshiping in spirit and in truth is worshiping Jesus! The Spirit reveals Jesus, who is the truth. He is the Messiah!
• The woman runs to get others, seemingly not yet convinced. Perhaps she wants to find out what others think?
• Jesus reminds the disciples (and us) how important outreach is, and that it’s a group effort (36-38). We all have a part to play, and one isn’t more important than the other.

Although Jesus does perform His second miracle in this passage (39-54), there is also a continued emphasis on the importance of the Word over the miraculous. In John 2:23-24 we saw that many followed Jesus because of the signs, but that He did not “entrust Himself to them.” Here we read that He says, “Unless you see signs and wonders, you will in no way believe.” That wasn’t intended as a compliment! And it comes on the heels of the Samaritans believing the word of the woman at the well and then believing “because of His word.” John seems to be preparing us for a new age, where the Spirit works more though the Word than the miraculous. Miracles can encourage true faith, but they are not the be all and end all of belief:

Luke 16:27-31 (WEB) “He said, ‘I ask you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—that he may testify to them, so they won’t also come into this place of torment.’ But Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.’ He said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if one rises from the dead.’ ”

And Jesus’ ministry foreshadows the coming gospel mission. He starts with the Jews (which is emphasized by His meeting with Nicodemus), but also ministers to the Gentiles (by going to Samaria).

Thought for the day: Once again we are reminded that the gospel is not just for the Jews, but for everyone!

Acts 1:8 (WEB) “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.”

John 3

The phrase so often translated as “born again” can also be translated “born from above.” Nicodemus obviously understands it one way, and Jesus accommodates his understanding, but also tries to get him to think more spiritually. To be born again is to be born from above, i.e. born of the Spirit. And to be born of the Spirit means to believe in Jesus Christ. He is the only way to have eternal life. And if you believe in Him you will change, because you are no longer in darkness: you are in the light!

There are various opinions as to when Jesus stops speaking in this passage. Is it after verse 12? Is it after verse 15? Or is it later in the passage? It’s an interesting question because Jesus may be revealing Himself as the Son of Man and giving Nicodemus some important information. I believe that Jesus probably stops speaking after verse 12, and that John is the one revealing the spiritual truth of how to be born from above to his readers. And that truth was actually foretold in the Old Testament:

Numbers 21:4-9 “They travelled from Mount Hor by the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom. The soul of the people was very discouraged because of the journey. The people spoke against God and against Moses: ‘Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, there is no water, and our soul loathes this disgusting food!’ The LORD sent venomous snakes amongst the people, and they bit the people. Many people of Israel died. The people came to Moses, and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have spoken against the LORD and against you. Pray to the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us.’ Moses prayed for the people. The LORD said to Moses, ‘Make a venomous snake, and set it on a pole. It shall happen that everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.’ Moses made a serpent of bronze, and set it on the pole. If a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked at the serpent of bronze, he lived.”

Either way, it’s quite an expose of Nicodemus’ lack of spiritual insight!

John’s joy comes from his ability to point to Jesus. Jesus is from heaven and can testify to more than earthly things. He speaks the Word of God, and He is the only one who has the Spirit without measure. He is our authority, and we need to believe in and follow Him!

Thought for the day: John’s words should echo in our lives as well:

John 3:31 (WEB) “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

John 2

The wedding at Cana records Jesus’ first miracle in the gospel of John (1-11). Did you notice that Jesus’ mom expects Him to help, even after His seeming rebuke of her? What an insight into human relationships! Jesus’ comment to Mary is easily explained because He isn’t trying to be noticed at this point. He does a miracle, albeit quietly. The head steward attests to the quality of the miracle that Jesus did.

The cleansing of the temple is one of two recorded in the gospels (12-22). Some believe that John moved the cleansing from the end of Jesus’ ministry to the beginning for a theological purpose. I believe that there are enough differences recorded that there were probably two. One at the beginning that marks the start of religious persecution, and one at the end that forces the religious leaderships hand. He seemingly wants the outer court of the temple to be more worshipful since non-Jews are allowed there, and He certainly doesn’t want people being taken advantage of when they purchase animals or exchange money. In the midst of His zeal, He makes a statement regarding the resurrection. He does it cryptically, essentially identifying himself as both temple and sacrifice, but the disciples don’t understand it until after the resurrection.

Next, it seems that some would willingly identify themselves as believers in Jesus, but Jesus understands that their commitment is not sincere (23-25). That is probably one of the reasons for Paul’s instruction in 1 Timothy 3:6 regarding the pastoral office. Paul says that a person who desires to be a pastor must not be a new convert. There needs to be some time to discern if a person’s commitment is sincere.

Thought for the day: Religious zeal can be a good thing. Jesus is even directed by it in our passage! But fervor is not always indicative of belief, or of right belief.

Mark 4:14-17 (WEB) “The farmer sows the word. The ones by the road are the ones where the word is sown; and when they have heard, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them. These in the same way are those who are sown on the rocky places, who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with joy. They have no root in themselves, but are short-lived. When oppression or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they stumble.”

John 1

John (the disciple) wants us to see Jesus as the Son of God who takes away the sin of the world! He wants us to know that Jesus is more than a mere man. He is God incarnate. He is creator, sustainer, and giver of life. He is the only one who can reveal the truth of God the Father, because He is God the Son! It is only through Him that we can become God’s children. Unfortunately most reject Him, even though He is the embodiment of grace and truth. Truth because He reveals that we need a Savior, and grace because He gives Himself so that we can have eternal life!

John also wants to introduce us to John the Baptizer, the predicted forerunner of the coming Messiah. Many were confused about his role, but he wasn’t! He is “the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord.’ ” Just as a herald of old would proclaim that a king was coming and get the road ready for him, such is John’s ministry.

John is a perfect example of the work of the Spirit in the lives of the prophets. John can recognize that Jesus is the “Lamb of God,” but later he asks, “Are you He who comes, or should we look for another” (Matthew 11:3)? That’s because the Spirit moves, but doesn’t always explain:

1 Peter 1:10-11 (WEB) “Concerning this salvation, the prophets sought and searched diligently. They prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching for who or what kind of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them pointed to when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow them.”

The Spirit not only revealed Jesus’ essential nature to John, He showed John that Jesus was the Messiah. John then fulfilled his purpose by pointing Jesus out to others. Andrew followed and told his brother Peter. Jesus found Philip, who went and got Nathaniel. Nathanael was skeptical, not expecting anything good to come from a hick town like Nazareth! Jesus reveals to Nathanael that he knows where he came from, which amazes him. Nathanael at the very least recognizes Jesus as the Messiah, even though he spoke even better than he knew when he called Jesus the “Son of God!”

There is also a play on words here. Jacob becomes Israel in the Old Testament, and Jesus alludes to that when he calls Nathanael “an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit.” Jacob swindled his brother out of his birthright and his blessing in Genesis 27. But he was called by God, and later he dreamed and “saw a stairway set upon the earth, and its top reached to heaven. Behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it” (Genesis 28:12). Jesus recalls that dream here and reveals that He is the ladder that provides access to God. Hallelujah!

Thought for the day: How would our lives change if we saw ourselves as people that needed to point others to Jesus?

1 Peter 3:16 (WEB) “Always be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks you a reason concerning the hope that is in you, with humility and fear.”

Deuteronomy 34

While we believe that Moses penned most of the first five books of the Bible under divine inspiration (Deuteronomy 31:24-26), he certainly seemed to use sources for some of it (Genesis 2:4), and a few sections were added after his passing. All done under divine inspiration as well!

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (WEB) “Every Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, that each person who belongs to God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

2 Peter 1:21 (WEB) “For no prophecy ever came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke, being moved by the Holy Spirit.”

Chapter 34 looks back at his death and serves as a fitting epitaph of his life, all while looking forward to the exciting new chapter of Israel’s journey. Joshua is the new leader, but, as of the time Deuteronomy 34 was written, no-one could hold a candle to Moses!

Thought for the day: No-one, that is, until Jesus!

Acts 3:22-26 (WEB) “For Moses indeed said to the fathers, ‘The Lord God will raise up a prophet for you from amongst your brothers, like me. You shall listen to him in all things whatever he says to you. It will be that every soul that will not listen to that prophet will be utterly destroyed from amongst the people.’ Yes, and all the prophets from Samuel and those who followed after, as many as have spoken, also told of these days. You are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘All the families of the earth will be blessed through your offspring.’ God, having raised up his servant Jesus, sent him to you first to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your wickedness.”

Deuteronomy 33

As we’ve seen, it’s not unusual to have a father bless his family on his deathbed. And here, Moses, in his capacity as “father” of the nation, does the same thing. He starts with the firstborn, Reuben. Next comes the royal tribe of Judah and the priestly tribe of Levi. Rachel’s sons are next, followed by Leah’s, and the children of the handmaiden’s are last. Simeon is omitted, which is in line with Jacob’s blessing that previously predicted they would be scattered throughout Israel (Gen 49:7). It’s fitting that God is glorified at the end. After all, He brought them out of Egypt and is giving them the promised land! He has protected and provided for them. He is majestic and eternal. His glory was revealed when His angels accompanied Him in the giving of the law (33:2; Acts 7:53). He is their God!

Thought for the day: He is OUR God too!!!

1 Timothy 1:17 (WEB) “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”