Josh Benner

Tag: Gospel of John

  • Another Helper. John 14:15-16

    Another Helper. John 14:15-16

    In 2019, Merrill Lynch and Age Wave did a survey on Americans over the age of 55 on the subject of end of life planning. 45% of those over the age of 55 did not have a living will. 

    And when it came to having a living will, an advanced directive in terms of end of life decisions, and a power attorney, that applied to just 18% of those surveyed over the age of 55. You might think “well maybe those legal affairs aren’t equally relevant for everyone.” 

    That may be. But in the same survey, nearly half of respondents – 43 percent – expressed worry that they lacked an advocate to look out for their interests at the end of their life. Planning for death is not an enjoyable task. 

    On the night before he was to go to the cross, Jesus was telling the disciples of the provision he was going to make for them when he was gone. He knew the agony and torture that awaited him. But here he is thinking about his disciples. 

    He was going away to the Father, but Jesus told the disciples that he would not leave them as orphans. In John 14:15-21, Jesus talks about two provisions which he made for the disciples. 

    The promise of the Holy Spirit, and the promise of his return. 

    1. The Promise of the Holy Spirit 

    Jesus tells his disciples: If you love me, you will keep my commands. 

    D.A. Carson points out that this is actually the first time in the Gospel of John where Jesus has called the disciples to love him. Jesus has talked of his love for the Father, and the Father’s love for him. Jesus has talked of his love for the disciples, and he’s called the disciples to love each other. 

    He’s talked about the importance of loving the Father. He’s talked about eternal life. But here he talks of the importance of loving him. 

    And love results in keeping his commands. Truly knowing Jesus, truly getting it with the gospel results in a life that is changed by the gospel. And so as a result of verse 15, Jesus continues speaking.

    John 14:16-17: 

    16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. 

    Studying the word “paraclete” 

    In verse 16, Jesus says that he will give another Helper. 

    That’s the word the ESV uses. It comes from the Greek word “paraclete.” And the way that word is translated varies quite a bit in English Bibles. 

    NASB, and New King James Version also translate the term as “helper.” The King James says “comforter.” NIV and NLT say “advocate.”  The Christian Standard Bible says “counselor.” The Message says “friend.”

    It’s such a rich and multi-faceted term that I think English translations struggle to capture the full meaning of the word.In a sense, all of those translations are right because they all capture different aspects of the meaning. The Spirit is all of those things. He is our helper, comforter, advocate, counselor, and friend. 

    Instead of talking about which one of those words is best, I think it’s helpful to take a moment and get a sense of how the word is used in the Bible and to allow that to paint the picture of what the paraclete, the helper, does. 

    Also, it’s worth nothing that Jesus says “another helper,” and he says that because he too is a paraclete. Jesus is the first helper. It is the Spirit who is the second helper who will come after Jesus has gone. 

    The Greek word paraclete is used four times in John’s Gospel and once in 1 John 2:1. And that is the extent of the usage of that term in the New Testament. 

    Atchafalaya river 

    In the book Creature of the Word, the authors give an illustration about a river in Louisiana called the Atchafalaya. It’s an important river for industrial and commercial activities. But it is totally dependent upon the Mississippi River. 

    It’s a distributary that breaks off of the Mississippi, but otherwise has no other water source. So if the water on the Mississippi is high, the Atchafalaya will be high. If the Mississippi is low, the Atchafalaya will be low. But ultimately, the Atchafalaya owes all that it has to something outside of itself. 

    The river achieves what it achieves because of its source. So it is with the Holy Spirit. End of verse 16. Jesus has talked of how he will provide this helper, this paraclete. To be with you forever. 

    Jesus had an earthly ministry that lasted for a finite amount of time. It was short. About three years. But he gives the Holy Spirit which we will have forever. 

    When Jesus was saying these words, that had not yet been realized. The disciples had not yet been indwelled by the Spirit. 

    Theology – Holy Spirit 

    In the New Covenant, the people of God, who have faith in the gospel will have the Spirit of God dwelling in them. And so when Jesus says If you love me, you will keep my commands, that is ultimately true due to the work of the Spirit. 

    Love for Christ, obedience to Christ, and the Holy Spirit will all work together in New Covenant. Because it will be the Holy Spirit who enables people to obey Christ. 

    The world so often misunderstands the heart of the gospel, and of the Christian life. 

    And sadly still, too many Christians misunderstand this. And what we misunderstand is the Spiritual aspect of faith. The Bible is not teaching us “just be good and God will love you.” That’s what the world often thinks Christianity is. And again, too many Christians think that way too. Strive to be good enough. 

    That is exactly what the gospel is not. 

    We are saved by grace. 

    But. 

    For a person who truly has faith, they have the Spirit and the Spirit works in them. And it is that which results in a life that is changed by the gospel. 

    Christianity is not YOU be good enough so God will accept you. 

    It’s that you’re not good enough. But on the merit of Christ, God will accept you. And for the person who truly has faith in Christ, they have the Spirit, and it is the Spirit who works goodness through them. So we are not saved because of our own goodness. But to have a life that is unaffected by the gospel shows that someone doesn’t truly have the gospel. 

    That is why Jesus says If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 

    Because in the New Covenant, the time we’re in now, true love for Jesus is in the Spirit. 

    The Holy Spirit has a ministry which carries on the work of Christ. 

    Without its source, the river dries up. 

    -It is by the Holy Spirit that we are born again when we have faith in Christ. 

    -The Holy Spirit teaches us and points us to truth and to righteousness. 

    -The Holy Spirit bears fruit in our lives which enables true believers to live according to the virtues which were valued and exemplified by Christ. 

    -The Spirit equips us with Spiritual gifts to use in order to serve God and build up his kingdom. 

    -The Spirit does convict us of sin while also working to sanctify and transform us to greater love for God.

  • Jesus washes the disciples’ feet. JOhn 13:1-17

    Jesus washes the disciples’ feet. JOhn 13:1-17

    It’s hard to ignore a major event. The night before you get married is not just like any other night. You know it’s the eve of the biggest day of your life. The night before surgery is not like any other night. You might have a big meal, but if it’s a big surgery, you know what’s coming the next day. 

    For Jesus, in John chapter 13, it’s the night before the day when he would go to the cross. 

    And what’s the first thing that John records? 

    Jesus washing the feet of his disciples. That’s what Jesus does before he dies.

    The lead up to the cross

    John 13 begins the second major section of John’s Gospel. John’s Gospel is essentially two main sections. “The Book of Signs,” which covers the public ministry of Jesus. That ended last week with the conclusion of chapter 12. “The Book of Glory” is the lead up to the cross, Jesus’ arrest, trial, death, and resurrection. 

    So the beginning of chapter 13, I take this as the prologue to the second act of John’s Gospel. And this prologue points to Chrit’s death and to the love that he has for his disciples. 

    John 13:1 says: Now before the feast of Passover.  

    The timeline of events between John and the other gospels is a subject which is hotly debated by scholars. Some take this event in chapter 13 as being a different day than the Last Supper. 

    I take these events as all revolving around the Last Supper and that this foot washing occurs during the last supper, on the night that Jesus was to be arrested. This is the third time in John’s Gospel that Jesus has observed the Passover holiday. 

    Just as a reminder, Passover is the annual Jewish holy day which celebrate God redeeming the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. After God had brought a series of plagues upon the Egyptians, he did one final judgment in striking down the firstborn of all of the Egyptians. For the Israelites, God had given the instruction to sacrifice a lamb and put the blood on the door of their household. Those who did this act of faith were passed over. 

    There were also instructions for a celebratory meal which was done annually. That’s the meal in which Jesus and the disciples are about to partake. 

    The next thing to observe in this opening. John mentions that Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father. 

    Nothing that happens in the events is outside the knowledge of Christ or the sovereign will of the Lord. 

    Throughout this gospel, John constantly talks about Jesus’ hour. Referring to the hour of glory when Christ would go to the cross. And here, the hour has come. 

    Jesus is in control, he knows what’s about to happen. 

    But his hour had come to give his life. As the first Passover required sacrifices for the Israelites, it ultimately pointed forward to the true Passover when the ultimate sacrifice would be made for the redemption and forgiveness of the world. 

    having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 

    The first 12 chapters are much more focused on Jesus ministering to the world, performing signs, teaching of who he is. That is the message going to the world. That Jesus is the divine Son of God who reveals the light and glory of God to the world and who brings the promise of eternal life. 

    But over the next five chapters, it’s just Jesus and his disciples. That is where his attention is. 

    John mentions the love that Jesus has for his disciples. In the chapters 2-12, the word love is used 12 times in John’s Gospel. In the next 5 chapters, it’s used 37 times. 

    Verse 2: During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him,

    Judas has not yet betrayed Jesus. The wheels are in motion for that to happen. The plot against Jesus was demonic. This verse also showing a contrast. 

    The first verse is about the great savior. The second verse is about the great betrayer. But even Judas is being used within the divine plan. Later on in this chapter, Jesus will predict his betrayal. 

    Verse 3: 
     Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God

    Similar to the first verse, this verse points to the divine initiative as closes out the introduction to this event and the second half of John’s Gospel. 

    In order for Christ to be glorified and return to the father, he must first go to the cross. 

    So that’s the prologue to this passage. What we’re going to do with our time this morning is look at three scenes.  

    Foot washing points us to the cross

    Verses 4-5:

    4 rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. 

    Again, the story of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples is well known to our culture. Even if you know very little about the Bible, it’s an event you’ve probably heard of. 

    Washing feet was a common custom in the ancient Greco-Roman world. If people were traveling to meet someone, roads were dusty and dirty. People were usually barefoot or in some sort of primitive sandal. 

    Your feet would get dirty. But foot washing was either done by a slave, or a child, or by the person themself. I think we really struggle to appreciate the weight of this event. Footwashing was always, always, always done by someone who was beneath someone else in society. 

    There’s no recorded evidence in Greco-Roman literature of a superior ever washing the feet of his subordinates, except for Jesus. It was absolutely radical. 

    To the disciples, it would have been absolutely shocking to see that. 

    Illustration – meeting the queen 

    If you were to meet the King of England, there are all sorts of protocols in place. Everyone is supposed to walk behind King Charles.

    You’re never supposed to leave a room that he’s in. He leaves the room first. If you’re dining with the king, he takes the first bite. You never turn your back on the king. 

    There are protocols for how to dress. You wouldn’t wear a bathing suit. Protocols of address. You don’t call him Chuck. He’s addressed in a magisterial title. 

    You don’t run up and give her a big hug. On and on and on. All of these formal expectations for what you’re supposed to do in her presence. 

    Imagine at a formal gathering the king were to take out a bucket and sponge and just start washing people’s feet. 

    That. would. Be. shocking. 

    But I would argue still not as shocking as in Jesus’ day. Because foot washing isn’t a cultural custom for us. You don’t go to someone’s house and expect them to just have a footbath prepared for you. 

    But in Jesus’ day, it was a custom reserved for the absolute most lowly and looked down upon in society. Jesus is taking the most menial and lowly task that a person could possibly take. 

    He’s taking on the role of a slave. 

    This would have been viewed as something that was absolutely beneath Jesus. 

    Humility was a virtue to ancient religious teachers, but not like this. Not in a way that totally went against social custom. 

    And so Peter’s reaction is actually pretty understandable in verse 6:
    He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?”

    Jesus is the greatest figure to have ever lived. And the disciples traveled with him, knew him, heard his teaching, saw his signs. 

    And Peter asks how Jesus could possibly lower himself to wash his feet. 

    Verse 7: Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.”

    Now that is an interesting thing to say. 

    You do not understand…

    What is there to understand about washing someone’s feet? 

    But afterward you will understand. 

    From the beginning of this passage, it’s established that the hour for Christ’s death has come. 

    This story isn’t primarily about feet, it’s primarily about the cross. Afterward, Peter will understand. 

    That in looking back after Jesus has gone to the cross, died, and rose, that looking back to the foo washing will have it’s truer and ultimate meaning. 

    Later on, looking back on this event, Peter will understand the significance of what Jesus did on that night. He will understand the supreme humility of Christ. He will understand that Jesus came not to be served, but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many (Matthew 20:28). 

    He will understand that before Jesus displayed the most scandalous and outrageous show of love by giving his life for the world, he did the most outrageous display of humility in serving his disciples by washing their feet. 

    And looking back, it will be understood that the washing of the feet on the night before he went to the cross was a symbol of cleansing the whole person with the gospel. 

    But on that night, as Jesus washed the feet of the disciples, Peter doesn’t yet understand, as will become clear from his response. 

    Foot washing points us to the Spirit 

    Verse 8: Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.”

    Like I keep saying, the washing is not just about feet. It’s about the cross. It’s about salvation. It’s about forgiveness for our sins. And it is that washing to which Jesus says “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.”

    In John 13, Jesus talks of the necessity of washing feet, and he’s pointing to the cross and a symbolic Spiritual cleansing. 

    And the message that Jesus tells to Peter is true for every person in the world. 

     “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.”

    It’s a washing from sin. That’s what makes sense of the passage. It’s not about feet, it’s about the cross. Jesus hasn’t literally washed any of our feet. Does that mean that we can’t be saved? No, of course not. 

    But he washes us in his blood, through his spirit, and in his grace by going to the cross.

    And that is the washing that if we do not have, we have no share with Christ, we have no inheritance with Christ, and we have no forgiveness with Christ. 

    So Jesus tells Peter that Peter must be washed. Peter still thinks they’re talking about literal washing with water. 

    Verse 9: Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” 

    Classic exuberance that we see from Peter. When he here’s that, he wants to have his whole body washed. But that’s not what’s necessary here. Because it’s the washing of the feet which is the symbol for the cleansing of the soul. 

    Verse 10, Jesus will explain why Peter’s request is unnecessary. 

    Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you.”

    Again, Peter is only focused on the physical aspect of foot washing. Jesus is talking of the spiritual reality of being washed in his grace. 

    Peter has already been washed by Chirst, set apart by Christ, forgiven by Christ. And so when Peter wants his hands and his head washed, it’s unnecessary because he is already clean. 

    He will be no more forgiven by having all the water dumped on him. Grace is not partial. We’re not partially washed by Christ. Jesus fully saves us. He fully forgives us. 

    Notice at the end of verse 10, Jesus says to Peter “you are clean, but not every one of you.” 

    Referring to Judas. 


    Verse 11 says: For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.” 

    Tim Keller brings up this point, but Judas is a disciple who served Jesus. He’s with Jesus here. He has his feet washed by Jesus. Judas was part of the greatest small group that ever existed, the greatest Bible study group that ever existed. 

    He had the greatest pastor, spiritual leader anyone ever had. 

    And yet Judas is in the room, and he has his feet washed. And he’s about to betray the Lord. 

    It is having your soul washed by Jesus, your soul cleansed by Jesus that is what brings the promise of eternal life. 

    Only that. 

    Acts 4:12 says: there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” 

    We come to the third major section of this passage. Foot washing shows us humility. 

    Foot washing points us to humility 

    Verse 12:

    When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? 

    Jesus answers his own question. 

    Verses 13-15:
    You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am.14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.

    What Jesus is saying here is that “You do have reverence for me. As you should. And with me lowering myself and humbling myself in this way, as the teacher, I am calling on you to do likewise. 

    He calls the disciples to wash one another’s feet. 

    Excursus – should we wash feet? 

    That begs a question. Should we wash each other’s feet? It is sometimes done. I’ve heard of it done at weddings. 

    Pope Francis has before washed the feet of prisoners. Some churches even take this as a command, almost treating footwashing like a sacrament similar to baptism or communion. 

    I don’t think we should take it that way for a couple of reasons. 

    First, the Bible never gives foot washing as a universal command. It’s mentioned one other place in the New Testament in 1 Timothy 5:10, in a context where it’s talking of footwashing as an example of hospitality. 

    But we don’t see it as a command. 

    Secondly, we don’t see it viewed as a sacrament in the early church or in early Christian writings, which means that people who were closer in time to the disciples themselves did not take it that way. 

    principle of humility 

    Instead, the principle is what matters. Jesus has debased himself, and in the act of washing the feet of his disciples. In some ways, if all we were called to do was wash the feet of others, for us, that would almost be the easy part. 

    What’s not so easy – for many people – is the principle that leads one to washing the feet of another, and that is showing true humility before someone else.

    So much of our world is about appearances. Jesus took on the most menial and inglorious task in his world. We can really be obsessed about appearances. 

    There have been studies done that show that people are more likely to wash their hands if there’s someone nearby. In other words, some people don’t care about washing their hands as much as they care about others thinking they care about washing their hands. 

    The photos people share online of them and their family. So often posed, everyone looking nice, picture perfect. We want to be seen as respectable, competent, good, and from a good family. 

    Don’t misunderstand. None of that is inherently bad. 

    But what can be a problem is when we become obsessed with how we look, how are family looks, how we’re perceived and thought of. And we do live in a very vain and visual world. 

    And that attitude can fly in the face of humility. 

    I think of the scene with Jesus and his disciples. 

    Quoting from Matthew 18:1-4:
    At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them 3 and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 

    Serving the Lord is serving something bigger than yourself, serving things of eternal importance and significance. 

    And that’s what Jesus calls us to. To serve and to be humble. That’s what Jesus is saying at the end of the passage when he says: 
    16 Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

    Jesus sets the example. He wasn’t above humble service, and neither are we. We are called to follow Jesus and that includes following his example of humility. 

    Thanks for reading! If you like this post, please share and subscribe.

  • The Son of God allows us to be God’s sons. STUDYING JOHN 5:18

    The Son of God allows us to be God’s sons. STUDYING JOHN 5:18

    In John 5, Jesus heals a man on the Sabbath which draws the ire from the Pharisees who had more restrictive views of Sabbath practices. In John 5:17, Jesus says: 

    “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”

    In response to Jesus pointing to God as his Father, the Pharisees begin to actively conspire against Jesus. 

    18 This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. 

    We know the end of the story. Jesus is ultimately crucified. But it is because Jesus said that God was his father that jump started the Pharisees in their conspiracy against him. 

    In an event which is not recorded in John, Jesus is before the Pharisees. The sonship question comes up again. 

    Matthew 26:63-64: 

    the high priest said to him, “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” 64 Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

    That’s the final straw in Matthew’s gospel and the Pharisees seek to have Jesus crucified. 

    Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy. 66 What is your judgment?” They answered, “He deserves death.” 67 Then they spit in his face and struck him. And some slapped him, 68 saying, “Prophesy to us, you Christ! Who is it that struck you?” (Matthew 26:65-68). 

    The pharisees look at the words of Christ as blasphemy. 

    But it wasn’t. It was the truth. 

    Incarnationally, morally, theologically, Jesus is the Son of God and God is his father. 

    But in John 5, we see the opposition rising. 

    What started as a miracle turned into a Sabbath controversy. 

    And what became a Sabbath controversy was intensified by Jesus pointing to himself and his relation to God. 

    The sonship of Christ and the fatherhood of God points us to the gospel. 

    We are God’s children, created in his image who had forsaken God through our sin. 

    Jesus is the perfect Son of God who was forsaken so we could be forgiven for our sins. 

    As radical as it is that Jesus addressed God as his father, he invited us to do the same when he taught the disciples how to pray in the Sermon on the Mount. 

    your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 Pray then like this: 

    “Our Father in heaven, 

    hallowed be your name. (Matthew 6:9)  

    The Apostle Paul says in the opening salutations of all of his letters: grace and peace to you from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 

    The fatherhood of God is bestowed upon the people of God because Jesus is the true Son of God. 

    Jesus is the son of God who allows us to be adopted as God’s children and to approach God as our own father. 

    John 1:12 says: 

     to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God

    The adoption language is used by Paul at the beginning of his letter to the Ephesians. 

    3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 1:3-5) 

    That’s the Good News of the Gospel. The Son of God allows us to call God our father. 

    Thanks for reading! If you liked this post, please share and subscribe! 

  • The Son of God who makes us sons. John 5:18

    The Son of God who makes us sons. John 5:18

    In John 5, Jesus heals a man on the Sabbath which draws the ire from the Pharisees who had more restrictive views of Sabbath practices. In John 5:17, Jesus says: 

    “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”

    In response to Jesus pointing to God as his Father, the Pharisees begin to actively conspire against Jesus. 

    18 This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. 

    We know the end of the story. Jesus is ultimately crucified. But it is because Jesus said that God was his father that jump started the Pharisees in their conspiracy against him. 

    In an event which is not recorded in John, Jesus is before the Pharisees. The sonship question comes up again. 

    Matthew 26:63-64: 

    the high priest said to him, “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” 64 Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

    That’s the final straw in Matthew’s gospel and the Pharisees seek to have Jesus crucified. 

    Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy. 66 What is your judgment?” They answered, “He deserves death.” 67 Then they spit in his face and struck him. And some slapped him, 68 saying, “Prophesy to us, you Christ! Who is it that struck you?” (Matthew 26:65-68). 

    The pharisees look at the words of Christ as blasphemy. 

    But it wasn’t. It was the truth. 

    Incarnationally, morally, theologically, Jesus is the Son of God and God is his father. 

    But in John 5, we see the opposition rising. 

    What started as a miracle turned into a Sabbath controversy. 

    And what became a Sabbath controversy was intensified by Jesus pointing to himself and his relation to God. 

    The sonship of Christ and the fatherhood of God points us to the gospel. 

    We are God’s children, created in his image who had forsaken God through our sin. 

    Jesus is the perfect Son of God who was forsaken so we could be forgiven for our sins. 

    As radical as it is that Jesus addressed God as his father, he invited us to do the same when he taught the disciples how to pray in the Sermon on the Mount. 

    your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 Pray then like this: 

    “Our Father in heaven, 

    hallowed be your name. (Matthew 6:9)  

    The Apostle Paul says in the opening salutations of all of his letters: grace and peace to you from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 

    The fatherhood of God is bestowed upon the people of God because Jesus is the true Son of God. 

    Jesus is the son of God who allows us to be adopted as God’s children and to approach God as our own father. 

    John 1:12 says: 

     to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God

    The adoption language is used by Paul at the beginning of his letter to the Ephesians. 

    3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 1:3-5) 

    That’s the Good News of the Gospel. The Son of God allows us to call God our father. 

    Thanks for reading! If you liked this post, please share and subscribe! 

  • Jesus and sabbath controversies

    Jesus and sabbath controversies

    Honoring the Sabbath and keeping it Holy is in the Ten Commandments. Specifically, it’s the fourth commandment found in Exodus 20. When the command is given in Exodus, the basis for this command goes back to creation. 

    Exodus 20:11: 

     For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. 

    The Sabbath is important. 

    Throughout much of Israel’s history, they had not taken the Sabbath as seriously as they should have. 

    In the prophets, their failure to keep the Sabbath is pointed to as a symptom of their sin and lack of devotion to God. 

    In Ezekiel 20:10-26, Israel’s profaning of the Sabbath is looked at as a direct cause of their downfall. 

    In Amos 8:5, the Israelites are judged for their half-hearted Sabbath observance and their regular desire to have the Sabbath conclude so that they can resume pursuing their own ends and their own goals. 

    We see a similar idea at the beginning of the Book of Isaiah. The Israelites are half-hearted in their pursuit of God. And their Sabbath observance is mentioned in Isaiah 1:13: 

    13 Bring no more vain offerings; 

    incense is an abomination to me. 

    New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations— 

    I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. 

    Half-heartedly going through the motions is looked upon by God as vain.

    He wants true, genuine worship. 

    As we’ve talked about on numerous occasions, in the Old Testament, Israel is eventually judged by God and they lose their land. 

    When the southern kingdom was able to return to their land, they attempted to learn from their past sins in the final centuries before Christ. 

    Here’s something you might not have known. 

    In the gospels, you have Jesus constantly interacting with the Pharisees. But where are they in the Old Testament? They’re not there. 

    Or think about rabbis. Where does the Old Testament ever talk about someone going to their rabbi? 

    It doesn’t. 

    It was after the Israelites had lost the land and returned from exile that these institutions arose. 

    And part of the goal was a return to the law. 

    They wanted to learn from history and learn from their past sins as a people, and so one of the cultural responses was a hyper-sensitivity to the Law of the Old Testament. 

    The Law was good. Romans 7:12 tells us that the Law is holy. 1 Timothy 1:8 tells us that the Law is good if used properly. 

    But in an effort to make sure that they followed the Law, they added rules that were not Biblical onto the Biblical Law as a way of trying to ensure adherence. 

    By the first century, Jewish tradition had listed 39 different activities which were prohibited on the Sabbath. 

    In some schools of thought, adherence to the Sabbath was more important than life and death.

    And so for this man who has just been healed, for him to move his bed is looked upon as a violation of the Sabbath because that’s viewed as technically being work. 

    They’re missing sight of what Jesus has just done for this man. 

    The religious establishment tells this man that it is not lawful for him to pick up his bed and carry it on the Sabbath. 

    But according to who’s law? It’s according to their interpretation not to a specific command of scripture. 

    The Sabbath command in the Old Testament relates to work. This man isn’t doing work. He’s simply picking up his belongings after being healed. He’s not committing a sin here. 

    Thanks for reading! If you liked this post, please share and subscribe.