sermon on john 14:25-27

This passage seems to be something of a bookend to 14:1 (Jesus repeats his exhortation not to be troubled). In the larger passage, Jesus has confirmed to his disciples that he is going away to prepare the way for them to come to God. He alone can do that but he is also sending them into the world to continue his mission. To enable them to do that, he is going to will confer on them the gift of the Spirit who will be with them for ever.

The verses before us this morning continue to deal with the situation facing the disciples after Jesus has left them and his provision for them in that situation.

1. The Paraclete from Jesus
Because Jesus is going away, he is instructing his disciples; “All this I have spoken to you while still with you” (v.25). But with the disciples’ hearts clouded by grief and their minds so slow to take in what Jesus has been saying, there is a real probability that their recollection of his words will be slender and their understanding of them very slight.

“But,” says Jesus, “the Counsellor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (v.26) Their need is great but that need will be met by the Triune God: the Son will ask and the Father will send the Spirit of Truth to minister to the disciples.

Now, we should notice that this promise is quite specific to the disciples and relates to their role as the authoritative messengers of Jesus, those who will record and pass on the truth about Jesus. They need to be able to recall his words and deeds and they need to be able to correctly understand the significance of them. Jesus is here promising that God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – will see that they get that help.

This is why we have the 4 gospels and why we have the epistles and, indeed, the whole of the NT. The Holy Spirit was at work in and through Jesus’ apostles, just as he here said he would be.

If the ministry of Jesus is to be continued in and through his disciples, this is invaluable and utterly essential ministry.

But even though we can’t responsibly say that this promise is directly for us today, there are 2 things that we can say with confidence:

i) Because the Holy Spirit led the disciples into all truth, we can trust what the scriptures tell us about Jesus, both in terms of the gospels themselves and the rest of the NT. The Spirit of Truth instructed them and helped them to reflect on the meaning of Jesus and his work and so we have solid ground on which to base our faith and live our lives as Christians.

ii) The same ministry of the Spirit’s illumination is both needed by us and given to us. As we’ve said, this context is directly concerned with the Spirit’s work in the disciples but we can have every confidence that, as we ask for his help in understanding the truth, he will be pleased to give it to us.

Both those points have a real part to play in strengthening us in our life as the Lord’s people. We need to gratefully receive their help and work it through in our engagement with God’s Word because it is through his Word that the Lord equips us for our calling in this world.

2. The Peace from Jesus
The disciples need the Paraclete to instruct them, to teach them. But they also stand in need of peace in a world that is disturbed and disturbing – and that is exactly what Jesus now goes on to promise them (and, this time, by extension all believers).

The disciples lived in the days when the empire promised its own version of peace, the Pax Romana. But that was a pale imitation of peace – it was peace obtained and maintained by the edge of the sword; it was peace that relied on fear and oppression for its ‘success’. It was peace as the world gives it, the only peace this world can give.

But Jesus deliberately says that the peace he is going to give to his people is not like the world’s peace. His is not a peace that is enforced through fear, nor is it won by brute force.

The peace that Jesus has (“My peace”) and which he bequeaths to all his own is the peace of the risen Messiah, the peace that is one of the central marks of God’s Kingdom (cf. Is. 52:7; 53:5; 54:10,13).

It is the peace that speaks of reconciliation with God, that flows from forgiveness and mercy. It is peace that speaks of a better world and an unshakable confidence and hope in the resurrection of the dead. It is the peace of God’s certain victory over all sin and evil and the dawning of a new heavens and earth, where righteousness dwells.

It is peace that comes to us directly from Jesus himself – it is peace he himself has won. And his victory was not through superior military force or cunning but by his laying down his own life for our sins upon the cross. The peace the world gives is often costly for those it is imposed upon; this peace is a free gift from God but at the greatest cost to the one who gives it.

Peace in this world is very fragile and will not last. But the peace that Jesus gives as the Messiah is solid and permanent; it isn’t like the world’s peace. It cannot be taken away – our sin may disrupt our enjoyment of this peace but it cannot erase it; suffering may threaten to overwhelm it yet ultimately it cannot and will not because this peace was forged in the furnace of Messiah’s afflictions.

And Jesus has given this peace to every Christian. No exceptions. Every Christian has peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; every believer experiences the peace of God that passes all understanding. You can’t adequately explain it; you can’t quantify or bottle it but all who have put their trust in Jesus know it and have it.

This is a peace that is given by Jesus as a gift and yet at the same time we are encouraged in scripture to live in such a way as to allow this peace to truly be our experience. As someone has said, “It is a peace born from a living personal relationship with Jesus, and deepened through a growing surrender of life to his gracious rule. This the Holy Spirit makes available to the troubled hearts of the disciples, and to ours.” (Milne p.217)

3. Neither troubled nor afraid
Both the Holy Spirit and this matchless peace are gifts of Jesus but in both cases we need to make sure we do what we can to receive the blessings of those gifts. In particular, Jesus here exhorts his disciples, in the light of his promise of peace, not to let their hearts to be troubled and not to be afraid.

Both trouble and fear are unwelcome guests in our hearts and minds; we would far rather be without them and Jesus is saying here that, under normal circumstances, that is possible – if it wasn’t, he would hardly be urging his disciples in these terms.

But much of the onus rests on us – we need to believe the promise and rest in the peace that Jesus alone gives us. Like the disciples, we face a hostile and unbelieving world, a world that will bamboozle us with its philosophies and shock us with its blatant disregard for the Lord and his ways. But Jesus has given us his peace, which means that much of our distress in the Christian life is needless; instead of fretting, we need to take Jesus at his word.

Yes, the work is hard and the world is a difficult place in which to hold out the word of life but in the midst of the conflict we have been given the peace of the risen Saviour. Do you believe that? Do you believe him? He doesn’t lie, does he? Then if he can be believed, we have been given peace and are to live in the beautiful rest this peace – his peace – breathes into our souls.

And that peace, along with the ministry of the Spirit of Truth, is to further equip us for our lives in his service. The calling is high and holy; its demands are costly but the provision of Jesus is full and complete. That’s the best of all foundations to work from.

sermon on john 14:15-24

In vv.12-14 that we looked at last week, Jesus promised his disciples that they would do what he had done; indeed that they would do even greater things and that they could ask for anything in his name and he would do it.

We noticed that his promises were conditional: the doing of greater things would be based on his return to the Father and the disciples’ faith in Jesus; the answering of prayers would be for the glory of God and in accord with the character and will of the Son (his name).

The verses we’re looking at today continue that theme and advance it in significant ways.

1. Comings & Goings: Fellowship with God
Jesus has revealed himself as the exclusive way to God; in these verses, he reveals that he is also the giver of the Spirit. But what he says here about the coming of the Spirit and his Father’s coming to the disciples needs to worked through. When will Jesus come to his disciples (v.18) and in what way will both he and the Father come to the disciples and make their home with them?

I think that v.18 has the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus partly in view but the full picture can only really be understood to refer to the ministry of the Spirit.

The Spirit will be given by the Father in answer to the request of Jesus but we should note that scripture can also speak of the Son giving the Spirit; he proceeds from both the Father and the Son. And when he comes, his work will be to reveal the Father and the Son to his people. It is in that way pre-eminently that the Father and the Son will come to their own (v.21 is not restricted to the disciples as such but extends to ‘whoever’, that is to all believers in all ages).

Having noted that, we need to pay close attention to how Jesus described the Spirit and what he envisages him doing. He refers to the Spirit as “another Counsellor” (‘helper’; ‘paraclete’).

Jesus has been just that to his disciples. And he will continue to do those things is his exalted reign (as 1 Jn. 2:1 makes clear). But there was a great need for another helper who would be able to do what Jesus could not.

Jesus could not be with his people for ever; for his work to be completed he had to return to the Father. That prospect was filling his disciples with grief but their grief would be turned to joy for they would see Jesus again. That occurred after his resurrection but his promise is not to leave them as orphans and the outworking of that promise is in the giving of the Spirit.

• He is the one called alongside to help us; he will speak up for us; he will comfort us;
• He is the Spirit of truth: he reveals the truth about Jesus to us; he is the true one, the genuine article who alone can bring us to know God and Jesus his Son;
• He will witness to our spirits that we are the children of God (and so we will not be left as orphans);
• He will be the means by which we will experience the Father and the Son making their home with us, making us a spiritual temple in the Lord.

The ministry of the Spirit is absolutely necessary and wonderfully real. These are not empty words but a reality to know and to live.

2. Love and obedience
But we have skipped over v.15 which opens up this paragraph and the connection of that verse to the coming of the Spirit is very important. At first sight, it might seem that Jesus is saying that if we prove our love for him through our obedience then – and only then – will he ask the Father to send the Spirit to us.

But that is not the case. Jesus has plainly shown that the coming of the Spirit is conditioned only by his dying, rising and being exalted to the Father. It was never to be conditional upon the disciples’ faith – but, having said that, there is a distinct connection between the two made by Jesus here and we need to pay attention to it. First, though, we need to work through the relationship of love to obedience that Jesus speaks of here.

At the very start of this section in 13:1, John told us that having loved his own who were in the world, Jesus loved them to the finish. In his teaching, praying and self-giving, Jesus was demonstrating divine love for his own.

In v.15, Jesus turns to the issue of the disciples’ love for him. God’s love for us calls forth our love for him (as John elsewhere says, “We love him because he first loved us”). But that isn’t Jesus’ emphasis here; he doesn’t exhort his disciples to love God but simply asserts that if we love him we will obey his commands.

This is a point that Jesus emphasises here - it recurs in vv.21,23,24. But what is the connection between love and obedience? Quite simply, Jesus is saying that our love for him will be demonstrated by our obedience to his word. That love will of course involve emotions but that is not to be the measure of whether we love God or not; rather, it is our obedience to the word of Jesus – to follow him as Lord and to love his people as he has loved us (see 13:34).

In his first letter, John tells us the marks of genuine Christians: what we believe about Jesus, how we live our lives and whether we love God’s people in deed and in truth. If we love him (as a response to his love for us) we will obey the word of Jesus.

Genuine love for God is not a matter primarily of the emotions but of doing his word. Do you love God?

Now to the connection between loving Jesus and his giving of the Spirit: it is as we show our love for him that we will discover more of the Spirit’s ministry and be conscious of the warm fellowship of Father and Son as they make their dwelling among us and in us (“I am in my Father and you are in me and I am in you” v.20). That, surely, is something we would desire personally and corporately – to know the Father and his Son through fellowship with the Spirit.

But it will be ours only if we do the words of Jesus, taking seriously the call to faith and the life that proceeds from it – right belief, right conduct and genuine love for each other. Where those things are present, as concrete signs of our love for God, we can be sure that our enjoyment of fellowship with God will be heightened.

3. Jesus & the world
But isn’t this all rather insular? Isn’t it encouraging an inward looking Christianity – the Spirit will be in us and we will know the Father and his Son. What about the world? That, at least in part, seems to have been in the mind of the other Judas who asks Jesus, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”

He seems to have a point, doesn’t he? If Jesus has come from God and is the way, the truth and the life, the exclusive way to God, why wrap that up and hide it away? Why stop with a few disciples? Why not reveal himself to the world? Two things need to be said.

Firstly, Jesus tells Judas that the way is not closed, that anyone and everyone can know him and the Father and can have the Spirit dwelling within them: “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”

Anyone who hears Jesus’ call to repent and believe and responds to it, who shows the obedience of faith, will be welcomed into the family of God. The way is not barred but it is a narrow way – it is the way of faith in Jesus, the one who is the way, the truth and the life.

Secondly, remember the whole context of the Upper Room teaching. Jesus is going away and is equipping his disciples to take up his mission – to even do greater things than he has done. Heightened fellowship with God is not for purely personal enjoyment but it is essential equipping for going into the world with the gospel of grace.

Jesus will show himself to the world – in and through his disciples. If we love him, we will obey his word – and he will make his home in us. When that happens, it cannot be hidden – just look back at Jesus’ words in 13:35.

All of which leaves us with the most winsome invitation and the most exacting commission: invited to know ever deeper fellowship with God and commissioned to show the reality of that life to a world that is lost and in terrible darkness.

If we love him, we will obey what he commands.

sermon on john 14:12-14

Some products make large promises for themselves – or at least those advertising them do. But all too often, the reality is a great let-down – far from being and doing what they claim, they disappoint and annoy.

And this passage can also be taken that way – it makes the most amazing claims and promises but is that really how it is? Taking it as it stands, people might say, ‘Well, I asked for healing and never got it’; ‘I wanted a life-partner and never found one’; ‘I prayed for an opening to serve God but only found closed doors’.

Then, in the light of these words, some answer that the problem lies not in the promises or the one who makes them but in the one doing the asking – if only they had sufficient faith then God would have answered their prayers and how.

And so we’re left asking whether Jesus’ words are the empty claims of a spiritual salesman or, if not, whether the fault lies in our small and ineffective faith? Neither option is attractive. But there is a third option: maybe we need to pay more careful attention to what Jesus is actually saying here. How should we understand his words? What is he really promising to his disciples, then and now?

1. Greater Works & the faith that produces them
One of the most tantalising aspects of Jesus’ words here is the promise that his disciples will not simply do as he has done but will do greater works than even Jesus has done. What does that mean – the dead regularly raised, every sickness healed, all storms stilled?

Clearly, if that was Jesus’ meaning then the church has never lived out his words, not even in the book of Acts. A much more likely explanation is that the church will see many more conversions than Jesus did in his ministry – a point which is certainly true. But we still haven’t got the heart of what Jesus is saying.

i) The ‘why’ of greater works What these greater works are is intimately tied by Jesus to the reason why they will do them: “because I am going to the Father” (v.12).
Jesus is going to be glorified and that will inaugurate a whole new age in which his Spirit will be poured out upon his people. In 1:50 and 5:20 Jesus speaks of greater things which are connected with his glorification – when he ascends, a new day is born which is justifiably called ‘greater’.

This is very similar to what Jesus says about John the Baptist and the one who is least in the kingdom being greater than John. Why is that the case? Because John is the last of the old covenant prophets; a whole new age is being brought to birth in and through Jesus – and that age is born when Jesus ascends and pours out his Spirit (see Mt. 11:11ff).

So the greater works are so-called because they are works that proceed from the reality that Jesus has been exalted. What was begun in the earthly ministry of Jesus reaches its fullness when he is exalted and his church sent out in mission to the world – we have a full message to proclaim of a Saviour who lived, died, rose and ascended – it is a glorious message which yields greater works.

ii The need for faith But the promise of Jesus in v.12 (and it is a solemn promise; “I tell you the truth”) is a conditional one. Jesus says “anyone who has faith in me will do…” – and that is a very important qualification.

But what precisely is he saying? Is he intending to make a point about the quantity of faith a person has, so that his words really mean ‘anyone who has sufficient faith in me…’? That’s how some explain his words but elsewhere Jesus tells us that if we have faith as small as a mustard seed we can move mountains (Lk. 17:6).

The point is not so much about quantity but the nature of faith and who it is focussed upon. Jesus is speaking about trust in him as the risen and ascended Lord of glory, a faith that is focussed upon him and his Kingdom (with all its concerns).

It isn’t a matter of having a strong enough trust in Jesus that will then yield what we’re hoping for; Jesus is calling us to a trust that honours him as Lord, that seeks first his kingdom and righteousness.

And, very importantly, there is a link between faith and obedience in the wider context – it is those who obey what Jesus commands who will be conscious of fellowship with the Father and the Son and who will know most of the work of his Spirit in and through them (v.15ff).

2. Praying for anything & receiving it
Having promised that his disciples will do greater things, Jesus follows it in vv.13,14 with a promise that they can ask for anything in his name and he will do it. This falls into similar territory, with the same possibilities for misunderstanding and misuse; we need to pay close attention to what Jesus actually says here.

i) The purpose of prayer Again, Jesus speaks here of why he will answer his disciples’ prayer: “so that the Son may bring glory to the Father” (or, more accurately, “so that the Father may be glorified in the Son”).

This is entirely in keeping with what Jesus teaches in the Lord’s Prayer, that we focus on God and his glory, longing for his name to be hallowed and his will to be done. Jesus will answer the prayers of his people in order that his Father may be glorified – and that is no surprise, it was the heartbeat of his whole mission.

ii) Praying in Jesus’ name And this helps us to grasp what Jesus means by the condition he sets upon the prayers he will answer, that they are asked ‘in his name’. To ask in Jesus’ name is not to simply attach his name to the end of our prayers but to ask in line with the character of the Son and in line with the character of his mission.

So there is no way that Jesus is giving his people carte blanche here to just ask for what they want and they can have it; this is a call to pray in line with God’s will and for God’s glory. This is prayer with God and his kingdom at the very centre.

And notice that the contrast in these verse is not between what Jesus did and what his disciples will do; it is between what Jesus did and what he will continue to do through his people – “I will do whatever you ask in my name” (v.13).

3. Living it out
So Jesus makes some amazing promises – how should we respond to what he has said?

i) By recognising the age we live in and responding with faith in Jesus, a faith that is not just a formal belief but personal trust and commitment. We live in the age of ‘greater works’; the age of the Spirit.

That holds amazing promise for our life in this world, but the challenge is to live out our lives with faith in Jesus, with him at the centre, with his concerns firmly upon our heart, with an obedience to his word that yields a sweetness of fellowship with Father and Son and that issues in a greater awareness and experience of the power of his Spirit.

ii) By praying in Jesus name and so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. There is the closest connection in these verses between having faith in Jesus and praying in Jesus’ name – the two belong together; if we are believers, we are to be pray-ers too.

Praying in Jesus’ name means we must endeavour to pray in line with his will and for his glory, which means we need to soak our minds in the scriptures so that our prayers reflect their concern for God’s glory. The burden of our prayers is not to be our comfort and ease, nor the security of loved ones but rather the glory of God in the Son.

As we do that, Jesus has encouraged us to expect that our prayers will be heard and answered; after all, he has gone to the Father and has poured out his Spirit, making this the day of greater things. Shouldn’t that give a real impetus to our living and our praying, both personal and corporate?

sermon on john 14:4-11

Jesus is leaving his disciples; he will be with them only a little while longer – and that departure has a two-fold meaning. He is going to be taken from them violently, crucified and buried; then he will be taken from them in his exaltation.

Having announced his departure, he is seeking to comfort them and in vv.1-3 urges them to trust in God and to trust in him – his going away is in order to secure a permanent place for them in the Father’s household – starting now and gloriously completed when he returns.

In vv.4-11 that discussion is furthered in how it directly relates to the disciples. They are not simply bystanders; they (and we) must respond to what Jesus is teaching.

1. The way of Jesus and Jesus the Way
In v.4, Jesus tells them that they know the way to where he is going – after all, he has explained to them that he is going to be lay down his life for his sheep, that unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies it cannot produce other seeds. And, without metaphor, he has told them he is to be betrayed and will be lifted up from the earth.

In many ways, Jesus has opened for them the way he is about to take. But, just like you and me, they are slow learners. Here it is Thomas who demonstrates that when he replies to Jesus, “Lord, we don’t know where you’re going so how can we know the way?” (v.5).

He is assuming that the way Jesus is about to take will also form the way for the disciples to take and, partly, he is right to assume that (in that all disciples must go the way of the cross – Jesus himself says so). And yet in a very important sense, he is badly mistaken, as Jesus’ famous words make plain.

In response to the slowness and confusion shown by Thomas, Jesus says, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (v.6). There are massive implications in those words. Jesus is here proclaiming an exclusive way to God; all roads do not lead to God – there is one way only.

That doesn’t sit comfortably with most people today and it is certainly true that we need to be careful how we convey this claim but we must never go soft on it – there is no hope for anyone outside of Jesus – that’s what he says here, plainly and clearly.

But, important as that is, what we must also see is that Jesus is not saying that the way to God the Father is by following his way; it is by following him – he is the way! Don Carson has expressed this truth memorably in a sonnet…

The way Jesus took was a unique way, a way that we are not called to travel. His was the way of utter loss and rejection; his was the cup full of woe for our sins; his was the unimaginable anguish and pain of separation from the Father. Our way is not that way but the Jesus who went that way for us.

This is dazzlingly important for his disciples to grasp – then and now. The only way to the Father is by the Son, not by any sacrifice or pain that we might endure. Yes, we are called to serve sacrificially; yes, we will have to endure pain and sorrow and maybe much more. But none of those are in order to secure us a place in the Father’s family; none of those are to atone for our sins – Jesus, Jesus is the way.

2. Why Jesus is the Way (vv.7-10)
But some may ask us why it is that Jesus is the way – it is clear that he says he is but why is that so? The answer to that question is found in vv.7-10.

There is a textual issue in v.7 which it might be helpful to clear up. The NIV wording seems to suggest that the disciples might not really know Jesus because they don’t seem to know the Father, but there is another possibility, reflected in the TNIV: “If you really know me, you will know my Father as well.”

Whichever text is correct, the implication is the same in both and is drawn out by Jesus: from now on, they do know the Father and have seen him. To which Philip replies, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us” – he hasn’t yet grasped what Jesus is saying and so Jesus makes it as plain as can be: “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (v.9).

That claim is utterly astonishing and could not be taken any higher. Jesus is aligning himself with God the Father in the closest possible way – he isn’t saying he is a bit like God; he is without doubt saying that he is God, come in the flesh.

The words of Philip almost echo those of Moses when he asked the Lord to show him his glory; you’ll remember that the answer he was given is that it is impossible for man to look at God but the Lord would show him something of his glory. Well, as this gospel has already made plain in 1:14-18, especially v.18: “No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.”

Why is Jesus the way to God? Because he is the Son who fully reveals the Father; he is in the Father and the Father is in him (v.10); it is the Father who is at work in and through him.

In the OT, the law revealed much of God to the people – it revealed his ways, it disclosed his truth, it held out the promise of life – but all those things are found fully and finally not in the law but in Jesus the Son of God: he is the way, the truth, the life, because he is the true and full revelation of God.

The claim to be the exclusive way to God makes complete sense when we grasp who Jesus is. If to see him is to see the Father, what other way could be needed to come to God? Every other claim to truth is then, of necessity, lesser and under suspicion – the benchmark for God is Jesus.

This explains why Jesus is the way but it also shows us why we must hold onto that declaration in days that despise such claims – the Father has been fully and uniquely revealed in Jesus his Son; to go soft on that claim is to rob God of his glory and it is to endanger the lives of those we share the message with. The claims of Jesus are stark and bold – but nothing less will do as we engage a lost world with the message of the gospel.

3. Why you should believe Jesus reveals the Father (v.11)
But large claims need strong evidence to back them up – why should anyone believe what Jesus is claiming here?

In v.11 Jesus calls for belief in what he says – in a very real sense, if he says it then it’s enough for his disciples. But Jesus realises that might be problematic for them and so he adds, “or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves”.

John has catalogued in this gospel 7 signs from the many that Jesus performed; his purpose in doing so for his readers is put in these terms: “these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you might have life in his name” (20:31). Jesus is saying just that to his disciples here – the works he has performed stand as powerful testimony to his claim that he is in the Father and the Father is in him.

Although he calls them ‘works’ here, elsewhere they are called signs and that is precisely how they function – pointing us to the reality that, in Jesus, the Father is active, bringing about a new creation, overcoming sin and death, uncorking the blessings of the last days, drawing near in saving and healing power.

The evidence is there for all to see – for those who have never come to faith in Jesus and also for disciples whose hearts are heavy and troubled for whatever reason.

Is it right and wise to trust Jesus? The answer is clear: yes, he alone is the way to God, to becoming a child of God, having been born again; he is the way to God because he alone fully reveals God; and the evidence for that is in the works he has done – they will bear continued meditation and will yield much comfort and strength as we do that.

We know where he has gone; we know he is himself the way there for us; we know that in him we have seen the Father. Those are realities to sustain and strengthen our daily living and to bear a keen testimony to others of the precious person of Jesus.

sermon on john 14:1-3

We have lived through a week of cascading emotions. There were many who were delighted for London when they were awarded the 2012 Olympics; there was scarcely anyone not shocked and deeply saddened by the terrible evil of the attack on London the next day. This has been a week, then, when hearts have been very deeply troubled – troubled by the loss of loved ones, troubled by the appalling sights of suffering on the streets of a vibrant city.

Troubled hearts need comfort. Lives that have been engulfed by the storms of sorrow need healing and hope. The passage we come to this morning in our series on these chapters offers just that hope.

Jesus has just told his disciples some very disturbing news. He is going away from them and they cannot follow him, at least not for now. He has repeatedly spoken to them of the fact he will be taken by the Jewish leaders and killed; and that time is at hand.

However dark the scene, Jesus also knows this is the time when he will glorify the Father and the Father will glorify him. Yet the disciples find all this so hard to grasp and, as a consequence, their hearts are troubled. We can see why that would be so – their beloved friend and master is going away from them and, however much warning they may have had, it will be a shocking event when it happens.

The phrase that is used in 14:1 is also used in 12:27 to describe Jesus’ response to the coming hour; the same term is also used in 11:33 and 13:21 to describe Jesus’ emotions at the death of Lazarus and at the betrayal of Judas.

Those uses help us to see what is going on here. The disciples are not just sad to be losing a good friend; their deep grief is much more closely aligned with the spiritual struggle that Jesus is involved in – the struggle that claimed Lazarus and that swallowed Judas; the struggle between light and darkness, life and death.

And all the hopes of the disciples had been pinned on Jesus – surely he would be the one to deliver Israel from evil, to rescue and restore.

God had promised just such a deliverer and he was eminently suited to the task. Yet he speaks of going on without them. No wonder their hearts are troubled – they are suddenly caught in the most violent storm just when they had expected to reach harbour.

Jesus knows their hearts, just as he knows ours. How does he handle the rawness of their sorrows?

1. Trust in God
He begins by starting at the point where his disciples are. They are grieved and troubled – and Jesus addresses them as such. But his exhortation in 14:1 is designed to call them forward from where they are. It is good to sympathise with others and there are times we might feel we can do no other. But where it is possible, we need to offer the hope of moving forward and Jesus does that here: he urges his disciples, “Do not to let your hearts be troubled”.

Clearly there is, in what Jesus says, a responsibility that lies with the disciples – they must be willing to hear what he says and respond to it. We need to notice that but we also need to understand it won’t always be the case – a person may be so much in shock it is impossible for them to hear, let alone respond to, exhortations that are wise and helpful. There is a time and a place for addressing the responsibilities of those we are seeking to help.

Jesus of course knows the hearts of his disciples and so he addresses them as he does here. But it would be wrong to take the first half of this verse and conclude that he was simply telling them not to allow themselves to be so troubled, to in effect ‘pull their socks up’. His words must be taken as a whole.

And taking them as a whole what Jesus says is that they are to combat and respond to their troubled hearts by trusting in God. The way back from a broken heart, from a heart deeply troubled, is not to find some inner strength you never knew you had but, rather, to lean all your weight on the God who made you. “Trust in God.”

We ought to note at this point that there are many ways of translating v.1 – ‘trust’ might be a command or it might be descriptive.

Of the various combinations, the most likely in the context is that Jesus is urging his fearful and troubled disciples to trust, to believe in God, to take what they know of this God and live it out.

2. Trust also in me
But that really is only part of the picture and we need to see the whole, because only then will we be in a position to truly deal with our fears and alarms.

Jesus combines the exhortation to trust in God with a twin call: “Trust also in me”. He has no hesitation in calling the disciples to a like faith in him as they are to have in the Father. And the reason he doesn’t hesitate is clear: if we have seen him, we have seen the Father. The Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world and all who put their trust in the Son honour the Father and discover the blessed reality of rescue from sin and death.

These words encourage us to hold the highest view of the person and work of Jesus. The reality to which they point is the only way sin can be overcome and troubled hearts truly set at ease and at rest.

The answer to the evil of the world, the evil that is in us and that is destroying society and marring creation, lies only in Jesus. It does not lie in a vague belief in a deity who is nameless and faceless. Genuine hope, hope that can settle the most troubled heart, lies in the God who is revealed to us in Jesus his Son.

Jesus is not wasting his words here. They must believe in God and they must believe in him as the one who reveals the Father and who effects the saving plans of the Father. Nothing less will do to lighten the darkness and calm the troubled hearts that had been thrown into turmoil by the ravages of sin and evil.

And our troubles, as we see our own disordered hearts or as we see the world in its sinister and sorrowful mess, can only be quieted through faith – faith in God and faith in Jesus who reveals the Father and accomplishes his purposes of grace. And if we need to hear that call afresh today, how much does our world need to hear it at this time!

3. Plenty of room
Jesus immediately bolsters what he is saying by speaking of his going away and what it will accomplish for his disciples. His words in vv.2,3 are some of the most well-known in John’s gospel and have been read at countless funerals and so on. If there are any words we know the meaning of, surely it is these.

I think that’s true, but I don’t think it’s necessarily as true as it could be. I don’t want to upset any apple carts but I think there is more going on here than meets the traditional eye. We need to get slightly technical to see that but I hope you’ll stick with me on this one.

Jesus speaks here of going away and coming back, references that we immediately assume to refer to his going to heaven and his second coming. But elsewhere in this chapter, he speaks of coming back and means after his resurrection (vv.18,19) or coming by his Spirit (v.23). So what does he mean here in vv.2,3?

We need to look at the phrase, “My Father’s house”. We’re used to understanding it as speaking of heaven but ‘house’ has a broader meaning. It is also used in 8:35 where it is translated as “family” or ‘household’. That is a good translation in the context. Could it possibly be that 14:2 is also referring not so much to the place where God lives but to the family he is remaking?

This is where we need to bring in the second phrase, the “many rooms” Jesus speaks of. The phrase simply means ‘dwelling places’, a place to rest and be refreshed; but, more importantly, it is a place to stay for ever. It has the idea of permanence with it. Now, go back to 8:35 and you’ll see the same word-group being used there – the slave doesn’t have a permanent place but the son does.

Putting those two points together, I think the link with 8:35 is a very strong one and helps us to see what is going on here. Jesus is going away to prepare a place for his disciples in the Father’s household – and it will be a permanent place. He is going away to make them sons of the living God. His death on the cross will achieve that.

But I think it is also right to see Jesus as looking forward here to his return in glory – when he speaks of coming back and taking them to be with him, it is difficult not to see that as referring in some way to his second coming.

And it is when Jesus returns in glory, that our adoption into God’s family will be complete – what Paul refers to in Rom 8:23 when he speaks of “our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies”.

So I’m not denying the traditional interpretation that Jesus is speaking of heaven but I am saying that there is another aspect to his words that is latent here and we need both of them if we’re we derive the comfort he intends to give us.

Through the going away of Jesus, into the shame and pain of the cross, we have been reconciled to God and have been made his children. In this world that is ravaged by sin, in the disordered and tension-filled lives we live in this world, we need the comfort of knowing that we are genuinely in the family of God, that Jesus has indeed conquered sin and evil, whatever might seem to be the case.

But we are not yet in possession of the fullness of what Jesus has achieved for us; one day he will return to take us to be with him where he is. As John later writes in his first letter, “Now we are the children of God and what we will be has not yet been made known”. But we know it is coming, in all its glory and wonder.

Sin will not have the last word; Jesus will. Already he has rescued us from its grip and given us a permanent place in the family of God; and one day he will return for us. Here is the message that this world needs to hear – not that sin will one day be defeated but that it has been and now is the time to come securely into the family of God.

There is a secure dwelling place for all in the household of God if they will put their trust in God and trust in Jesus. And if our trust is in him, we need to address our troubled hearts and apply the comfort of these exquisite verses – not only for our sakes but so that our mission to the world would not be hindered.

sermon on john 13:31-38

1. The Glory of God in the Cross of Jesus
The closing phrase of v.30 is deeply suggestive – “And it was night”. This is now the hour of darkness, not simply literally but symbolically too. Satan has entered the heart of Judas and Judas has gone out to betray Jesus. The gathering opposition to Jesus is going to reach its cynical climax in a very short time.

All of which makes Jesus’ words in vv.31,32 quite unexpected. It is a deeply dark moment and yet Jesus says that now, at this very time and in the unfolding events, the bright light of God’s glory is shining and will shine. He will be glorified by the Father and the Father will be glorified in him and this will all take place “at once”.

Does that mean that, somehow, the dark designs of Judas and the enemies of Jesus will be thwarted? Will Jesus escape their clutches as he did on other occasions?

No; God is not going to be glorified through his Son fleeing the cross but facing and going through its dreadful agony. Jesus calls himself here “the Son of Man” and that title is indeed a title of glory in the OT (see Dan 7:13). In the other gospels, the term is often used in a context of suffering; in John, the glory and the suffering are brought together in the most unexpected way: the Son of Man will be glorified in and through his suffering. And God the Father will be glorified in him. As one writer has said, “the greatest moment of displayed glory was in the shame of the cross”.

The cross unveils before our eyes the majesty and the mystery of God: here is love, vast as the ocean; here is justice, firm and true; here is where God and humanity are reconciled through the agony of the Son of Man.

William Gadsby expressed it perfectly in these lines (CH110 vv.2-4)

Here is the Saviour we worship and adore – a crucified Messiah, the Son of Man who suffered for our sakes. The heart of God is revealed in the broken body of his Son – and so this is where the focus of the church’s proclamation must ever be.

We must consciously take our stand with Paul when he affirmed to the Corinthians the centrality of the cross in Christian life and witness – “we preach Christ crucified…Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God”. The world is still a terribly dark place but there is a light that shines in the darkness and it is at its brightest at the cross where sin was judged and evil conquered. So we too must “preach Christ crucified”, unflinchingly and passionately.

But we must also see that, if it is true that God is glorified in his Son at the cross, so he will be glorified in the same way as we not only declare the cross but dwell under the cross. It is not only to form the heart of our message and mission but the heart of our mindset – that we will take up our cross and follow Jesus; we will deny ourselves and follow him. God is glorified, Jesus is glorified, in our doing so. Could we need any other incentive to respond to the call of Jesus?

2. Loving like Jesus to make him known
The fact that Jesus is so soon to be glorified, through his cross and in his exaltation, means that he will be with his disciples “only a little longer” (v.33). They will look for him but they won’t be able to follow him, since that would mean cross and exaltation.

Jesus is going into a unique situation without the disciples but he makes it clear in vv.34,35 that they have a vital part to play in implementing his achievements. And so he says to them, “A new command I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”

The community that Jesus has formed around himself is not to just dissolve or fracture when he has gone but is to continue to manifest the same love for one another that Jesus has for them, a love that expresses itself in the costliest way, that loves to the finish.

But why does Jesus call this “a new command”? Certainly the OT teaches love for God and love for our neighbour, so it cannot be that this command has never been given before. Perhaps the best explanation is that this command is new in its definition – “this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:10). And it is new in that Jesus’ death ushers is the age of the new covenant.

What a tough call this is – to love each other as Jesus has loved us! We might feel if we could pick and choose who we’re to love in the manner of Jesus that we might stand more of a chance, but that’s not an option – Jesus chose the 12 and Jesus chooses our brothers and sisters. His command is all-inclusive and profoundly challenging.

Before we wilt under its heat, we ought to refer back to a point we made when we looked at the footwashing incident. The call to love is made on the basis of not only the example of Jesus but also our experience of his love. It is as we receive the love of Jesus, shed abroad in our hearts by his Spirit, that we are enabled to love each other as he has loved us – sacrificially and unconditionally.

And if we do that, Jesus says its impact will be seen and felt by others: “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” We live in a world that is desperately short of genuine love – plenty of lust, plenty of self-serving but precious little truly self-giving love. And the world desperately needs to see it and so to be drawn to the Lord in whom it is found.

It is vital that the church preaches about Jesus and his cross, in all its glory and with all faithfulness. But it is equally vital that the church lives out the reality of the love of Jesus, and does so visibly, in order to show the world we are indeed followers of the Jesus we preach.

Although some might find one or other of these aspects easier, there really is no tension between the two. Preaching Jesus and his cross and loving each other from the heart, visibly and truly, aren’t options, nor are they in competition such that some churches preach and some churches love. May that never be!

3. The Weakness In Us All
Faced with the call of Jesus to a new level of community, Peter focuses instead on the obviously disconcerting statement by Jesus that he is leaving them and they cannot follow him. Instead of majoring on what was clearest, he focussed on the more opaque statement; we need to watch out that we don’t follow suit.

His response is to question where his Lord is going and when Jesus affirms again that, at least for now, they cannot follow, Peter protests very firmly, “Why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” (v.37) Coming so soon after the footwashing, it’s clear Peter has yet to learn the lesson that Jesus is the Lord.

Here we see a combination of impatience and bravado from Peter, a dual expression of weakness – for we are never weaker than when we are most certain of our own strength and when we’re trying to dictate to the Lord how and when he should act.

This is typical of Peter, perhaps, but he is not alone in his weakness. Many of us could also testify that we are all too ready to trust in our own wisdom and strength instead of leaning heavily on the Lord. And what is true of us personally also applies corporately.

There were times when the readiness of Peter to face hostility would prove to be an asset but here is an example of the reverse. The truth is that Peter simply has no idea of the nature of the struggle he is involved in, nor of the forces that are arrayed against him. And that makes him very vulnerable indeed.

We do not wrestle against flesh and blood – but it seems Peter is only thinking on that level. And he has failed to grasp yet the utterly unique ministry of Jesus – “Will you really lay down your life for me?”

The sad truth is expressed by Jesus: Peter for all his bravado will prove to be unfaithful and cowardly when push comes to shove. This is a desperately intense spiritual battle and his protests will prove to be empty boasts and foolishly naïve.

If that is true of peter, it is no less true of us. How will we stand when the heat is on? Well, not by staying out of the kitchen (that’s not our commission) but by putting our confidence not in our own strength, wisdom or ingenuity but in the Lord of glory, the Lord who has triumphed over all his foes in the glory of his cross.

May his cross ever be our boast and may we ever take refuge under its shadow. Amen.

sermon on john 13:18-30

I want to begin by telling you of my worst moments as a Christian. They are the times when I have seen my heart in all its sinfulness and come to the conclusion that, although I have been blessed by God in so many ways, I haven’t really honoured God, that my sin has been a betrayal of his grace and that I am, therefore, another Judas, utterly without hope.

Can you relate to that? If you can, you’ll know it’s the most distressing feeling and so destructive of ongoing faith and trust. As we approach this passage, you might do so with real fear, fear that the Lord is going to ask you to leave with Judas, that you also are a child of perdition. I hope to help us face and overcome those nightmares as we look at this passage together.

1. The true condition of Judas
The first thing we need to do is to establish as clearly as possible from the text what the true condition of Judas is. It is only against that background that we will be able to assess ourselves.

In v.18 Jesus quotes from Ps. 41:9 and says two striking things about Judas: he has shared Jesus’ bread and he has lifted his heel against him. The first speaks of being bound together in covenant loyalty while the second is “a revelation of contempt, treachery, even animosity”.

How appalling this is – to pretend to be in closest fellowship with the Lord of glory while all the while turning from him. And Jesus makes it plain (v.20) that in rejecting him, for whatever reason he does so, Judas is rejecting the God who has sent Jesus and who is revealed in and through him.

But of course the picture is bigger than just one man. This passage makes it plain that Judas’ defection was at the behest of Satan. That doesn’t remove his responsibility but it does help us to grasp the desperate nature of these events. And it gives particular power to that closing phrase, “And it was night” (v.30).

We aren’t told how Judas came to this point but we are shown his true condition and the nature of what is happening here. This is utter betrayal – it isn’t about someone backsliding or struggling with a particular sin. This is someone who has looked Jesus in the face, seen something of his agenda of grace and has deliberately closed his heart to that grace and then acted to thwart the purposes of God.

When the nightmares wash over you in waves of fear, you need to recall what this passage is showing. Judas has no desire – none at all – to know and honour Jesus. Yes, there is remorse later (almost as though, having used him, Satan dumps him) but his heart here is not mixed, it is settled in the firmest opposition to Jesus.

This is not about a believer struggling to live a holy life and even being overcome by sin for a time; this is utter repudiation of Jesus.

2. The sovereignty of Jesus
In the face of such a desperate reality, it is crucial that we grasp the next point: the text makes it absolutely plain that even where evil is reaching to its full height, Jesus remains sovereign.

In the first place, the defection of Judas is already known to Jesus. In fact, he has known about it all along; it isn’t only recently that he has somehow worked it out – check out 6:70. It had been long foretold in scripture (v.18 quoting Ps. 41:9) and Jesus was well aware of its fulfilment in Judas.

But it isn’t just that Jesus knew all along what Judas would do – the clear implication of v.18 in the light of 6:70 is that Jesus’ choice of Judas to be a disciple was always meant to serve the purposes of God.

Now, we need to be clear what that means. It isn’t removing from Judas his personal responsibility, nor is it suggesting that he was just the fall-guy who God willingly exposed to the wiles of Satan. Judas was massively privileged; not only did he hear and witness amazing things but he has just had his feet washed by God incarnate. It was his deliberate choice to reject the offers of God’s grace – but Jesus is showing here that even that rejection was subject to his sovereign overruling and serves his purposes.

We see that point recurring in the scriptures – Pharaoh is a wicked man who is responsible for his sin yet the Lord chooses to use him to display something of his power as he delivers Israel from Egypt. Then there is Cyrus, the pagan king of Persia, who issues the decree for the Jews to return to Judah which brings the exile to an end, at just the time the Lord had said it would happen.

But it is here and in the events this scene leads to that we see the sovereignty of God over evil played out to the full: at the cross, God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. Evil is not ultimate; God is, and his plans to redeem a lost world will not be thwarted by evil and will even use evil to further the loving plans of his heart. That doesn’t in any shape tar him with the same brush; what it does is help us grasp his complete dominance over all things, for the good of all in Christ and for his glory.

Yet that does not mean that Jesus can ever be indifferent to evil. However much he is in control here, the unveiling of the hate-filled face of evil fills Jesus with revulsion and anguish. Having spoken about what will shortly happen, Jesus is “troubled in spirit” (v.21). This is just what we see when he comes to the tomb of Lazarus, as he sees the destructive effects of sin.

The sovereignty of God even over evil does not mean he is complicit with it, nor does it mean he is indifferent to it. He is appalled by it and deeply troubled.

3. The impact on the disciples
There are clearly lessons we must learn from this as we seek to apply the text to ourselves but I want to handle that by way of a third point. We have seen the true nature of Judas’ betrayal of Jesus and the fact that Jesus remains sovereign here, even whilst deeply troubled. But there is a need for us to see how all this impacts on the disciples.

The first point to make here is that Jesus affirms again that he is sending his disciples out – see v.20 and cf. 17:18; 20:21. Judas goes out from them into the night and it is into a world situation where darkness is palpable that Jesus deliberately sends his disciples.

Now, the disciples at this point are still ignorant about Judas and his intentions. It seems when he left that, apart from John, they still didn’t know what was going on. They had been around Judas for a long time and yet seemingly had no inkling as to his antipathy toward Jesus. Their ignorance stands in stark contrast in this passage to the knowledge of Jesus.

And Jesus is sending them into the world, where evil is real and powerful. How are they going to stand? How are we going to stand? Here is where we need to apply and truly take heart from what we have seen about Jesus.

He is in control, even when events might seem to suggest otherwise. Who would have thought when Jesus was betrayed, arrested, flogged and then crucified that God was still on the throne? And yet he was! We must not lose heart because all seems so dark and so discouraging. Jesus is not just our Lord; he is Lord of Lords; all power and authority is his and evil cannot stand against him or thwart his plans to save.

Jesus sends us into the world, into the possibility of betrayal and opposition. How good to know, in the midst of that chaos, that even those events reaffirm the reality that he is the great I AM! And Jesus’ point in v.19 is just that: the fact he knows in advance is further proof who we’re observing here – the Lord, the I AM.

So we must take heart – but we must do more than that. Let me quote Bruce Milne on a very important point: “The confession ‘Jesus is lord’ must not lead to a triumphalistic detachment from the world but rather to an appalled dismay that his lordship is contested, and a commitment to mission to the world in the name of its Lord.” He then adds, “The ‘hour’ which is now striking for the climax of the mission of Jesus is also the ‘hour’ for the launching of the mission of the church.”

Yes, the days are evil and the world is a very dark place. But Jesus is Lord and so we must be his church in mission in every context – home, work, wider society and wherever he sends us. Evil will not triumph – Jesus has done so. We must not lose our nerve, nor our confidence in the Saviour.

sermon on john 13:12-17

This remarkable scene in which Jesus has washed his disciples’ feet is rich in symbolism. Jesus has explained that it symbolises both the decisive and ongoing cleansing from sin that he alone can and does give through his death on the cross. But there is also a third meaning implicit here, which Jesus now deals with openly.

1. Jesus our example
After re-taking his seat, Jesus asks a very pertinent question of his disciples: “Do you understand what I have done for you?” (v.12). It isn’t just directed at Peter, who had plainly failed to grasp what was being done, but is a question for the whole group. Do they – do we – understand what this scene is all about?

Of course, we can answer that this scene is all about Jesus’ unique ministry through his death which means we can know true cleansing from sin. We’d be correct in doing that – Jesus himself said so! But Jesus doesn’t leave it there and we need to follow his teaching here.

In these verses, Jesus opens up for his disciples the exemplary nature of what he has done – he has set them an example of how they should treat each other. As followers of Jesus, their commission is to learn from and inhabit the example he has set for them.

Of course, the cross is unrepeatable and Jesus is not saying they ought to lay down their lives for each others’ sins. But to say his death is unique doesn’t mean it can’t also serve as an example.

Maybe sometimes we play down this aspect of the scriptures because we’re concerned not to give the impression that Jesus is only an example for us. He is so much more and we are right to insist on that. But we must not allow that legitimate concern to mask the very heavy emphasis in the NT on Jesus as our example.

And we cannot fail to see that Jesus makes that point here in the strongest terms: “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.” (vv.13,14)

Is he our teacher? Then we should learn the lesson he teaches. Is he our Lord? Then we should follow the instruction he gives us.

Before we move on to consider what this means in detail, we must see the basis on which Jesus grounds the call to follow his example. It is found in the words, “as I have done for you” (v.15). Here we find, says one writer, “the ground on which this discipleship rests and the source from which it gains its strength.”

The lesson Jesus is teaching makes great demands of us. We will only be able to rise to the challenge through personal experience of the grace Jesus has lavished on us in his own service for our sakes.

2. Living the Lesson
So what, in more detail, is the lesson Jesus wants us to embrace and the example he wants us to emulate? Quite simply, that we should wash each other’s feet.

Does he mean that literally? Well, if we were in that culture it might very well be a legitimate application of what Jesus is saying but the lesson goes far deeper than one specific example. We are being urged here, as disciples of Jesus, to see ourselves, essentially, as servants of God and servants of one another.

We might naturally react against that – yes, I’ll serve God and do so gladly but to think of myself as a servant of others? That doesn’t come easy. But Jesus is emphatic: “no servant is greater than his master” (v.16). If that is how Jesus lived, our calling can be no less than one of genuine and sacrificial servanthood.

But what does it mean ‘on the ground’? Washing the feet of others was a lowly, menial and unpleasant job that wasn’t especially valued. There are ways in which we can serve one another that we don’t find particularly easy or pleasant – but that’s no reason not to do them and to do them cheerfully and well.

This will include the use of our time in listening to others, seeking to help them, to pray for them, to bear with them in all their peculiar ways. (Don’t you find it’s always others who have the peculiar ways and not you? I know I do!)

We may be very happy to do certain works of service because they appeal to us; they aren’t a chore. There may be something exciting about them; they may even get our name in lights. But what Jesus has just done is something else: he has done work that isn’t pleasant and that isn’t highly valued. And he calls us to do the same.

Others may not thank us for it; they ought to, but whether they do or they don’t is to make no difference: our call is to serve. It might go unnoticed but maybe it’s better for us that way.

All of that is challenging enough on its own but there is something else here to work through: Judas is still in the room. Jesus washed the feet of the one he knew would so very soon betray him. Our call to serve includes those who are ungrateful and unbelieving, those who would betray Jesus, whose hypocrisy is open and clear.

If it can be hard to serve those we love as brothers and sisters, this is harder still. But it’s what we’re called to – not that we ignore the hypocrisy and fail to speak against it; Jesus didn’t neglect to deal with Judas – but that we deal with such people in grace and with loving humility.

You see just this kind of thing in the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus tells us to go the extra mile and to offer more than is asked of us (Mt. 5:38-42). Not that we’re naïve but, rather, we deliberately take the form of a servant, just like our Teacher and Lord.

Think of how that might apply at work or at school or maybe in your family – and don’t be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good. It may indeed look a forlorn hope but Jesus did just that even when he knew Judas was going out, come what may. Our call is to follow Jesus into service that costs and service that counts.

3. Will you do it?
Well, that’s what Jesus teaches us in this passage. But there’s a sting in the tail. We can nod our agreement and say our ‘amen’ to his teaching but such gestures may well be empty. We can easily agree with what God says and then go our own way –and Jesus knows it. And so he says, “Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” (v.17)

The blessing of being a Christian does not lie in the knowing but in the doing. I can know that there is forgiveness for all who look to Jesus but unless and until I personally do that, I remain unforgiven.

There is great blessing in becoming like our Lord in humble and self-giving service – the blessing of close fellowship with God and of knowing his love working powerfully in our hearts. But only those who actually take up and live out that vocation experience its blessing, says Jesus.

This is just the point James makes in his letter (see 1:25). Does reading a book on holiness make a person holy? I once made the mistake of thinking it did but I was wrong.

Simply knowing the truth is not enough; merely hearing the call to serve is not sufficient. We need to do something about it. It’s one thing to call ourselves ‘evangelical’; it’s another to live it out.

Has this passage challenged you? Then why not go home and make a list of how you might serve in the coming days, of who you might serve. Whatever you do, do something.

Maybe you know there are things you’ve been avoiding doing because they’re neither easy nor pleasant – why not add those to the list and then get on and do them? I’m not trying to overload people whose lives are already busy, nor add unnecessary guilt to our hearts – but I know how easy I find it to shelve things that are hard or unpleasant; and maybe you do too.

You won’t lose out; in fact, far from it – Jesus says “you will be blessed if you do them.” And the blessing will be for all to share and for unbelievers to be attracted to. How good and pleasant it is when brothers and sisters live together – and serve together – in unity! For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life for evermore.

God grant it to be so for all his people. Amen!

sermon on john 13:2-11

Having loved his own who were in the world, Jesus loved them to the finish. So John begins this major section of his gospel where Jesus instructs and comforts his disciples. The love of Jesus is evident throughout these chapters, culminating in the cross. In fact, these chapters are full of talk of love – it is a significant theme in Jesus’ dealings with his disciples.

1. Facing the darkness
In v.2, John tells us that the shocking reality of the defection of Judas is now complete - Satan has prompted him to betray Jesus. Quite how Judas got to this pitch we aren't told - clearly he was disappointed with the agenda of Jesus, perhaps longing for a more violent revolution. But, however it has happened, the reality is that this is the hour of darkness; Satan is exerting himself and the most dreadful evil will be worked out.

But what we must notice is that, even as John tells us this about Judas, he goes on to say that "Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power". Evil is a terrible reality; it is sheer folly to minimise or dismiss it. But Jesus knows that the power of God - the power that he has been given - is ultimate.

The cosmic battle between God and evil is not even; evil is real and terrible but its power is limited; the power of God, which is given to Jesus as Messiah, is unlimited. Jesus knows that and so he isn’t thrown into a blind panic by what is now unfolding before his eyes. Never does he minimise or trivialise the reality of evil; nowhere does he ever allow that evil is greater than God. “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.” (1:5)

And that is how we are to see the cosmic battle in which we’re also engaged. It is the case in our own lives, that where sin abounds, grace super-abounds. No temptation is too severe for Jesus to help us with it. It is true with respect to the church and it is true with respect to the world. The days are dark and difficult; to deny that would be more than simply burying our heads in the sand, it would be wilful denial of the truth. But however dark and troubled the days are, there is no cause for panic and anxiety because the Father has indeed put all things under the power of Jesus.

2. Overcoming evil with good
Now, John tells us that in this hour of darkness, when Satan had entered Judas’ heart, Jesus knew all power was his and, in the light of that, he takes action. But his action is not to destroy Judas with a look and unleash the power of ten thousand angels against the forces of evil. No, Jesus does something far more radical and far more powerful. Very deliberately, “he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet.”

Can you feel the stunned silence in which a pin could be heard to drop? Here is the eternal Word, the one through whom all things were made, the one who was with God and was God, the light that gives light to all people, the living embodiment of the glory of God, radiating grace and truth – and he deliberately takes the role and position of the most menial servant, of the lowliest slave.

The radical nature of what Jesus did is underscored by the fact that, for some Jews, this was a task reserved for Gentiles and children – never someone of equal worth or value. And it was unthinkable for a respected and revered teacher to do so. But Jesus did it.

As we know, Paul expressed this reality in truly memorable words: the one who was “in very nature God…made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant.” In all probability, the disciples would never have thought to wash each others’ feet but here is their master doing that for them! As much as the blazing bush, this scene demanded that the disciples take off their shoes, not only to be washed but in holy awe.

But it doesn’t stop there. The humility with which Jesus clothed himself in the incarnation and in his life of service was completed, even eclipsed, by the shattering moment when his obedience extended to the death of the cross. That is the fuller reality to which this foot-washing is pointing. It is a staggering, humbling reality before which we should be shattered and silent.

This is how Jesus responds to, and engages, the malignant power of evil – he doesn’t fight fire with fire, he doesn’t return evil for evil, but he overcomes evil with good, with the power of love.

Evil can not be defeated by legislation, nor political or military power. God overcomes unfettered evil through the loving and sacrificial service which reached its summit on the hill called Calvary. There are important implications there for our lives as believers and churches, as Paul notes in Rom. 13 and Jesus in Mt. 5:38ff.

3. Cleansing: full and ongoing
If we feel in any way stunned into silence by this amazing act of servant love, imagine what the reaction must have been in the room. Maybe it was embarrassed silence on the part of the most but, for one disciple, something had to be said. Peter can’t let this moment simply happen; as Jesus comes to wash his feet, he protests and then misunderstands. The way Jesus deals with him allows us to see the true significance of the event that is taking place.

i) Peter is indignant: “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus tries to help him by explaining that what now seems so confusing will become plain later. Peter strongly rejects that: “No; you shall never wash my feet”. But there is a deeper significance to this scene than he is aware of and so Jesus says to him, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

Now, in handling this point, we need to realise that Jesus is, of course, speaking figuratively: it isn’t the act of foot-washing itself that makes a person clean and united to Jesus; after all, Judas is present and also has his feet washed by Jesus. The foot-washing prefigures the cross and it is that to which Jesus refers.

It is by his cross that Jesus decisively deals with sin and makes it possible for people besmirched by sin to be made clean and right before God. Nothing less than the death of the Son of God in our place could ever have secured our true, spiritual cleansing. And it is only by that cleansing that we can have a part with Jesus. That phrase speaks of inheritance and in some Jewish thought was related to sharing in the blessings God would unveil in the last days.

When Jesus tells Peter that without being washed, he can have no part with him, he is telling him that only through spiritual cleansing by the death of Jesus can he, Peter, share in the reality of life with God in all its fullness.

All that the Father promised in his covenant with Abraham (“I will be their God and they will be my people”) can only be realised by being united to Jesus in his death through faith and, so, knowing that deep and true cleansing from sin we so much need.

For any and all of us this morning, this is where we need to go for peace with God. It is not obtained in any other way but through being joined to Jesus and having his death applied in power to us.

ii) But Peter doesn’t quite get it yet. His response is to ask Jesus to wash the whole of him! Here Jesus teaches another vital lesson: “A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean.” (v.10)

Let me say two things about that. Firstly, Jesus is saying that the cleansing we receive when we come to faith in him is full and decisive: “And you are clean” he adds. When we come to faith in Jesus and are justified by the grace of God, we are put right with God because of Jesus and that will never change. We are clean.

Yes, we change and our love ebbs and flows and our peace is variable; Jesus will deal with that here. But however much we change, whatever our faults and failures, whatever sins we are overcome by, the reality still stands: “And you are clean”.

But because we still live in this fallen world and still await the redemption of our bodies and the fullness of what Jesus achieved, we fail our Lord and come short of his glory. In Jesus’ terms, we get our feet dirty. And we know through bitter personal experience that such things disrupt our relationship with God, threatening to rob us of our peace and diminish our service and witness. What are we to do?

The person who has had a bath, says Jesus, only needs to have his feet washed. When, as Christians, we sin, we aren’t back at the very beginning, in need of being saved all over the again. The decisive act of cleansing has taken place and the verdict of God will not be reversed. But we do need to be restored, we do need to know again our sins are forgiven for the sake of Jesus. And, so, Jesus washes our feet, too, in saving and restoring love.

sermon on john 13:1

We're going to begin to look together at what is often referred to as the Upper Room Discourse in John. In ch.2-12, John has recorded many discussions Jesus has with individuals and crowds but, unlike say Mark, he has included to date very little of Jesus’ direct teaching to his disciples. In ch.13-17 that focus is going to change; from here on, it is the disciples who receive Jesus’ special attention.

These chapters are both precious and profound; there is much here to warm the heart and to inform the mind. What was for the disciples a special and significant time has become just that kind of teaching for us. We’re beginning today with 13:1 which functions very much as a scene-setter for what follows.

1. Jesus, the true Passover
John begins what is effectively a new section with a somewhat vague statement of time: “It was just before the Passover Feast”. The vagueness of what John has written and some of the details that follow have led to different conclusions as to whether the meal Jesus clearly shares here with his disciples is in fact the Passover or whether this takes place earlier in the week.

It’s no doubt for good reason that John writes as he does and the really important issue is not when this all took place but what John is intending to convey here. I think the answer to that lies not only in what he says here but in what he has said elsewhere in his gospel. John is writing so that people might believe that Jesus is the Messiah. He seems by and large to be writing for non-Jews, seen in his explanation and translation of various aspects of Jewish life.

In that context, John has been keen to show that Jesus, as a Jew, has come to be the Saviour of the world. The Messiah had to be a Jew since God had promised to sort out the darkness and distress of this fallen world through the family of Abraham.

With that in mind, it’s interesting to see John referring often to the feasts of the Jews, feasts whose meanings were now coming true in Jesus. Just as the miracles of Jesus functioned as signs, so too did the whole Jewish system of rites and ordinances.

And nowhere is that so clear and powerful as the Passover. Jesus has come as the true Passover sacrifice – the lamb who takes away the sin of the world. Someone has suggested that John is vague about the Passover for this reason: “Jesus does not eat the Passover, he is the Passover”; whether that is correct in detail, the general point is helpful.

Jesus is the one who will function as the fulfilment of all that God had promised and prefigured in the OT. He will lead the true Israel (ch.15) out of the ultimate bondage (ch.8). This idea will recur again and again in this talk with the disciples – even that famous phrase, “the way, the truth, the life” has a whole OT theology within it.

Now, this is an important point for us as believers today. It is vital that we know how to put our Bibles together, not for intellectual reasons but to understand God’s ways with the world and the true significance of Jesus. It is in him – and in him alone – that the age-old plan of God to rescue the world comes to pass.

God’s integrity and righteousness was on the line whilst ever sin and evil dominated in this world and whilst ever the covenant promises made to Abraham went unfulfilled. In Jesus, God is seen to be righteous and faithful, a God who keeps his word, worthy of our trust and the trust of every single human being.

2. The hour has come
John’s next step is to tell us that “Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father”. All through this gospel, Jesus’ hour has been highlighted and anticipated and, with the arrival of the Greeks in 12:20, Jesus knows it has come.

Everything is now moving inexorably to its all-along intended climax. This will be the time when Jesus will glorify his Father through his death and his Father will glorify him. It will be the time when the world is brought to judgement and the prince of this world driven out; it will herald the time for Jesus to be lifted up so that all may be drawn to him (12:27-32).

Could any hour hold more significance, for the world and humanity?

The thought of Jesus returning to his Father carries with it the suggestion that his task has been completed and that will certainly be the case. But in this time with the disciples Jesus will explain that this is really only the end of the beginning – as he was sent, so he will send them. And not only will he send them into the world but he will, when he has ascended, send his Spirit into them.

All this needs to be unpacked; the teaching about the Spirit is some of the richest in the whole gospel. For now, we need simply to recognise that fact and humble ourselves in readiness to address it, or, better, to be addressed with it. Jesus was returning to the Father – not simply going home after an interesting time away but with the whole future of the world opened up and ready for the climactic act of his ministry: to send his Spirit.

3. Loved to the end
As we turn our attention to the last part of this verse, we need to notice the connection with what John has just said. Jesus is aware of the hour and so, because of that, “Having loved his own who were in the world, he now loved them to the end”.

The NIV has here “the full extent of his love” which is fair enough but it rather masks the connection with the cry of Jesus in 19:30, “It is finished” (it’s for that reason I’ve quoted the TNIV). Yes, we will see the full extent of Jesus love but the term ‘end’ also carries with it a sense of purpose and completion.

Notice that this love is described in certain ways. Jesus “loved his own who were in the world”. In John 3:16 we’re famously told that God so loved the world that he gave his own Son, but that love was not indiscriminate and here we see the focus of that love: his own who were in the world.

The term ‘world’ as used here speaks of the whole order that stands opposed to God and decaying in its sin. The love of Jesus is not such that he will make life in this world a little easier for all who believe on him; rather, he will rescue them out of this world that they might be part of the new creation his resurrection heralds and inaugurates (see 20:1).

Jesus had loved his disciples and expressed it in countless ways but now he was going to love them to the end. How is that love going to be expressed in what follows? Let me suggest a number of helpful ways to think through this love of Jesus:

i) He will teach his disciples, in deed and in word. It’s interesting that the first thing he does it to act out something of the reality of his love in the foot-washing that follows. Not all teaching is verbal; some of the most powerful is Spirit-filled example.

But these next chapters are then full of verbal teaching of the highest order. In love, Jesus helps to prepare his disciples to face the grim reality of his death. They will indeed be sad; it is not loving to hide that from them. It would not be loving to pretend that all will go swimmingly for them and so Jesus warns them of persecution to come on account of his name. It is not loving to mask the moral imperatives of the gospel and so Jesus, in love, urges his disciples to genuine obedience and faithful following and promises them the help they will need to do so.

This is teaching for us, given in love by our Saviour. Don’t despise what he says to you, however hard it might seem – it is teaching full of love.

ii) In love, Jesus prays for his people – for the disciples and for all who will believe in him through them. What intensity there is in that prayer – because his love is intense and passionate for his people. And still today he prays for us – ever-living to intercede for his own as a great and sympathetic high priest.

iii) But, of course, the ultimate expression of his love for his own, and which is prefigured in the foot-washing episode, is the self-giving of Jesus to the death of the cross. On our behalf, he engages the powers of sin and evil; he faces our fears, he shoulders our sin, he absorbs our agony, in order to lead us to the unspeakable joy of the rescue and release of the true exodus from slavery.

Do you know of any higher love? Can anything else capture your heart so completely and so truly? “To the end”.

those who sleep in boats

Jonah is commissioned by God but flees.
Jesus is commissioned by God and follows.

Jonah is caught in a storm sent by God.
Jesus is caught in a storm of satanic fury.

Jonah sleeps through the storm while the others on the boat are full of terror.
Jesus sleeps through the storm while the others on the boat are full of terror.

Jonah sleeps callously and carelessly.
Jesus sleeps content in his Father's care.

Jonah is woken and his voice (indirectly) is the means for the storm to be stilled ("throw me into the sea").
Jesus is woken and his voice is the means for the storm to be stilled ("Peace; be still.").

Two ways to sleep in a boat; one way to do so well.

Leah: pain and praise

Genesis 29:31-35 records the birth and naming of Jacob's first four sons by Leah. Interestingly, it is she who names the children, not Jacob (is he really that disinterested?) and the names, along with the reasoning behind them, seem to give some insight into Leah's handling of the pain of her situation.

When the first son is born, she names him Reuben because she believes YHWH has seen her misery, being relatively unloved by her husband. Her hope is that Jacob will love her now.

But that seems not to be the case. When her second son is born, she names him Simeon because YHWH has heard she is (still) not loved. The fond hopes that surrounded the birth of Reuben were clearly not fulfilled.

Leah's pain evidently continues; when her third son is born she names him Levi, ardently hoping that now at last his birth will cause her husband to be attached to her. It seems a forlorn hope. She has been placed in an intolerable situation and not by her own choice. She is deeply pained at Jacob's rejection of her and longs for him to have a change of heart in order to heal the pain in hers. But it seems Jacob is unmoved by the kindness of YHWH in giving sons to he and Leah and blind to the favour of YHWH towards Leah.

Yet when her fourth son is born, she names him Judah saying, "This time I will praise YHWH". No mention this time of her husband, nor of her desperate desire to be loved and accepted by him (an entirely understandable and legitimate desire).

But Leah, so slighted and demeaned, is not abandoned in her misery and with the birth of Judah she recognises this. No doubt the pain remains but she is able now to praise YHWH out of her pain. Reconciled to her situation, she is able to rejoice in the God who is ever-loving and ever-loyal to his people. "This time" her focus is higher than her husband and her joy greater than he could arouse or sustain. To be loved and accepted by YHWH and to know his favour means more than anything else could.

Maybe it's no coincidence that at this point "she stopped having children".

stirring the pot

In many books, a new chapter begins with a quote from some notable or other, or some not-notable-but-still-quotable or other; in his book, The Forgotten Ways: Reactivating the Missional Church, Alan Hirsch does just that. Here are a couple of such quotes that are worth pondering:

A church which pitches its tents without constantly looking out for new horizons, which does not continually strike camp, is being untrue to its calling.. . . [We must] play down our longing for certainty, accept what is risky, and live by improvisation and experiment. (Hans Küng, The Church as the People of God)

If you want to build a ship, don’t summon people to buy wood, prepare tools, distribute jobs, and organize the work, rather teach people the yearning for the wide, boundless ocean. (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry)

Leithart Links

Peter Leithart's writing is always stimulating - here are some recent posts that seemed especially so to me.

Unbearable Burden of Evangelicalism

You Shall Know Them By Their Fear

Fear and Fear

Christian Idolatry

A huge religious marketplace has been set up in North America to meet the needs and fantasies of people just like us. There are conferences and gatherings custom-designed to give us the lift we need. There are books, videos, and seminars that promise to let us in on the Christian "secret" of whatever it is we feel is lacking in our life-financial security, well-behaved children, weight loss, sex, travel to holy sites, exciting worship, celebrity teachers. The people who promote these goods and services all smile a lot and are good-looking. They are obviously not bored.

It isn't long before we're standing in line to buy whatever is being offered. And because none of the purchases does what we had hoped for, or at least not for long, we're soon back to buy another, and then another. The process is addicting. We become consumers of packaged spiritualities.

This also is idolatry. We never think of using this term because everything we're buying or paying for is defined by the adjective Christian. But idolatry it is, nevertheless. It's God packaged as a product-God depersonalized and made available as a technique or a program. The Christian market in idols has never been more brisk or lucrative. The late medieval indulgences that provoked Luther's righteous wrath are small potatoes compared to what's going on in our evangelical backyard.

Eugene H. Peterson, Living the Resurrection, NavPress 2006, pp.35,36

How to Encourage the Church

The incident of Peter and Cornelius is a major one within the book of Acts. Cornelius is presented as a prime example of the gospel being received by Gentiles. But, in terms of reaching out to Gentiles, Acts 11:19ff could be at least as significant as the Cornelius incident. It may well have begun before Peter’s encounter with Cornelius (see v.19) and, in terms of numbers and the future significance of the church at Antioch, it is extremely important.

All of which makes it very interesting that this expansion to the Gentiles is not an organised mission but takes place naturally as the church scatters following the death of Stephen. In Acts, missionaries are sent out by churches and usually work to a clear plan but that needs to be set alongside what we see here of these early believers sharing the gospel as they went.

The calling and responsibility to reach out to others is not the preserve of pastors, evangelists and missionaries; it is a whole church calling and we each have a responsibility to take it to heart. These early believers shared the gospel naturally, as they travelled, as they set up home, as they worked. And this was the norm, not the exception.

It is, of course, right and good that churches and mission agencies plan and partner in the sending-out of gospel workers. It would be a betrayal of the Lord not to do so. But the responsibility of churches and mission agencies is not simply to initiate ministries; it is also about being sensitive to and catching-up with what the Lord is already doing in spontaneous and (humanly-speaking) unplanned ways. That was the reality faced here by the church in Jerusalem.

As the gospel spreads among the Gentiles, one of the big questions to be faced is, How will the church in Jerusalem react? When Philip preached in Samaria, they sent Peter and John to authenticate the work, to give it the apostolic imprimatur. Given that these are Gentiles, will they react with suspicion and try to suppress what is going on?

What they do is send Barnabas to them. This time they send one man, not two. He isn’t an apostle. He’s a native of Cyprus, as were many of these believers. And he was a man of exceptional spirit, warm and encouraging. This doesn’t smack of control and suspicion but of contribution and support for this young church. The church at Jerusalem was the original one; the apostles were the authentic witnesses to the Lord Jesus and his gospel. But that doesn’t mean they must hereafter control everything that happens in terms of the spread of the gospel. It is the Lord Jesus who directs the mission; they are his co-workers. So instead of sending people to check out this new development, they choose instead to send a man who will cheer on those involved in it.

Sending Barnabas to Antioch was perhaps the greatest thing the church at Jerusalem ever did for their brothers and sisters there. He is an outstanding example of a Christian and of what a church-worker should be. He isn’t jealous of their work, nor does he want to take it over; he rejoices in the work and encourages them to keep going and remain true to the Lord. His concern was not sectarian (to make them Jews) but to strengthen their Christian life and witness.

But this humble man is ready to acknowledge that he doesn’t have all the gifts necessary to help this church and so he goes on a long 200-mile round trip to bring Saul to join him in the work. He recognised the Lord’s calling of Saul and the gifts he’d been given – what a great encouragement to Saul that must have been! And, in God’s providence, this almost incidental action has immense strategic significance for the whole progress of the gospel; it is from Antioch that Barnabas and Saul will be sent out by the church into further mission.

The rest, as they say and as we know, is history.


(this piece first appeared in the UFM Worldwide magazine, 4 Corners, Jan-April 2007)

Esther 9,10

1. Fighting the Good Fight
In ch.8 we read of the counter-decree issued by Xerxes at the request of Esther and Mordecai. This decree authorises the Jews to protect themselves against any who attack them under the terms of the first decree. It is, essentially, a defensive decree and one that, if enacted, will preserve the Jewish nation and, hence, God’s purposes through them to bless the world.

The future of the Jews was secured by the decree but the fight still needed to be fought on the ground, on the 13th of Adar. As we noted last time, this captures an essential feature of Christian life and experience: Jesus has overcome sin and evil and in him we are saved. Yet, at the same time, that salvation needs to be worked out ‘on the ground’. Just as the Jews needed to take up arms to defend themselves in the battle recorded in ch.9 so too we need to be active in the spiritual warfare that marks the Christian life.

That the battle waged against the Jews was also spiritual in its nature is indicated by the naming of Haman’s sons. Evidence suggests their names were associated with demonic powers in Persian times. This is not just one more instance of nation against nation but this is another instalment of the long battle waged by Satan against the Lord and his people.

Our battle against spiritual foes is real and intense. Paul exhorts us in Ephesians 6 to get ready for battle and to stand strong in the Lord and in his might. But how do we know that we’ll be successful in the battle? Who’s to say we won’t be lost somewhere along the way? Just as the decree of Xerxes is effectively worked out, so too the word of the Lord will stand; it will not return to him empty and fruitless but will do all he sends it out to do.

And that word is for us in Christ, who has triumphed over all the powers of evil and is seated in the highest of all places, far above every other power or name. There is our confidence; there is our hope. Death has no hold on us, evil cannot claim us, because Jesus died and rose again.

But we do need to make sure we fight as God wants us too. We’re told 3 times here (vv.10,15,16) that the Jews refused to take plunder from their enemies, even though the decree specifically allowed for it (remember, it was ‘line for line’ with the original decree). Why did they refuse to what they were permitted to do? Because that wasn’t how the Lord had instructed them to fight holy war. And when they disobeyed his command, it had only brought them trouble (as with Achan).

We need to listen very seriously to what the Lord says about fighting for him. It is not a fight that can be waged with weapons of steel, nor with words that wound. We aim to take every thought captive to Christ in order that blessing may follow.

But was it right for Esther to ask for and get an extra day to finish off the Jews’ enemies? That’s quite a tricky issue and commentators divide on it. It might be that this is evidence that Esther goes too far, that she is overcome in her thinking by worldly ways.

Or it might be that there was a need to do so which is not specified in the text. Certainly, there is precedent for the Lord extending the time for Israel to deal with their enemies (cf. Josh 10:12ff), a parallel which may well indicate approval for what Esther does here. I think that is the case but perhaps the best solution is to say with one writer, “Rather than attempting to resolve [the issue], we should reflect upon it”.

2. Recalling the Victory
With the victory won, the Jews celebrate with great joy and gladness. The story of this great deliverance is written up for future generations to keep the feast and recall the mercies of God. Feasting and joy are always appropriate responses to the salvation God has worked for us as his people and, indeed, Jesus instituted that in the meal he gave us, a eucharistic meal.

What is interesting about this scene in Esther is that a new tradition is started, one that the Lord has not authorised in the law and one that is set in place by a man (Mordecai) who is neither a priest nor an appointed leader of the Jewish people.

Does that make the celebration wrong? Not at all. This is very much in keeping with what Paul writes in Romans 14:5ff where he recognises that, for some, particular days are special and they choose to keep them as such; others choose not to. Who’s wrong? Neither are wrong; both are right. What matters is that whatever is done is done from faith.

Notice, too, the name that this new feast is given. It is known as ‘purim’ because of the ‘pur’ (‘lot’) that Haman has cast “for their ruin and destruction” (9:24). But the Hebrew term for ‘lot’ had a second related meaning, signifying the thing that the casting of the lot obtained.

As such, there is great irony and encouragement in the naming of the feast – listen to how one writer puts it: “the name of the feast, Purim, is a double entendre, signifying that the lot, or destiny, of God’s people would not be determined by Haman’s casting of lots before his gods. Only Yahweh determines the roll of the lot, and only Yahweh determines the lot of his people.” (Jobes)

When we come to the table or whenever we recall the goodness of God to us in Jesus, we can thank him that our lives are not in the balance of fate but held in his powerful grace, revealed in Jesus.

3. God’s People in God’s World
As we come to the end of this remarkable story, I want us to notice that the two great heroes in the story (humanly speaking) are just what we would think of as ‘ordinary believers’. They were not appointed leaders of the Jewish nation; they weren’t priests or prophets set apart by the Lord. They were just a couple of everyday Jews who happened to be in the wrong/right place at that time, who stood up to be counted.

You don’t need to have great and spectacular gifts for your life to count for God and for his kingdom. What counts is God and his ability to take and use people like us, broken and baffled, frail and fallible. Not all of their decisions and actions were necessarily wise but we can say that their overall response to the events that surged around them was God-honouring and kingdom-extending. Wouldn’t it be great if the same thing could be said of us one day too?

In the course of their story, as it is retold here, the absence of God is striking. We’ve suggested it is the writer’s way of making the point that the Lord is behind and underneath everything that happens – nothing is beyond his sanction and control. But maybe it serves a further purpose: Esther and Mordecai may not have been especially conscious of God leading them as the story unfolded; he may have seemed, at times, strangely absent to them, just as he sometimes does to us.

We can’t always say we know what the Lord is doing with us or through us. But that’s what the life of faith looks like – faith is being certain of what we do not see. And so Esther and Mordecai teach us a valuable lesson, as they walk by faith and not by sight. They can’t see the end from the beginning but their hands are in the hand of the one who can and who does.

And the God whom they trust may choose to work through mighty miracles or he may not, as in this case. Do we only trust God if he will work miracles on our behalf? Maybe one of the lessons of this book for the Jewish people was that their God was also active to deliver them not only in mighty miracles like the escape from Egypt but also in unseen ways and through unlikely people. Maybe it’s a lesson for us to learn, too.

“As we continue to live faithfully in Christ, we can be sure that whatever happens to us – the decisions we make, the mistakes we regret, and even the sins that shame us – are all links in God’s plan not only for our individual lives but for his greater work in history. Through his inscrutable ways, along paths that are sometimes dark and treacherous, he brings his people to that day when all creation will rejoice that our sorrow has been turned to joy and our mourning into celebration.” Jobes p.231