31st May 2011

John 19:28:37 – The Crucifixion.

• “Why did so few object to Jesus’ Crucifixion?’”
• It always used to surprise me that so many shouted ‘crucify him’ and that Jesus suffered this death even though He still seemed to have maybe followers.
• Until I realized the timing of all of this.
• The evening during Jesus trial many would have been worse for wear from a hard day partying.
• Traditional Passover involved a huge meal and four cups of wine.
• It started at sunset and finished at midnight.
• This is the reason Jesus’ disciples were so tired when He asked them to pray.
• In fact the Rabbis said that a man could doze lightly and still be part of the Passover meal but someone who fell asleep could not.
• When Jesus is on trial many are sleeping the night off.
• According to Mark – Jesus’ sentence was passed around sunrise the next day.
• The only people around when Jesus is presented to “the people” are the priests and Roman soldiers.
• At the time of crucifixion, 9am , it was the first Temple Service of the day.
• The first most knew was on their way to church and the trial had already happened, Jesus had received the forty lashes minus one, had a crown of thorns on His head and was in the first stages of the crucifixion procedure.
• Evil always operates behind closed doors – even when things are seen to be done in the open air.
• How alone must Jesus have felt?
• All of this happened at night with no-one around.
• For us to do His will, we will often find ourselves in the same position.
• Alone.
• Our greatest tests will come when those we rely on not around. They may not have turned our backs on us, they may be simply otherwise engaged.
• It then comes down to Faith.
• The faith to go through with it alone.
• But we of course are never fully alone.
• Which leads me to my final question.
• Do I not only have Faith in Jesus but do I have Faith in the thing that Jesus had Faith in; a loving Father in Heaven?

26th May 2011

John 19:1-16 – Jesus sentenced to be crucified

• “Jesus’ secret to Peace”
• In today’s scripture a panicky Pilate meets a peaceful Jesus. It’s hard to tell which was on trial.
• Pilate had to prove himself. Jesus didn’t. Pilate often tried to win brownie points with the Romans. He did it by sucking up to the Emperor. Pontius Pilate is the only know Roman official in history to build a temple to a living emperor. Pilate was double-minded and people knew it. Jesus was not double minded! Imagine knowing what to do because you know who you are.
• Pilate pulled others down. Jesus pulled others up. Pilate raised himself up by destroying & humiliating others. Jesus was never threatened by anyone else. Not worried I they were better looking, funnier, more talented, happier, faster, stronger etc. Imagine if you found gifted people an inspiration not a threat. Jesus said “You shall do even greater things than me”
• Pilate feared decisions. Jesus pursued them. Pilate tried to palm Jesus off onto Herod Antipas but the problem came back to him - there was no running away. He tended to stay away from Jerusalem, he was accustomed to the pleasures of Rome and Jerusalem was a place of conflict. For him Jerusalem must have symbolized stress. He was in Jerusalem at this time because he had to be. It was Passover and he needed to be there to oversee that the people were kept in order Pilate was a personality put together by the opinions of others. Jesus forced Pilate into making a decision. Godliness means not being afraid to make tough decisions!
• Where did Jesus get His confidence in who He was
• Identity, like a triangle, has three corners.
• John 13:3 - “Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God”
• The Father - Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power. Pilate’s power, in his mind, came from His position, the people & Emperor
• The Former - and that he had come from God. Pilate’s name  “Pilate” from the Latin pileatus, i.e., “wearing the pileatus”, which was the “cap or badge of a manumitted [freed] slave,” as indicating that he was a “freedman,” or the descendant of one - Did he feel he had something to prove? Jesus had a working class background, a father who died early and was from Nazareth. Even his death was that of a criminal. Status determined banished to an island, thrown to wild animals or crucified for the lowest We all have two histories! Which history reacts?
• The Future - and was returning to God
• Pilate Panicked but Jesus had peace.
• What is the secret to peace?
• Jesus knew who He was from, where he was from and where He was going.
• It’s not what you know, it’s that you know your identity.

25th May 2011

John 18:28-40 – Jesus before Pilate

• “Color blind to Red Flags”
• The Jewish accusers of Jesus do a number of things that play into the hands of God’s plan here.
• Firstly they take Jesus to the Romans.
• They have no legal right under Roman law to execute anyone and so have to ask Pilate to do it.
• This means that Jesus would not suffer a Jewish form of execution but one of Roman tradition.
• Jesus would be hung on a tree.
• This is important because it is more symbolic of what God wanted us to understand about His death.
• Read this from Deuteronomy.
• “If a man guilty of a capital offense is put to death and his body is hung on a tree, you must not leave his body on the tree overnight. Be sure to bury him that same day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse.” Deut 21:22-23
• The people would recognize that Jesus was under God’s curse of Sin.
• The Jewish leaders had no idea what they were doing, they were completely blind to the Word that they were teaching to others.
• Jesus, however, is in full possession of the facts. He knew what was about to happen and He knew why.
• Sometimes when we are intent on doing our own thing we are not open to hear the warnings of Scripture. There were many prophecies that Jesus life had fulfilled. His manner of death was about to fulfill many more.
• You would have thought that the leaders would have recognized this.
• But
• When we see red we no longer see red flags!
• I must avoid as a leader making hasty decisions and emotional reactions. I need to always create a little time in between what offends me and the action I take about it.
• I would hate to ignore the perennial facts because of my personal feelings.
• I would hate to be an instrument of evil instead of good.
• Wouldn't you?

19th May 2011

John 18:25-27 – Peter’s Second and Third Denials

• “ The End is just the Beginning”
• Peter is asked a second and then third time if he is a disciple of Jesus.
• How depressed must he have felt when that rooster crowed!
• It was not that he was caught out.
• The relative of the man who’s ear was cut off did not know it was him for sure. The light in the garden was very dim and the same in the courtyard where there was a small fire that burned but never flamed. It was very dark and Peter in both places far too dark for the man to ever be certain.
• But that is not the point – Peter would have been crushed to hear the animal’s cry.
• He found out something bad about himself that he had never guessed – he could betray Jesus.
• It must have felt like the end!
• And yet sometimes the end is just the beginning.
• In fact sometimes our real ministry and influence cannot start until something comes to an end. That something is usually something in us.
• In Peter’s case; pride.
• Wonder what it will be in my case?

18th May 2011

John 18:19-24 – The High Priest Questions Jesus

• “ The Testimony of the Transparent ”
• Annas the High Priest who retained his title questions Jesus.
• Jesus is not disrespectful but He is a little cheeky.
• He asks His accusers to go and ask the general public about His actions.
• In doing so he firstly shows that He is confident that He has nothing wrong and secondly He embarrasses them by pointing out the irregularity and secrecy of their mock trial.
• I am encouraged by Jesus’ confidence in what He has done.
• It makes me ask the question; how confident would I be if had to hand the final appraisal of my life over to those who had seen it rather than defend myself and my actions?
• If everything I had done in public and in secret was seen by all – how relaxed would I be when I faced my accusers?
• All of Jesus actions had been transparent [if not his motives and intention].
• You could watch them, see then, touch the people He had touched.
• Jesus was confident that He had done the right thing.
• I want to live that kind of life . . . I went on trial today that I would be confident in the testimony of those who had seen my actions yesterday.
• I wonder today what kind of testimony would my transparency lead to? 

11th May 2011

John 17:20-26 – Jesus Prays for All Believers

• “ The Most Trusting Man in the World ”
• It’s the first line that gets me;
• “My prayer is not for them alone. My prayer is for those who will believe in me through their message,”
• This is incredible.
• Jesus’ trust in His disciples is awe inspiring.
• The salvation of the whole world is in their hands.
• He will die on the cross, atone for the world’s sin and show us the way to live.
• But.
• How can someone respond without hearing. And how can someone hear without someone telling them.
• He is putting His trust in these few men and everything that He goes through may be pointless if they don’t step up to the plate.
• This is not an isolated situation.
• At the end Jesus prays something that He also tells His disciples: all men will know Him because of their love and unity for one another.
• Again; He is trusting those who follow Him to be what He says they can be in order to bring the world to Him.
• I am so challenged by Jesus trust in those he leads.
• I get so frustrated and disheartened sometimes and I am sure He did as well – but He still trusted us!

12th May 2011

John 18:1-11 – Jesus Arrested

• “Opting Out”
• I have never been arrested.
• I have been chased by German officials for breaking an underground train in Berlin and I have been frisked by the police whilst spread eagled and up against a metal fence in Manchester.
• But I have never been arrested.
• God was though.
• Jesus is arrested like a common criminal.
• And He allowed it to happen. In fact verse 4 informs me that He already knew it was going to happen.
• On several occasions and through several ways Jesus was given the temptation to opt out.
• He had a supernatural opt out – angels could have rescued Him.
• He had a human opt out – the disciple with the sword could have rescued Him.
• He had an independent opt out – He could have recued Himself – when He said “I am” He associated Himself with God and the power knocked the soldiers to the ground.
• But He did not succumb.
• When we are tempted to opt out of our calling we have those three options presented to us . .
• We have a “supernatural” B plan – we do something similar to what God wants – it still brings glory to Him but deep down we know it is not exactly what He asked us to do.
• We have a Human B plan – we can always find people who will tell us its too hard and therefore cannot be God’s will – they even say ‘if you don’t have peace it cannot be God but mean if it’s not peaceful.
• We can have an independent B plan – we can rescue ourselves.
• We can save ourselves or we can fulfill our calling and allow God to save us.
• Almost every Pais applicant has had one of the same three temptations before they were about to come on; a loved one falls seriously ill, a chance of job is offered they were not expecting or a relationship with a member of the opposite sex presents itself.
• The Bible says there is no temptation that is not common to man.
• We all face the same temptations – we are not unique.
• In this matter it seems, neither ids God
• What makes Him special is He stepped out in faith knowing for a fact that it would hurt.
• We step out in faith only suspecting that it might.
• Challenged by Jesus’ courage today. Praying He will give me some of that.

16th May 2011

John 18:12-14 – Jesus taken to Annas

• “ Think Fast ”
• Jesus is bound and taken away.
• The most powerful man on earth is powerless to choose where He goes.
• Things change instantly.
• One minute He is in the garden and able to do anything, call down angels or His disciples to protect Him – but instead His chooses God’s will.
• Immediately He is bound.
• I notice this because sometimes the minute we choose to do God’s will things change . . . sometimes for the worst.
• At least it seems that way.
• It is as though once we fully commit to God we sometimes get take on a path very quickly.
• Sometimes we have to think fast.
• Things are thrown at us quickly and we have to remember that it is not that things are getting out of control…
• It is simply that God taking us seriously when we said “yes”.
• In these times I have to think fast and remember it is God who is allowing me to be bound and powerless. Sometimes it is His will.
• Sometimes God remembers what we so often forget.
• He remembers when we said “yes” long after we prayed to prayer.
• Thinking fast and quickly calling to mind those moments has helped me when things turn bad and allowed me to stay the course, because eventually they always turn very good again.
• Today I will pray for a good memory.

17th May 2011

John 18:15-18 – Peter’s First Denial

• “ So Near but so Far ”
• Whilst Jesus is on trial inside, Peter is on trial outside.
• His faith is being tested.
• Peter is moving through the temple courts trying to get as close as He can to Jesus and yet at the same time he is denying Him.
• This is a challenge to me.
• Am I trying to get as close to Jesus whilst still denying Him?
• I may testify that I am a disciple but am I denying him in other ways?
• Am I denying Him all of my heart of the opportunity to clean up certain aspects of my life.
• If Peter had confessed he was a disciple would he have been taken to the High Priest along with Jesus? He would have faced the same consequences but He would have been right next to Him.
• Another thought occurs to me;
• Peter has no right to be as close to Jesus as He gets but a friend manages to sneek Him in. He has to lie in order to take up the opportunity.
• Actually – it is His desire to get close to Jesus that highlights His sin.
• The closer we get to Jesus the more our sins are shown to us..
• I need to  be aware of the fact that if I am determined to pursue Him then He will be determined to highlight more of my sins. Things that did not bother me years ago may bother me now.
• But He only picks them out in order that I can ask for forgiveness and move on.
• I just need to make sure that I do not think I can get closer to Jesus and still deny Him.
• Instead, I need to get closer to Him and give Him whatever it is that He shows me He wants.
• Tough choices today.

16th May 2011

John 18:12-14 – Jesus taken to Annas

• “ Think Fast ”
• Jesus is bound and taken away.
• The most powerful man on earth is powerless to choose where He goes.
• Things change instantly.
• One minute He is in the garden and able to do anything, call down angels or His disciples to protect Him – but instead His chooses God’s will.
• Immediately He is bound.
• I notice this because sometimes the minute we choose to do God’s will things change . . . sometimes for the worst.
• At least it seems that way.
• It is as though once we fully commit to God we sometimes get take on a path very quickly.
• Sometimes we have to think fast.
• Things are thrown at us quickly and we have to remember that it is not that things are getting out of control…
• It is simply that God taking us seriously when we said “yes”.
• In these times I have to think fast and remember it is God who is allowing me to be bound and powerless. Sometimes it is His will.
• Sometimes God remembers what we so often forget.
• He remembers when we said “yes” long after we prayed to prayer.
• Thinking fast and quickly calling to mind those moments has helped me when things turn bad and allowed me to stay the course, because eventually they always turn very good again.
• Today I will pray for a good memory.

10th May April 2011

10^th May April 2011

John 17:9-19 – Jesus Prays for His Disciples

• “ Repairing the World ”
• Jesus turns from praying for Himself to praying for His friends . . . His disciples.
• What strikes me most about this prayer is the sense of flow of everything going through Him.
• The whole prayer speaks of Him being a conduit, a connector of things from the Father to His disciples;
• They were given by the Father to Jesus who gives them back to Him.
• The Father gave Jesus the Word and He has passed it onto them.
• The world hated ne because of the word and know it hates them because He passed the Word onto them from the Father.
• Jesus then begins to get specific. What He says in such a short prayer should catch my attention; whatever He prays must be a priority to Him.
• He prays in line with ‘tikkun-ha’olam’: repairing the world.
• His religion saw this as vital.
• All Jews grow up with a sense that they are commissioned by God to repair the world.
• It is interesting that only one 24th of 1% of the world’s population are Jews.
• It is astounding therefore that 20%, a 5th of all Nobel prize winners in the last 100 years were Jewish!
• Jesus prays a prayer about flow.
• He asks the Father to protect and keep His disciples, not to remove them but to leave them in the world as salt and light to repair it.
• We the as leaders, whether parents or pastors, must be challenged by this.
• What is it exactly that we are to invest our time in challenging our disciples to do?
• Not repair the church, repair a building, not repair an organization.
• But repair the world!
• Such a challenge today – what is the fruit of my leadership?

6th May April 2011

John 17:1-5 – Jesus Prays for Himself

• “ Eternal Life is . . . ”
• For Jesus eternal life was more than living for eternity.
• When He thanks the Father for being given authority to give us eternal life, He is speaking of something more than an extension of our existence.
• We will ‘know’ eternal life.
• In Hebrew ‘da’at’ is the Hebrew word for knowledge – it is a third part of wisdom along with Chokhmah and Binah.
• To ‘know’ in this context is to experience two things;
• Firstly; Intimacy. The Bible often talks about the sexual experience using this word in phrases like; “He lay down with her and knew her”.
• Secondly; Application. The experience of applying its truth to your life.
• Eternal life is not something we wait for, it is something we comprehend and then work into our lives know.
• Ecclesiastes says that He has set eternity in the hearts of men.
• Lots of Christian teaching encourages us to allow what is in our heads to drop several inches into our hearts but Jesus would pray for us that what is in our hearts should be lifted several inches into our heads.
• Think about that.
• To know something in this context is to receive insight, to then understand it and then to apply it and make it part of who you are. ‘Da’at’ is the third part of this process.
• We should make eternity part of who we are in this life.
• What decisions would you make with eternal life in mind?
• What priorities would you set with eternity in mind?
• These are the things I will meditate on today.

5th May April 2011

John 16:1-16 – The Disciples Grief will turn to Joy

• “ The Joy of Thripsis”
• Jesus tells His disciples that for a while the non-believers will rejoice and they will mourn but that finally they will rejoice.
• His death and resurrection will take them through this process.
• During this passage the disciples begin to slowly understand and believe that Jesus was sent from God – whether they fully understand Who He was is another matter.
• Just as they understood and begin to feel good about it Jesus explains that in this life there will be much trouble – the word used here is ‘thripsis’.
• Thripsis means to "put a lot of pressure on that which is free and unfettered"
• Imagine a clump of playdo or plasticine; different colors, shapes and sizes.
• Now apply thripsis and you squeeze them into one mass.
• Thripsis was a word often used when grapes were pressed in order to eventually produce wine used at celebrations.
• Jesus does not promise a lack of trouble but peace within it and joy that comes from it.
• For those who do not give up, for those who endure the pressure they will fine that thripsis will re-shape they and press them into God.
• The Joy of thripsis is that we will become one in Him and He will be in us.
• There will be much trouble in this life and I must put my hope in the process of thripsis.

4th May April 2011

John 16:1-16 – The Work of the Holy Spirit

• “ rooted revelation”
• Jesus tells His disciples about the role of the Holy Spirit.
• The Holy Spirit brings revelation; He teaches truth, guides, council, comforts, strengthens and reveals what is to come.
• Those filled with the Holy Spirit can be full of wisdom, honest, counselors, conforters, those who empower others and prophets.
• On the other hand …
• often they are not.
• Why?
• “He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.”
• The Holy Spirit and Jesus do not operate separately from the Father.
• But we often do.
• I have often seen Christians dissemble God like you might do a car engine or some other form of mechanical device.
• Both the Father, Holy Spirit and Son are needed for us to grow and grow others. We cannot ignore one and embrace the other.
• One of the first bits of great advice I ever received growing in my Pentecostal church as a new Christian was this; The Holy Spirit will never tell you to do something that contradicts God’s Word [meaning the Bible[.
• It was good [if not quite complete] advice.
• How many followers of Jesus and followers of His Spirit do we know who don’t study their Bible?
• Is that you?
• As much as we love Jesus, we will be like a sail boat that catches the wind but has no rudder.
• Particularly in a society that influences our faith far more than we realize, we are susceptible to going with the Spirit but ignoring the laws and principles set in place by God.
• A great, powerful, full life is evidence by consistent growth.
• Rooted revelation will bring just that.
• But dissemble God and we will be busy jumping from one spiritual project to another and God will be limited by what He can build into us.
• Open your ears to His Spirit, your heart to His son and your mind to His Word.
• Praying today that I will do the same!

2nd May April 2011

John 15:18-27 – The World hates the Disciples

• “ … without reason”
• Jesus gives the disciples a reality check.
• He prepares them for persecution and helps them understand that it will come because of their connection with Him.
• He explains that no servant is above His master – in others words; what makes you think you will get away with things if I was unable to?
• I wonder if the disciples needed to hear this in case they either a. thought that because they were persecuted they were doing something wrong or b. thought that if they taught people with enough reason then they would accept the message.
• The problem is that Jesus’ message cannot be accepted without a heart that ultimately wants what God wants. No reason is enough.
• Jesus tells them; They hated me without reason.
• In doing so He yet again invokes remez by quoting from Psalm 35 and Psalm 69 which also prophecies certain details about the crucifixion.
• Interestingly listen to what the Jews say about themselves: this is what the mishna/talmud says written after Jesus’ death . . .
• Why was the second sanctuary [temple] destroyed, seeing that in its time they occupied themselves with studying Torah, obeying mitzvoth and practicing charity? Because in it prevailed hatred without a cause” Yoma 9b
• We must not be surprised as leaders when no matter how much rational we use; people reject our words. It’s not always about reason. it is about heart.
• And that is another challenge that education alone will not convince people. But giving people an experience of the Kingdom will help us and them know if they are leaning forward or not.
• Also we must still do the work of Jesus no matter what reaction.
• We have to do the right thing because it is the right thing.
• Praying today that I do not go to church, read by Bible, practice charity and yet still reject God’s message to me.