The Everyday Prayer

Re:Verse reading–John 2:1-22 (day two) 

So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken. vs. 22

If I had known then what I know now…Have those words ever come from your mouth? Sometimes when we look back on the paths we have taken we wince to think of the choices made or the opportunities squandered. More often we can look backwards and see the wisdom offered by others that seemed foolish at the time becomes much more profound when life experience and our own wisdom builds. (All parents just shouted: AMEN!) John, the disciple Jesus loved, captures this moment early in his gospel account. After clearing the Temple he describes what is to come in his own life and ministry. The other disciples remembered these words and had a clearer understanding after Jesus demonstrated his words through the cross.

There are lessons that can only be taught by time. The point is to treasure the words of Jesus. What you are reading and praying through will, in time, prove a wonderful truth that was there all the time.

Re:Verse reading–John 2:1-22 (day one)

“This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and He manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.”–v 11

It was an unexpectedly small start.  Not a big splash on some large stage. (That will come next.  See v 12-22)  His first miracle was humble.  Local.  IMMANUEL–God with us. As present and involved in our homes/marriages/jobs as He is at church.

John (and most of the prophets) were distant.  Detached.  Separated.  Men of the desert.  Jesus is different.  God at the dinner table.  Same prophetic power.  More accessible.

And if God is near us, we are to get near others.   To be “in the world, but not of it” is a hard assignment.  No argument.  Even so, the example and command of Christ is clear.  “Go into all the world.”

What good is salt except in contact with corruption?  As we get near them.  He will be with us.

Re:Verse reading–John 1:1-18 (day seven)

He (John the Baptist) came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him.  He was not the Light, but he came to testify about the Light.  – John 1:7-8

Did you notice that John the Baptist is “a” witness, not THE witness?  To be clear, John the Baptist holds a critical place in the proclamation of the Gospel bridging the gap between the Old Testament and the New, but he is not the only witness, and certainly not the last.  That task has been handed down for millennia through the church.

Following the legal analogy John the Baptist was a critical witness in verifying the truth of Jesus’ case, and so are we.  We carry on that same purpose of testifying to the truth of Jesus Christ as Lord.  We are witnesses of Bethlehem, we are witnesses of Golgotha, we are witnesses of the ever-building Kingdom of God on this earth. To this we testify.

Re:Verse reading–John 1:1-18 (day six)

In the beginning…

John knew what he was doing; he was very intentional in echoing Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning, God …” These words are a literal explosion of reality: God is, and God speaks. John’s words millennia later are intended to be no different, an explosion of universe altering reality: the Word (Jesus) is God. There are no greater truths than these, and they demand from us our greatest response. Without exception, every human being must and will respond to these two realities.

How will you respond today?

Re:Verse reading–John 1:1-18 (day five) 

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory,” John‬ ‭1:14‬ ‭

When you study religions and compare them to Christianity, there are important questions that show the differences.  What are the holy writings?  How is salvation accomplished?  How was the world created?  The most crucial question that must be answered is, “Who is Jesus?”

John leaves no doubt about the answer from the beginning of his gospel. Jesus is fully divine and fully human. Jesus is preexistent with God. Jesus is God. Jesus became a human.

Each of these statements is vitally important to the gospel message. How would you answer this crucial question, “Who do you say that I am?”

Re:Verse reading–John 1:1-18 (day four)

Our new study of the book of John is called “Grace and Truth”.  Verses 14 and 17 tell us that Jesus was full of grace and truth and that they were realized in Him.  John focuses on these two character qualities of Christ as being most closely associated with salvation.  John’s focus is on Jesus’ full deity and full humanity…the truth of God’s plan for grace to mankind, resulting in salvation.

This week’s passage provides a prologue for the rest of the book.  Jesus existed in heaven with the Father, came to earth in the fullness of grace and truth to bring salvation to man.  The rest of the book of John expounds on how all this took place.  No richer book can be found to deal with the person of Christ.  Find someone to read this treasure with you this quarter.  Read and discuss together under the leadership of the Holy Spirit.  Introduce them to the Christ!

Re:Verse reading–John 1:1-18 (day three)

“No one has ever seen God.”

On the one hand, we feel the necessity to author our own version of the Almighty, because, hey, who really knows?  On the other hand, we feel scared to death that we’re missing something important because, again, who really knows?  John tapped into that dichotomy with precision.  It’s all exhilarating—until you really need some wisdom, until you can’t seem to stop who you’re becoming, until you’ve realized you’re in this all by yourself.  Some will self-medicate, others will turn to innumerable diversions, still others will settle for cynicism.  John acknowledges that we’re all in the dark.  And then he makes a claim: God has come to us; he’s the Son.  Is it worth considering that this claim might be true?  Jesus’s way of life pretty clearly invites all drunkards, seekers, and scoffers to investigate.

Re:Verse reading–John 1:1-18 (day two) He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. vs. 10

I marvel at the complexity of this verse. John almost poetically captures that seeming paradox of this Christ. He was indeed flesh and blood. He was also here before imagining. He was with God and himself God before. Before all. Lest you think this baby just a baby John reminds us that this child was the incarnate version of the almighty.

John Donne in his Holy Sonnets also tried to capture the both/and nature of God/baby.

Thou’ hast light in the darke; and shutst in little room, Immensity cloysterd in thy deare womb. 

That image is so powerful to me. The power of the atom. All of creation, all of who God was and is, was put in that small baby. His choice, our gift.

Donne again: ‘Tis time that heart and voice be lifted high, Salvation to all that will is nigh,

Re:Verse reading–John 1:1-18 (day one)

“No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.”–v 18

“God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son.“–Hebrews 1:1

Are you confused, today?  Got questions?  God has a Word for you!  What the heavens and the prophets have been declaring from the beginning of time, God is now clearly communicating in His Son.  Got your ears on?

No one has seen God.  No one can.  The Son must explain Him.   Interesting word.  It literally means “to lead someone out or forward” (ex=out, hegeomai=to lead).

Do you hunger to know God?  Do you want to get forward in your search for truth?

Jesus is the Word.  God’s explanation and communication.

May God have a Word with you?