Continuing our journey through the book of John
39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.”40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days.
41 And because of his words many more became believers.
42 They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”
I wonder if any of the Samaritans in the town asked the woman at the well – so what is it that you’ve done? I find it astounding that it seems many in the town ‘believed in him’ simply because of her testimony. Might we be shortchanging the power of our own testimony? Might we also need to include details on ‘everything I ever did’? Would we still do it?
It’s also amazing how simply the words of Christ (not miracles, not resurrection, not even works) were enough for people to acknowledge Jesus as “Savior of the world”.
How does that impact the way you interact with God and others?
by Lon on December 27, 2009
Continuing our journey through the Gospel of John
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!30 This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’
31 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”
32 Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him.33 I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’
34 I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God.”
When an Israelite heard the word lamb… images of sacrifice and slaughter come to mind. What is John saying when he looks to Jesus and calls him the Lamb of God?
For the Lamb of God also to be the Son of God is a radically profound idea. God’s are typically to be offered sacrifices, not to do the offering themselves. It was as unbelievable back then as it is now.
And if we’re followers of Christ, and children of God… where does that leave us?
by Lon on December 11, 2009
Continuing our journey through John
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ ”16 From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another.17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
18 No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only,,who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.
A few thoughts
- Can you imagine what it was like for God to encapsulate himself in something so fragile as human flesh?
- The Message translation goes as far as saying god ‘moved into the neighborhood’. There is this strong sense that God wanted to be a part of the fabric of our culture, joining us right where we live.
- Christ was full of grace and truth? Why do we so often think we need to speak or act with one or the other?
- John was being poetic with the phrase of ‘the one who comes after… because he was before me’. The underlying truth in it all is that while we may see God presently and actively working in our lives now and going forward, He’s always been there long before we realized.
- What might it mean by God now being ‘known’?
by Lon on November 19, 2009
After spending a large part of the year going through Acts, we’ll begin exploring the Book of John verse by verse for the next while.
If you’d like to be assigned a chunk of scripture to reflect and share from definitely let me know, it’s quite a rich and dense gospel! Feel free to interact/critique/affirm through the comments along the way. You might want to try meditating on the Scriptures itself before reading my reflections.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning.
3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
What an obscure introduction to someone completely new to Jesus! However to the Jewish audience this was written to “In the beginning” resounds with echos from Genesis 1:1. John here reveals that in the midst of the epic beginning of all things – the Word – who is later identified as Jesus – was already there.
Jesus – not just some person you see on bumper stickers or chiseled on a cross – but a unique person in all of creation – who was in the beginning with God – and in some mysterious way also described as God.
“Through him all things were made” nothing you see, no matter how broken, torn, bent, or ugly – is without the marks of Jesus somehow etched on him, her, or it. He is the epicenter of “life” – as his followers we ought to be radiating life.
We’re to be stretching out into the darkness, not running from it… in many ways perusing it – Even when rejected, facing failure, and ridiculed – just as we fail to perceive Christ time after time, yet He peruses us with his love.
by Lon on August 10, 2009
read the passage here
v1-5 Everyone seems to be swinging between emotions, including Paul. Shows the value of understanding one another before lashing out.
v6 It sounds ridiculous in our age to be on trial because of ‘hope in the resurrection of the dead’ – there might be disputes and disagreements on it today -but does anyone really fight over it?
v14 vowing to not eat meat till Paul is killed – that would be a lot to ask of some people – what made them so passionate for another man’s death?
Read the passage here
Paul shares his testimony again. He’s well acquainted with articulating his own story.
I find this line fascinating, the Lord said to him “‘Quick!’ he said to me. ‘Leave Jerusalem immediately, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’” – as if there wasn’t something divine he could do to change all of that.
Did the centurion ask for ID from Paul when he said he was a roman citizen, or did he just take him at his word?
They thought twice about ‘flogging’ Paul when they discovered more of who he was… would that change for those we despise and punish – even if secretly?
by Lon on September 2, 2008
Continuing the reflections on Hebrews 12.
“In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.” – In our own struggles with sin, and not to belittle them in anyway, what’s the worst that’s really happened when we’ve struggled against sinning? I doubt many of us have shed blood over it.
This passage speaks of God’s love and discipline. How might God be showing his love through his discipline in your life right now?
The last section is interesting for me, about receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken… it made me think of that old song about how “I” will not be shaken… but the scriptures describe it as something much broader than just me. and so for my life going forward, I’m reminded that odds are i will be shaken, challenged, disciplined, and fail… but it’s this kingdom, this new reality god is bringing in, that will not be shaken, which i’m blessed to be a part of.
by Lon on August 18, 2008
Here’s the passage you can refer to
Some personal reflections
- I’m so glad the law is just a shadow – there’s so much more to life than following rules.
- I wonder what it looks like for us to be perfected? What would it look like for you and me to head towards that today?
- It describes Christ as beign faithful… ie. full of faith. What might that mean?
- A popular verse is mentioned in this chapter about not giving up meeting together and encouragement. It’s so easy to think that we dont’ need one another, or the person right next to us needs encouragement. The Scriptures remind us not to ever stop these spiritual disciplines.
