a Holy Spirit sandwich

Posted on February 28, 2019 by Jefferson Vann

John 20:21-23

John 20:21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you.”

John 20:22 After saying this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

John 20:23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”

a Holy Spirit sandwich

The disciples are overjoyed at seeing the resurrected Christ. But it is at this point that he reminds them of two enormous responsibilities that he is placing on them. First, they are going to be sent to the nations to represent him. Then, they hold the fate of the lost world in their hands, because he has given them the right to forgive sins or retain them, based on the nations’ response to the gospel.

The substance behind and power for both of these major responsibilities is the Holy Spirit. That is why Jesus encourages the disciples to receive him.

Holy Spirit, we choose to receive you. Empower us to represent Christ, and share his forgiveness with others.

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Sunday evening visit

Posted on February 27, 2019 by Jefferson Vann
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John 20:18-20

John 20:18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them what he had said to her.

John 20:19 When it was evening of that first day of the week, the disciples were gathered together with the doors locked because they feared the Jews. Jesus came, stood among them, and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

John 20:20 Having said this, he showed them his hands and his side. So the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

Sunday evening visit

After hearing the good news that Jesus was alive again, the disciples gathered Sunday evening, and waited for him to show up. When he did, it was not to berate them for their failure to stand by him when he went through his trials and crucifixion. It was not to condemn them, but to calm them down. The purpose of his revelation was not sorrow, but joy. They “rejoiced when they saw the Lord.”

Whenever we meet as followers of Christ, may our anxiety give way to peace, our shame to joy.

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don’t cling, go and tell

Posted on February 26, 2019 by Jefferson Vann
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John 20:10-17

John 20:10 Then the disciples went away again by themselves.

John 20:11 But Mary stood outside the tomb, crying. As she was crying, she stooped to look into the tomb.

John 20:12 She experienced two angels in white sitting where Jesus’s body had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet.

John 20:13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “Because they’ve taken away my Lord,” she told them, “and I don’t know where they’ve laid him down.”

John 20:14 Having said this, she turned around and experienced Jesus standing there, but she did not know it was Jesus.

John 20:15 “Woman,” Jesus said to her, “why are you crying? Who is it that you’re seeking?” Supposing he was the gardener, she replied, “Sir, if you’ve carried him away, tell me where you’ve laid him down, and I will take him away.”

John 20:16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” Turning around, she said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!”– which means “Teacher.”

John 20:17 “Don’t cling to me,” Jesus told her, “since I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them that I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”

don’t cling, go and tell

Our Lord’s message to Mary is a message we all can benefit from. He wants us to know that he is alive, but he does not want us to bury ourselves, even in worship. He wants us to tell the rest of the story. He wants us to know that the Son who left the Father for us has now returned to the Father – for us. He wants us to tell the good news that we can be reconciled to the Father because of the finished work on the cross, and that he now always lives and intercedes for us.1

Holy Spirit, show us more ways to share the good news of the resurrected, ascended Christ.

1Hebrews 7:25; Romans 8:34.

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when we don’t have a word

Posted on February 25, 2019 by Jefferson Vann
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John 20:1-9

John 20:1 On the first of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark. She saw the stone having been removed from the tomb.

John 20:2 So she went running to Simon Peter and to the other disciple, the one Jesus cared for, and said to them, “They’ve taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they’ve laid him down!”

John 20:3 At that, Peter and the other disciple exited, heading for the tomb.

John 20:4 The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and got to the tomb first.

John 20:5 Stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in.

John 20:6 Then, following him, Simon Peter also came. He entered the tomb and experienced the linen cloths lying there.

John 20:7 The wrapping that had been on his head was not lying with the linen cloths but was folded up in a separate place by itself.

John 20:8 The other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, then also went in, saw, and trusted.

John 20:9 Because they did not yet know the Scripture that he must rise from the dead.

when we don’t have a word

The disciples had not been paying attention when Jesus taught them about his resurrection. It happened, and they could not understand it. They just had to trust, because they had not discovered that the resurrection was necessary in order for Jesus to fulfill the scriptures.

I wish I could say that everything has now been revealed, and we will not have to take some things on face value, and trust that God knows what he is doing. I cannot say that. There are still a number of things that will happen that we have no “chapter and verse” for. Many of these are actually predicted in the Bible, but – like the disciples here – we will not recognize that they are the Lord’s doing when they happen.

So, life as a disciple is walk, trust, walk and trust.

Lord, give us the courage to walk according to your word, and walk trusting when we do not know the word.

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two gardens

Posted on February 24, 2019 by Jefferson Vann
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John 19:41-42

John 19:41 There was a garden in the place where he was crucified. A new tomb was in the garden; no one had yet been laid down in it.

John 19:42 They laid Jesus down there because of the Jewish day of preparation and since the tomb was nearby.

two gardens

Chuck Smith says this about the garden tomb:

“…if you will go today to Jerusalem, and you see the skull on the side of the mountain at the top of Mount Moriah, just adjacent to it there is a lovely garden that is an ancient garden, because you can see the cisterns that are still there from ancient days that were used for the watering of that garden. And there happens to be in that garden, a very interesting tomb that has a little trough in front of it that shows that at one time, there was a stone rolled along that trough to cover the door of that tomb. I am of the personal deep conviction that that is the very tomb where Jesus’ body lay.”1

I think it quite significant that Jesus was laid to rest in a tomb within a garden. The story of death began in a garden called Eden.2 This garden John mentions is where the story of new life begins. Our Lord’s resurrected life came out of that tomb in a garden. Our ancestors were banished from the garden of life because of disobedience. Our Lord was restored to life in a garden of death because of his obedience.

Lord, thank you for your obedience, making new life possible for us.

1Smith, Chuck. “C2000 Series on John 18-19.” The Word for Today. Blue Letter Bible. 1 Jun, 2005. 2018. 24 Nov 2018.

2Genesis 3:1, 3.

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from the background

Posted on February 23, 2019 by Jefferson Vann
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John 19:38-40

John 19:38 After this, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus– but secretly because of his fear of the Jews– asked Pilate that he might remove Jesus’s body. Pilate gave him permission; so he came and took his body away.

John 19:39 Nicodemus (who had previously come to him at night) also came, presenting a mixture of one hundred litras1 of myrrh and aloes.

John 19:40 They took Jesus’s body and wrapped it in linen cloths with the fragrant spices, according to the burial custom of the Jews.

from the background

Besides the conversation of Jesus with Nicodemus in chapter 3, these two people do not figure into the Gospel story, until now. There are always going to be people like this. They will stay in the background, but when the time is right, we will notice them fulfilling an important task.

If you find yourself asking what your purpose is, remember these two. Their mission was not glamorous or crucial to God’s plan, but they did have a mission.

Lord, we are at your service. Use us as you see fit.

1about seventy-five pounds.

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two types of evidence

Posted on February 22, 2019 by Jefferson Vann
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John 19:35-37

John 19:35 He who saw this has given evidence so that you also may be faithful. His evidence is true, and he knows he is telling the truth

John 19:36 because these things happened so that the Scripture would be fulfilled: Not one of his bones will be broken.

John 19:37 Also, another Scripture says: They will stare at the one they stabbed.

two types of evidence

John gives two types of evidence for Jesus’ crucifixion which he had just narrated. First, he testifies that he was there and he saw it. He was an eyewitness. Secondly, he testifies that what happened fulfilled Scripture.

  • That Jesus would go through his ordeal without having any major bones broken fulfilled the prophecy found in Psalm 34:20. The significance is that the Passover lamb was to be eaten in one place, without breaking any of its bones (Exodus 12:46; Numbers 9:12).

  • That Jesus would be stared at after having been stabbed by a spear fulfilled the prophecy found in Zechariah 12:10, and Psalm 22:16-17, and alluded to in Revelation 1:7.

Armed with Scripture and the testimony of own experience, we also can share with others the story of what our Savior has done.

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why water and blood?

Posted on February 21, 2019 by Jefferson Vann

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John 19:31-34

John 19:31 Since it was the preparation day, the Jews did not want the bodies to stay on the cross on the Sabbath (because that Sabbath was a great day). They requested that Pilate have the men’s legs broken and that their bodies be taken away.

John 19:32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man and of the other one who had been crucified with him.

John 19:33 When they came to Jesus, they did not break his legs since they saw that he was already dead.

John 19:34 But one of the soldiers stabbed his side with a spear, and at once blood and water escaped.

why water and blood?

Jesus experienced hypovolemic shock as a result of the ordeal he had gone through prior to his crucifixion, and it resulted in pericardial effusion – a buildup of fluid in the membrane surrounding his heart. That is one of the reasons for the water and blood that came from his side when it was pierced.

Another reason is that his crucifixion was God’s sacrifice for us. Sacrifices cleansed the worshippers by water and blood.

  • “purified with blood” – Hebrews 9:22

  • “washed in pure water” – Hebrews 10:22

  • “the blood of Jesus cleanses” – 1 John 1:7

  • “by water and the blood” – 1 John 5:6

  • “they have washed in the blood” – Revelation 7:14

All the blood sacrifices God had ordered his people to perform as part of their worship looked forward to this day, when God himself would provide the perfect sacrifice. It need never be repeated because it fully met the conditions to purchase permanent life for us sinners.

Thank you, Lord, our sacrifice.

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how he showed his love

Posted on February 20, 2019 by Jefferson Vann

 

John 19:28-30

John 19:28 After this, when Jesus knew that everything was now finished so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, he said, “I’m thirsty.”

John 19:29 A jar full of sour wine had been laid there; so they prepared a sponge full of sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it up to his mouth.

John 19:30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then bowing his head, he gave up his spirit.

how he showed his love

Luke’s Gospel and Acts highlight the fact that Jesus had a “baptism” to undergo, so a number of terrible things had to happen to him.1

The last item on the list was a terrible thirst. David had predicted that Jesus’ tongue would stick to the roof of his mouth – just before he would be put into the dust of death.2 David also predicted the sour drink.3

John continues to give evidence of who Jesus was. A substantial portion of that evidence is the ordeal of suffering that Jesus experienced – not to absolve him of his own sins, but for us. Jesus “baptism” ordeal was a demonstration of God’s love for those he was redeeming.

David concludes his “crucifixion song” (Psalm 22) with the words “to a people yet to be born they will declare what he has done.”4 The gospel message includes the story of how our Savior showed us his love.

Lord, your ordeal is finished. You have done it. Thank you.

1Luke 9:31; 12:50; 18:31; 22:37; Acts 13:29.

2Psalm 22:15.

3Psalm 69:21.

4Psalm 22:31.

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taking care of each other

Posted on February 19, 2019 by Jefferson Vann
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John 19:25-27

John 19:25 Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

John 19:26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple he loved standing there, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.”

John 19:27 Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own family.

taking care of each other

Jesus’ love for his mother and for John is seen here in the fact that even as he is in agony on the cross, he brings these two lonely people together to take care of each other. Jesus cares about our needs – even our need for family.

Verse 27 literally says “the disciple took her into his own (ἴδιος).” The word is twice used in John for family relationships.

  • Andrew found his own brother (1:41)

  • Jesus said God was his own Father (5:18)

So, it is my opinion that John was talking about adopting Mary into his family. Granted, Mary had other children, but I think that is why Jesus did this. He wanted these two believers to invest their lonely lives in each other.

That is what church fellowship is all about too. It pleases our Lord when we take care of each other.

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