You need to see this

Posted on December 3, 2018 by Jefferson Vann
John 11:27-30
27 She said to him “Absolutely, Lord, I believe you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.” 28 After saying this, she went back and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” 29 As soon as Mary heard this, she got up quickly and was coming to him. 30 Jesus had not yet come into the village but was still in the place where Martha had encountered him.
You need to see this
Jesus had just explained to Martha that he was going to raise the dead. When he asked if she believed that, she responded— not with an ordinary “yes” but an emphatic “absolutely.” Then she took off back to Mary. Whatever is going to happen with Lazarus, Mary needed to see it too.
The next big event in God’s timetable is the resurrection. Now is the time for us to go quickly to those who need to encounter Jesus before it happens.
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Resurrection faith

Posted on December 2, 2018 by Jefferson Vann

John 11:23-26

23 “Your brother will rise again,” Jesus told her. 24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am that resurrection and that life. The one believing in me, even if he dies, will live again. 26 “Everyone who is living and believing in me will certainly not die permanently. Do you believe this? ”

Resurrection faith

Lazarus’ resurrection would serve as a sign miracle, signifying that Jesus will be the one who raises the dead on the last day. What Jesus says to Martha is all about that resurrection day. There will be dead believers who are raised by Christ, and living believers who will avoid death altogether.

Jesus’ question to Martha is one we should all ponder. A faith without a resurrection is a hollow and dry faith. Faith in the Christ of the coming resurrection is vibrant, living, biblical faith.

Lord, we anxiously await your return, and the resurrection you promised.

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ladies in the background

Posted on December 1, 2018 by Jefferson Vann

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John. 11:17-22

17 That was why after Jesus arrived, he found him already having been in the tomb four days.

18 But Bethany was near Jerusalem (about fifteen stadia1 away).

19 Many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother.

20 That was why as soon as Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him, but Mary remained seated in the house.

21 That was why Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died.

22 Even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.”

ladies in the background

Decorum required that Mary remain seated in the house because they had guests. Martha left to receive Jesus when he arrived because this too was acceptable practice.

Martha gets the reputation of being less spiritual than her sister, because she was the one always tasked to do the household busywork. Martha has a reputation of being one of the ladies in the background.

But Martha shows a strong grasp on spiritual realities here. She knows about Jesus’ special relationship with the father. She knows that he can intercede and change destiny. She looks her sorrow in the face, and yet still trusts in Christ. Way to God Martha!

Lord, thank you for the ladies in the background who shine brightly for your kingdom.

1A stadia is about 600 feet.

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end game

Posted on November 30, 2018 by Jefferson Vann

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John 11:11-16

11 He said these words, and afterwards he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I’m proceeding to wake him up.”

12 That is why the disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be rescued.”

13 But Jesus had been speaking about his death, yet they thought he was speaking about the resting of sleep.

14 So Jesus then told them plainly, “Lazarus died.

15 I rejoice for you that I wasn’t there so that you may believe. But let’s go to him.”

16 Then Thomas (the one called “Twin”) said to his fellow disciples, “Let’s go too so that we may die with him.”

end game

Thomas’ words are the words of someone who has given up all hope. He discovered that Lazarus has died, and so he now thinks there is no use to travel back to that dangerous territory. He’s gone, and if we go there, we will probably join him. Death is the end game.

Jesus’ words are the words of someone who sees death entirely differently. He does not deny the reality of death. He does not claim that Lazarus is still alive – somewhere nice. No, Jesus rejoices because, unlike Thomas, he sees the possibility of rescue after death. Death is sleep, and someone sleeping can be woken up. The dead can be raised.

Lord, thank you for the promise of rescue we have in you. Thank you that death is not the end.

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the light of this world

Posted on November 29, 2018 by Jefferson Vann

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John 11:5-10

5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.

6 So as he heard that he was sick, he stayed in the place where he was two days.

7 Then after that, he said to the disciples, “Let’s go into Judea again.”

8 “Rabbi,” the disciples told him, “just now the Jews tried to stone you, and you’re departing for there again?”

9 Jesus answered, “Aren’t there twelve hours in a day? If someone walks during the day, he doesn’t stumble, because he sees the light of this world.

10 But if anyone walks during the night, he does stumble, because the light is not with him.”

the light of this world

It didn’t make sense for the disciples. They had just left Judea because a mob had just been ready to put him to death by stoning. Now, Jesus wants to go back (presumably) to be with a sick friend.

We know now that there was more to the story. That sick friend had already died, and Jesus wanted to return not just to comfort him in his illness, but to raise him from the tomb.

What did Jesus mean by his reference to walking during the day? He had already explained that he, himself, is the light (John 8:12). If the disciples follow him, they need not fear, because he knows what to do and where to do it.

We are always safest in the center of God’s will in Christ. If he tells us to go somewhere and do something, we can be assured he has a plan for his gospel to prevail there through our obedience.

Lord, thank you for being the light of this world.

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resurrection on order

Posted on November 28, 2018 by Jefferson Vann

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John 11:1-4

1 Someone got sick, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.

2 Mary was the one who had anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; it was her brother Lazarus who got sick.

3 That was why the sisters sent a message to him: “Lord, your friend is sick.”

4 When Jesus heard it, he said, “This sickness is not to death but is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

resurrection on order

If you are a Christian, and you are sick today, your sickness is not to death. I’m not saying you will not die. You might. But your death will not be the ultimate result of your sickness. You have a friend, just like Lazarus did. If you die, your friend – Jesus – will weep at your tomb. And some day soon, your friend Jesus will come back and raise you from the dead. Because he is the Resurrection and the Life.

You may recover from your illness or injury, and live for a while longer. But God has determined to glorify his Son ultimately by rescuing you from death permanently. Your resurrection is on order. It will happen. And it will glorify the Son.

Lord, come quickly – your friends are sick.

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Oasis places

Posted on November 27, 2018 by Jefferson Vann

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John 10:37-42

37 If I am not doing my Father’s works, don’t be trusting in me.

38 But if I am doing them and you aren’t trusting in me, be trusting in the works. Do this so that you will know and understand that the Father is in me and I in the Father.”

39 They were trying again to take him, but he slipped out of their hand.

40 And he left again beyond the Jordan to the place where John had first been baptizing, and he stayed there.

41 And many came to him and said, “John never performed a sign-miracle, but every detail John said about this man was true.”

42 And many trusted in him there.

Oasis places

After the many conflicts and clashes Jesus had with his antagonists in Jerusalem, he finally leaves the big city and retreats to the place where John’s kingdom revival had started – beyond the Jordan river. He’s still doing all the same things he did in Jerusalem, but the response is different.

As I reflect on my own journey, I see the same thing happening. There are some places where I can do all the same things, and yet meet rejection and worse. But there are some places where my ministry has been accepted and appreciated.

Thank you, LORD, for those oasis places.

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Set apart and sent

Posted on November 26, 2018 by Jefferson Vann

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John 10:31-36

31 The Jews picked up rocks again to stone him.

32 Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many proper works from the Father. Because of which of these works are you stoning me?”

33 The Jews answered, “We aren’t stoning you for a good work,” “but for blasphemy, because you– being a man– make yourself God.”

34 Jesus answered them, “Isn’t it written in your law, I said, you are gods?

35 If he called those whom the word of God came to ‘gods’– and the Scripture cannot be broken–

36 do you say, ‘You are blaspheming’ to the one the Father set apart and sent into the world, because I said: I am God’s Son?

Set apart and sent

Jesus is not downplaying his Sonship to escape the stoning. He is making a point that even the angelic council had been called θεοί (gods) in the Old Testament, with no charge of blasphemy ensuing (Psalm 82:1,6). Likewise, the apostle Paul referred to Satan as the god of this age (2 Cor. 4:4).

Jesus claims to have been set apart and sent by God from heaven. His miracles attest to the truth of that claim. Don’t let a stubborn hold on bad theology keep you from accepting God’s gift.

Lord, open the eyes of those who resist believing in who you are.

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safety in the Son

Posted on November 25, 2018 by Jefferson Vann

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John 10:26-30

26 But you aren’t believing because you are not from my sheep.

27 My sheep are listening to my voice, I know them, and they follow me.

28 I am also giving them permanent life, and they will certainly not be destroyed permanently. No one will snatch them out of my hand.

29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.

30 I and the Father are one.”

safety in the Son

Jesus claimed a special relationship with God – a status never held by any other human being. On the basis of his Sonship, he could promise a new kind of safety for the sheep of his fold. He offered more than a mere good life. He promised a permanent life. We do not experience that permanent life today. We believe in Christ’s promise for a permanent life in the future, when he returns.

Death is still a reality for believers. But we have Christ’s promise of safety in Him, so that even though we die, we will not be destroyed permanently (οὐ μὴ ἀπόλωνται εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα). Destruction by death still happens because of Adam’s sin. But resurrection to permanent life will happen because of the Son of God.

Lord, thank you for the safety we have in you.

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Hanukkah hotheads

Posted on November 24, 2018 by Jefferson Vann

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John 10:22-25

22 Then the dedication festival happened among the Jerusalemites. It was winter,

23 and Jesus was walking in the temple in Solomon’s Porch.

24 That was why the Jews surrounded him and said, “Until when are you going to keep lifting up our souls? If you are the Messiah, tell us publicly.”

25 Jesus answered them, “I did tell you and you are not believing; the works that I do in my Father’s name keep testifying about me.

Hanukkah hotheads

The mob that accosted Jesus at this Hanukkah celebration had already heard the gospel of the kingdom that Jesus taught. They had all the information that they needed to make a rational decision to accept him as Messiah. Jesus admitted that he had told them who he was, and that his works continued to testify about him. So, why did they not believe? They chose to not believe. They told themselves that Jesus was lifting up their souls – keeping them in suspense about his true identity. They kept insisting that he publicly proclaim that he was the proper king. That time would come. But now Jesus insists that the mob has all the evidence they need.

Lord, we join your word and your works to bear witness to who you really are.

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