Day 21/All Done

I'm saying  "all done" for two reasons.  #1 We've completed reading the book of John.  #2  Christ's work on the cross is complete.  He came and lived among us, taught and loved us, lived a sinless life and then sacrificed Himself on the cross.  But then, He defeated the grave and rose again!  He was the Perfect Lamb who sacrificed Himself so we could have eternal life. 

This final chapter in John is extremely rich in symbolism and doctrine.  It is a chapter of critical importance to the Christian who seeks to serve Jesus Christ.  Listen closely as Jesus teaches His disciples through divine symbolism what He wants them to do when He leaves them.   Hope you've enjoyed this journey. 

Day 21

John 21

Fishing

 ^1-3After this, Jesus appeared again to the disciples, this time at the Tiberias Sea (the Sea of Galilee). This is how he did it: Simon Peter, Thomas (nicknamed "Twin"), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the brothers Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. Simon Peter announced, "I'm going fishing."  ^3-4The rest of them replied, "We're going with you." They went out and got in the boat. They caught nothing that night. When the sun came up, Jesus was standing on the beach, but they didn't recognize him.
 ⁵Jesus spoke to them: "Good morning! Did you catch anything for breakfast?"
   They answered, "No."
 ⁶He said, "Throw the net off the right side of the boat and see what happens."
   They did what he said. All of a sudden there were so many fish in it, they weren't strong enough to pull it in.
 ^7-9Then the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, "It's the Master!"
   When Simon Peter realized that it was the Master, he threw on some clothes, for he was stripped for work, and dove into the sea. The other disciples came in by boat for they weren't far from land, a hundred yards or so, pulling along the net full of fish. When they got out of the boat, they saw a fire laid, with fish and bread cooking on it.
 ^10-11Jesus said, "Bring some of the fish you've just caught." Simon Peter joined them and pulled the net to shore—153 big fish! And even with all those fish, the net didn't rip.
 ¹²Jesus said, "Breakfast is ready." Not one of the disciples dared ask, "Who are you?" They knew it was the Master.
 ^13-14Jesus then took the bread and gave it to them. He did the same with the fish. This was now the third time Jesus had shown himself alive to the disciples since being raised from the dead.

Do You Love Me?

 ¹⁵After breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?"    "Yes, Master, you know I love you."
   Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."
 ¹⁶He then asked a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?"
   "Yes, Master, you know I love you."
   Jesus said, "Shepherd my sheep."
 ^17-19Then he said it a third time: "Simon, son of John, do you love me?"
   Peter was upset that he asked for the third time, "Do you love me?" so he answered, "Master, you know everything there is to know. You've got to know that I love you."
   Jesus said, "Feed my sheep. I'm telling you the very truth now: When you were young you dressed yourself and went wherever you wished, but when you get old you'll have to stretch out your hands while someone else dresses you and takes you where you don't want to go." He said this to hint at the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. And then he commanded, "Follow me."
 ^20-21Turning his head, Peter noticed the disciple Jesus loved following right behind. When Peter noticed him, he asked Jesus, "Master, what's going to happen to him?"
 ^22-23Jesus said, "If I want him to live until I come again, what's that to you? You—follow me." That is how the rumor got out among the brothers that this disciple wouldn't die. But that is not what Jesus said. He simply said, "If I want him to live until I come again, what's that to you?"
 ²⁴This is the same disciple who was eyewitness to all these things and wrote them down. And we all know that his eyewitness account is reliable and accurate.
 ²⁵There are so many other things Jesus did. If they were all written down, each of them, one by one, I can't imagine a world big enough to hold such a library of books.

Day 20/ I Saw the Master!

This chapter is about an empty tomb and a risen Savior!  Jesus tells them that they believe because they've seen it with their own eyes...but even better those who believe but have not seen.  I will let the power of these verses speak for themselves.

Day 20

John 20

Resurrection!

 ^1-2 Early in the morning on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone was moved away from the entrance. She ran at once to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, breathlessly panting, "They took the Master from the tomb. We don't know where they've put him."  ^3-10Peter and the other disciple left immediately for the tomb. They ran, neck and neck. The other disciple got to the tomb first, outrunning Peter. Stooping to look in, he saw the pieces of linen cloth lying there, but he didn't go in. Simon Peter arrived after him, entered the tomb, observed the linen cloths lying there, and the kerchief used to cover his head not lying with the linen cloths but separate, neatly folded by itself. Then the other disciple, the one who had gotten there first, went into the tomb, took one look at the evidence, and believed. No one yet knew from the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead. The disciples then went back home.
 ^11-13But Mary stood outside the tomb weeping. As she wept, she knelt to look into the tomb and saw two angels sitting there, dressed in white, one at the head, the other at the foot of where Jesus' body had been laid. They said to her, "Woman, why do you weep?"
 ^13-14"They took my Master," she said, "and I don't know where they put him." After she said this, she turned away and saw Jesus standing there. But she didn't recognize him.
 ¹⁵Jesus spoke to her, "Woman, why do you weep? Who are you looking for?"
   She, thinking that he was the gardener, said, "Mister, if you took him, tell me where you put him so I can care for him."
 ¹⁶Jesus said, "Mary."
   Turning to face him, she said in Hebrew, "Rabboni!" meaning "Teacher!"
 ¹⁷Jesus said, "Don't cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go to my brothers and tell them, 'I ascend to my Father and your Father, my God and your God.'"
 ¹⁸Mary Magdalene went, telling the news to the disciples: "I saw the Master!" And she told them everything he said to her.

To Believe

 ^19-20Later on that day, the disciples had gathered together, but, fearful of the Jews, had locked all the doors in the house. Jesus entered, stood among them, and said, "Peace to you." Then he showed them his hands and side.  ^20-21The disciples, seeing the Master with their own eyes, were exuberant. Jesus repeated his greeting: "Peace to you. Just as the Father sent me, I send you."
 ^22-23Then he took a deep breath and breathed into them. "Receive the Holy Spirit," he said. "If you forgive someone's sins, they're gone for good. If you don't forgive sins, what are you going to do with them?"
 ^24-25But Thomas, sometimes called the Twin, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples told him, "We saw the Master."
   But he said, "Unless I see the nail holes in his hands, put my finger in the nail holes, and stick my hand in his side, I won't believe it."
 ²⁶Eight days later, his disciples were again in the room. This time Thomas was with them. Jesus came through the locked doors, stood among them, and said, "Peace to you."
 ²⁷Then he focused his attention on Thomas. "Take your finger and examine my hands. Take your hand and stick it in my side. Don't be unbelieving. Believe."
 ²⁸Thomas said, "My Master! My God!"
 ²⁹Jesus said, "So, you believe because you've seen with your own eyes. Even better blessings are in store for those who believe without seeing."
 ^30-31Jesus provided far more God-revealing signs than are written down in this book. These are written down so you will believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and in the act of believing, have real and eternal life in the way he personally revealed it.

Day 19/The Crucifixion

Day 19

John 19

The Thorn Crown of the King

 ^1-3 So Pilate took Jesus and had him whipped. The soldiers, having braided a crown from thorns, set it on his head, threw a purple robe over him, and approached him with, "Hail, King of the Jews!" Then they greeted him with slaps in the face.  ^4-5Pilate went back out again and said to them, "I present him to you, but I want you to know that I do not find him guilty of any crime." Just then Jesus came out wearing the thorn crown and purple robe.
   Pilate announced, "Here he is: the Man."
 ⁶When the high priests and police saw him, they shouted in a frenzy, "Crucify! Crucify!"
   Pilate told them, "You take him. You crucify him. I find nothing wrong with him."
 ⁷The Jews answered, "We have a law, and by that law he must die because he claimed to be the Son of God."
 ^8-9When Pilate heard this, he became even more scared. He went back into the palace and said to Jesus, "Where did you come from?"
   Jesus gave no answer.
 ¹⁰Pilate said, "You won't talk? Don't you know that I have the authority to pardon you, and the authority to—crucify you?"
 ¹¹Jesus said, "You haven't a shred of authority over me except what has been given you from heaven. That's why the one who betrayed me to you has committed a far greater fault."
 ¹²At this, Pilate tried his best to pardon him, but the Jews shouted him down: "If you pardon this man, you're no friend of Caesar's. Anyone setting himself up as 'king' defies Caesar."
 ^13-14When Pilate heard those words, he led Jesus outside. He sat down at the judgment seat in the area designated Stone Court (in Hebrew, Gabbatha). It was the preparation day for Passover. The hour was noon. Pilate said to the Jews, "Here is your king."
 ¹⁵They shouted back, "Kill him! Kill him! Crucify him!"
   Pilate said, "I am to crucify your king?"
   The high priests answered, "We have no king except Caesar."
 ^16-19Pilate caved in to their demand. He turned him over to be crucified.

The Crucifixion

   They took Jesus away. Carrying his cross, Jesus went out to the place called Skull Hill (the name in Hebrew is Golgotha), where they crucified him, and with him two others, one on each side, Jesus in the middle. Pilate wrote a sign and had it placed on the cross. It read:

   jesus the nazarene
   the king of the jews.  ^20-21Many of the Jews read the sign because the place where Jesus was crucified was right next to the city. It was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. The Jewish high priests objected. "Don't write," they said to Pilate, "'The King of the Jews.' Make it, 'This man said, "I am the King of the Jews."'"
 ²²Pilate said, "What I've written, I've written."
 ^23-24When they crucified him, the Roman soldiers took his clothes and divided them up four ways, to each soldier a fourth. But his robe was seamless, a single piece of weaving, so they said to each other, "Let's not tear it up. Let's throw dice to see who gets it." This confirmed the Scripture that said, "They divided up my clothes among them and threw dice for my coat." (The soldiers validated the Scriptures!)
 ^24-27While the soldiers were looking after themselves, Jesus' mother, his aunt, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene stood at the foot of the cross. Jesus saw his mother and the disciple he loved standing near her. He said to his mother, "Woman, here is your son." Then to the disciple, "Here is your mother." From that moment the disciple accepted her as his own mother.
 ²⁸Jesus, seeing that everything had been completed so that the Scripture record might also be complete, then said, "I'm thirsty."
 ^29-30A jug of sour wine was standing by. Someone put a sponge soaked with the wine on a javelin and lifted it to his mouth. After he took the wine, Jesus said, "It's done . . . complete." Bowing his head, he offered up his spirit.
 ^31-34Then the Jews, since it was the day of Sabbath preparation, and so the bodies wouldn't stay on the crosses over the Sabbath (it was a high holy day that year), petitioned Pilate that their legs be broken to speed death, and the bodies taken down. So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man crucified with Jesus, and then the other. When they got to Jesus, they saw that he was already dead, so they didn't break his legs. One of the soldiers stabbed him in the side with his spear. Blood and water gushed out.
 ³⁵The eyewitness to these things has presented an accurate report. He saw it himself and is telling the truth so that you, also, will believe.
 ^36-37These things that happened confirmed the Scripture, "Not a bone in his body was broken," and the other Scripture that reads, "They will stare at the one they pierced."
 ³⁸After all this, Joseph of Arimathea (he was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, because he was intimidated by the Jews) petitioned Pilate to take the body of Jesus. Pilate gave permission. So Joseph came and took the body.
 ^39-42Nicodemus, who had first come to Jesus at night, came now in broad daylight carrying a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. They took Jesus' body and, following the Jewish burial custom, wrapped it in linen with the spices. There was a garden near the place he was crucified, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been placed. So, because it was Sabbath preparation for the Jews and the tomb was convenient, they placed Jesus in it.

Day 18/King of the Jews

These next chapters are hard to read, but necessary.  Because of this, we are redeemed.  To get an even better picture of what is going on, you can read the other gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke).  John leaves out some details that the others shared.  In this chapter, man begins to do his very worst.  But God will do His very best.

 

John 18

Seized in the Garden at Night

 ¹ Jesus, having prayed this prayer, left with his disciples and crossed over the brook Kidron at a place where there was a garden. He and his disciples entered it.  ^2-4Judas, his betrayer, knew the place because Jesus and his disciples went there often. So Judas led the way to the garden, and the Roman soldiers and police sent by the high priests and Pharisees followed. They arrived there with lanterns and torches and swords. Jesus, knowing by now everything that was coming down on him, went out and met them. He said, "Who are you after?"
   They answered, "Jesus the Nazarene."
 ^5-6He said, "That's me." The soldiers recoiled, totally taken aback. Judas, his betrayer, stood out like a sore thumb.
 ⁷Jesus asked again, "Who are you after?"
   They answered, "Jesus the Nazarene."
 ^8-9"I told you," said Jesus, "that's me. I'm the one. So if it's me you're after, let these others go." (This validated the words in his prayer, "I didn't lose one of those you gave.")
 ¹⁰Just then Simon Peter, who was carrying a sword, pulled it from its sheath and struck the Chief Priest's servant, cutting off his right ear. Malchus was the servant's name.
 ¹¹Jesus ordered Peter, "Put back your sword. Do you think for a minute I'm not going to drink this cup the Father gave me?"
 ^12-14Then the Roman soldiers under their commander, joined by the Jewish police, seized Jesus and tied him up. They took him first to Annas, father-in-law of Caiaphas. Caiaphas was the Chief Priest that year. It was Caiaphas who had advised the Jews that it was to their advantage that one man die for the people.
 ^15-16Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. That other disciple was known to the Chief Priest, and so he went in with Jesus to the Chief Priest's courtyard. Peter had to stay outside. Then the other disciple went out, spoke to the doorkeeper, and got Peter in.
 ¹⁷The young woman who was the doorkeeper said to Peter, "Aren't you one of this man's disciples?"
   He said, "No, I'm not."
 ¹⁸The servants and police had made a fire because of the cold and were huddled there warming themselves. Peter stood with them, trying to get warm.

The Interrogation

 ^19-21Annas interrogated Jesus regarding his disciples and his teaching. Jesus answered, "I've spoken openly in public. I've taught regularly in meeting places and the Temple, where the Jews all come together. Everything has been out in the open. I've said nothing in secret. So why are you treating me like a conspirator? Question those who have been listening to me. They know well what I have said. My teachings have all been aboveboard."  ²²When he said this, one of the policemen standing there slapped Jesus across the face, saying, "How dare you speak to the Chief Priest like that!"
 ²³Jesus replied, "If I've said something wrong, prove it. But if I've spoken the plain truth, why this slapping around?"
 ²⁴Then Annas sent him, still tied up, to the Chief Priest Caiaphas.
 ²⁵Meanwhile, Simon Peter was back at the fire, still trying to get warm. The others there said to him, "Aren't you one of his disciples?"
   He denied it, "Not me."
 ²⁶One of the Chief Priest's servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, said, "Didn't I see you in the garden with him?"
 ²⁷Again, Peter denied it. Just then a rooster crowed.

The King of the Jews

 ^28-29They led Jesus then from Caiaphas to the Roman governor's palace. It was early morning. They themselves didn't enter the palace because they didn't want to be disqualified from eating the Passover. So Pilate came out to them and spoke. "What charge do you bring against this man?"  ³⁰They said, "If he hadn't been doing something evil, do you think we'd be here bothering you?"
 ^31-32Pilate said, "You take him. Judge him by your law."
   The Jews said, "We're not allowed to kill anyone." (This would confirm Jesus' word indicating the way he would die.)
 ³³Pilate went back into the palace and called for Jesus. He said, "Are you the 'King of the Jews'?"
 ³⁴Jesus answered, "Are you saying this on your own, or did others tell you this about me?"
 ³⁵Pilate said, "Do I look like a Jew? Your people and your high priests turned you over to me. What did you do?"
 ³⁶"My kingdom," said Jesus, "doesn't consist of what you see around you. If it did, my followers would fight so that I wouldn't be handed over to the Jews. But I'm not that kind of king, not the world's kind of king."
 ³⁷Then Pilate said, "So, are you a king or not?"
   Jesus answered, "You tell me. Because I am King, I was born and entered the world so that I could witness to the truth. Everyone who cares for truth, who has any feeling for the truth, recognizes my voice."
 ^38-39Pilate said, "What is truth?"
   Then he went back out to the Jews and told them, "I find nothing wrong in this man. It's your custom that I pardon one prisoner at Passover. Do you want me to pardon the 'King of the Jews'?"
 ⁴⁰They shouted back, "Not this one, but Barabbas!" Barabbas was a Jewish freedom fighter.

Day 17/Jesus Prays

In chapter 17, Jesus prayed this prayer with His disciples after they'd eaten the last supper and right before He was arrested.  It was His last teaching opportunity with His disciples before going to the cross.  It was meant for not only His disciples, but us too.  He prays for our protection from evil and that we'd be taught the truth and that the truth would make us holy.  Then He prays that we will experience a unity with the Father so we will have perfect unity with the church and the world will see the source of our love.

Day 17

John 17

Jesus' Prayer for His Followers

 ^1-5 Jesus said these things. Then, raising his eyes in prayer, he said:
   Father, it's time.
   Display the bright splendor of your Son
   So the Son in turn may show your bright splendor.
   You put him in charge of everything human
   So he might give real and eternal life to all in his charge.
   And this is the real and eternal life:
   That they know you,
   The one and only true God,
   And Jesus Christ, whom you sent.
   I glorified you on earth
   By completing down to the last detail
   What you assigned me to do.
   And now, Father, glorify me with your very own splendor,
   The very splendor I had in your presence
   Before there was a world.  ^6-12I spelled out your character in detail
   To the men and women you gave me.
   They were yours in the first place;
   Then you gave them to me,
   And they have now done what you said.
   They know now, beyond the shadow of a doubt,
   That everything you gave me is firsthand from you,
   For the message you gave me, I gave them;
   And they took it, and were convinced
   That I came from you.
   They believed that you sent me.
   I pray for them.
   I'm not praying for the God-rejecting world
   But for those you gave me,
   For they are yours by right.
   Everything mine is yours, and yours mine,
   And my life is on display in them.
   For I'm no longer going to be visible in the world;
   They'll continue in the world
   While I return to you.
   Holy Father, guard them as they pursue this life
   That you conferred as a gift through me,
   So they can be one heart and mind
   As we are one heart and mind.
   As long as I was with them, I guarded them
   In the pursuit of the life you gave through me;
   I even posted a night watch.
   And not one of them got away,
   Except for the rebel bent on destruction
   (the exception that proved the rule of Scripture).
 ^13-19Now I'm returning to you.
   I'm saying these things in the world's hearing
   So my people can experience
   My joy completed in them.
   I gave them your word;
   The godless world hated them because of it,
   Because they didn't join the world's ways,
   Just as I didn't join the world's ways.
   I'm not asking that you take them out of the world
   But that you guard them from the Evil One.
   They are no more defined by the world
   Than I am defined by the world.
   Make them holy—consecrated—with the truth;
   Your word is consecrating truth.
   In the same way that you gave me a mission in the world,
   I give them a mission in the world.
   I'm consecrating myself for their sakes
   So they'll be truth-consecrated in their mission.
 ^20-23I'm praying not only for them
   But also for those who will believe in me
   Because of them and their witness about me.
   The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind—
   Just as you, Father, are in me and I in you,
   So they might be one heart and mind with us.
   Then the world might believe that you, in fact, sent me.
   The same glory you gave me, I gave them,
   So they'll be as unified and together as we are—
   I in them and you in me.
   Then they'll be mature in this oneness,
   And give the godless world evidence
   That you've sent me and loved them
   In the same way you've loved me.
 ^24-26Father, I want those you gave me
   To be with me, right where I am,
   So they can see my glory, the splendor you gave me,
   Having loved me
   Long before there ever was a world.
   Righteous Father, the world has never known you,
   But I have known you, and these disciples know
   That you sent me on this mission.
   I have made your very being known to them—
   Who you are and what you do—
   And continue to make it known,
   So that your love for me
   Might be in them
   Exactly as I am in them.

Day 16/I've Conquered the World!

Jesus tells His disciples how the world will hate them for being His followers.  In this godless world they will face difficulties.  But then He goes on to explain, "But take heart, for I've conquered the world!"  Love it.

Day 16

John 16

 ^1-4 "I've told you these things to prepare you for rough times ahead. They are going to throw you out of the meeting places. There will even come a time when anyone who kills you will think he's doing God a favor. They will do these things because they never really understood the Father. I've told you these things so that when the time comes and they start in on you, you'll be well-warned and ready for them.

The Friend Will Come

 ^4-7"I didn't tell you this earlier because I was with you every day. But now I am on my way to the One who sent me. Not one of you has asked, 'Where are you going?' Instead, the longer I've talked, the sadder you've become. So let me say it again, this truth: It's better for you that I leave. If I don't leave, the Friend won't come. But if I go, I'll send him to you.  ^8-11"When he comes, he'll expose the error of the godless world's view of sin, righteousness, and judgment: He'll show them that their refusal to believe in me is their basic sin; that righteousness comes from above, where I am with the Father, out of their sight and control; that judgment takes place as the ruler of this godless world is brought to trial and convicted.
 ^12-15"I still have many things to tell you, but you can't handle them now. But when the Friend comes, the Spirit of the Truth, he will take you by the hand and guide you into all the truth there is. He won't draw attention to himself, but will make sense out of what is about to happen and, indeed, out of all that I have done and said. He will honor me; he will take from me and deliver it to you. Everything the Father has is also mine. That is why I've said, 'He takes from me and delivers to you.'
 ¹⁶"In a day or so you're not going to see me, but then in another day or so you will see me."

Joy Like a River Overflowing

 ^17-18That stirred up a hornet's nest of questions among the disciples: "What's he talking about: 'In a day or so you're not going to see me, but then in another day or so you will see me'? And, 'Because I'm on my way to the Father'? What is this 'day or so'? We don't know what he's talking about."  ^19-20Jesus knew they were dying to ask him what he meant, so he said, "Are you trying to figure out among yourselves what I meant when I said, 'In a day or so you're not going to see me, but then in another day or so you will see me'? Then fix this firmly in your minds: You're going to be in deep mourning while the godless world throws a party. You'll be sad, very sad, but your sadness will develop into gladness.
 ^21-23"When a woman gives birth, she has a hard time, there's no getting around it. But when the baby is born, there is joy in the birth. This new life in the world wipes out memory of the pain. The sadness you have right now is similar to that pain, but the coming joy is also similar. When I see you again, you'll be full of joy, and it will be a joy no one can rob from you. You'll no longer be so full of questions.
 ^23-24"This is what I want you to do: Ask the Father for whatever is in keeping with the things I've revealed to you. Ask in my name, according to my will, and he'll most certainly give it to you. Your joy will be a river overflowing its banks!
 ^25-28"I've used figures of speech in telling you these things. Soon I'll drop the figures and tell you about the Father in plain language. Then you can make your requests directly to him in relation to this life I've revealed to you. I won't continue making requests of the Father on your behalf. I won't need to. Because you've gone out on a limb, committed yourselves to love and trust in me, believing I came directly from the Father, the Father loves you directly. First, I left the Father and arrived in the world; now I leave the world and travel to the Father."
 ^29-30His disciples said, "Finally! You're giving it to us straight, in plain talk—no more figures of speech. Now we know that you know everything—it all comes together in you. You won't have to put up with our questions anymore. We're convinced you came from God."

 ^31-33Jesus answered them, "Do you finally believe? In fact, you're about to make a run for it—saving your own skins and abandoning me. But I'm not abandoned. The Father is with me. I've told you all this so that trusting me, you will be unshakable and assured, deeply at peace. In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I've conquered the world."

Day 15/Just Read

As I began reading this chapter, I began thinking about how mixed up and distorted people's views of the Bible become because they take something they've heard and add to it.  Or they think they know what the Bible says about something without reading it.  Then false teaching begins and insanity ensues.  I truly believe the Bible is meant to be read by the average layperson.  It can be understood by the least or the most educated and it's not burdensome.  Just read it.  And then remember the root command, "Love one Another".

John 15

The Vine and the Branches

 ^1-3 "I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer. He cuts off every branch of me that doesn't bear grapes. And every branch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more. You are already pruned back by the message I have spoken.  ⁴"Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can't bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can't bear fruit unless you are joined with me.
 ^5-8"I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you're joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can't produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is—when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples.
 ^9-10"I've loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love. If you keep my commands, you'll remain intimately at home in my love. That's what I've done—kept my Father's commands and made myself at home in his love.
 ^11-15"I've told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends. You are my friends when you do the things I command you. I'm no longer calling you servants because servants don't understand what their master is thinking and planning. No, I've named you friends because I've let you in on everything I've heard from the Father.
 ¹⁶"You didn't choose me, remember; I chose you, and put you in the world to bear fruit, fruit that won't spoil. As fruit bearers, whatever you ask the Father in relation to me, he gives you.
 ¹⁷"But remember the root command: Love one another.

Hated by the World

^18-19"If you find the godless world is hating you, remember it got its start hating me. If you lived on the world's terms, the world would love you as one of its own. But since I picked you to live on God's terms and no longer on the world's terms, the world is going to hate you.  ²⁰"When that happens, remember this: Servants don't get better treatment than their masters. If they beat on me, they will certainly beat on you. If they did what I told them, they will do what you tell them.
 ^21-25"They are going to do all these things to you because of the way they treated me, because they don't know the One who sent me. If I hadn't come and told them all this in plain language, it wouldn't be so bad. As it is, they have no excuse. Hate me, hate my Father—it's all the same. If I hadn't done what I have done among them, works no one has ever done, they wouldn't be to blame. But they saw the God-signs and hated anyway, both me and my Father. Interesting—they have verified the truth of their own Scriptures where it is written, 'They hated me for no good reason.'
 ^26-27"When the Friend I plan to send you from the Father comes—the Spirit of Truth issuing from the Father—he will confirm everything about me. You, too, from your side must give your confirming evidence, since you are in this with me from the start."

Day 14/Comforting Words

In this chapter, Jesus explains the way of salvation and comforts His disciples.  He is preparing a place for us in heaven.  And He is the ONLY Way to heaven.  Also, He will not leave us alone while we wait but will send us the promised Holy Spirit to be our comforter and friend. 

Day 14

John 14

The Road

 ^1-4 "Don't let this throw you. You trust God, don't you? Trust me. There is plenty of room for you in my Father's home. If that weren't so, would I have told you that I'm on my way to get a room ready for you? And if I'm on my way to get your room ready, I'll come back and get you so you can live where I live. And you already know the road I'm taking."  ⁵Thomas said, "Master, we have no idea where you're going. How do you expect us to know the road?"
 ^6-7Jesus said, "I am the Road, also the Truth, also the Life. No one gets to the Father apart from me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him. You've even seen him!"
 ⁸Philip said, "Master, show us the Father; then we'll be content."
 ^9-10"You've been with me all this time, Philip, and you still don't understand? To see me is to see the Father. So how can you ask, 'Where is the Father?' Don't you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you aren't mere words. I don't just make them up on my own. The Father who resides in me crafts each word into a divine act.
 ^11-14"Believe me: I am in my Father and my Father is in me. If you can't believe that, believe what you see—these works. The person who trusts me will not only do what I'm doing but even greater things, because I, on my way to the Father, am giving you the same work to do that I've been doing. You can count on it. From now on, whatever you request along the lines of who I am and what I am doing, I'll do it. That's how the Father will be seen for who he is in the Son. I mean it. Whatever you request in this way, I'll do.

The Spirit of Truth

^15-17"If you love me, show it by doing what I've told you. I will talk to the Father, and he'll provide you another Friend so that you will always have someone with you. This Friend is the Spirit of Truth. The godless world can't take him in because it doesn't have eyes to see him, doesn't know what to look for. But you know him already because he has been staying with you, and will even be in you!  ^18-20"I will not leave you orphaned. I'm coming back. In just a little while the world will no longer see me, but you're going to see me because I am alive and you're about to come alive. At that moment you will know absolutely that I'm in my Father, and you're in me, and I'm in you.
 ²¹"The person who knows my commandments and keeps them, that's who loves me. And the person who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and make myself plain to him."
 ²²Judas (not Iscariot) said, "Master, why is it that you are about to make yourself plain to us but not to the world?"
 ^23-24"Because a loveless world," said Jesus, "is a sightless world. If anyone loves me, he will carefully keep my word and my Father will love him—we'll move right into the neighborhood! Not loving me means not keeping my words. The message you are hearing isn't mine. It's the message of the Father who sent me.
 ^25-27"I'm telling you these things while I'm still living with you. The Friend, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send at my request, will make everything plain to you. He will remind you of all the things I have told you. I'm leaving you well and whole. That's my parting gift to you. Peace. I don't leave you the way you're used to being left—feeling abandoned, bereft. So don't be upset. Don't be distraught.
 ²⁸"You've heard me tell you, 'I'm going away, and I'm coming back.' If you loved me, you would be glad that I'm on my way to the Father because the Father is the goal and purpose of my life.
 ^29-31"I've told you this ahead of time, before it happens, so that when it does happen, the confirmation will deepen your belief in me. I'll not be talking with you much more like this because the chief of this godless world is about to attack. But don't worry—he has nothing on me, no claim on me. But so the world might know how thoroughly I love the Father, I am carrying out my Father's instructions right down to the last detail.
   "Get up. Let's go. It's time to leave here."

Day 13/Love

Again, there is so much I could say.  I could write volumes about this chapter alone.  But my goal here has been to just get you reading.  In this chapter, Jesus shows His disciples the meaning of love.  In preparation for the ultimate act of love (the laying down of His life for us all), Jesus begins teaching them by washing their feet.  This is the love of humble service.  Imagine the God who created everything serving His disciples by washing their dirty feet. He gives us a new commandment, "Love one another".   Jesus wants us to take on the role of a loving servant.  If we can manage that one, all the other commandments will fall naturally in place. 

Day 13

John 13

Washing His Disciples' Feet

 ^1-2 Just before the Passover Feast, Jesus knew that the time had come to leave this world to go to the Father. Having loved his dear companions, he continued to love them right to the end. It was suppertime. The Devil by now had Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot, firmly in his grip, all set for the betrayal.  ^3-6Jesus knew that the Father had put him in complete charge of everything, that he came from God and was on his way back to God. So he got up from the supper table, set aside his robe, and put on an apron. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the feet of the disciples, drying them with his apron. When he got to Simon Peter, Peter said, "Master, you wash my feet?"
 ⁷Jesus answered, "You don't understand now what I'm doing, but it will be clear enough to you later."
 ⁸Peter persisted, "You're not going to wash my feet—ever!"
   Jesus said, "If I don't wash you, you can't be part of what I'm doing."
 ⁹"Master!" said Peter. "Not only my feet, then. Wash my hands! Wash my head!"
 ^10-12Jesus said, "If you've had a bath in the morning, you only need your feet washed now and you're clean from head to toe. My concern, you understand, is holiness, not hygiene. So now you're clean. But not every one of you." (He knew who was betraying him. That's why he said, "Not every one of you.") After he had finished washing their feet, he took his robe, put it back on, and went back to his place at the table.
 ^12-17Then he said, "Do you understand what I have done to you? You address me as 'Teacher' and 'Master,' and rightly so. That is what I am. So if I, the Master and Teacher, washed your feet, you must now wash each other's feet. I've laid down a pattern for you. What I've done, you do. I'm only pointing out the obvious. A servant is not ranked above his master; an employee doesn't give orders to the employer. If you understand what I'm telling you, act like it—and live a blessed life.

The One Who Ate Bread at My Table

 ^18-20"I'm not including all of you in this. I know precisely whom I've selected, so as not to interfere with the fulfillment of this Scripture:    The one who ate bread at my table
    Turned on his heel against me.
"I'm telling you all this ahead of time so that when it happens you will believe that I am who I say I am. Make sure you get this right: Receiving someone I send is the same as receiving me, just as receiving me is the same as receiving the One who sent me."
 ²¹After he said these things, Jesus became visibly upset, and then he told them why. "One of you is going to betray me."
 ^22-25The disciples looked around at one another, wondering who on earth he was talking about. One of the disciples, the one Jesus loved dearly, was reclining against him, his head on his shoulder. Peter motioned to him to ask who Jesus might be talking about. So, being the closest, he said, "Master, who?"
 ^26-27Jesus said, "The one to whom I give this crust of bread after I've dipped it." Then he dipped the crust and gave it to Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot. As soon as the bread was in his hand, Satan entered him.
   "What you must do," said Jesus, "do. Do it and get it over with."
 ^28-29No one around the supper table knew why he said this to him. Some thought that since Judas was their treasurer, Jesus was telling him to buy what they needed for the Feast, or that he should give something to the poor.
 ³⁰Judas, with the piece of bread, left. It was night.

A New Command

 ^31-32When he had left, Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man is seen for who he is, and God seen for who he is in him. The moment God is seen in him, God's glory will be on display. In glorifying him, he himself is glorified—glory all around!  ³³"Children, I am with you for only a short time longer. You are going to look high and low for me. But just as I told the Jews, I'm telling you: 'Where I go, you are not able to come.'
 ^34-35"Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other."
 ³⁶Simon Peter asked, "Master, just where are you going?"
   Jesus answered, "You can't now follow me where I'm going. You will follow later."
 ³⁷"Master," said Peter, "why can't I follow now? I'll lay down my life for you!"
 ³⁸"Really? You'll lay down your life for me? The truth is that before the rooster crows, you'll deny me three times."

Day 12/Hosanna to the King!

What a beautiful chapter...Jesus continues to fulfill Old Testament prophecy to a tee.  The time is ever closer to His crucifixion.  A week before, Mary anoints His feet with costly perfume.  She lavishly displays her devotion to her Savior.  And then, Jesus comes riding into Jeruselum on a donkey...

Day 12

John 12

Anointing His Feet

 ^1-3Six days before Passover, Jesus entered Bethany where Lazarus, so recently raised from the dead, was living. Lazarus and his sisters invited Jesus to dinner at their home. Martha served. Lazarus was one of those sitting at the table with them. Mary came in with a jar of very expensive aromatic oils, anointed and massaged Jesus' feet, and then wiped them with her hair. The fragrance of the oils filled the house.  ^4-6Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples, even then getting ready to betray him, said, "Why wasn't this oil sold and the money given to the poor? It would have easily brought three hundred silver pieces." He said this not because he cared two cents about the poor but because he was a thief. He was in charge of their common funds, but also embezzled them.
 ^7-8Jesus said, "Let her alone. She's anticipating and honoring the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you. You don't always have me."
 ^9-11Word got out among the Jews that he was back in town. The people came to take a look, not only at Jesus but also at Lazarus, who had been raised from the dead. So the high priests plotted to kill Lazarus because so many of the Jews were going over and believing in Jesus on account of him.

See How Your King Comes

 ^12-15The next day the huge crowd that had arrived for the Feast heard that Jesus was entering Jerusalem. They broke off palm branches and went out to meet him. And they cheered:    Hosanna!
   Blessed is he who comes in God's name!
    Yes! The King of Israel!
Jesus got a young donkey and rode it, just as the Scripture has it:

   No fear, Daughter Zion:
      See how your king comes,
      riding a donkey's colt.
 ¹⁶The disciples didn't notice the fulfillment of many Scriptures at the time, but after Jesus was glorified, they remembered that what was written about him matched what was done to him.
 ^17-19The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb, raising him from the dead, was there giving eyewitness accounts. It was because they had spread the word of this latest God-sign that the crowd swelled to a welcoming parade. The Pharisees took one look and threw up their hands: "It's out of control. The world's in a stampede after him."

A Grain of Wheat Must Die

 ^20-21There were some Greeks in town who had come up to worship at the Feast. They approached Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee: "Sir, we want to see Jesus. Can you help us?"  ^22-23Philip went and told Andrew. Andrew and Philip together told Jesus. Jesus answered, "Time's up. The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
 ^24-25"Listen carefully: Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you'll have it forever, real and eternal.
 ²⁶"If any of you wants to serve me, then follow me. Then you'll be where I am, ready to serve at a moment's notice. The Father will honor and reward anyone who serves me.
 ^27-28"Right now I am storm-tossed. And what am I going to say? 'Father, get me out of this'? No, this is why I came in the first place. I'll say, 'Father, put your glory on display.'"
   A voice came out of the sky: "I have glorified it, and I'll glorify it again."
 ²⁹The listening crowd said, "Thunder!"
   Others said, "An angel spoke to him!"
 ^30-33Jesus said, "The voice didn't come for me but for you. At this moment the world is in crisis. Now Satan, the ruler of this world, will be thrown out. And I, as I am lifted up from the earth, will attract everyone to me and gather them around me." He put it this way to show how he was going to be put to death.
 ³⁴Voices from the crowd answered, "We heard from God's Law that the Messiah lasts forever. How can it be necessary, as you put it, that the Son of Man 'be lifted up'? Who is this 'Son of Man'?"
 ^35-36Jesus said, "For a brief time still, the light is among you. Walk by the light you have so darkness doesn't destroy you. If you walk in darkness, you don't know where you're going. As you have the light, believe in the light. Then the light will be within you, and shining through your lives. You'll be children of light."

Their Eyes Are Blinded

 ^36-40Jesus said all this, and then went into hiding. All these God-signs he had given them and they still didn't get it, still wouldn't trust him. This proved that the prophet Isaiah was right:    God, who believed what we preached?
   Who recognized God's arm, outstretched and ready to act?
First they wouldn't believe, then they couldn't—again, just as Isaiah said:

   Their eyes are blinded,
      their hearts are hardened,
   So that they wouldn't see with their eyes
      and perceive with their hearts,
   And turn to me, God,
      so I could heal them.
⁴¹Isaiah said these things after he got a glimpse of God's cascading brightness that would pour through the Messiah.
 ^42-43On the other hand, a considerable number from the ranks of the leaders did believe. But because of the Pharisees, they didn't come out in the open with it. They were afraid of getting kicked out of the meeting place. When push came to shove they cared more for human approval than for God's glory.
 ^44-46Jesus summed it all up when he cried out, "Whoever believes in me, believes not just in me but in the One who sent me. Whoever looks at me is looking, in fact, at the One who sent me. I am Light that has come into the world so that all who believe in me won't have to stay any longer in the dark.
 ^47-50"If anyone hears what I am saying and doesn't take it seriously, I don't reject him. I didn't come to reject the world; I came to save the world. But you need to know that whoever puts me off, refusing to take in what I'm saying, is willfully choosing rejection. The Word, the Word-made-flesh that I have spoken and that I am, that Word and no other is the last word. I'm not making any of this up on my own. The Father who sent me gave me orders, told me what to say and how to say it. And I know exactly what his command produces: real and eternal life. That's all I have to say. What the Father told me, I tell you."

Day 11/Everyone Who Believes in Me Lives

Even if you know the story of Lazarus being raised from the dead by heart, I would like to suggest you read it one more time.  I know you'll find yet another diamond inside.  This story was meant to be noticed. 

John 11

The Death of Lazarus

 ^1-3A man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. This was the same Mary who massaged the Lord's feet with aromatic oils and then wiped them with her hair. It was her brother Lazarus who was sick. So the sisters sent word to Jesus, "Master, the one you love so very much is sick."  ⁴When Jesus got the message, he said, "This sickness is not fatal. It will become an occasion to show God's glory by glorifying God's Son."
 ^5-7Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, but oddly, when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed on where he was for two more days. After the two days, he said to his disciples, "Let's go back to Judea."
 ⁸They said, "Rabbi, you can't do that. The Jews are out to kill you, and you're going back?"
 ^9-10Jesus replied, "Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in daylight doesn't stumble because there's plenty of light from the sun. Walking at night, he might very well stumble because he can't see where he's going."
 ¹¹He said these things, and then announced, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep. I'm going to wake him up."
 ^12-13The disciples said, "Master, if he's gone to sleep, he'll get a good rest and wake up feeling fine." Jesus was talking about death, while his disciples thought he was talking about taking a nap.
 ^14-15Then Jesus became explicit: "Lazarus died. And I am glad for your sakes that I wasn't there. You're about to be given new grounds for believing. Now let's go to him."
 ¹⁶That's when Thomas, the one called the Twin, said to his companions, "Come along. We might as well die with him."
 ^17-20When Jesus finally got there, he found Lazarus already four days dead. Bethany was near Jerusalem, only a couple of miles away, and many of the Jews were visiting Martha and Mary, sympathizing with them over their brother. Martha heard Jesus was coming and went out to meet him. Mary remained in the house.
 ^21-22Martha said, "Master, if you'd been here, my brother wouldn't have died. Even now, I know that whatever you ask God he will give you."
 ²³Jesus said, "Your brother will be raised up."
 ²⁴Martha replied, "I know that he will be raised up in the resurrection at the end of time."
 ^25-26"You don't have to wait for the End. I am, right now, Resurrection and Life. The one who believes in me, even though he or she dies, will live. And everyone who lives believing in me does not ultimately die at all. Do you believe this?"
 ²⁷"Yes, Master. All along I have believed that you are the Messiah, the Son of God who comes into the world."
 ²⁸After saying this, she went to her sister Mary and whispered in her ear, "The Teacher is here and is asking for you."
 ^29-32The moment she heard that, she jumped up and ran out to him. Jesus had not yet entered the town but was still at the place where Martha had met him. When her sympathizing Jewish friends saw Mary run off, they followed her, thinking she was on her way to the tomb to weep there. Mary came to where Jesus was waiting and fell at his feet, saying, "Master, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died."
 ^33-34When Jesus saw her sobbing and the Jews with her sobbing, a deep anger welled up within him. He said, "Where did you put him?"
 ^34-35"Master, come and see," they said. Now Jesus wept.
 ³⁶The Jews said, "Look how deeply he loved him."
 ³⁷Others among them said, "Well, if he loved him so much, why didn't he do something to keep him from dying? After all, he opened the eyes of a blind man."
 ^38-39Then Jesus, the anger again welling up within him, arrived at the tomb. It was a simple cave in the hillside with a slab of stone laid against it. Jesus said, "Remove the stone."
   The sister of the dead man, Martha, said, "Master, by this time there's a stench. He's been dead four days!"
 ⁴⁰Jesus looked her in the eye. "Didn't I tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?"
 ^41-42Then, to the others, "Go ahead, take away the stone."
   They removed the stone. Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and prayed, "Father, I'm grateful that you have listened to me. I know you always do listen, but on account of this crowd standing here I've spoken so that they might believe that you sent me."
 ^43-44Then he shouted, "Lazarus, come out!" And he came out, a cadaver, wrapped from head to toe, and with a kerchief over his face.
   Jesus told them, "Unwrap him and let him loose."

The Man Who Creates God-Signs

 ^45-48That was a turnaround for many of the Jews who were with Mary. They saw what Jesus did, and believed in him. But some went back to the Pharisees and told on Jesus. The high priests and Pharisees called a meeting of the Jewish ruling body. "What do we do now?" they asked. "This man keeps on doing things, creating God-signs. If we let him go on, pretty soon everyone will be believing in him and the Romans will come and remove what little power and privilege we still have."  ^49-52Then one of them—it was Caiaphas, the designated Chief Priest that year—spoke up, "Don't you know anything? Can't you see that it's to our advantage that one man dies for the people rather than the whole nation be destroyed?" He didn't say this of his own accord, but as Chief Priest that year he unwittingly prophesied that Jesus was about to die sacrificially for the nation, and not only for the nation but so that all God's exile-scattered children might be gathered together into one people.
 ^53-54From that day on, they plotted to kill him. So Jesus no longer went out in public among the Jews. He withdrew into the country bordering the desert to a town called Ephraim and secluded himself there with his disciples.
 ^55-56The Jewish Passover was coming up. Crowds of people were making their way from the country up to Jerusalem to get themselves ready for the Feast. They were curious about Jesus. There was a lot of talk of him among those standing around in the Temple: "What do you think? Do you think he'll show up at the Feast or not?"
 ⁵⁷Meanwhile, the high priests and Pharisees gave out the word that anyone getting wind of him should inform them. They were all set to arrest him.

Day 10/Confusing?

I apologize for missing two days, but never fear.  We have plenty of days to make it up.  This chapter is the root of many arguments and doctrinal debates.  Election or free-will? Once saved, always saved?    I'm right, you're wrong and you'd better believe it this way or else.  I've been caught up in it myself.  But I've chosen to take Jesus words and simply cling to them.  He has called me by name and I am His sheep.  If you want to be His sheep also, just believe He is the Son of God and begin to follow Him.  If you feel you don't recognize His voice, pray to Him that you will hear Him.  By having the faith of a little child you will become His sheep.  And no one can snatch you from His hand. 

John 10

He Calls His Sheep by Name

 ^1-5 "Let me set this before you as plainly as I can. If a person climbs over or through the fence of a sheep pen instead of going through the gate, you know he's up to no good—a sheep rustler! The shepherd walks right up to the gate. The gatekeeper opens the gate to him and the sheep recognize his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he gets them all out, he leads them and they follow because they are familiar with his voice. They won't follow a stranger's voice but will scatter because they aren't used to the sound of it."  ^6-10Jesus told this simple story, but they had no idea what he was talking about. So he tried again. "I'll be explicit, then. I am the Gate for the sheep. All those others are up to no good—sheep stealers, every one of them. But the sheep didn't listen to them. I am the Gate. Anyone who goes through me will be cared for—will freely go in and out, and find pasture. A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.
 ^11-13"I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd puts the sheep before himself, sacrifices himself if necessary. A hired man is not a real shepherd. The sheep mean nothing to him. He sees a wolf come and runs for it, leaving the sheep to be ravaged and scattered by the wolf. He's only in it for the money. The sheep don't matter to him.
 ^14-18"I am the Good Shepherd. I know my own sheep and my own sheep know me. In the same way, the Father knows me and I know the Father. I put the sheep before myself, sacrificing myself if necessary. You need to know that I have other sheep in addition to those in this pen. I need to gather and bring them, too. They'll also recognize my voice. Then it will be one flock, one Shepherd. This is why the Father loves me: because I freely lay down my life. And so I am free to take it up again. No one takes it from me. I lay it down of my own free will. I have the right to lay it down; I also have the right to take it up again. I received this authority personally from my Father."
 ^19-21This kind of talk caused another split in the Jewish ranks. A lot of them were saying, "He's crazy, a maniac—out of his head completely. Why bother listening to him?" But others weren't so sure: "These aren't the words of a crazy man. Can a 'maniac' open blind eyes?"
 ^22-24They were celebrating Hanukkah just then in Jerusalem. It was winter. Jesus was strolling in the Temple across Solomon's Porch. The Jews, circling him, said, "How long are you going to keep us guessing? If you're the Messiah, tell us straight out."
 ^25-30Jesus answered, "I told you, but you don't believe. Everything I have done has been authorized by my Father, actions that speak louder than words. You don't believe because you're not my sheep. My sheep recognize my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them real and eternal life. They are protected from the Destroyer for good. No one can steal them from out of my hand. The Father who put them under my care is so much greater than the Destroyer and Thief. No one could ever get them away from him. I and the Father are one heart and mind."
 ^31-32Again the Jews picked up rocks to throw at him. Jesus said, "I have made a present to you from the Father of a great many good actions. For which of these acts do you stone me?"
 ³³The Jews said, "We're not stoning you for anything good you did, but for what you said—this blasphemy of calling yourself God."
 ^34-38Jesus said, "I'm only quoting your inspired Scriptures, where God said, 'I tell you—you are gods.' If God called your ancestors 'gods'—and Scripture doesn't lie—why do you yell, 'Blasphemer! Blasphemer!' at the unique One the Father consecrated and sent into the world, just because I said, 'I am the Son of God'? If I don't do the things my Father does, well and good; don't believe me. But if I am doing them, put aside for a moment what you hear me say about myself and just take the evidence of the actions that are right before your eyes. Then perhaps things will come together for you, and you'll see that not only are we doing the same thing, we are the same—Father and Son. He is in me; I am in him."
 ^39-42They tried yet again to arrest him, but he slipped through their fingers. He went back across the Jordan to the place where John first baptized, and stayed there. A lot of people followed him over. They were saying, "John did no miracles, but everything he said about this man has come true." Many believed in him then and there.

Day 9/One Thing I Know

When the blind man is healed in today's reading, he doesn't understand the spiritual implications of what has happened to him.  He simply says, "one thing I know, I was blind but now I see."  Jesus goes on to explain how the people listening to Him are spiritually blind.  They can't see the light when it is standing right beside them.  Can you count yourself among those who can also say "I was blind but now I see!"?  Can you say, "Master, I believe."?

Day 9 

John 9

True Blindness

 ^1-2 Walking down the street, Jesus saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked, "Rabbi, who sinned: this man or his parents, causing him to be born blind?" ^3-5Jesus said, "You're asking the wrong question. You're looking for someone to blame. There is no such cause-effect here. Look instead for what God can do. We need to be energetically at work for the One who sent me here, working while the sun shines. When night falls, the workday is over. For as long as I am in the world, there is plenty of light. I am the world's Light."  ^6-7He said this and then spit in the dust, made a clay paste with the saliva, rubbed the paste on the blind man's eyes, and said, "Go, wash at the Pool of Siloam" (Siloam means "Sent"). The man went and washed—and saw.
 ⁸Soon the town was buzzing. His relatives and those who year after year had seen him as a blind man begging were saying, "Why, isn't this the man we knew, who sat here and begged?"
 ⁹Others said, "It's him all right!"
   But others objected, "It's not the same man at all. It just looks like him."
   He said, "It's me, the very one."
 ¹⁰They said, "How did your eyes get opened?"
 ¹¹"A man named Jesus made a paste and rubbed it on my eyes and told me, 'Go to Siloam and wash.' I did what he said. When I washed, I saw."
 ¹²"So where is he?"
   "I don't know."
 ^13-15They marched the man to the Pharisees. This day when Jesus made the paste and healed his blindness was the Sabbath. The Pharisees grilled him again on how he had come to see. He said, "He put a clay paste on my eyes, and I washed, and now I see."
 ¹⁶Some of the Pharisees said, "Obviously, this man can't be from God. He doesn't keep the Sabbath."
   Others countered, "How can a bad man do miraculous, God-revealing things like this?" There was a split in their ranks.
 ¹⁷They came back at the blind man, "You're the expert. He opened your eyes. What do you say about him?"
   He said, "He is a prophet."
 ^18-19The Jews didn't believe it, didn't believe the man was blind to begin with. So they called the parents of the man now bright-eyed with sight. They asked them, "Is this your son, the one you say was born blind? So how is it that he now sees?"
 ^20-23His parents said, "We know he is our son, and we know he was born blind. But we don't know how he came to see—haven't a clue about who opened his eyes. Why don't you ask him? He's a grown man and can speak for himself." (His parents were talking like this because they were intimidated by the Jewish leaders, who had already decided that anyone who took a stand that this was the Messiah would be kicked out of the meeting place. That's why his parents said, "Ask him. He's a grown man.")
 ²⁴They called the man back a second time—the man who had been blind— and told him, "Give credit to God. We know this man is an impostor."
 ²⁵He replied, "I know nothing about that one way or the other. But I know one thing for sure: I was blind . . . I now see."
 ²⁶They said, "What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?"
 ²⁷"I've told you over and over and you haven't listened. Why do you want to hear it again? Are you so eager to become his disciples?"
 ^28-29With that they jumped all over him. "You might be a disciple of that man, but we're disciples of Moses. We know for sure that God spoke to Moses, but we have no idea where this man even comes from."
 ^30-33The man replied, "This is amazing! You claim to know nothing about him, but the fact is, he opened my eyes! It's well known that God isn't at the beck and call of sinners, but listens carefully to anyone who lives in reverence and does his will. That someone opened the eyes of a man born blind has never been heard of—ever. If this man didn't come from God, he wouldn't be able to do anything."
 ³⁴They said, "You're nothing but dirt! How dare you take that tone with us!" Then they threw him out in the street.
 ³⁵Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and went and found him. He asked him, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?"
 ³⁶The man said, "Point him out to me, sir, so that I can believe in him."
 ³⁷Jesus said, "You're looking right at him. Don't you recognize my voice?"
 ³⁸"Master, I believe," the man said, and worshiped him.
 ³⁹Jesus then said, "I came into the world to bring everything into the clear light of day, making all the distinctions clear, so that those who have never seen will see, and those who have made a great pretense of seeing will be exposed as blind."
 ⁴⁰Some Pharisees overheard him and said, "Does that mean you're calling us blind?"
 ⁴¹Jesus said, "If you were really blind, you would be blameless, but since you claim to see everything so well, you're accountable for every fault and failure."