Scripture

Jesus did many other things. If they were all written down, I suppose the whole world could not contain the books that would be written.

Observation

After breakfast, Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves Him. Exasperated by the third time, Peter says, “Lord you know everything. You know that I love you.”

Jesus commissions Peter to feed Jesus’ sheep. He goes on to say that when Peter was young he could go wherever he wanted, but when he is old he will be led by other people to places he doesn’t want to go.

John concludes the gospel by assuring us that because he testifies to these events we can know they are accurate.

Application

Jesus did so many things that the world could not contain all the books that might be written about Him.

What John is saying here is that the glory of the Lord Jesus is far greater than what can be recorded in words.

John’s gospel starts by telling us about the Word who was with God from the beginning and who is God. The gospel ends by telling us that the whole world is not big enough to contain all the words that might describe the Word.

Jesus is glorious, even more glorious than the stories told about Him. But we can only experience that glory through a personal encounter with Him.

John’s gospel points to the glorious one, hoping that we will take the step of faith to reach out and touch Him and invite Him into our hearts.

Scripture is not holy because it was written by holy people. It is holy because it draws us close to the holy one, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, I see you are the glorious Word, the holy Son of God. Open my eyes so that I can see you as you really are. Amen.

Scripture

Until then they still hadn’t understood the scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead.

Observation

Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb and finds that it is empty. She runs to find Simon Peter and John, and they immediately run to the tomb.

Going inside, they notice that the grave clothes are lying there, They see this and believe that Jesus is alive.

Mary is outside the tomb, and she sees two angels in the place where Jesus’ body had been. Suddenly Jesus appears, but she fails to recognise Him at first. She goes to find the disciples and testifies, “I have seen the Lord!”

Application

When we read this, and the other accounts of the resurrection, it is clear that nobody seriously thought that Jesus was alive. He had been brutally beaten, flogged, crucified, declared dead and then buried.

Not one of the disciples, not the women with them, had any thought other than Jesus was dead.

Confronted by an empty tomb, the first thought was that someone had stolen the body. When John and Peter examined the tomb and the grave clothes carefully, it slowly dawned on them that Jesus had risen from the dead according to the Old Testament prophecies.

Often christians today skip too quickly over Jesus’ death in order to celebrate the resurrection. But there is no Easter Sunday without a Good Friday.

He died, was buried, and on the third day He rose from the dead.

The resurrection is God’s amazing promise that death is not the end of our story. Sin brought death, sickness and destruction into the world. Now Jesus has defeated sin and death.

Jesus rose from the dead to show us that His followers will also rise from the dead.

Prayer

Thank you Lord for the Good News that Jesus has conquered sin and death. Thank you that I too will rise from death into eternal life. Amen.

Scripture

“We have no king but Caesar,” the leading priests shouted back.

Observation

Pilate has Jesus flogged, and the soldiers mock Him, pretending to worship Him as King.

Pilate declares Jesus to be not guilty, but the priests shout “Crucify him!”

Pilate says, “You want me to crucify your king?”

“We have no king but Caesar,” the priests shout back.

Application

The priests and other leaders of the Jewish people are forced to choose between two competing claims of kingship- Jesus or Caesar.

Caesar is the might and glory of the Roman Empire. This is worldly power- dominion exercised by a greater power over a lesser power. At that time there was no greater power than Rome.

Jesus represents something entirely different. His kingdom is a voluntary kingdom, based on love not power. His reign is not imposed forcefully.

Battered and bleeding, already weakened by the scourging, Jesus must have looked very insignificant in front of Pilate, the guards and all the trappings of earthly glory.

When the priests rejected Jesus as their king, they were rejecting the Lord. Israel was supposed to be the kingdom where the Lord reigned. From the beginning they had wanted human kings, rejecting the Lord’s invisible kingship.

Now they rejected all forms of divine reign. “We have no king but Caesar” declared that Caesar alone, the rule of Rome, would be their authority.

It was a public repudiation of all that Israel was meant to be. It is no surprise that just 40 year later, the Lord allowed Rome to destroy the Temple and the whole of Jerusalem. Caesar gives and Caesar takes away.

We have to make this sort of decision every day. Who will be the Lord of my life? Will I let Jesus rule, or will I give in to my own sinful desires? Will I stand up as a follower of Jesus and declare that He is the King? Or will I follow the ways of the world, and say “We have no king but Caesar”?

Prayer

Lord, you are my God, you are my king. Help me to remember this in all the choices I make today. Amen.

Scripture

As Jesus said “I AM he,” they all drew back and fell to the ground.

Observation

Jesus and His disciples (less Judas) go to an olive grove. Judas arrives with a contingent of guards. Jesus steps forward and asks, “Who are you looking for?” The guards reply, “Jesus of Nazareth.”

When Jesus replies, “I AM he,” all the guards fall to the ground. They repeat the exchange, but this time Jesus allows them to arrest Him.

They take Jesus to the home of the priest Annas. In the courtyard there, some people ask Peter if he is a follower of Jesus, but he denies this.

Application

There is power in the name of Jesus.

In this reading, when Jesus affirms His identity “I AM he,” that phrase “I AM” is actually the name of Yahweh (the Lord) in the Greek version of the Hebrew Old Testament.

Jesus is saying here that He and the Father (Yahweh or “I AM”) are one. The God of the Old Testament is now revealed in Jesus the Son.

The guards and all who are opposed to Jesus fall down at this. They are utterly disarmed.

It is only that Jesus is in control of events, and allows them to arrest Him that they are able to do so.

The name of Jesus is powerful.

That is why satan strives to diminish the name of Jesus in our culture. The name that is above all names has become a swear word. It has become so debased in public usage that there is no power.

Even christians are guilty of reducing the name of Jesus. We do this by using it as a formula at the end of prayers.

The name of Jesus, when taken seriously, slays the opposition. Nothing can stand against the name because the name is the word, the message, the proclamation that points the whole of creation to the cross, to redemption and to eternal life.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, I honour your name. Please show me how to live and speak in the awareness of the power of your name. Amen.