Scripture

“May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”

Observation

This is a part of Jesus’ “High Priestly Prayer” on the night before He was crucified.

Jesus prays for all believers, not just the twelve with Him, but for the other disciples and or those who down the ages will follow Him.

His prayer is for unity, the sort of unity that Jesus has with His Father.

This unity will be a witness to the world that Jesus was sent by the Father.

Application

When Jesus prays for His followers to be one, in the same way that He and the Father are one, He doesn’t specify how that should happen or what it looks like.

Some people think that unity means one church, and that all distinctives of worship and life style should be removed.

Other people look for a unification at the level of denominations.

Jesus is speaking here of something more organic. He sees love for one another, flowing from God’s love for us, as the important thing. We must love one another because God has loved us. It is love that makes us one.

This unity shows the world that God sent Jesus into the world. People can only understand what love is when they see it in action day by day. How can they know that God loved the world so much that He sent His only Son, when those who claim to know Jesus fight and act selfishly?

Jesus also sees unity as a sign of God’s love for us. If God really loves me then that will transform me so much that I will love other people whom God loves. This natural outflow of love will show people that we know His love and live in His love.

Prayer

Lord may your love for your church be shown in all of our relationships with one another so that those who do not know you will be convinced of your love for them. Amen.

Scripture

“Now I am giving you a new commandment. Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you should love one another.”

Observation

It is the night of Jesus’ betrayal and arrest. Judas leaves the room to go and prepare his treacherous act.

In the midst of all this, Jesus’ thoughts are for His friends. He tells them He will soon be leaving them; they will look for Him but will not find Him.

He gives them a final commandment to love one another as He has loved them. Their love will be the proof to the world that they are His disciples.

Application

Jesus’ commandment to His followers is that we are to love one another as He has loved us.

Jesus loved us so much that He laid down His life for our sake.

He loved me like that, and He loved my christian sisters and brothers like that.

To be a follower of Jesus means that I have to love them like Jesus loved them.

The bottom line for the christian life is to love each other with sacrificial, self-denying love.

The New Testament spells this out in different ways so that we shall know what love looks like.

The person with much money should share with those who have little. We should share the burden of those who are weighed down in any way. We should help to meet the needs of other believers.

This might look like buying a car for someone or cooking a casserole or mowing a lawn.

The remarkable thing is that when love becomes a habit, Jesus dwells among us.

Prayer

Lord, please help me to love all my christian brothers and sisters. I find it hard to show love to some people, so I ask for a special measure of your grace to do this. Amen.

Scripture

“You don’t believe me because you are not my sheep.”

Observation

Jesus is at the Temple at the time of Hanukkah. People are asking Him to reveal if He is the Messiah.

Jesus tells them that they have seen His works, but they don’t believe Him because they are not His sheep. His sheep know His voice and follow Him; they will receive eternal life, and nobody can snatch them from Him.

Application

We live in an age that is increasingly hostile towards the christian faith. People have no understanding of what christians believe or what motivates them to do what they do.

We can see this in the case of football player Israel Folau. He quoted on Instagram a Bible verse that says that adulterers, thieves, liars and homosexuals will not inherit God’s kingdom. Despite threats of punishment for this “homophobia” he remains true to his faith and will not back down. Commentators cannot see why he would give up a contract worth a million dollars a year for this.

In politics, the Opposition is threatening to remove exemptions for faith- based schools that allow them to discriminate against employees on the basis of sexuality. Schools may soon be forced to choose between compromising and closing down.

It is clear that people in corporations, media and politics cannot understand the convictions of christians. They are not in Jesus’ flock; they are not His sheep. Therefore they cannot hear the voice of the Lord.

Of course, this changes when we come to faith in Jesus. When we make Jesus Lord we suddenly learn to hear His voice, and everything that seemed stupid or irrational suddenly makes sense.

The Pharisees saw the miracles that Jesus did, but they still refused to acknowledge that He is Lord. Many others believe without seeing a miracle or sign. It just takes a heart that is soft towards God.

Prayer

Thank you Jesus for bringing me into your flock. Please help me to hear your voice and to walk in your paths. Amen

Scripture

Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.”

Observation

Jesus is before Pilate on trial for His life.

Pilate summons Jesus and says, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus replies asking, “Is this your own idea?”

Pilate then asks, “What is it that you have done?” Jesus answers that His kingdom is not of this world, it is from another place.

Jesus goes on to say that He is in fact a king who has come into the world to testify to truth. Pilate cynically asks, “What is truth?”

Application

Jesus’ kingdom, the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven, is not of this world. All human kingdoms, no matter how benevolent, carry the taint of sin. Every king who was ever born was a sinner and therefore not perfect.

The values of Jesus’ kingdom are different to the values of human kingdoms.

The kingdom of Jesus does not expand by violent invasion. Rather it is like salt or yeast which seems to be insignificant but actually transforms what it is mixed with.

The kingdom advances by the salvation of individuals. Hearts and minds are changed from the kingdom of this world to allegiance to the king of heaven.

Unlike Islam, which advances by conquest and domination, the kingdom of Jesus advances quietly and by freedom.

As Jesus says, if His kingdom were of this world, His servants would physically fight for Him. This has been tried in the past with disastrous results.

God’s kingdom is the kingdom of agape, sacrificial love. That is our weapon.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, you laid down your life for me. Help me to lay down my life for the sake of you and your kingdom. Help me to give myself away in loving my neighbours for your sake. Amen.

Scripture

“Anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise that person at the last day.”

Observation

Jesus is the living bread from heaven and He gives eternal life to all who eat of Him. To have eternal life, we must eat His flesh and drink His blood.

Anyone who eats His flesh and drinks His blood remains in Christ and Christ remains in them.

Application

The language in this passage can be hard for us to decode because it is so foreign to us.

Jesus is saying that He is the bread from heaven which gives eternal life. This is a reference to the manna which came to the children of Israel in the wilderness and fed them for forty years.

This manna was a shadow of the real thing- Jesus who gives us eternal life.

Jesus says we must eat His flesh and drink His blood to receive eternal life.

One application of this is that we must enter into an intimate relationship with Him so that we remain or abide in Him and He abides or remains in us.

This is a process of discipleship that leads to our lives being totally identified with the life of Christ. We must live in daily prayer, that is open sharing with Him with no hiding or pretending. We must meditate on the Word so that the Scriptures change us. Our focus must become God’s will not our own will.

Bread and wine also remind us of Holy Communion. We need to live in a worshipping community of faith. The sacrament is a physical sign of our desire to experience Christ more closely. As a body we can encourage and exhort each other to be more faithful in our walk together.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, you are the true bread of heaven. Teach me how to feast on you and to let your life fill me in every way. Amen.