Scripture

Then the disciple Jesus loved said, “It is the Lord!”

Observation

Jesus appears to a group of disciples who had gone fishing at the Sea of Galilee. They had worked all night and caught nothing.

At dawn, Jesus is standing on the beach, and He asks if they caught anything. They say, “No” at which Jesus tells them to throw the nets on the other side of the boat. They instantly have a huge catch.

John says, “It is the Lord!” Peter jumps into the water and swims ashore.

After the other return with the boat, Jesus serves them breakfast of fish and bread.

Application

They were slow to catch on, but eventually John says, “It’s the Lord!” Immediately Peter jumps off the boat to swim to shore where Jesus is.

Sometimes we can be slow to recognise Jesus in our midst. Maybe we just don’t expect Him to show up. When He does show up, He doesn’t look like we expect Him to, or act the way we think that He should.

What is more natural than for Jesus to take an interest in the activities of His followers? And then give them a miracle, and serve breakfast as well? These are all signs of the presence of God’s kingdom.

Sometimes Jesus turns up in a physical form- perhaps a homeless person or an unfamiliar stranger. When we show love to this person, we might recognise after the event that it was the Lord.

Sometimes in a worship time the Holy Spirit touches us in a powerful way- we say, “Jesus was truly here.”

We meed to pay attention to the spiritual realm as much as we do to the physical. I do not want to be like Jacob in the Old Testament who said, “Surely the Lord was in this place, but I did not know it.”

Prayer

Lord Jesus, I know that you appear to your people, and often we don’t notice. Please help me to recognise when you are at work in me, my church and my community. Amen.

Scripture

“Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.”

Observation

On Sunday evening of the day of the resurrection, the disciples meet behind closed doors because they are afraid.

Suddenly Jesus is with them. He sends them out and gives them the Holy Spirit.

Thomas, who had missed this meting with the Lord, declares that he will not believe it until he can touch Jesus’ wounds. The following week, Jesus again appears to the disciples, this time including Thomas. He now confesses, “My Lord and my God.”

Application

When we really know Jesus, we want to be a part of His mission.

Jesus gives the disciples the Holy Spirit to equip them and empower them. This is immediately after He tells them, “I am sending you.”

This raises two questions- where and what?

Jesus sends His followers out into the world. We are to live as His faithful followers, living in the grace of God’s kingdom. We are not to meet behind closed doors. To be “sent” means to be open to other people all the time.

We are sent into the world. For some that means being a missionary in a distant land. For most of us it means to go to the neighbourhood or the city where we live.

What is important is that we remember we are sent by Jesus.

For what purpose are we sent? To make disciples (Matthew 28:19) of all nations. We are not here for our own benefit but to serve the mission of Christ. He was sent by the Father to bring the Kingdom of God into the world, and we are to be a part of that same mission.

We need to walk each day with that sense of being a part of an apostolic (that is, “sent”) community.

Prayer

Holy Father, please help me to see who I am sent to, and how to share the Good news with them. Amen.

Scripture

Pilate posted a sign on the cross that said, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”

Observation

Jesus is nailed to the cross at the place called Golgotha. Pilate has a sign announcing Jesus is King of the Jews attached to the cross. The priests want the sign changed to read, “He said “I am the king of the Jews”, but Pilate reuses.

After crucifying Jesus, the soldiers gamble for His clothes.

Application

What Pilate meant as mockery, God turns to prophecy.

Pilate sees the crucifixion as another political management issue. He has interrogated Jesus, had him flogged and now crucified. He sees the Jewish leaders are terrified of the influence of Jesus, and so Pilate now throws their own words back at them.

Jesus of Nazareth is King of the Jews. It is hard to believe that this battered body hanging on a cross is king of anybody. But by faith we look at the cross and say “Jesus is my King. Jesus is my Lord.”

Jesus laid aside the glory of the heavenly realms and became a human being. He was born in a stable, but those who first saw Him worshipped Him.

Jesus’ kingship is not about human appearances. It is not about what we see, but what we perceive by faith.

Jesus’ kingship over all humanity was established at the cross, because He was obedient to the Father all the way to death on a cross. Having been brought to the lowest place, God raised Him up to the highest place so that every tongue will confess He is Lord.

Jesus is not only King of the Jews. He is King of all creation.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, I praise you and acknowledge that you are King. I pledge to obey you in all things and to walk in your ways. May your kingdom be shown through me. Amen.

Scripture

Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my kingdom is not of this world.”

Observation

Jesus is interrogated by Annas before being sent to Caiphas, the high priest. While this is happening, Peter twice denies being a follower of Jesus.

After being questioned by Caiphas, they take Jesus to Pilate, the Roman governor. Pilate asks them what charge they are bringing against Jesus. He wants them to judge Him by local laws, but they want Him crucified, which can only be authorised by Pilate.

So Pilate interrogates Jesus and finds out that although He is claimed to be a king, His idea of kingdom is not an earthly one.

Application

Jesus’ kingdom is different to all worldly kingdoms, because its king is different. Jesus is motivated by pure love for His people, a love so deep He will die for us,

The values of the Kingdom are so different from those of the world. We need to remember that following Jesus means obeying His commandments and taking on His way of doing things:

• I exalt Jesus not myself
• Humility and service are the keys to leadership, not bossing people around.
• Love conquers hearts, not physical or military power.
• Security comes in serving the Lord, not in accumulating great wealth
• God is preparing us for eternity, not just for this life
• God looks at the heart of a person, not just the outward appearance.

At every point, the values of Jesus’ kingdom are the opposite of the values of earthly kingdoms, because His kingdom is not from this world.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, please help me to see where I live by worldly priorities rather than kingdom priorities. Help me to trust you rather than in the things of this world. Amen.

Scripture

“I am praying not only for these disciples, but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. I pray that they will be one, just as you and I are one- as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us, so that the world will believe you sent me.”

Observation

Jesus now prays His concluding prayer.

He asks for the Father to glorify Him, so that He may glorify the Father.

He prays next for the disciples that the Father has given Him. He asks particularly for protection for them from the evil one. The world hates them because they follow Jesus.

Finally Jesus prays for those who believe in Him because of the message of the current disciples. He prays for unity that the world will believe in Him.

Application

Jesus’ prayer for His future disciples is simple- that they will be one in the same way that Jesus and the Father are one.

Of all the things that Jesus could pray for the future church, it is this one thing, unity.

He is not talking about a monolithic institution where there is a man heading up all the christians in the world, where only one style of worship and one kind of mission is allowed.

No, this is organic unity, where christian are so in love with Jesus, and therefore with one another, that we overlook the minor doctrinal and practical issues that keep us apart.

We must die to ourselves, laying our pride on the altar to be burned up by God’s Spirit- pastors especially must do this. How can we be “one” when church leaders are defensive to one another or play political games with one another?

As apostles are increasingly raised up to lead the church, they will provide Spirit-filled leadership which draws the Body of Christ together in new, grace- filled configurations.

Prayer

Lord, let the grace of your Holy Spirit pull down every wall that divides the church. May the church in every location know unprecedented unity in you. Amen.