The Word and the words (20): Eternal life – Faith in Jesus – Love for Jesus

"These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name" (John 20:31). We have read of Jesus - the living Word of God. We have read his spoken words. We read his words in the written Word of God. Through …

The Word and the words (19): More than the king of the Jews

"Jesus said - 'My kingdom is not of this world... '" (John 18:36). Jesus spoke with power. Jesus spoke with authority. His power and authority came from above - from heaven - from God. Jesus' enemies could not understand him. They didn't know what he was talking about. We begin with the soldiers. They treated …

The Word and the words (18): Looking toward heaven – and praying

"Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent" (John17:3). Eternal life - everything changes when we come to know the Lord. We receive new life. This life is the beginning of eternal life. Again and again - we are reminded that our life on …

The Word and the words (17): Take heart! I have overcome the world.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33). We long for peace. We pray for peace. We have trouble. We wish it would come to an end. Our hearts long for the glory of heaven. …

The Word and the words (16): Without Christ – we can do nothing. With him – we can do all things.

"I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). "Apart from me you can do nothing" - This doesn't do much for our pride! Jesus hits the nail on the head! He's absolutely right! …

The Word and the words (15): The way to the Father … the way of love and holiness … the way to heaven

“Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later " (John 13:36). "Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go …

The Word and the words (14): A light from heaven

"I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness" (John 12:46). "As he (Saul of Tarsus) neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, 'Saul, Saul, why do you …

The Word and the words (13): Jesus – the resurrection and the life

"I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die" (John 11:25). Jesus speaks to us with realism - we will "die." He speaks to us with hope - we will "live." Jesus' words find an echo in the words of Paul - "The wages of …

The Word and the words (12): Jesus – the good shepherd …

"I am the good shepherd" (John 10:11). We read what Jesus says about himself. We read about who he is. "I am the good shepherd." As we read these words, our thoughts turn to the 23rd Psalm. "The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, …

The Word and the words (11): Giving our own testimony and inviting others to come to the Saviour

"I am the light of the world" (John 9:5). "It is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:6). In John 8:12, Jesus says, "I am the light of …

The Word and the words (10): Jesus is the light of the world -and he calls us to be witnesses to the light.

"I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life" (John 8:12). "There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the …

The Word and the words (9): Speaking with authority, speaking with power

"No one ever spoke the way this man does" (John 7:46). There was something different about Jesus. There was something special about him. Jesus spoke with authority - "My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me" (John 7:16). Jesus spoke with power. In John 7:37-39, Jesus speaks of "rivers …

The Word and the words (7): Come to Jesus, and receive eternal life.

"‘Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life" (John 5:24).  "The Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, nor does his …

The Word and the words (6): Taking Jesus at His Word

"‘Go,’ Jesus replied, ‘your son will live.’ The man took Jesus at his word and departed" (John 4:50). Here, we focus our attention on the words, "The man took Jesus at his word" - and we read on, in verses 51-53 - "While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that …

The Word and the words (5): We give our testimony – and Jesus speaks through us.

"Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony ... because of his words many more became believers" (John 4:39,41). We read, here, about the woman's testimony - and we read about the words of Jesus. When we preach and teach God's Word, there are two things happening. We …

The Word and the words (4): The sower, the reaper and the Lord

"Don’t you have a saying, “It’s still four months until harvest”? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying …

The Word and the words (3): Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.

"For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit" (John 3:34).  Jesus, the living Word of God, was sent by God, the Father, to our world. From the heart of Jesus, the living Word of God, flows the spoken Word of God. The words that came …

The Word and the words (2): Lord, speak Your Word to us and through us.

This is the second of a series of posts on John's Gospel. The first post was based on John 1:1,14. We noted that Jesus was more than a preacher and teacher of God's Word. He is the Word of God. We move on, from there, to John 2:22 - "After he was raised from the …

The Word and the words (1): We preach and teach the Word of God. Jesus is the Word of God.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God ... The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:1,14). This is …