Skip to main content

Posts

Jesus Restores Peter and Calls Him to Shepherd His People (John 21:15-19)

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16 He then said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” [Jesus] said to him, “Feed my sheep. 18 Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” 19 He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when he had said this, he said to him, “Follow me.” Near the e...
Post a Comment
Read more
Recent posts

Jesus Prays That All Who Will Believe in Him May Be One (John 17:20-26)

I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. 22 And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me. 24 Father, they are your gift to me. I wish that where I am they also may be with me, that they may see my glory that you gave me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25 Righteous Father, the world also does not know you, but I know you, and they know that you sent me. 26 I made known to them your name and I will make it known, that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them.” Jesus continues His prayer to the Father as the hour of His Passion draws near. He has prayed f...
Post a Comment
Read more

Holy Father, Consecrate Your Disciples in the Truth (John 17:11b–19)

Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are. 12 When I was with them I protected them in your name that you gave me, and I guarded them, and none of them was lost except the son of destruction, in order that the scripture might be fulfilled. 13 But now I am coming to you. I speak this in the world so that they may share my joy completely. 14 I gave them your word, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the evil one. 16 They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. 17 Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, so I sent them into the world. 19 And I consecrate myself for them, so that they also may be consecrated in truth. Jesus continues His prayer to the Father as the hour of His Passion draws near. He has guarded His disciple...
Post a Comment
Read more

Jesus Prays to the Father for His Disciples (John 17:1–11a)

When Jesus had said this, he raised his eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you, 2 just as you gave him authority over all people, so that he may give eternal life to all you gave him. 3 Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ. 4 I glorified you on earth by accomplishing the work that you gave me to do. 5 Now glorify me, Father, with you, with the glory that I had with you before the world began. 6 “I revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything you gave me is from you, 8 because the words you gave to me I have given to them, and they accepted them and truly understood that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me. 9 I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for the ones you have given me, because t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Take Courage, Christ Has Conquered the World (John 16:29-33)

His disciples said, “Now you are talking plainly, and not in any figure of speech. 30 Now we realize that you know everything and that you do not need to have anyone question you. Because of this we believe that you came from God.” 31 Jesus answered them, “Do you believe now? 32 Behold, the hour is coming and has arrived when each of you will be scattered to his own home and you will leave me alone. But I am not alone, because the Father is with me. 33 I have told you this so that you might have peace in me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.” This passage continues Jesus’ words to His disciples on the night before His Passion. He has just told them that the Father Himself loves them because they have loved Him and believed that He came from God. The disciples now answer with confidence. They say that Jesus is speaking plainly and that they believe He came from God (vv. 29-30). Their faith is real, but their understanding is still incomple...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Risen Lord Sends His Disciples to All Nations (Matthew 28:16–20)

The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted. 18 Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.” The risen Jesus meets the eleven disciples in Galilee, on the mountain to which He had directed them (v. 16). The number “ eleven ” quietly reminds the reader of Judas’s betrayal and death. Jesus gathers them and gives them His mission, even though He knows that some still have doubts. Galilee is also important. Earlier in Matthew, Jesus began His public ministry in Capernaum, in the northern region called “ Galilee of the Gentiles ,” where Jewish communities lived amid significant contact with non...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Father Himself Loves You (John 16:23b-28)

Amen, amen, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you. 24 Until now you have not asked anything in my name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete. 25 “I have told you this in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures but I will tell you clearly about the Father. 26 On that day you will ask in my name, and I do not tell you that I will ask the Father for you. 27 For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have come to believe that I came from God. 28 I came from the Father and have come into the world. Now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.” Jesus continues to prepare His disciples for the time after His death, Resurrection, and return to the Father. He tells them, “ whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you ” (v. 23b). To ask in Jesus’ name means to pray as disciples who belong to Him, trust Him, and desire what is in harmony with His will. Earl...
Post a Comment
Read more

Jesus Promises Joy That No One Can Take Away (John 16:16-23)

A little while and you will no longer see me, and again a little while later and you will see me.” 17 So some of his disciples said to one another, “What does this mean that he is saying to us, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” 18 So they said, “What is this ‘little while’ [of which he speaks]? We do not know what he means.” 19 Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Are you discussing with one another what I said, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’? 20 Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy. 21 When a woman is in labor, she is in anguish because her hour has arrived; but when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the pain because of her joy that a child has been born into the world. 22 So you also are now in anguish. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Matthias Is Chosen to Replace Judas (Acts 1:15-26)

During those days Peter stood up in the midst of the brothers (there was a group of about one hundred and twenty persons in the one place). He said, 16 “My brothers, the scripture had to be fulfilled which the holy Spirit spoke beforehand through the mouth of David, concerning Judas, who was the guide for those who arrested Jesus. 17 He was numbered among us and was allotted a share in this ministry. 18 He bought a parcel of land with the wages of his iniquity, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle, and all his insides spilled out. 19 This became known to everyone who lived in Jerusalem, so that the parcel of land was called in their language ‘Akeldama,’ that is, Field of Blood. 20 For it is written in the Book of Psalms: ‘Let his encampment become desolate, and may no one dwell in it.’ And: ‘May another take his office.’ 21 Therefore, it is necessary that one of the men who accompanied us the whole time the Lord Jesus came and went among us, 22 beginning from the baptism o...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Spirit of Truth Guides Disciples to Divine Truth (John 16:12-15)

I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. 13 But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming. 14 He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. 15 Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. Jesus knows that His disciples cannot yet understand everything He has to teach them. They have heard His words. They have seen His works. Still, before His Passion, Death, Resurrection, and return to the Father, they cannot yet grasp the full meaning of what He has revealed. His words, “ you cannot bear it now ” (v. 12), show that the disciples are not yet spiritually ready to receive the full meaning of what He still has to reveal, especially before His Passion, Resurrection, return to the Father, and the coming of the Holy Spirit...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Spirit Reveals Sin, Righteousness, and Judgment (John 16:4b-11)

I did not tell you this from the beginning, because I was with you. 5 But now I am going to the one who sent me, and not one of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 But because I told you this, grief has filled your hearts. 7 But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go. For if I do not go, the Advocate will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes he will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and condemnation: 9 sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me; 11 condemnation, because the ruler of this world has been condemned. Jesus continues speaking to His disciples during the Last Supper, shortly before His Passion. He has already warned them that they will face hatred and rejection because they belong to Him. Now He explains why His departure is necessary and how the Holy Spirit will continue His work among them. Jesus says, “ I did not tell you th...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Spirit of Truth Strengthens Christ’s Witnesses (John 15:26—16:4a)

When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth that proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me. 27 And you also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning. 1 “I have told you this so that you may not fall away. 2 They will expel you from the synagogues; in fact, the hour is coming when everyone who kills you will think he is offering worship to God. 3 They will do this because they have not known either the Father or me. 4 I have told you this so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you. Jesus continues to prepare His disciples for life after His death, resurrection, and return to the Father. He has already spoken of the world’s hatred and rejection of those who belong to Him. Now He tells them that they will not bear witness alone. Jesus says, “ When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth that proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me ” (v. 26). The Advocate is the Hol...
Post a Comment
Read more