Monthly Archives: July 2025

JOHN’S GOSPEL… FAMILY CONFICT – 13

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John 7:1-5 NIV
[1] “After this, Jesus went around in Galilee. He did not want to go about in Judea because the Jewish leaders there were looking for a way to kill him. [2] But when the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles was near, [3] Jesus’ brothers said to him, “Leave Galilee and go to Judea, so that your disciples there may see the works you do. [4] No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” [5] For even his own brothers did not believe in him.”

Jesus was no stranger to conflict. It had begun in His own home at a young age. Jesus was different. Of course He was different! In a family of many siblings, He stood out like a sore thumb. As the eldest son, He was responsible for His younger brothers and sisters, according to Jewish culture. He took the rap for their misdeeds, He made decisions for the family, yes, and He inherited a double portion of His father’s estate, a reward for His role…and He dud it all with excellence!

In His early adulthood, Jesus must have been head of the family since there is no Biblical evidence of His father’s presence. Imagine, the sinless Son of God having to take the rap every time a sibling stepped out of line…and He always did it with grace!

This “goody-goody” brother must have really got under His brothers’ skin. He was too nice, and they hated Him for it. Imagine how they must have ganged up against Him and deliberately done things to get Him into trouble. What an opportunity for Him to practise what He preached and to face what was to come!

So, when it was time to go to Jerusalem for the festival, they taunted Him. “Go to Jerusalem, brother. Don’t hide away. You are so popular that everyone’s waiting for you!”

Jesus ignored their taunts. He was used to them. When it was His time, He would go.

John 7:6-8 NIV
[6] “Therefore Jesus told them, “My time is not yet here; for you any time will do. [7] The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that its works are evil. [8] You go to the festival. I am not going up to this festival, because my time has not yet fully come.”

However, He eventually went to Jerusalem without fanfare, to watch and listen to public opinion about Him. True to form, people were divided. Some were for Him, others were skeptical. He was, the focus of attention and people were continually discussing and bickering about Him.

When the festival was in full swing, Jesus was noticed. A crowd began to gather around Him. Opportunity! Knowing full well that He was in danger if His presence was known, He did what He did best…He began to teach. Truth was His message and every time people gathered around Him, He taught them truth.

Why did Jesus need to teach truth? His people were in bondage to the false teaching of their teachers…forced to obey endless laws they couldn’t keep. They needed to know the truth that would set them free from their cruel taskmasters. True freedom, not from Rome or any other oppressor lay in believing in Him, the only one who could set them free from sin, the worst of their slavedrivers.

Now, let’s go back to the siblings. They thought Jesus was crazy. The things He was saying and doing! Mark records…

Mark 3:20-21, 31-32 NIV
[20] “Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. [21] When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”…
[31] Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. [32] A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.”

So much for family unity! Jesus distanced Himself from their petty sibling rivalry. He was about a much bigger family than hostile brothers and sisters. He was about a global family loyal to a loving Father through faith in Him.

This antagonism continued until… something so dramatic happened that all the early skepticism and false notions about Him exploded! His ememies finally killed Him but He didn’t stay dead! How could these unbelieving brothers ever deny this fact? So, everything He said about Himself and everything He did proved that He was, after all, the Son of God. Just imagine, for 30 years before He left home, the Son of God was living in a normal family, doing ordinary things…and they missed it!

Acts 1:12-14 NIV
[12] “Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city. [13] When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. [14] They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.”

The disciples and Jesus’ family finally came together in faith…the nucleus of the church to be born! Traditionally, even James’ letter, written by one of His brothers, was included in the canon of Scripture.

What a revelation! Their own brother, alive from the dead! What a transformation! From skeptics to believers! Don’t you love what James wrote…gone the taunting and disrespect! Gone the hatred! Gone the jealousy!

James 1:1 NLT
[1] “This letter is from James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ…” A slave? Of his own brother? His Lord and Saviour? How did this happen? A light-bulb moment, an “aha” awakening, when Jesus rose from the dead, changed everything.

1 Corinthians 15:3-4, 7 NLT
[3] “I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. [4] He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said…
[7] Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles. “

Seen by James…

It all happened in a flash when Jesus walked out of the tomb. In the unforgettable event, faith was born!

JOHN’S GOSPEL… THE BREAD OF LIFE – 12

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John 6:5-7, 9-13 NIV
[5] “When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” [6] He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. [7] Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”
[9] “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” [10] Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). [11] Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish. [12] When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” [13] So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.”

Considering that we are discovering that Jesus turned every impossibility into opportunity, and every opportunity into more evidence of His identity, the Son of God, this familiar story takes on a new meaning. After all, didn’t John, the narrator record His own people’s reaction to Him? Rejection!

Their rejection was not because of the lack of evidence. It was their decision made out of stubborn unbelief. Every miracle was another pointer to the truth of Jesus’ claim…trust, obedience, and oneness with the Father. The message was loud and clear and backed up with words that were not His but the Father’s words spoken through Him.

John 10:29, 31-33 NIV
[29] “My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand…
[31] Again his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him, [32] but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?” [33] “We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”

Mark 11:27-28 NIV
[27] “They arrived again in Jerusalem, and while Jesus was walking in the temple courts, the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders came to him. [28] “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you authority to do this?”

Authority was the issue. His opponents heard His words, saw His works but still chose to reject Him because it was not convenient for them to believe.

Unfazed by the opposition, Jesus used every opportunity, not only to confirm His identity but also to link Himself to the prophecies and pictures of Messiah in their own Scriptures.

Our story, the only miracle recorded in all four gospels, shows Jesus, the Son, reflecting the heart of the compassionate Father who cares about His children’s physical needs. In this situation hid another opportunity…Jesus was always drawing His disciples into the situation to teach and train them for their mandate to continue where He left off.

So, He throws the ball into their court. What were they planning to do to feed this vast crowd of people? He fires the question at Philip. Why Philip? Why not Peter, the motor-mouth? Perhaps He deliberately bypassed Peter to give another disciple opportunity to think for himself.

Philip had to think quickly. His response was the typically human one…consider the obstacles…too many people, not enough money. He dismisses the problem as impossible.

Andrew pipes up, just for good measure. There are a few barley loaves and fish available! His suggestion sounds ridiculous, so he backs down with an apology. There is food but not enough. Good try, Andrew!

Without waiting for any more feeble suggestions from the other disciples, Jesus issues instructions. Seat the people on the grass in an orderly fashion. That done, He proceeds to break the bread and fish into small pieces, and pass the pieces out, first saying His thanks to the Father with a prayer of gratitude.

John 6:11 NIV
[11] “Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.”

And the rest, they say, is history.

Out of this incident issued another storm…and another lesson. When we read on, the people latched onto Jesus, not for spiritual food but for another opportunity to get a free meal.

John 6:25-26 NIV
[25]” When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” [26] Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.”

Jesus was incensed. Talk about opportunists! So, once more, He launched into another profound comparison between Himself and Moses. Moses gave them manna from heaven to feed their stomachs. Jesus came as heavenly “bread” to feed their souls.

John 6:32-33, 35 NIV
[32] “Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. [33] For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”…
[35] Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

John 6:41, 60, 66 NIV
[41] At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”…
[60] On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”…
[66] From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.”

Too unpalatable for many of them, they rejected the “bread”, and walked away.

JOHN’S GOSPEL… HOPE FOR THE HOPELESS-11

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In our quest to discover the Jesus, Son of God, in John’s gospel, we may need to see Him, the Light, against the backdrop of the darkness that opposed Him. “Opportunity” was His watchword, every impossiblity an opportunity to create a new reality through creativity.

John 5:1-2, 5 NIV
[1] “Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. [2] Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades…
[5] One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.”

Thirty-eight years! That’s a long time to be without hope. Jesus’ question didn’t even arouse anything but pessimism.

John 5:6 NIV
[6] “When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

The paralytic didn’t know this crazy stranger who asked a stupid question. “Do you want to get well?” What did He think? Of course he wanted to get well! Why would he lie there, day after day, next to a pool that was reputed to have healing powers when it bubbled up, if he didn’t want to get well?

His tired, worn-out response said it all. “No one! I have no one to help me!” So, that settled it. He would always lie there, helpless and alone, to the end of his days, and never walk again.

Opportunity!

What if he walked, not because he went into a pool that could do nothing for him but because he did what this crazy stranger told him to do?

John 5:8-9 NIV
[8] “Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” [9] At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath…”

Oops! Big Brother was watching! Something this amazing had to have been noticed. The ever-watching Pharisees were also on the lookout for…opportunity! Not to recognise God when they saw Him but to find another excuse to get rid of Him. He was a threat to them and they hated Him for it.

The Sabbath! The religious leaders’ flash point.

John 5:9-10 NIV
[9] “At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, [10] and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.”

The hypocrites’ opportunity was not to praise God for a great miracle but to embroil the healed man in Jesus’ “guilt”.

John 5:13-15 NIV
[13] “The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there. [14] Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” [15] The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well.”

So, it was Jesus who healed the man, was it! They went in the attack.

John 5:16-18 NIV
[16] “So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. [17] In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” [18] For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.”

Sabbath was their trigger, using their view of the law to condemn Jesus. Now they had Him. He was actually saying the unthinkable…calling God His Father!

Let’s think about this situation.

It’s amazing what people will do to achieve their ends. Jesus saw opportunity in the lame man’s dilemma. Grace stepped in and the lame man walked again. The Pharisees saw opportunity to condemn their opponent. They accused and added another nail to His coffin and, inadvertantly, to their own…

JOHN’S GOSPEL… LOST AND FOUND-10

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The simple story of a lost woman, and, in it, a mirror of the heart of Jesus…

Jesus was on His way from Judea to Galilee. He had to face an obstacle on His journey…Samaria!

Why was Samaria an obstacle? Samaria was the territory of the historical enemies of the Jews. What used to be a section of the original northern kingdom of Israel, had become the land of aliens, half Jews who were an abomination to the full Jews who lived in Judah and Galilee. These Samaritans were the offspring of Gentiles and Jews after the conquest of Samaria by the Assyrians. Jewish territory was split by Samaria and Jews avoided crossing it at all costs.

John 4:4 NIV
[4] “Now he had to go through Samaria.”

Jesus’ “had to” had the aroma of the Father about it. Somewhere in Samaria was someone who needed Him despite cultural taboos. He ignored the foolish hatred of His fellow Jews and set off for Galilee through Samaria.

A long journey on foot! Hot and tired, He stopped to rest beside a well outside a Samaritan village. What could be more ordinary than that? His disciples had set off to buy food, leaving Him alone in the hot midday sun to catch His breath.

By and by, a woman approached the well. An unusual situation began to unfold. Any other Jewish man might have looked the away, turned his back on her, ignored her or done something to show his contempt.

Not Jesus! He watched her approach, began to feel a stirring in His spirit. There was something unusual about her appearance in the middle of the day. She should have been drawing water in the early morning or late afternoon, not in the heat of the day. He examined her appearance. Her DEMEANOUR was discomforting … defiance, challenge, something unsavoury in her look that anticipated a contemptuous gesture or a snarky comment from this Jewish man.

The woman was shocked by Jesus’ friendly attitude. He even spoke to her, not cursing or insulting words but a simple request. She had what He needed…water, so He asked her for a drink.

Slowly, the Jesus we are beginning to know, began to surface. Opportunity! He turned a simple request into a masterful opportunity to reach deep into her troubled soul. Slowly, tenderly, unlike any other human she has ever met, He began to probe, to uncover her secret, not to judge or condemn but to redirect her heart towards truth and freedom.

Let’s pause for a moment.

As we travel through John’s gospel, let’s gaze at the heart of the Father through the words and hands of Jesus. What was He about? He gave us a clear mission statement in His words to Nicodemus.

John 3:17 NIV
[17] “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

Let His words echo in our spirits… “not to condemn but to save!” This implies that every thought or attitude in His heart was not to judge, not to condemn, unlike our hearts that judge, condemn, and sentence another that does NOT reflect the heart of Jesus.

Now, let’s continue.

Step by step, gently, responding even to her questions that attempted to steer Him away from her own sordid situation, Jesus made a shocking statement that said it all.

Probing deep…

John 4:16-18 NIV
[16] “He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” [17] “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. [18] The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”

What a disclosure! Did He condemn her? No! This was her “lightbulb” moment. What did He tell her? “I know you!” Despite her attempt to evade His probing, this was her turning point and her testimony…

John 4:28-29 NIV
[28] “Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, [29] “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?”

Excited, free, and unashamed, she testified to her fellow Samaritans, “He knows me! ”

Above every other disclosure, the reality that Jesus knew her, knows us, deeply, intimately, despite all our efforts to dodge or hide, should convince us that He is God.

What if we face, on the day we meet Him, His sad, but terrifying words, “I never knew you!” not because, for a moment He lost His omniscience, but because we never allowed Him into our souls. We thought we knew Him and acted on what we knew…did all the religious things we thought He liked, but never gained access to His heart.

It’s the knowing of intimacy that changes everything.

So, Jesus’ little excursion through enemy territory, ignoring cultural taboos, listening to the voice of the Father, grasping a golden opportunity, turns out to have had eternal results…a woman rescued from her futile attempts to slake her heart’s thirst, a village rescued from a lost eternity…all because He chose to go through Samaria.

JOHN’S GOSPEL…COME, FOLLOW ME – 8

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John 1:36-39 NLT
[36] “As Jesus walked by, John looked at him and declared, “Look! There is the Lamb of God!” [37] When John’s two disciples heard this, they followed Jesus. [38] Jesus looked around and saw them following. “What do you want?” he asked them. They replied, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?” [39] “Come and see,” he said…”

John’s story about Jesus begins slowly and quietly…a couple of young guys hear John’s pronoucement, “Look, the Lamb of God.” Their curiosity is aroused. They trail after Jesus to find out more about Him. He notices their attention and invites them to his home. Where? We don’t know. Nothing unusual!

However, events begin to snowball. This ordinary situation, from John’s perspective, explodes into a growing following of inquisitive and excited admirers. First two, one being Andrew, Peter’s brother, then another, Peter… then Philip, then Nathaniel, joining the interested group. Did this early association blossom into the official calling of the twelve men who would accompany Him throughout the rest of His life? We don’t know how the two accounts come together except that John was recording these events from his own perspective. Many followed Jesus out of curiosity and interest before He called the Twelve.

Remember, one gospel record tells us that Jesus only officially chose His disciples after a night of prayer.

Luke 6:12-13 NLT
[12] “One day soon afterward Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night. [13] At daybreak he called together all of his disciples and chose twelve of them to be apostles… “

So, the connection was made, the association happened, and the story gathered momentum.

Then, the first burst of light! Jesus and His buddies went to a wedding. The festivities were long and drawn out until…a disaster hsppened…the wine ran out! Not a drop left. Jesus’ mother, also among the guests, knew her son well so she threw the ball into His court and Jesus ran with it… for one reason…an opportunity!

Jesus always had two things in mind, the Father and His kingdom. His reason for being on earth was to introduce the real God, the Father, to His people and to usher in God’s rule again. His own people had effectively rejected His rule despite His covenant with them. Now He had come in person to set the record straight and to complete the task He had been assigned.

To complete His task, He needed, disciples, followers who were convinced of His identity and would continue where He left off..so, He did the impossible. He made water wine! That sounds crazy! He grabbed the opportunity, not only to do a remarkable miracle but also to teach an equally remarkable lesson using the situation as an object lesson. Jesus was always about teaching truth.

The outcome was startling…so much top quality wine that the party could go on for a long time.

And what of His disciples? John was there. He saw the evidence. He knew the outcome.

John 2:11 NIV
[11] “What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.”

They saw His glory…they believed in Him… until the next crisis hit and they needed more evidence.