Tag: John

Digging in Deeper: John 21:17

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“He said to him the third time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me?’  Peter was grieved because he said to him the 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.'”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Have you ever told someone you love them?  I suspect you have.  I suspect you’ve even meant it.  But, how deeply did you mean it?  Were they merely sincere words, or was there more behind them?  Were they primarily emotional words, or was there a conviction that ran deeper?  Saying, “I love you,” is easy.  Loving someone is entirely more difficult. Read the rest…

Morning Musings: John 6:67

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“So Jesus said to the twelve, ‘Do you want to go away as well?'”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Jesus had just blown their minds almost beyond the point of recovery.  He had introduced some ideas to them using a metaphor–one that He would later make explicit when He inaugurated the Lord’s Supper–that, frankly, grossed out most of the crowd.  So they left.  And as the crowds were departing, Jesus turned to the twelve and asked if they wanted to leave too. Read the rest…

Morning Musings: John 4:11

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“The woman said to him, ‘Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep.  Where do you get that living water?'”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Put yourself in the shoes of the woman at the well for a moment.  Jesus was offering her something which sounded way too good to be true.  Even thinking literally, this was the case.  She thought Jesus was talking about a literal kind of water that you could drink and never be thirsty again.  Spiritually, it sounds even better.  But, as good as it sounded–or rather, because it sounded so very good–she did not believe it was really something He could do.  How often have we been in the same kind of place? Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: John 3:3

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“Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.'”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

One of my favorite ideas about God (and one I think is entirely true) comes from G.K. Chesterton in his book, Orthodoxy.  Here it is:

Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged.  They always say, “Do it again”; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead.  For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony.  But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony.  It is possible that God says every morning, “Do it again” to the sun; and every evening, “Do it again” to the moon.  It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daises alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them.  It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we.

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Digging in Deeper: John 20:28

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“Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!'”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Thomas has been affixed for centuries with the rather unfortunate moniker, “Doubting Thomas,” because of his entirely justifiable disbelief of the other disciples when they reported to him that they had seen the risen Lord Jesus.  He is held out as a model of the kind of doubt-filled faith that believers should want to avoid.  Nobody wants to be like Thomas.  And yet, given the trajectory of his life and confession from that point forward, perhaps that is not such a fair assessment as he actually deserves. Read the rest…