Guercino [Public domain]

John 4: The Woman at the Well

By Will Senatore  // August 23, 2019

This passage illuminates the nature of Christ:  pursuit, passion, love, hope.

The Samaritan Woman isolated at the Well and her encounter with Jesus, the King of Kings was the first sermon I heard after a full year of God tugging on my heart to come to the Well of living water. (I went to church my whole life.) The questions I was asking Jesus for a few years began to illuminate in my mind and heart. Jesus was saying LOOK, I will answer, and you must be willing to listen! If you are truly seeking me you will find the answer! 

The journey to the “Well” for me was a wide path. The narrow one carved out for me by Christ was not even on my radar. I was blind to that road. Matthew 7:13 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.”

The wide path was all I knew. For me, college was a great way to seek out  all that life could offer( a girlfriend, partying, friends, and freedom) those “wells” that everyone said were truly life giving  made you even more thirsty than the previous day. I was in a mundane existence believing I was doing what was needed to survive and thrive. All I could choose was the wide road on my own. 

In this story about Jesus, on a Thursday night in Main Hall at West Chester University, I heard his pursuit of this woman. I heard that Jesus walked out of his way and made the journey for this specific encounter. His path is narrow, purposeful, and designed with his loving and skilled hands. He also came to a woman who had to go get water alone because she was an outcast because of her life and the sin she lived in. The multiple husbands she had and now living out of wedlock made the other women avoid her. On top of that, she was a Samaritan and Jesus, a Jew, should never have talked with her! Jesus knowing her past and reputation went straight for her. The Son of God does not condemn just pursues us to justify us before God his Father in heaven.

As I sat listening to this unreal and impossible encounter I was over joyed and filled with peace, hope, and love. 

I wonder if the woman was asking questions and seeking after God. I believe she was because God chose that very hour to meet her and dialogue. Like me, she got what she asked for but she had more questions without truly listening to what was right in front of her. 

John 4:10

10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

For me this was a 4-month journey. A guy a few years older than me met me at the entrance and got me linked up with a few of his buddies. I began to go to a Monday night men’s bible study. I sat and listened to their study. The gift was in front of my eyes each day and week that passed but my heart was unwilling to accept the gift. I would constantly think at study, I know all of this and it makes sense. Then I would continue in the same cycle of living for myself.

In John 4, Verse 25-26 it says, 

25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”

 I was the woman at the well who came face to face with Jesus and did not know it. As bright as the Sun, Christ came with an overflowing Well to offer and I went back with a day of water, tired, beat down, and hopeless. It was me asking questions, yet unwilling to listen to the answers. This lasted until I was 21 years old around Christmas time. I asked, sought, and found. Jesus faithful to his words. 

John 4:13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

At the end of the semester I went home and in prayer and crying out Jesus saved my soul and poured out the Holy Spirit to give me a new life in Jesus Christ. 

This verse was finally clear to me. The presence of Christ and his peace overflowed and from that day forward, things did not get easy but the overflow and abundance of Jesus was with me each day. 

 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

Truth was now within me. I had a Spirit of life and no longer dead within. Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. This became my life verse, as my life was a new song of praise and worship to the Great I AM the Lord Almighty, Jesus Christ. 

John 4:28 The woman then left her water pot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, 29 “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” 30 Then they went out of the city and came to Him.

Just as the woman did, I left my water pot filled with absolutely nothing. Remnants of an old unfulfilled life. Still murky and dirty water. Never thirst quenching and always needing more. The pot was left dinged up, cracked, worthless. Maybe an animal would sip from it for a drink. As for me and my new life in Christ, I no longer needed to go to dead end wells. My Well was the Holy Spirit living within me to satisfy my Soul for the Hope of everlasting life in my Lord, Jesus Christ. 

Jesus Christ offers a new life that frees you to serve him and him alone. To Glorify God the father through his Son and his death on the Cross. To know His Son Jesus Christ and the greatest gift we could ever receive. Go to the Well of everlasting Love, Peace, and Hope. 

Amen! 

Lazarus

By Doug Wiley  // August 23, 2019

In John Chapter 11 we find Mary and Martha fervently taking care of their sick brother and friend, Lazarus. They sent word for Jesus to come. When Jesus heard this news, His immediate response was, “This sickness will not end in death (vs 4).” Jesus told His disciples that Lazarus had fallen asleep; but He was going there to wake him up. In this scenario the disciples assumed Jesus meant natural sleep; however, Jesus was explaining that Lazarus had passed away. He said to His disciples, “Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe.” From the very beginning, Jesus’s intention was to bring Glory to God as the witnesses watch the coming miracle.

• Martha knew who Jesus was and still put Him in a box.

When Jesus arrived, Martha greets Him by saying, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”

Jesus responded, “Your brother will rise again.”

Martha replies, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

Jesus answers, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

Martha replies, “Yes, Lord, I believe you are the Messiah, the Son of God who is to come into the world.”

At this point, Martha believes that Jesus is the Messiah, but doesn’t fully comprehend His limitless power.

As Christians, we believe that Jesus died for our sins, resurrected, and is coming again. Just like Martha, we know that He can do all things, but at times we often doubt His infinite power and His desire to reveal this to us when we put our faith in Him.

• It’s not just about Lazarus

When Jesus arrived, Lazarus had been dead for four days. Four days, his soul was at rest in a much better place. Again, through all of this, Jesus’s intention was to bring Glory to God.

In verse 41, Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.  I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”

When he said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.

Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

To Mary, Martha, the disciples and all those who bore witness to this miraculous event, were amazed by what they had just witnessed. Imagine how you would react to seeing a dead man come back to life. However, what those witnesses didn’t realize was what Lazarus left in order to return to an earth filled with sin. He was returning to a place of lust, deceit, fear, and anguish.

God used Lazarus, his sickness and death as a testimony of God’s goodness and power. We don’t always realize that our trials may exist for the benefit of someone else.

• The Bigger Picture

The word of Jesus’s miracle of bringing Lazarus back to life spread quickly. For some this event opened their eyes to the Glory of God, but others turned away and fled to the pharisees instead.

⁴⁷ Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin.

“What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many signs. ⁴⁸ If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.”

⁴⁹ Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all! ⁵⁰ You do not realize that it is better for you that one man dies for the people than that the whole nation perishes.”

At this point, the pharisees plotted to take His life.

They believed they had the power to stop Jesus’s plan. They thought if they ended His life, they could stop the people’s belief in Him. What they didn’t realize was that even their plans to kill Him, were not their own. This miracle sparked the plan to kill Jesus. The pharisees believed his death would be the end. Instead the miracle and plot to end His life was the beginning of Jesus’s plan to pay the penalty for the world’s sins and offer enteral life to all those who put their faith in Him.

The Woman Caught in Adultery

John 8:1-11

By Ed Evans // August 23, 2019

Lately, I have been so intrigued by God’s infinite power and might. I recently read about a star named Eta Carinae that is 7,500 light years away and five million times brighter than our sun. I’m sorry, but I don’t understand what five million times brighter even looks like. I can’t even imagine a sun twice as bright as ours—let alone five million!

It has been learning about things like Eta Carinae, to thinking about something as small as a bird that has me fascinated with God’s wisdom, power and might. Psalm 8:3 says, “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have ordained…” The powerful finger of God made the universe and everything in it. Mind blowing!

And here in John we see God, stooping down to the ground and from his infinitely wise, all-knowing mind he commands his human finger to plow through the dirt while the scribes and pharisees are persisting him to tell them whether this woman caught in adultery should be stoned to death like the law of Moses says.

The law of Moses… that was written by gods finger (ten commandments), the pharisees that where knitted together by god, the very dirt that they all stand on that God spoke into existence. And here God is himself, stooped down, wrapped in human flesh, drawing in the dirt while his creatures are yelling at him to make a call so they can trap him in their test. If they only knew that the man drawing in the dirt before them is “..the radiance of God’s glory, the exact representation of his nature, and upholds all things by the word of his power…” ( Hebrews 1:3) But they don’t know that. The one thing they do know very well is the word of God.

The scribes and the Pharisees in our story know the Bible (the old testament) like the back of their hands. In their time, they were the good guys. The back to the Bible guys. In our day they would be our pastors, priests, apologists, radio preachers, etc. They literally had most of the old testament memorized. When Jesus came on the scene forgiving sins and healing people and claiming to be God, they did what they thought they should do, like testing him and then they thought of ultimately getting rid of him since he claimed to be equal with God. They hated Jesus. But they loved the scriptures. They also loved glory. The glory of one another. That is why they couldn’t see that the man drawing in the dirt was God Almighty, because they were blinded by seeking their own glory. And before you get mad at them, you and I do the same thing at times.

It is very easy to read the Bible and know that we have things to change in our lives and we can start checking off boxes of sins to get rid of. Once we have checked off enough boxes we start thinking we are doing pretty well. We start seeing all the boxes that others haven’t checked off yet. We see people with boxes they haven’t checked off that weren’t even on our list to check off because to us it is such a gross, vile sin and we would never have a box (sin) like that. There are times when I meet someone and get to know them and start thinking in my head, “Man! They are a terrible person and I am much better than them.” Or even just encountering the cashier at Wawa who I quickly make a judgment about and have ill feelings and thoughts towards. Maybe for you, it is stumbling upon MSNBC or FOX news and feeling hateful thoughts towards the person on the tv. Thankfully, by God’s grace, this has been happening less and less for me, but I’m ashamed to even admit that it happens and I have a feeling I’m not the only one it happens to.

In the gosple of John, Jesus says to the pharisees, “How can you believe when you seek glory from one another and not the glory of the one and only God?” The pharisees loved the glory of one another. They wanted glory for themselves. They kept the letter of the law almost perfectly, and on the outside, they looked great. And they thought they did, too. But they were ignoring the heart, the spirit of the word. The law which they loved and worked out so well in their flesh became flesh to teach them the spirit of the law— ( “and the word became flesh and dwelt among us…”). The rest of that verse says that “We saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the father, full of grace and truth.” We as Christians, followers of Jesus Christ, have seen his glory. We see what Hebrews 1:3 says about Jesus being the radiance of God’s glory. But when we seek our own glory and want to look good in our site and to others, we can be like the pharisees and want to stone a poor sinful woman caught in adultery.

Jesus in his wisdom says, “Whoever is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone.” Everyone walked away from the oldest to the youngest (proof that wisdom comes with age) and only Jesus, the creator of the universe, the only one without sin, is left. He says, “Woman, did no one condemn you? …Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.”

I’ve been the pharisee, and have sought my own glory over God’s and have cast judgment on a fellow sinner. Let us seek the glory of God! God’s ultimate glory is the cross, where He judged my sin and the sin of the world. The cross is so glorious that Jesus will have those holes in his hands for all eternity (a lamb as if slain). May we see everyones’ sin as God sees ours, and look on them with the grace we are seen with.

I have been the woman, and have felt condemnation from Satan and from myself. When I encounter the holy God of the universe that with His fingers makes stars like Eta Carinae, and could and should banish me to eternal punishment, says to me “neither do I condemn you,” grace lifts me up off the floor of despair and hopelessness to walk in the His grace to “sin no more.”

John 1:17 says, “For the law came through Moses. Grace and truth were realized in Jesus Christ.” Let us love others with God’s grace and walk free from the power of sin by God’s grace!

I would like to end this blog with a couple of verses from one of my favorite songs called “Grace Alone” by Dustin Kensrue:

    So I’ll stand in faith by grace and grace alone
    I will run the race by grace and grace alone
    I will slay my sin by grace and grace alone
   I will reach the end by grace and grace alone.

Fix Your Eyes Upon Jesus

John 5

By Matt & Alayna Ford // August 23, 2019

In John, Chapter Five, Jesus meets a paralyzed man lying by the pool of Bethesda. The text tells readers this man had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. I can imagine this lifestyle of lying and waiting would have become so hopeless and frustrating day in and day out that it is no wonder he tried to explain his situation to Jesus after Christ asked him, “Do you want to get well?” The man’s reply to this question seems to indicate that he did not truly believe he would get well, as he explains to Jesus that there was always someone who was healed instead of him, as he had no power to move himself into the pool.

Though we can look at this man’s story and wonder why he responded to Jesus’s question, “Do you want to get well?” with an excuse as opposed to an enthusiastic “YES!”, I think his response is actually quite similar to how we often respond to the Lord. When Christ comes to set us free from the paralysis of sin, we often have an excuse as to why we cannot be made well. If we humble ourselves and really think about areas of paralysis in our own lives, where we are not gaining ground in the faith, I think we may find ourselves to be quite similar to this man, often making excuses, and rarely answering Jesus’s call to healing with a faith-filled “Yes, Lord!”

The text notes that from time to time the angel of the Lord would come and stir the waters of the pool, and at that time the first person to enter the pool would be healed. This man would wait by the pool day after day, intentionally listening to hear the water begin to splash and stir. But, he was always beaten out in the race to the pool. How hopeless this predicament would have been. He was doing everything he could think to do, even lying by the closest spot to healing he could find, but still had no way of being healed in his own strength as he could not physically place himself into the pool. I’m sure after 38 years of waiting for his day to come, a part of him had lost hope. He might have even made peace with his paralysis as he rested on his mat.

One may be tempted to think that the experience of this man is unique to him alone, but I fear it is actually quite common among believers. When individuals come to faith, though there are many battles with sin that lie ahead, they often seem to have a hope and resolve that victory can be gained. But, after many failures, some lose heart. Eventually and reluctantly, after watching countless others experience victory, they give up and “lay on their mats”, succumbing to the fact that they will battle their crippling sins for the rest of their lives. This kind of defeat does not happen overnight, but starts with a faulty knowledge or understanding that then becomes one’s beliefs, and eventually drives his or her actions.

The paralyzed man had two misconceptions that were preventing him from victory:

         1. He was looking to himself and what he needed to do to be made well. This was the natural response, but he failed to realize that it was impossible for a man in his condition to move himself into a place of victory.

        2.  His eyes were on the wrong source. His knowledge had caused him to look to the pool as the place of healing, but God had provided the only way for lasting healing. His encounter with Jesus would be much deeper than what the pool could have offered, which was only physical healing. Christ offered to heal his body and soul.

When Christ arrived on the scene, this man fixed his eyes on the true source of healing. Whether he realized it or not, he finally looked away from himself and the pool. In our fight against sin, we might focus on the sin and what we need to do to overcome it, when the first step is always to look away from ourselves, to Christ.

In the end, Christ made this man well, and did not use the man’s expected method to do so. He spoke healing into his body and soul through his words, and then charged the man with the task “take up your mat and walk”. The mat that once represented this man’s defeat and acceptance of his paralytic condition would now be carried over his head in victory. The same can be true for the Christian!

So, what would Christ have you to do if you find yourself in a similar state as the man in this story? Come to the true source of healing. Recognize the freedom and victory that is yours in Christ Jesus, and commit to walking in that truth through HIS power, not your own. Fix your eyes on Christ, not your circumstances, and accept the work He has done on your behalf. Answer his call to “get up and walk” in faith in the One who has healed you!

With Love,

Matt and Alayna Ford

Moshe Buchbut (moshe… [CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)]

Born to Live Again

By Brian Boswell // August 23, 2019

The story of Nicodemus and Jesus in John 3 has lead to all sort of speculation: Why did Nic come at night? Was he being sincere or sarcastic? Was he trying to trap Jesus or was he really seeking truth? Honestly, most of these speculations don’t matter. A man seeks out Jesus. He is a very religious, zealous, highly educated leader of the Pharisees. He comes at night. Maybe because it is just when he has free time, maybe it is because he wants to be secretive – I don’t think it matters. He calls Jesus Rabbi – teacher. It is a title of honor and respect even though in his tradition, Jesus did not have the educational pedigree for such a title. I think he is sincere – there is not a crowd around for him to impress. Nic has seen Jesus perform miraculous signs, proving to him that Jesus is acting with the power of God. The miraculous signs are not enough to lead Nic to conversion – they are not the message. But they are signs that point to the man who has the message of life. This can be true of us too. We might get all excited about miracles and healings…and that stuff is great. But it is a sign. It points to a God who loves us and wants to have a relationship with us.

So Nic is there, Jesus is there. Nic does not really ask a question, but Jesus jumps right to the heart of why Nic has sought him out. As a zealous Pharisee, Nic anticipates the coming of the Messiah, the end of this age and the arrival of God’s kingdom. He anticipates his place in that Kingdom because he is Jewish. Jesus tells him that in order to see the kingdom, he has to start over – be born again. This is the nature of the event. You must start over with a clean slate. It could also be translated be born from above which would indicate the origin of this event – this birth is heavenly, a supernatural event. Being born a Jew isn’t enough. You need a fresh start, a spiritual fresh start. Jesus doesn’t ask him to bow his head and say a prayer and then like magic, you are in. No, you have to start over. You have to begin at the beginning and grow as a new person.

In “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens, upon awakening from his night among the Christmas spirits, Scrooge exclaimed, ‘”I don’t know what day of the month it is! … I don’t know how long I’ve been among the Spirits. I don’t know anything. I’m quite a baby. Never mind. I don’t care. I’d rather be a baby.”’ That is the new birth. What is good? What is blessed? What is just? We enter the Kingdom as a new born, knowing nothing, dependent on Him for everything. This is a spiritual birth and there is a certain mystery to it. We need spiritual eyes and a spirit alive heart in order to understand spiritual things. Jesus is likely referring to a passage in Ezekiel when he says you must be born of the water and the spirit. Jesus is telling Nic (and us) that this new kingdom that has come is a kingdom of cleansing (water) and power (spirit) and it is here, now, accessible in Jesus. Jesus, as the one who has come from heaven is explaining to us first hand heavenly things. This new birth is from God, it is beyond our understanding and our control.

And here is the best secret of all: God made a way for us to begin to enjoy eternal, kingdom life now. In Jesus the Kingdom has come to earth. Jesus shows us that the kingdom is already and not yet. It is here because the King has come. Life in the kingdom is accessible now through him, but it is not yet fully realized. It has been inaugurated but not consummated. Part of the joy of this new birth is that we can become agents of this Kingdom; we can open this kingdom to those around us. We can be the catalyst through which Jesus manifests the Kingdom here on earth in our time, in our places!

In the most famous verses in the Bible, Jesus explains the scope of this kingdom. The unfathomable depths of God’s love are demonstrated in the ultimate sacrifice of the Son. And the vast scope of that love extends to the entire world – not just to the Jewish people. The response to that love is to receive the new, endless, supernatural life of the kingdom. The coming of this love, life and light forces a response. There is room for unbelief and rejection and those that chose that path will perish. This regeneration, this new life is more than seeing miracles and understanding that Jesus has come. This is a new way of being. It is a miracle work of God’s love and grace, to be born again. We must BE more than human. We must be supernaturally born to walk and work in the physical and spiritual realm.

The next time we encounter Nic, he is in the Sanhedrin as his peers are arguing over who or what Jesus is. Some want him arrested and Nic just reminds them that a person should get a fair hearing before he is condemned. And then we meet Nic one more time after the crucifixion. Nic joins Joseph of Arimathea in preparing Jesus’ body for burial. I think Nic got it. I think the new birth has taken place in his heart and life. I think when the Kingdom comes into it full glory we will be able to sit down with Nic and hear him tells of us his journey from questions to commitment.

Life in the kingdom is more than just mental assent. We can agree that Jesus is who he says he is but that does not get us into the kingdom. It is more than living rightly and morally that also does not get us to the kingdom. We must be born again. And I’m glad for that. I need a fresh start. Eternal life begins now. The Kingdom of God is here, now. I need surrender. I can’t understand, I can’t live right, I can’t be good enough. I need his cleansing and his power. We all are invited to start over with him, to be born again, to live in his kingdom…forever.

Hendrick ter Brugghen [Public domain]

When Rome Met the King

Jesus encounters Pontius Pilate

By Rob Reilly // August 23, 2019

            Jerusalem had started the week with a bustle of activity as Jesus rode into the city as a king on a donkey. Fast forward to Friday and now Jesus has been arrested and now standing before Pilate. The Jewish leaders are accusing him of blasphemy for calling himself the son of God (a messianic term). In God’s sovereignty, capital punishment was taken away from Israel, so now they find themselves at the mercy of Rome to do their bidding. Pilate could care less about their religious concerns. His concern is judicial. Was there a crime committed worthy of death?

            Beginning in John 18:28 and spanning to John 19:16 we see Jesus encountering the Roman governor Pontius Pilate. During this encounter Pilate will ask Jesus five questions: 1) Are you the king of the Jews? 2) What have you done? 3) Are you a king then? 4) What is truth? 5) Where are you from? We will now look in depth at these questions.

• Are you the King of the Jews? One of the things that immediately strikes me about this scene is the Jewish leaders know they are about to deliver over an innocent man committing murder and yet they are concerned with not defiling themselves by being in the presence of a gentile and not fit to eat the Passover. Well did Jesus say of them that the Pharisees were blind guides which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. Pilate sees through their ruse and tells them to judge him according to their own law. This now sets the scene to Pilate calling in Jesus and asking him are you the king of the Jews? Jesus’ response is interesting. He is drawing out Pilate. Do you want to know or is this just part of the judiciary process. Pilate’s answers back that he could care less. He is not Jewish nor concerned about their religious laws.
• What have you done? Pilate now wants to get to the heart of the matter. Jesus responds by elaborating on the first question. He explains how his kingdom works. It is not a direct threat to Rome through warfare. If it were an earthly kingdom Jesus would be delivered from Pilate but as it is he is not a threat to the Roman Empire.
• Are you a king? Jesus admits yes he is a king as Pilate has asked. His mission as a king is very different. His purpose is to bear witness to the truth. He is there to reveal the nature of His Father to the nation of Israel. They had lost their way in their understanding of their unique standing before God as His chosen people and now had replaced their relationship with rules. Jesus is the revelation of the Father to the nation. That is why everyone who is committed to God (hears) responds to the gospel message as it is to this day.
• What is truth? This is as much a bitter statement as it is a question. Pilate is a hardened leader who sees that truth is whatever you want it to be. Since Rome had the military might, it could do whatever it wanted to. Truth, honor and doing the right thing is irrelevant when you have the Roman legion at your disposal. You can make your own truth and have the means to execute it. It is at this point though Pilate sees through the schemes of the Jewish leaders and knows that Jesus is innocent.

At this point Pilate wants to release Jesus and talks about this custom of releasing a prisoner. Surely they would want their King of the Jews released? We also know right at this moment that Pilate’s wife would warn her husband about Jesus and the dream she had (Matthew 27:19). As a pagan this would have disturbed Pilate all the more as dreams were a means for the gods to communicate with man. Imagine the shock as Pilate is expecting the crowd to accept their king but instead as a result of prodding by the Jewish leaders they cry out for Barabbas. They want a man whose name means son of the father but they do not want Jesus, truly the Son of God.

Pilate’s pragmatism takes over decides to have Jesus scourged. He knows that Jesus is no threat to Rome and decides he will beat Jesus to an inch of his life and that will surely satisfy the Jewish leaders. They beat him and mock him and put a crown of thorns (symbolically representing the curse in Genesis) on his head. Pilate figures when they see his marred face and pitiful physical state this will assuage their thirst for this man’s blood. Pilate then sovereignly announces “Behold the Man!”

The chief priests respond even more aggressively to crucify Jesus, Pilate tells them he finds no fault and they should kill him if they want. Their response is true on both accords. To claim divinity in the law would be blasphemy and deserving of death. However Jesus is the son of God as attested by all of the signs he performed. Only God could give sight to the blind, cure lepers, silence the storms, raise the dead and forgive sin. When Pilate heard their accusation about making himself the Son of God, this disturbs him. He now wants to get right to the heart of the matter.

Pilate brings him back into the Praetorium.   This is where he asks the last question “Where are you from?” Any superstition that Pilate has about Jesus and whether in the Pagan sense he is a “god who came down to earth” Pilate wants answers. Jesus is silent before Pilate and this disturbs Pilate. Don’t you know your life is in my hands Pilate angrily responds? Jesus tells him that God has given him his authority and God alone. From here on out Pilate wants to release him.

We now come to this final dramatic scene where Pilate brings out Jesus and exclaims “Behold your king!” Now the leader and the crowd demand him to be crucified. Curiously enough they claim they have no king but Caesar. This is a violation of the law. God is their king not Caesar.

In conclusion, Pilate announces Behold the Man and Behold your King. With these sayings unknowingly Pilate has described the dual nature of Jesus. He is both fully God and fully man undivided in his personhood. The encounters in the gospel of John begin with Nicodemus and end with Pilate. He came to his own people and for the most part they rejected him. Jesus was also trying to reach Pilate but he would not give his life to him. Also in the sovereignty of God Jesus was on trial but he was in complete control. He fulfilled John 10:18, no one was taking his life but he was laying it down for us the body of Christ. As his church we can take comfort in knowing that God is in control even when circumstances seem contrary. Ours is to trust and obey knowing that God will see us through to the end.   Be blessed.

Rob Reilly

From Son of Thunder to the Apostle of Love

By Rob Reilly // March 14, 2019

When you think of a radical conversion experience in the New Testament, for many, the Apostle Paul immediately comes to mind.  There are many good reasons why this is so.  Saul was breathing murderous threats towards the church and made it his life’s mission to single handedly eliminate the Nazarene sect.  On that fateful road in Damascus, all of this changed as he was literally knocked off his horse and arrested by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  My question to you is this, what other Apostle do we see such a radical transformation in the New Testament?

John is generally regarded to be the youngest of the disciples (most likely mid to late teens) and was a fellow fisherman with his brother James in the family business (Matt 4:21-22).   As most teens are want to do, he often he lacked self-awareness.  There is one particular portion of scripture that I now draw to your attention.

This narrative is only spoken of in the gospel of Luke chapter 9.  The transfiguration has just taken place where John has both seen Jesus in all of His glory and heard of His pending “exodus”.  As they come down the mountain, they begin arguing about who will be the greatest.  As they begin this final descent towards Jerusalem, they had a choice to make:  Were they going to make their journey longer by avoiding Samaria or go through Samaria? The Jews had a mutual hatred of the Samaritans and considered them half breeds.. 

This now places Jesus and his disciples in a Samaritan village very shortly after the Transfiguration.  They sent messengers ahead to plan for their arrival and to be welcomed with hospitality; however, things did not go according to plan.  John, who  was a teenager at the time, becomes indignant at this slight of hospitality.  He then decides to emulate Elijah the prophet who he saw and heard only a short time ago.  He asks the Lord, “Do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?”  Jesus quickly rebukes the hastiness of youth as his mission is to “save lives” not to destroy them.  He also says that “they do not know what kind of spirit they are of”.

I’d now like to direct you to another passage of scripture, Acts chapter 8.  Between these two passages, John has seen Jesus brutalized at the hands of the Romans and bled out to atone for the sins of the world.  He has also seen the resurrected Christ and even had breakfast with him on the Galilean shoreline.  That lesson taught him that he would never return to his days of fishing for an occupation but would be one of the foundations and a pillar of this new community of believers.  John saw Jesus ascend back to the Father in heaven and waited and experienced the fullness of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost.  God was doing an amazing work that would now be put to the test.

Saul begins to wreak havoc on the church and the church scatters as part of the plan of God.  Philip goes down to Samaria and begins to preach the gospel.  They both heard and saw in amazement the things that God was doing through Philip that many Samaritans came to know Christ.  Word had travelled back to Jerusalem and the church sent Peter and John to this burgeoning church in Samaria.  When they arrive, they pray for the Samaritans to receive the Holy Spirit.

What a transformation that has taken place in the life of John.  Where once he wanted to call down fire from heaven to destroy the Samaritans, he is now calling down the fire of heaven (the Holy Spirit) to fill and empower this Samaritan church for the work of ministry.  Only God is our response. 

As we conclude, be blessed to know that we as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ need to be filled and yield to the work of the Holy Spirit as we are transformed from glory to glory in our walk with Christ.  Let us be that radical transformation that leads others to our Lord and Savior. 

Be blessed,

Rob Reilly

But God – Ephesians 2:4-10

By Rob Reilly // January 4, 2019

Recently, I have developed a good habit (yes, I have some good habits) of texting my wife Bible verses when I board my daily train to work. This past week, I was texting my wife Scriptures to encourage her about the grace of God. One particular Scripture that was shared was Ephesians 2:4-10:

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

What really stood out to me were the words “But God”. I started looking up verses that had these words in them. I found myself completely in awe of God as I read. These two little words are the essence of grace and the Gospel. What I could never do on my own due to my sin nature, God did on my behalf.

The preceding verse (verse 3) speaks to us as being, by our nature, children of wrath. That is our condition without Christ. We are dead spiritually. I can neither will nor work my way back to God.

I think of Jesus explaining to Nicodemus, in John 3, the nature of the new birth. The Spirit gives life.

Just as I had no part in the day I was born physically, I have no part in the regeneration of my Spirit. My response or faith in the Gospel, as Paul writes, is not of me, it is the gift of God. This is great news.

What is impossible for me is possible for God. I then began to ponder the “But God” moments in my life. My father passed away five years ago. I had prayed for my father for many years to come to know the Lord. The last couple of months of my father’s life were very difficult for him. His financial situation became dim and there were other issues going on in my family. It was in the midst of these difficult times where God allowed me to share the Gospel with him. I began to pray with him and read Scripture to him on a regular basis. My brother called me about two weeks before my father passed. This was a particularly difficult day and he asked if I could come over. As I drove to his house, I started praying and crying out to God that this was it. Lord, please make a way. When I arrived, my brother left to clear his head and I began reading and sharing with my dad. I then asked him if he wanted to receive Christ. There was a delay, but then he responded with yes, he wanted to receive Christ as his Lord and Savior. This was the “But God” moment I had been waiting for since I received the Lord in 1992.

My encouragement to you today, as you read this blog, is that our God is the God of the impossible. The following Scriptures are just a few of the “But God” verses in the Bible. Be encouraged and know the love of God is at the heart of the grace of God, and heaven will be filled with the “impossibles”.

Genesis 8:1
But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and He sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded.

Genesis 50:20
You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

Psalm 73:26
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Matthew 19:26
Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.

Romans 5:8
But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

1 Corinthians 1:27
But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

Psalm 13 – The Silence of Heaven

By Rob Reilly // November 8, 2018

1 How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?
How long will You hide Your face from me?
2 How long shall I take counsel in my soul,
Having sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long will my enemy be exalted over me?

3 Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;
Enlighten my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,
4 And my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”
And my adversaries will rejoice when I am shaken.

5 But I have trusted in Your lovingkindness;
My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.
6 I will sing to the Lord,
Because He has dealt bountifully with me.

If you have been a Christian for some time, you have experienced what David came to know.  There are seasons when the heavens seem silent.  Let’s examine what was going on in David’s life and see how this can apply in our daily living.  

We must first look at the circumstances from which David penned this Psalm.  The two most popular opinions are either being on the run from Saul, or during his exile and shame at the hands of his son Absalom.  I believe the latter is more likely due to the fact that David was full of faith and confidence during his great escapes from Saul.  In Psalm 57:1, David writes, “Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me, for my soul takes refuge in you; and in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge until destruction passes by”. This certainly has a different tenor and tone than Psalm 13.  David knew full well his guilt for failing to execute justice in his own house in regards to Amnon’s rape of Tamar.  Fast forward and his son Absalom is in full rebellion trying to bring his father’s reign to an end and place himself in his father’s stead.

Verse 1 is a great example of Hebrew poetry. David repeats, for emphasis the words, “how long” to illuminate the strong passion and pathos of his words.  “How long”  is the cry from the heart of the King.  Not only does he perceive that he is forgotten by God, but it also seems to be intentional.  Verse 2 tells of the despair and great anxiety that David experiences as a result of not hearing from God or sensing His presence.  Not only is he deeply troubled, but his enemies are also rejoicing over him.  Talk about rubbing salt in an open wound.  This is not good.

Verse 3 is where things begin to change, as they often do, when David begins to pray.  He asks for his eyes to be opened to see the Lord’s purpose in this silence.  He does not want his enemies to mock him and by extension the Lord Himself.  David does not want his enemy to think that their power has overcome him and shaken him to the very core. 

Now that David is communing in prayer, in verse 5, we see his confidence and trust in the Lord return.  He has trusted in God’s covenant love towards him.  This allows David to burst out in song and praise towards God as “He has dealt bountifully with me”.  

I had a two year period where I worked in a very toxic environment.  When I recently read this Psalm, it brought me back to that place.  There were times that I would work 80 plus hours a week with no end in sight.  What made it worse was the treatment that both I and my staff had to endure.  We were treated as a means to an end, and there was massive turnover in the office.  

Needless to say, my family life took a big hit.  There were many weeks when I would not see Ana, Ben, and Olivia until the weekend.  They would be in bed by the time I arrived home.  Eileen and I prayed and prayed, but each successive job interview ended the same, no deliverance.  Yes,  there were times in my ride home late at night when I questioned God and His plan for my life.  What I can say is that during this time, and similar to David’s experience, God’s silence drove me to seek Him more.  

Our life is a journey and there will be times when heaven seems silent.  We can only pray and continue to be steadfast to seek Him.  Deliverance is not always immediate.  I can say that when it did come in September 2018, it was both perfect in timing and place.  I also learned a very valuable lesson.  God is never late, and He is also never early (in our eyes).  He is always right on time.  I can sing to the Lord because He has dealt bountifully with me!

I look forward to sharing more in the future of this blog.  Please be encouraged to know that today’s silence is not God’s lack of care or concern.  He is drawing us to Himself to further conform us to His will for our lives.

Be blessed.

Rob Reilly