A Bigger Picture

As John ends his gospel, we see Jesus commissioning the disciples toward a larger picture of what the community of God will now look like as they carry on the ministry that Jesus has passed on to them. [as the Father sent me so I send you]  The catching of the 153 fish shows the fruitfulness of our work when Jesus is with us. John starts out chapter 21 showing the restlessness of the disciples.  Peter being impetuous, leads the others out to go fishing. They fish all night and they catch nothing. By now our having read through John should send alarm bells off when we see John use "dark" or "night."  This is John indicating our activity when we are not in relationship with God. We fumble around, spend long hours at fruitless work, come home unsuccessful, tired and exhausted from having gone at it on our own.

Early in the morning - at daylight - Jesus is on the shore. Again this is very significant.  Right from chapter one we see Jesus as the light that comes into the world of which the world does not understand and of which darkness cannot overcome. He's built a fire on the shore and he tells the disciples to throw the net on the other side of the boat. The disciples do and they catch 153 fish. It was a mammoth catch for a small fishing boat and a few men. There are many interpretations of what 153 may mean but the bottom line is that it was large and it was memorable. Such work when we work with the guidance and advice of Jesus brings exponential results. This story parallels the story of the Sower sowing the Seed in the other gospels. The point of both is that when the seed catches or when the net is in the right spot then there is exponential return!

John's message to the reader is that our work will be effective when we do it in cooperation and under the guidance of Jesus. There is exponential return for the discipline and obedience of doing it Jesus' way - not our way. Cultivating a relationship with Jesus - having Him in our lives -letting Him feed us, guide us and lead us is the desire of the Father. This is the way that the Father leads His community on earth. It walks in the light and life of Jesus and lives out that life with openness and humility listening for the voice of the Father out in the street where the lost and lonely are.  As we encounter them in their hurt and alienation our love and openness accompanied by grace and truth will draw them in and give them a glimpse of the Father's heart. That glimpse will cause their heart to come alive and believe that there is a God who desires to rescue them and restore them.

As John continues the chapter, he then shows Jesus reinstating Peter to the call of being a "fisher of men" [as is mentioned in the other gospels]. The question Jesus poses three times [Peter, do you love me] is a call to Peter to base his relationship with Jesus not on his past history of denial but on the reality of Jesus' love for him. There is no doubt that Jesus loves him otherwise Jesus would not be reinstating him. The question is will Peter love back? Peter is consistent with his answer. [Yes - you know I love you] This will then become the basis for Jesus then directing Peter toward feeding and loving his sheep. The reality for the reader in this part of the chapter is the question of how will we go about the activity of reaching out to others to bring them to the Father? Will we do it on our own groping in the dark - unsure and insecure - or will we do it based on our loving relationship with Jesus of which the fruit is to flow into the lives of others and feed their hearts and restore them to the Father.

What we get from John is the clear desire of Jesus to present a much larger picture to the disciples of what he desires the new community of God to be doing in his absence. With the Spirit to guide them, Jesus desires this community to go find the lost sheep and love them back to the Father. They are to do this by feeding them - leaving a trail of nourishment that leads back to the Father's house. Jesus emphasizes to Peter that he will give his life for this - the indication that Peter will be lead around against his will. This becomes a very profound call to the reader regarding what this community is and what its mission is. We will see in Acts that the Spirit leads the church into a global endeavor as God's goal is for the community to reach all of humanity - right from their backyard in Jerusalem to the courts of Caesar. May we hear the call and follow with the Spirit empowering us to do the same and continue spreading the word about the Father to those in our sphere of influence and relationship. Our love for them will speak of God's love and our embrace will speak of His embrace. It will feed hungry hearts and lead them to the Father. Jesus is waiting on the shore for others to come and eat the bread and fish [throw back to the five thousand]. The food he gives will satisfy us for eternity.

Well - I wrote all this because the recording of my lecture on chapter 21 did not record at all. I thought I would leave you the highlights then of what I covered in that chapter. Below are the other recordings from our last lecture:

Portico John Lecture - Chapter 18-19 Arrest, Trial, Crucifixion, Death and Burial Part III

Portico John Lecture - Chapter 20 A New Family

Presentations for Class April 9, 2013

Here are the presentations for tonights class:

BT0212 Gospel of John - Chapter 18-19

BT0212 Gospel of John - Chapter 20

BT0212 Gospel of John Chapter 21

The True King and the Sacrificial Lamb

As we move into the final scenes of Jesus' passion in the story that John weaves in his Gospel, we see Jesus specifically as the King come to fulfill the will of the Father and the Sacrificial Lamb who offers Himself in order to die to our fallen flesh.  This King has authority to give His life and to take it up again. John shares these words of Jesus earlier on on the Gospel and they come rushing back during the trial scene of Jesus before Pilate.

John's remembrance of Jesus is not one who agonizes over what faces Him but rather goes out to meet it head on.  This is a King in control of what will transpire. He is the "I am" upon whose words the Roman soldiers [John uses the term that means a cohort of about 100 to 600 soldiers] and the temple officials fall back and to the ground at their mention.  Jesus says it twice.  The witness of both the Son and the Father of who He is.

In the first verses of chapter 18, we get a garden scene the mirrors the scene in the first Garden in Genesis.  The "I am" is there [God the Creator], a betrayer, deceiver, and liar is there represented by Judas [the serpent], innocent humanity is there [the disciples] and deceived humanity is there [the soldiers and temple officials].  John wants us to recall that the seed of the woman [Jesus] will crush the head of the serpent. Jesus is going to crush evil through His going to the cross. Jesus is presented in a place of power over those who arrest Him as well as power and control over His accusers.

John will also weave into the story of Jesus' passion, how Jesus Himself begins re-ordering the sense of community that surrounds Him.  Entrusting Mary to John the Disciple is evidence that relationships are changing. As we approach chapter 20 and Mary Magdalene's encounter in the garden with Jesus outside the empty tomb, we see a complete change in relationship. Humanity will now stand in relationship to the Father as a member of the family.  Humanity has been brought into the circle of relationship of the Triune persons.

As Pilate presents Jesus after he had Him flogged [Ecce Uomo] the crowd sees the brokenness of their own humanity and although in their ignorance fueled by their passion to do away with the one that is threatening their very livelihood, they rightfully shout "Crucify!"  Our fallen humanity must die if there is any hope for new life.  Jesus is the only one among all others in the court of Pilate, who has the power to give men and women the new life that they are so desperately missing.

Next week we will finish up what has proven to be a very pivotal Gospel that opens up to us a culmination of images in the Jesus story that speak not only of the events that transpired that day but also the cosmic significance of Jesus' work on the cross for humanity.

Recorded Lectures:

Portico John Lecture - Chapter 17 Jesus' Prayer to the Father Part II

Portico John Lecture - Chapter 18-19 Arrest, Trial, Crucifixion, Death and Burial

Portico John Lecture - Chapter 18-19 Arrest, Trial, Crucifixion, Death and Burial Part II

Presentation for Class - Tuesay April 2, 2013

Here is the link to the powerpoint for our April 2, 2013 class:

BT0212 Gospel of John - Chapter 18-19

A Relationship that Leads to Eternal Life

What we saw this past week in chapters 15, 16 and 17 of the John's Gospel is the language of Jesus as He describes the relationship that we are caught up into as disciples and followers of Christ. Jesus has brought us into the inner circle of the relationship He has with the Father and the Spirit. We are no longer servants but friends. He has shared with us the intimate thoughts and desires of the triune persons. As Jesus describes this relationship we realize that we are caught up into the most loving transforming relationship of all.

Think of living in a family that has nothing but acceptance, affirmation, embrace and love for each other. Living in the security of such a relationship transforms the way that we see the world around us. Both the confidence and the courage exist to embrace others in the same way and such an outlook literally changes the environment we live in.  People will desire to join such a community where they can find the same acceptance and embrace.  Thus the challenge for us to stay in such a relationship [remain] so that the community grows as Father so desires.

We now have the same secure confidence to communicate with the Father as Jesus did and does. We have the Spirit who comes and leads us into the truth of the coming kingdom and the desire of the Father and the Son for the creation and its redemption. We can pray with the requests that come from the heart of the Father for the creation. We have found our true humanity and its linked to our relationship with Jesus. We are only truly human when we are in the embrace of the Father and the Son.

As He prepares to leave, He will leave behind the Spirit and the disciples [church] to continue what He started. Although the world does not know the Father, its enough for Jesus that the Spirit and the disciples do. As they carry on the activity of living out their relationship with the Father and Son the world will continue to hear about the Father.

I can't think of anything more wonderful, deep, profound and life changing than this relationship that Jesus offers. It's the relationship that gives us eternal life. It's eternal life that can only be obtained through engaging in such a relationship: so the words of Jesus to His disciples. These are important parting words prior to the next 48 hours that will introduce confusion, turmoil and grief in the heart of the disciples but then surprise, joy and rejoicing when He will appear to them post resurrection and confirm many of the things He had shared with them prior to His passion.

Audio for this past week:

Portico John Lecture - Chapter 15 Part II - Drawn into the Circle

Portico John Lecture Chapter 16 - Drawn into the Circle

Portico John Lecture Chapter 16 Part II Drawn into the Circle

Portico John Lecture Chapter 17 - Jesus Prayer to the Father

Presentations for Class

Here are the presentations for class - Tuesday March 19, 2013

BT0212 Gospel of John - Chapter 14 - 15 and 16

BT0212 Gospel of John - Chapter 17

Week Eight - Lecture on Chapter 13, 14 and 15

As John shifts his writing from focusing on a new era that Jesus introduced in His coming, to showing the extent of His love, what John writes in chapters 13-21 focuses on His passion and the one central point that He specifically hammers on in chapters 13-15: Love.

Given that John records the final words of Jesus [sometimes called the final discourse] prior to His crucifixion and death, it is significant to note what it is that Jesus focuses on as He shares these final words with His disciples. The focus so far is on love; His love for the Father, the Father's love for Him and the Father's and His love for humanity. He gives the disciples an example to follow that speaks of how to love and He gives the Holy Spirit to help His disciples love and remain in His love by keeping His command to love. Jesus could have talked about a lot of things that preoccupy us as followers of Jesus: what will happen in the end, what is heaven like, what about election and predestination, what about tithing, what about keeping the law etc.  Out of all these, He specifically speaks of love.

Because of His love, going to the cross and rising again will bring life to humanity. This life is characterized as eternal - of the age to come. This is what He's come to do. Being lifted up will draw all to Him. People will see the extent of His love on the cross and the world will respond. This love will break through the blindness of those living in the darkness.  This love will continue in God's community through His followers if we love each other.  To think that what will speak the loudest to the world and will cut into the darkness that our lost brothers and sisters live in will be the love that we share with each other because of Christ living in us. The danger is to assume that this is obvious when in reality it is not. If we look at history of Christianity we haven't always been examples of love but rather the opposite. We need the Spirit to help us focus on love above all else.

If you missed this class, listen the lectures and see for yourself:

Portico John Lecture - Chapter 13 - The Extent of His Love

Portico John Lecture - Chapter 13 The Extent of His Love Part II

Portico John Lecture - Chapter 14 Drawn into the Circle

Portico John Lecture - Chapter 15 Drawn into the Circle