This Sunday we will be looking at a conversation between the prophet Habakkuk and God regarding God's seemingly disinterest in violence, injustice, corruption and tragedies in Judah. Habakkuk asked questions in his complaint to God: Where are you?, How long will this go on?, Why? In our troubling and turbulent days, we have also pondered some of these same questions. We will hear God's word to trust Him and join Habakkuk in wrestling with, waiting on and praying to and praising the LORD of Hosts.

Following Jesus is an act of faith. He’s not here, and we haven’t seen him. John is urging his readers, who are like us in that they didn’t see Jesus, to believe and follow him. In his teaching, Jesus is preparing his disciples for their life of faith in his absence. While he tells them he’s going away and they know the way, they respond that if they don’t know his destination, how can they know the way.

The disciples are like us, they want to know the destination and how to get there. Jesus tells them the destination is the Father and that he is the way. This only confuses them, because they don’t understand his relationship with the Father. So, Phillip asks an obvious question and makes an important point, all we really want is to see the person we believe in, the Father. He asks Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Do you feel his desire?

Jesus responds by explaining his relationship with the Father, “Believe in me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me.” If they can’t accept that, he says, “believe on account of the works themselves.” His works supply external evidence of his relationship with God the Father. But he doesn’t stop there, he tells them that, through him, they will do greater works. Jesus isn’t pointing them to their works but to his ability in them as evidence of his relationship to the Father. The transforming power of Jesus in the lives of his disciples in the world points to his ability to reconcile us to God. Remember, only God can bring you to God.

Jesus physically went away. His disciples have to live by faith, but Jesus is still at work, in and through them. Join us as we consider Jesus as the continuing object of our faith.

For the entire gospel, John has used Jesus’ teaching to illuminate the unique relationship between himself and God the Father. Remember, as an author, he wants you to believe that Jesus is deity, the Son of God. Jesus said that his teaching is what the Father says, and his works are the Father’s works. For the next two chapters Jesus will teach us about his connection to the Father and what that means for those who believe and follow him. It begins with a question from Peter, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus knows that his disciples are just as troubled as he is, so he assures them, “Let not your heart be troubled.”

What comforts their hearts? Jesus and the Father are one. That means if they received him, they receive the Father; if they have seen him, they have seen the Father. Since they follow him, they will do the works of the Father, and he will lead them to the Father, in whose presence they will live forever. Jesus does something for us no one else can do: he reconciles us to God and brings us with him into God’s glory.

The fall disconnected the created being from the Creator. We try to reconnect by looking for transcendence in life through wealth, experience, awards, notoriety, pleasure, even relationships. They all leave us with temporary moments of glory. Jesus reconnects us to the Father and the glory that is our birthright as image-bearers of God. Join us Sunday as Jesus teaches us about the way back to God.

John tells us that Jesus “loved his own,” but he shows us the breadth of that love in John 13. He has every reason to withdraw, after all his disciples are debating who should be first in his kingdom, Judas is planning to betray him, and Peter is going to disown him. But Jesus loves his own and presses forward to provide the cleansing they need from his cross-work. John expands the expression of that love through Jesus’ interaction with Judas and Peter.

Jesus could have outed Judas as the betrayer he was, but he doesn’t. Instead, he quietly says to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.” He could have shielded Peter from his impending denial, but he tells him so that when he disowns him, he remembers Jesus knew this was coming. In the midst of these difficult conversations, Jesus teaches his followers the functional principle of his kingdom: love for one another.  He says, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another” (John 13:34).

Lest we think Jesus is being culturally soft, the text shows us that love isn’t afraid to say what’s appropriate in the moment, whether confrontation or assurance. As you prepare to worship Jesus Sunday, consider what it means to be loved by him.  

In John 13, Jesus is eating with his disciples prior to the Passover feast. John is seated at his right and Judas Iscariot on his left. As they recline at the table, sharing together, Jesus stands up, removes his outer garments, wraps himself in a towel, and washes the feet of his disciples. The disciples can’t understand why Jesus is doing a task reserved for servants, nor what it means. But now, after the ascension of Christ, John understands and brings out the meaning for us.

First, Jesus cleanses his followers making it possible for them to share in his glory. If he doesn’t cleanse us, and if we don’t look to him for cleansing, in his words, “you have no share with me” (v.8). Second, cleansing doesn’t give us power over others as some elite status in the culture; that kind of thinking is characteristic of the Pharisees of Jesus’ day. Those who are cleansed are now to become servants of all, humbling themselves to engage in the cleansing work of Christ for the world.

While the cleansing work of Christ gives us “standing” with God, that standing is not used for oppression or control, but for service. Jesus’ followers serve by offering his cleansing grace to the world. Join us Sunday as we consider this beautiful text.

Sunday we began studying Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem and the discourses John uses to make his point: follow Jesus, because of his obedient sacrifice. John brings out the different expectations of the people surrounding Jesus. Some wanted relief from Roman oppression by the rightful king of Israel. Some wanted to see the miracle maker and the power of God. Some wanted to follow Jesus, but they clung to the praise of men.

Whatever people wanted from Jesus, he came to accomplish a specific purpose -- the salvation of God’s children. What no one realized is that Jesus was striking the foundation of the kingdom of evil, toppling an evil empire. Jesus says, “Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (12:31-32). What we discover in the text is that what we want from Jesus is not what we need. We want a righteous government: we need the removal of corruption. We want to see the power of God: we need God. We want freedom: we need freedom from our sin nature.

Jesus came to do something much bigger and better than what we want. This is the wisdom and glory of God. This is why you should follow Jesus! Come Sunday and consider the glory of Jesus.

Sunday we are going to consider an unexpected message from Jesus. John sets the stage by narrating Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem for the Passover. It’s an emotionally and politically charged moment. It’s Jesus’ moment to set himself up as king and lead his people. 

This scene is juxtaposed with the threat of the Jewish leaders who are making plans to arrest and put Jesus to death. John is setting the stage for Jesus’ unexpected choice and unexpected teaching. He wants you to believe in the One that God sent and the message that God is communicating through him.

Faced with two options, being king or being killed, Jesus moves toward death. Why? Because his death will rescue from God's judgment those who believe. But in that choice Jesus teaches us that believing in and following him means that we follow him in death. It’s counter-intuitive: the path to life is through death to self.

Join us Sunday and be surprised by Jesus’ unexpected message.

Sunday we’ll consider John’s narrative notes that set the scene for the last few days before Jesus’ crucifixion. Having raised Lazarus, Jesus travels to Ephraim because the Jewish leaders are planning to arrest and kill him. It’s not just him, they want to get rid of Lazarus too, because people were coming to talk to him about his "death-to-life" experience.

John records several responses to Jesus’ signs. The religious leaders and Judas both despise Jesus. The religious leaders despise Jesus because he threatens their power as leaders, and Judas despises him because Judas loves himself and is stealing from Jesus. Those who despise Jesus are set against those who love him, particularly Mary, who anoints Jesus with burial ointment, wiping his feet with her hair.

Jesus elicits one of these responses: for those who recognize their need of his saving grace, he is worthy of their worship; for those who feel threatened by him, he is worthy of their animosity. One question stands out in the text -- “What are we to do?” (11:47)

Join us Sunday as consider both responses to Jesus. What will you do with Jesus?

Sunday we continue our study in John 11, where Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. John is presenting us the glory of the Son of God. Jesus’ glory is seen in his passion for the Father and his wise shepherding. This week we’ll see more of his glory revealed by his affection for God’s children. We know that Jesus loves us, but what does the text reveal about his great desire for us and what does that desire express concerning his love?

In addition, John presents the standing that Jesus has with the Father. Martha says, “whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” Can you imagine having that kind of pull with God? Jesus has standing with the Father, but let’s consider what that means for us as his disciples.

Finally, the highlight of the text, Jesus’ glory is revealed in his ability to bring life to the dead. This miracle presents his ability to give us the eternal life that he came to secure for us. This certainly comforts us as we face death, but Jesus says he’s the resurrection and “the life.” While Martha is focused on her brother’s eventual resurrection, Jesus declares himself “life.” Jesus is more than our re-animator, he is life!

Jesus’ glory answers some important questions we ask in this life. Questions about love and its function; questions about our connection to God; questions about what it means to be alive. So let’s ask those questions and learn from Jesus’ response.

Sunday we consider the last of seven signs that John presents concerning the nature of Jesus as the Son of God. This last sign is the most amazing in John’s gospel and brings the evidence of Jesus’ deity to a crescendo. But remember, it’s not just a miracle: it’s a miracle with meaning. The sign teaches us something that we need to learn.

The passage breaks easily into four sections: setting the stage, interacting with the family, the miraculous sign, and the response of the religious leaders. From John’s perspective this sign begins the march of Jesus to the cross, as the Jewish leaders determine they have to find a way to eliminate Jesus.

The sign teaches us something very simple, yet very important. Jesus summarizes the meaning when he says, “I am the resurrection and the life” (11:25). That will be further illustrated and proven when he rises from the dead and exits his tomb, but this sign points to that truth. He promises all who believe in Jesus will experience the resurrection, and as the Son of God, he demonstrates that he can deliver on that promise.

What is the sign? Come Sunday and we’ll ask Lazarus.