Sunday we’ll consider John’s presentation of Jesus’ resurrection. John carefully lays out the evidence surrounding his resurrection, forcing his readers to grapple with their response. It’s not just John’s testimony at play, but evidence from multiple witnesses and the detail they present in the case. As a reader, you have the evidence before you and are forced to make a decision. Will you respond like those who are witnesses? Here is where Thomas’ response stands out, “My Lord and my God.” John urges his readers to respond in faith.

But John does something else in the text, utilizing the state of each of the witnesses, he shows the transformation of Jesus’ followers. Mary is filled with grief; the disciples are filled with fear; Thomas is bound by doubt. Each in their condition are tenderly addressed by Jesus who liberates and commissions them in service to his kingdom.

He ends his presentation with the beatitude or “blessing” of Jesus, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Here John uses Jesus’ words to address you and me! So bring your grief, your fear, and your doubt to Jesus and be liberated by the risen Lord.

As we move through John’s gospel, he highlights elements that bring out the nature of Jesus’ identity and ministry. Now we’re in the final moments of his life, and again, John highlights things the other gospels don’t because he’s emphasizing something important to his presentation. Our text is the crucifixion, death, and burial of Christ. While we know the story, John highlights the scriptural fulfillment of the specifics. They didn’t tear Jesus’ tunic but cast lots for it; he expresses thirst so that they will give him sour wine; God will pierce him and open up a fountain of grace. Each of these instances testify to his identity in prophecy as King David’s descendent.

In addition, John keeps the Passover before us as we read and the text explains why. Two more fulfillments are mentioned: he is not left overnight and none of his bones are broken. Both fulfillments attach to the Passover meal: the Passover Lamb is to be whole and unbroken and it is to be fully consumed before evening.

All of this comes together in the final words of our Lord, who says, “It is finished!” Christ Jesus, David’s greater descendent, lays down his life to open for us a fountain of grace. Join us Sunday as we consider these themes and worship our Savior, the Lamb of God.

John is presenting Jesus to us as the Messiah, the King of heaven. The Jewish leaders have handed Jesus over to Pilate, who makes a mockery of him with a crown of thorns, a royal robe, and a salute, “Long live the King of the Jews.” Pilate presents him to his accusers hoping they will be satisfied. Instead, the religious leaders threaten Pilate by challenging his loyalty to Caesar, saying, “You are not Caesar’s friend.” They cry for Jesus to be crucified. Pilate asks, “Shall I crucify your King?” Their response is the darkest expression of the human heart, “we have no king but Caesar.” Israel’s leaders have rejected God’s anointed One (Christ). They have abandoned the promise of God to Israel. They align with Caesar.

Why does John highlight these elements of the narrative? What does he want us to see about Jesus? What does he want us to think as readers? All this happens as the Jewish leaders prepare to celebrate Passover and the lambs are being slaughtered. The picture clarifies. On this night, Israel is rejecting her King, while her King is becoming the Passover Lamb to rescue them from themselves.

Join us Sunday as we unpack these gracious themes. Come and see the King rejected, so he could protect his people from God’s judgment.

Sunday we began studying John 18 where John presents Jesus as the king of God’s kingdom. He begins by emphasizing Jesus’ path out of the city which follows the exit of King David when Absalom enacted a coup against him. John then allows us to follow Jesus as he interacts with the religious and political powerbrokers of the city: Annas, Caiaphas, and Pilate. The text ends with Jesus’ statement, “My kingdom is not of this world.” In the middle of this presentation, John shows us the deconstruction of Peter, whom Jesus is rescuing from his worldly training.

This week we’ll continue our study in chapter 18, as Jesus confidently stands before these powerbrokers unphazed by their power. He’s not disrespecting the role God has given them in the world, but they fail to recognize the authority God has given him “over all flesh.” (17:2) Jesus has nothing to prove to the leaders of this world. He stands before them as their Lord, and regardless of their treatment, he remains focused on rescuing his people from them and the system they represent.

Join us Sunday as we watch Jesus stand against the very world he has come to rescue us from.

Sunday we move back into John’s narrative of Jesus’ life. In the timeline, Jesus takes his disciples out of the city, over the Kidron valley to the Mount of Olives, to a place he frequented. There is a similarity in the Old Testament when King David is fleeing his son Absalom’s coup. David, whose residence is in a similar location to the upper room, leaves the city, going over the Kidron brook, to the Mount of Olives. The comparison is of a disgraced King fleeing for his life, and his descendent, the promised Messiah, moving toward his captors and eventual death.

John juxtaposes Jesus’ “green mile” march with Peter. While Jesus stands before the Roman and Jewish officials, boldly identifying himself, Peter draws a dagger and tries to defend his master. While Jesus stands before Annas, the former high priest and Jewish political power broker, Peter denies his connection to Jesus three times. As readers, John wants us to see our Covenant Head laying down his life to redeem his children. It’s a powerful narrative that displays the character and commitment of the Son of God.

His hour has come! His glory is on display! Join us as we worship him!

Sunday we’ll continue to examine Jesus’ prayer for our preservation in grace. As he prays that we be kept, he roots his request in our union with him. He has permanently joined us to himself to enable us to experience his relationship with the Father. This union is his glory and it’s now ours by grace.

As he prays for us, he tells the Father what he did to unite us to himself and the results of this union in the world. We belong because Jesus has justified us by faith. Notice that he says, “they have kept your word.” You know the disciples. They are far from faithful. In just a few hours each will “ghost” him and one will deny him multiple times. But remember, Jesus is the true vine, and all who are united to him are “clean.” Jesus has brought us to faith and justified us by grace. The verdict is in: we are righteous by grace through faith.

The result of this grace is a unified community of faith. This unity testifies to the world that God is and has mercifully sent his Son to accomplish our redemption. So often we look for a way to make our beliefs credible to the world with stronger arguments when the greatest evidence is our unity as family. This is not unity at the expense of truth, but unity in the truth as we are sanctified by it. Unity is the fruit of grace; grace is the ministry of Christ; Christ is the Son of God. True unity in the world is only experienced in gospel grace.

Ultimately, the fruit of grace in the church brings glory to Christ which in turn glorifies the Father. Join us Sunday as we consider Christ’s work of grace in our community.

Two weeks ago we began our study of John 17 where Jesus prays for himself and his people. As we learned initially, Jesus prays as our covenant head (paterfamilias) who takes responsibility for us and for our salvation. Even as he prays for his glorification, he prays for ours because we travel with him, permanently united to him by grace. But as he continues, his prayer shifts more directly to his family. Jesus asks the Father to glorify him, so that in turn, he may glorify the Father. But how will he glorify the Father? His prayer reveals that God is glorified through his family.

In essence, Jesus was sent to call God’s family out of the world and present them to the Father as reconciled children. So, he prays for his immediate family, the disciples, and then his extended family, all who will believe. He prays that his family will be preserved against the evil one because they will remain in the world in which Satan operates. He prays for our holiness in life and our participation in his mission of extending the rights of family to others. He prays for our unity together as a testimony to the nature of God but also for the completion Christ’s mission. All of this, he prays, so that the day will come when the entire family is presented to the Father in her glorified state.

Jesus’ prayer reveals God’s eternal plan to glorify the Son by making him the “firstborn among many brothers” (Romans 8:30). It also reveals God’s eternal plan to redeem his people from the world. Join me Sunday as we worship our covenant head and rejoice in his gracious care.

God is naming us as his own in Christ Jesus and holding us up to the world around us as “a people whom the Lord has blessed” - a planting of the Lord - oaks of righteous so that those who see us might be attracted to God’s saving grace and the promise of abundant life. Just as the people in Isaiah’s time responded with praise and thanksgiving, we too are called to praise the Lord for his righteousness, to name him as our legitimate and trustworthy Savior. We are called to rejoice in the Lord. Let's lift our voices and hearts together this Sunday in praise of the Anointed One - Christ Jesus our Lord!

Sunday, we’ll go back to the gospel of John and begin our study of John 17, what is commonly called Jesus’ “high priestly” prayer. This beautiful conversation is unlike anything in the Scriptures, as the Son of God in flesh speaks to his Father about us. The prayer has three movements, but it is one prayer. It begins with Jesus talking about his return to the Father and receiving the glory that is rightfully his. He moves then to pray for the disciples specifically, and then to all who come to faith through their ministry.

While the prayer has three movements, it is still one prayer. It begins with the glorification of Jesus and ends with our participation in that glory. When Jesus prays for his glorification, he certainly deserves to be glorified, but he’s quick to explain his request is intended for the Father to be glorified. Jesus’ desire for glorification is not for himself. Then he ends the prayer, asking for his followers to see, and by implication, experience his glory. His glorification is the basis of our glorification.

While Jesus isn’t giving us a prayer to model, like Matthew 6:7, he is revealing his relationship to the Father and our relationship to God through him. As you prepare for worship, invest a moment to read John 17.

Sunday we began a short series to consider how the Apostle Paul presents the nature and function of the church in Ephesians 4. Christ has created a “new man” that transcends tribal communities. With Christ as our head and reason for togetherness, we are family and maintain our unity by walking in humility with one another. This is the nature of the church: one body in Christ!

But how does this organism function? First, when Christ ascended, he gave us gifts that we use to grow up into him. The gifts of Christ are diverse but together manifest his glory. Some members are given gifts to equip others, but all are given gifts to build the church. We organize around those gifts and priorities so that God’s people are built up. But notice Paul’s insistence that the church grows when each member is active in the process. Each of us has an important role to play.

Second, we maintain our unity as we walk humbly together in the realities of grace, so that we can have a loving community that builds itself up by “speaking the truth.” The church is supposed to be a “safe space.” But don’t assume that means nothing offensive or confrontational is ever said. No, the safety comes from the cross of Christ that frees us from condemnation and shame. When people lovingly speak into our lives, we respond in humility, listening to what the Spirit is saying to us. The safety of the church is found in the grace of God not the absence of illuminating truth. If you have a record to protect, or an identity that you cling to, a faithful church isn’t a safe space. The safety of the space is dependent on the humility of the individual.

Join us Sunday as we ask the Lord to help us live in the safety of the gospel, so that its “safe to speak” at church.