-

 We need to slow down through this part of John’s Gospel. Jesus is trying to get the disciples, and us, to see our connection with God and God’s world. John’s Gospel is about us meeting, believing in, and following, Jesus. Many of us struggle with the person of Jesus and the idea of God, because we move too fast.

We move too fast as we read Jesus saying:

“TRULY, TRULY, I SAY TO YOU, WHOEVER BELIEVES IN ME WILL ALSO DO THE WORKS THAT I DO; AND GREATER WORKS THAN THESE WILL HE DO, BECAUSE I AM GOING TO THE FATHER. WHATEVER YOU ASK IN MY NAME, THIS I WILL DO, THAT THE FATHER MAY BE GLORIFIED IN THE SON. IF YOU ASK ME ANYTHING IN MY NAME, I WILL DO IT.”

— JOHN 14:12-14

Can I tell you how conscious I am right now of the challenge to come across in a way that leaves you believing in Jesus and the Bible? This is one of those sections were preachers and teachers, in an effort to explain, do such crazy mental gymnastics that they look like a twisted-up Gumby – and people walk away thinking they cannot trust the Bible. Why am I so conscious of not becoming a twisted-up Gumby? We all struggle with the way things in our lives, and in our world, turn out. We read verses that say we, if we believe and ask, we will do greater works then Jesus. For Jesus, reality is “seeing our connection with God and God’s world”. He has for the last three years been inviting his disciples to see this reality. They are struggling. We are, too.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Fundamental Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic

-
Dr. Andrew H. Bartelt is a professor emeritus of the biblical languages at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. He retired in 2020 after 42 years of professional service.   Dr. Andrew Steinmann studies Hebrew, Aramaic languages, apocalyptic literature, and biblical studies. These two professors are biblical language scholars.   Fundamental Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic, Second Edition is a textbook and Biblical study resource for university and seminary students, pastors, and scholars alike. This is well written and approaches learning Hebrew a bit differently than other grammar textbooks.   This textbook is outstanding in every way. The straightforward methodology combines the best elements of format and pedagogy. This makes it beneficial for both students and teachers. The format of the book is easy to understand and moves at a pace that is easy to grasp, unlike other beginners’ books. This book is designed for individuals who have a grasp of the basic tools and presuppositions.   I received
Read more

NKJV Evangelical Study Bible

-
    The NKJV Evangelical Study Bible is a fantastic Bible for anybody to use for study, either academic or devotional. It is appropriate for people of all faiths to use. This Bible focuses on mainstream evangelical theology in order to strengthen your faith. It contains a wealth of historical and contextual information, analysis, essays, biographies, full-color maps, and much more. 10.5 Comfort is the font size. 2K/Denmark created the print for the Thomas Nelson NKJV. It was produced using line-matching, which means that the text is in the same place on both sides of the page to improve readability. This is a special edition. The red and black lettering are both dark. The red letter is burgundy in color. The text has enough white space to be extremely readable. This Bible does use quite a bit of color accents, that some may not prefer. To me, they are subtle enough that it is not distracting and seem mostly helpful to navigate. The NKJV Evangelical Study Bible is a well-crafted study B
Read more

Gospel of Mark Carter

-
  The Wisdom Commentary (WC) series is the first scholarly collaboration to offer detailed   feminist interpretations of every book of the Bible.   The unique Wisdom Commentary series is pleased to welcome Carter's insightful and nuanced exegesis of the Gospel of Mark.  This review will be on the Gospel of Mark’s commentary in the Wisdom Commentary series.  Warren Carter is the LaDonna Kramer  Meinders  Professor of New Testament at Phillips Theological Seminary in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He is the author of eighteen books and is a regular presenter at scholarly conferences and in church contexts.  Carter is well suited to write this commentary on the Gospel of Mark.  Making judgments is the purpose of comments. When working with a gospel, the commentator must make several decisions about what to include and what to omit  in order to  best serve the reader. It's uncommon to see commentary that carefully considers what to include and avoid. This gospel is unique because it emphasizes J
Read more