Category: Bible (Page 30 of 357)

It’s yes or no when it comes to one eternal decision. What will we do with Jesus?

In the summary verse for his argument about people’s need for a savior, John wrote, Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains in him.

Born into a sinful state, God’s judgement hangs over our heads until taken away by Christ. Not that we sense it on a day-to-day basis, but we live in the reality of a broken world. Spiritually problems exist which affect all of life, and they require spiritual solutions.

Rejecting Jesus carries the idea of a refusal to submit, to revolt against the message. This can take the form of active rebellion, of shaking my fist at the Lord. Or it could mean a life of passive indifference and ignoring God. I might get along pretty well in this state, but I’ll face a displeasure bending toward outrage when my physical life ends.

Believing in the Son involves mimicking his ways. I prefer the term Jesus follower to describe those who take their Christian faith seriously. Because we follow Jesus into an eternity far more fantastic than we imagine, while others reject him without comprehending the depth of their future despair.

John 3 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Hasnain Babar

Jesus traveled back through Cana, the city where he turned water into wine, and was approached by a royal official whose son laying dying miles away. In desperation, the man begged Jesus to heal his boy. Instead of following the man home, Jesus simply stated, Go, your son will live.

Then the man did what I would have had trouble doing—he took Jesus at this word and departed. No arguments or further questions or clarified instructions. While still on the way home, his servants met him with the good news of the boy’s recovery. He soon realized the turn from death took place at the exact time Jesus assured him, Your son will live. The official, his son, his servants and his entire household now believed in Jesus as Messiah.

Like the boy, they all turned from death to life.

Reading of this man’s simple decision to believe Jesus convicts me of the skepticism that challenges my faith. I should take Jesus at his word more often, because who knows what good things are waiting to happen?

John 4 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Louis Moncouyoux

John the Baptist delivered this line after being asked about Jesus taking over his baptizing business—He must become greater; I must become less.

John received a great deal of attention for his preaching and baptizing. So much so he was eventually beheaded. People assumed he would find in Jesus a competitor, a rival preacher setting up shop downriver.

But the man dressed in camel hair knew from whence his locusts and wild honey sprang. John the Baptist understood Jesus to be the Messiah sent from God, the long-awaited one. He would do nothing except promote the work of his Savior.

The Baptizer’s message remains countercultural. I’m told to become more, to seek greatness, to maximize me. But John pursued a different life plan—to make much of Jesus. Like John, when I let Jesus take the center, I find that I enjoy the edges.

John 3 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Marcos Paulo Prado

I’ve helped set up for, and clean up after, reunions and weddings and funerals. Big events require preparation of pull off, and as seamless as they may appear, at lot of hustle goes on behind the scenes.

Jesus attended a wedding where the wine ran short. His mother urged him to do something. Jesus sent the servants to fill enormous jars with water, then draw some out and take it to the master of the wedding banquet. I love this next part of the story:

They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew.

The host praised the bridegroom for saving the best wine for last. The party continued on, guests oblivious to the miracle they drank. But the servants knew. They glanced at one another and tried not to stare at Jesus. The hired help were the first to glimpse the remarkable nature of Jesus.

Everyone at the celebration experienced the goodness of Jesus as they enjoyed their wine. The Lord blessed them without their knowledge or appreciation. Many people enjoy the good things of this world without understanding that every single one emerges from the hand of God.

Masters may miss this point, but servants see the truth.

John 2 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Kate Townsend