If you read Jesus’ prayer with the Father in John 17, you’ll see in verse two an important goal: To give life. Of course how we each define “life” – or abundant life – might be considerably different. But for Jesus that answer is in the next verse where he says life is to know God and to know him. Oh to live life in which our primary goal is to know God more, better, deeply and that we arrange, not rearrange, but arrange our days toward this goal. Grant this Lord to us all.
Read: verses 5-10 twice.
Mark: the words or phrases that catch your attention.
Meditate: talk (better yet write) with God about those words. Ask him to impress things upon your heart and mind; expect responses.
Oh Lord Jesus, how I wish to not make life about the abundance of possessions, to not make life about what “pagans run after,” what we're going to eat, drink, or wear. Oh, to make life about You and about your Father, about my heavenly Father. I want to experience life -- life as you intend. And so I pray in your name, Amen.
The Incarnation of the Word of Life
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.
The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.
We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
We write this to make our joy complete.
Light and Darkness, Sin and Forgiveness
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.
If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.
John, in describing Jesus as the Word of life, writes: We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ (1 John 1:3).
This is a great time to remind ourselves of the role of fellowship in the life of the church. The mission focus John learned revolves around fellowship with the Father; a life of not just knowing about the Father, but being intimately connected with Him and His Son Jesus.
And then not stopping there but having that fellowship extend to include other people, other sons and daughters of God.
That completes the fellowship: sharing it with each other. Maybe that's behind the “two or three gathered in his name” (Matthew 18:20).
Gathered without dissension, sins forgiven, offenses resolved, just as he has forgiven us and allowing for a full, flavorful, joy-filled fellowship.
Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God.
He is the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them— he remains faithful forever.
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Ask yourself (and God) to let you be aware of someone that you share a deep, Godly fellowship. Thank God for that.
Then ask yourself (and God) to let you be aware of someone you know in which both of you are children of God and yet something between you is robbing you of joy, fellowship, and a deeper version of life that God desires for you. Ask for a way to bring forgiveness to bear in that situation.
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full… I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.
How would you define a full life? How does God relate to that life?
What robs you of joy in life? In Christ, you have been given fullness of life and fellowship of the Father.
Spirit of God, help us recognize the joy of life in You and to desire to share that joy with others. Amen.
He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets prisoners free...
Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong. Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.
“Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.”
How are you allowing “the thief” to steal, kill, and destroy – taking away God's version of life for you? Where have you settled for making life about lesser things? Ask God to set straight your heart and mind, your will and imagination, your spirit and soul regarding desires in life and desires for life.
Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King
As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”
This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
“Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”
The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,
“Hosanna to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”
The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
Jesus at the Temple
Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’”
The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant.
“Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him.
“Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read, “‘From the lips of children and infants you, Lord, have called forth your praise’?”
In Matthew 21:1-16, the prophet Zechariah is quoted in reference to King Jesus’ impending ride into Jerusalem: See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. Jesus came and engaged our enemy in war, but not the way most would call a battle. The only blood shed was his own. But in this He would establish His kingdom, opening the door to fellowship with the Father, the original reason he came.
We hope fellowship occurs every time God’s people get together, whether at the micro, small, or large group levels. But with an eye toward discipleship, fellowship as a stand-alone event is intended as a low-key entry point for friends outside “the group” to meet and connect with that current group (hopefully also your friends). These friends can be churched or not, Christian or not, members of church or not. This is a major pathway for building potential discipling relationships.
... the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, the Lord loves the righteous.
Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.
Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.
Ask God about whom you might invite to some fellowship events with your small group or church. Follow up rather than letting this simply fall by the wayside.
Joy of the Redeemed
Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan—
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.
You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder.
For as in the day of Midian’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor.
Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire.
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.
Here are some more prophetic words about Messiah Jesus:
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
We are closing in timewise on the birth celebration of this child, of this Son given who would establish a fellowship with the Father, a kingdom for eternity, a path of peace. I am also grateful for the wonderful counsel He provides as we seek fulfilling life in a broken but beautiful world.
The Lord watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.
The Lord reigns forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the Lord.
Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain.
In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat— for he grants sleep to those he loves.
Father God, help me to not minimize or miss out on the gift of fellowship with you and with your son Jesus. Give me also the desire to expand the joy of that fellowship by including others in it. Help me share the joy that you have when a sinner repents, returning to you. However you want to use me I want to be used for these ends. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand
Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick. Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. The Jewish Passover Festival was near.
When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.
Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”
Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”
Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.
When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.
After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.
Jesus the Bread of Life
When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”
Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”
Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”
Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”
Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
“Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”
Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”
“Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”
This two-part story encompasses both Jesus miraculously feeding thousands of people and his follow-up discourse describing himself as the actual Bread of Life. Jesus (and by extension our heavenly Father) is not a resource for life but the source of life. It's not so much what we can get out of Him but what we can get in Him.
Build a prayer with the Father around the topic of daily bread from the Lord's Prayer, what you perceive as the daily needs in life. Make sure to include Jesus as your Bread of Life.
Thoughts on Jesus’ coming: Jesus came as the Life of God. Keep that in mind as you ponder these statements that He made:
I come in thanksgiving Jesus that you have come to give me and this world of people life. Help me to experience that life deeply, to drink of it deeply buy the gift of your Holy Spirit leading me to a life with God that encompasses my heart and my mind my spirit my soul my imagination and my relationships with others. I want to know life I want to know an Abundant Life Fellowship with you and my brothers and sisters in Christ.
Amen.
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