The Gospel of John

21 Days Until Easter: The Gospel of John

writing became Jesus revealed as the Son of God. The result was pages filled with quotes from Jesus’ public preaching and intimate teachings. John’s presentation reveals Jesus’ personal declarations and lifestyle in a confirming way. Through John’s eyewitness accounts Jesus’ deity is solidified. He gives us a version of Jesus that does not hold back in revealing Himself as the Son of God. 21 days. 21 chapters. One chapter per day for 21 days. This book can be digested in any way that you choose to enhance your journey as a follower of Jesus. But it is designed to enhance your devotional time leading up to Easter Sunday specifically.

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, we know them as the Gospels. But many people fail to realize that one is very different than the others.

Join me in a journey through red letters as we make our way through John’s version of the Good News.

Written several years after the first three biographical sketches of Jesus’ life and ministry, the Gospel of John bridges a gap in the storyline.

The book’s author, John a beloved disciple of Jesus, saw the need to fill in some blanks.

Provoked by Heavenly unction he shared a different perspective of Jesus, as his focus in 1

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Despite his celebrity status, the baptizing revivalist refused to buy into the hype. He realized his mission wasn’t about himself. This revolutionary preacher turned prophet would choose to decrease, so that the one coming after him, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, could be affirmed with all the increase.

Day One

Yet, never easily appeased, the crowds kept inquiring, “What do you say about yourself?”

John’s eventual reply, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness.”

John 1:22-23 ESV So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”

No title. No name. Just a matter-of-fact statement. In his response, you can discern a certain sense of mission and calling. He introduced himself as a voice decreeing the coming of the Lord. His supreme ambition in life was to glorify Jesus.

Emphasis on names and titles has existed throughout the course of human history.

During the time of Jesus’ earthly ministry, it was no different.

If asked by followers who had come to adore you, what would be the most important thing you could say about yourself?

John the Baptist preached in a revolutionary way. Simultaneously, crowds swarmed his ministry and confusion abounded about the source of his wisdom.

Mobbing adorers and critics alike asked, “Who are you?”

PRAYER: God, make me a voice preparing the way for Jesus to receive glorification through my life and the lives of others.

Day Two

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gathered daily to offer animal sacrifices of worship to God, which were facilitated by these same priests.

John 2:15 ESV And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables.

It was all a sham—a money-racket.

Long ago, the temple’s Ark of the Covenant (the symbol of God’s presence on Earth) left Israel during an act of theft. Never did it return.

This disappearance was no small thing, as the Ark of the Covenant was the centerpiece of all temple activities. But minus the Ark, business still went on as usual inside the temple. Priests continued going through the rituals of worship, acting as though God was as much there as He had ever been, while Jewish people 5

Many years prior, the priests (realizing that not all worshipers could raise animals for sacrifice) had devised a scheme. They seized an opportunity for profit by creating a marketplace inside the temple where worshipers could purchase sacrifice-approved animals. But Jesus knew the presence of God had departed from this religious formality, whether anyone else was willing to admit it or not. And in reality, since the presence of God had left, there was no reason for people or priests to even be at the temple!

Jesus could see through the Temple’s veil which masqueraded these false exercises in religiosity. He could also see through the greedy and manipulative tactics of the temple employees.

Recognizing the innocent were being taken advantage of in the name of His Heavenly Father, He executed a calculated decision.

Jesus made a whip.

Not what you were expecting? I doubt the temple staff was expecting it either.

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Making a whip would have taken time, proving Jesus did not run head-first into the temple in a fit of rage. His approach quite the opposite.

Before the foundations of the world, Jesus had decided how to communicate His desired message. He even hemmed Himself in with prophetic glimpses of His exact response. And, on that day, when Wellmeaning worshipers were being taken advantage of, Jesus would no longer ignore the behavior of those who should have known better. Their for-profit ministry schemes met harsh confrontation.

Day 3

Jesus determined it was time to set the oppressed free.

John 3:14-17 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

Paul teaches us that we are now temples of the Holy Spirit individually. We must ask, is there anything inside of us that’s a sham? Is there anything in our lives that needs to be corrected and set straight?

PRAYER: God, through the grace of Jesus, I ask you to release within me an even greater passion for worshiping you with a pure heart.

Irritable people overflowed the campground. Some grumbled against the leader. Others complained about the accommodations. Everyone murmured about the menu.

This campfire assembly was not your average campsite: Over 1 million people were trekking along in the most extraordinary wilderness excursion in history.

Delivered from slavery supernaturally, the Hebrew people were on a journey to a socalled Promised Land. A cloud led them by

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day, and a fire by night. Each morning, “angel food” fell at their doorsteps to serve as divine provision for their daily meals. Their shoes didn’t wear out, and their drinking water sprang forth divinely from a rock. But this nation of recently liberated slaves couldn’t seem to acknowledge any of the heavenly elements surrounding them.

Discontentment abounded. But that’s nothing new. Discontentment has always been an issue for humanity.

Remember Adam and Eve? They lived in an all-inclusive paradise but became infatuated with the one tree that had been ruled by God to be off-limits!

In the case of the camping Israelites, discontentment would come to mean: Bewildered wondering filled wilderness wandering, “Shouldn’t we have just remained slaves?”

Chaos abounded.

God had their attention.

The Hebrew people cried out for help, and God offered instructions for deliverance. But, in the rescue process, God did not remove the snakes, nor did He remove the snakes’ fangs. He just provided an opportunity for healing for the bitten.

Likewise, today, God has not removed sin from the world. And, he never stated sin wouldn’t bite us.

Deliverance for the Hebrew people came when they were told by God to erect a large pole with a bronze serpent upon it. Anyone infected by the snakes’ poison could then look at the serpent upon the pole and be healed.

Poisonous snakes.

It was a type and shadow of Jesus on the Cross. Jesus, knowing no sin, became sin for us. It was sin that was crucified on the Cross of Calvary. When we look at Jesus’ Cross we are to see the thing that is afflicting us – sin – but therein, we also find our victory over it’s poison.

Bitten people began dying by the hundreds.

We see Jesus (who knew no sin) becoming sin for us, through which He took God’s wrath for

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Enter the snakes.

Lots of snakes.

sin in our place, and thereby set us free from the venom of our enemy!

Day Four

The devil (who since the Garden of Eden has identified with a serpent) can still bite, and his venom is just as poisonous as ever. But through Jesus, just like God provided for the wanderers of old, He has given us a bronze serpent – Jesus – to look towards in our time of need.

When we see Jesus lifted up and believe he paid the ransom for the snakebites of our sin, healing comes. Not momentary deliverance, but eternal healing.

PRAYER: Jesus, each day, teach me to better see you as the ransom for my sins.

John 4:16-18 16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”

We jump to conclusions.

Judge books by their covers.

Stereotype people based on our past relationships.

If we are honest with ourselves, we know this cycle is our reality. But what if we have incorrectly also perceived Biblical characters through the same tainted lens of human perspective?

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Jesus proves His prophetic capabilities when he identifies the number of husbands this woman has had upon first meeting her. He also exposes a secret: She is involved with a man to whom she is not married.

We make immediate assumptions. She was promiscuous. Surely she was hard to please.

Undoubtedly, a man-conquering, gold-digger.

This must be the right vein of thought with which we evaluate this woman, right?

Actually, no. We probably have it all wrong.

In the hour of Jesus, men were allowed to divorce their wives for almost any reason. But one of the most common reasons for a man to divorce a woman was based on the presumption that the woman was barren. If a marriage could not bear children, it was rarely considered the man’s fault; regardless of how many women he had attempted to breed with. Right or wrong, the woman, shouldered all of the blame for barrenness. In Samaritan culture, this sad fact was a big deal.

What if this Samaritan woman of John 4 wasn’t any of the things we have so often perceived her to be? What if she wasn’t the problem at all? What if she had married five different intolerants -- “be fruitful and multiplyminded” men? What if the only thing wrong with this woman was a barren womb?

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Yes, she had an affair. But what if the affair came from the dark realm of lonely desperation rather than irreverent promiscuity? You are correct, that still wouldn’t make it right. And the point is not to justify her potentially sinful actions. Instead, the questions regard our perception of why she did what she did.

In our rush to judge this woman, we may have missed an important point. Hidden within John 4:6 is this setting, “it was about the sixth hour.” Meaning it was 3 pm. This timing is off kilter. Women did not come to the well at 3 pm. History teaches us that they came before dawn to get the day’s supply of water. And they came by the masses. Jacob’s well was the office water cooler of ancient times – a town-square of womanly fellowship and gossip.

This woman was avoiding other women.

Very possibly, isolating herself but for no other reason than because she was barren. People of Samaritan culture considered a fruitful womb to be of greater value than beauty, for it facilitated men’s legacy and family power by providing sons. Any woman recognized as barren would have lived in the shadows of scrutinizing ridicule.

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What if this lonely soul at the well had insisted on marriage before becoming sexual in her five previous relationships? If so, then perhaps over time, she became such an outcast, so broken by divorce, so mocked and maligned for barrenness that she finally gave up and longing for companionship wrongfully submitted to her desire for comfort and acceptance.

What if Jesus wasn’t judging her in his prophetic statement to her, but instead finally helping her to see the answer for approval could not be found in serving another man a cup of water? It was instead time for her to drink from the well of salvation.

What if that person you and your friends have been belittling while huddled around your “water cooler” isn’t as immoral as you perceive? What if………………….

PRAYER: God, help me never judge people based on my perceptions, but rather empower me with the grace to look past the seemingly obvious and discover hurts that need to be healed.

Day Five

John 5:2-7 NKJV 2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. 3 In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. 4 For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had. 5 Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” 7 The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.”

Each sick person was situated poolside. They were awaiting a miraculous moment. At certain times, an angel would come down and

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touch the pool. Then, healing came to the first sick person to dive into the angelically altered water.

Making His way through the covered porches of Bethesda’s pool – surrounded by the diseased and afflicted – Jesus arrived at the bed of a man who had been awaiting healing for 38 years.

Jesus asked, “Do you want to be healed?”

The man – with a tone of excuse – explained his dilemma, “When the waters are stirred, I have no one to put me in the water, but while I am coming another steps down in front of me.”

38 years of waiting, and this man still had not figured it out.

never embraced the unity required to experience the supernatural collectively.

The issue was in their way of thinking. When the angel would visit the pool, the sick competitively raced to the water. But, knowing the first one into the pool would be healed, they should have instead developed a plan to work together. In doing so, they could have concluded: If we all step forward simultaneously, there will be no first – we will all be first. Meaning, ALL would be healed!

That revelation would have made for one unforgettable pool party!

PRAYER: God, reveal to me, through Jesus, any place in my relationships where competition is hindering unity.

He never saw the revelation.

His mind was too engaged with competition to solve the mystery before him.

It was never God’s intention to heal only one sick person when the waters were moving with the current of the miraculous. Instead, Heaven desired to heal everyone present at the pool! But, competition obscured the truth, and the pool dwellers 17

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Every morning “angel food’ fell from the sky at Heaven’s command.

Day Six

For this food to be angelic in nature, it had a very odd look. Surprisingly unappealing in appearance, most agreed that it resembled a myrrh-like gummy substance known as bdellium, but it was white like a coriander seed.

There were a few different ways to prepare it; although, most cooks went the route of baked pancakes.

John 6:47-51 47 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

Food was scarce. Conditions were nearing famine level. (Over one million people traveling in mass through a wilderness has this effect on available resources.) Thousands were sure to starve.

But a merciful God intervened.

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This divine bread, called manna, sustained life. But it could not altogether conquer death – only delay it.

Jesus chose to remind his audience of manna.

They were acutely aware of it’s usage in history. Their ancestors’ tell of provision and deliverance was imposed upon every child from a young age.

The listeners of Jesus’ story were hearing something they had heard hundreds of times before. But this time Jesus put a new twist on this tale. He revealed, He was to be viewed as a new form of manna, a living bread sent from Heaven to sustain the life of God’s people. Jesus also intends for us to receive this reminder. However, because of our lack

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of familiarity with the miracle of the manna, we do not always possess full context for this storyline.

Day Seven

In the wilderness experience, every day the Hebrew people had to go outside the comfort of their tents to collect their manna. It fell from Heaven, but they were required to make the decision as to whether or not their family would partake.

We have a decision to make as well.

Will we partake of Jesus as the Sustainer of Eternal Life? It is an important decision, for in the same way bread sustains us in the natural, Jesus desires to sustain us in the supernatural!

But, we must make that decision individually and daily. Otherwise, we will not find spiritual sustenance in this life or the one to come; eternity.

PRAYER: God thank you for revealing Jesus as my supernatural sustainer, the Bread of Life.

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John 7:45-46 45 The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” 46 The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man!”

Imagine being been pulled over for speeding.

The state trooper approaches your vehicle and has a conversation with you.

But,you are released without a ticket. The trooper then returns to his cruiser and with bewilderment relays your pull-over to dispatch in these terms, “No one ever spoke to me like that person!”

It is one thing to talk your way out of a speeding ticket, but quite another to talk your way out of an arrest.

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Enter Jesus.

The religious order of Jesus’ day was irate with Him. Infuriated with His life and ministry, the shadowy Pharisees sent officers to apprehend Him. One major problem evolved in their plan.

The officers returned without Jesus. They tracked Him down, but they did arrest Him. They summarized their reasoning with these words, “No one ever spoke like this man!”

Jesus’ words were so captivating that the officers deviated from their assignment of arresting Him.

Notice, Jesus often talked about things which seem to make us the most uncomfortable in the realm of religion. In fact, Jesus addressed these subjects with such frequency that it almost appears as though He enjoyed walking into rooms and introducing any elephant that might have been previously ignored.

I wonder what color the elephant was that he pointed out to the officers on that memorable day.

Is there a subject Jesus needs to address with you that you’ve never allowed anyone to talk to you about before?

PRAYER: God, allow me to understand the words of Jesus with new clarity as I read the Scriptures.

We don’t know the subject of Jesus’ conversation with the police force that day, but we can evaluate much of what Jesus spoke of to His followers throughout the course of His ministry. And, in context, the talking points of His sermons and conversations are somewhat surprising, considering the vein of most dialogue and even sermon points of today.

The three subjects the Bible records Jesus as having addressed most often: 1) The Kingdom of God 2) Money 3) Hell.

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which God wrote in stone. A bloody, gruesome death awaited her.

Enter Jesus. Angry accusers tossed the adulteress at His feet. They wanted to know His opinion. He gave it. “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."

They dropped their stones.

Jesus then turned to the lady and forced her to acknowledge her situation:

Day Eight

1. She had done wrong.

2. She had been set free from those condemning her.

3. It was time to stop doing wrong.

4. He was lovingly allowing her to go, despite her sin.

John 8:10-11 Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”

She knew it was a risk to slip away with her lover. A big risk. But the risk was a part of what made the affair so exhilarating. Something about being a bad girl felt good. But now she was caught. He was too. But he got away. She was not so fortunate.

The Law of God ruled her land. Ten laws were elevated above all the rest. One of those ten was a clearly stated commandment, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”

God had written the Top Ten List of Laws with his own finger on stone tablets. To be caught breaking one of these sacred expectations meant one had to die by stoning. A symbol of having broken a Law 10

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John 1 shares that Jesus was full of grace and truth. It does not say that He used one to balance the other. He was full of both. Each could be experienced fully through Jesus – and this fullness in grace and truth is exactly what He gave the woman in question. He extended grace: "Neither do I condemn you, Go.” But He also gave her truth: "From now on sin no more.“ She had sinned, and death was her deserved punishment according to the Law. But Jesus set her free from both the Law and the feeling of condemnation. He now offers you the same opportunity. Believe and be saved.

PRAYER: God, I welcome the fullness of Jesus’ grace and truth into my life.

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Evidently, God really likes to play in mud puddles. Or Jesus was making a point beyond the healing.

Day Nine

What point might that be? By exercising His ability to take the product through which man was originally made and use it to fix a broken man, Jesus was illustratively communicating His position as the son of God. Since He had been a part of making the first man, it would be no challenge for Him to remake an ill-functioning part of the present man! Believe and be healed.

PRAYER: God, you formed me in my mother’s womb. I receive, through Jesus, healing into every sick part of my body.

John 9:15 15 So the Pharisees again asked (the blind man) how he had received his sight. And he said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.”

When God decided to create a being for which to give His love, He chose to kneel in moist dirt and make Man. Out of all the things God could have chosen to use to craft His finest creation, He chose mud.

At least 4,000 years later – encountering a man blind from birth – Jesus picked up dirt, spit on it, and put it on the man’s eyes. The blind began to see. Despite all the options available through which Jesus could have healed the man, He chose mud as His means.

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of sheep, how could there have been any organization? How could a shepherd actually know which sheep belonged to him at the time of sale? The answer is fascinating.

Day Ten

When it was time for a particular shepherd’s sheep to be sold, he would step to the auction gate and yodel his call. Upon hearing their shepherd’s voice, sheep would respond by pressing through the other flocks to align themselves in front of him. The level of chaos surrounding them was irrelevant. When their shepherd called, sheep responded. Their lives depended on it. The shepherd’s voice was responsible for steering them away from intersections with wolves, leading them through valleys, and directing food to their bellies. That voice immediately had their attention. Anytime. Anywhere. For any reason.

John 10:4-5 And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 Yet they will by no means follow a stranger but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.

Near the archeological site of what was once the Pool of Bethesda (as referenced in John 5) is the remains of an ancient sheep market. The market has the appearance of a large courtyard, surrounded on all sides by a fence of hewn-rock. Limestone bleachers stare down at any proceedings below, where there are not and were never any individual corrals for sheep brought to auction.

Throughout the Gospel of John, Jesus draws shepherding analogies with the understanding of a sheep market in mind: Sheep ignore the call of strange shepherds but respond immediately to the voice of their own shepherd. By drawing such a parallel, there is something to which Jesus wants you to make you aware: Anyone who follows Him will know His voice, regardless of how many strange calls or how much distracting background noise might be present!

Jesus is calling. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Imagine hundreds of nervous sheep, tens of poorly shepherds, and lots of greedy buyers all engaged in the chaos of a first-century sheep market. Without any corrals or numbering systems for the various lots

PRAYER: God help me to hear your voice. Speak to my heart through Jesus’ grace.

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John 11:33-35 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept.

Martha and Mary were were emotional wrecks. Confused. Disturbed. Grieving. Mad. Wh y had Jesus allowed this to happen? If he loved them, if he loved their family, if he loved their brother Lazarus – why would He did he not arrive before it was too late?

They had seen Jesus heal the sick. He could have done something. Anything would have been better than nothing. But now it was too late. Lazarus was dead. And to think they once believed Jesus was Lazarus’ friend.

Day Eleven

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Jesus attempted to calm them with a declaration, “I am the Resurrection and the Life.” His probable hope was to introduce them to the fact that they did not possess a full revelation of His power. He could be more than a healer. But knowing they were struggling to see anything beyond their loss, Jesus asked amidst His own tears, “Where have you laid him?”

We all have a tomb somewhere inside of us. Deep in our hearts, hiding behind a stony place, we have a buried: dream, hope, or vision – things we were once for certain God had befriended in our lives. We now weep because of the death surrounding those parts of our heart. Yet, we think it is an irrelevant issue to God or else He would have done something before now. But – what if – Jesus’ 2,000 year-old question must also make it’s way through our emotions and invade our own hearts? Just as it did the hearts of Martha and Mary so long ago, “Where have you laid IT?” Jesus stepped to the tomb – which He had required Mary and Martha to reveal to Him – and uttered three words, “Lazarus, come forth!” All involved quickly discovered it is never too late for a miracle.

PRAYER: God, in faith, I recognize Jesus as the Resurrection and the Life. There are dreams in me which you once befriended that have since died. I will no longer hide them behind the hurt in my heart.

Today, I invite you to explore the tombs of my soul and bring dead things back to Life.

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DAY Twelve

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John 12:44 The crowd that had been with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to bear witness.

Some smells are unforgettable. Death is one such smell. The scent of a body four days into decomposition will leave a memory in your nostrils that you are not soon to forget.

A man was dead. Definitely dead. The horrific smell, present at the tomb that day, had given too strong of a testimony for that fact to now be questioned. It was impossible to explain the smell, but anyone who had experienced it would never be convinced that it wasn’t there.

Jesus had called Lazarus from death to life. The crowd present at the time of the happening was forever changed. They could not stop talking about it! The whole city was being turned upside down by their recounting of the event.

One way in which the Bible reveals the salvation experience is by likening it unto one passing from death to life. Because of this, Lazarus became a

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type-and-shadow of everyone who has ever experienced the grace of Jesus Christ!

We were dead. Definitely dead. Spiritually, the smell of death permeated from us into the nostrils of the angelic hosts. But Jesus called us forth from the tombs of our sin, and now all who had a ring-side seat for our experience in God can testify to the fact that we are no longer the version of death we once were! We are changed. Forever changed. Transformed and made spiritually alive by the Resurrection and the Life of Jesus. We can’t stop talking about it. There was too much evidence at our tomb that day!

For those not present at the time of our Resurrection experience, there are awkward moments in our attempt to convey the surroundings of death once present in our lives. Honestly, there is a part of the experience we have had that it seems we can not explain, but rather only encourage others to experience……… I can almost hear Lazarus bearing witness of what he had experienced in his life with perhaps the only words he could muster, “You just had to be there…”

Believe and be resurrected.

PRAYER: God, I thank you for the Resurrection and Life you have released through Jesus into my deathfilled existence.

Day Thirteen

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declaration, “It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it.”

Jesus broke off a piece of the unleavened bread and took a cup of wine from the table. He dipped the bread in the cup and identified the mastermind behind his impending betrayal – by handing the sopped bread to Judas.

Have you ever betrayed Jesus? Have you ever confessed your love to Him during a moment of worshipful dedication only to soon after betray your commitment with an act of fleshly indulgence?

I have.

John 13:21-26 After saying these things, Jesus was troubled in his spirit, and testified, “Truly, truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he spoke. One of his disciples, whom Jesus loved, was reclining at table at Jesus’ side, so Simon Peter motioned to him to ask Jesus[f] of whom he was speaking. So that disciple, leaning back against Jesus, said to him, “Lord, who is it?” Jesus answered, “It is he to whom I will give this morsel of bread when I have dipped it.” So when he had dipped the morsel, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.

A betrayal was coming to the ranks of Jesus inner circle. None knew what it would look like or how it would play out. But in their midst was a backstabbing scoundrel.

For this reason, each year during Communion on Good Friday, rather than eating the bread and then drinking from the cup, I instead dip the bread into the cup. This act of worship typically sends chills up my spine, as I mimic the way in which Jesus used the bread and wine to identify His betrayer.

Dip the bread. Acknowledge your betrayal of Jesus. Then make way for the flood of His grace to overwhelm your soul.

PRAYER: God I have betrayed you many times, yet you continue to love me through Jesus. Thank you for never leaving nor forsaking me, though many times I have fallen.

Day Fourteen

Jesus decided it was time to identify him. He called the room to attention and made a simple

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John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

Jesus said a lot. Jesus did a lot. The disciples were struggling to remember it all — and He hadn’t even left yet!

In chapter 21 of His Gospel, John actually admitted defeat in attempting to capture it all, “Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.”

Most-likely, while sensing their uncertainty, Jesus reassured the disciples of a coming Helper who would possess a divine memory. The Holy Spirit was coming to Earth to personally assist in bringing all things to remembrance!

Undoubtedly, it was the Holy Spirit who helped out in moments such as these which John listed:

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John 2:17 - His disciples remembered…

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John 2:22 - When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered…

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John 12:16 - His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered…

You do not have to feel intimidated when attempting to share your faith in Jesus. The Holy Spirit is your Helper and He will bring all things to remembrance!

Put the Word in you and God will bring it out of you.

PRAYER: God give me a divine hunger for the words of Jesus. I thank you for giving me the Holy Spirit to teach me the depth of the Word and bring it to remembrance.

Day Fifteen

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the Fruit. You can’t birth Fruit, it must flow through you.

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Fruit is excess Life, released by The Vine, through the branches.

We must only remain in Jesus (The Vine) and the Holy Spirit (The Life-Force) will release Fruit (Galatians 5:22-23) through the branches of our lives!

PRAYER: God, I abide in Jesus and Jesus abides in me. May the Fruit of the Holy Spirit be released through the branches of my life.

DAILY READING: The Gospel of John - Chapter 15 John 15:5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

One morning you walked out into the garden and all you saw was an empty tomato vine. Later that evening, you returned to find fruit on the vine – the small beginnings of what would become a ripe and delicious tomato. At no point in the fruit’s development did you witness the vine travailing in birth to produce it.

Fruit on the vine is a now-you-see-it, now-you-don’t experience. The same is true for any spiritual fruit you may bear in your own life. Jesus is The Vine. We are the branches. The Holy Spirit yields

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Day Sixteen

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DAILY READING: The Gospel of John - Chapter 16 John 16:1-2 “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. They will put you out of the synagogues.

Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. What encouraging words! Talk about a motivational speech. In essence, Jesus told his closest disciples, “Because of your relationship with me, you are going to be excommunicated from the religion you have served your entire life. You are going to be chased by murderous mobs. You will be called a heretic – and many will think God hates you – so they will wrongfully try to help Heaven kill you! By the way, I’m telling you all of this so you won’t fall away.”

Not surprisingly, I’ve never read about this motivational approach in How to Win Friends & Influence People, nor have I heard it recommended at church growth conferences or leadership development seminars.

But Jesus wasn’t finished.

As if all of the above were not enough, Jesus drops perhaps the biggest shocker of all. He announced He would be leaving before it all went down – and this would be to their advantage!

Surely someone blew a fuse.

How could Jesus announce impending, horrific persecution and then follow his prophetic unction with, “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.”?

I can’t get past this portion of His statement, “I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away.” Chew on that a moment. The verse is John 16:7, and in summary, an unforgettable decree has been made: It is better for all disciples to walk the Earth with the Holy Spirit than it would be for us to have Jesus Himself right by our side.

Clearly, Jesus did not view the Holy Spirit as a weak, anemic, watered-down, after-thought portion of the Godhead. He recognized the Holy Spirit to be as much God as He was. Jesus knew as the Son of God, He personally represented “God with us”, but the Holy Spirit would become “God in us”.

Confirming this, in John 7:37, Jesus announced the Holy Spirit would live in us, causing rivers of living water to flow through us!

Paul further explained, “God will do exceedingly, abundantly, above all you can ask or think according to the power that works IN you!”

And Peter gives us all reason for excitement as we celebrate our God-given advantage, because he is recorded in Acts 2 declaring that the Holy Spirit would be available to “all flesh"!

Receiving the advantage of the Holy Spirit in us – according to Jesus – is more to our favor than having

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the Son of God manifest in the flesh walking beside us… Wow. PRAYER: God I welcome the Holy Spirit into my life. May I experience His power at work in my life, empowering me to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all I could ask or think for the glory of Jesus’ name.

Easter Countdown DAILY READING: The Gospel of John - Chapter 17 John 17:20-21 I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you,that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

It is possible that only one prayer Jesus ever prayed has been left unanswered – and you just read it.

In John 17, Jesus asked His Father to ensure unity among the present believers and those to come. (He specifically included you and me in His prayer by petitioning, “For those who WILL BELIEVE in me.”)

Jesus understood the importance of unity among believers, and in His prayer, He even implied unity would be necessary for reaching unbelievers still in the world: “So that the world may believe that You sent me."

Since the Church is having some success today in reaching the world with the Gospel, we might jump to

Day Seventeen

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the conclusion that Jesus’ prayer has actually been fulfilled. But before doing so, we must acknowledge the level of unity Jesus requested for believers. He stated His goal very clearly when He prayed to His Father, "That they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you."

Think about this: Jesus desires for us to replicate the same capacity of unity as is exemplified among the inseparably unified Godhead!

The expected standard of unity among churches, believers, and denominations is not nearly as low as we might like to rationalize. And – according to Jesus’ prayer – if we are to reach the Harvest by the masses, our unity is an essential component of the testimony that Heaven has sent us with the Gospel.

The world is waiting. And so is Heaven.

PRAYER: God reveal to me, through Jesus, any way I may have been a stumbling block to unity.

I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

(John 17:23)

Day Eighteen

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Easter Countdown Daily Reading: The Gospel of John - Chapter 18 John 18:15-18 Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he entered with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, but Peter stood outside at the door. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the servant girl who kept watch at the door, and brought Peter in. The servant girl at the door said to Peter, “You also are not one of this man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” Now the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves. Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself.

Awkward is not a strong enough word to describe the atmosphere around the fire that night.

Suspicion made the air thick with fear. Peter found it hard to breath. Anxiety had taken his chest captive.

Known for his boldness, he searched his soul for

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fortitude, but uncertainty held him in mental chains.

Jesus had been arrested. Peter had fought for Jesus’ freedom. He had yielded his sword valiantly! But Jesus made him surrender. Now, as Roman and Pharisee judgment unfolded, Peter just wanted to be near Jesus. Though he hated to compromise his convictions, the only way Peter could get into the courtyard was to deny that he knew Jesus. (The doorkeeper – though only a maiden – would not allow a disciple of Jesus into the proceedings, for fear of further armed resistance to Jesus’ impending doom.)

Peter’s mind was jumbled… What was happening? Why was Jesus going like a lamb to the Pharisees’ slaughter? Jesus could never win in a rigged religious court system, so why would He willingly surrender? Many instances before this moment, the Jews had tried to arrest Jesus, stone Him – even throw Him off a cliff – but Jesus would never allow His adversaries to capture Him. Why was this night any different? Why didn’t He allow Peter to keep fighting in the garden? Why….. So, so many, “Why’s?”

Peter didn’t want to deny Jesus, but he also didn’t want to get arrested – yet. What good would that do? How could he help Jesus from behind bars?

Peter wasn’t a coward. He was a waterwalker. The only one of the twelve who was willing to confront Jesus when he thought the situation called for it. The only disciple who yielded a sword at the time of Jesus’ entrapment. Peter was bold and brave. Yes, very anxious at the moment, but still brave. And his three campfire denials of Jesus, when questioned by ill-intended, inquiring minds, probably had less to do with fear of imprisonment – or even death – and much more to do with

making sure he stayed free in order to help Jesus!

Surely, there was something he could do, if he could just avoid his own demise long-enough to out-wit the blood-thirsty mob.

If you love Jesus, you can relate to Peter’s campfire dilemma. All true followers of Jesus have at some point in our salvation journey stood at a spiritually awkward campfire. It is typically a moment when Jesus is being reviled or mocked and we struggle to know if it is the time or the place to offer the needed rebuttal. You aren’t afraid to say something in Jesus’ defense, you just don’t know if the timing is right.

Is it time to:

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• • •

Risk losing your job for what you believe?

Get a bad grade in class for your religious convictions?

Risk public humiliation among your circle of peers?

You’re confused, not cowardly. Peter could relate.

After all, on the last occasion you raised your sword in Jesus’ defense, you heard Him convict your heart.

PRAYER: God, help me to always know what you desire from me in my witness. May I never be viewed as ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus. Empower me with both wisdom and fervor. Remove confusion from my mind and allow me to stand in boldness, never afraid to take up my cross, deny myself, and follow after Jesus.

THE REST OF THE STORY as recorded in Acts 4:

Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.

And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day…. And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders….let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead… This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.

Day Nineteen

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Easter Countdown DAILY READING: The Gospel of John - Chapter 19 John 19:38-40 After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body. Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight. So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews.

Navigating his way through the dark corridors of Jerusalem, for secret meetings with Jesus, was nothing out of the ordinary for Nicodemus. It had become his custom. His mind and his heart had divorced long ago. By day, he was a Pharisee, but by night he was a follower of Jesus.

Nicodemus was a member of an elite group – a group that was without question the most

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powerful religious order in all of Middle Eastern civilization. As fate would have it, this same sect was also leading a violently-charged movement to silence Jesus. For this reason, each time Nicodemus met with Jesus, he was risking everything. But he was thoroughly convinced that choosing to not meet with Jesus would be an even greater risk. His religious peers dealt with the temporal, while Jesus never stopped talking about the eternal. Nicodemus had come to believe a temporal risk would be worth an eternal reward.

Nicodemus still remembered the first night he had snuck away for a lantern-lit rendezvous with Jesus. The question Jesus had first asked him still echoed in his heart, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things?”

Nicodemus longed to learn more from Jesus! He had never heard a man teach the Scriptures as the Nazarene did. But he would never ask another question of Jesus. This night-time excursion was different than all the rest. Jesus was dead.

As Nicodemus traversed the cobblestones streets of his homeland, secretly making his way to the hidden holding place of Jesus’ horrifically beaten and tortured body, one statement made to him by the now dead Son of God, rang out above all the rest in his soul. In truth, it was only in this moment that the prophetic declaration finally made sense to his Pharisaical mind. Chills went down his spine, as he rehearsed Jesus’ lesson on eternal life, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not

believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.”

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PRAYER: God thank you for your love. You loved me enough to send your Son to die in my place. I believe in Jesus, His death, burial, and resurrection. I am overwhelmed with gratefulness, as I recognize Him as Savior and Lord!

Day Twenty

Easter Countdown DAILY READING: The Gospel of John - Chapter 20 John 20:20-22 And when he had so said, he showed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord. Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: Perhaps using the ocean for His mirror, God shaped dirt into a resemblance of Himself. He then knelt over the freshly molded clay creation – which He chose to call Man – and released breath into him. At this moment, life and spirit entered the first man. But notice: Man could not inhale, until God had first exhaled.

Thousands of years later, God sent His Son to Earth. Jesus was rejected, reviled, and ultimately slaughtered by God’s original creation, Man. But

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after being placed in a tomb, Jesus was resurrected by the Spirit of God. Remember, God originally made Man, but the creation could not live until God breathed life into him. Likewise, after His Resurrection from the dead, Jesus called all of His disciples near and breathed on them. Jesus had made men into disciples, but their ministries could not truly live until He released the breath of the Holy Spirit into them!

If you are trying to live life or do ministry without God’s breath – the Spirit of God – then you will perpetually feel like a fish out of water. You do not have to live life from a state of spiritual suffocation. Surrender every aspect of your human existence to God and receive into your life the same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead!

PRAYER: God I am grateful to have been redeemed by the blood of your Son Jesus and I receive the breath of Holy Spirit Life into every aspect of my own life!

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Next Steps

Maybe you’re saying, “I made a life commitment to Christ on Easter Sunday, now what?”

Five Basic Steps: Contemplate Grace. Jesus taught that the two most important commandments are: 1) Love God 2) Love people. As a believer, intensified love for God and people will be a part of the change others will witness in your life. But remember, we can only love God because “He first loved us” (Ref. 1 John 4:18-20). All love that we exemplify must come from first recognizing how much God truly loved us when He sacrificed Jesus for our sins. (Reflect on John 3:16).

Read the Bible. The Book of John was written with new believers in mind and it is a great place to start.

It has 21 chapters, as you begin your new journey, you could choose to make a 21-day commitment to read one chapter a day from this Gospel. While reading, think of the Bible as a love letter describing God’s divine romance with humanity.

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Set aside quiet time to pray. Don’t be intimidated if you don’t know what to say to God. Just share your heart and then remain silent, inviting the Holy Spirit to speak to you. You can also read Bible verses as prayers. In faith-filled prayer, proclaim the promises of Scriptures over your life!

Go to church. Make the decision — right now — to be at church the next time there is a corporate worship gathering. Change your schedule if need be.

(3trees directions and service schedule.) The next few days of your journey are very important and the encouragement you will receive by attending church is no small thing. The Bible is clear that believers are strengthened by gathering together. (Ref. Hebrews 10:24-25) Get involved with a small discipleship group. You have made a decision to believe in Jesus, now you begin the journey to become a disciple of Jesus (Ref. Matthew 28:19-20). One of the most helpful ways to grow is to utilize the model Jesus exemplified during His own ministry: He called a small group of followers out from the large crowds and spent extended time breaking down the Truth of Scriptures with them (Ref. Mark 3:13-14; Luke 24:27, 44-45). Attempting to follow this example, at 3trees Church we have made discipleship-oriented groups available. Select one and let the journey BEGIN!

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