John 13 is the only chapter in the four gospels that record Jesus washing his disciples’ feet. In John 13.34 Jesus teaches “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love another”. What is the newness of this commandment Jesus gives his disciples and to us? I believe it is the phrase “even as I have loved you”. The way believers are to love each other is no longer patterned after how we would want to be loved (Lev.19.18) but there is a new way to love each other. The new pattern of love is Jesus himself.
What does it mean to love other Christians like Jesus? This is a very tall order! Where do we start?! I believe the washing of the disciples feet provides a framework for what Jesus had in mind when he said love each other as I have loved you.
There are two lessons/principles we can learn from Jesus in this account that we can emulate in our lives towards other believers. The first one can be read in John 13.4-5,12-15. Jesus illustrates humility. Jesus as Lord and teacher took the position of a common house servant when he got on his hands and knees and girded himself with a towel to wash feet. If anyone’s feet should have been washed it was Jesus yet the holy selfless Lord and teacher put aside his rightful privileges to serve his students. Jesus humbled himself. Likewise we as Christians are called to humble ourselves before each other and seek out the interest of others before ourself (Eph. 4.2, 5.21, Phil. 2.3-5).
The second lesson we can learn form Jesus is that to love each other involves humbling ourselves before each other and serving one another in practical ways. The act of washing feet in antiquity served a very practical purpose. Most people wore open-toed shoes or sandals and people walked everywhere. The result was people’s feet would easily become dirty, rough, and caked with filth. No one would want to track the dirt through someone’s home so either the homeowner or a servant would wash the guests feet as they came in. It was practical for the guest and the homeowner.
What is involved in loving other Christians as Jesus loved us? Looking at the real life illustration of Jesus washing his students’ feet, we learn to love one another involves humbling ourselves before others and serving them in practical ways.
-Jacob Rohrer
Today’s Bible passages can be read or listened to at BibleGateway here – Luke 22 & John 13
In the closing moments of Jesus’ life after the last supper he took his three closest disciples and prayed. Jesus was a man of prayer and it is fitting that in the final moments before he is handed over he prays to his Father. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of prayer. Many of us are guilty of not praying as we ought to. Look at the degree to which Jesus expected his three closest disciples to pray. In Matthew 26.36-41 and Mark 14.32-38 he asks them to remain and watch while Jesus went off and prayed. Watch and pray are synonymous words. To watch is to pray and to pray is to watch.
When Jesus comes back the first time he questions Peter, James, and John and says, ”You couldn’t keep watch for an hour?” Jesus expected his disciples to pray for a whole hour! Many of us can only last a few minutes let alone an hour. If prayer was important to Jesus and his ministry and his relationship with God CERTAINLY it must be a priority for us. I would venture to say prayer is one of the most neglected and undervalued ministries. Jesus never believed prayer was expendable, neither should we.
Do you want to grow with God? Do you want to grow in spirituality? Do you want deeper intimacy in your relationship with God and other believers? Do you want to combat spiritual darkness? Do you want to see people saved? Pray. Pray. Pray.
If we will give ourselves over to the ministry of prayer and intercession God will grow and mature us. Prayer is too valuable to discard, it’s too precious to pass over, and it’s too powerful to be ignored.
Lord Jesus stir in our hearts a desire and hunger for prayer! Raise up men and women who will pray! Amen!
-Jacob Rohrer
Today’s Bible passages can be read or listened to at BibleGateway here – Matthew 26 & Mark 14
Today as we look at Matthew 25 we should take notice that though we are starting a new chapter the context surrounding this chapter is the same as that of chapter 24. Matthew 24 and 25 are a single unit of thought. This can be seen in verse 1 with the word “then” (the NIV says “at that time”) indicating what Jesus was speaking about in chapter 24 is continuing into chapter 25. The focus of the chapter is about the end of this age when Jesus returns and the judgement that he will enact.
There are three pictures of judgement in chapter 25. The first two are parables (the parable of the ten virgins and the parable of the talents) and the last one is a description of the judgement scene.
In the first parable there are ten virgins who wait for the bridegroom. The bridegroom delays in appearing and all fall asleep but suddenly the bridegroom appears but only five are ready for the bridegroom while the other five are not ready and they are denied entrance into the wedding feast. The virgins denied entrance are then told by the bridegroom he never knew them.
The second parable is about a master and his slaves. The master gives each slave a talent (an amount of money) and went on a journey. When the master returns only two of the three slaves honored the master with what they were given. The third slave squandered his talent and is rebuked by the master and the slave is thrown out into the outer darkness.
The third picture of judgement involves Jesus separating goats from sheep among the nations. The sheep and goats represent those who belong to Jesus and those who do not. The sheep (believers) are rewarded with the kingdom and the goats (non-believers) are cast into hell with satan and his demons.
What are we to make of this chapter? What does Jesus want us to learn from these three pictures of judgement? I believe it is this.
There is a judgement coming and not everyone who calls themself a Christian will enter into life. The reality is, not everyone who calls themself a Christian is a true believer. In all three teachings there is one group of people who are then divided into those who are accepted and those who are rejected. Many people comprise the Church but not everyone who attends church is a true believer. The judgement of Christ sorts out the self-deceived from the real believers. Jesus himself teaches this earlier in Matthew 13.24-30, 36-43 in the parable of the tares. And he also teaches this in Matthew 7.21-22.
Who are you? Are you deceived or a true believer in Christ? The five virgins were accepted into the feast because they were ready and prepared. The 2 slaves were honored by the master because they were faithful with what the master had given them. And the sheep entered the kingdom because they loved and served other Christians in need.
A true believer will have evidence of salvation in their life. A true believer bears the fruit of the spirit, they grow in holiness, they grow in their disdain for sin, they hunger for the scriptures, they serve other Christians and people. A real believer matures and grows in Christ.
Paul tells the Corinthians in II Cor. 13.5 to test themselves against the scriptures to see if they are in the faith. Compare yourself to scripture and to the words of Jesus. Have you really received salvation from God? In addition to this, talk with mature believers closest to you about this serious matter if you question your salvation.
-Jacob Rohrer
Today’s Bible passage can be read or listened to at BibleGateway here – Matthew 25
Today’s devotion comes from Matthew’s account of what you read in Mark 13 yesterday. In the twenty fourth and twenty fifth verse Jesus says “For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. Behold, I have told you in advance”.
There is a huge difference between a good tested quality product and a cheap knockoff version. The same is with Christ but even more so. Jesus warns his disciples and us that there will be people who claim to be God’s real messiah and savior. Jesus is telling all of us don’t be fooled. I want to highlight 2 aspects of Jesus’ warning.
The first is notice the plurality of “Christs” and “prophets”. There have been and will be multiple people who seek to deceive people and other Christians. This had a very real meaning to the first century church. Before the time of Jesus and after him there were multiple Jewish men who claimed to be God’s real messiah. And even in our time there have been many who have claimed to be God’s special prophet or savior.
The second aspect of this warning I want to highlight is that Jesus says that signs and wonders will accompany these false prophets and Christs. It’s easy to dismiss someone as crazy if they claim to be a prophet or Christ but what if miraculous events accompany their claims? What are we supposed to think!? Remember that there is a supernatural enemy that opposes God, Jesus, and Christians. For every miracle God performs a counterfeit miracle can be performed by Satan and spiritual darkness. An example of this can be found in Exodus 7.8-13. There must be other factors we must take into consideration such as – does what the person say align with scripture? Is God glorified?
Though we probably will not encounter someone who will say, “Follow me, I’m the savior of the world” it doesn’t mean that there aren’t false teachers who teach false doctrine. We must always be critical of the teaching that we allow into our lives. Remember to test EVERYTHING against the scriptures. Whether it comes from your friends, your pastor, or even your parents. The best way to avoid deception is a two step process: one, know what the scriptures teach, and two, test everything against the scriptures. If it conforms with scripture receive it. If it doesn’t conform with scripture, reject it.
-Jacob Rohrer
Today’s Bible passage can be read or listened to at BibleGateway here – Matthew 24
Many teachings and thoughts could be extracted from the Olivet Discourse (Matt. 24, Mk. 13, Lk. 21). For us this section of the gospels will be the focal point of our devotions today and tomorrow. For our devotion this morning I want to look at the last verse of Mark 13 where Jesus concludes “What I say to you I say to all, ‘Be on the alert’”.
This section of the gospels (Matt. 24, Mk. 13, and Lk. 21) have in mind two future events. Jesus prophesies the destruction of the Jerusalem temple (AD 70) and speaks to the events that will foretell of his second coming. In Mark 13.31 the message Jesus communicates to his disciples is the one he also wants all those who follow him to know as well, namely, “Be on the alert”. The New Testament as a whole has an urgency to it. This theme of being on alert and aware of the coming of the Lord is present throughout the New Testament. Though Jesus ascended two thousand years ago and hasn’t come back yet it does not mean we should live complacent lives as Christians. Here are some other texts that speak to urgency in the Christian life:
“Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we first believed. The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore, let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave properly in the day…” —Romans 13.11-13
“Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is” — Ephesians 5.15-17
“…let us be alert and sober…” (Read I Thess. 5.1-8)
What does it mean to live on the alert as a Christian? What did Jesus mean when he spoke these words? In light of these texts above and the whole of the New Testament to live alertly is to have the conduct of our lives be in line with the words of Jesus. To live alertly means to quit wasting time with sinful behaviors and practices and start living in light of eternity and the judgement seat of Christ (II Cor. 5.10).
Is there a sense of urgency in your following of Jesus? If the day of judgement was tomorrow would you be ready? Not only in the sense of would you be saved or not but would you be proud of the life you lived and know that you were sold out for Christ with the time God had given you? Don’t be complacent, be on the alert.
-Jacob Rohrer
Today’s Bible passage can be read or listened to at BibleGateway here – Mark 13
I have a confession to make. I really don’t like conflict and because of that I don’t always confront situations or people as I should or as is necessary. Now thankfully the Lord is growing me in this area because the reality is confrontation and conflict is necessary. Actually the New Testament teaches that there is a time and place for believers to hold each other accountable with regard to sin. Many Christians and churches struggle with this. It’s uncomfortable, awkward, and scary yet our Lord himself exemplified this in today’s chapter of Matthew 23 (read Matt. 18.15).
Seven times in Matthew 23 Jesus says “woe to you” with reference to the Pharisees. “Woe” is a prophetic denunciation that the prophets in the Old Testament used to warn people that their behavior was not pleasing to God and if they didn’t correct their actions God’s punishment and judgement would come.
The crime of the Pharisees was that they were so caught up in religious activities that it compromised true obedience God really desired. Jesus loves and forgives but he will not tolerate empty obedience and religious service. He will not be sweet to that which God hates and opposes. Likewise as followers of Jesus we must strive to become like him in all respects including standing up for the truth even when that means calling out sin and that which God hates.
This must be done with great wisdom and care and love. I’ll include passages that speak to this theme. I’d encourage you to read them and get exposed to this New Testament teaching. We as Christians have a duty to lovingly hold other believers accountable with regard to sin.
Passages for further study:
.Matt. 16.21-23
.Matt. 18.15-20
.I Cor. 5.1-5
.Gal. 2.11-14
.Gal. 6.1
.Eph. 5.11-14
.I Tim. 5.20
.Tit. 3.10-11
.Jam. 4.17
Jacob Rohrer
Today’s Bible passages can be read or listened to at Bible Gateway here – Matthew 23 and Luke 20-21.
There’s a song on K-Love (Christian radio station) called “Love God and Love People” by Danny Gokey. The chorus goes “Gotta keep it real simple, keep it real simple bring everything back down to ground zero, cause it all comes down to this love God and love people”. The song is very catchy, yet while this command is simple at the same time it takes an entire lifetime to grow and mature in living out the greatest command God has given to his people.
The greatest commandment is found in today’s passage and it comes from the lips of the greatest teacher who ever walked the earth, our Lord Jesus Christ. I could say much on this topic yet I will keep it brief and to the point. The two commandments Jesus states as the first and second most important come from the Old Testament. The first and greatest commandment, love God, comes from Deuteronomy 6.4-5. The second commandment, love people, comes from Leviticus 19.18. These two texts Jesus sees as the greatest commandments because the whole law of God can be summed up in these two commands. Also, Jesus not only tells us the two most important commandments but he gives us the divine priority of Christian love. God comes first and only then people. As Christians we do not love people first and then God. We love God first in priority then our neighbor. A blessed Christian life is one that seeks to love God before all else.
For the rest of this devotion, I want to focus on the first and greatest commandment. What does it mean to love God? To love God means to love him with our entire person or being. There are three aspects of our person that we are to love God with in Deuteronomy 6.4-5. These three are; the mind, the soul, and our might.
To love God with our mind means primarily that we engage with the truth God has revealed about himself in scripture. In short, we love God when we read, study, and meditate upon the Bible. To love God with our soul means to love him with our emotions, affections, and desires. If we say we know God yet are unmoved by him, we don’t know him. It is impossible to love God and remain cold and indifferent. Our emotions do not form the foundation of our relationship with God but they do accentuate and enhance our experience of God. Lastly, to love God with our might is to love him with our physical body and ability and the resources he has given us. To love God with our body can mean using it for serving other people.
To love God means to love him first in priority and to love him with every area of our life and being.
-Jacob Rohrer
Today’s Bible passages can be read at BibleGateway here – Matthew 22 and Mark 12
My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. -John 10:27-28 NRSV
Rejection is something that all of us have, or will, face in this life. And, I can honestly say that it never feels great. You know that feeling where you feel like your stomach hits the floor? For a moment, it’s hard to catch a breath. In that moment you feel like you’ve lost it all. As humans, we want people to believe in us. We want to be trusted in, relied upon. And, we also hate the loneliness that comes from people choosing to walk away from us or not abide in our words.
So, what must it have felt like for our Messiah to constantly face people who were unwilling to believe him? How did he have the strength to continue to persevere? We see in the ministry of the Son of Man, the Perfect Man, an ability to consistently rely upon the Word of his father. We see in Jesus complete confidence in God and his plan for Jesus’s ministry. And, over and over, we see Christ giving all glory to God. Jesus knows with complete clarity where his power is coming from and how important it is.
Can you imagine knowing you are the Son of God, proclaiming the gospel that you know without any doubt is true, and having your Jewish brothers and sisters threaten you with stoning?
Fear, dismay, sadness. I can say if I had been in the shoes of Jesus at the end of John 10, I would be overwhelmed with emotion. The steadiness that we see in the Lord is astonishing, and takes an exuberant amount of courage.
32 Jesus replied, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these are you going to stone me?”
Wow. Jesus has just laid out his cards. He is saying, “Look this is who I am. I have been sent by my father to do his good works. You have seen many of these works. And you are going to stone me now?” He is making it clear that by stoning Jesus, the Jews are going against the glory of God. WOAH. What an argument. Its clean, simple, and most importantly, transcendent.
Although we see that Jesus escapes being stoned that day in John 10, we all know that he did have to endure the cross for us. The perfect man that did it all right covered our sin with his blood. And then, God raised him from the dead. Because of that, we have been grafted into an eternal kingdom where righteousness will reign!
But in this life, we will continue to face rejection. We will always have people that don’t believe us. And no, we aren’t going to be perfect. But because of the sacrifice that Jesus made on our behalf, we have the ability to also trust in and rely upon the Word of God. We have the opportunity to serve and be loved by our Creator. How beautiful is that?
When we choose to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, we learn what it takes to be spiritually confident. Trust in God. Trust in his Word. Proclaim his good works. That is where true confidence begins.
Imagery of sheep and shepherd are found all throughout the Bible, in both the old and the new testaments. Because of this, I think we sometimes forget some of the metaphorical imagery that comes with the sheep and shepherd dynamic. Sheep are not an intelligent animal in any sense of the word. They often wander off and get themselves in trouble. When threatened by predators, sheep will often clump themselves together in such a tight pack, that sheep in the center will often suffocate. All in all, sheep are fully reliant on their shepherd for protection, food water, and for their own survival.
Here in John 10, when Jesus is speaking about sheep, and he being the good shepherd, the people probably would have seen it as insulting when he compared them to sheep. But the point that Jesus is trying to make, is that like sheep we could not depend on ourselves for salvation from the consequences of our bad choices. God had to send us a shepherd who would “lay down his life for his sheep”. So he sent us His son Jesus. And as Jesus said, no one took his life from him, but he laid it down of his own accord. I don’t think we could have asked God to send us a better shepherd than who He sent us, His one and only son, Jesus. In just over a week, the Thanksgiving season will begin, and I think that this year we need to spend time thanking God, for the gift of the Good Shepherd, who laid down his life willingly, for us his sheep.
Jonny Smith
Today’s Bible passage can be read or listened to at BibleGateway here – John 9:1 – 10:21
Tomorrow’s passages will be the rest of John 10 and Luke 10.
Okay, let me start by saying, it was SO hard deciding where to even start when I was writing today’s devotion. There is just so much meat in these two chapters, and I highly recommend that you set aside enough time today to really dig into these scriptures.
In today’s first chapter, John 7, we watch as Jesus instructs his disciples to go to the feast without him, because the Jews do not hate the disciples as they do Jesus. Eventually Jesus goes, but in secret. He went to the temple and began teaching, aware that if he were to make himself known to too many people, things wouldn’t end well. Which of course, in the long run, they didn’t – but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. As Jesus said, his time had not yet fully come. This is one of the reasons he was often so discreet. He couldn’t yet draw too much attention to himself, because he knew that would almost immediately lead to his death. This is important to note because he was not done with his time on earth; he knew there was more to accomplish before fulfilling the prophecy. And so he did, showing as much love and kindness as possible, and bringing thousands and thousands of people into the light. (And in doing so, setting an example for us to do the same.)
We could, of course, continue to talk about this one chapter for days and days, however, there’s also a ton of good stuff worth addressing from the next chapter, John 8. This one’s actually jam-packed with wise words and food for thought… so let’s dive in.
The first little section in John 8 is the story of the adulterous woman, which is definitely a good one and can teach us a lot. However if you don’t know already, this story was not in early manuscripts of the book of John, and was likely not written by him. Regardless, the important take away of this story is that none of us have the right to judge another, for we all sin, and we all deserve forgiveness. What stood out to me most though, is that Jesus said “I do not condemn you, either. Go…” which of course is the point of the story, but then he said, “From now on sin no more.” We can’t forget this part in Jesus’ line of thinking. Yes, we can be forgiven, but that doesn’t mean just getting away with something and then going and doing it again. It’s also about repentance; turning yourself around and doing things different from there on out. That’s maybe the most important step: what you do after the fact.
In the next few sections of chapter 8, we’re walked through a series of conversations between Jesus and the Pharisees/Jews. Repeatedly, Jesus (humbly) says something authoritative, and repeatedly, the Pharisees have some illegitimate reason to disagree. Jesus describes himself in many ways over chapter 8: the Light, the Son, the Truth, etc. This is who he is, always, but it is in this chapter that these attributes resulted in so many people coming to believe in him, and so many people coming to hate him. What the Pharisees failed to understand was that Jesus truly did have authority over them. He is the Mediator between God and man. When he claims all these things about who he is, it’s not to glorify himself, it’s simply the truth, God’s truth. As the Son of God he speaks God’s truth, not on his own initiative, but as the Father teaches him (John 8:28).
Jesus has to repeat himself many times in chapter 8, because his audience is really not getting it. At one point he even asks, “Why are you not understanding what I am saying?” which I always imagine was said in slight exasperation. From this point on, he really begins spelling it out for them, and for us. In verses 38-47 Jesus refers to two fathers, ours and his. At first the Jews think he means their descendant, Abraham. He proceeds to tell them that if they were truly children of Abraham, they would be acting like Abraham, but they’re not. Then they try to refute this by saying, oh well actually no, God is our one Father. Jesus then replies with, well if God was your Father, you would love me, because He’s the one who sent me. Then he reveals that the father he was really referring to as theirs was the devil, which had to have stung, but should really make us think. Who are we allowing to lead our lives? As children of God, are we fully giving ourselves to Him- our Creator, our Potter, our Abba.
Lastly I want to quickly mention something about 8:58. Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am” (NASB). Many times trinitarians take this verse and try to claim that this means Jesus was around forever, making him one with God. However, it was really translated wrong, (as many verses are, due to the overwhelming amount of biased translators) and if translated correctly, would read something more like, “I am he,” or “I am the one,” which in this context, would just be referring to himself as the Messiah, existing not physically in Abraham’s time, or before, but in God’s plans for the world.
As you go through the rest of your week, pray that, being of God, you may hear the word of God, because followers of God WILL hear Him, and will know the truth (John 8:45-47), and the truth will set you free (John 8:32).
– Isabella Osborn
It’s a treat to hear from Isabella today. She is a wise and caring home-school student from South Carolina who loves loving God and others.
Today’s Bible passage can be read or listened to at BibleGateway here – John 7-8
Tomorrow we will read John 9:1-10:21 as we continue on our journey through God’s Word. Come follow along!
Seek Grow Love 