John 13

13:2/27 - Judas was tempted to sin, but Satan did not enter him according to John until he decided to sin. I think that is really interesting. Many people believe Judas didn't have a choice, but I see here that he did, but chose to betray Jesus anyway.

13:11 - In the NASB it says that Judas was betraying Jesus. The tense for the verb there is present participle which means ongoing, continuous or repeated action. This was not a one time thing. Judas had been involved in multiple acts that led him to betray Jesus. The same can be said of us. When we continue to betray Jesus or Jesus' interests for our lives we can eventually harden our hearts to the degree that we walk away from Him. I think for those who believe in once saved always saved you would have to give an honest examination of whether Jesus ever considered Judas a true disciple. And, if He did, then wouldn't that say something about our ability through repeated disobedience to walk away?

13:8 - Unless I wash you, you won't belong to me. - I meet a lot of people who want to come to Jesus with their pride intact. It can't happen. Until you and I realize that we are totally bankrupt apart from Jesus we have no part in Jesus. No one stands before the throne unless the Son has cleaned them and then we only stand by His grace and not what we have done. This should be refreshing to those who feel unworthy and startling to those who think they are okay.

13:15 - I have given you an example to follow. do as I have done to you.

13:19 - I tell you this beforehand, so that when it happens you will believe that I AM the Messiah. - The Greek actually says so that you will believe I AM.

13:34-35 - So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples. - I think it is a sad state of affairs that Jesus has to command us to love each other, but I see why. My natural inclination is to like people, but not to love them to the degree I put them in front of my needs and wants. Jesus had to command love, because we would have chosen a hundred other things first if it was up to us. And I love that Jesus doesn't leave the definition of love up to us for us to twist or water down. He says to love just as He has loved us. WOW! I need to love people the same way Jesus loved people. And then Jesus explains that part of the reason we love like Jesus is so the world will see that love and recognize us as His followers. I wonder if people recognize Jesus in the way you love them and others. Do they see Jesus in the way you love or just the way you talk about loving?

I was reading a book recently titled Forgotten God where he says that he and his elders decided to go back to Acts to see what they were missing that the early church had. He said they also decided that they were not loving each other the way the early followers loved each other and so they made a commitment to love Acts 2:42-47 style. Why it is that we find Acts 2:42-47 so amazing and so desirable and yet we are so unwilling to live that way?

Love, Michael