What are you listening to?

Praising God is an important part of our Christian life, and music is such a lovely, even fun way to praise Him, isn't it?

Seems to me that when I sing or hum a tune and think about praising God, my day just seems brighter. Might not change my circumstances, but it changes the way I respond to them!

If you have a moment, please read Psalm 145 today, and find a cheerful praise song to listen to! I know I will!

What are you listening to today?

John 13:31-38 How will we score?

When he was gone, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him. ³² If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.
³³ “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.
³⁴ “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. ³⁵ By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
³⁶ Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?”
Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.”
³⁷ Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”
³⁸ Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!

Last week was pretty tough, ay? I learned a lot from our study, and I hope you got something from it, too.  This week we are not letting up -- we are still examining ourselves. Hey! You may be protesting -- take it easy on everyone!  Well, we have to look closely at ourselves when the Spirit shows us things that are important, right? Let's dive in!

If there were a test that could reveal how faithful a Christian we were, or measured the level of our spiritual walk, would you like to take that? Or would you shy away from it?  On the surface, where most people see us, we like to think that we appear to be doing a good job of being a Christian. We even like to think to ourselves that we are doing a good job. If you were to ask me, "How are you doing in your faith walk? In your spiritual life?"  I sure would want to answer "just fine!"
But in reality, things may not be going very well. We may not be growing spiritually. We may not realize it. What if we had a test that could measure the level of our commitment to Christ? Remember when you were a kid, and you would back up to the wall or the doorway and mom or dad would make a mark to show how you had grown?
In John 13:31-38, Jesus provides us with the real marks of true discipleship -- kind of like a measuring stick to show us how we are doing. 
A score card, if you will.
Remember what happened in our study last week? Jesus and his disciples were eating the Passover meal in the upper room. Jesus knew full well that His arrest would come the next day. But He began the evening by washing their feet, as we studied last week.  Then they sit down to their meal, and while they are at the table, Jesus says that one of them will betray Him. In the midst of all the turmoil and questions, Judas quietly leaves the room. Once he is gone, Jesus and the other eleven men are there, and it is almost as if a cool breeze has wafted through the room. The air is fresh and clean, and the servant of evil is gone. Jesus begins to talk about what it means to be His disciple. Let's listen in, because this is important!

The first thing that Jesus tells them, is that one of the marks of discipleship is a desire to glorify God. Check verse 31 again:

               After Judas had left, Jesus said, "Now is the Son of Man glorified and
               God is glorified in Him."

He is telling them, "I am going to be glorified" and we are blessed to be able to look backwards and understand -- He is talking about His own crucifixion.
How, people ask, can any glory come out of that? The Son of God, hanging on a rough-hewn, bloody cross . . . how can glory come out of suffering and pain, and death? There is only one way: on the cross, Jesus defeated Satan. On the cross He became the sacrifice to redeem us from our sins; to take away the sins that separate us from God. He built a bridge between man and God so that we could be together again.
But wait! There's more . . . God will also be glorified through Me, he says. Again, we find the answer to how this happens, on the cross of Christ. On the cross, Jesus reveals one more time to all of us who are so blind, a picture of what God is really like. We can see the love and mercy of God, and we see His justice as well. We can see with our own eyes, and with our hearts, the righteousness, holiness and power of God. It is displayed there for us to see and understand -- and Jesus willingly gave Himself on the cross so that we could see.

What does that mean in our lives?
I believe that Jesus is telling us that whenever we show the world God's love, mercy and grace in our own lives, then God is being glorified through us.

Can we influence others for Christ? Can we show them by how we handle the tough times and the good, that we know Him? Can we speak a word for Him in our conversations?  Even in casual contacts with folks, can we say something that shows we rely on Him, or that we are grateful for His providence and care? Such small things . . . but they're not really small, are they? Nope! All of these are ways that others can see us giving glory to the Father.

So, how are we doing? This is our first test on the scorecard.
Are we busy trying to glorify ourselves, or are we trying to glorify God?

Which one of us? Conclusion

Yesterday we paused just as Jesus handed a sop to Judas Iscariot. Some folks may not know the term, nowadays . . . here in the Southland, it's still used today. We use bits of bread to "sop" up the gravy or remnants of a great meal from our plates. In Bible times it was the same -- it was "a bit, a morsel" like in Ruth 2:14, where the word is used to mean a morsel of bread that was dipped before it was eaten.

It must have been deadly quiet when Jesus handed it to him. There was tremendous significance in what was happening -- that morsel of bread, that sop, stood for something.

Let's dive in!
Let's look at the letters S - O - P and think about what they might stand for in this case . . .
First, we could say that they stand for a Satan Owned Person. In the very next verse, John tells us that "after the sop Satan entered into him." Before a Christian can betray our Lord, we have to give way to the devil, to give in to him. When we quit fighting against Satan, we begin surrendering to him, and there is no in-between here; we must either be filled with Jesus or we will be full of Satan. Christ told us that we can't serve both, right?

It could also mean Skilled On Pretending. Verse 28 says, "Now no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him." When we mortals look at each other, we have trouble telling who is for real, and who is not. We can't read hearts as Jesus can. Humans are really good at disguising our hearts, and people may think that we are spiritual, but we are not. People may think that we are living holy, spirit-filled lives, but our secret sins are hidden just below the surface. Judas was a really "great pretender" -- he pretended to be a disciple that loved Jesus, but he was there in the room for the wrong reason.

Those letters could also stand for Steadily Occupied Position. In John 13:29 we see this:

                       Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling
                       him to buy what was needed for the festival, or to give something to
                       the poor.

We can see that some of them didn't realize at first that Judas was the betrayer. He had held his position of treasurer for so long that they just thought of him that way.

If we look in John 17, we see what else the letters can stand for: Son of Perdition. Let's check out the 12th verse of that chapter:

                      While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which
                       You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished
                       but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.

Judas had pretended for an awfully long time.
He had done it for so long that he didn't even know himself that he'd become a pawn of the devil. He didn't fully realize the impact of his sinful plan. Perhaps he was thinking that they might whip Jesus, or maybe he thought they would throw him in prison for a short while and then release Him. It may be that Judas hadn't a clue that his betrayal would cause Jesus to die. But Jesus knew.

Those letters could mean Settled On Price. If we look in Matthew 26:15, we can see that Judas was only after the money -- he was paid thirty pieces of silver. Did you know that silver, in scripture, is almost always used as a symbol of judgment? If we look further back, into the Old Testament law, thirty pieces of silver was the price paid for a slave that had been gored by an ox. So Jesus was sold as a slave . . . and then would be pierced by nails and spears.

The most important thing, I believe, is that these letters can stand for the fact that Judas was the Same Old Person. He had been following Jesus around, but it seems he had never been born again. Like many in our world today, he never fully knew Jesus, and would not know Jesus as his Savior, because he loved the world and money and his religion; he loved all of these more than he loved Jesus.

Here is the question that we must wrestle with: could any of us betray Jesus?
None of us are as holy as we want everyone else to think that we are. We are not as perfect as we sometimes make ourselves out to be, or as much as we'd like to think we are in our own minds.
We are all capable of betraying Him if we are not careful to daily walk with Him. We must talk with Him each day, and allow His Spirit to guide us. We must spend time in His word, so that the Spirit has tools to use, to keep us in His pathway. That's what it takes, to keep us from becoming the Lord's betrayer, just like Judas was.




I am indebted to several preachers who have used this concept of the letters "S-O-P" in sermons, for assistance in preparing this final study on our passage.

John 13:18-30 Which one of us? part II

Please refresh your memory of our verses by re-reading them, either in your own Bible, or in the post below this one.

"Which one of us?"
The question is in all of their minds.

There is Thomas sitting there. He says, "Could He mean it is me? I know, I am called the doubter sometimes. I don't always accept everything that is said, without some added explanations. But I think that is just my being cautious -- it doesn't mean I'm bad, does it? I love Jesus and I want to serve Him. I couldn't be the one to betray Him, could I?

Matthew thinks, "My name even means 'gift of God' . . . it couldn't be me! I've given up that life of stealing from others and trying to squeeze money out of everyone. I used to be a horrible thief, but I gave that up and I'm not looking back! Everyone hated me, because of my sin of usury, but I won't turn my back on Jesus. What in the world could convince me to do that? Oh, please tell me that I'm not the one!"

If we were to continue around the room, and look into the hearts of Bartholomew, the "other" James (the son of Alphasus), Thaddaeus and Simon the Canaanite, we would see that all of them were asking themselves, "Could it be me? Seriously?" "I love being a disciple of Jesus, and I want to inherit a position in His kingdom. It couldn't really be one of us, could it?"

Even Judas Iscariot is saying that it couldn't be him. He was a master at putting on such a good show that no one suspected him of anything. He was trusted implicitly -- after all, Jesus and the disciples had made him the treasurer . . . "If I wanted to be a thief," he might have been thinking, "I could do that very easily. I really do love the position and the title, and the access to the money! I'm never broke like the rest of them, since I have the whole treasury. Look here, I'm sitting really close to Jesus, so they can't suspect me. There's no need to worry about my true nature being revealed, because my secret is mine alone."

Who was the betrayer at the table? Well, of course we know. It was Judas, but no one else knew it that day, except for our Lord Jesus. And he was just about ready to expose that sinful character that was sitting at the table with all the rest.

               Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it.
               And when He had dipped the sop, He gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of
               Simon. (John 13:26)

Jesus took a piece of bread, and sopped it, and then handed it to Judas.
I'd be willing to bet that you could have heard a crumb hit the floor at that moment.
Come back tomorrow to finish this with us, if you will . . .

John 13:18-30 Which one of us?

       I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill this passage of Scripture: ‘He who shared my bread has turned against me.’
¹⁹ “I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am who I am. ²⁰ Very truly I tell you, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.”
²¹ After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, “Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.”
²² His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant. ²³ One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. ²⁴ Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, “Ask him which one he means.”
²⁵ Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?”
²⁶ Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. ²⁷ As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.
So Jesus told him, “What you are about to do, do quickly.” ²⁸ But no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. ²⁹ Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the festival, or to give something to the poor. ³⁰ As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.

There are some words in our English language that just make us feel bad. They sound bad. They sound negative. Words like deceit. Violate. Untrustworthy. Betrayal. We'd rather close our eyes and turn away, right?
None of us like that word "betray." I'm guessing that there is really no worse feeling in the world than to know that someone you thought you knew, and that you thought you could truly trust, has violated that trust. When someone turns against you, you can scarcely breathe; you're stunned. You didn't think they would betray you. But they have. Have you experienced that?

When Jesus spoke the words in this passage, we can guess that all of the disciples were wondering who he was talking about. Probably each of them is glancing furtively at the others, checking to see if they are looking back at them. Is someone accusing them? How could they think that? I wonder if it is him? If we are again spectators in the room, we have to admit that this is an elite group. These were men that Jesus hand-picked; these were they who would be the leaders of the New Testament church. Surely they were above suspicion, above doubt. Could it be one of them? Or, more to the point, as the disciples looked around the room at each other, "Which one of us?" "Surely it cannot be me." Even Judas asked the question, trying to put up a front, that he was like the others . . . but he was about to be exposed.

Oops. Kinda getting ahead of myself there. Let's look at some of these fellows . . .

Remember Simon Peter? What is his nickname? The Rock. Hey, he says, you know it can't be me; I'm a charter member of the group! I've actually been with Jesus longer than any of you others. I'm not just a good man -- Jesus called me a rock, and it wasn't because I'm dumb, either. It means you can count on me when the chips are down. And I'm the bodyguard for this group; I'll fight when needed. Jesus knows that even if all of you left Him, I'd still be here. (Of course, we won't mention to Simon Peter that in a few hours he will eat those words.....)

How about James? He is in the inner circle, so to speak, of Peter, John, and himself. They are the most privileged, the closest to Jesus. They have seen more, have learned more, have been with Jesus more . . . and in the days to come they will see more than anyone else. James says, Well, I'm a faithful servant, and Jesus knows that I will sacrifice anything that I have for Him.  So he is asking, too, "Which one of us?"

Hmmmm. We come to John next, who was called the "beloved disciple." Our verses say that he leaned on Jesus and asked Him, "Lord, Who is it?"  John is wondering, how can it be me? I am closest to Jesus, and He knows how much I love Him. Why would I betray the Lord? Even now, I am the only one in the room who is close enough to Jesus to talk to Him face to face and ask Him. But, am I capable of betraying my best friend and Master? Am I?

Andrew is sitting there with the rest. As he looks about, he is thinking, no way! Not me! My mama named me Andrew, and that means "manly" and I am a man's man. I have integrity. I'm not a sissy. Never, never would I betray him . . . at least I don't think I would. Could something happen to make me do it?

Then there is Phillip. He says, I'll admit I have questioned things before. I've had trouble with this faith thing. I can't help it; it's just the way I'm made. I like to have things logical and ordered. But just because I ask questions and want proof doesn't mean I would betray Him. No! It just can't be me!

Have any of these followers of Jesus sounded a little like us? If we look into our own hearts, is it possible that we could betray our Lord?
Let's pick this up again tomorrow . . .

Verses that inspire

Verses that inspire us are like gems along our pathway . . . if we are walking too fast, or not paying attention, we may miss them!

But if we are focused on our Bible study, and waiting for the Spirit to show us what we need, we will learn and grow.

Take a moment to tell others of a verse that has inspired you lately. Perhaps it has energized you for taking on obstacles in your life. Perhaps instead it has comforted you.

Whatever the significance, let others be inspired, too. Comment if you have time, and tell us which verse has meant much to you.

This helped me through a stressful time recently:
          
                         I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the
                        world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the
                        world.  John 16:33

Dirty feet, conclusion

We're concluding our study of John 13:1-17 today, and we will focus on what Jesus has taught us. There's been so much here -- I know I have learned a lot, and I'm about to run out of bandaids for my toes, too! Let's dive in!

In this passage, everything comes to a standstill when Jesus asks this question: "Do you understand what I have done for you?"
Have you ever been asked a pointed question, and not had a ready answer? You wish there was a quick answer on the tip of your tongue, but instead you look at the questioner like a deer in headlights, and perhaps stammer something  . . . all the while you are cringing, because you know it's not the "right" answer, or at least not as full an answer as you need to give.

The significance of this passage is just soaking into my wee brain. It goes way beyond just getting our dirty feet clean of the dust and crud of this world. It goes way beyond being washed, literally and spiritually. It even goes beyond the fact that Jesus meets our needs.
When Jesus comes into our lives, first He loves us. Then He receives us, and then He meets our needs. And many times, people just get stuck there.
They think, that's what this is all about . . . getting my needs met, getting my feet washed, and my sins cleansed.
Whoa, pardner! That's not all.
It's about a personal transformation, of both our character and our way of thinking. It's about becoming something different -- it's about becoming a servant, like Jesus.

             "I have set you an example that you should do as I have done
              for you." (v 15)

             "Freely you have received, freely give." (Matthew 10:8b)

If our experience in God is simply about ourselves, only about ourselves, then we have missed the boat -- BIG TIME!!! It has sailed away, foghorn blaring, and we aren't even there on the dock. That is just how badly we have missed the boat!  While it is true that the greatest human tragedy is for a person to never receive Christ and His mercy, this is also true: it is the second greatest human tragedy for a person to experience Christ's love and grace, but never translate that into service toward others.
Think about it.
There are depths in God, in His grace and peace, that are only found when we serve others. It seems counter-intuitive, and the natural mind can't really understand it.
We can.
We know in our hearts that it truly is more blessed, more joyful, more satisfying to give than to receive.
I read this anecdote and thought it fit our study today:

                  A wealthy American traveler tells the story of how he was visiting a
                 hospital in southeast Asia. He entered the ward just as a young missionary
                 nurse was cleaning the sores of a sick, dirty, elderly man who had been
                 lying in the gutter. The wealthy man said to the nurse, "I wouldn't do that
                 for a million dollars."  She answered him quietly and firmly, "Neither
                 would I."

What is it that changes people into servants? If you asked people on the street, you would get answers all over the place.
Here is the truth in a nutshell: it is the love of Christ in our hearts that makes us feet washers.

Look again at verse 14, and let Jesus tell us:

            "Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should
              wash one another's feet."

What is He saying to us? He means that we need to humble ourselves and get down where the need is, and do something about it. Not look at the need and say that someone else really should do something about it. Ours is a different culture, to be sure. The need is not to wash feet. But there are many practical needs all around us, and if we are to be foot washers, we need to see those needs and do something about them.

Of course, it is much easier to talk about service, or to think about it, or to listen to a sermon about serving others -- then to actually do service for others.
But the blessing, the joy, and the happiness is not found in the thinking, or the talking or hearing about it. We find joy, peace and happiness in actually doing it!

Let's look around us. Is there a need that we can meet? Is there someone near us who needs his or her feet washed? Some practical service that could make that person's burden lighter? Could shine the light of our testimony for Christ into their life?

I pray that God will give us two things: that He will open our eyes to dirty feet, and that He will give us hearts willing to wash them!