John 20

Something that stuck out to me as I read today was the difference between John's faith and Thomas' doubting.

After recording his win over Peter in the race to the tomb for all of history to read, John writes that when he saw the empty tomb, he believed. At that moment, he believed what Jesus had said about having to die and be raised up.

Later on however we read about Thomas, who wouldn't believe unless he saw the risen Jesus and could put his finger through the holes in his hands.

At times we all want to "see something" to help us believe, what we usually want is to see something big, something miraculous. But Jesus said: “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.”

John's faith wasn't blind, there was evidence of the resurrection, Jesus wasn't there, but he hadn't seen Jesus yet.

In the same way, we have evidences of God at work in our own lives, sometimes we don't recognize it, like Thomas wouldn't recognize the facts and testimonies of the other disciples, but if we apply faith to them, we will see God's miracles in our own lives.

Week 2

Two weeks and one book of the bible down! How's it going for everybody? There's a lot to cover in these chapters. A few things that stuck out to me this week was:

Unity. Jesus was very concerned with his disciples being one. In Chapter 13, after washing his disciples feet he gives them a new commandment.
³⁴ So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. ³⁵ Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.
The world will know that we are Christians by the love we have for each other. Did you ever think that the way you associate with your Christian friends could impact your non-Christian friends? Now that you know this, will it change the way you treat your Christian friends?
This was extremely important to Jesus. In chapter 17 Jesus prays to the father for the unity of His followers.
²⁰ “I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. ²¹ I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.
It's through our unity with one another and Christ that the world will believe in Jesus. There's a lot to be said about this. We can tell people about Jesus and the great gift he has given us, but the message won't carry much weight if our lives don't reflect the truth we're sharing. Especially in our culture where most people know about Jesus and what he did. This is what James was talking about when he wrote that faith without works is dead. Living the gospel out as we share Jesus with others however will show the world that Jesus does save and change lives. Changed life is the result of having faith in Jesus, and unity, or love for each other is part of the changed life.


Joel

Week 1

In week 1 we covered John 1-10. There's so much to talk about in these chapters. Some of the passages that stuck out to me were John 1:1-14 John really gets to the point in declaring Jesus as God. One of the truths we learn here is that there is only one God, but that the essence of God is in three separate and distinct beings. This idea is commonly called the Trinity. It's not easy for us to understand, but if God were so small that I could understand him, he wouldn't be God.

Another passage I liked was all of chapter 3. When I was younger I thought much like Nicodemus. I thought that I had to do a list of things to please God. Thankfully, God saved me and showed me that it's by faith that we please Him and only by faith in Jesus that we are saved from the effects of sin and death, not to mention hell...

There's so much more, the woman at the well, the many of Jesus' miracles ect... What stuck out to you? Is there any thing you learned this week in your reading? share with us here.

Joel

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