| By Andy Moyle | 3 mins 56 secs | 0 Comments
The Spirit and Prayer Two things jump out at me in this passage: 1) Jesus needed to go back to heaven once His work was finished so that Spirit could come. 2) The strong encouragement of the power of prayer, which seems a little frustrating as I don’t get everything I ask for! Holy Spirit […]
| By Andy Moyle | 2 mins 24 secs | 0 Comments
A change of perspective The first part of today’s reading is about the vine and branches, and remaining in Christ. There’s a change of salvation-history perspective from the old covenant to the new. Old Israel gives way to Jesus and under this fresh new covenant revelation, ‘servants’ gives way to ‘friends’ – v15. The imagery […]
| By Andy Moyle | 3 mins 5 secs | 0 Comments
Eleven truths Almost every sentence in this passage has a depth of truth and revelation that is mind blowing. Here are 11 power packed truths from today’s reading: 1) There’s a room for you (v.1). Don’t be anxious, because Jesus has go-ahead to prepare the rooms for us. The Father’s house refers to heaven and […]
| By Andy Moyle | 1 min 50 secs | 0 Comments
The one Jesus loved As Judas was preparing to leave to betray Jesus, there is the curious phrase – “the disciple whom Jesus loved”. It’s John, the author of the Gospel, and it’s how he often describes himself in the Gospel. Is it arrogance? Does it reflect poorly on Jesus for favouritism? I don’t think […]
| By Andy Moyle | 1 min 36 secs | 0 Comments
Predestined and Responsible! At the time some believed because of the signs Jesus did, but many Jews rejected Him. The large scale rejection of the Messiah by the Jews, to whom the prophetic Scriptures about Him were written, requires some explanation. The Christian answer, articulated by the Apostle Paul in Roman 9:9-11 and by John […]
| By Andy Moyle | 1 min 50 secs | 0 Comments
The Son of Man must die, to reign forever The crowds in Jerusalem leading up to the Passover feast were huge. Josephus, writing of events 30 years later, described a crowd of 2.7 million people. The crowd around Jesus are coming to see Him enter Jerusalem. Like Maccabees nearly 200 years before, it’s a triumphal […]
| By Andy Moyle | 1 min 57 secs | 0 Comments
The poor you will always have The passage starts with yet more religious leaders’ self-interest. Jesus’ ministry is going to mean they will lose their place and their nation. They, like Judas later in the passage, are interested in profiting from religion and their status. This is in marked contrast to John the Baptist who […]
| By Andy Moyle | 2 mins 55 secs | 0 Comments
Come forth! Today’s reading is one of the more well-known passages in the gospels – the raising of Lazarus. Jesus is very clear that Lazarus is, in fact, dead – and John is careful in his telling to make sure we have no doubt about this fact. He mentions specifically that Lazarus had been in […]
| By Andy Moyle | 2 mins 32 secs | 0 Comments
My sheep The Feast of Dedication was not prescribed by God in the Scripture. Better known today as Hanukkah, it was instituted by the Jewish Priest Maccabees in 165BC, to celebrate the re-dedication of the temple after it had been desecrated by Antiochus Epiphanes. So nationalistic tensions would have been running high and the desire […]