Key Verse: Acts 5:20 “Go, stand in the temple courts’, he said, ‘and tell the people the full message of this life!'” (NIV)

If you haven’t said it yourself, you’re probably heard it said, “I’d just love to see one miracle! One would be enough. Then I’d be convinced; then I’d be sure…” Well, suppose we not only saw one miracle, but several, scores even — and what’s more, we were the miracle workers! What a wonder just to see them, do them, and to see the work they were accomplishing in the lives of afflicted human beings. We’d have such a sense of ministry, blessing and, yes, such a sense of significance.

But there would be a danger; too. The danger of distraction. Am I suggesting that miracles might deter the miracle worker from something of higher priority? Yes, I am. Before you get defensive, look at chapter five again. First, look at verses 12-16.

The apostles were doing a great job. As the Holy Spirit enabled them, they were performing “many miraculous signs and wonders among the people” (v.12a). In fact, just the impact of Peter’s shadow was enough to see the sick healed. Evil spirits were being defeated, and “more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number” (v.14). But then they were thrown in jail again –just in time for another miracle.

This time it was an angelic jailbreak. Look at verses 17-21a. What a vindication! I can just hear Peter saying something like “Praise God! He wants us back in Solomon’s Colonnade performing more miracles!”

“No, that’s not exactly what we had in mind,” says the angel, “what we want you to do is, ‘tell the people the full message of this new life'” (v.20) Miracles, as great as they are, are only part of the story. The  apostles got the point, “they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people” (v.21). Miracles were not to be the focus. Teaching Jesus was to be the focus; free from distraction.

Key Verse: Acts 4:20 “For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” (NIV)

The trouble started the afternoon Peter and John went up to the temple to pray. Until now they had enjoyed “the favour of all the people” (2:47). But then a crippled beggar called out to them for money. They were broke — but they did give him something. “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth”, they commanded him to get those crippled legs in motion and walk. And he did…to the amazement of the whole city! Now the polarization began.

The people, of course, were astonished to see this well-known beggar walking. There he was! Walking and holding on to Peter and John. As they gathered around, Peter and John began to preach. Their sermon was very up-front and candid. Peter accused the people of disowning “the Holy and Righteous one” and handing Him over to Pilate to be killed. He graciously gave them an out by saying they had “acted in ignorance”, but then went on to say that God had used the crucifixion events to fulfil prophecy. He then called them to repentance. Even as he spoke of the power of the resurrection, the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees” seized Peter and John, and threw them into jail. Once again the city was divided by the message and work of Jesus, but five thousand more believers were added to the church.

The next day, Peter and John were questioned by the High Priest, his family, and other high officials. The question was, “By what power or what name did you do this?” (4:7). Peter replied, “It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you completely healed” (4:10). The officials, angry as they were, could say nothing — for the healed beggar was standing right there for everyone to see. so they threatened Peter and John and let them go. Who can argue with eyewitnesses? Especially when you’re one yourself!

Key Verse: Acts 2:42 “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.”

One of the key factors in the success of the early church was the uncontested fact of the resurrection. I say “uncontested” in terms of the believers themselves and the incontrovertible evidence of Jesus’ appearances over a period of forty days after the resurrection. Don’t forget that the disciples had deserted Jesus when He needed them most, and had gone into hiding to avoid being crucified themselves as “collaborators”. It was to these men that Jesus “showed Himself…and gave many convincing proofs that He was alive” (1:3a). The ultimate post-resurrection appearance was His ascension. It was in this context that Jesus promised the advent of the Holy Spirit and power for witness throughout the world. Then the disciples heard the promise of the angels, even as Jesus disappeared, that He would “come back”.

These events, plus the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (ch. 2), provided fuel for a revolution. A revolution that was supported by a powerful four-point infrastructure: Teaching, Fellowship, Communion, Prayer. These were the building blocks of early church life.

The apostles’ teaching provided the substance vital to a living faith. Fellowship met the social needs of the community of faith. Communion meant remembrance — a broken body and shed blood providing a sin offering for our transgressions. And prayer was the corporate and individual line of communication with the everlasting Father.

It’s little wonder the church grew. In this fertile ground of committed teaching, fellowship, communion, and prayer, the Lord was able to add “to their number daily those who were being saved” (2:47)

Key Verse: John 20:28 “And Thomas answered and said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!'”

Arthur John Gossip writes, “That night that Christ came, Thomas had not been present. We do not know why. But is there not here a warning for us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together?  How much many miss, who make only an occasional, spasmodic, irregular appearance at the worship of God in his house! ‘For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them’, so Christ promises (Mt. 18:20). And sometimes surely had they been there, to them, too, He would have appeared!” (Interpreters Bible, Vol. 8, p. 798).

John has already presented Thomas to us as fatalistically daring (11:16) and bluntly skeptical (14:5). He was pragmatic and honest. He wasn’t about to be caught up in the hysteria and the unreal imaginings of a distraught and devastated group of cloistered disciples. Yes, he was disappointed, bitterly so, just like the rest of them. But he was not going to be party to a delusive reconstruction of Jesus. He was dead, period. so let’s accept that and get real. The sooner we can get on with life, the better.

Frankly, I identify with Thomas. He cherished the truth.

And the Truth cherished him. A week later; Jesus made a gracious concession to Thomas’ skepticism. “Put your finger here, and see My hands; and put out your hand, and place in it My side; do not be faithless, but believing” (20:27). Thomas’ response is the response of the Church, “My Lord and my God!”

Church history tells us Thomas was the one disciple who travelled the farthest to a martyr’s grave. In so doing, he brought the message of the risen Saviour to the sub-continent of India. Thank God for Thomas!

Key Verse: John 19:38b (NIV) “Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews.”

After recording the events of the crucifixion and the touching scene around the foot of the cross, when Jesus entrusts His mother to John’s keeping and care, John tells us about the burial. We might have expected the twelve disciples to come out of hiding, convicted in heart of their cowardice in deserting Jesus, and take the body down from the cross. Instead, we see two heretofore secret disciples, and the most unlikely candidates for the task.

Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, both members of the Sanhedrin, and the two of all Jesus’ disciples with the most to lose, courageously and lovingly declared their allegiance on that fateful day. They were secret believers. Nicodemus was the one who had come to see Jesus under the cover of night, and one wonders if Joseph had not had a similar nocturnal interchange with Jesus.  Somehow they had connected for obviously they had planned, however quickly, what they should do about the burial. They had also counted the cost. Their positions with the Sanhedrin were forfeit if they identified publicly with the crucified Christ. Their influence, status, and even most of their long-term friendships were shot. They were about to enter a social wasteland.

They worked hurriedly, for the Sabbath was almost upon them. As the sun sank into the western sky, they took Christ’s body down from the cross, suffering ritual defilement as they touched the dead flesh. They wrapped Him in strips of cloth, packing between each layer the burial spices Nicodemus had brought. Then, with their own hands, they carried their Master to Joseph’s own grave. Gently and sorrowfully, they laid Him there. As the sun disappeared, it seemed all hope disappeared with it. The two grieving brothers slowly walked away.

Nicodemus and Joseph were outstanding men in terms of their public profile, but were retiring in their faith. They “feared the Jews”. Like you and me they shied away from the cost of discipleship; at least, they had done so most of the time. But now they acted differently, when it was toughest. It is no great matter, declared Cardinal Newman, that we obey the Master in the ninety and nine cases where to do so is easy. The real test for us lies in the hundredth case, where it is hard.

Jesus, our Saviour and Lord, is able to empower us to do what we never thought possible. Nicodemus and Joseph know all about that.

Key Verse: John 17:26 “I have made You known to them, and will continue to make You known…”

Chapter 17 is known as Jesus’ “High Priestly Prayer” for His disciples. It gives special insight into Jesus’ assessment of His own ministry. It also helps us see what He expected of His Father in terms of the ongoing life of the church-to-be.

First, let’s look at Jesus’ self-assessment. What did He do? It shouldn’t surprise us that the number one thing Jesus did was to make the Father glorious on earth. “I have brought You glory…” (v.4). How? By “completing the work You gave Me to do.” In other words, by obedient action.

Then, Jesus revealed the Father “to those whose You gave Me” (v.6). To put it another way, Jesus uncovered God to the disciples (that’s what “revelation” means: “to uncover”). In doing so, He “gave them the words You gave Me” (v.8). The uncovering was consistent with the Word of the Father. It was God’s Word. This is what Jesus did and what Jesus was. He was God’s Word even as He spoke God’s words.

But Jesus also had expectations of His Father. He asks Him to protect them (vss. 11b,15). He asks Him to “sanctify them by the truth…” (v.17) and to bring them “to complete unity” (v.23). He wants them to dwell in God (v.21).

Then Jesus makes a promise. He says He will “continue to make You [the Father] known” to the disciples (v.26). He will continue to uncover God so that the emerging Church will be drenched in an overflowing knowledge of God. Christianity will not be static, but dynamic: ever growing “from faith to faith” and in the “grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.” This growth however, will be rooted in the solid soil of the Word of God. The living Word will always be the focus of the written word. The word will reveal the Word, and the Word will reveal the Father.

Key Verse: John 15:7 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.”

I’m afraid a lot of us see God as a celestial errand-boy. He’s there to do our will, meet our needs. And some of us have adopted various “get-what-you-want” systems. We think we know how to manipulate Him: all you need is to master the right praise system or prayer system and the magic button reveals itself — push and enjoy. And to add fuel to our fire, we quote half truths, or whole truths out of context. For instance, “…ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” But we ignore the great qualifier.

“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you…”, This is the great qualifier. God is not a giving us a carte blanche. Our will must conform with God’s will or there is no deal. Our desire must spring out of His desire, and His desire is that we “bear much fruit”, thereby glorifying that “Father” (v.8). Fruitfulness is the litmus test. God’s glory is the chief end.

There are other qualifiers in this chapter. For instance, “You are My friends if you do what I command” (v.14). Or, “If you obey My commands, you will remain in My love…” (v.10). And what is Jesus’ command? “My command is this: love each other as I have loved you” (v.12). The Lord isn’t looking for religious people, or holy voters — He’s looking for disciples — people who make Him glorious before the world.

I suppose the reminder that always bears repeating is this: we serve God, He doesn’t serve us. He loves us with an everlasting love, and sent His Son to die for our sins, but He will never let us reduce Him to a means of achieving our own ends. In fact, when our faith becomes a way of getting our way, we’ve become heretics.

Jesus is Lord. He calls the shots.

Key Verse: John 14:2 “I go to prepare a place for you.”

The death of a loved one always catches us off guard. We may have known for months that the tumour was malignant and our loved one was living with a six month sentence; but when the moment of death occurs, we’re not as ready for it as we thought.

The next few days are a flurry of activity — phone calls to relatives and friends, visits to the undertaker, visits from those same relatives and friends, family meetings, and finally the funeral itself. After the interment, there’s usually a social time, lots of tears, scores of pledges to keep in touch, “if there’s anything I can do, don’t hesitate to call”, and then the crunch. Walking into that empty room; seeing those clothes still hanging in the closet; expecting to see him/her in their favourite chair. But the worst thing for many is seeing that empty place at the breakfast table. They’re not there: they’ve left their place.

But, as far as God is concerned, they’ve taken their place. Our loss is heaven’s gain. Jesus said, “I’m going to prepare a place for you.”

“A place for you.” Isn’t that a wonderful thing! It affirms our individuality. It affirms God’s providence. It affirms Jesus’ power and purpose in and for our lives. It affirms hope.

Think back. So much of what you are today is the product of “places” you have occupied over the years. That bedroom. That treehouse. That cottage. That desk. Places that have imprinted your indelibly for a lifetime — positively and/or negatively.

What a joy to know there is one place none of us have seen yet; and it’s the most important place of all. We will bear its imprint for eternity. And Jesus is the designer and builder!

It’ll be a masterpiece!

Key Verse: John 13:16 “…a servant is not greater than his master…”

I think most of us have the instinctive ability to discern between the merely obsequious and the purely altruistic. Huh? How’s that again? What I mean is, we can usually tell when someone is being self-serving even while appearing to be serving us. And we can tell when someone is helping us purely for our sake, with no ulterior motive. In most cases, the altruistic person is ministering from a position of strength; not physical, mental, or financial strength, necessarily, but from moral strength. However shy, retiring, or self-effacing they may appear to be, there is a deep inner security characterizing their private world. They have moral fibre rooted in spiritual peace.

Notice the foundation of inner strength out of which Jesus ministered in this chapter — He “knew that the Father had put all things under His power, and that He had come from God and was returning to God…” (v.3). Jesus had nothing to prove and nothing to gain by washing His disciples’ feet; but He did have a lesson to teach. Because He was their Master and Lord, His disciples would never be able to justify a superior attitude to the masses who would embrace Christianity over the succeeding centuries. Jesus had assumed the most lowly posture in washing His disciples’ feet; for the remainder of the world’s history, no Christian leader could afford to do less.

So we don’t serve to get; we serve to give. Rather than striving, we rest in the confidence that we are loved. God has committed Himself to us, and He never backs down from what He has promised His children.

Key Verse: John 12:43 “…they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.”

The Sanhedrin was the ruling council of Jerusalem. They were Pharisees of high education, wealth and reputation who acted as judges, or rulers, over the Jewish people. Under the high priest, they acted as a sort of “Supreme Court”, meeting from time to time as the situation warranted. In this chapter we read that “many even among the rulers believed” in Jesus. But they did so secretly, because their political survival depended on “the praise of men more than the praise of God.”

Jesus warned these secret yet timorous believers, “When a man believes in Me, he does not believe in Me only, but the One who sent Me. I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in Me should stay in darkness. As for the person who hears My words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. There is a judge for the one who rejects Me and does not accept My words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day” (vss. 44-48 NIV). No doubt, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, both members of the Sanhedrin, were listening.

These two men must have gone through months of soul-searching. Like Christian politicians of today, they must have debated within themselves, or perhaps even together, as to whether they should outwardly vote with the party against their hearts in order to remain in a position to influence the system slowly and subtly, or whether they should openly declare their convictions and risk being voted out of power, thus nullifying their “salt and light” influence.

Nicodemus and Joseph finally decided to be “salt and light” outside of the political arenas. For it was they who, just a few days later, publicly identified with the crucified Christ — lovingly taking Him down from the cross, anointing His body for burial, and laying Him to rest in Joseph’s own family sepulchre. They lost their earthly power but gained a heavenly kingdom.

Key Verse: John 11:50 “…it is expedient for you that one man should die for the people…”

The raising of Lazarus from the dead was the final straw. The religious authorities were running scared. “If we let him go on like this…the Romans will come and take away our place (temple) and our nation”, they cried (v.48). Especially threatened was the high priestly clique. As long as there was no messianic movement attracting the attention of Rome, the high priest and this “country” were virtually in charge of Jerusalem and the rich temple income, but an hit of political insurrections would end this comfortable situation. Jesus was now a political threat. He was a people mover and , indeed, a People Movement — a threat to the status quo. So Caiaphas, the hight priest, decided the time to act had come. What he said was incitement to murder, but it seemed the only alternative. Jesus had to die.

“You do not realize”, Caiaphas said to the Sanhedrin, “that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.” John, the writer of this book, makes an editorial comment, “He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one” (vss.51,52). Caiaphas was making an unconscious prophecy that Jesus would die for both Jew and Gentile. His incitement to murder was unknowingly a bold declaration of the purpose of God.

John would put it another way in another place, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

Key Verse: John 9:25b “I was blind but now I see!”

What a great story we read in chapter nine! Let me summarize it. Jesus is walking along and sees a man who was born blind. The disciples ask a question typical of orthodox religion of the time, “Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answers, “Nobody sinned here.” This offended the disciples’ religious sensibilities, you can be sure!

He then goes through a little ritual of spit and mud and orders the blind man to find his way to the pool of Siloam. Onlookers must have felt some pity for this poor guy tottering down to the pool with his face disfigured by the mud. “Maybe he’s gone off the deep end”, some of them may have though. But he did what Jesus commanded, and he “came home seeing”, although he had yet to see his healer.

Then follows a series of discussions, interviews, and confrontations between the man and his religious superiors. The Pharisees (remember, they were the ancient equivalent of a lot of us orthodox evangelicals!) are so obtuse as to discredit the miracle because it happened on the Sabbath. The parents are brought into it, but they remain neutral, because they don’t want to be thrown out of the synagogue over any Jesus Christ controversy. In the middle of it all is a man who had never seen but now sees. He’s so stubborn in insisting on seeing and refusing to bad-mouth Jesus, that finally he is thrown out of the synagogue.

Then the man gets to meet his healer, face to face, eye to eye. At first he didn’t recognize Jesus. How could he? But there must have been something about Jesus’ voice or His touch. “Lord, I believe”, the man says, and “worships” Jesus.

What was Jesus’ assessment of it all? “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind” (v.39). Let’s never think ourselves beyond need. If we do, we may find that our “guilt remains” (v.41).