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JOHN CHAPTER 13 KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel See previous page Jn 13,1-17 (14n) Servant >> Ministry of helps >> Helpers take the last place as a better service to you -- Jesus knew His hour had come, that He would soon depart from this world and go back to the Father. Faithfulness is one of the fruits of the Spirit. Satan had already been working in Judas Iscariot to betray the Lord, knowing that the Father had given into His hand heaven and earth and all mankind, yet Jesus rose from the supper table and laid aside His garments, and taking a towel He girded Himself and became a servant to His disciples. When He came to Simon Peter, he refused to let the Lord wash his feet, knowing he was unworthy, but Jesus told Him that if He didn’t wash, Peter would have no part with Him. Then Peter the zealot wanted the Lord to wash his hands and his heard, suggesting that Peter had some bad thoughts that translated into actions, but Jesus said, "He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean, and you are clean, but not all of you." He was speaking about Judas Iscariot who was about to betray Him. The Holy Spirit had already cleansed Peter, represented by baptism, but he had since soiled his feet with dust carrying the gospel. Dirt represents sin, and we Christians do sin, and occasionally we need to wash our feet. Being born of God the Holy Spirit has cleansed us, but not all of us, for there will always be wolves and false brethren in assembly with us. Judas was not clean, because there was no faith in him, though he walked with Jesus and witnessed innumerable miracles. Jn 13-1 (2c) Responsibility >> Avoid offending God >> Keep your commitments >> Complete God’s calling in your ministry >> Christ did as our example (87c) Thy kingdom come >> Obedience >> Jesus obeyed all the Father’s will (102b) Loyalty (Key verse) (102m) Thy kingdom come >> Faithfulness (Loyalty) >> Loyalty is unswerving – Jesus loved even Judas to the very end. It is one thing for Him to be loyal to His faithful disciples who loved Him in return, but it is another thing to be loyal to those who were unfaithful to Him. He did not abandon Judas; Judas abandoned Him, who was incapable of true repentance. God required His Son to be loyal to those who were unfaithful to Him, yet this is not something God has required us to do. For example, if our spouse is unfaithful, we have the God given right to divorce her/him, and if someone in the Church sins and refuses to repent, we are instructed to remove the wicked man from among ourselves (1Cor 5-13). After someone has been unfaithful to us, there is a good chance he will continue that behavior, and so what is the point of being in a marriage like that, or coddling unrepentant sinners in the Church? Value in life is defined by our faithfulness and loyalty to our commitments. In the Church when someone is sinning against the brethren and injuring the saints and refusing to repent, we show him the door, telling him that he is not welcome as a member of the body of Christ unless he repents. Only then do we allow him to return with a full pardon. Nevertheless, Jesus was loyal to Judas who was unfaithful to Him, and He did it for the sake of His Father, who has experienced this abuse ever since He created man. After Jesus proved Himself loyal to His disciples while He lived with them in the flesh, how much more loyal is He now that He has ascended to the Father and is ministering to us in the Spirit? Jesus said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you” (Heb 13-5); that makes Him both faithful and loyal even if we are unfaithful to Him. (165g) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Do not partake of the world >> Be in the world but not of the world (170g) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Outward appearance >> Temporary >> This life is temporary (210b) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Jesus is our sacrifice >> Jesus goes to the cross willingly (213j) Sovereignty >> God is infinite >> Jesus owns you >> His will becomes our will >> As a master owns a servant Jn 13-2 (21c) Sin >> Disobedience >> Unfaithful (158a) Works of the devil >> Excerpts of the greatest verses of this chapter – Sitting around the table at the Last Supper, Jesus' most intimate moments with His disciples, the devil was present. However, he was not present at the teaching of the gospel of John, chapters 13-17 that He spoke after supper. Judas by then had already gone to betray Him. How then can we expect more from our own congregations? When we as a church have an intimate moment with God, we can expect devils among us, but the deep truths of God will not surface until they leave. Judas was unable to work whenever he was around Jesus, and so his hands were tied as he sat at the table, being the reason Jesus fed him instead of taking the morsel himself (Jn 13-26). The moment he received the morsel he went to do the will of Satan, and so we could almost say that he betrayed the Lord because of the Last Supper. He intended to betray Him, but he was waiting for an opportune time, so why was the Last Supper the right time? The devil is an unbeliever, and there is nothing that incites the devil more than Christ being intimate with His people. There was another reason Judas betrayed Him then; he felt very much rejected by the group and by the Lord Himself, though he was not mistreated or interrogated or accused, verbally or nonverbally. Spiritually he was rejected in that he had no part in what was taking place there, being why he left. Jesus’ plan and purpose did not matter to Judas. The other disciples didn’t understand His plan either, but they were open to whatever it was He was doing. Jesus told them point blank many times exactly what was about to happen, and none of them could hear what he said, because they didn’t want to believe it, that He would be rejected by the chief priests and the elders and be flogged and crucified and on the third day rise again (Mat 26-2; Mk 8-31; Lk 9-22,44; Mk 10,32-34; Lk 18,31-33). Jesus was the spotless Lamb of God who was slain from the foundation of the world, and through faith in Him was forgiveness of sin. This never occurred to any of them, except possibly Judas, not that Jesus would become the sacrificial lamb but that He would be crucified. Judas was more open to the probability that the forces of this world were closing on Jesus, and He would be arrested, prosecuted and sentenced to death, but to the other disciples this was unfathomable that such a fate would befall their Master whom they had come to love and adore. (185l) Works of the devil >> The result of lawlessness >> Blasphemy >> Unwilling to obey the revelation from heaven >> Unwilling to walk in God’s freedom -- This verse goes with verse 18 KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 13,3-17 (5d) Responsibility >> Advocate God’s cause >> Disciples are servants – The water of foot-washing represents repentance from daily sins, while the water of baptism represents repentance from an entire past life of sin. We humble our flesh to serve one another. Foot-washing is performed by our fellow saints, suggesting that we help one another remain in a state of repentance. These are ceremonies only; neither baptism nor foot-washing removes any sin, but are mere symbols of repentance. Foot-washing illustrates that we get our feet dirty in this world. Dirt represents sin, and foot-washing is the answer to that, not for the one whose feet are dirty but for the one who washes them. That is, the foot-washing ceremony is more for the washer than the one getting washed, in that 1Pet 4-8 says, "Love covers a multitude of sins." Jesus commanded us to be perfect, so this is our standard, and we are to pursue it, though no one will attain it. We saved a bucket of water from our baptism to wash feet, which represents more than “the removal of dirt from the flesh [1Pet 3-21], but an appeal to God for a good conscience.” We cleansed our entire body once as a distinct ceremony, but foot-washing is routinely performed to remove the accidental sins that we commit along the trail of good works. (5m) Responsibility >> Jesus’ yoke of obedience >> Our obligation to shepherd the flock (12l) Servant >> Jesus is the servant of man – The foot-washing ceremony reflects our role in the body of Christ as servants of one another. In the day, a person could not enter a house without first washing his feet, similar to taking off his shoes today. The foot-washing ceremony is all but non-existent, though communion has survived throughout the ages. No doubt the reason foot-washing has essentially gone extinct is that it depicts us as servants doing grunge work. Servanthood itself is sadly unpopular. In contrast, communion is a ceremony that depicts our association with Christ in relation to each other as brothers and sisters in the faith, portrayed as equals, which is a bit classier. It is good to commune with God and with each other, but being a servant is just as important, for it is our ministry, and without it there is virtually no communion with God. We commune with Him based on the things we have in common, and Jesus is the greatest servant of all. (13k) Servant >> Serve God though small in stature >> Greatest is the least – Jesus was not only the greatest man who ever lived, He was also the greatest servant of all, and His foot-washing lesson communicated that. People have an affinity to form classes, and then to preside over those classes. Foot-washing was designed to address this problem by making the statement that no one is too big to serve. Baptism and communion caught on, but foot-washing never did. We don’t wash each other’s feet because servanthood is not in our hearts. That is not to say if we were to start washing one another’s feet, we would become servants of one another; such changes originate from the heart. If we did incorporate servanthood in our behavior, the result would be unity. Often when there is a need, people rush to meet it. In that sense servanthood is still alive in the Church and even in the world in times of crisis, but true servanthood goes beyond mere heroism. Being a true servant is a state of being, which is true also of the fruits of the Spirit. (37i) Judgment >> Blood of Jesus >> He emptied Himself >> From equality with God to human frailty (43d) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Conform to the ministry of Christ’s Church – This passage is close to Lk 6-40, “A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher.” When we wash one another’s feet, we are performing the ministry of Christ. That doesn’t make us greater than Him, but we are like Him when we do it, restoring our brotherhood with Him in a spirit of gentleness, "each one looking to yourself, lest you too be tempted" (Gal 6-1). We are tempted to judge our brothers for the sins they have committed, comparing ourselves to them and assuming we would not do what they did. We are to put these attitudes behind us and restore our brother in a spirit of gentleness, because we are not greater than Jesus and neither are we better than our brother who soiled his feet. Rather, we resemble Jesus' gracious ministry and resemble our brother who sinned. (45f) Judgment >> Believer’s sin >> Through His Son >> Jesus absorbed sin of the Church (56ka) Paradox >> Opposites >> Least are greatest >> Least are the greatest servants -- These verses go with verses 23-26. T he Church has truncated foot-washing partly because people are not interested in serving one another, but there is another reason foot-washing has plunged into obscurity: it is no longer relevant as in the days of Jesus when people walked on dusty roads and wore sandals. Foot-washing back then was more than just a ceremony; there was a need for it. It was easier to wash someone else's feet than to wash your own, like back scratching; it was a service to one another. It doesn’t have a practical use anymore, except as a ceremony, but that doesn’t mean we should ignore it. (77i) Thy kingdom come >> Tapping into the power of God through humility >> The most humble are the greatest servants – For us to wash one another’s feet is just as effective as Jesus washing our feet, so we have the ministry of Christ in helping one another repent of their occasional sins. Paul said in Gal 6-1, “Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted.” We should be sure to change our clothes before we do a foot-washing, so we don’t get their sins on our good clothes, clothes representing our works. (103g) Thy kingdom come >> Purifying process >> Spirit like water >> Anointing cleanses you from the practice of sin (103k) Thy kingdom come >> Purifying process >> God purifies His church >> Jesus purifies His people – Jesus never gave His disciples opportunity to wash His feet, though His feet got dirty with the rest of them, yet the ceremony didn’t apply to Him, in that it indicates the sins that cling to our feet, and Jesus never sinned. He was an evangelist and taught His disciples the trade, and so the first and foremost application to foot-washing was to evangelism. Isaiah 52-7 says, “How lovely on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who announces peace and brings good news of happiness.” In the process of carrying the gospel into the world, we get our feet dirty by the inadvertent sins we commit along the way. We are fallible creatures; we talk to people about Jesus while we commit occasional sins, and this is an acceptable situation to God, doing the Lord’s work as sinners, knowing that the blood of Christ cleanses us from all unrighteousness (1Jn 1-9). Jesus said, “You are completely clean,” because of the blood that was shed for us; then He said, “but not all of you,” referring to Judas (and our feet), also regarding what we say and do. (114i) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Jesus does God’s work >> All His works are what the Father does (123l) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Love >> Spiritual affection >> Being in love with the body of Christ >> Affection of Christ (131g) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Unity >> Interdependence >> Serving one another – The Bible does not consider us sinners after we get saved, instead calls us saints. Consequently, the sins we commit after our salvation are incidental, though they contradict our faith and therefore should be avoided. It is not a coincidence that Jesus gave the job of foot-washing to our fellow saints, so that the brethren play a part in our repentance; that is, unity itself is one of the greatest deterrents of sin. Built into the framework of unity there is hope and vision, along with spiritual fellowship. Throw in foot-washing and we have an ensemble of tools we can use to protect ourselves and simultaneously mature the body. Nevertheless, we will continue to sin, though its quantity and toxicity will diminish as we grow in faith. Only God can forgive sin, yet we aid and facilitate the process of repentance, for unity gives incentive to serve God. Repentance is one of the great joys of Christianity, securing hope, knowing that our confidence in obtaining eternal life is made more sure (2Pet 1-19). KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 13,3-11 (208i) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Personal relationship >> Being the friend of God >> Having fellowship with God Jn 13,3-5 (113e) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> The anointing >> Heaven’s clothes >> Garments of the new creation – Note that we wear special clothes while performing the foot-washing ceremony. Jesus girded Himself with a towel, otherwise in the process of washing His disciples' feet His good clothes would have been soiled. Transferring dirt from our brothers and sisters to us is a normal part of helping them with their daily sins. This is a special ministry, which requires a special anointing. When we bear one another’s burdens as Paul said in Gal 6-1,2, we jump in the trenches and struggle with our fellow Christians and get dirty with them. However, we don’t get our real clothes dirty, but the loin cloth we used during the foot-washing ceremony that we can afterward remove and throw in the wash. Our regular clothes remain unsoiled, thus guarding our righteousness while helping others with their daily problems. Rev 19-8 says, “It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.” The fine linen represents our anointing that we protect from sin. Jn 13-3,4 (66g) Authority >> Jesus’ authority >> He owns everything from the father Jn 13-4,5 (58a) Paradox >> Opposites >> Master becomes the servant Jn 13,5-10 (2m) Responsibility >> Avoid offending God >> Get out of His way >> Let Him do His work (108b) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Balance between truth and error >> Jesus brings balance between truth and error (228k) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> God working in you >> God works in you to cleanse you Jn 13,6-10 (23a) Sin >> Pride closes the windows of heaven – If we develop an arrogant attitude and treat people inferior because they sinned, it is only a matter of time when the tables will turn because of our pride that we will need someone to restore us, and wouldn’t it be nice if they did it in a spirit of gentleness? It is inevitable that our pride will make us stumble. When we fall, it is not just our feet that get dirty; we will have to change our clothes. We can’t get re-baptized, but we can repent, yet we may have suffered irreparable damage to our reputation with others. It takes a long time to reestablish a reputation with people, because they tend to be slow to forget and forgive. If we secretly fall into sin we can repent and our reputation remains intact, but if we continue in sin, it taints our reputation among the brethren, and it takes a long time to rebuild trust and respect, and this is why the foot-washing ceremony is important. It represents to the one who sinned repentance; it represents grace and humility to the other. (77b) Thy kingdom come >> Hunger for the essence of God >> Hunger for His presence (193h) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Turn from sin to God >> Repent >> Repent from not renewing your mind – Jesus declared His disciples already clean before He went to the cross, because they believed in Him. Their forgiveness was retroactive, meaning that the cross was more likely forthcoming than releasing a ball and having it drop to the floor, that is, more sure than the physical laws that govern the creation. The works of his hands and the thoughts of his mind Peter realized needed cleaning, but it wasn’t necessary in their culture. The mind of man is not an environment that is conducive to the Holy Spirit, for our perspective is often distorted. God has His mind and we have ours, and the two rarely intersect, and so Peter had a point. He knew he needed to renew his mind, and what enters our mind exits our mouth, our hands and our feet. However, foot washing was necessary in ancient times, and that is why Jesus instituted it, in that people wore sandals and no socks, and throughout the day their feet got dirty from walking on a dirt road. They could wash their own hands, but washing their feet was a little harder, because they are a little farther away, and it would be convenient for someone to wash their feet for them. So, the foot washing ceremony had a practical value, though it never caught-on, because people refused to humble themselves and wash one another’s dirty feet. Even while carrying the good news from village to village they committed sin along the way, though they were doing the will of God. Jn 13-6,7 (108j) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Revelation of Jesus Christ >> Revelation of His righteousness Jn 13-7 (118d) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Seeing through the eyes of your spirit >> Real-eyes – Jesus washed the feet of His disciples, and Peter argued with Him, paraphrasing, ‘Don’t wash my feet; I should wash yours.’ Jesus was illustrating what His blood sacrifice would do for them. His blood, which later was depicted as the Holy Spirit, has a cleansing ability to purify His people from their daily sins. Also, Baptism illustrates, “the washing of water with the word” (Eph 5-26). Throughout the day, even while doing the will of God, we commit sins along the way, like feet in sandals that get dirty walking on a dusty trail. The foot washing ceremony illustrates this. We don’t need a bath; we don’t need to get baptized again; we only need our feet washed. Jesus told them that if He humbled Himself to wash the disciples’ feet, they should humble themselves and wash one another's feet, if not literally then figuratively. How do we figuratively wash each other’s feet? The Bible teaches us to confess our sins to one another. Our willingness to accept each other, knowing what we know about the brethren, is a type of foot washing. We wash each other’s feet by confessing our sins and forgiving each other. We offend the brethren when we sin against God, when we exempt ourselves from being examples of faith and love. In contrast, rising above our addictions and bondages encourages the brethren to keep following the Lord, but when we submit to sin, it encourages them to do the same. Foot washing represents all these things (Gal 6-1,2). (146l) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself >> Purpose of Miracles, Signs And Wonders >> Evidence to trust Him (175k) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Ignorance >> Ignorant of what God means >> Ignorant of the meaning of God’s works KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 13,8-11 (63a) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Righteous deception >> Jesus deceives His people Jn 13,8-10 (79e) Thy kingdom come >> Renewing your mind >> If you don’t, you won’t know truth – Jesus was alluding to baptism, when He said, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet” (v10). When a person is baptized, he goes under the water and the dirt is removed, and he emerges clean. The symbolism of water indicates the anointing (Jn 4,7-15), but He was also talking about one other thing that the water of baptism represents: the blood of Christ. Nobody wants to participate in a ceremony where people are dipped in blood; that would be gruesome and unhealthy, yet it is the blood of Jesus that cleanses us, which has brought about the water of anointing, so the two mean the same. Remember, when they shoved a spear in Jesus’ side, out came blood and water (Jn 19-34). His blood was already turning to water, representing the Holy Spirit that Christ would send in His place. Jesus said in Jn 7-38, “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'” The blood of Jesus saves us from sin while the water of anointing cleanses us from sin's evil desire. Jesus was saying that anybody who has undergone this ceremony does not need to bathe again, for baptism is a one-time ceremony, though there is an ongoing process of sanctification, depicted by foot-washing. (82h) Thy kingdom come >> Prayer >> Thankfulness >> Giving thanks for His mercy (103e) Thy kingdom come >> Purifying process >> God’s cleansing power >> cleansing of baptism (108a) Balance (Key verse) (111d) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Spirit and the word >> Water and the word (176g) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Zeal without knowledge (Spirit w/o the word) >> Intensity without insight – Peter was always falling from a lack of balance. On one end of the pendulum he said, “Never shall You wash my feet!” and on the other, “Not only my feet, but also my hands and my head.” There seemed to be no middle ground with this man or insight, until Jesus sent the Holy Spirit and clothed Peter with an anointing. This is when he found the sweet spot that gave him balance and insight. Christ Himself washed His disciples' feet, and the Holy Spirit has taken His place in this age of grace. The disciples bathed in the truth that Jesus spoke to them, cleansing them of their sins, because they believed in Him, but not all of them believed, namely Judas Iscariot. He heard all the same words, saw all the same miracles, but it all ricocheted off his stony heart. Judas never really heard the words Jesus spoke, his ears may have picked-up an audible voice, but his mind was not listening, so the meaning was never conveyed to a place in his heart where he could believe. Judas was thinking about life in a totally different way; he had his future mapped completely different from the other disciples; he was thinking about life in terms of dollars and cents, believing it would ultimately be his salvation. Judas Iscariot and Peter both could be described as having intensity without insight; they both denied the Lord, but the difference between them was defined by “faith”. This is how faith can change a person; though two men have done the same things and acted the same way, the fact that one had faith and the other didn’t means that in heart they had nothing in common. (176i) Extremes (Key verse) (176k) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> False doctrine >> Extremes >> Truth is never found in your thinking on either extreme of any subject (191c) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Separation from the old man >> Extract the leaven of hypocrisy (229k) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Partaking >> Partaking of Jesus’ ministry Jn 13-8 (217k) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> God’s will over man >> I never knew you >> Because you never received anything from Him Jn 13-10 (44e) Judgment >> Satan destroyed >> Transformed >> Completed by God (59g) Paradox >> Two implied meanings >> Not all of your body / Not all of the body of Christ – Judas Iscariot was filthy from head to toe, even though he had been baptized. Paul talked about faith being the active ingredient in our salvation, so if we get baptized outside of faith, it has no power to remove sin. In fact even by faith baptism has no power to remove sin; it is just a symbol of what God has done for us through faith in the blood of Christ. Jn 13,12-15 (66c) Authority >> Lordship of Christ >> Jesus is Lord of His people – If Jesus is Lord of His people and washed His disciples' feet and told us to do the same, then how could foot-washing become an obsolete ceremony, even forsaken? Jesus inaugurated this rite the same night He inaugurated communion, the night He was betrayed. One ceremony represents God’s service to us, and the other represents our service to each other. One ceremony we practice sometimes weekly, and the other we don’t practice at all. He never said one was more important than the other; we took it upon ourselves to truncate foot-washing, which represents serving one another, and look at the quality of service toward one another in the Church today; it is thoroughly lacking. We are willing to take communion because it represents receiving the grace of God, but when it comes to Christian service, we have simply bypassed it, even the ceremony that represents it. Jesus went to the cross for us, so we take communion because we like to be served, but when it is our turn to serve, suddenly the carousel stops turning. The attitude of a servant is what most lacks in the Church today; if we engendered an attitude of a service in the body of Christ, all our other problems would suddenly disappear, like a morning fog in the rising sun. If nothing else, this ceremony represents unity, that if we served one another, unity would be the result. KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 13,13-17 (130i) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Unity >> Accept one another >> Accepting the great and the small >> Great leaders accept small people (174a) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Man’s religion >> Good traditions (Exception to bad religion) >> Good customs – People’s feet don’t get dirty like they did in Jesus’ day when everybody wore sandals and walked on dirt roads. There was a need for foot-washing, and for another person to wash their feet was a useful service, since it is easier to wash someone else's feet than to wash their own, just like it is easier to help someone repent than it is to repent ourselves. On the one hand, people today are germ-a-phobic, so why don’t we institute a hand-washing ceremony in place of foot-washing? It would represent the same idea, and it would be more meaningful in that the need for foot-washing has declined. On the other hand, foot-washing is more picturesque of demonstrating our willingness to humble ourselves to serve one another. We touch many things throughout the day; though our hands may appear clean we are collecting germs. We are told to wash our hands regularly; hand-washing is still relevant in our culture, and most of us are not diligent enough about doing it. On our journeys we get our hands dirty instead of our feet, representing sin. Germs can cause disease, and we can show symptoms without knowing what is assailing us, until we go to the doctor and he diagnoses us and sends us home with a prescription to make us feel better. Sin works much the same way; people can be diseased by sin, not knowing why our lives are falling apart, until we go to church and the word of God diagnoses us, and the preacher sends us home with a prescription to repent. Mostly, our omission of righteousness causes us to sin; therefore the sins we commit represent the visible soil on our hands, while the germs we cannot see, being more harmful than dirt, represent the righteousness we omitted. (239h) Kingdom of God >> Pursuing the kingdom >> Pursuing the knowledge of the kingdom >> Teachers are construction workers >> Jesus is a teacher – Jesus was reminding His disciples that He was their Lord and Master and that He washed their feet, and His point was: how much more should we be washing one another’s feet? It was very important to Jesus that we learn the many lessons that He taught on humility and being a servant. The person who neglects his role as a servant has no faith at all. Jesus taught by the ceremony of foot-washing that dirt collects on our feet even while doing the will of God; for example, Jesus sent His disciples evangelizing and the dirt that collected on their feet. So long as they had recently taken a bath, it was only necessary to wash their feet. We commit sin often without knowing it. Jn 13-16 (253d) Trinity >> Relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is equal with the Father >> Jesus has all the internal qualities of the Father >> Jesus is the exact representation of the Father – Jesus said that the one who is sent is not greater than the one who sent him, suggesting that the Father is greater than the Son, so then how can they be equal, thus how could there be a trinity? The fact that one is greater than the other in a certain area does not mean they are unequal in every way, for while the Father has greater authority Jesus is a greater servant, and Jesus taught that servant-hood is what makes a person great, so in this way they are equal. Jn 13-17 (87a) Thy kingdom come >> Obedience >> Be doers of the word from the heart >> God blesses us for doing His word, not for knowing it – To know what the Bible says does us no good if we don't do what it says. Knowledge serves no one, but makes a person arrogant (1Cor 8-1). If we want to be a servant, we must live the life of a servant. (88d) Thy kingdom come >> Faith produces works >> The function of works in faith >> Faith doesn’t move God until it is manifested in the natural realm – People occasionally quote this verse without remembering the context that He was talking about foot-washing. The ceremony of foot-washing is an active reminder of our role as servants. It would behoove us to expand the context of foot-washing to serving one another, being willing to do grunge work for the sake of our brothers and sisters in the faith. If we know to be a servant, we are blessed if we live accordingly. KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 13-18,19 (80g) Thy kingdom come >> Know the word to learn the ways of God >> Fulfill your calling -- These verses go with verse 21. When Jesus said, "I know whom I have chosen," it indicates that Jesus didn't technically choose Judas Iscariot but was a tagalong, as though he crept through the back door, suggesting that Jesus "choosing" Judas was more an allowance of him to stay. (146j) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself >> Purpose of Miracles, Signs And Wonders >> Proof that Jesus is the son of God >> That the Church may believe – Jesus gave His disciples more proof that He was the Christ by giving them a sign from the Old Testament prophesying that he who eats my bread has lifted up his heel against me. Hadn't they gotten beyond the need for more proof? Didn’t they already know He was the Christ? They were certainly convinced of it, but Jesus wanted to add confidence upon confidence, giving them every reason to believe in Him, because they had a long road ahead of them, so while beaten with rods, or sitting in their dingy jail cell and the spirit of doubt and unbelief rattled their cage, they would stand fast and refute the things the devil would whisper in their ear. The Church would be built upon their testimonies for the next 2000 years, and it was important for them to believe without a doubt. Jn 13-18 (65i) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Satan Glorifies God -- This verse goes with verses 23-27. Jesus quoted this passage from Psalm 41-9. Satan knows the Bible; therefore, after prophecy has been written, why did Satan get involved in Judas’ betrayal of Christ? We would think Satan would reconsider and say, ‘I’m going to fool God and not work with Judas to betray the Lord, forbidding this prophecy to come true.’ We could say prophecy is about God’s foreknowledge, but there is another perspective that we should consider. The words have been written, being public domain, suggesting that Satan could use the Bible as a guide for rebelling against its prophecies. Where would God be if Satan put a wrench in His eternal plan and fudged the circumstances that were supposed to lead to Jesus’ crucifixion? Why didn’t Satan think of that? He cannot resist the temptation! God used sin against the devil to tempt him to play a direct role in orchestrating Jesus’ death, so God could judge Him for it. The mystery of lawlessness says that Satan is in bondage to himself. He must fulfill the principles of his own nature, just like God fulfills the principles of His nature. See also: Mystery of lawlessness (Man has entered Satan's mystery); Act 21,27-40; 162g (141f) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Old Testament bears witness to the new >> It bears witness to Jesus >> Prophesy about Jesus’ death (145k) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself >> Demon possession >> Human state >> Their behavior >> Being possessed by demons -- This verse goes with verses 23-30 (163h) Works of the devil >> Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >> Used by Satan to destroy the word of God >> Used to destroy Jesus -- This verse goes with verses 23-27 (185l) Works of the devil >> The result of lawlessness >> Blasphemy >> Unwilling to obey the revelation from heaven >> Unwilling to walk in God’s freedom -- This verse goes with verses 23-27 (217e) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> God’s will over man >> God gives up on you >> After you are no longer able to repent -- This verse goes with verses 23-27 (219c) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> The elect >> Man is a spectator of his own salvation >> God has chosen us (223g) Kingdom of God >> The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Miss God >> Missing the point >> Miss the meaning of being with Jesus -- This verse goes with verses 23-27. Judas Iscariot completely missed the point of being with Jesus. We Christians try to imagine how it must have been to walk with Jesus, saying that it would have been amazing, but at the time none of the twelve fully appreciated the privilege of knowing God in human flesh, but considered it to be the new normal; how much less did Judas Iscariot appreciate being with Jesus? Rather, he considered it a business! Judas understood the world and how it works and tried to factor Jesus into the ways of the world and ride the wave until it ended, fashioning a plan to financially gain from this enterprise, while the other disciples surfaced empty-handed. In a natural sense he was right; they were all martyred (except John), but now they are in heaven and Judas is in hell. This is why he was wrong. We know that Jesus actively and deliberately chose the eleven saying, “Follow Me”, but He didn’t say that to Judas Iscariot. Although in Jn 6-70 it says He chose the twelve, His choosing of Judas was probably more of an acceptance into the group rather than a formal invitation. Jesus allowed him to stay because He knew the Scriptures foretold of him, and also because He knew people just like Judas would invade the Church pretending to be disciples. For Jesus to not have someone like Judas in His group, we would not have an example of the bedlam these people perpetrate against the Church. Judas’ presence among the twelve says they exist in our assemblies, therefore his example is very important, for there are many people who look and sound like Christians, yet they are imposters. It would be very unlikely that any church didn’t have at least one Judas. The biggest problem is that these people like to be leaders in terms of preaching and teaching, which is exponentially more dangerous. Jn 13-19 (110f) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Spirit and the word >> Spirit speaks through you >> Spirit speaks through Jesus KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 13-20 (13e) Servant >> Serve the body >> Promoting its health >> Serve as a covering for others – The primary covering of the Church is Christ, who is servant of all, and those who follow in His footsteps are also servants; hence, those who are in authority in the Church serve as coverings. In this verse we see multiple layers of authority, each one providing a covering for the others. Being under a covering is to receive authority from that covering. Take Paul for example in Act 22,25-29, who was born a Roman citizen. Without having to make any great accomplishments, as a Roman he had tremendous authority, which kept him alive for many years and allowed him to approach some of the greatest magistrates and governors of His time, and ultimately introduced the gospel to the upper echelon of the known world. Like an umbrella, a covering shelters everyone who stands under it. Unlike the covering of a business, such as the CEO of a company who only tells people what to do and collects his self declared salary, God will come along side and stand with us through all our trials. He is a true covering and shelters us from the storms of life, and grants us His authority as citizens of His kingdom. (68g) Authority >> We have been given authority to be the children of God (149i) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Works of the Church bear witness to Jesus >> Evangelism >> Authority of the rhema given to evangelism >> Receiving authority from God personally (253d) Trinity >> Relationship between Father and Son >> Jesus is equal with the Father >> Jesus has all the internal qualities of the Father >> Jesus is the exact representation of the Father Jn 13,21-30 (172aa) Works of the devil >> Manifestations of the devil >> Tares among the wheat >> Devils among the saints >> False brethren among the people of God >> Judas Iscariot among the disciples – Judas blended with his fellow disciples so well that no one suspected him even at the last supper after Jesus warned that one of them was a devil. All His disciples assumed that His plan was to establish a thousand-year reign, depicted in their Old Testament manuscripts; but as the twelve began to understand that the Millennium wasn't coming, the eleven continued believing in Jesus, but Judas did. They saw something in Him, but Judas only saw money signs. Whatever Jesus was doing, they wanted to be a part of it. Jesus became troubled in His Spirit and told His disciples that one of them would betray Him. He was unwilling (or unable) to divulge His vision of the Church to His disciples until Judas left the group; only then did Jesus intimate His vision in chapters 14-17. When Jesus announced that one of them was a devil, the disciples all suspiciously looked at each other for the culprit. It is amazing they didn’t know there was a devil among them or could even identify him. Judas was able to perfectly blend with the rest of his fellows, appearing as one of them, except that he did not believe. Is unbelief really that elusive, or is it faith? It is unfathomable that people can be so hard hearted as to follow Jesus throughout His ministry, witness His innumerous miracles, eat bread from heaven, watch people rise from the dead and still not believe in Him. Apparently people like Judas are hard to read. Does anyone know who really believes? The New Testament gives various evidences of faith, but none of them can prove anyone's faith. This is why Paul said in 2Tim 2-19, "'The Lord knows those who are His,' and, 'Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness.'" Even the gift of discernment cannot conclusively determine the true children of God. The false brethren will be some of the most dangerous people in the Church as endtime prophecy begins to unfold. When a spiritual cleansing launches persecution and martyrdom of the saints, we will need to know more than ever who are the true brethren. Jn 13-21 (80g) Thy kingdom come >> Know the word to learn the ways of God >> Fulfill your calling -- This verse goes with verses 18&19 KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 13,23-30 (145k) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself >> Demon possession >> Human state >> Their behavior >> Being possessed by demons -- These verses go with verse 18. (194k) Die to self (Process of substitution) >> Turn from sin to God >> Yielding >> Antithesis: Yielding to sin – There is a difference between committing sin and surrendering to it. Committing sin doesn’t destroy our conscience or our relationship with God, but surrendering to it does. Instead of throwing our conscience a life preserver while struggling in a tempestuous sea of temptation, sin throws us a heavy rock, and then uses our damaged conscience to separate us from God. The effects of sin wrap up nicely into a single word, "bondage", which was Paul’s term, but Jesus preferred the word, slave. God wants us free from the bondage of sin. Jesus wants us to serve God with Him as a brother, free from a shredded conscience and from a lack of confidence in Him. Jn 13,23-27 (65i) Paradox >> Anomalies >> Satan Glorifies God -- These verses go with verse 18. Satan cannot veer off the path of sin that God has plotted for him through the prophecy of Scripture, and for that matter neither can man. Just like Judas, in the last days man will choose sides and solicit the antichrist. Like a bullet shot from a gun that cannot change its trajectory which the marksman has given it, Satan cannot change his trajectory from the choices he makes to rebel against God (Rev 12,7-9). Being locked into a certain course, his ultimate destination is the lake of fire. God knows everything, from the beginning, and even we know much of what Satan will do, because he has so few choices. The first three chapters of Revelation tell mankind to repent before judgment comes, forcing man to make a decision, but when it comes to Satan, these things have been written in stone as what He will do, and he cannot deviate from it. For example, he cannot say, ‘I will not institute the Mark of the Beast.’ Satan has no choice but to institute the Mark, being an opportunist; if the technology exists, he will use it. Endtime prophecy will unfold like a set of dominos in a chain reaction of events that are unstoppable, because of the nature of Satan. God can tell Satan to his face about his next move, and he cannot rebel against it; therefore, it is not accurate to say that Satan is a free agent who can make decisions, for he has no choice but to choose sin and rebellion against God, and those who take the Mark will become just like him. Mankind will shriek at such a display of wickedness and millions will turn to Christ for salvation during the Great Endtime Revival. See also: Bondage to sin; 162e / Satan is jealous of man; Heb 2,5-9; 15k (162e) Works of the devil >> Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >> Bondage >> A slave to unbelief >> Bondage to an inability to believe – The difference between the demonic forces of wickedness and mankind is that Satan comprises the elementary principles of sin within himself, whereas man still has a choice whether or not to sin. It is impossible for Satan to act against his nature, just like it is impossible for God to act against His nature (because it is never a wise choice), whereas mankind is stuck between two natures and must choose. Man has been made in the image of God, yet he is a fallen creature and consequently also possesses many of Satan’s attributes. Therefore, man is a mixture of God and Satan, capable of both good and evil, tugging at him from opposite directions, and he can act on which ever one he decides, but that is not the case with Satan or with God (because He is all-wise; Rom 16-27). Satan can no longer decide between good and evil, but can only practice evil; that is, he is in bondage to sin, this being so true that Satan could speak the truth and it would still be a lie (Jn 8-44). Therefore, He had no choice but to glorify God and enter Judas and lead him to betray the Lord. Satan is utterly predictable to the point that God can write in stone what he will do and Satan has no power to stop himself. See also: Bondage to sin; 65i (163h) Works of the devil >> Being a slave to the devil (Addictions) >> Used by Satan to destroy the word of God >> Used to destroy Jesus -- These verses go with verse 18. The moment Jesus fed him the morsel, Satan entered Judas. The bread of communion representing the crucified flesh of Christ meant to be a blessing became a curse to Judas Iscariot. Likewise, in the last days the antichrist will be a type of Catholic Pope, who will pretend to die and come back to life to become the new bread of communion to the world. The world will gladly receive him, and the wine of communion that he will offer the world will be the flesh of the saints. They will partake of the devil’s communion by participating in his one world monetary system that will directly relate to martyrdom by the mark they receive, acting as their vote in favor of spilling the blood of the saints. See also: Last days (Mark of the beast associated with the blood of the saints); Jm 5-5; 240d (185l) Works of the devil >> The result of lawlessness >> Blasphemy >> Unwilling to obey the revelation from heaven >> Unwilling to walk in God’s freedom -- These verses go with verse 2 (217e) Sovereignty >> God overrides the will of man >> God’s will over man >> God gives up on you >> After you are no longer able to repent -- These verses go with verse 18. Satan possessed Judas the moment he received the morsel from the Lord’s hand. Before that he was not possessed, though Jesus called him a devil in Jn 6-70. Satan groomed Judas throughout his life and especially during Jesus’ ministry to do his will, slipping into the fold of twelve sheep and one of Jesus' disciples. Being a witness of Jesus’ love, teachings and miracles, yet without a morsel of faith to show for it, defined him as a reprobate sinner without any ability to repent of his unbelief or be saved. Then, when his services were required to become a vessel of Satan, his heart was open to do his will. (223g) Kingdom of God >> The elusive Kingdom of Heaven >> Miss God >> Missing the point >> Miss the meaning of being with Jesus -- These verses go with verse 18 (230g) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Partaking of God’s judgment KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 13,23-26 (56ka) Paradox >> Opposites >> Least are greatest >> Least are the greatest servants -- These verses go with verses 3-17 (77n) Thy kingdom come >> God Ministers To People Through The Humble >> Humility gives a blessing (83b) Thy kingdom come >> Receiving from God through prayer >> Ask and it shall be given – Peter asked John to ask Jesus who it was that would betray Him, and he answered his question. When you look back throughout Scripture, you see Jesus answering nearly every question addressed to Him, even granting the devil’s request (Lk 8,26-32). He answered the question of the high priest at His mock trial, though He made him work for his answer, which became Jesus’ great confession (Mat 26,59-64), but He didn’t answer King Herod or Pilate (Lk 23,8-10; Mat 26,11-14), nor does He answer questions about times and epochs. In virtually every other situation, though, Jesus answered every question when asked with right motives. This is equivalent to Jesus answering prayer, indicating that he answers most prayers. It was important for them to know who was the false brother in their group after they had been together for years, telling them only a few hours before His capture, otherwise they would have expelled him from the group. This suggests that God will expose the false brethren among us, but only as the day draws near to the end. Jn 13,23-25 (128e) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> Gentleness >> Be gentle in all your ways >> Put gentleness in your character (208k) Salvation >> The salvation of God >> Personal relationship >> Being married to God >> Emotional relationship Jn 13-23 (33k) Gift of God >> God is our Father >> God serves His people who serve Him >> Each one is special to God – John described himself as 'The disciple whom Jesus loved.' Jesus loved John because he loved His Word and understood Jesus arguably better than any other disciple. The apostle Paul was not one of the original twelve but ended up being the lead apostle of the Church in the first century; he established numerous churches and toured the entire known world preaching the gospel. Jesus really loves that kind of zeal, but had Paul been one of Jesus' original twelve disciples, John probably would have remained 'the disciple whom Jesus loved,' suggesting that it is good to be zealous, but it is better to love the truth. (That is not to take anything away from the apostle Paul.) The world hated John enough to banish him to the Island of Patmos, where he 'couldn’t infect anyone else with his teaching.' God loves those who love Jesus (Jn 16-27); He has a special place in His heart for them. Jn 13,26-30 (22d) Sin >> Greed takes without consideration for others >> The worldliness of greed – The other disciples didn't know the communication between Judas and the Lord. Since he had the moneybox, they assumed Judas got up to buy something for the group, being oblivious to the spiritual transaction that took place under their noses. Judas was the financier of the ministry; the others were incognizant of money matters. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that Judas handled the moneybox, since money and satanic activity go hand-in-hand. Those who teach the prosperity doctrine, who claim Jesus and his disciples were wealthy and lived luxurious lifestyles, would make Judas Iscariot their role model. Judas was a hands-on guy that always wanted to stay busy running errands, whereas the other disciples were content to spend their time fellowshipping with Jesus. Judas gladly took the burden of extraneous circumstances off the group, which he used to hide his lack of spirituality and low interest in Christ. (201b) Denying Christ >> Whoever is not with Jesus is against him >> You are against Christ when your unbelief materializes >> Our disobedience is against Christ – Judas Iscariot was with Jesus for 3½ years and hardened his heart against the Lord and against His teachings with none of it piercing through his stony heart. Judas had a temporal, secular mindset, never considering the hereafter, being totally irrelevant to him. He had two plans, so if one failed he would switch to the other. His initial plan was to follow Jesus into a thousand-year reign prophesied in the Old Testament, where he would receive a high rank in His kingdom as one of the twelve. At the same time he was building a stockpile of money through the ministry just in case the first plan crumbled. As his Millennium theory appeared less and less likely, he terminated the ministry by betraying the Lord, making an extra thirty pieces of silver in the process that he intended to add to his stockpile and then retire, but he miscalculated how the leaders of Israel felt about the Lord, that they wanted Him crucified, and he also miscalculated the fact that he had a conscience; when he realized they were going to crucify Him, he felt remorse. Jesus was a good friend to Judas; no one else treated him so well; Judas didn’t want to see Him dead. He was not a murderer; he was just a businessman. We don’t know what he did for a living; he may have been just a common thief, so when he met Jesus he saw Him as his cash cow. Jn 13-26 (145g) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Jesus’ works bear witness of Himself >> Demon possession >> Human state >> Filthiness >> That which Is unclean Jn 13-27 (216b) Sovereignty >> God controls time >> Suddenly >> Satan uses the element of surprise Jn 13-28,29 (175j) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Ignorance >> Ignorant of what God means >> Ignorant of the meaning of God’s word Jn 13-29 (23g) Sin >> Poverty (Oppression) >> Tending to the needs of the poor Jn 13,30-32 (49m) Judgment >> God judges the world >> Condition of the Church in the last days – Judas Iscariot left the group after taking the morsel (v27). Currently the Church is loaded down with false brethren, and for this reason the Church is lethargic. The false brethren have a way of stifling the Spirit of God by their darkness, keeping the truth from being freely revealed. Judas Iscariot left the group, similar to the five foolish virgins in the parable of the Ten Virgins, who went to buy more oil, but when they returned, the door was shut and locked, meaning that time had expired for them. John said in his epistle, “They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us” (1Jn 2-19). Once Judas made his leave, Jesus began teaching his disciples about His vision of the Church in chapters 14-17. Jn 13-30 (184a) Works of the devil >> The origin of lawlessness >> Darkness >> Hiding behind your own imagination >> Hiding behind a false partition KJV WEB / Parallel Gospel / Navigation Bar Jn 13-31,32 (98f) Thy kingdom come >> Endurance (Thorn in the flesh) >> (Faith à Suffering à Glory of Christ) >> The cross – It is not a glory to be hung on a cross, but to Jesus it was the focal point of His ministry to sacrifice His flesh for the sin of the world. He came and taught His disciples how to behave in the world as apostles of Christ, but in the end He had to die for their sins; otherwise His presence in the world and His investment in His disciples would have been for nothing. (114h) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Working the grace of God >> Jesus does God’s work >> All his works are done through the father >> Jesus exercises His will through the will of His Father (247g) Priorities >> God’s priorities >> God’s interests >> God is interested in the cross (253e) Father and Son Glorify Each Other (Key verse) (253g) Trinity >> Relationship between Father and Son >> Father and Son glorify each other >> Holy Spirit honors the Son through the Father >> Father glorifies Himself as He glorifies His Son – Jesus said that when the Father glorified the Son, He also glorified Himself through the cross. Jesus glorified His Father through obedience, and the Father glorified His Son by the anointing He carried throughout His ministry that taught Him the wisdom, knowledge and understanding that He had of His Father, and the connection they had in each other. The Son obeys the Father and the Father gives the Son all things, and the cross is the point of convergence, where God put His own character on display in both His righteousness and wisdom. The perfection and unity within the trinity was tested and found faultless, lifting His throne to higher realms of glory and honor and praise. When we think of the whole world in opposition against God, yet He never questioned Himself, it showed the confidence He has in His own character. Father, Son and Holy Spirit don’t need the creation to tell Him that God is glorious; He already knows it, but He invites the creation to sing His praises that we may realize the extent of His glory and power. God doesn’t need the Church to glorify Him, in that God is already glorified being in absolute union with the attributes of His character, with the perfection of His righteousness and with the fruits of His Spirit. He knows these things are perfect without anyone telling Him, yet He invites us to partake of His attributes and fellowship with His character in the glory of Himself through our worship of Him. God does not have an inferiority complex; He is well aware of His own glory, and when we join Him in celebration of His person, we unite with Him. Some say God is a glory seeker in that everybody who refuses to worship Him is thrown into hell; this might be the world’s rendition of God, but it is not what we read in Scripture, and it is not what we think of Him. God deserves our worship, for if we don’t worship Him, the rocks will cry out (Lk 19-40), and so He has created the Church to testify to the rest of His creation of His glory. We stand as witnesses of His perfection that all might come to know about God through us. Jn 13,33-36 (6b) Responsibility >> Advocate God’s cause >> Jesus’ yoke of love – This passage framed Jesus telling His disciples to love one another, tied in well with the servitude of foot-washing. The following chapters (14-17) the night of His betrayal at the end of His ministry, depicts Him finally divulging to His disciples His vision for the Church. At the very end of His life He put the exclamation point on all He said and did, summarizing the important things they would need to remember, wrapped in a new commandment titled "love". Jn 13-33 (33g) Gift of God >> God is our Father >> Children need a Father to care for them Jn 13-34,35 (117g) Thy kingdom come >> Faith >> Eyes of your spirit >> Vision >> Real-eyes God’s purpose for the Church >> Understand Jesus' vision of the Church (129j) Thy kingdom come >> Manifestations of faith >> love perfects unity >> Pursue unity in love that the world may be saved – This is one of Jesus' many incredible statements. People associated love with Jesus more than His miracles. Although Jesus was the only one who could perform the miracles, still love is greater evidence that He was the Son of God. Moreover, love is the recipe for unity and evangelism. These two go together like hand and glove! This is the power of love: He raised the dead; He healed the blind and opened the ears of the deaf, yet none of these things mean anything without love. Jesus didn’t say that if you have the touch of healing in your fingertips all men will know that you are His disciples. He said that if you have love. We heard Jesus say that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son to save us from our sins, but what gets lost in translation is the sense of being there, standing next to Him, looking into His eyes and seeing the love that is palpable emanating from Him. On the one hand, to see a miracle is like seeing an alien spacecraft; was it real? On the other hand, it is impossible to fake loving the unlovable. The effect of miracles fades into a story that is manipulated. Eventually, the facts get lost to embellishment. They look back and say it was an anomaly, but people never forget the love that others have shown them. (149e) Witness >> Validity of Jesus Christ >> Works of the Church bear witness to Jesus >> Evangelism >> Compel them to come in >> luring them in Jn 13,36-38 (93f) Thy kingdom come >> Following Jesus >> Leaving everything behind to follow Him (176f) Works of the devil >> The religion of witchcraft >> Zeal without knowledge (Spirit w/o the word) >> Fire without faithfulness – Peter was ready to lay down His life for Jesus, yet within a matter of hours he denied Him three times. This is truly what it means to be human. The failings that lie so deeply within us all are hard to conquer. Jn 13-36 (231g) Kingdom of God >> God’s kingdom is a living organism >> Body of Christ is the organism of God’s kingdom >> Jesus is the head of His body’s kingdom >> The Kingdom of Heaven is where Jesus is – Obviously Jesus was talking about heaven. Far as the disciples were concerned, they were already in heaven standing next to Jesus, listening to His words. There is very little else that the Kingdom of Heaven offers beyond the presence of Jesus. Reading the description of the New Jerusalem (Revelation chapters 21&22), it’s beautiful, but without Jesus it would just be a crystal city with a river running through it. It is their city and they call it home, because Jesus is there; He is why it's heaven. The book of Revelation makes an interesting comment; it says that He “will spread his tabernacle over them” (Rev 7-15), meaning He will accommodate His people, ensuring the Holy City is big enough to house everyone comfortably who come to live there. The New Jerusalem is capital city of His kingdom. God intends to destroy this present universe and create a new heavens and a new earth, and then create another race of man and tell them to increase and multiply, and they will fill God’s kingdom, the entire universe. The farthest galaxy will have people in it, though there will not be a farthest galaxy, for His universe continues forever and ever in both space and time, reflecting His attributes, being infinite and eternal. There will be no death, and His kingdom will continue to expand forever, and He will command us as stewards to manage His kingdom, and our hometown will be the New Jerusalem. God will expand His tabernacle over them, though the New Jerusalem has certain physical dimensions that won’t change (it will be 15 hundred miles in length, width and height). As England says, “The sun never sets on the British empire;” God’s kingdom will be much greater. We know that England has certain physical dimensions, being an island, yet its empire spread far beyond it’s borders to encompass various places throughout the earth. In the same way, we can go to various galaxies and planets and visit the people who live there, and as His representatives we will tell them about God who made them, people who live in far reaches of the universe, and it will be as though Jesus Christ Himself has come to visit them. They will see us as gods, and we will be careful to tell them that there is one God and we are not Him, and they are to worship Him and not us, and we will tell them about sin and teach them how to live in a way that pleases God, not to be selfish but give preference to one another in honor (Rom 12-10). See also: New heavens and a new earth (God will create another race of man and put us in charge of them); 1Cor 10-26; 214a See next page