Author: michael

John 14:1-5 14 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. ² My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. ⁴ You know the way to the place where I am going.” ⁵ Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

John 13:31-38 ³¹ When he was gone, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him. ³² If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once. ³³ “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come. ³⁴ “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. ³⁵ By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” ³⁶ Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.” ³⁷ Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” ³⁸ Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!

The Lord Jesus was about to be crucified soon. He did not take the cross as a shame, but as a glory. The Lord Jesus knew that he was about to leave the world, and he wanted his disciples to love one another as he loved them, which is unconditional love. If the disciples love one another, all will know that we are his disciples. The Lord Jesus told the disciples that they could not go where he was going, he also told the Jews the same thing. That is, the Lord Jesus would leave the world to go to the Father. The Lord Jesus called the disciples my children, that is he was their Father. As the following scriptures say
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)
The Lord Jesus is the Father of the disciples, he is the Everlasting Father, but he is not God the Father, he is the Son of God, God the Son.
When Peter said: I would lay down my life for you! The Lord Jesus said: before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!
Peter really denied the Lord three times. The Lord Jesus knows everything, and He knows our weaknesses better than we know ourselves. After Peter returned, he really gave his life for the Lord and was martyred for the Lord.
May God bless you and your family. 🙏😀

John 13:18-30 ¹⁸ “I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill this passage of Scripture: ‘He who shared my bread has turned against me.’ ¹⁹ “I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am who I am. ²⁰ Very truly I tell you, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.” ²¹ After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, “Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.” ²² His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant. ²³ One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. ²⁴ Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, “Ask him which one he means.” ²⁵ Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?” ²⁶ Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. ²⁷ As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. So Jesus told him, “What you are about to do, do quickly.” ²⁸ But no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. ²⁹ Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the festival, or to give something to the poor. ³⁰ As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.

The Lord Jesus knew who he had chosen. He knew that Judas would betray him later. The Old Testament prophesied:
Even my close friend, someone I trusted, one who shared my bread, has turned against me. (Psalm 41:9)
The Lord Jesus and the disciples were going to eat meal together for the Passover. This prophecy that Judas would betray him does not mean that God wanted Judas to betray the Lord Jesus. We know that it was Satan the Devil who wanted Judas to betray the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus knew everything, and he predicted that Judas would betray him. He is the Son of God, and He is omniscient. He said in front of all his disciples: One of you is going to betray me. He did not name Judas to give him a chance to repent, but Judas did not repent. Here is a disciple, whom Jesus loved, leaning back against Jesus, This disciple was John, who wrote the Gospel of John. He was the disciple closest to the Lord. He asked the Lord Jesus who was going to betray him, and the Lord told him.
May God bless you and your family. 🙏😀

John 13:1-17 1 It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. ² The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. ³ Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; ⁴ so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. ⁵ After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. ⁶ He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” ⁷ Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” ⁸ “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” ⁹ “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!” ¹⁰ Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” ¹¹ For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean. ¹² When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. ¹³ “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. ¹⁴ Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵ I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. ¹⁶ Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. ¹⁷ Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

Before the Passover, the Lord Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave the world and returned to the Father. Since he loved his own in the world, he loved them to the end. He was going to show his love by washing his disciples’ feet, and to set as an example for his disciples to serve one another in humility. We know that only servants wash the feet of their masters, and no masters wash the feet of their servants. Foot-washing is something a servant does, it is a humble job. Here we see the highest chose to do the lowest job. The Lord Jesus said: Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (Matthew 11:29) The meekness and humility of the Lord Jesus was manifested in his actions. The Lord Jesus set an example for us to wash one another’s feet and serve one another in humility.
May God bless you and your family. 🙏😀

John 12:44-50 ⁴⁴ Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. ⁴⁵ The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me. ⁴⁶ I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. ⁴⁷ “If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. ⁴⁸ There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day. ⁴⁹ For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken. ⁵⁰ I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”

To believe in the Lord Jesus is to believe in God the Father who sent him into the world. When people see the Lord Jesus, they see God the Father who sent him. The Lord Jesus manifests the Father. When people see the Lord Jesus, they see God the Father. They are not the same person. God is trinity, Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. The Lord Jesus said that He came into the world as light, so that whoever believes in him should not stay in darkness, whoever follows Him may have the light of life. The Lord Jesus did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. But  on the last day, when the Lord Jesus comes again, there will be judgment. Those who reject the Lord and do not accept the Lord’s words will be judged, and the words spoken by the Lord will judge them on the last day. What the Lord Jesus said was what God the Father told him. The Lord Jesus spoke the word of life, the word of eternal life. Whoever believes in him and receives his word has eternal life.
May God bless you and your family. 🙏😀

John 12:37-43 ³⁷ Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. ³⁸ This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet: “Lord, who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” ³⁹ For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere: ⁴⁰ “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn—and I would heal them.”⁴¹ Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.⁴² Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; ⁴³ for they loved human praise more than praise from God.

The Lord Jesus left them and hid himself because the Jews wanted to kill him. Although he performed many miracles, they still did not believe in him. The purpose of the miracles is to make people believe, here it says that they didn’t believe even they saw the miracles, This was to fulfill the words of the prophet Isaiah, Isaiah 53:1 “Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” Isaiah 6:10 also says: “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn—and I would heal them.” This fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy, the Lord Jesus performed many miracles, the Father spoke from heaven with a voice, the testimony of John the Baptist, and the Old Testament prophecies about the Lord Jesus, yet they still did not believe, is it because the Lord would not let them believe? The Lord wants all people to come to repentance and turn to Him, but they disbelieved, hard-hearted, and were unwilling to turn to God. The Bible tells us that we are saved by grace through faith. There are two aspects to salvation, one is by the grace of God, and the other is by our faith. Some of the rulers believed in the Lord Jesus, but because of the Pharisees, they dared not admit it, for fear of being expelled from the synagogue. If anyone believed that Jesus was the Christ, the Pharisees would throw them out of the synagogue. They did this because they loved the praise of man more than the praise of God.

It is said here that the Israelites were partially hardened, but when the number of the Gentiles, that is, we non-Israelis being saved, is full, the whole house of Israel will be saved. May God bless you all!

John 12:12-19 Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King12 The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13 They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, “Hosanna!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Blessed is the king of Israel!” ¹⁴ Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, as it is written: ¹⁵ “Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.” ¹⁶ At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they realize that these things had been written about him and that these things had been done to him. ¹⁷ Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. ¹⁸ Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him. ¹⁹ So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”

Many people were going to Jerusalem for the Passover. Knowing that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, they took palm branches and went out to meet him. Most of the people spread their clothes on the road, others cut down branches to spread on the road, shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is the king of Israel who comes in the name of the Lord!” What does Hosanna mean? Hosanna means: save, we pray, here it is the word of praise.
This is the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy:
Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!  Shout, Daughter Jerusalem! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (Zechariah 9:9)
The Lord Jesus did not ride a war horse as King. He was gentle. He humbly rode on a donkey and the foal of a donkey. The disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus died and rose again, the disciples understood that the scriptures prophesied about the Lord Jesus. Because the Lord Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, the crowd went to meet him. The Pharisees felt helpless when they saw that everyone followed Jesus. Hope more people will believe in the Lord.
May God bless you and your family. 🙏😀

John 12:1-11 1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. ² Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. ³ Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. ⁴ But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, ⁵ “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” ⁶ He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. ⁷ “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. ⁸ You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.” ⁹ Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. ¹⁰ So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, ¹¹ for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and believing in him.

Here it says that six days before the Passover, which is very close to the day of the death of the Lord Jesus, someone prepared a feast for the Lord Jesus in Bethany. From the parallel passage, we know that it was in the house of Simon the leper, Lazarus who was raised from the dead was also among those who were at the table with Jesus, and Lazarus’ sister Mary took a pint of very expensive perfume, poured it on the head of the Lord Jesus, anointed his feet, and wiped it with her own hair, the price of the perfume was worth more than a year’s wages at the time. Some of the disciples were very displeased and felt that it was a waste. They said that the perfume could be sold for a lot of money to help the poor. Judas, who was about to betray Jesus, also said the same thing, he didn’t care for the poor, he carried the purse and often stole the money from it. The Lord Jesus said, “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me. Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” There are always poor around, but the Lord Jesus would soon pass away, and there were not many opportunities to do good deeds for the Lord Jesus directly. Mary loved the Lord and did it to prepare for the day of the Lord’s burial, The good deeds she did to the Lord Jesus are remembered all over the world. Many Jews came to see the Lord Jesus and Lazarus who was raised from the dead, but the chief priests plot to kill Lazarus besides killing the Lord Jesus, to remove the evidence that the Lord Jesus raised him from the dead. Many people believed in the Lord Jesus because of Lazarus, I hope that more people will come to believe in the Lord Jesus.
May God bless you and your family. 🙏😀