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Tag: John

Unless the Father draws you – Signs
Signs from God the Father

Perhaps as one of the multitude hearing the preaching of Jesus you may have missed His relational claim to God as His Father. Even now as one seeing signs on a mountainside and your amazement by the Lord’s miracles, your ears failed to hear His mention of the Father.

And like those in the crowds who followed Jesus for a time, but later left Him when their path to Heaven became steep and dangerous, you may have asked yourself a question like this:

Why would I follow Jesus or worship Him instead of God?

שְׁמַ֖ע יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵ֖ינוּ יְהוָ֥ה אֶחָֽד׃
Deuteronomy 6:4 Masoretic Text

“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
Deuteronomy 6:5

Previously I asked you to “Follow Me” & support my Christian Social Witness by subscribing to new posts. Most will not.

Why? Same reason that the multitudes did NOT follow Jesus. The Lord asks us to submit to His will in place of our own.

Today we will show some signs of Jesus and address reactions of those who claimed to believe in God while selfishly opposing to follow the Messiah of Israel.

Miracles & Signs by Jesus

The Apostle John outlines several signs and proofs of the Good News that Jesus IS the Son of the Living God. That is to say, Jesus proves to witnesses that God IS His Father and He IS God’s only Son!

Before hearing (or reading) Jesus’ words about the Father, let’s briefly look at John’s list of proofs witnessed by many in several places.

Cana, Galilee
- John 2:7 Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it. 9 When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom…
Jerusalem, Judea
- John 2: First Passover—Cleansing the Temple
  - 18 The Jews then said to Him, “What sign do You show us as your authority for doing these things?”
  - 19 Jesus answered them,
  - “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
  - But He was speaking of the temple of His body.
- John 2:23 Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did.
Galilee, along road through Samaria from Jerusalem
- There was a certain royal official whose son was ill at Capernaum. 47 When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea into Galilee, he went to him and pleaded with him to come down and heal his son, since he was about to die.
Jesus told him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.”
John 4:48 CSB

Do you and I tend to require more proof from God?

(I know sometimes my faith falters.)

Jesus provides proof of a miracle here even though the Lord lamented that we so often require signs.

49 “Sir,” the official said to him, “come down before my boy dies.”

50 “Go,” Jesus told him, “your son will live.”

A pool by the Sheep Market gate, Jerusalem, Judea
- John 5: (Most likely during a second Passover) The Healing at Bethesda
3 Within these [five porches] lay a large number of the disabled—blind, lame, and paralyzed.

5 One man was there who had been disabled for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and realized he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to get well?”

⁸“Get up,” Jesus told him, “pick up your mat and walk.” ⁹Instantly the man got well, picked up his mat, and started to walk.

Now that day was the Sabbath…

Son’s Signs through the Father

“Truly I tell you, the Son is not able to do anything on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing… And just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son also gives life to whom he wants.
John 5:19b,21 CSB

28 Do not be amazed at this, because a time is coming when all who are in the graves will hear his voice 29 and come out—those who have done good things, to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked things, to the resurrection of condemnation.
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To be continued... 
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January 6, 2020
“Follow Me
“Follow Me” – Jesus

“If anyone serves me, he must follow me. Where I am, there my servant also will be. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
The words of the Messiah Jesus from the Good News of John 12:26 CSB

I mentioned previously in “Jesus said,” that God’s love for the world to which the Lord came in the Person of the Messiah is conditional.

The same Disciple John who witnessed John 3:16 continues by urging us to also love Jesus. In other words, you must follow Him.

John 3:36 The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who rejects the Son will not see life; instead, the wrath of God remains on him.

God is NOT for everyone. Some will continue to choose sin until their death of the flesh and accounting of their soul.

Our choice, not a command

Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.
The words of the Messiah Jesus from the Good News of John 12:26 NIV

But since you do not believe what he [מֹשֶׁה] wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?” – John 5:47

Not so good news for any who do not believe Jesus IS the Messiah, Christ, the only Son of the Father God.

We have a choice from the LORD.

Will we believe the Good News (Gospel) that Jesus came to the world to save sinners like you and me?

Though we may choose to wander in the darkness in our mortal days, like in Eden, we cannot hide our sin in the guise of good acts. For excuses cannot clothe our malice toward the LORD God and the Person of His only Son, Christ Jesus.

He sacrificed His body and blood for our sins.

The LORD God Eternal will judge the dust of our flesh and harvest our souls in the Court of the Supreme Judge of Heaven!
Roger Harned on John 3:18

Vision of the Angel with the Gospel

And I saw another angel flying in midheaven, having an eternal gospel to preach to those who live on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people; and he said with a loud voice,

“Fear God, and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come; worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of waters.”
The Revelation of Jesus Christ to John 4:7b NASB

ἀποκάλυψις – apokalypsis

Do we understand that the meaning of Revelation is akin to the same revealing of the sin of man to the Person of God in earthly Eden?

Revelation or ‘apocalypsis‘ is literally:
1. laying bare, making naked
2. a disclosure of truth, instruction
  1. concerning things before unknown
  2. used of events by which things or states or persons hitherto withdrawn from view are made visible to all
3. manifestation, appearance
“Follow me,” Jesus asks of us (for this ever-so-brief mortal life). Yet the judgement reminds our souls the consequence of refusing God’s grace. Jesus cautions us:

“Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.”
John 12:31-32 NASB

(Need a context for His conditional argument?) READ John 3:14-15

So what must I do?

One question the Person of Jesus answers is posed by a man who approached this teacher of the Jews and gentiles alike asking:

“Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? ”

Jesus answers Personally and individually. Now the Person of the Holy Spirit speaks to each soul of those called to eternal life.

Your response must be more than “I believe in Jesus.” We must heed the calling of the Lord to “follow Me.”

The Lord Jesus speaks to Andrew and John, both disciples of John the Baptist who heard him say of Jesus, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”

When Jesus turned and noticed them following him, he asked them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”
John 1:38 CSB

The Call to Follow Jesus

Again and again we hear the same answer (though our sinful self may not have had ears to hear the Lord before).

The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, “Follow Me.”
John 1:43 NKJV

Philip became an Apostle & disciple of Jesus not by believing in the Lord and living his mortal life as he always had done. Rather he followed Jesus and would later die as his ‘Christian Social Witness’ to the world.

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
“If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.
The words of the Messiah Jesus – John 10:27; 12:26 NKJV

Yet Jesus, Shepherd of the sheep and Sacrifice for their sins calls out to many.

“Follow me,” this gentle Lamb of God beckons to the humble of a first generation of followers and also the 21st century, in the year of our Lord 2020.

The Apostles following the Lord

Before His Sacrifice on the Cross for our sin, Jesus speaks to Peter about the difference between following Him by faith and also after the proof of His glorious resurrection from the grave.

Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?”

Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward.” – John 13:37 NKJV

John first witnesses Jesus teaching of His own death and resurrection, a message of death, which like us, the Apostles received with great difficulty.

Later John witnesses one of Peter’s encounters with the Lord after His resurrection. And what does Jesus ask of Peter once more?

John 21:

Jesus said, “… Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old…

Then he said to him, “Follow me!”
Jesus’ words to Peter after His resurrection – John 21:19b NIV

The risen Lord asks Peter (in effect), “Follow Me to the Cross.”

Are you willing to witness Jesus even to the death, knowing the certainty of resurrection in Him?

Following Jesus in A.D. 2020

What is your CHRISTIAN SOCIAL WITNESS for Christ Jesus?

Do your social ‘friends’ online hear Jesus in your social posts and see Jesus in the witness of online pictures of your daily mortal life?

Let’s Talk.

Please SUBSCRIBE to our social witness conversation about Jesus.

COMMENT on what you read here (even if you just have an opinion or question you don’t want the world to see). Just begin it, “private.” )

SHARE the Gospel and talkofJesus.com in your social circles as you chat online about the ordinary stuff of our everyday mortal life.

EMAIL me [roger@talkofJesus.com] and tell me where in social media you invest your limited mortal time each day. (I may need to share to other sites I monitor.)

THANKS.
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May the Lord shine His Light into your days ahead in the year of our Lord, Christ Jesus, 2020.
Roger
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January 2, 2020
Shiloh IS Come
… until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.

לֹֽא־יָסוּר שֵׁבֶט מִֽיהוּדָה וּמְחֹקֵק מִבֵּין רַגְלָיו עַד כִּֽי־יָבֹא שֶׂילה וְלֹו יִקְּהַת עַמִּֽים׃
The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.
Genesis 49:10 WLC; KJV

Centuries have passed since Jerusalem fell, was rebuilt and recaptured. Not only have we no peace, but live as a captive people in our own land. And no Prophet has spoken since the days of old. Shiloh, come Shiloh; LORD send peace to the people of your covenant.

The LORD has answered our prayer

O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters.
Jeremiah 17:13 KJV – 6th c.B.C.

Isaiah tells us:

Again the Lord spoke to me further, saying, “Inasmuch as these people have rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah…”

and that the Lord will cleanse the land by the ‘strong and abundant waters’ of Judah’s powerful enemy.

If only you had paid attention to my commands.

Then your peace would have been like a river,

and your righteousness like the waves of the sea. – Isaiah 48:18 CSB

Rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem by Nehemiah

The Fountain Gate was repaired by Shallun son of Kol-Hozeh, ruler of the district of Mizpah. He rebuilt it, roofing it over and putting its doors and bolts and bars in place. He also repaired the wall of the Pool of Siloam, by the King’s Garden, as far as the steps going down from the City of David.
Nehemiah 3:15 NIV – 4th c.B.C.

“Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord’s sake cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate. – Daniel 9:17

In the Beginning

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. – John 1:1-2 NKJV

The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
Genesis 1:2 NKJV

6 Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.”

9 Then God said, “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so.

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
Genesis 1:26a-27 NASB

Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads.
Genesis 2:10 NKJV

WE Have Been Here Before

In our lead up to Christmas I have pointed to the Trinity and eternity of the Lord God. One way to think of an eternal Jesus is as the Son of Man in a Manger,

A Child is Born

For thus saith the LORD,
Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream…
Isaiah 66:12a NKJV

And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid… “And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” – The Good News of Luke 2:9,12 NKJV

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
“Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, toward men of goodwill!
Luke 2:13-14 NKJV *textral translation

“She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” – The Good News of Matthew 1:21 CSB

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:14 CSB

Living Water

Give me a drink.
request of Jesus to a woman at Jacob’s well – John 4:7

Jesus asks you one thing, so do you do it?

(This is the same Jesus born in a manger just thirty years earlier and the same Jesus who was ‘with God in the beginning.’)

OR do you question the Lord?

9 “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?”

Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God, and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would ask him, and he would give you living water.”
The Gospel of John 4:10 CSB

You encounter a sinless Son of Man – Jesus – in a manger, on a Cross or along the road of life. Will you ask Him for living water?

Jesus walked on water and He calmed the waters of the stormy sea.

The Lord created, gave life to dust and walked Personally alongside the faithful. He IS the source of the spring of Eden, the river of life and the pool of peace in Jerusalem.

Shiloh or Siloam flows from Him and to Him. He IS the way of salvation to the living water.

The Pool of Siloam

John 9

Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth…

7 And He said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent).

The Lord touched you and commands, “Go” (do this or that). Will you obey? OR Do you question Jesus?

The religious elite questioned Him, but the blind man obeyed.

“Do you believe in the Son of God?”

36 He answered and said, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?”

37 And Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you.”

38 Then he said, “Lord, I believe!” And he worshiped Him.

And Jesus said,
“For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.”
John 9:39 NKJV

Sent to the World – Shiloh in a Manger

“Today in the city of David a Savior was born for you, who is the Messiah, the Lord. – The Good News of the Gentile Physician Luke 2:11

Thirty some years later He returns to Jerusalem – the Lamb of God in the Person of Jesus.

Luke 19:

Now he came near the path down the Mount of Olives, and the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles they had seen:

Blessed is the King who comes

in the name of the Lord.

Peace in heaven

and glory in the highest heaven!

“Wasn’t it necessary for the Messiah to suffer these things and enter into his glory? ”
Luke 24:26

Of course it was.

We worship the Christ of the manger of Christmas because of the Lamb of God sent to the Cross for our sins.

“Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Don’t let your heart be troubled or fearful.
John 14:27 CSB
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May the Lord bless your worship of Jesus, 
our gift of Shiloh this CHRISTmas.
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December 25, 2019