Overview of: JohnToday's Reading:
John 3:1 – 4:54
"Jesus Encounters"
Focus Verses: John 3:19-21
19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."
Insight:
The people who encountered Jesus had to wrestle with who he was and what he was doing. The merchants driven out of the temple, the crowds who heard him making unusual claims ("tear this temple down and I'll build it up in three days"), the disciples who followed him, and the religious teachers who questioned him, all had to deal with him. Was he telling the truth or was he a fraud? Was he sent from God or a troublemaker?
Jesus claimed to be the son of God, the one sent from heaven, and the one able to give eternal life. He said he had been sent into the world as an expression of God's great love and desire to save all who would believe.
Response and Action:
Jesus said light had come into the world, but people loved darkness more than light because of their evil deeds and desires. The desires of the heart affect the response of the person. Do I have desires that are getting in the way of my faith? Am I holding on to things that keep me from knowing truth and following Jesus?
I love and embrace the light of Christ. I will follow him. I believe his claims, and I will look to him in faith for truth, for life, and for salvation.
O God, thank you for sending your son, Jesus, into the world. Thank you for loving people and for making a way for us to be saved and renewed. By the power and grace of your Holy Spirit, lead, teach, transform, shape, and strengthen me, that I might delight in your will and walk in your ways to the glory of your name. Through Christ Jesus, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever, Amen.
Old Testament for Today: Isaiah 60:1-2
1 "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. 2 See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you.
In Context: Isaiah 60
Proverb for Today: Prov. 18:15
"The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge; the ears of the wise seek it out."
Recommended Reading:
The Incomparable Christ
by John Stott
