EASTER • 7

Are we following King Jesus who will come and take us home?

SONGS FOR PRAYER

reading for: Tuesday Night, 16 MAY

John 17:1-11

The Prayer of Jesus for us

  • READ

    John 13 to 17 records the words of Jesus in his final Passover celebration with his disciples. Last week in John 14, we saw how Jesus told his disciples that he goes to prepare a place in his Father’s house for them and how he will come again to take them to himself where his disciples will be where he is. Jesus is telling his disciples and us that we have a home and he goes away to prepare a place for us and he will come again to take us home. (John 14:1-14)

    John 17 contains a prayer of Jesus to his Father for us. This prayer is a glimpse into the prayer life of Jesus and how he prays to his Father.

    John 17:1–11 (ESV)

    1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2 since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. 6 “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. 8 For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9 I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. 11 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.

    Jesus after he has said all those words in John 13-16, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and prays to the Father. He starts by telling his Father that the hour has come. This is the hour that Jesus asks the Father to glorify him so that the Son may glorify the Father. What is Jesus referring to when he speaks of the hour and glory. In light of the events that will unfold very shortly, it is safe to assume that Jesus is speaking of his glorification on the cross, his death and resurrection and his return to the Father. Linking back to John 14, what Jesus means when he goes to prepare a place for us is to return to the presence of the Father.

    Jesus continues with speaking of the Father giving him authority over all flesh. This authority is to give eternal life to all that belongs to him. Jesus then defines this eternal life as knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ who is sent by this God. Many times, in the gospel of John it speaks of believing in Jesus and we will have eternal life. Here Jesus is telling the Father that the people who has been given to him have eternal life and they will know him and his Father.

    Jesus then tells his Father how he has glorified the Father on earth, having accomplished the Father’s work. Again, he asks the Father to glorify him in the Father’s presence with the eternal glory. Glorification is the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus all taken together.

    Following on Jesus directly refers to the people that the Father has given him and how they have kept the Father’s word. Jesus has given them the Father’s words and they know that Jesus came from the Father. Jesus is praying for them and not the world. He asks the Father to keep them in the Father’s name so that they may all be one.

  • REFLECT

    John 17 is Jesus’s prayer to his Father for us. It is a prayer that we may have eternal life, which is to know the Father and Jesus. It is a prayer to the Father for us to be kept in the Father’s name.

    As the body of Christ let us join in the prayer of Jesus in John 17 to the Father by praying this words to the Father.

reading for: Wednesday Night, 17 MAY

Acts 1:6-14

Following King Jesus who will come again

  • READ

    After his resurrection, Jesus spent forty days with his disciples speaking about the kingdom of God. When they had come together, they asked Jesus whether he will at this time restore the kingdom to Israel.

    Acts 1:6–14 (ESV)

    6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” 12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. 13 And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. 14 All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

    Jesus declares to them it is not for them to know the times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority but that they will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon them and that they will be his witnesses to the end of the earth.

    When he had said this things, he was lifted up and a cloud took him our of their sight into heaven. Two men standing in white robes told them from the heaven that this Jesus who was taken up from them into heaven will come in the same way as they saw him go into heaven. Jesus will come again. As he declares also in John 14, he will come again to take us to be with him. The disciples then returned to Jerusalem and went up to the upper room to pray with one accord.

  • REFLECT

    Jesus was taken up from earth into heaven to prepare a home for us. This Jesus will come again to take us to be with him. Will we follow this Jesus who died, rose again, ascended to the Father and will come again? Will we be like the disciples who after they heard this words returned to Jerusalem and prayed in the Upper room. Let us devote ourselves to prayer like the disciples.

reading for: Thursday Night, 18 MAY

1 Peter 4:12-14, 5:6-11

Suffering for the sake of Jesus who will take us home

  • READ

    1 Peter 4:12-14

    12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

    1 Peter 5:6-11

    6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

    First Peter provides comfort and reassurance for those who face, or will be facing, persecution due to their commitment in following Jesus. This is different from the suffering brought about by our own choices and desires, or the suffering caused by others’ brokenness and sinfulness as we live in this broken world.

    First Peter reminds us that Christ suffered; therefore, we should not be surprised when Christians also suffer. Christians should not suffer for wrongdoings but for doing what is right, resting in the assurance that God’s glory will be revealed. In a strange twist, to be reviled by this world for the sake of Christ is to be considered a blessing. We are to remain humble and let God exalt us. We are not to be anxious, for God cares. Just like the early Christians, who were encouraged to be to be watchful of the satanic (the Empire) that is responsible for their persecution we are to be watchful against the powers and principalities of this postmodern world that constantly tries to seduce, subvert and steal our hearts and minds away from Christ.

  • REFLECT

    The hostility provoked by the early church, or any other church that radically lives the gospel, should not surprise us. The threat to the Empire to early believers was not that this group of Christians believed Jesus was the Son of God or that he rose from the dead. The threat was that Jesus, not Caesar, was Lord. If this claim is true, the question facing the churches of today is: Why do Christians not experience hostility? Could it be that today’s church has become irrelevant because we have traded the gospel of Jesus and gospel-living for other messages and way of life that makes us no different from the world? What do you think? Discuss it at Life Group meeting this week.

reading for: Friday Night, 19 MAY

Psalm 68:1-10, 32-35

Praise the Lord who settles us in a home

  • READ

    Psalm 68:1-10

    God shall arise, his enemies shall be scattered;
        and those who hate him shall flee before him!
    2 As smoke is driven away, so you shall drive them away;
        as wax melts before fire,
        so the wicked shall perish before God!
    3 But the righteous shall be glad;
        they shall exult before God;
        they shall be jubilant with joy!

    4 Sing to God, sing praises to his name;
        lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts;
    his name is the Lord;
        exult before him!
    5 Father of the fatherless and protector of widows
        is God in his holy habitation.
    6 God settles the solitary in a home;
        he leads out the prisoners to prosperity,
        but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.

    7 O God, when you went out before your people,
        when you marched through the wilderness, Selah
    8 the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain,
        before God, the One of Sinai,
        before God, the God of Israel.
    9 Rain in abundance, O God, you shed abroad;
        you restored your inheritance as it languished;
    10 your flock found a dwelling in it;
        in your goodness, O God, you provided for the needy. 

    Psalm 68:32 - 35

    O kingdoms of the earth, sing to God;
        sing praises to the Lord, Selah
    33 to him who rides in the heavens, the ancient heavens;
        behold, he sends out his voice, his mighty voice.
    34 Ascribe power to God,
        whose majesty is over Israel,
        and whose power is in the skies.
    35 Awesome is God from his sanctuary;
        the God of Israel—he is the one who gives power and strength to his people.
    Blessed be God!

     

    Through God’s reconciliation, all evil will ultimately be removed. The psalmist states, “O God, when you went out before your people, when you marched through the wilderness, 8 the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain, before God, the One of Sinai, before God, the God of Israel.” (v. 7–8). Differentiating between the “wicked” and the “righteous,” the Psalmist declares that salvation is brought near to us by God who “marched through the wilderness,” reminding readers of God’s love that lead the ancient Israelite Exodus out of slavery Egypt, through the hand of Moses and the giving of the Law on Sinai that gave the freshly liberated people a new way of life.

    As Christians, when we read the Psalms, we interpret such power as God’s doing the impossible by reconciling sinners to God Himself and us to one another. Paul says, “Having been reconciled, … we [will] be saved by [Christ’s] life” (Rom. 5:10). Therefore, Paul says that such enemies are to be reconciled to God, in whom death no longer has authority. “Death will be destroyed” (1 Cor. 15:54), a clear statement that the power of evil will be utterly removed.

  • REFLECT

    What if we believed that God’s love is as relentless as the Psalmist describes it? What if we believed that there is nothing in God’s creation that is beyond the reach of God’s redeeming grace, that there are no orphans and widows, but also no sinners and no murderers (Luke 23:39-43), whom God does not offer a home in God’s holy habitation (v. 5–6)? Would we not have to reconsider how we see and treat one another and every other human being who is created in God’s image? Share a testimony at LG about God’s saving work in your life.

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