Read chapter in full: www.biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=John+005

 

 

John 5 English Standard Version (ESV)

The Healing at the Pool on the Sabbath

¹ After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

² Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. ³ In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. ⁵ One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. ⁶ When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” ⁷ The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” ⁸ Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” ⁹ And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.

 

REFLECTION

Read over this passage a few times slowly. If time allows, read the whole chapter.

The pool of Bethesda was a gathering place for the infirm, hoping to benefit from its healing waters. There was this man who had been paralyzed for most of his life.

Jesus asked him, “Do you want to get well” (v6)? It might be obvious to answer “Of course!” for the man. But the man’s answer is basically, “Yes, I want to be made well, but I don’t see how this can happen.” The sick man does what we nearly all do. He limits God’s help to his own ideas and does not dare promise himself more that he conceives in his mind.

1. B. Phillips wrote a famous book about this problem, titled“Your God is too Small”. For many of us, we create a small God in our heads, a God who is limited by whatever “box” we try to put God into. ( thecommonlife.com/files/books/Your_God_is_Too_Small.pdf )

Jesus told the man, “Get up and walk.” At once, the cure came, and he got up and walked. The man obeyed. And in obeying, he experienced the healing.

We must know that faith is not an absolute prerequisite of healing. Jesus is not limited by human frailty as He does the works of God. “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things.” (Ps 72:18)

 

Read chapter in full: www.biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=John+004

 

 

John 4 English Standard Version (ESV)

⁴³ After the two days he departed for Galilee. ⁴⁴ (For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.) ⁴⁵ So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast.

Jesus Heals an Official’s Son

⁴⁶ So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. ⁴⁷ When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. ⁴⁸ So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” ⁴⁹ The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” ⁵⁰ Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. ⁵¹ As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. ⁵² So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” ⁵³ The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” And he himself believed, and all his household. ⁵⁴ This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee.

 

REFLECTION

Read over this passage a few times slowly. If time allows, read the whole chapter.

This story shows how difficult having faith is. When the anxious father came, Jesus seemed quite indifferent and said to the father: “Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders you will never believe.” And when the father asked Jesus again, Jesus replied, “You may go. Your son will live.”

This is the dilemma of faith. God, in response to our desperate appeals, speaks to us and says, “It’s done. Go home and you’ll find the sick healed.” And what is there for us to do? If we keep begging Jesus to come with us, we display unbelief. But to go means to head home with no evidence at all that the promised healing has taken place!

Faith is still very much the same. We come to God desperate for salvation. And all He says is, “you may go.” The work is done, your healing accomplished. And, though we lack evidence, in faith we walk away as Jesus said.

When you bring your problem to God, do you tend to accept His word or keep fretting and fussing?  Do you actually live out your life in a way that demonstrates that you really believe God is in control and wants the best for you?

Talk to God about this and listen to His response.

Read chapter in full: www.biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=John+003

 

 

John 3 English Standard Version (ESV)

For God So Loved the World

¹⁶ “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. ¹⁸ Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. ¹⁹ And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. ²⁰ For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. ²¹ But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

 

REFLECTION

Read over this passage a few times slowly. If time allows, read the whole chapter.

This, undoubtedly, is the most famous verse in the Bible. It links what God has done with what we must do. God has provided eternal life in Jesus. Our part is to believe.

In John 1:12, John defined “believe” in terms of “receive”. In 3:16-18, “believe” is defined in terms of “repent”.

Both repenting and receiving are aspects of a true belief in God. Biblical belief is turning from ourselves and our old ways to God, and trusting God enough to open our hearts to the gift He wants to give us.

Is there any word or phrase that touches you in a special way? What do you feel when you read these words or terms? Does it have anything to do with your present situation? What is God trying to say to you? What does God want you to do?

Memorize vv16-17. Speak to God about your desire to repent and receive His grace of salvation. Thank God for the promise of the new life that lasts to eternity.

 

Read chapter in full: www.biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=John+002

 

 

John 2 English Standard Version (ESV)

The Wedding at Cana

¹ On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. ² Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. ³ When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” ⁴ And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” ⁵ His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

⁶ Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. ⁷ Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. ⁸ And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. ⁹ When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom ¹⁰ and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” ¹¹ This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

¹² After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days.

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

¹³ The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. ¹⁵ And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. ¹⁶ And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” ¹⁷ His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

 

REFLECTION

Read over this passage a few times slowly. If time allows, read the whole chapter.

Jesus miraculously transformed water into wine and brought joy and blessing to the would-be-embarrassed groom and displayed His glory (vv1-11).

In the second event (vv13-17), Jesus purified the temple. He drove out corruption and insisted that the worship of God be holy and clean.

He does these two things – transformation and purification – in our lives too. As He transforms He cleanses, and purifies us making us worthy to worship and honour God. And the price of transforming and purifying us was the sacrificial death of God’s one and only Son Jesus.

What have you noticed of God’s transforming and purifying work in your life lately? How did you respond to it?

 

Read chapter in full: www.biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=John+001

 

 

Gospel of John

 

John closes his book by revealing his purpose in writing Jesus’ story: These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

 

John begins his book by echoing words from the Bible’s creation story—In the beginning—showing his readers that this is a story of a new creation. Just as the first creation was completed in seven days, John uses the number seven to structure his book. For the Jews the number seven represented completeness and wholeness, a finished work of God revealing his purpose for the world.

 

The story is told in two main parts. The first describes Jesus’ public ministry and has seven sections. Each section closes with a report on how people respond to Jesus, either in faith or unbelief. The second part is devoted to the Passover weekend, when Jesus gave his life for the world.

 

John records seven instances in which Jesus revealed his identity by using the phrase I am, the name by which God had revealed himself earlier. Similarly, John records seven miraculous signs that Jesus performed. John’s narrative mentions twice that the resurrection of Jesus took place on the first day of the week. In this way he confirms that the power of a new creation has broken into our world.

 

www.bible.com/zh-TW/bible/111/JHN.INTRO1.NIV

 

 

John 1 English Standard Version (ESV)

The Word Became Flesh

¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. ⁴ In him was life, and the life was the light of men. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

⁶ There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.⁷ He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. ⁸ He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

⁹ The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. ¹¹ He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. ¹² But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, ¹³ who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. ¹⁵ (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) ¹⁶ For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. ¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

 

REFLECTION

John opens his Gospel with a hymn of praise to Christ. It is one of the most profound passages in all the Bible written in simple, straightforward language.

Read over this passage a few times slowly. If time allows, read the whole chapter.

John tells us that Jesus, the Word of God, is the one through whom we hear God’s voice. He is the One in whom we meet God and welcome God into our lives. The life Christ offers us shines in our world as a bright light. Like a beacon to a lost traveler, the light shining in Jesus offers all men hope, not only hope for life after death, but hope for a rich and meaningful life here and now.

When it says “and dwelt among us” (v14), how does that make you feel? What would your life be like if God moved to your street or shared the workspace with you? How would the environment of your neighborhood be different if God had moved in? How might your life be different?

Meditate on these words “In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.” (vv4-5)

Read chapter in full: www.biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Numbers+036

 

Numbers Chapter 36   (ESV)

1 The heads of the fathers’ houses of the clan of the people of Gilead the son of Machir, son of Manasseh, from the clans of the people of Joseph, came near and spoke before Moses and before the chiefs, the heads of the fathers’ houses of the people of Israel. 2 They said, “The Lord commanded my lord to give the land for inheritance by lot to the people of Israel, and my lord was commanded by the Lord to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters. 3 But if they are married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the people of Israel, then their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of our fathers and added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry. So it will be taken away from the lot of our inheritance. 4 And when the jubilee of the people of Israel comes, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry, and their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.”

 

5 And Moses commanded the people of Israel according to the word of the Lord, saying, “The tribe of the people of Joseph is right. 6 This is what the Lord commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad: ‘Let them marry whom they think best, only they shall marry within the clan of the tribe of their father. 7 The inheritance of the people of Israel shall not be transferred from one tribe to another, for every one of the people of Israel shall hold on to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. 8 And every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the people of Israel shall be wife to one of the clan of the tribe of her father, so that every one of the people of Israel may possess the inheritance of his fathers. 9 So no inheritance shall be transferred from one tribe to another, for each of the tribes of the people of Israel shall hold on to its own inheritance.’”

 

10 The daughters of Zelophehad did as the Lord commanded Moses, 11 for Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to sons of their father’s brothers. 12 They were married into the clans of the people of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of their father’s clan.

 

13 These are the commandments and the rules that the Lord commanded through Moses to the people of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.

 

 

REFLECTION:

• The Book of Numbers closes with the positive example of obedience that these women provided for Israel. Flip through the whole book and then read this chapter slowly.
• The focus of Numbers can be summed up to two points: God always leads, and He will accomplish His will.  This chapter is only the end of one stage of Israelites’ pilgrimage.  It is actually a beginning, a prelude of occupying the Promised Land.  We believers are also on a pilgrimage, we may be in different stages; most have not received Jesus’ wonderful promise to transform us into His image and to accomplish His will.

 

 

PRAYER:

Read Ps 90 as a response in review to God.

 

www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+90&version=ESV

 

Read chapter in full: www.biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Numbers+035

 

Numbers Chapter 35   (ESV)

9 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11 then you shall select cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person without intent may flee there. 12 The cities shall be for you a refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment. 13 And the cities that you give shall be your six cities of refuge. 14 You shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and three cities in the land of Canaan, to be cities of refuge. 15 These six cities shall be for refuge for the people of Israel, and for the stranger and for the sojourner among them, that anyone who kills any person without intent may flee there.

 

REFLECTION:

• Read the passage without worrying about specifics; just try to understand its overall idea.
• Moses was told to designate six cities as “cities of refuge” to represent God’s grace to sinners, these were where God dwelt among the outcast. God knows our limitations and weaknesses, and he prepares a “refuge”, or safe place, for us.  Jesus Christ is a city of refuge for sinners like us – for we all fall short of God’s holiness.  Jesus protects us, and we take rest in Him.  Jesus brings God’s grace to us as we pursue the spiritual life.  We flourish in the light of God’s grace.
• Think about what it’s been like to be with the God who is both a God of justice and a God of refuge. Has it left me with questions or with new thoughts on how I want to deal with my sin in the future?  Make note of anything that seems significant.

 

PRAYER:

• Explore recent thoughts, feelings, and events in my life and how I’ve responded to them. What’s primarily on my heart today?  Is anything troubling me?
• Bring these thoughts to the God who created “cities of refuge”. Read the verses again.  As I do, picture God entering the room.  How do I relate to his presence?  Share with him what I’ve been thinking.  Does doing so make me uncomfortable?  Why or why not?

 

Read chapter in full: www.biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Numbers+034

 

Numbers Chapter 34   (ESV)

1 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Command the people of Israel, and say to them, When you enter the land of Canaan (this is the land that shall fall to you for an inheritance, the land of Canaan as defined by its borders), 3 your south side shall be from the wilderness of Zin alongside Edom, and your southern border shall run from the end of the Salt Sea on the east. 4 And your border shall turn south of the ascent of Akrabbim, and cross to Zin, and its limit shall be south of Kadesh-barnea. Then it shall go on to Hazar-addar, and pass along to Azmon. 5 And the border shall turn from Azmon to the Brook of Egypt, and its limit shall be at the sea.

 

6 “For the western border, you shall have the Great Sea and its coast. This shall be your western border.

 

7 “This shall be your northern border: from the Great Sea you shall draw a line to Mount Hor. 8 From Mount Hor you shall draw a line to Lebo-hamath, and the limit of the border shall be at Zedad. 9 Then the border shall extend to Ziphron, and its limit shall be at Hazar-enan. This shall be your northern border.

 

10 “You shall draw a line for your eastern border from Hazar-enan to Shepham. 11 And the border shall go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain. And the border shall go down and reach to the shoulder of the Sea of Chinnereth on the east. 12 And the border shall go down to the Jordan, and its limit shall be at the Salt Sea. This shall be your land as defined by its borders all around.”

 

 

REFLECTION:

• When God brought Israel out of Egypt he promised his people a land “that flows milk and honey”. He commanded the twelve spies to investigate the land promised to them.  But ten of the men doubted God.  Only Joshua and Caleb believed God’s word and courageously embraced His promise.
• Because of their open minds and hearts to see what God wanted them to see, both men interpreted their experiences of the punishing journey in the wilderness in the light of that vision. Their time in the wilderness, which they could have seen as a curse, became a blessing to them.  The wilderness became their training ground for future challenges and the place where they experienced God’s presence in a deeper way.

 

 

PRAYER:

• Am I just like the Israelites wandering in the wilderness? With little enthusiasm, and full of despair even though there is wonderful promise of God ahead?
• Do I doubt God just like the ten spies, full of complaint and bitterness?
• As the Holy Spirit to show my heart, tell God about it and ask for forgiveness. Pray for the perspective of Joshua and Caleb to see blessing in the midst of hardship and to experience God more deeply.

 

Read chapter in full: www.biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Numbers+033

 

Numbers Chapter 33   (ESV)

50 And the Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, 51 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 52 then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy all their figured stones and destroy all their metal images and demolish all their high places. 53 And you shall take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given the land to you to possess it. 54 You shall inherit the land by lot according to your clans. To a large tribe you shall give a large inheritance, and to a small tribe you shall give a small inheritance. Wherever the lot falls for anyone, that shall be his. According to the tribes of your fathers you shall inherit. 55 But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain shall be as barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell. 56 And I will do to you as I thought to do to them.”

 

REFLECTION: 

• Read this passage, preferably the whole chapter.
• After 40 years, God has finally brought His people to the very border of Canaan. Despite desolate and waterless wastes, despite enemy armies, God has been faithful.  Looking back at each stage of the journey, Israel could see a preview of the future.  The God who had kept them safe would surely fight for them when they at last invaded the Promised Land.
• Once again, recall my “Life’s journey map”. Go through the path of my life again.

 

HYMN:

My Best Friend – Hillsong Worship

www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGvxdDsRNUc

 

Read chapter in full: www.biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Numbers+032

 

Numbers Chapter 32   (ESV)

6 But Moses said to the people of Gad and to the people of Reuben, “Shall your brothers go to the war while you sit here? 7 Why will you discourage the heart of the people of Israel from going over into the land that the Lord has given them? 8 Your fathers did this, when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land. 9 For when they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the people of Israel from going into the land that the Lord had given them. 10 And the Lord’s anger was kindled on that day, and he swore, saying, 11 ‘Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, because they have not wholly followed me, 12 none except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the Lord.’ 13 And the Lord’s anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the Lord was gone. 14 And behold, you have risen in your fathers’ place, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of the Lord against Israel! 15 For if you turn away from following him, he will again abandon them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all this people.”

 

16 Then they came near to him and said, “We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, and cities for our little ones, 17 but we will take up arms, ready to go before the people of Israel, until we have brought them to their place. And our little ones shall live in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. 18 We will not return to our homes until each of the people of Israel has gained his inheritance. 19 For we will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has come to us on this side of the Jordan to the east.”

 

 

REFLECTION: 

• Read the passage slowly. If time permits, read through the chapter for a better understanding of the conflict presented here.
• Moses was upset at the tribes of Reuben and Gad. However, the leaders demonstrated their commitment by leading Israel into battle and bearing the brunt of the attack.  They also showed their trust in God by being ready to leave their families and herds unprotected while fighting the war.  Moses granted their request.
• We can’t really say what God’s best for another person is. And our view isn’t really important.  What counts is still his/her commitment to, and active trust in, God.  Each person must have the freedom to follow where God leads.

 

 

PRAYER: 

• Have I ever made sincere advice to someone? Did he follow the advice?  If his response were contrary to my advice, what would I react?  Why?
• Do I value his following my opinion? Or his own commitment and trust in God?
• Pray that I would focus on the trust in and commitment to God of myself and others rather than whether my opinion is accepted by others. Help me see that God is the one for us to follow.
• Pray for true commitment and trust in God to work things out God’s Way.