John 9

⁶ When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. ⁷ And He said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing. ¹¹ He answered and said, “A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed, and I received sight.”


Sorry, I didn't have internet access for several days.

After reading this chapter, one thought came to mind...Jesus did His part, now it's our turn to do our part. There is a process which is explained in both vs. 6 & 7 and vs. 11. This blind man originally does not believe in Jesus, however, for the glory of God, he was chosen to receive grace from God. This we can see from other verses in this chapter. Jesus came to him first to heal him, although not without some work to be done on the blind man's part. First, Jesus did His part and anointed his eyes with clay. However, it did not say that the blind man can see after Jesus did that. After the anointing, Jesus instructed the blind man to wash in a pool. The crucial step before receiving his sight was the blind man's obedience. He went and washed without a question. Only after his obedience did he receive sight.

Yes, God is love, he gave grace to us. Many believe that it is a one way street. However, from this chapter, we can see that it is actually a two way street. God does His part and chose us for His glory, and gives instructions for us to do our part, and when we obey without questions and carry it out, that's when His promises are fulfilled and we are blessed and He is in turn glorified

Isaiah 43:7
Everyone who is called by My name, Whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him.”.

John 9

29 He replied, "Whether he is a sinner or not, I don't know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!"

I just like this answer of this blind man. Though the sentences are short, they are clear and direct pointing out the importances.
I think he was not very happy to considered a sinner by the disciples of Jesus and also the Pharisees.

John 8

First a verse I want to share with everyone :
7 "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."

I mean didnt we started like this? everyone picks a verse in this chapter. And it is not neccesary to exlpain or write a long reflection about it? It was mainly about reading the bible AND let others reading it too. This particular verse just seems handy for the everyday life. Something to add into our attitude .


I am happy that I could use this quite time in the evening to read John and to write something.
In this chapter Jesus is again talking to the people. I think that we can not see the recordings in John in a strict order concerning time and place. It is maybe a collection and compression of the teachings of Jesus. In the other gospesl we often see the sentence that Jesus sat down to teach the people. But the actual content is often not noted down.

For this chapter I like to draw out all the features mentioned by Jesus about himself (hm maybe this sentences is not quite right...)

12 "I am the light of the world
14"Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going.
(here I do not understand how this statement maches with the one in John 5:31 "If I testify about myself, my testimony is not valid. maybe it is importatn to take a good look into the context. Though I looked for the context but I was not very clear to me)
15 I pass judgment on no one
16But if I do judge, my decisions are right
16I am not alone. I stand with the Father
23 I am from above. I am not of this world
29 The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone
36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
45 I tell the truth
46 I am telling the truth
58 before Abraham was born, I am

I hope that I got most of the descrptions which are mentioned in this chapter. Maybe you already noticed that I missed a big group out. It is about the relation between him and the father to which he very often refers to. It is that he is not doing, telling or acting on his own but be does the will of the father and speaks what he has intrusted him. He often repeats himself and explain this relationship from different aspects.

A little detail which is a bit unexlpainable:
²⁰He spoke these words while teaching in the temple area near the place where the offerings were put.
It was the word "Gotteskasten" it is one word which is rephrased in enlgish with "the place where the offerings were put". I mean mentioning this detail here makes one asking "why????" hehe. I do not know it. But it does remind me about the grass int the chapter before. Maybe there is also a link for it here. It really makes me ask "what is this thing doing in this abstract text??" So maybe one of you have an answer for it.

John 01 (review)

I have to apologize for stopping posting for so long. Now I would like to review and to carry on my subject that "How does Jesus reveal God?" in Gospel John.

In chapter 1, John addressed firstly the relationship between God and the world. The world are created by God, and the life comes from God (1-4). However, this relationship has split due to the sin, or the darkness (5). Though God would like to rebuild this relationship to provide the life to men (6-9), human beings are not all willing to receive his grace (10-11). Only those who are willing receive his grace will receive life, that is, born in spirit as the children of God (12-13).

Therefore, it is Jesus, the One and Only of God, brought this grace and truth among men and manifested God's glory before men (14-17). Through Jesus, God manifested His nature, that is, the grace and the Truth. Thus, the core argument of the Gospel John is Jesus's manifestation of the nature of God.

So in chapter 1, there are three groups of people who recognized Jesus's real identity, not in flesh but in spirit: a) John the Baptist, who identified Jesus as God's lamp, whose work is taking way the sin of the world (1:29) according to the indication of the descending holy spirit (1:33-34), and even he confirmed Jesus as the Son of God (34); b) Andrew and Peter, who identified Jesus as Messiah (1:41) because they heard of the testimony of their teacher, John the Baptist (1:35-37), and c) Philip and Nathanael, who identified Jesus as the one been referred in the books of prophets (1:45), the Son of God and the King of Israel (1:49).

For they receiving Jesus, they became the children of God and receive their newness of life - they became the voice in the desert (23), the rock of his people (42) and the prince of God, like Jacob (51). So, we can regard them as the models of salvation.

John 7

50Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who was one of their own number, asked, 51"Does our law condemn anyone without first hearing him to find out what he is doing?"
52They replied, "Are you from Galilee, too? Look into it, and you will find that a prophete" does not come out of Galilee."

wow each chapter in John is pretty long or has much content. And often it is hard to grasp the main point of Jesus teachings within a short time of period. hehe thats why I last time choose a pasage from a event which really took place. This time I also do not refer to the difficult teaching of Jesus. I like to quote another man: Nikodemus. He once said to Jesus
¹Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. ²He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him." (John 3 1-2) And here he speaks to the other Pharisees who are agry about Jesus and the people who follow Jesus. He askes them a question. On what is their behavior or disire based? On the law? Nikodemus says no because if they would act as it is in the law they would first to a hearing to find out who Jesus is. And the question weather their actions are based on love is not necessary to be asked. What made me recognise this verse (john7.51) was the german word "erkennen". Not only here but also in chapter 6 this word is used in context with Jesus.
^{john 6. 69}We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God." in german its the same vocabulary :erkennen. And I am sure that at least Daniela will think of another book when we talk about "erkennen". It is the book we read in german lesson Der Proceß the protagonist is unable to erkennen and this is one of the reasons you can give to explain his execution in the last.
Unable to erkennen... unable to erkennen (~ see) your own flaws... unable to see Jesus... unable to see the reality.
This leads us to the topic of being blind. Which just makes me think about ecclesiastes (prediger). you might be as wise as Salomo but there are still things hidden from you.
But that would be another topic. I want to remain by the things you should see and you need to see.
But at least maybe we can say: Yes there is much we do not see (though we should) but at least we should be able to see Jesus like Peter and not like the Pharisees who shut their eyes.

John 8

"⁵³Then each went to his own home. ¹But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. "


At first no verses jumped out at me when I read this chapter. Then I reread it several days later and noticed the last verse of chapter 7 coupled with the first verse of chapter 8. The contrast caught my eye.

Here it said that 'each went to his own home'. Yet, where did Jesus go? Mount of Olives. Home is a place where people return to at the end of the day, it is a place of comfort with family, with people whom you can trust and rely upon. It is where you can talk about the day's troubles and share the day's joy. It is a place where people can withdraw to for privacy and meditation away from the day's toils.

However, this verse seem to suggest that Jesus lacked a 'home'. In the eyes of the world, that may be true. But Jesus had said Himself that He is "not of this world" (Jn 17:16) and that His "kingdom is not of this world" (Jn 18:36). Therefore, from the eyes of this physical world, how can Jesus have a place to call 'home'? 'Home' to Jesus is the same as to us, except the being who he returns to at the end of the day, who He finds comfort in, who He shares His troubles and joys with, a place where he comes for privacy and meditation is with His Father. His 'home' has a deeper meaning than that of the physical world. It is where he talks to His disciples of the things to come. It is where He prayed in tears to His Father to take that bitter cup away. It is where Jesus begins His journey to the cross.

Like Jesus, we should also have a place for God to be our 'Mount Olive'. Whether it be a physical place or a place in our heart. A place where we focus on the things of God, and where we can find comfort in God, share our burdens and joys with God. A place where we can transcend our earthly 'home' and remember that we have a better 'home' elsewhere. That our 'home' is not of this world, but with God.

The mention of 'home' caught my eye, because for a long time now, since moving to the USA, I do not have a physical place where I can call 'home'. I had lived in my aunts' house, and then rented apartments, and then moved around. There is not a steady, physical place where 'home' is. 'Home' became wherever I lived. Usually for other people, home is the house where their parents live or if you are married, where your family lives. Since my parents do not own a place in USA and I am not married, there isn't a physical place of 'home'. At times, I feel awkward telling people I'm going 'home', because there really isn't a 'home' there waiting for me. In this sense, I can relate to Jesus. Therefore, 'home' became where I attend church., a place where God is. Even though the relationship and intimacy with brothers and sisters isn't the same as with the immediately family, the brothers and sisters became the family I had. But most importantly, God is what I always have. Even when feeling all alone amidst the crowd, I knew that at least God is there for me, and that is where 'home' is supposed to be.

Sorry, that i haven´t written in the last months.

My "bible-reading-situation" is that I am reading proverbs. So, my idea is to write something about the first and second chapter:


The verses which impressed me the most are vers 3 - 5 in chapter 2.
When I read these verses, I remembered books, called "Abby Lynn", written by Rainer M. Schröder. Altogether, there are 4 books. The book explains the very beginning of Australia: At the end of the 17th, the English Crown used Australia`s East coasts for convicts, who had to work all the day. The leading character is a young girl Abby, who was exiled to this country. During this time, a lot of "free" persons tried to get land in the coastal area. Over a period of time, Abby met a free man and got married. She could escape from the prison and have to flee with her husband. They went with an oxcart to the West, in hope to find fertile land, where they can live at rest. After 3 weeks, they have still been in the veld, where is only a little bit of water, very hot, no shadows. At the end they have to pass a very big river, while a friend of Abby died, and a mountain.
But they didn´t give up their hope and the believing that they can reach their aim.
Shortly after the adventure to pass the barriers, they only saw green grassland, a lot of plants, like the Lily in the Valley.

Imagine that you arrive the vally in the night. There are only darkness, maybe a lot of wildlife and poisonous animals. But during the sunrise, the sun gives the valley its harmony, warmness and happines back.

You can compare it with your faith:
Maybe, you have some situations where you can´t see a solution or the right way, but God is there, he will lead us to the right direction, into the light-flooded valley. We only have to fight very hard and to believe. If God see that you really want the promise, he is going to give it to you.

Like the verses, I chose:

"wenn du sie suchst wie Silber und nach ihr forschest, wie nach Schätzen:
dann wirst du die Furcht des HERRN verstehen und die Erkenntnis Gottes finden."


Think about what you want and struggle for it!

John 6

¹⁰Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them.

This chapter is a pretty long one. And its also a while ago since i read it. But I always had in mind to write something and remebered this one verse. It was when Susan was leading the biblestudy on one saturday. There she also talked about this incident but referring to the notation in Mark. After reading the same story there this verse was even more interesting.
It were the words "plenty of grass" which attracted my attention. Why would the bible mention this tiny unimportant detail? Was it to stress that the people at least had a nice soft ground to sit? (but thinking about sitting on the grass i always connect this with having green trousers afterwards). This could be or maybe it was very special to have such a nice piece of grass in that particular reagion. But because of the lack of my knowledge in this i can not say anything about that.
But what i want to say is about the verse in
Mark 6:34 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.
Here it says that the large crowd was just like sheeps without a sheperd. And Jesus as the chief sheperd (1.Petr. 5:4) made them sit down, settle down on the grass. And the grass happen to be plenty just as the food Jesus provided to them. I think these both verses in John and Mark are giving a nice picture. Of Jesus who at first found lost and strayed sheeps but then afterwards he made them sit down on the grass which was plenty and began to teach them many things and in the end gave them enough to eat.
What is also interesting is this verse in mark where the disciples discribe that place:
Mk. 6:35 By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. "This is a remote place," they said, "and it's already very late.
They said that this is a remote place. In german it is the word öd which also means bleak. It seems that the disciples could not see that plenty of grass for these lost sheeps or in other words the teachings and word of life Jesus could give this crowd and not only that but he also provided them with the daily needs.

So maybe we could also return to this place full of grass which is maybe considered remoted and bleak by others. And let us lead by the chief sheperd.

John 7

¹² And there was much complaining among the people concerning Him. Some said, “He is good”; others said, “No, on the contrary, He deceives the people.”

In reading this, I'm both touched and saddened. I truly feel sorry for those who cannot recognize Jesus, the Christ, when they see Him. How one is so very blessed to recognize and know Him. Yet others are blind to this revelation of God. It shines so true to our world today. How so many are yet unable to recognize Christ, and even deny Him when they see Him. And how blessed we are to have received His truth and get to know Him. Let's pray for those less fortunate, in hopes that one day they may find this precious treasure to cherish.

John 5

44How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God?

(In German it is not the praise but the honour.) Jesus came not for his own sake. He, before he came to earth, did not need to descend. He neither lacked in glory nor in power or anything else. He came because we lack (in pretty much parts). He came because of his godly love and to give us eternal life so that we are saved from the judgement.
24"[...] whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned[...]
And in the judgement he also will not accuse us before the father
45"But do not think I will accuse you before the Father.
But somehow it is stillhard for human to accept him by comming to him
40yet you refuse to come to me to have life.
or to make efford to obtain his pleasure, praise and attension. People prefere to be acepted by human, being which are just like them. Is this the reason why it is more likely to desire human praise? Does this kind of temorary praise seem more easier to obtain and more real to us? I think you could say so. It really aquries faith and faith to belive that Jesus as a almighty God is there and that we can be a pleasure to him. That we are able to do good and that God is willing to accept and to support while we are improving. He does not want to condenm people but he would love to bless them.There are many ways to obtain the praise of God but you haveto be willing to put efford, time and energy into this process. But maybe not the process but the beginning is the hardes part. Because the loose of human prais may let us hesitate
John 12: 42Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; 43for they loved praise from men more than praise from God.
So why should we desire for mans praise rather then for Gods? Is it not better to be acceptable and liked before God than before man?

John Chapter 8

1 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
2 Now early[a] in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them.


Jesus showed us a good example in term of how to balance our spiritual life. Jesus went to mountain and then he went to the temple. The implication of go to mountain in today’s spiritual life is equivalent to go to spiritual convocation, theological course, seminars or something similar where we have the chance to cultivate our spiritual level. Most of the seminars, convocations are held in church where we are expected to devote all of our time to pray, study bible of GOD, pray and have fellowship with brothers and sisters. Surely, those kinds of activities are very good for our spiritual improvement. Thus if you have chances to attend theological courses, make the most of it.
Secondly, regarding go temple. Jesus wants us to go to church, work for GOD and serve GOD.
All in all, GOD wants us to have a good balance of our spiritual life. Have time for us to self cultivation and also spare time to serve GOD.

John Chapter 7

37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” 39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing[g] in Him would receive; for the Holy[h] Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.


Here in chapter 7 Jesus told us that He provides the living water to those who believe in He and in chapter 6, Jesus also mentioned about bread of life which is He. Jesus said that whoever comes and believes to Him shall never hunger and thirst again. In sum, Jesus told us that our spiritual satisfaction comes from spiritual and drinking. The bread of life is the word of GOD and the living water is the Holy Spirit. This means, in order to be spiritually fulfilled, we have to continually pursue the bread of life by constantly studying the word of GOD and persistently praying in spirit.

John chapter 6

Hi... sorry. havent write again since i am back. sorry about that.

John Chapter 6
5 Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” 6 But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.



This is what I like from the book of John. By reading the book of John thoroughly, we are assured that our GOD is the almighty one. If something unexpected happened in our lives, just treat it as a test from GOD for us, just like Jesus tested Philips. GOD knows what He will do and He will solve the problem just like in this story. GOD tests us because He want to know whether we can restrain the test or not.

However, after received grace from GOD, our faith shouldn’t only base on the physical sign and grace that GOD has shown to us. Jesus doesn’t expect this kind of relationship from us (v. 27). This kind of relationship is not strong enough and can be broken easily. We can see the example from this chapter, in verse 15, it’s written that those people after seen the sign of Jesus wanted to make Him king, nevertheless, in chapter 66, we can see that many of those disciples followed Jesus no more. Those disciplies gone because the reason they followed Jesus solely based on the physical bread. Their faith has no foundation, their faith is not based on Jesus Christ's teaching. This is why our faith should be rooted in good and solid foundation so that we will abide in Him forever.

Melita! We need YOU!

It's time to play catch up again y'all. Melita has been setting a very good example for us, and somehow we faltered with her absence. Let's go everyone! We need to continue with the race. Hopefully now that she's back, we'll be on track again :)

John 4

39Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony[...]
41And because of his [Jesu´s] words many more became believers.

It seems that we can reach something with our testimony and own words. But the word of God is most powerful and convincing.
It also seems that the people first had to hear about Jesus and her testimony and than comming to Jesus. They neede someone to guide them. And it does not matter in which bad social position she was. She had no friend or was respected in town but still she was able to give the people the opportunity to be saved.

14 [...] I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life

Where is the spring, when we feel thirty and longing for somthing? Are we just sitting on it and blocking the water or did we already walked too far away?
Actually there is no need anymore to feel thirsty cause we were given an source. So it is not only moving oneself to some special place as
"21 [...] a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem." because
^"24God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."

John 6

⁴¹ The Jews then complained about Him, because He said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven.” ⁴² And they said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”


This must be human nature, to have preconceptions of someone because of having known them before. It seems that it is easier to discredit someone and not give them the benefit of the doubt when you have known that person for a long time. It is harder to believe that the person you've known could actually change, and for the better. Even if one didn't know a person for a long time, but one knew the person before for a period of time, one tends to expect the person to remain the same as when one knew them.

For example, if a person knew someone from childhood, who went to the same elementary school. The person happened to get bad grades all the time, then you lose contact when you go to a different school. Then this person goes on and gets a PhD later in life. Many times it would be very difficult for the person that knew this PhD before to believe that these two are the same person. Same thing if you knew someone and they were always mean, but then all of a sudden they became really nice, you may think it is a trick instead of thinking the person changed and improved.

This seems to be the same attitude that these Jews have who were from Jesus' home town. They have know Him and His family. They know that His is from the family of a carpenter. How could it be possible that Jesus, the son, can be anyone great?

Many times we make the same mistake and discredit someone without realizing that perhaps this person has become someone better than they were before. Many times we may be forgiving toward ourselves, but have double standards when it comes to others. Hopefully we can learn from the mistake the Jews made against Jesus, and not make the same mistake ourselves towards others. Let us give others rooms to grow, and believe that they can become a better person even if they weren't to begin with.

John 5

Joh 5:19 Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.

God is fear and austere during the period in Old Testament. The People on that time feared to see the Lord and put on the veil hastily on the face to avoid seeing directly the glory of the Lord. Even God said to Moses that you cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live(Exo 33:20). Why? Because of the sins which make people unclean and not available to see the face of the sanctification. Nowadays, since Jesus Himself is the propitiation for the whole human’s sins, those who believe Him and are willing to accept the baptism for forgiveness of sins belong to God and become the son of God. These men can see God without veil. We are now very lucky to be those men who have took off the veil and face God face to face. We know Him through the bible; talk with Him with Holy Spirit. We shall like Jesus, whatever we do also do in like manner what we see our Lord do.

Mat 11:29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Week of June 7-13

Reading: Genesis 31-36
Reflection: John 6

John 5

⁵ Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. ⁶ When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?”
⁷ The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.”
⁸ Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” ⁹ And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.


This is a touching scene, but also an ugly scene. Ugly, because it shows the selfishness of human nature, everyone for himself. When there is an advantage to be gained for oneself, other people do not matter. It does not matter if their condition is worse than yours, or they have been waiting longer than you have. At the crucial moment, everyone will fight and pursue their own benefits, trampling down others while at it. This is touching, because it shows us that Jesus sees even if no one else did; and Jesus cared when no one else cared. Jesus probably pick him out for the reason that he has been waiting the longest, and without help. Jesus sees the needs of others when no one else sees. Jesus sees the trouble of others when no one else cared to see. This is a great comfort, knowing that even if no one else sees or cares about the troubles you are going through, Jesus will, and He will pick you out from all the rest and save you.

John 5

John 5
5 Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?”
7 The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” 8 Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” 9 And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.

Above verses confirm that our GOD indeed is a merciful GOD. He can help us whatever the situation and He has His own way to save us. No matter how difficult the situation but GOD can help and rescue us. If read verse 5, actually we can see that Jesus was the one who approached sick man first. However, At the beginning this sick man relied on his understanding (verse 7). This story tells us that in fact, GOD is always be there to help us, but sometimes we depend and struggle with our own understanding. Often we don’t realize that GOD has offered help, but we insist with our effort. We, therefore, should not rely on our own understanding, because our merciful GOD will always help and more importantly, GOD is most reliable person that
we can count on.

PS: I am on holiday for 2 weeks, thus might not be able to post for the next two weeks.

John 4

Joh 4:35 "Do you not say, 'There are still four months and then comes the harvest'? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!

Evangelism for example, when troubles appear we might think that it is the end. Then we might lose attention and plead in excuse of our conduct. Excuse such like the God’s timing is not coming yet or he is not the chosen on. For preaching there is but no difference of time.

Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season (2Ti 4:2)

“Lift up your eye and look” here symbolizes “God’s thoughts are higher than man’s”, just the same like Abraham went to offer with Isaac. When the angel of the Lord called Abraham not to hurt Isaac, at the meantime Abraham lifted his eyes and looked a ram catching in a thicket by his horns, and then he took the ram and offered it up for the burnt offering instead of his son (Gen22). Those beyond expectations reveal the great of God and his marvel. The most important is whether we can lift our eyes and look around when we are filled with despair. Looking for the guidance of God and waiting for his Help.

Luk 18:27 "The things which are impossible with men are possible with God."

Gen 22, 23

Gen. 22: 13 Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns.

The little word "behind" made me stop at this verse. When it is written about peopel who lifted their eyes I always thougth that they looked forward and lift their head. Like the ones in
"Psalm 123:1 I lift up my eyes to you, to you whose throne is in heaven."
But here Abrabam saw something behind him and not even far away. So then we can add something new to this up lifting of our eyes. Not only lift the head and move from down to high but also look around and look behind you. In this example the needed item is not far away but you have to turn around to notice it.

Gen. 23
16 Abraham[...] weighed out for him the price he had named in the hearing of the Hittites
17 So Ephron's field in Machpelah near Mamre[...]was deeded
18 to Abraham as his property in the presence of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of the city.

Why did Abraham not just took the land which the people would give him for free. Efron told him twice that he is willing to give him the land and the cave. But through this whole process Abraham was always very polite and did not took what he just could have taken. Maybe it was common at that time to make such offers like the Hetiter did and be on the outside very generous. If it were like this Abraham just reacted right. Cause he did what was right. Everything material has its price and when someone gives you something for free you are in debt to this person. I think to avoid this situation and to have not relationship like this Abraham payed it in the forseen way and manner. So later no one can come and take it away because it is official his own property. Legaly purchased.
A similar situation is in
Gen 14:23 that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the thong of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, 'I made Abram rich.'
when Abraham refused to keep the things from the kinf of Sodom.
If we look at Abrahams live we can see that he is not a poor man. He does not need to be given or receive presents by people. And he is also just a foreign and is a stranger wherever he lives. He did not bound himself to the people there. And avoided to get too involed in complicated relationships with duties commitment to human.

John 4

^"1 Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John ² (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples), ³ He left Judea and departed again to Galilee."

Yet another verse to help with dealing with the idea of Trinity. Here, if we read these verses with a grammatically understanding, we can see that the pronoun 'He' in vs. 3 refers to the subject 'the Lord' in vs. 1. And we can see from the whole context that the 'He' mentioned in vs. 3 IS Jesus. Therefore, 'the Lord' = 'Jesus' = 'He' in vs. 3.

^"34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. ³⁵ Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!"

This is a good verse to remind us that the harvest is always out there, in or out of season. Because our harvest is not in the physical crops, but the spiritual. There is no waiting period in the spiritual harvest. As it is Food for Jesus to do the will of God and finish His work, it should also be our food to do the same. Thank God that we have finally gotten a start on the Youth Fellowship, and a good start at that. I believe we are on our way to imitate Christ in this regard. Let us press forward so as not to be left hungry :)

John Chapter 4

34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.

Physically, food is the source of our energy, in other words, without food, we will die. That’s why the disciplines concerned whether Jesus had eaten or not ( verse 33: Therefore the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?” ). This is true; we need food to life healthily and stay strong. However, in term of spiritual, what we need to have a healthy spiritual life? What is our spiritual food? Here Jesus told us a very important teaching which is to “do the will of GOD” as our food.

May 31 to June 6 Week

Reflection: John 5
Reading: Genesis 25-30

John Chapter 3

John 3:36
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him

This message from John strongly warns human being to believe in GOD in order to have eternal life. However, sadly, in fact, not so many people do care about eternal life. Nowadays, people only care what can be seen such as worldly possession, job or house but those are only temporarily and only can be used in this world. Thus, what’s for pursuing those worldly things, it is better to make use of our time and energy to pursue the eternal life which is salvation. Generally speaking, it is easier to believe something can be seen than something is not. But, we all know that there is a judgment day at the end of the world and at that time, we’ll find out the life after “today” life. Thus, we should be grateful that we believe in the Son and we are at the right path to the salvation.

John 3

Joh 3:27 John answered and said, "A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. 28 "You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, 'I am not the Christ,' but, 'I have been sent before Him.' 29 "He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled.

When John’s disciples said to John that people are all coming to Jesus, who was baptized by you, John was not angry or any jealous of Jesus. For he knew his own duty, which is to make straight the way of the Lord and to bear witness of light. He also knew that no matter how great achievement he has, if it is not the will of God, he could not reach. If it is not given by God, he could not have such capabilities.

2Co 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.

Human being is weak. When time changes, standing in high position, human is easy to fall into temptation of pride and greed and forget his original heart. John’s disciples saw the act in the world, that’s why they complained when crowd were coming to Jesus. John but saw the act in the heaven. Although he was sent before Jesus, but he knew Jesus is the main actor. He, as a supporting actor, did his job to support the main actor to develop the act of the heaven.

We should be like John, who can leave from the pride and remember our duty, even though we do good acts of the God’s work. We are just the vessels of God, the humble servants of God. Magnifying the Lord is our duty of all.

Luk 17:10 "So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.'"

Week of May 24-30

Reflection: John 4
Reading: Genesis 19-24

John 3

"29The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.
30He must become greater; I must become less."

I think through these verses we could see what struggel John had and to what solution he came. Of course he did know from the very beginnin who he is. When the people, send by the priest, asked him in chapter 2 who he is he testified who he is and which duty is assigned to him. I could imagine that he proudly answered these people that he is doing work for God and that he is chosen by God.

But later disciples of him came to him and complained about Jesus thay may thougth that John is Chirst. On top of that Jesus was even babtized by John. In this case he had really humble himself and told them his position and that he is below Jesus even if he started earlier to be present than Jesus. And he also not only told them not to complain but showed them that it is a joy for him that more and more people are coming to Jesus. I think that this step is one ahead the first of knowing ones duty. Because if he only knows about his duty he might still complain or does not understand. But with this answer it is made clear that he not only know but also understand his role because he is able to convince others about it.
This is like denying oneself and give room for Jesus. As it is said in verse 30 Jesus must become greater; I must become less. This is similar to a hymn we are singing.
But as mentioned before: It is easier to know, than to understand and experience it. Because this is the step where you are active.
How nice would it be if we could be happy when others become stronger especially when it is Jesus in our heart and when he is growing and oneself is not alone anymore.

John 2

John2:23Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name.
John2:24But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men.
John2:25He did not need man's testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.

There were two questions coming up when I read this:
1. How did he know? (well, not really a question but an interesting point)
2. What was in a "man"?

1. Actually a very simple question. If we presume that God is almighty, then Jesus is almighty as well (since Jesus is God) and since an almighty person/man knows everything, Jesus also knows "all men".
Heb.4:13Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Another explanation:
1. Cor.2:11For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him?
And because God has come down to earth as a human being(John1,1+14; Phil.2:6) he was able to experience/know what the thoughts of man are.
Heb.4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin.

2. What is in a man? What did Jesus see in the men at that time?
If we have a look at what Jesus did when he was in Jerusalem for Passover we might be able to figure out what were the thoughts of the people at that time.
When Jesus went up to Jerusalem he found men selling goods in the temple - in the house of his father.
Then later when the Jews asked him what sign he can show them to prove that he has the authority to clear the temple he answered: "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days." But the reply was full of ignorance and lack of understanding:"It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?"
However in verse 23 many people who saw the miraculous signs he was doing believed in him. Believing because of seeing... can we call this "faith"?? Or "believing"??
Be it as it may, Jesus has seen several characteristics of the men at that time:
- the greed and the desires of them (=> selling goods in the house of God =>money!)
- the ignorance and lack of understanding (=> they did not understand what Jesus was talking about and they later also made use of this statement to mock Jesus when he was on the cross Mk.15:29-30)
- the short-term faith which was based on the "seeing, then believing" principle
These are the attitudes of man which Jesus saw when he was in Jerusalem. Of course Jesus knew a lot more about them, but I think that the things listed above are included in the things Jesus knew. That was in "man".

John Chapter 3

"13 No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven."


"23 Now John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there. And they came and were baptized."


Since we will start our Doctrinal Studies soon, these two verses might come in handy in answering some questions.

Vs. 13 can be used to answer questions regarding trinity. That God and Jesus is actually one being, not two. One who came down from heaven, and IS in heaven. This being is in 2 places at the same time.

Vs. 23 can be used in answering questions regarding baptism in living water. It can be said that there is no verse that directly points out that baptism must be in living water. We can only explain from the examples and teachings given in the Bible. Here the reason John was in that particular place was explained, it is because there was MUCH WATER. Therefore, John baptized there. Looking further 'Aenon', we realize that the word derived from the Hebrew term meaning "spring" or "natural fountain". The location of Aenon is said to be at an upper source of a valley extending from Mount Ebal to Jordan River which is full of springs. So once again, baptism has occured at a natural body of water. Full immersion may be a bit more difficult to explain. However, using common sense and logic, perhaps it can help to explain the significance of 'much water'. If only drops of water were needed for baptism (e.g. sprinkling), then only a little bit of water would be necessary for baptism, which would make 'much water' none significant. Perhaps it can be used to explain baptism by sprinkling/aspersion. However, this does not explain fully regarding pouring of water over the head while the person stands in the body of water (baptism by immersion). Many times, 'immersion' is confused with 'submersion'. FULL immersion is 'submersion', however, 'immersion' alone does not necessarily equate 'submersion' even though people may use the terms interchangeably. TJC along with Biblical support, practices baptism by submersion in a natural body of water.

John 2

24But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. 25He did not need man's testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.

When Jesus was in Jerusalem for passover, many people belived in him. But Jesus did not entrust himself to the people. The reason therfore was because he knows what was in man. When we look back in Genesis, God already discribed what is in man.
"Gen 8:21 21 The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: "Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood."
As every inclination of a mans heart is evil from childhood we are here told of a bad idea of man (Menschenbild/ concept of man). But even if every man is sinful and evil the same verse shows clearly that God still do not want their distruction. That is also the reason why he gave us a way to salvation.

Now as we are not God I think that we should neither say that man is good or evil. Cause if we say that they are good than we say something contraversial to what God has just said.(And I think that, there are not many people who belive in a good idea of man, besides Kommunists:). But when we say that man is evil, we condemn all people who God created and loves. What we can do is being aware that we as human being are weak, especially our will to do good (which means to do as God pleases) and that we fall short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23) and being willing to develop a heart that inclines to God. But if we see others doing wrong (as far as we can judge the situation) we should not be too angry or upset. Rather is it that we feel sad that someone is not able to incline his or her heart to God (We also know that Jesus felt compassion for the sick and weak people.
"Mt 34:34 So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him."
Jesus already said it when he was on earth that we should love and pray for each other. Because whats the point if you sue your borther or sister before the judge? It would be much more helpful if you pray for that person or help him in some other way. Cause if you do not do that you might be (a bit) responsible for someones bad doing. Of course when we did our best and the person does not listen wehave done our duty.

This was the reason why Jesus did not entrusted himself to them. But than I just asked myself what does in mean „to entrust oneself“ (sich jemandem anvertrauen)? And the dictionary told me that it means so reveal a secret to a trusted person. I think in this case it would be the gospel and things like the one in the book of revelation. Because later Jesus did entrust his discples and also us through the bible with the gospel,
"1 Timothy 1:11 that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me."
or the with God´s work.
"Titus 1:7 Since an overseer is entrusted with God's work "
The parable of the talents is also dealing this the same topic. Here a man entrusted his property to his servants (Matthew 25:14).

At first I thought that when Jesus spoke about entrusting himself to us that this would be the giving of the promised Holy Spirit. But after some research I think that the Holy Spirit can not be entrusted to us because it is living with us and in us. The Holy Spirit is God´s spirit and we can accept it but we have not the power to, for example share it with other people. Everone has to aks God directly for this gift. Also is the possible arrow of influence between us and the Holy Spirit always from him to us. Although we can cut this influence we will not be able to influence him or change him.
"2 Timothy 1:14 Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you—guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us."
After this veres we know that the Holy Spirit lives in us but when we look back to the paragraph before we might easily ask: why is the gospel now entrusted to us? We are still human why now?
Now this verse also shows us why maybe Jesus entrused us with the gospel. It is because Holy Spirit will and can help us to guard it. Otherwise it might be picked away by the birds.

John 02

Theme: Jesus's 1st miracle- done by his words

5 His mother said to the servants, Do whatever he tells you.

7 Jesus said to the servants, Fill the jars with water; so they filled them to the brim. 

8 Then he told them, Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet. They did so, 

It's Jesus's first miracle in the world. It recalls me what Johnny (the theological student from UK) once shared with us about the teachings of this miracle, by which the change of intrinsic quality of things manifested Jesus as the master and the creator of Universe. This sorte of completely changes in essence, from water to wine, or more precisely, from H₂O to C₂H₅OH, is only able to be made by Lord. And what more powerful is that, if we observe the process of this miracle more carefully, Jesus's own hands never touched the jar. It is only through his words that the miracle happen and was realized, just like the process of the genesis of the world, and like what the opening of Gospel John describes:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made. (Joh1.1-3)

So it echoes to the main point of ch1 that who Jesus is. Through the content (the changes of nature) and the form (by his words) of this miracle, the message is sent that Jesus is the Lord Himself. 

Joh2.5-8 also gave me another insight that although the jars and the servants are all very normal things, as soon as God's words work with/within them, they even could bring marvelous things and good news to people, like Moses's rod, which was originally a common tool in his hand:

Then the LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?"

"A staff," he replied. 

The LORD said, "Throw it on the ground."

Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. 

Then the LORD said to him, "Reach out your hand and take it by the tail."

So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. 

"This," said the LORD, "is so that they may believe that the LORD [..] has appeard to you." (Ex4.2-5)

Just as what once Pr. Ko encouraged us that whenever something is used up, we can ask for Lord Jesus's help, and also as what uncle Chih-Jen once shared about Elisha's question to the widow that "what do you have in this house?" Lord here asked Moses, "what is that in your hand?" The left story is quite similar to the miracle in John 2 that the wonder thing happened in Moses's own hand when he followed and fulfilled God's words. I think it's the same with our case today. Whenever we face difficulties or confusions, we could think about that, "what is that in our hands?" and then, try to do what Jesus's mother told the servant, "Do whatever he tells you." Finally our powerful Lord would intrinsically change everything, for instance, our own selves.

John 2

16To those who sold doves he said, "Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!" 17His disciples remembered that it is written: "Zeal for your house will consume me."

Can we be zealous for the Holy house as well as the Lord Jesus?

1Co 3:16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.

Our bodies, which are the house of God and also the where He lives. God is Holy, so that the place He is dwelling in should be holy as He is. How come God would like to dwell into, if the house is not clean?

We know that the miracle in the wedding of Cana, it still was blessed since Jesus has been invited to the wedding and even the wine ran out. In order to get bless from God, we shall invite God to dwell in us; further to let God dwell in us forever, we shall be zealous for the Holiness ourselves.

Week of May 17-23

Reading: Genesis Chapters 13-18
Refelctions: John Chapter 3

Feel free to sharing your Genesis reflections or questions!

John Chapter 2

John Chapter 2

4 Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.”

Many times I don’t understand why GOD seems take no notice of my supplications, especially when something that I had planned properly turned to be unfavorable just like what happened during the wedding at Cana. Surely, the wedding organizer had prepared everything accurately but still, they ran of wine and when the mother of Jesus asked His help, He answered: My hour has not yet come.
This verse encourages me to not complain when it seems that GOD has not answered my prayers, as GOD has His time to work out the difficulty. And at the end, when GOD solved the problem, GOD also provided the best solution. This is a good lesson for us to fully submit to GOD as GOD will provide the best solution for us.

John Chapter 2

"11 This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him. 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. 24 But Jesus did not commit (entrust in NIV) Himself to them, because He knew all men."

It's interesting these verses appear in the same chapter. The last verses seem to explain what happens later to the disciples' lack of faith in Jesus, even though in vs. 11 it clearly stated that the disciples believed in him. In vs. 23 & 24, it is apparent that people believe in Jesus because of the signs. But Jesus explained later that "He knew all men". This seem to say that Jesus knows that the people will believe because of the signs, but their faith will also easily fall away afterwards like the disciples' faith did. To mention a few of the incidences where the disciples lost faith after this initial belief: the storm (Mt 8:26), forgetting to take bread (Mt 16:8), parable of the rich man building barns on being taken care of (Lk 12:28), when they ran away after Jesus was taken to trial, etc... Even then, the disciples are considered very blessed, because they weren't those other people that Jesus refer to in vs. 24, even though Jesus "knew all men". He gave the disciples the chance that He did not give these others. That even though Jesus knew that as men, His disciples will eventually do what all men do and forget their initial belief, He still called them to be his disciples.

This is very much like how God chose us to be his chosen ones. That even though we are as much human as the next person, we were chosen to follow Him and be His disciples. That even though our faith will falter, we were given the chance of God entrusting Himself to us. What a wonderful blessing that is? How much more should be learn from this historical event and try our very best not to repeat it? We have heard of many visions lately, and perhaps we were encouraged and our faith lifted, but will we be able to keep that faith and continue to increase it and not let it falter like the disciples'? We praise and thank God for His mercy and grace that we are fortunate enough to be chosen to be entrusted with God's mission, even though we are mere human. Let us try our best to not shortchange that love and fulfill our the duty that has been entrusted/committed to us. May our merciful Father help us to accomplish this priviledged task. Amen.

Gen. (week 2)

TO Lui´s thought:
hehe. interesting question and dialogue. Ja I think that even if they do not know directly what death is, they still know what it means to be alive as they were made as a living being.
"Gen2: 7 the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being."
So one possibility to understand (not know) what death is, is the opposite to living and the opposit of God´s will. Because God wants them to live, created them so that they may live.
____________________________
Something that I noticed is the change of the food. Before the flood it seems that all the creatures are vegetarians and only eating plants
" Gen1: 29 Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food." And it was so."
But after the flood things changed. Beforhand man was only the ruler and keeper of the nature. But now there is fear in the relationship between human and all the other livings.
"Gen 9: 2 The fear and dread of you will fall upon all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon every creature that moves along the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hands. 3 Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. "
It is somehow hard to imagine, that after being together with the animals in the limited space that the relationship becomes a prey and predator relationship.

Besides this I also want to share another place that I somehow like. It is in Gen4:6-7
6 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it."
Here does God directly talk to Kain. I like more the german version. There it is in one sentence. "If you fear God than you can lift up your sight freely." As long as you do good and you know you do the right thing than there is no reason why you should downcast your face. But more often is it that we downcast our face because of anger or we are not happy and satisfied about one situation. Than we should remeber what God just had said to Kain. Sin is just sitting before your door and just waits for you to open. But instead of that we should be in a superiour position and lift your sight.

During last week I got really angry about one of my class mates. I just could not bear it how she behaved. After the lesson, when I changed the classroom I was still very angry and I thinkit could be sensed it in some way ^^. But after someone else just told me that he would not mind about something like that I reflected what happened and could get rid of the anger. When I was angry it was really difficult to come out of it and to get rid of it(not even to mention to forget about it). Cause I was not able to lift my sight and always thought with a downcasted face. So I hope that you all do better and rule over all this kind of things which will be a burden to our soul.

Genesis 1-5

I think it's a pitty that we just read Genesis by ourselves without exchanging our reflections. So I'd like to pose some questions which I thought of as I read. If anyone has any thought, please give your comments ^^. Hope that there are some more dialogues and discussions other than the fulfillment of responsibility of posting on Weekends.

1. God told Adam and Eve that they will surely die when they eat the fruit of that tree. However, in a world without death, how do they understand the term of God's warning?  How are they be able to afrid of death?

→ Sorry, let me interrupt myself, because an idea suddenly came to my mind. I think the point should not be whether they understand the meaning of death or not, even should not either be the excuse of their betrayal to their promise. No matter how they understand what God said and did, if they love God and trust God, they must obey it unconditionally. So the dialogue between the ancestors and the serpent should be like this way, 

-"Hey, you will not surely die. Come on, you even know nothing about dying!"

-"Sorry, Mr. Serpent, even though we don't know what dying is, we never eat it."

-"Why? You stubborn..."

-"Warum? Kein warum. For God said no. That's it."

Just like our cases today, sometimes we are not able to understand God's intention, but if our love and trust in God is enough, then we can preserve our promise with God, without any reason.

John 1

John1:46"Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" Nathanael asked.

Good question: "Can anything good come from there?" Here Nathanael's question is not a real question but rather a rhetorical question. We can see that in those times Nazareth didn't seem to have a good reputation. The people didn't expect anything good to come from there - above all not the Messiah!

In the same way Peter couldn't accept or believe in the words of Jesus completly. When Jesus told him to go fishing he answered:
Luke5:5"Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets."
When he said this he didn't believe that he would be able to catch any fish. He only obeys "because [he(Jesus)] say[s] so".
And when they caught a lot of fish, Peter "fell at Jesus' knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!"" (Luke5:8) He confesses his unbelief and his ignorance of Jesus' position.

Nathanael - having a similar attitude (not believing that the Messiah could come from such a "bad" city) - also declared, after Jesus has told him he was and where he was before:
John1:49"Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel."

Both of them, Peter and Nathanael, only believed because they have seen the power of Jesus. Their prejudices, knowledge and experiences have inhibited them from believing completly.
I hope that our knowledge and experiences will never hinder us from believing in God's power and grace. If yes, then hopefully there is a Philip saying: "Come and see"(John1:46)

John 01

Theme: light/darkness; salvation/sin

In chapter 1, I noticed a term, "know", and its synonyms appearing for several times. It guides me to catch the main message of Gospel John, which was indicated in chapter 20: 

But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (Joh 20.31)

In other words, the main message of Gospel John is to lead people to know who Jesus is and by this true knowing to be saved.

So, who is Jesus? According to 1.14, we know that he is not human being, but God's son. But why did Jesus come to this world? In 1.29 we know that, he came, as God's lamb, for taking away the sin of the world. So, what does it mean the sin of the world? As in 1.1-5, refering to the creation of the world in Genesis 1.1-4, we can say that the creation is basd on the principle of the division of light and darkness. God divided the world from the darkness to become under his domination and to be good. But since Adam and Eve violated the alliance with God, the world fell into the power of darkness and was not able to understand light anymore, although it was once made by the light.

The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. (Joh1.5)

He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognise him. (Joh 1.10)

So it's human's sin. As what Romans said, all man lost God's glory(Rom3.23), and only by being redeemed into light again, we can leave the power of darkness and understand light again.

For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Col 1.13-14)

But how is it possible to know God if every human under darkness cannot recognize Him? That's just the reason why Jesus came. He came, for manifesting God and for making God be known.

18 No-one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known. 

So, in this chpater, the leading questions of this book that who Jesus is and why he came are addressed. With the following chapters, we can carry on this reflection.