John 10

"Meine Schafe hören meine Stimme, und ich kenne sie und sie folgen mir." (27)

After some Jewish people asked him, if he is the Christ or not, he gave them this answer. Acctually this answer is a clear "yes" because of the parable he said before, the works he had done till then and everything word he has said. But it seems that some people just do not want to, can not, are not willing to listen to him and follow him, like the sheeps are fallowing the shepherd according to his voice. But in contrary we can see how they hated him and wanted to destroy him for the words he is saying (19,31,39). They are at that time indeed not a sheep of Jesus. Because they do not listen to him, do not trust him and do not let themselves led by him.
On the other side the author of John illustrate the other side, the sheep of Jesus. He reported about the many people who believed in Jesus and came to him (41+42). Those are the one who will receive all the grace and protection Jesus has promised and the sheep are the one how will enter into eternal life.

In this small chapterwe can see how nice and meaningful the bible is written: In the first part it writes about the parable of the Good Shepherd, than Jesus esplains the meaning and purpose of telling this parable. Than in the second half it reports about a real situation where some people had problems with the identity of Jesus (which is not different today). With them we can see an example of, not to be a sheep of Jesus = not to believe in him= not to listen to his voice.

John 14

⁸Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us." ⁹Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?


Here we can see that the disciple who has been with Jesus didn't fully understand who Jesus is or what Jesus means. Many times in the Bible we see this type of scenarios happen, where Jesus would speak one thing but the disciples will understand it for another. The disciples, even though they have been with Jesus, did not fully comprehend Jesus. Another example is in the case of Lazarus (John 11:11-13). Where Jesus was speaking of death, but the disciples understood it for natural sleep. Also in the case of Martha, when Jesus was speaking of immediate resurrection, she understood it to be the resurrection at the last day (John 11:23,24).

This makes me wonder if we still do that today as Christians. Even if we have been Christians for a long time, and we read the Scripture. Do we understand the Scripture differently than how God intended for us to understand it? Do we comprehend what the Lord wants us to do fully? Or are we on different wavelengths as the Word, and missed the point? One other example would be Peter, when he tried to save Jesus out of love and courage when Jesus told them He will suffer and be killed (Matthew 16:21-23). Peter missed the point of Salvation. In listening to the word of God today, do we also place our own thoughts and feelings into it? Or are we truly listening to the Word and comprehend the point it is trying to convey, even if it is against our thoughts and feelings?

The Spirit of truth will bring us to all truth (John 16:13). The problem is, are we full of the Spirit, and are we relying wholly upon the Spirit at all times?

John 13

¹⁰Jesus answered, "A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you." ¹¹For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.


This verse caught my eye, because it serves as such a strong reminder. Even if we have been washed by Jesus, we still may not be clean like Judas. It lets us know how important it is that we do not give room to Satan, and let Satan have a hold of us. Because it says that "the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus" (vs. 2). At that point, Judas is already under the control of the devil. He is being used by the devil. I hope that all of us can be watchful so that we will not fall into the trap that Judas fell into. What we will do may not be directly betraying Jesus in person, but it can be directly betraying Jesus our God in spirit. When we are drawn deep into the trap, we will not be able to control our actions, because our actions will be prompted by the devil.

Let us not forget that we have part in Jesus after He washed our feet. Let us remain clean and not fall short of the love of Christ our God. Let us continue to remain in Jesus and have part with Him.

John 13

John 13
V8. Peter said to Him, “You shall never wash my feet!”
Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me

I believe all of us are familiar with this chapter as we have had numerous of sermons on regard this chapter during foot-washing ceremony. And, through Jesus’ action toward his disciplines during this sacrament of love, we have learnt how great GOD’s love is. Jesus himself said “If I do not wash you, you have no part with me”. Literally, the meaning of “washing” is “the action of making something clean". And at this context, Jesus was the active subject and the disciplines were the ones being washed thus the disciplines was the passive subject. This means that Jesus voluntarily took the responsible to wash the disciplines’ feet so that disciplines can have part with Him.

Even though at the beginning the Peter refused to be washed but Jesus went on washing their feet. This means that Jesus was so determine to provide salvation for us without being asked, He knew exactly His duty and responsibility. We are blessed to know Him as our savior, but do we have the same determination be saved? Have we have done enough to be saved? Have we followed the example of GOD?

John 12

47. And if anyone hears My words and does not believe,[i] I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.


It is quite sad that a lot of people still do not understand the main mission of GOD. Many people out there think that GOD is a judge rather than a savior so they refuse to listen to word of GOD and believe in Him. They like to blame GOD on bad things that happened in their lives and think that GOD punishes them. This is so not right because GOD never has such intention; GOD wants to give the best for us. He really does. He promises us an eternal life and salvation. What else we can ask for? Many people still do not have correct mindset about the purpose of believing in GOD. And, it is not easy to explain about this to others people who never get in touch with Christianity. Indeed, we are blessed that we clearly know, that GOD is our savior. Hopefully, we can spread this good news to whoever who dov not believe in GOD yet.

John 11

39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.”
Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.”
40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” 41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying.[d] And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42 And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.” 43 Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” 44 And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”

I really like the sentences of at verse 40 “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of GOD. This is so true, if we believe, then we will see the glory of GOD. However, in fact, it is easier to say than done. I used to struggle with “believe” concept. Honestly, being a practical person, I had hard time to believe in something that seems possible. In this Lazarus story, it seems possible that Lazarus will live again, even some Jews, who knew that Jesus could open the eyes of blind man, doubted that Jesus can make Lazarus live again. I used to have some doubt like those Jews have, even though I have heard lot testimonies in regard with such miracles.

I have a testimony to share. Thank GOD, few months ago, God has let me experienced His great mightiness. My graduation process was not very smooth. I had one subject left that I failed fourth time. It really made me frustrated and devastated. I wasn’t a straight-A student but normally I would be able to pass exam with ease. This subject was the only one that I need to re-take whereas the others subject I passed right after first attempts. And as I had finished my thesis, I was so desperate to graduate as soon as possible so I wrote an appeal letter for examination board to ask for special arrangement because I did not want to further delaying my graduation. When I submitted the letter, I only had 4 weeks left until the deadline of March graduation and the staff at the examination board told me that the process of this special request would take up tp 3 weeks to be processed and plus, I needed time to study and prepare for the extra-retake and the teacher needed time to grade it. Thus, rationally, it wouldn’t be impossible to be done within 4 weeks. At that time, I had given up this hope and I thought if I couldn’t make it this March then June would be fine. Moreover, the professor had written at the course manual that he would not give any extra-chance besides the normal scheduled exams. At that time, I did not pray about it seriously because I thought it would be impossible anyway.

However, during the waiting process, I heard a sermon about this Lazarus story then I asked myself “would I believe to see the glory of GOD?” “Do I really want to see the glory of GOD in my life”. And I decided to start to pray about this and it was quite difficult to convince myself to believing something that sounds impossible. And I had many doubts such as “The professor is very busy, he would not be able to grade my essay in such short time” “Would I able to write this essay only within few days” “Would I have enough time to do research, read that much articles, journals then eventually write the essay?” But, since I was so desperate then I didn’t have any choice but believe and have faith in GOD.



However, thanks GOD, only after few days, I got a reply from the professor and he said that I did not have to do exam instead, I could write a paper which I can choose the topic. And, he agreed to grade my paper on-the-spot so that I would have more than enough time to write this essay. I was so surprised as normally, this professor is a killer one and it was not easy to pass his course. And I kept praying about my essay so that I could produce a “sufficient paper” in such short time. I was only after I prayed seriously about this that everything started to become smooth and possible. Indeed, throughout the whole process I’ve felt the abidance of GOD and witnessed how GOD prepares everything. I really thank GOD that He guided me and gave me strength through out the writing process so that I could finish the essay on time. Only 3 hours later after I delivered my essay, the professor informed me that I passed the course and the grade was much higher than I expected. I was able to register my graduation just only few hours before the deadline ended and at the end of March; I successfully defended my thesis and graduated.

I really thanks GOD that I had chosen to believe even thought everything seemed impossible. GOD is the mighty one and everything is possible through Him. Up to now, this experience was my biggest challenge in my faith journey, and I thanks GOD that GOD has helped me throughout the process. During this process, I have learned that I shouldn’t worry about “tomorrow” but put faith in GOD and pray fervently and GOD will open the way. Few months ago, I felt devastated and frustrated that I didn’t pass this exam after many attempts and there was time that I kind of lost hope. Nevertheless, looking back, now, I am thankful that I went through this experience in order to see GOD’s glory. Now, I have truly come to understand that GOD always prepares the best for us. So when something went wrong and didn’t turn out like we wished, don’t be discourage, but lift our eyes through prayer. Through prayer and faith, we will receive strength from GOD to bravely overcome all the difficulties.

May the name of God be praise and thank Him for showing me His wonderful graces.

John 10

16 And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.

This particular verse tucks my heart. Clearly this verse is talking about evangelism which we must do. Talking about evangelism, I know, here, we haven’t done much in this specific task. There are still many people out there who haven’t folded into our church. And it is our task to bring them back to the fold. May GOD give us strength and motivation to perform this task. We really need to work hard in this matter. GOD will guide us.

John 12

It's strange how one can read a chapter one day and feel nothing. But on another day, reading the same chapter, feel something.


⁷"Leave her alone," Jesus replied. " It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. ⁸You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me." (John 12)

¹When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body. ⁶"Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. (Mark 16)


The expression that came to mind after reading this verse again is 'carpe diem', remembering what happened in Mark with the two Mary's. Mary Magdalene and Mary of Jesus wanted to do the same thing for Jesus that Mary of Bethany did already, but they were too late. Jesus already predicted that Mary of Bethany saved the perfume for His burial. (On a side note, why is Mary such a popular name? This is even before Mary of Jesus became distinguished because of her special blessing in carrying Jesus in her womb.) This can remind us that if we want to do things for God, not to wait. Because even if we just wait for 8 or 9 days, it might be too late, like in this case. We do not know what will happen in the next moment. That is why there's a saying: Yesterday is a history, Tomorrow is a mystery, Today is a present (a gift from God). I know it is easier said than done. Many times we have the zeal in our hearts to do things for God, but we are not proactive enough in carrying it out into action. Hopefully we can be a source of strength for each other, and continue to pray for a increase in faith and deed.



¹⁰So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, ¹¹for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him. 8Many people, because they had heard that he had given this miraculous sign, went out to meet him. ¹⁹So the Pharisees said to one another, "See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!" ³⁷Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. 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.


It is quite sad after reading these verses. That even after witnessing the miracle Jesus has performed, they still would not believe. However, it sounds like God blinded them from the prophesy from Isaiah:

"He has blinded their eyes
and deadened their hearts,
so they can neither see with their eyes,
nor understand with their hearts"

Can anyone explain this? But what I find even more saddening is the people in vs. 42 & 43. Those that believe, but do not have faith strong enough to stand up for their beliefs. I think sometimes we might become one of these people when we face the acceptance of men. Even with something as simple as saying grace in front of our friends before we eat when no one else is doing the same. Perhaps we can think about incidences where we have failed to acknowledge Jesus to others, either with our words or our actions.

John 9

³⁵ Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, “Do you believe in the Son of God?”
³⁶ He answered and said, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?”
³⁷ And Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you.”
³⁸ Then he said, “Lord, I believe!” And he worshiped Him.
³⁹ And Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.”
⁴⁰ Then some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these words, and said to Him, “Are we blind also?”
⁴¹ Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see.’ Therefore your sin remains.

I have several thought on above verses. First of all, as we can seen from the passage, the blind man was casted and Jesus approached him and asked: “Do you believe in the Son of GOD?. For me, the way Jesus approached the blind man is kind of confirmation that GOD will look after us. Sometimes, because of what we believe, we will feel different than most of other people in this world. However, God will come to us and questioned our faith, and we have to examine our faith thoroughly whether we do believe in Him or not even though the world seems to “cast” us out. Moreover, it also shows that even thought the world does not care about us, but GOD does.

Secondly, the blind man answered Jesus “Who is He, Lord that I may believe in Him”. This blind man had a hunger to seek the Lord. He submissively and obediently yearns for believing in GOD as he said “that I may believe in Him”. This blind man was more than willing to engage a conversation with Jesus. Surely, nowadays, we don’t have opportunity to chat face to face with GOD but we can pray to have conversation with GOD. Pray so that GOD knows what are our concerns, worries, etc.

Thirdly, Jesus answered the blind man: “You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you. When we search for GOD, He definitely will be there to answer us. Of course, today, we won’t hear a direct answer from GOD like Jesus answered the blind man and Jesus will not physically talking to us. But, we need to trust that GOD will answer our questions. God has numerous ways to answer our prayers. The answers could be testimony from others brethrens, words of encouragement from brothers and sisters as well as sermons and word of GOD delivered from Preacher or Holy workers. What we need to do is diligently reading the bible, sensitively listening word of GOD and most importantly, keeps those in our heart.

Fourthly, this blind man did have a simple faith. He simply believes in GOD and worshipped in Him after Jesus healed him and explained him who is GOD. The blind man didn’t any questions like the Pharisees. The blind mind just believes in GOD like there is no other way. We, human being, sometimes do have rational thinking which will hold back our faith. Sometimes, we do ponder, how things could be turned out like this, like that and we ask a lot of question based on our rationality. But, if we judged everything based on our rationality, we will have no faith in GOD.

In sum, from above paragraph we can learn few teaching as follows:

1. Don’t worry about what people think about us, GOD will take care. What we need to do is hold fast our faith.

2. We should constantly have the hunger to search for GOD and be submissive to Him.

3. Be sensitive to word of GOD and have faith in Him and eventually, we will realize that we have a good relationship with GOD. Believe that GOD will provide us with “answers”.

4. Have a simple faith and just believe. Don’t mix rationality with our faith. Set aside all those rationality, level-head thinking in order to have simple faith like this blind man.

John 11

We had just heard a sermon about this chapter. However, there are still certain places that puzzle me. I cannot really understand the context of some of the verses. For example:


8 The disciples said to Him, “Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?”
9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” 11 These things He said, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.”

I cannot really see the connection of verses 9 & 10 with it's context. There seem to be some sort of spiritual meaning about the light of the world. However, what does it have to do with people wanting to stone Jesus? It seems as if Jesus is trying to teach His disciples something.

Also:

16 Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.”

Why did Thomas say 'that we may die with Him'? What did he mean by that? It almost could sound like he is mocking Jesus.

John 10

¹⁶ And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd."

This verse tells us of the important commission that is given by Jesus before His ascension. We are to carry on the work of Jesus to bring in other sheep to the fold. There are many others out there who are not yet of His fold but belong to His fold. All will come to this one fold under Jesus, the shepherd.

I have often wondered why it is difficult spreading the truth to non-Asians, given that the truth is from God. At the end, all types of people from everywhere are to gather before God.

⁹ After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, ¹⁰ and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Rev 7).

From the signs of natural disasters, war, and corruption in the world, it is clear that we are approaching the time of sorrow. The most current being a 7.0 earthquake in Haiti this Tuesday, with an estimate of around 50,000 possible casualties. Although ⁶ you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all^a]">[a]these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. ⁷ For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences,^b]">[b] and earthquakes in various places. ⁸ All these are the beginning of sorrows (Mt 24). Therefore, there is still much for us to do during this time of sorrow to spread the truth to all nations, tribes, people, and tongues. Perhaps the most difficult time for the world is the best time for the truth.

At times I wonder if we are not doing our best in spreading the truth to the respective countries that we have been placed. Asians are scattered across all continents, giving us access to other cultures and languages. Perhaps it is time that we examine our purpose for God in the country that we have been placed. That in the near future, others will not view our church as an Asian church, but an international organization built on truth and not race. Spreading the truth is definitely not an easy task, and even the apostles and Jesus Himself encountered problems along the way. But hopefully we can see their example as encouragement not to give up but press forward. Let's keep encouraging one another in this regard, because there is strength in number.