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JOHN 3 THOSE WHO HATE THE LIGHT

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January 13

JOHN 3
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.” – John 3:16-21

JOHN 3 THOSE WHO HATE THE LIGHT
A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses
Those who do evil things would not want to come to the light
Because darkness is where they hide their wickedness
They do not believe in truth; they want to live in lies
But whoever does what is true comes to the light
Wicked people reject the light who has come into the world
They will perish as they continue to mock the word of God.

These following verses contain the whole message of the gospel in one sentence: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” Many people do not truly understand this verse unless they have a consistent relationship with the Lord and unless the Holy Spirit reveals it to their hearts.
How do we know if someone is open to accept the gospel? John gives us an illustration of the separation of good and evil when he mentions the coming of the light (who is Jesus)
into the world. Those who are evil will continue to love darkness since they do not want their sins to be exposed in the light. But those who love the truth will have no trouble getting into the light, so that the world will see God’s glory. They have nothing to hide because they live righteous lives obedient to God’s laws.

REFLECTION
• Why do you think some people do not want to accept and believe in the gospel?

JOHN 3 BORN OF THE SPIRIT

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January 12

JOHN 3
Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
– John 3:1-8

JOHN 3 BORN OF THE SPIRIT
A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses
When God chose you to be one of his people
He gave you the ability to accept his calling
When you believe in the only begotten Son of God
You are filled with His Spirit and become born again
You no longer follow the cravings of your flesh
The Holy Spirit makes you want to give glory to Jesus.

In this account, we see that Nicodemus, one of the Pharisees who belong to the ruling class of the Jews is in the brink of deciding whether he will believe that Jesus is the Son of God or not. A part of him knew that unless Jesus was from God, he couldn’t do the signs that he did. Yet, a part of him wanted to understand how that is possible. To safeguard his reputation, he had to come in the night to see Jesus when no one could see him. He was afraid to lose his standing as one of those who are looked up to by many. In other words, he idolized his position more than he wanted to believe Jesus.
How many Christians will truly commit to Jesus and not hide their faith? When Jesus told him the requirement is to be born again, Nicodemus didn’t understand it.

REFLECTION
• How can you know that a believer is truly born again?

JOHN 2 NOTHING IS HIDDEN FROM JESUS

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January 11

JOHN 2
23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. 24 But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people 25 and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man. – John 2:23-25

JOHN 2 NOTHING IS HIDDEN FROM JESUS
A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses
Man’s nature is bent and will be that way without God’s grace
Humans tend to cater to his own cravings and the desires of his flesh
In our sinful state, we can never truly give glory to Jesus Christ
Because of sin, we are easily deceived by our own selfishness and pride
We can deceive another man but we can’t hide anything from God
He knows us in and out; he has counted every strand of hair in our head
Why continue to deceive yourself when there is nothing that he doesn’t know?
Why not open up your heart and receive the mercy and grace he gives you?

In this account, many believed in his name when they witnessed Jesus’ miracles, teachings and signs, but Jesus didn’t trust some of them for he knew exactly what was in their hearts. Some may have believed because they saw him doing these signs, but that could be short lived when they do not see anything more than what their limited minds expect. He also knew that many Jews were still skeptical and had unbelief.
Some commentators such as Morgan said ““If belief is nothing more than admiration for the spectacular, it will create in multitudes applause; but the Son of God cannot commit Himself to that kind of faith.” Bruce commented “Other leaders and teachers may be misled at times into giving their followers more credit for loyalty and understanding than they actually possess; not so Jesus, who could read the inmost thoughts of men and women like an open book.” Morris stated that “When many came to believe in Him, He did not commit Himself to them. He was not dependent on man’s approval.”

REFLECTION
• How can we be open to receive the faith that we are given by God?

JOHN 2 JESUS FORETELLS HIS DEATH & RESURRECTION

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January 10

JOHN 2
18 So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
– John 2:18-22

JOHN 2 JESUS FORETELLS HIS DEATH & RESURRECTION
A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses
When asked under whose authority did he have to clear the temple
Jesus told them that if they destroy the temple, he’ll raise it up in 3 days
The Jews didn’t understand and thought it was impossible for him to do so
They didn’t understand that he was foretelling him his death & resurrection
He was referring to his own body that was going to be destroyed on the cross
And because he was God, he can resurrect and conquer death without any trouble.

As we read in the gospels, Jesus always spoke in parables and in language that only his disciples could have had the privilege to know after he explained it to them. Some instances, they get straight revelation from God’s Spirit himself.
In this account, the Jews were doing their best to catch him to blaspheme so they could stop his popularity. They felt so threatened with his teachings and miracles. They were doing their best to find a reason to put him to death. So, when they asked who he thought he was that he could hurl and whip the animals and stop the vendors from selling their goods in the temple, they were trapping him. Because they were adamant to find reason to do so, his answer was taken literally by the Jews. They already have made up their mind that he was making them look small and will take any word he said and twist it. They had no idea that they did what they did in order to fulfill the prophecy that he will be crucified in order to save mankind.

REFLECTION
• How is it that literal words cannot truly explain spiritual things as in this case?

JOHN 2 HONOR GOD’S TEMPLE

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January 9

JOHN 2
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.”
– John 2:13-17

JOHN 2 HONOR GOD’S TEMPLE
A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses
The temple of the Lord is a place of worship
It is where we go to give praise to our Father
To experience his presence, it needs to be holy
He will not meet with his people if it is dirty
Let us treat with utmost reverence the house of the Lord
Let us never defile it with the systems of the world.

In the Old Testament, Passover is one of the festivals required by God for the Israelites to celebrate the Exodus and deliverance from the Egyptians. This account was in Exodus 12-14 when God commanded Moses to tell the Israelites to mark their doorposts with the blood of a slaughtered spring lamb. The sign would cause God to pass that house with a door that had the blood on it. It was to identify that they belong to God when he killed the firstborns in Egypt so that Pharaoh will finally free God’s people. In the New Testament in 1 Corinthians 5:7-8 Paul says “Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
We can now see the context of Jesus cleansing of the temple knowing the background of the Passover. The vendors selling animals and the money changers were defiling the sanctity of the temple by their corruption, so Jesus had to exercise authority to keep the temple holy.

REFLECTION
• How can believers maintain God’s temple that is now living in their bodies?

JOHN 2 SAVE THE BEST FOR LAST

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January 8

JOHN 2
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.
– John 2:9-12

JOHN 2 SAVE THE BEST FOR LAST
A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses
When Jesus performed his first miracle in Cana
He did it very secretly in front of the servants only
Yet the evidence of such sign was experienced by many
The best wine was served for last and his followers had faith.

In an article in positivepsychology.com, they speak of the peak–end rule which is how mental shortcuts shape how we see what’s happened and how to use them to make difficult situations more manageable, and enjoyable ones even better. The peak-end bias is another term for the peak-end rule, which refers to the tendency for the most intense and proximate aspects of an experience to disproportionately influence our memory.
In this first miracle of Jesus at Cana, it only mentions that Mary and the servants were the only ones who knew that Jesus made the turning water into wine. In verse 11 though, we hear that the disciples’ faith in Jesus was influenced by this miracle. They obviously knew that Jesus, their Master, made this all possible. The host of the feast had the peak-end bias that he couldn’t believe how the couple reserved the best wine for last. He didn’t know that Jesus made the water turn into the best wine. In my opinion, the peak-end bias could have influenced the disciples to believe in Jesus because of that experience with the wine.

REFLECTION
• Why do you think the timing of the miracle was made towards the last part of the feasting on that wedding at Cana? Why not right away?

JOHN 2 GOD’S PERFECT TIMING

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January 7

JOHN 2
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.[a] 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. – John 2:1-8

JOHN 2 GOD’S PERFECT TIMING
A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses
When we plan on something or execute our vision
We must seek counsel from God before acting on it
Some of our timing may not be in sync with his will
So, let’s not fail to heed and wait on God’s perfect timing.

According to some sources online, in Jesus’ time, wine was a symbol of joy and was a key part of a wedding. Wedding celebrations could last for days, and the hosts were responsible for providing food and drink for their guests. Wine was a key part of wedding celebrations, and the bride and groom would recite a blessing over the wine. In ancient times, wine had a lower alcohol content than modern wines and was often diluted with water. A wine ceremony at a wedding can symbolize the coming together of two people or families, and the good and bad times they will face together.
In this account, it seemed that Mary was part of the wedding preparations and Jesus was invited and so were his disciples. This is the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry and when Mary asked him to help with the wine that was running out, Jesus answered his mother “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” Why did Jesus call his mother “woman?” It just goes to show that Jesus was establishing the difference of their relationship from mother-son to Messiah and woman. He is now doing the work of His Father and he works in God’s timeline.

REFLECTION
• Why did Jesus do what Mary said even though he said it wasn’t his time yet?

JOHN 1 FOLLOW ME

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January 6

JOHN 1
43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” 48 Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 50 Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” 51 And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” – John 1:43-51

JOHN 1 FOLLOW ME
A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses
When you hear the voice of the Lord saying “Follow Me”
Do you need to have proof that it is your Lord himself?
When you are invited to serve in the kingdom of God
Do you heed without delay or do you have second thoughts?

In this account, Jesus found Philip and asked him to follow Him. There was no delay when Philip heard the call of Jesus. He looked for Nathanael right away and witnessed to him that they had found Jesus of Nazareth. But in Nathanael’s case, it was different. He was calculating and questioned if anything ever good comes from Nazareth. He needed to see evidence of this. But as soon as Jesus spoke something about his background and what he was doing before he was called, he changed his mind.
Why don’t we heed a call from our Lord right away when His Spirit calls us? Why do we doubt and need to be convinced that it is really Him? The human mind can be a hindrance in following God’s invitation. If he calls us, he also gives us the ability to accept it. If we belong to him, we would know his voice and we follow without question.

REFLECTION
• Share your insights when you were called by the Lord to follow him.

JOHN 1 JESUS’ FIRST DISCIPLES

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January 5

JOHN 1
35 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” 39 He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. 40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). 42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter). – John 1:35-42

JOHN 1 JESUS’ FIRST DISCIPLES
A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses
Andrew and another disciple of John followed Jesus
They wanted to be his students and they called him teacher
Simon told Peter his brother that they found the Messiah
And he took his brother to the Lord and he named him Cephas.

After some of the disciples of John the Baptist heard him declare Jesus as the Lamb of God, two of them decided to follow Jesus. One of them was Andrew but the other one wasn’t named in this account. According to David Guzik’s commentary, he says “The other of the two is not identified, but for several reasons it is reasonable to think it was John the Gospel writer himself, who appears several times in his Gospel, but is never specifically named.” Guzik further comments on verse 39 of the specificity of the time of the hour that these things happened, so he truly thinks it was John, the actual writer of this account who was the other disciple who was with Andrew.
So, as soon as Jesus invited them over to see where he was staying, Andrew immediately announced to his brother that they had found the Messiah and he came to meet Jesus and he was named by Jesus himself as Cephas meaning “Peter.” These three were the first disciples of our Lord Jesus.

REFLECTION
• What do you think made John’s disciples follow Jesus and leave John?

JOHN 1 THE LAMB OF GOD

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January 4

JOHN 1
29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”
– John 1:29-34

JOHN 1 THE LAMB OF GOD
A poem by ILMA inspired by these verses
Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away our sins
He is the perfect sacrifice to appease God of his wrath
He came into the world so that we might have life
Only through Him can we have freedom: He is light
Believe in him that you may receive eternity
If you don’t believe, you will live in total depravity.

In this account, John the Baptist declares the Lord as the Lamb of God. Let’s look at Leviticus 4:32-35 because this will give us an understanding why the lamb is important as atonement for sins. It says: 32 “If he brings a lamb as his offering for a sin offering, he shall bring a female without blemish 33 and lay his hand on the head of the sin offering and kill it for a sin offering in the place where they kill the burnt offering. 34 Then the priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering with his finger and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering and pour out all the rest of its blood at the base of the altar. 35 And all its fat he shall remove as the fat of the lamb is removed from the sacrifice of peace offerings, and the priest shall burn it on the altar, on top of the LORD’s food offerings. And the priest shall make atonement for him for the sin which he has committed, and he shall be forgiven. So, Jesus was the perfect sacrifice for the atonement of our sins because he was sinless. Hence, he is called the Lamb of God.

REFLECTION
• Why is it important for us to remember that Jesus is the Lamb of God?