The Devotional - Jhn06

The Devotional

Comment: As we seen yesterday: Darkness does not comprehend what it cannot see. So God provided Himself in the Person of His only Son as a sacrificial Lamb to take away sin. At this moment in time you may not be able to comprehend the fullness of this TRUTH, but we will seek to learn more about this God/man in that what is not seen by the deceived world, can be seen by FAITH in Jesus the Lamb of God. He is willing to reveal Himself to us through Himself, the Living Word and the Power of the Holy Spirit. The writer of the Gospel according to John is His beloved disciple and apostle. Speaking of himself, John records a brief conversation that Peter has with the Risen LORD at the shores of Tiberius or better known as the Sea of Galilee. Please take a moment and read John 21:20-25. While John is careful to remain humble he records his personal love for Jesus and the fact that he is the writer of this gospel.

Challenge: So in the days that followed the baptism of Jesus by John the baptizer, Jesus began His three year ministry as the Lamb of God. He was tempted to give up this ministry by Satan. You can read this attempt by Satan to overthrow God in chapter 4 of Matthew’s gospel or in chapter 4 of Luke’s gospel as well. After this, a period of forty days, Jesus began preaching the message of His Father’s Kingdom and His Ministry began with these words, “repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” and He also said to those fishermen who would follow Him as His disciples, “Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.”

John the baptizer was with two of his disciples and saw Jesus as He was walking by and John said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” It is interesting that these two men, immediately left John and began following Jesus. Jesus turned to look at those following Him and said to them, “What do you seek?” A bit startled that He spoke to them they responded with, “Rabbi, where do you live?” I like His reply! “Come and see”, maybe unknown to them at the moment, Jesus was saying, follow Me for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Both of these men followed Jesus for the rest of their lives, they seen the kingdom of heaven in Jesus Christ, their names are James and Simon his brother (named Peter, by Jesus and translated “stone or rock”), these two were the first to be disciples of the Living God and soon after the death and resurrection of Jesus the LAMB, just three years from that point in time they became apostles of Jesus the conquering Messiah who lives again and reigns, in fact; Jesus has always reigned.

Now as His ministry begin, He proclaims to all who will hear Him. “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me. Because He has anointed (appointed) Me to preach the gospel to the poor; (unknowing). He has sent Me to the broken heal and proclaim liberty (release) to the captives (those in darkness). And recovery of sight to the blind (those deceived) and to set at liberty (free) those who are oppressed (enslaved by sin). And to proclaim the acceptable year (salvation) of the LORD. Luke 4:18-19, Daniel 9:24 and Isaiah 61:1-2 are the prophecies of this day of the beginning of Jesus’s ministry.

As we leave the first chapter of John’s gospel we see several of His appointed disciples in the days following, Philip and Nathanael are chosen and later we will look at the other eight but as we close out today, notice something about the Person, Jesus. He said to Philip “follow Me”, without a hitch, Philip saw and knew that very moment that He who was speaking to Him, the One whom the prophecies of Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote of – Jesus of Nazareth. Yes we can doubt, even as Nathanael does, but when Jesus Christ reveals Himself to us we must respond as Nathanael did. Yes, yes LORD, You are the Son of God, my Savior and King!”