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For I know the plans I have for you,declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jer 29:11 |
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| Archived Manna: | |
Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Friday, January 11, 2019
Today's Passage : Today's Passage:The Beloved Disciple and His Book Bible Verse:John 21:20-25 "Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?” When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” So the saying spread abroad among the brothers that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?” This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true. Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen. " Message:
he beloved disciple mentioned here, and three times previously in the Gospel of John, is now identified as John himself. There have been innumerable scholars who have tried to prove that John was not the beloved disciple, or did not write any of the works attributed to him, or that John the Apostle was different from John the Evangelist; but scholars, like journalists, have to come up with controversial ideas constantly, in order to get published. Professors at secular universities don’t sell books or get tenure by agreeing with their predecessors, even if their predecessors wrote the truth!
There really are a number of external reasons to believe that this Gospel was written by John himself, and certainly the Bible indicates it. The Gospel itself states that John the Apostle wrote the Gospel of John, and who are we to doubt the Gospel?
Thus, when Jesus hints that John might live forever, it is not idle chatter. He is referring to the Gospel we have now read, from start to finish. John “lives,” and will remain until Christ comes again, through his writings. Jesus gave Peter the role of establishing the church, but he essentially gives John the mission of writing down an account of his life and teachings. And John's writings will endure until Christ comes again.
St. Augustine
The inference is strong that, when Christ pointedly tells Peter, “You follow me,” He means to indicate that Peter will follow Him to the cross, while John will not. Peter and John are the two most notable Apostles, but God gives them very different missions. Peter will lead by example and die, crucified in Rome. John will be the only apostle to die of old age; he lived quite a long time — to (roughly) 94— wrote a much-needed fourth gospel, and provided first-hand testimony and leadership to the great church at Ephesus. The Romans banished him to the island of Patmos, where he lived for perhaps a decade before he died.
As his conclusion, John makes sure not to invalidate other accounts of the life of Jesus, i.e. the other gospels. We are not certain which, if any, of them were in their final form at the time the Gospel of John was written. Probably Mark was in the form we read today, and possibly Matthew and Luke. But without any doubt, the substance of all three were already written down and in circulation among the fledgling churches.
John also tells us, finally, his gospel merely scratches the surface of Christ's actions and teachings, which makes sense. Christ's mission lasted about three years, during which he almost certainly taught every day. We know many incidents and teachings that are not in the Gospel of John, because others wrote about them.
And we will end our study of this gospel just as John ended it: with the word, “Amen.”
Meditation : Prayer : God our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, and Spirit of God amidst us, direct our way unto you. Make us to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you; to the end we may establish our hearts unblameable in holiness before you, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints......Amen. |
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