OPENING PRAYER
"Man Shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God"- Matthew 4:4- "My mother and brothers are those who hear the Word of God and do it" - Mark 8:21
Having received this day as a gift, I (We) thank You Holy Trinity, for through Your goodness and patience You were not wrathful with me (Us), and idler (s) and sinner (s), neither have You cast me (Us) down in my (Our)sins...But You have shown Your love towards me (us) and have guided me (us) to keep my (our) daily watch to glorify Your power...Enlighten my (our) mind (minds) to study Your teachings in Scripture...Help me (us) to apply what I (we) learn and to praise You with all my (our) heart and glorify Your Holy Name, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now and forever...Amen!!!
Shine within my (our) hearts, loving Master, the pure Light of Your Divine Knowledge, and open the eyes of my mind that I may understand Your teachings...Instill in me (us) also reverence for Your Blessed commandments, so having conquered sinful desires I (we) may pursue a spiritual way of life, thinking and doing all those things that are pleasing to You...For You, Christ my God, are my light, and to You I (we) give, glory, together with Your Father and Your Holy Spirit, now and forever...Amen!!!
CHANT PSALM 23
INTO YOUR HANDS LORD YESHUA (JESUS CHRIST) WE COMMIT OUR SOULS AND BODIES, BLESS US AND HAVE MERCY ON US AND GRANT US ETERNAL LIFE!!!
JOHN 17: STUDY GUIDE
AMEN!!!
CHRIST'S PRAYER FOR HIMSELF-CHRIST'S PRAYER FOR THE APOSTLES-CHRIST'S PRAYER FOR THE CHURCH-CHRIST'S PRAYER FOR ALL
JOHN 17:1-26
17:1-26: CHRIST'S PRAYER: is often called the High Priestly Prayer, as it contains the basic elements of prayer a priest offers to the Lord when a sacrifice is about to be made: glorification (vv. 3-5, & 25), remembrance of God's work (vv. 2, 6-8, 22, 23), intercession on the behalf of others- (vv. 9, 11, 15, 20, 21, & 24), and a declaration of the offering itself- (vv. 1, and 5): The passage that includes (vv. 1-13), is read on the seventh Sunday of Pascha (Easter), a day remembering the Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council (Nicea I) in AD 325: At this council the heresy of Arianism was condemned: This heresy taught that the Son of God was created by the Father and that there was a time when the Son of God did not exist: We find our Lord's words here bearing witness to His divinity and to His final relationship with the Father: This testimony is sufficient in itself to dismiss Arianism!!! THE HOUR HAS COME: Signifies Christ is indeed Lord over time: "He voluntarily willed to ascend the Cross in the flesh" (a hymn of Orthodoxy Sunday): GLORIFY: refers to the redemption of all creation that will be accomplished through the CROSS AND RESURRECTION- the purpose for which Christ was sent into the world: In this redemption, The Father and The Son are glorified: This is why the Cross, which is a sign of death, is glorified in the Church as "life-giving" and the "weapon of peace"!!!
17:3: THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE ONLY TRUE GOD: is far more intellectual understanding: It is participating in His Divine life and in communion with Him: So, ETERNAL LIFE is an ongoing, loving knowledge of God in Christ and the Holy Spirit- OUR HELPER!!!
17:4: CHRIST'S WORK: Can never be separated from who He is: This verse is a statement that all believers can make at the end of life, no matter how long or short that life may be:
17:6: THE MEN WHOM YOU HAVE GIVEN ME: are the apostles: They are the ones through whom God's WORD comes to us: This handing down of God's word to successive generations is called apostolic tradition: Isaiah prophesied that in the days of the Messiah, the knowledge of the Name of God would be revealed- (Isaiah 52:6): YOUR NAME: IN THE OT TIMES: The phrase "THE NAME" was reverently used as a substitute for God's actual name- "YAHWEH", which was sacred to pronounce: The fuller revelations of the Father, but by being the very presence of God and sharing the Name with Him:
17:9: CHRIST FIRST PRAYED FOR HIMSELF: (vv. 1-5) and secondly FOR THEM, THE APOSTLES- (vv. 6-19): Only then does He pray FOR THOSE WHOM YOU HAVE GIVEN ME- all who will come to believe in Him (vv. 20-26): Here THE WORLD is the portion of humanity in rebellion against God, those who prefer darkness to His Light:
17:11: HOLY FATHER: is echoed in the Eucharist Prayer of the- (Didache 10:2): "We give you thanks, Holy Father, for Your Holy Name which You have made to dwell in our hearts..."
17:12: THE SON OF PERDITION: (Destruction): is Judas Iscariot (John 6:70-71): OT- Prophecy alludes to Judas- (Psalm 40:10; Psalm 108:2-13; Zechariah 11:12-13), and Judas becomes a type for all who will fall away in the last days (see- 2 Thessalonians 2:3, where the son of perdition refers to the Antichrist):
17:14-15: INASMUCH AS CHRIST IS FROM HEAVEN: those who are joined to Him become like Him, So all believers attract the world's hatred: The second-century Letter to Diognetus (John 6:3) STATES: "CHRISTIANS dwell in THE WORLD but do not belong to the world: "Reborn in Christ, Christians have their citizenship in the Kingdom of God- (John 3:1-5), yet their vocation is in the world, where they are protected by God against THE EVIL ONE!!!
17:17: SANCTIFY: To consecrate, make holy, separate, set apart from the world, and bring into the light of the sacred for God's use: St. John Chrysostom interpreted this verse by saying, "Make them holy through gift of the Spirit and by correct doctrine..."
17:20: THOSE WHO WILL BELIEVE: The Church-believers true followers of Yeshua (Jesus) His ways and Teachings: In every generation the Church participates in the life and glory of the Trinity: Christians enjoy two kinds of unity: with God and with one another, the latter being rooted in the former:
17:26: THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF CHRIST'S PRAYER: and for life itself, is for THE LOVE of the Father to dwell in each person who choses redemption in Christ our God!!!
JOHN 18- STUDY GUIDE
JESUS' BETRAYAL AND ARREST- See also (Matthew 26:47-56; Mark 14:43-52; Luke 22:47-53)
JOHN 18:1-11
18:1: THIS GARDEN: was at the Mount of Olives- (Mark 14:26):
18:2: THAT CHRIST INTENTIONALLY CAME TO THE PLACE: known to His betrayer JUDAS, one of HIS DISCIPLES, shows He was going to His Passion willingly and voluntarily: It reveals Christ went to find Judas rather than Judas finding Christ:
18:4: THAT YESHUA (JESUS): spoke first without waiting for them shows that in every second towards His arrest, He is Lord and in control- (see vv. 8, 35):
18:5: THAT JUDAS...STOOD WITH THEM: shows his allegiance to the priests and Pharisees- (v. 3):
18:6: I AM HE: is translated "I AM"- (Greek- Ego Eimi), The Divine Name of God-(see my notes- John 8:58- Hebrew- Yahweh): The power of this Name drives all His accusers TO THE GROUND: Even so, they do not repent:
18:8: NOTICE YESHUA (JESUS): is giving commands at His own arrest, and they are being obeyed, showing He is Lord of His own Passion- (see vv. 4, 35): The obedience of Christ's captors is particularly striking in that Peter was not arrested when he attacked the high priest's servant with the sword- (v.10): The command to let the disciples GO THEIR WAY also indicates His mercy toward them, as they were not yet strong enough to face martyrdom: God does not allow a burden beyond a person's spiritual strength-(1 Corinthians 10:13):
BEFORE THE HIGH PRIESTS; PETER'S DENIALS- See also (Matthew 26:57-75; Mark 14:53-72; Luke 22:54-71)
JOHN 18:12-27
18:13: ANNAS: was the previous high priest and remained a force of power behind the religious establishment- (see note at Luke 3:2): CAIAPHAS WAS HIGH PRIEST THE YEAR of Yeshua' (Jesus') Crucifixion, holding the office from AD 18-36:
18:15: THIS OTHER DISCIPLE: is John, the author of this Gospel: It was common practice for an author to conceal his name in the details of his story (see- John 13:23; compare Mark 14:51-52; Luke 24:13, and 18):
18:17: A GIRL: being the first to the test Peter is an icon of the temptation of Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:6): This fallen state is overcome in Christ, when a woman is the first to hear, believe, and proclaim the Resurrection (John 20:1, 11-18):
18:19: THE QUESTIONING OF THE HIGH PRIEST: tries to uncover subversive activity that would not only violate the Law of Moses, but be reason enough to accuse YESHUA (JESUS) of a political crime before Pilate: Note the two points of question put Yeshua (Jesus) concern HIS DISCIPLES AND HIS DOCTRINE, two essential components of Christ and His Church:
18:27: AFTER HIS THREE DENIALS: Peter will be restored through his three affirmations of love following the Resurrection- (John 21:15-17):
YESHUA (JESUS) BEFORE PILATE- See also (Matthew 27:1-2, and 11-27; Mark 15:1-15; Luke 23:1-22)
JOHN 18:28-40
18:28: ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM NOTES: the irony that Christ's accusers did not fear being DEFILED by condemning an innocent Man to death, but would not set foot into a court of justice:
18:31: SINCE THE CHIEF PRIESTS OF THE JEWS: had no actual crime with which to make an accusation against Yeshua (Jesus)- (vv. 29, 30), PILATE: refused to pass judgement: When the chief priests say, "it is not lawful for us to put anyone to death," they are not referring to the Law of Moses, but to the Laws of Roman occupation, for the Romans reserved the right to execute people: S0, the chief priests relied on Pilate to sentence Yeshua (Jesus) to death!!!
18:32: THE JEWISH LAW: prescribed stoning as the usual means of execution: However, Christ had prophesied He would be killed by being lifted up on the Cross- (John 3:14; John 8:28; John 12:32-33), having foreknowledge that HE WOULD DIE, not at the hands of the Jews, but by the Roman method of crucifixion:
18:35: IT IS UNHEARD: of that the accused would have to name the charges against himself in any court, since the captors would be the ones to name the crime: THAT PILATE has to ask Yeshua (Jesus) what the charges are shows that THE CHIEF PRIESTS could name no crime He might have committed (vv. 29, 30): And more importantly, it shows Yeshua (Jesus) was Lord over the events of His death- (see vv. 4, 8): For even the governor has to come to Him in order for the trial to proceed:
18:38-40: THOUGH PILATE: knows Christ to be innocent of any crime, he attempts to strike the compromise with THE JEWS by declaring Christ guilty, but freeing Him on account of PASSOVER: So, the chief priests would have an official declaration of guilt and Christ would not be unjustly punished!!!
"What is truth??? It seems Yeshua will be answering that very soon, yep there is that word again "SOON"- My brothers and sisters in Christ do not concern yourself with these earthly and worldly anxieties, instead concern ourselves with the gifts of Heaven!!! In Christ our citizenship is that of Heaven, not Earth!!! Look up and smile our redemption draws near!!!
"LETS DEPART IN PEACE IN THE NAME OF THE LORD- MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN CHRIST!!!
END WITH THE LORD'S PRAYER!!!
JPCE SPIRITUAL TALK
NEVER HOLD BACK
THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD
JEHOVAH SHALOM!!!