Father in Heaven, Thank you for another day of your grace and mercy. Thank you for all of the amazing blessings you give us. On our own we cannot earn your favor, we continue to make mistakes and act against your will. Yet, you sent Jesus to die on the cross to take those sins away. And by his resurrection we know that you don’t hold those sins against us.

We praise and thank you for your boundless love. We pray that you continue to protect and guide your people, grant them wisdom, and bless their efforts in all the various tasks you’ve given them to do. Let them continue to be a light to the world, serving you and serving those around them. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Ephesians 2:2,4-6, 6:12

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It feels like there’s something working against you. Like there’s this power at work. And even working within your own mind, like for some reason there are these things that are just… You end up doing them. It’s like something takes control of you. What is that? Is that just a made-up thing, or is that real?

It’s real.

There are real powers at work in this world. And not just fighting against you, but actually working to control you. So in Ephesians chapter six, in verse 12, it says,

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but… [Ephesians 6:12]

And then it goes on to talk about spiritual powers. But notice the way they’re described.

against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. [Ephesians 6:12]

So some of these spiritual powers are actually described with authority terms, that the spiritual powers of darkness want to rule over you and want to have authority over you. And, and this is kind of a crazy thing to think about, but if you go back earlier in the Book of Ephesians, it talks about how when you and I were

against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. [Ephesians 2:2]

We were actually born in a situation where we were underneath the authority of the enemy, of dark powers, of the Satan.

Not born being part of the kingdom of God, but actually born underneath the power, the authority of darkness, of sin, of death. And so when you feel like there’s something at work in this world, there’s something fighting against me, there’s something trying to control me, there is. And it’s good for us to be aware of that, to recognize that when we interact with people, when we look at what’s going on in our nation and our world, that there really are sinister forces at work. But as we think about that, I know that can be kind of a scary thought, but it doesn’t have to be. ’Cause Ephesians also talks about, in that same chapter too, it says in verses four to five,

But God, because he is rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in trespasses. It is by grace you have been saved! He also raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. [Ephesians 2:4-6]

You and I were underneath that power. But through faith in Christ, not anymore. Christ is God Himself who became human, to be the human who never submitted to the powers of darkness in this world. Think about how Jesus was tested in the wilderness by that dark power, by the Satan, and He never once fell for it. He always withstood. And throughout His life, He always withstood so that He could go then to that cross, wearing a crown of thorns, by the way, so that He could conquer the powers of darkness. He died there, but then rose again to show He defeated the powers of darkness in this world. And now through faith in Christ, we belong to the Kingdom of God.

The dark powers, the dark forces do not have authority over your life.

Jesus does.

And the one who has authority declares that you are forgiven, you are right with God, you have life forever with God, and now you don’t have to follow the ways of this broken world. You are united with God, seated with Him in the heavenly realms. You have this position of power and authority with Him. Do we still struggle with sin? Absolutely, ’cause our sinful nature is still underneath that influence. But that’s not who you are. Doesn’t define you. It’s not your eternity. It’s not who you are today. So we can recognize the powers at work, recognize that there’s something trying to fight against me, but then we can declare and know fully that Jesus has defeated that power, that you do not belong to that power anymore.

You are part of the kingdom that has overcome.

John 3:30, Luke 17:10

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The disciples Jude, which is a form of the name Judas, but he’s not Judas Iscariot, this man’s also called Thaddaeus. Jude or Thaddaeus and James, son of Alphaeus, different from James son of Zebedee. They’re mysterious characters to us. They’re two disciples of Jesus, but we don’t know much about them from scripture. Christians over the years have tried to put them in a fuller context. Maybe they were brothers, maybe they were cousins of Jesus some have said, but we really don’t know.

What we can more safely assume is that after Jesus’ Ascension and after Pentecost, all the disciples, except for Judas Iscariot, went and carried out Jesus’ commission to preach the gospel to all the world, and went in different directions and did just that. Now, in the New Testament we have a couple of those avenues tracked out for us, especially the work of Peter and later Paul, but the other disciples were doing similar work that wasn’t recorded.

That makes me think of a statement John the Baptist gave. He said, “Jesus must increase. I must decrease.” He was the forerunner of Christ, and he was supposed to recede into the background so people would pay attention to the Lord, Jesus. And I think Jude and James really lived that out.

They were eyewitnesses to Jesus’ ministry. They proclaimed the same gospel we hear Peter and Paul proclaiming in the Book of Acts. That Jesus was God’s Son who came and fulfilled the law for us to be our righteousness for the things we’ve done and the things we failed to do that make us guilty before God. He did atone for all of our sin. He rose from the dead so we can be assured of God’s peace and a place in heaven. Yet we don’t have books extolling their work or spelling it out in detail so that we can praise them today in that kind of specific detail. Instead, I would say we have evidence of their work in the faith of certain people in the world. You know, there were people that these men reached whose eternal futures and the eternal future of future generations in their families was totally changed because they came and brought them the message about Christ. But they were pleased to have themselves recede into the background of biblical history and even our knowledge about them today as long as Jesus would increase in the hearts and lives of these people.

You be of the same mind. Hold the conviction of the true faith in Jesus, fulfill your callings faithfully in life, and let your light shine. Be willing to tell people how meaningful your faith is to you and what assurance it gives you, ultimately embodying the attitude Jesus told us to have in Luke chapter 17. “We are unworthy servants. We have only done what we were supposed to do.” Say with John the Baptist following the example of Jude and James, “Jesus must increase. I must decrease.”

John 6:28-29, Ephesians 2:8-10, James 2:17

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Pastor, that Bible verse I read this morning in my Bible reading says that we’re gonna be judged by our works.

What if I haven’t done enough?

How will I know that I’m actually going to be with God forever? ’Cause I’ve messed up a lot.

I get asked that question every so often. I have people share that with me every so often because there are some verses in scripture that talk about being, you know, judged by our works.

What do we do with those? What is the role of our works? What do we think about them?

Well, while there are some verses that talk about, okay, there are your works, we have to see them in the greater context of what scripture is saying.

Let’s start here with John 6:28-29.

So they said to him, “What should we do to carry out the works of God?” (John 6:28-29)

So they’re asking specifically about works, right?

Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God: that you believe in the one he sent.” (John 6:28-29)

At its core, the work of God isn’t actually about doing different things for God. It’s simply believing in the one he has sent, believing in Jesus, in his life, his death, his resurrection, and even that is a gift from God.

Ephesians 2:8-9 makes it very clear that there aren’t special things you need to do to set yourself right with God.

“Indeed, it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

And so there aren’t these special works you have to do to have confidence before God. But then what about the verses that talk about works? What is the role of works? Well, Ephesians 2:8-9 goes on to verse 10, and in verse 10 it says,

“For we are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared in advance so that we would walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)

Do you see the progression? You’re saved by grace through faith. This is not by works, so you’re right with God, not by works, and it talks about being saved by by faith. It’s a gift of God, and then it talks about the works. See, the the works are actually part of the gift. They’re the result of being saved. When you’re set right with God, now you get to live life from God, partnering with God, embracing what God has for you. The works come as the result, and because they come as the result, there are verses that talk about works being some fruit of your faith.

So for instance, if you go and look at James 2:17, here he doesn’t use the fruit language, but he also talks at how faith, if it is alone, it has no works, is dead. If you believe in Jesus and have life with God, it’s going to show up in your life. You’re gonna live it out in different ways, but you live it out not to earn from God, but because you are right with God. And you don’t have to look at your life and say, “Okay, have I done enough?” That’s… That would be the very opposite of what these works are meant to be. They just simply are a sign, a fruit that you are saved. You can never do enough work to be saved, and you don’t have to.

Jesus has already done the work for you. He has lived that complete life. He laid it down and died on a cross, where on that cross he said, “It is finished.” He rose again and set you right with God simply through believing. That’s the ultimate work of God, which is even a gift by the Spirit, and now works flow from that, showing that you’re saved, never earning you being saved. That’s the role of works.

Matthew 4:18-20, Colossians 4:5-6

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Did the disciples know Jesus before they became disciples?

Almost certainly, yes. In the gospel accounts, we get Jesus approaching people, telling them to follow him, and immediately they leave everything, their jobs, their families, their homes, and embark on this full-time training for ministry with him. But we should assume that the gospels are selecting events so that we understand why these 12 men are following Jesus for the rest of the account. Instead, we should think that there was familiarity and casual teaching between Jesus and these men before they became full-time disciples. Some of them we know came from John the Baptist and were introduced to Jesus that way. But let me give you one of these accounts taken from Matthew, chapter four.

As Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and his brother, Andrew. They were casting a net into the sea, since they were fishermen. He said to them, “Come follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” They immediately left their nets and followed him. (Matthew 4:18-20)

But this would not have been the first time Jesus would have encountered these men. Why would they, leave their nets, leave their father, their business venture, their families at a moment’s notice to follow Jesus? Now, this takes nothing away from the Holy Spirit’s power in the word to say that Jesus saying, “Follow me,” was not this thunderbolt that brought about not only new spiritual faith, but a new commitment and direction in their life. And I would argue that seeing their callings that way gives us an unrealistic expectation of how people come to faith and grow in their Christian commitment today. We see people around us who might not have faith, and perhaps we would get the impression that if I just lay down the one good Bible passage, that’s gonna trump all of their unbelief and former habits, and they’re gonna immediately come to faith and become committed Christians.

Well, instead, we find a much more normal looking process of coming to faith, even though that is an instant moment. You’re either in the faith or out of it.

And also questions, skepticism, patience, love needed in that process. Also, from that moment of faith, there may be a growth in commitment that happens. Remember that Matthew was called from his tax collecting booth. He was still kind of engaging in this maybe sinful enterprise even though he knew who Jesus was and had faith in him. Maybe Jesus had been planning this active traveling ministry, and it was finally Jesus’ call that he was ready to go, and he wanted Matthew to come with him that impelled him and encouraged him to leave that profession behind.

So Paul gives us a good mindset to keep in mind as Christians as we deal with others who might be coming into or exploring the Christian faith. He says in Colossians 4,

Walk in wisdom in the way you act toward those on the outside, making the most of your opportunity. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you know how you are to answer each person. (Colossians 4:5-6)

May the Holy Spirit open your eyes to see the eternal importance of some of your relationships, but also let your speech be seasoned with Jesus, crucified for our sins, raised so that we can have forgiveness for the past, peace with God in the present, and a living hope for the future.

Proverbs 9:10, Genesis 3:4-5, John 10:10, Psalm 34:8

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So you’ve been really trying to live out what God wants you to do because you know He is God and you are not. He’s in charge. He’s the boss, so you should do what He says, and if you don’t, after all, He has the ability to have there be consequences.

There’s value to that.

Or maybe you’ve been trying to do what God wants because you believe in Jesus. You’re a Christian, and you want to live a life of thanks. You know you’re supposed to show your thanks to God, and so you try to do what God wants you to do.

There’s value to that.

But what is missing in both of those?

Something is missing.

See, when you and I were brought to faith in Christ, we were set right with God. Jesus died for your sins and mine, rose again to set you right with God. But that also means that you have a restored relationship with God, and that now makes a difference for how we live and how we think about how we relate to God. If you go back to the scene where Adam and Eve turn away from God, when they are standing there at the tree of knowledge of good and evil, an opportunity to trust God, which actually is how they would gain true wisdom, because the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, (Proverbs 9:10) and wisdom has to do with really living well. If they were to trust God, it would be an opportunity to really grow in life and in living and all these things. But when the serpent appeared before them, the serpent pushed and said, “Hey, did God really mean this to be a good thing?” Or let me read it to give you the exact statement.

The serpent said to the woman, “You certainly will not die. In fact, God knows that the day you eat from it, your eyes will be open and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:4-5)

In other words, God is holding out on you. He’s not good. You can’t trust Him. If you really want life, if you really want goodness, you have to do it your own way, and that’s what broke everything. So now, as someone who has been brought to faith in Christ, who has this relationship restored, part of the restoration is now I get to trust that God is good. That God isn’t holding out on me. And so then obedience isn’t just that I should obey because He’s God. I certainly should. And obedience isn’t just, okay, He could have consequences for that. Absolutely, he is God, there are. And obedience isn’t even just I’m supposed to say thank you.

The heart of this restored relationship means now that I believe and know that God is good, that He created me, that He designed life, that even when I turned away from Him and went towards death, Jesus has now restored life to me, and I get to receive life from God again.

It’s like Jesus said in John 10:10,

“A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10)

He is the source of life. He is the source of goodness, and we now get to begin to trust that. Now, does that mean that when we obey, everything is going to go smoothly? Of course not. We live in a broken world. Does that mean that God’s going to just prosper you with all kinds of great things through obedience? No. But as we live out our lives of faith, we do get to begin to taste life as it was meant to be, where we do walk and trust our Lord. It’s like Psalm 34:8 says,

“Taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is everyone who takes refuge in Him.” (Psalm 34:8)

We get to trust that He designed life, He has given us life again, and that there will someday be a point where we get to experience life in all of its fullness, the way it was meant to be, the way it was designed to be, where we live life from our God who has given us everything good, because He is good.

That’s why we obey.

John 1

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Did the disciples know each other before they were disciples? In many cases, yes. The disciple Philip is a great case study of this. We’re told in John 1:44 that Philip was from Bethsaida on the Sea of Galilee, also the hometown of Peter and Andrew. Bethsaida was not a particularly large place. These men would have no doubt known each other. Peter and Andrew were business associates with James and John, the sons of Zebedee. Then Philip is also mentioned in connection with Nathaniel. They’re next to each other in all the lists of disciples we have in the New Testament. John 1 confirms that they also had a connection before they both became disciples of Jesus. So just there, we have six men, Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Nathaniel, who’s also called Bartholomew. Six of them came from an already existing social circle before they became disciples. Now, that wasn’t the case for all the disciples, but let’s focus on these six.

Jesus’ ministry, of course, was unique. There’s only one time in human history when the Son of God was in the flesh under the law to fulfill it for us, fulfilling all of God’s Old Testament scriptures, leading up to his sacrificial death for our sins and his resurrection to pierce the veil through death, this great consequence and fate because of our sin, through to eternal life. Because of his work, we have peace with God, the assurance of his care, and finally an entrance into glory. Yet, all ministry that happens in the church is really just rippling out from that core finished work of Jesus. So we can make applications from the social dynamic of Jesus’ disciples to the church today.

All of these disciples knowing each other helps us set Jesus’ ministry in more of a normal social setting and really illustrates how the church has grown and expanded outside of its current borders in all ages. That Jesus’ ministry and those who gathered around him were gathered through family connections, business associations, the communities they belong to, and that’s still true today. The healthiest, stablest growth that happens in the Christian church happens through personal connections. Now, we should be aware there can be both benefits and a couple drawbacks to having such a tight connection with fellow Christians.

What are some of the drawbacks? Well, we see among the disciples that they did actually import some of their former rivalries, jealousies, maybe ranking in their social group into their interactions as disciples. We know the disciples discussed among themselves who was the greatest, and Jesus shut that down very quickly. James and John asked Jesus for these positions of great power in his kingdom.

We’re reading into it a little bit, but we can almost picture them having Peter and Andrew, Peter, this natural leader rising among the disciples, kind of threatening their position, and they wanna clinch these two positions of power before Peter and Andrew take their place. So we don’t wanna emulate them in that way.

But we also recognize benefits of being closely connected to fellow Christians. A connection to fellow Christians means that our connection to the church is reinforced by our relationships. Communication can become easier in the church. Even conflict resolution can go better when we have some personal trust already built up with the people around us in our congregation. So leverage that in your life. Yes, connect to Christ through his word and sacraments, but where does that happen? It happens in a local Christian congregation. So also connect to Christ’s body, the church, the people there, and then I would say once you’re a part of that body, also be the hand of Jesus reaching out to those who don’t know Christ, but who are already in your circles of trust.

James 4:6

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So when something doesn’t go right, actually, when everything goes wrong, when you fail, or when plans get changed, where tragedy strikes, when you find yourself in such a low place, it can be so difficult. And it can feel like, game over.

But it’s only game over if you are convinced that it stops there.

And the reality is, someone in Christ, when you are finding yourself in such a low place, you’re actually in a way positioned now for the next level.

Let me explain. If you look at James chapter four verse six, it says,

But he gives greater grace! That is why it says, “God opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6)

And the concept of humility in the scriptures is of being in a low place. See, when you are in a low position, you are actually positioned then to receive gifts from God. The word grace has to do with being so pleased with someone, desiring someone, and loving someone in such a way that you want to give them a gift. And it has nothing to do with anything they can give you, but everything to do with the way that you delight in them. Like a parent who gives a gift to a child. It’s not because a child has done so many great things, but because you love that child and you want to give them a gift.

And your God when he sees you in that hurt, that broken place, he actually he wants to meet you there. He wants to lift you up when he sees you broken by your sin, your guilt, your shame. He wants to meet you with that comfort that, yes, you have made a mistake. Yes, you have gone beyond making a mistake, you have sinned against me. But by my grace, through my grace, I have set you right with me. My son Jesus has lived and died and risen again for you. I give you this free gift of life. You find yourself weak. Well guess what? I want to be strong with you. You are not sure about the future? Well guess what? You can cast your anxieties on me. I see you on that low place and I want to lift you up.

And so when you find yourself in that low place and it feels like it’s the end of the road, that is actually a moment to have your problem actually be transformed in a way, by seeing that problem become a prompt. Where it prompts you to look to God and say, okay, when I’m in a low place, God promises he’s going to meet me here with his grace. So what does God have for me? How does God want to meet me? He will always meet you with the good news of what His Son has done. He will always meet you with his love, with his good plans, and with the life he has for you. You may be in a low place, but God in his grace meets you there.

John 1:43-51

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We try not to judge a book by its cover. That’s what Nathaniel also called Bartholomew did. And let’s see how it turned out for him.

The next day, Jesus wanted to leave for Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the hometown of Andrew and Peter.

Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
Nathanael said to him, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?”

“Come and see!” Philip told him.
Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said about him, “Truly, here is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”

Nathanael asked him, “How do you know me?”

Jesus answered, “Before Philip called you, while you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”
Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”

Jesus replied, “You believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that!” Then he added, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: You will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” (John 1:43-51 EHV)

The Word of God taken from John chapter one. Now, thankfully, the “book” Nathaniel misjudged was Jesus who has a perfect life and offers freedom and victory from sin and death for all who come to him. Thankfully, once Nathaniel realized who Jesus was, he found a Lord who was forgiving and gracious. But if you or someone you know has ever been dismissive or skeptical about Jesus or the Christian faith, Philip’s words to his friend Nathaniel give us a good script.

What did Philip say? Come and see. We can also say, come and see this Lord who speaks through His word to your deepest insecurities and fears that maybe you haven’t been brave enough to confront on your own or tell to anyone else.

Come and see this Lord, who does not demand from you, but first gives himself for you on the cross, taking all of your guilt and shame away. Come and see this Lord, who in baptism claims you as his own, giving you identity and belonging and purpose and a future. Then come and see the body of Christ, fellow believers who have gathered around this Savior. How, even with their shortcomings and sins, you will find a love here that is deeper and more consistent, flowing from this Savior than you will find anywhere else. Come and see.

You know, Nathaniel was from Cana in Galilee, where Jesus did his first public miracle changing water into wine. So both by believing in Jesus and also getting to witness and and experience these miracles. Nathaniel was receiving what Psalm 34 promises. Taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is everyone who takes refuge in him.

Genesis 6:6, Ezekiel 33:11, 1 Timothy 2:3-4, Psalm 34:18, Isaiah 53:3, Romans 8:28-29

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That really difficult situation, that really tough thing in your life, is God happy that happened? Did he want that to happen? Now, at first you might say, well, of course God didn’t want that to happen. But I find the more that I talk with people who go through challenging times, I find that there are things that sometimes we say that make it feel like God wanted that bad thing to happen, or that God is happy that it did. And part of why then we struggle is because it seems like, well, why was God so cruel? Why did God want that to happen?

And here’s the thing sometimes people will say, they’ll say, okay, this happened because God wanted to do this, or this happened because God wanted to do that. And there becomes this sense of, okay, God wanted this to happen because of, you know, XYZ thing. He wanted to teach me or to grow me. And sometimes people will talk about God being in charge or God working all things for good. And so therefore something bad happens, well, God must have wanted that.

But Scripture is very clear. There are many things that happen in this world that God isn’t happy about, that are not things that God wanted or wants. For instance, if you look at Genesis chapter six. So this is where the chapter leads up to the flood. We’re told that

The Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with sorrow. (Genesis 6:6)

When he saw the violence in this world, he was filled with sadness. This didn’t please God, this didn’t make God happy that there was all this violence. There are things that are happening, that were happening, in the world that God was very sad about. Or Ezekiel chapter 33, the verse first part of verse 11, the Lord says,

As I live, declares the Lord God, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from their way and live. (Ezekiel 33:11)

God doesn’t want the wicked to die. And so when the wicked do, that’s actually something God is sad about. Or first Timothy 2, 3 to 4.

This is good and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:3-4)

God wants everyone to be saved. And so when there are some who do not believe in him, that’s not what God wants. That doesn’t make God happy. And so when you are going through something and you’re like, oh, that was hard. That was tough. You don’t need to see God as well, okay, but God wanted that bad thing to happen. Actually, Scripture describes God as coming close to us and often actually mourning with us. Psalm 34:18 it says,

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.
He saves those whose spirits have been crushed. (Psalm 34:18)

And Isaiah 53, that beautiful chapter that paints this prophetic picture, what a Savior would be, describes the Messiah as one who

He was despised and rejected by men,
a man who knew grief,
who was well acquainted with suffering. (Isaiah 53:3)

See, your God actually meets you in those difficult things, and he mourns with you. He has sadness with you, God, when he sees the sin and brokenness of this world, he mourns that and he grieves that. And that’s actually what motivated him to carry out his plan to set things right. That motivated God the Son to become the man, Jesus. To die in this world. To take on himself our sin, our shame, our suffering, our sadness, our death. But then to come out the other side, to give us hope the other side of it. To give us the hope of his return that day where all things are set right and every tear is wiped away from our eyes, from the eyes of those who have faith in him.

Our God meets us, and he gives us hope the other side of our grief. So then how do we think about the challenging things in our life? Well, first of all, know that God meets you there and he grieves with you. And does God use these things? Yes, absolutely. See, something can be both something that is bad, that is sad. And yet God works something good out of it. And the good that God works, God wants that. He doesn’t necessarily like or is happy about the bad, but he uses it even for his good. That’s what Romans 8:28 is about.

We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose, because those God foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he would be the firstborn among many brothers. (Romans 8:28-29)

He does come alongside and use even those bad things, those things that he mourns with us about. He will even use those things for our good.

John 12:20-21

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We hear about the disciple Philip in John chapter 12.

Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” (John 12:20-21)

Philip was from Bethsaida, we’re told, which was a town on the coast of the Sea of Galilee. Compared to Judea and Jerusalem in the south of Israel, this region of Galilee, where Jesus grew up in Nazareth, had a higher proportion of Gentiles, people who were not ethnically Jewish and who were connected to this Greek speaking Roman world beyond the confines of Israel.

Interestingly, Philip is a Greek name. Famously, Alexander the Great’s father was named Philip. Now a lot of the disciples, as we’ve already seen in previous videos, had maybe both a Hebrew or an Aramaic name as well as a Greek name that they would go by, they would have multiple names. The interesting thing is, Philip is only referred to in the Gospels by this Greek name. So it could have been that though he was a Jew, he had more of a connection to this Greek speaking world and culture. Maybe he spoke Greek more fluently. And that’s why these Greek peoples, so non-Jews who followed the Old Testament religion, come up to talk to him at the festival in Jerusalem.

I bring this up because Greek at the time is what we call a lingua franca. That is, it was a kind of more universal language that spread across cultures and was used for business, for government, for education. And it’s because the Greek language had become so widespread in what was at that time the Roman Empire, and even beyond its borders, that the New Testament, written in the Greek language, could spread so widely. Why Paul, for example, who could speak Greek, could go and preach the gospel, plant churches in all these different places. That’s interesting, because the Old Testament religion did not have Greek as its base language. It had Hebrew as its base language. So the switch to Greek in the New Testament church, and even with the New Testament scriptures, tells us the gospel doesn’t depend on your language.

Your sins are real no matter what language you speak. There is a God who is the source of life, and by your sins you have rebelled against him. And if nothing is done, there’s going to be eternal separation, eternal death in the end. But this God sent His Son, Christ Jesus, into the flesh through the Jewish people for all nations, so that by his death he would pay the penalty for your sin. By his resurrection, he would proclaim that your sins are forgiven. This Lord is gracious, though you have rebelled, God has sent his Son to rescue you.

Now, if you’re understanding the words that I’m saying, that means you just heard a basic gospel message in the English language. And that’s important because English today is what Greek was in the time of Christ. There are more people who speak English in the world, including both native speakers and non-native speakers, than any other language. That means if you speak English fluently, as Philip likely spoke Greek pretty fluently, you have great power. There is great power in being able to serve as a conduit for the message about Christ. Not only do people in your little corner of the world who might speak your little native language, but in being able to reach people across cultures with this message about Jesus. So look for opportunities like Philip to share the message of Jesus so that others would see him and believe.

Genesis 1:24-25, 2 Samuel 22:6

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Genesis chapter one, verses 24 and 25.

And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:24-25)

That reference to things that God made that creep along the ground. I think that includes spiders, because spiders live on the ground, not in water, they were most likely created on the sixth day instead of on day five. But spiders. Spiders are amazing creatures. Lots of people don’t like them. Lots of people are afraid of them. But still! How does a spider know that if he or she will string six, eight, ten strands from one branch to another with a midpoint where they all cross in the center, and then if he begins to work his way out. How does he know that essentially forms a net, a web in which he can catch insects, flies and mosquitoes? Well, God’s just designed him to to do those things, maybe even to know those things.

And if you’re afraid of spiders, really, imagine what a fly or a mosquito would feel how they feel about spider webs. I mean, they get caught there in the web. Spider wraps them up and saves them for later to eat them for lunch. So they’d be, I think, much more afraid of spider webs than we are of spiders.

King David talks about something like that. Second Samuel, chapter 22.

the cords of Sheol entangled me;
the snares of death confronted me. (2 Samuel 22:6)

David’s talking about a time when he was being chased, pursued by Saul, like a fly or a mosquito, trying to avoid being caught in the net. The cords of Sheol. Sheol is another word for the grave. Cords and snares like a spider’s web. David was desperately trying to escape from them, and he did. The Lord God watched over him, delivered him safely. But later on in his life, the cords of the grave they did entangle David. David eventually was caught in that web of the grave of Sheol. David was mortal. David’s life came to an end, and we’re told that he closed his eyes and he slept with his fathers.

And that same is true of all of us. All of us, one day the cords of Sheol, the grave, the snares of death, one day they’re going to entangle us. And, well, what next? Well, what’s next is answered by Jesus. Jesus himself was caught in that web of death. Now he willingly gave himself over to it. But the cords of Sheol, the grave, the snares of death, they even wrapped Jesus himself up, and he was laid to rest in a grave as well.

But as you know very well, I pray you know, he rose. Three days later, he rose from the dead, breaking free of those bonds, that web, breaking free of the grave. And he’s promised that he’s just the first. He the first fruits of those that will rise. So even though those cords of death entangle us, even though eventually our strength runs out, and one day we’ll close our eyes in that sleep like David did, even like Jesus did. Because of Jesus and what he’s done for us, one day our eyes will open again. We will burst free of those bonds, that web, the grave, and we will be with him safe and sound, forever in heaven. That’s a promise, a promise that is true because Christ himself is risen.

I pray that’s a comfort to you, especially when you look at your life like a fly or a mosquito might look at a spider’s web and worry about being caught and entangled in it. You won’t be lost forever because of your Savior, Jesus Christ. So thank God for him and what he’s done.