Sermons, Articles, and Other Things

Jesus is given numerous names in the Bible and we are familiar with some of them because of their frequent use. We can narrow them down in this sermon by asking if different names are mentioned by John in his Gospel. They are, and in this Gospel, for example, he is called the Son of God, the Lamb of God and the Light of the World. In the prologue of the Gospel he is also called the Word, a name which we might not understand when first we read it, but which would have been important to John’s initial readers. Literally, the term is logos, which was commonly used at the time to describe reason or a rational statement. It was used to describe the governing principle behind the existence of the universe. Here John uses it as a name for the Son of God as the Creator, and there is an obvious connection between saying that he is the source of reason and the one who gives light to every person. Yet there is more to light than intellectual understanding. Perhaps, by light, John is referring to ...

This statement is the sixth of the seven ‘I am’ sayings of Jesus’. Warren Wiersbe in his book on the seven ‘I am sayings’ says of this one: Jesus ‘moved resurrection out of a statement of faith and into a person, and out of the future into the present.’ He continued: Jesus ‘did not nullify the doctrine of future resurrection, but He did tell [Martha] (and us) that His resurrection power is available to His people today.’ Those statements are a good summary of what Jesus said and did on this occasion. In the various points that we shall consider we will see the accuracy of the summary. No doubt many points could be thought about, and each thought about in detail, but we will focus on a few. But first we can link this saying to the other six ‘I am’ sayings. This statement, like the other six, is about Jesus’ self-understanding of his person and his mission. What I think of myself is of little relevance to most people, but who Jesus thinks of himself is relevant to every person. We can ru...

Jesus and the disciples had left the upper room where they had their Passover gathering and were making their way to the Garden of Gethsemane, the place where they usually spent the Passover evening in the city. It is possible that on their way there they passed a vine that Jesus used as an illustration of spiritual fruitbearing. Passover occurred during the spring, and springtime was when good branches were pruned and dead branches removed. The owner may have cut off unfruitful branches and they were lying on the ground. Either the owner or his servants would gather them for burning. The owner had also pruned fruitful branches, and passers-by would not see any unwelcome growths on them. Jesus, however, was not merely using an illustration from the natural world. When he called himself the true vine, he showed that there was a false one as well. The Old Testament calls Israel a vine several times, but as Isaiah 5 emphasises, it had failed to produce fruit for God and was not a true vin...

We live in changing times. There is a sense in which we always do so. Our circumstances change every day, and we change along with them. We can look back on our lives and see many changes have occurred throughout the years, some that we did not see coming, but which had their effects. Some changes are good. Children grow up, become adults, marry, and have their own families. People get jobs a nd form career paths which fit the gifts with which the Lord has endowed them as creatures made in his image. In contrast, some changes are bad, such as when a country may find itself at war because of an aggressive neighbour. Some changes are limited in their effects while others are far reaching. All institutions in a society experience change. Governments change and introduce new policies, and they bring further changes, which are changed again in the future. Churches change and do so in a variety of ways. Believers finish their course in this world and go to heaven and their absence from the c...