In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.
9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) 16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.
19 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?”
20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.”
21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
And he answered, “No.”
22 So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
23 He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.”
24 (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) 25 They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
26 John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, 27 even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” 28 These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.”
32 And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’
34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”
35 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”
37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.
38 Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?”
And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?”
39 He said to them, “Come and you will see.”
So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.
40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). 42 He brought him to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).
43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.”
44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”
Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!”
48 Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?”
Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”
49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”
50 Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.”
51 And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
So. You have a difficult story to tell. I'm remembering all the conversations surrounding my mother's Long Term Insurance policy in 1997. Mother paid $122 per month since 1997, for a $75g maximum policy, in her wish to be in a nursing home setting and not bothering and making her people afraid and worn out. Not to linger. And relying on God. Today as I thought it all over again, I thought about what Comfort is in the Scriptures for me. John 1 is my favorite and I love John 21. And as I thought it over, I felt like we'd look at 3 John. And at the last minute, I prayed and asked God to choose. Mid-March 2014. Here, is Comfort. Comfort of the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ
Peter and John went up a mountain to see something so profound, no one would believe them. They witnessed Jesus talk to His Father. And because God wanted the story to be told, He gave witnesses. For emotional support. And because it was so big, he gave them time to lean into the truth. He gave an instruction not to tell this.
Peter went on to see that it was the Spirit of the Law. And Peter proclaimed this GLORY as straightforward as the Holy Spirit led Peter to proclaim.
John went into a poetry and did not reveal this Chapter to be about the Transfiguration, and gives Great GLORY.
Looking at the pictures of Jesus, you will see, we pick one we strongly believe is Him. Because aspects of God draw us to Him. Jesus is the Bottom Line of Matthew's first Chapter. Alpha and Omega.
Wonder.
Wonder is what this is about.
Seek and you will find if.
Jeremiah 29:13
You will seek me and find me when you search for me
with all
your heart.
Why are there four Gospels? To give witness. John provides John the Baptist and others in presenting Gospel.
This is
an incredible
Event.
Have you ever been in an accident? In trauma? People see things very differently.
The Scriptures are boring? Men in old, probably dirty, robes followed a religious guy around.
No. The Scriptures are so astonishing, that they were written - carefully.
The Septuagint
In a Letter of Aristeas to his brother Philocrates, and is repeated, with embellishments, by Philo of Alexandria, Josephus and by various later sources, including St. Augustine. A version of the legend is found in the Tractate Megillah of the Babylonian Talmud:
King Ptolemy once gathered 72 Elders. He placed them in 72 chambers, each of them in a separate one, without revealing to them why they were summoned. He entered each one's room and said: "Write for me the Torah of Moshe, your teacher". God put it in the heart of each one to translate identically as all the others did.
Philo of Alexandria, who relied extensively on the Septuagint, says that the number of scholars was chosen by selecting six scholars from each of the 12 tribes of Israel.
Ptolemy was seeking to find Truth in detail. And he did.
However, in an accident, the details might not fit - but the truth is - it happened.
John is an interesting man. Living to be old enough that Biblical historians were speaking to him in the second century on Patmos. John begins His Gospel - Beautifully. Creating a desire to hear more. John ends HIS Gospel exactly the same. He does not change. We want to know more about Jesus. Son of God, Savior.
John 21
24 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.
25 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.
Wonder with me.
How would one man make people, in the back of the 36 acres of the Temple, make them flee outside the walls? Was it a tornado? A Wind? A Pillar of Fire? His Word? Whips? For 36 Acres. A crowd would rush a man and stop the event.
Truthfully - what happened - Was Amazing.
John says this is FAR more complicated than the Words.
Matthew 10:29
What is the price of two sparrows--one copper coin? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it
And how would you write about Jesus Christ to the Greek Jewish Dispersion? Surely, that's an X-Men Children's Story! This is actually what people are saying when we are told - this is His Story. Instead the Greek Jewish Dispersion had to do as Jesus said, "Come and see."
Why in the first Chapter of John - was Jesus Proclaimed Messiah in verse six.
Something to wonder about. You never could write if Jesus had many other things that Jesus did that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written - was walking down the road and said something off the cuff - like - "I'd like a pepperoni sandwich, heirloom yellow green tomatoes, on rye bread with spicy mustard" - and someone says "Oh, here, I have one extra. I never made an extra, but today I did." We see this happened with the colt Jesus spoke of. This happened for the Passover Room, the New Covenant. This paid for Jesus and Peter's tax from catching a fish. Jesus knew where He was going in His Father every day. Even the days He traveled the Sea of Galilee three times.
People actually say the Star of Bethlehem, was really the Light of God Shining Forth upward, beginning from earth, Jesus Christ, spilling into the Heavens. Wonder with me.
John 4:50-54
Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.”
The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. 51 As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. 52 So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” 53 The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” And he himself believed, and all his household.
Abba, Father God,
Praise You Father GOD for giving us Your Word made Flesh.
Jesus the Son of God.
Messiah and Lord.
Dwell within us this day and always, Jesus.
In Your Love we will see more Heaven on earth.
Be with Your People who need you each second.
Strengthen, Guide, Protect and Breathe Your Love
into our hearts, voices and souls.
Help the ones we Love have You dwell in us all.
Call them in their souls!
We pray for your overwhelming Mercy. In Jesus.
We pray for our Nation
and Your Good Creating during the Pandemic to heal and
Living in Your Good Will and plans for a Hope and Future in Jesus.
Jesus with Elliott and Your Willing Blessing of Healing
Be with us now and in the hour of our Passing to Heaven, Merciful Jesus.
And give us this day, in the adventure of seeing Your will in our lives.
Amen, Amen always in
The Highest Name of Jesus.
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