What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye. I’m posting an image every few days.
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This boat, seen here on the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal, is based at Saul Junction in Frampton on Severn. It might look like a tourist boat available for hire by the public, but it serves a different and entirely charitable purpose. Two similar (but not identical) special boats were built to provide opportunities for disabled or seriously ill people to experience a day on the canal for free. And for those that want to, they are also given the chance to explore the boat, see how it all works, hold the steering gear and so forth. The boats are designed for wheelchair access too. Check the See also link below for details and photos from the Willow Trust website.
I love to see examples of effort and resources being expended by enthusastic teams to greatly benefit those who need and deserve help. Every one of us can see the need for support of this sort, though not all are able or willing to provide it. But every single person in the world can do something positive to help others one way or another. It might be as simple as a kind word at the right moment, or a helping hand to steady someone losing their balance, or even just a smile. All it takes is an open eye, an attentive ear, and a willing mind.
If you are a wealthy person you might give thousands of pounds towards maintenance and fuel costs for these boats; if you have some spare time but no money, you might give time and energy to help with tidying and cleaning a boat between trips or helping in other practical ways. No matter what we do or do not possess, there’s always something we can offer.
It’s about contributing something, anything, in a world that’s not always fair or kind. And there are so many considerate, helpful organisations out there – everyone can find worthy opportunities in every town and most villages around the globe; even where there’s no local group or organisation, there will be many local opportunities to find and fill a need of some kind.
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What we can say with some certainty is that the Gospel of Matthew was written by a person with a good knowledge of Judaism and was complete in its current form within 70 years of Jesus’ death.
Before starting to read and discuss Matthew, here’s an overview of the book and its author.
Matthew’s gospel was written by a well-educated Jew, probably between 60 and 90 CE (thirty to fifty years after the events he describes), but some scholars think it was written as early as 40 to 50 CE. It seems likely the author drew from Mark’s gospel (which was written earlier); possibly also from the text of a different early account, now lost (referred to as Q); and perhaps from material written by the disciple Matthew. The facts are lost in the past, and Bible scholars continue to change their views based on the material available and their opinions about it. Some argue that the disciple Matthew was the author, others believe this is unlikely.
The author
The book may have been written by Matthew the tax collector (also called Levi), one of the twelve apostles. Certainly this is what the second century church fathers thought. The text itself suggests that the author was fluent in Greek with a good knowledge of either Aramaic or Hebrew (or indeed both).
The debate will continue, but what we can say with some certainty is that the Gospel of Matthew was written by a person with a good knowledge of Judaism and was complete in its current form within 70 years of Jesus’ death. The structure of Matthew closely follows that of Mark with the addition of extra material at the beginning (the genealogy and stories of Jesus’ birth) and at the end (events after the resurrection).
Purpose
This gospel is focused on Jewish traditions and people, and generally draws on a broad and deep understanding of Jewish society and customs at the time of Jesus. It was probably written for the Jewish diaspora living in Alexandria, Antioch and elsewhere, Jews who would have spoken Greek in everyday life.
The purpose of the book is to reveal Jesus as the Messiah, of the royal lineage of David, and as fulfilling the Jewish Bible (the Old Testament). The author of Matthew is also clear that Gentiles are included with Jews in everything Jesus did and promised.
The Wikipedia article on the book gives a lot of useful information all backed up by detailed references. If you want to understand the background in further detail it’s a good place to start. The article about the author is also useful and provides ample references.
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Cycling through the gospels to keep Jesus at the centre of all we do.
I’m posting notes on short passages from the gospels. Come and join me in reading the passages and leave me some thoughts and comments. The notes can be used individually, or they can be used systematically to work through a whole book, or all four gospels. The most recent notes are on my Journeys of heart and mind site (JHM), and more will follow. Older material is on an older website, some links may need updating but navigational links work seamlessly across old and new.
I’ve made a start in Matthew, Mark, and now John; it’s been an interesting journey for me. You can start from any point, all the old posts remain and new ones will appear once every week or so.
Alan Hirsch has developed a model for vibrant, missional church life and at the heart of the model is the idea that Christ should be central in all that we do. Few people would argue with that! One habit that he recommends to help us keep Jesus at the heart of our lives is to cycle through the gospels as part of our Bible reading. Not only that, he recommends reading all of the Bible ‘through the lens of the gospels’.
I agree with that; and it’s where these articles come in.
Latest news:
22nd June 2025 – Today I finished the task of repairing broken links in the old version of these posts. You can now navigate the entire series using the links in each article – Matthew, Mark, and most of John. Next, I propose revising all the material from the old version, moving each item to Journeys of heart and mind as I go.
17:20-23 – These next three verses are amongst the most significant things Jesus ever said. These words are the mission statement for the church. Sometimes it seems to me they’re more of a ‘missing statement’ for us than a ‘mission statement’ because we overlook the implications. There’s great depth here if we will only pay close enough attention, so let’s step through these words in detail.
17:20 – Jesus is very clear that he is not praying only for the twelve followers who were with him as he spoke with his Father. No. He explicitly says, ‘I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message’. Who is that? It’s me. It’s you. You and I believed through the message brought to us in the Bible, written partly by people Jesus knew personally, taught, journeyed with, ate with, people he demonstrated his love to, some of them would soon see him die and later see him again alive. After praying for them he prays also for us!
Oneness every which way!
17:21 – He wants you and me to be one, just as he and the Father are one. There is nothing that you and I might differ over that can stand between us as two of his people. Not doctrine, not denomination, not wealth or poverty, wisdom or foolishness, not gifts or apparent lack of them, not skin colour or attitudes to this or that in church life or beyond it. The goal is not to be right, the goal is to recognise that our reconciliation was very, very costly. Loss of life and separation of Father and Son is what it took to bring peace and oneness to and between you and me. And we, in our shiny new oneness are to be part of the eternal oneness of the Father and the Son. Why? So that the world has a chance to believe that the Father sent the Son. It’s plain in verse 21. Yet there’s still more!
17:22 – Just read verse 22 again. The Father clothed his Son with glory and he passed it on to you and me! What? Why would he do that? So that you and I can be one just as the Father and the Son are one.
17:23 – And in this verse we see that Jesus is in us, and the Father is in Jesus Why is that necessary? It’s because within the threeness that we refer to as ‘The Trinity’ and sometimes think we understand, there is also a oneness, a complete unity. The Father, the Son and the Spirit are not just close friends in some unique way, or close relatives. The Holy Spirit is often described as ‘The Spirit of Christ’, and Jesus said, ‘If you’ve seen me you’ve seen the Father’. So when John tells us that without Jesus, we can do nothing (John 15:5), that implies quite undeniably that without the Spirit we can do nothing and without the Father we can do nothing. The astonishing thing that we rarely notice is that all of us who follow Jesus are now part of the Trinity. If you can’t quite swallow that idea, let me state it slightly differently. In John 15:5 just mentioned, Jesus says we need to remain in him and he in us. Well, Jesus is undeniably in the Trinity, and we are in Jesus – therefore… You fill in the dots.
The need to believe
We’d better start understanding and believing this, because if we don’t we can do – nothing. How amazing is this undeserved gift that we are now one with the Most High, one with Jesus, one with Yahweh, with the Spirit. We can make further supporting arguments for this claim.
We are a ‘royal priesthood’ (1 Peter 2:9), royalty is about authority and rule, priesthood is about bridging the gap between earth and heaven, enabling people to come into the Holy Presence. Jesus is King of Kings and he’s also the Great High Priest. We are in him. We do what we see Jesus do (we’re his disciples, or apprentices), just as he did what he saw the Father do.
We are ‘filled with the Spirit’ (see this search). Filled (in a different context) doesn’t mean half or three quarters, it means completely full and running over (Luke 6:38). Jesus is our head and we are his body, we are in him and he is in us. We were created a little lower than the angels; but I’d submit that in Christ, we are considerably higher than the angels!
But we should be very careful not to become proud or puffed up. We do not deserve to be one with the Most High, it’s a gift obtained at great cost, our humble gratitude is appropriate and required. And notice too, in verse 23, that the Father loves you just the same way he loved the Son before the foundation of the world. You are loved with the same love Jesus received before the beginning. And Paul wrote to the Galatians that love is greater than faith and it’s greater than hope. It is the greatest thing of all (1 Cor 13:13). This new life we received in Christ enables us to be and do all the things he will lead us into.
Some readers may feel I’ve gone too far in this post. If so, please leave a comment. I can’t guarantee to change my opinion, but I will certainly read all the comments and respond to them.
Next time, we’ll take a look at the final three verses of John 17.
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Judy and I were hooked, more and more so as we spent further time with the lovely people at Zetland Road. We discovered that the origins of Zetland were with the Brethren as that movement spread from the south-west peninsula of Cornwall and Devon.
Zetland Road Church – (Both images in this article are from Google maps)
We left part one of this series with our discovery that the weird-looking place near our flat in St Andrews in Bristol, was in fact Zetland Road Fellowship (now Zetland Evangelical Church) – and not weird at all. Judy and I had hunted high and low, all over the city, and not found what we were looking for. Somehow, we had known all along that we would know the right place when we found it. And so it turned out to be.
Zetland Road Fellowship
The first thing we noticed on walking into Zetland was that several people took the trouble to talk to us. There were smiles and we felt welcome amongst these people. This in itself was a novelty, different from everywhere else we had tried. When the meeting began things were pretty much as expected; there was a welcome, a mix of prayers and hymns, some notices, a Bible reading, thoughts and teaching on topics from the reading, and after the closing prayer an invitation to remain for tea or coffee, a biscuit, and a chat.
The conversation over a drink and biscuit was good too, welcoming, not pushy, but friendly and we had a chance to speak with several different people before we left.
After going along to Zetland for several Sundays, I decided to try an evening meeting on, I think, a Wednesday. I was blown away by what I found there! The text was from one of the books of Samuel and concerned King David, though I no longer remember the details. What I do remember is that it was a passage that I had read for myself in the past and that the way it was explained in the meeting was very striking. I remember being greatly impressed at the convincing thoughts expressed, the fact that there was more to know than I had seen for myself, that what was being said acted like a telescope, helping me see further and in more detail than before. I wanted to hear more – and more was being offered the following week.
Judy and I were hooked, more and more so as we spent further time with the lovely people at Zetland Road. They felt like a welcoming family. We discovered that the origins of Zetland were with the Brethren as that movement spread from the south-west peninsula of Cornwall and Devon. Both Zetland and (later) Horsecastle were Open Brethren assemblies. A lot of small, independent chapels were built in the Bristol area during Victorian times. There were a few things that we questioned privately – the insistence that women should wear hats for example, and the irritating fact that they were not permitted to speak in meetings. To some degree this spoiled the lovely Open Meetings they held once a month. And the belief they had that the spiritual gifts were no longer present in church life was also a problem for us, but they had so much clearly right that we were happy to ignore these niggles. We were not entirely happy, but more than happy enough to stay. Our spiritual and social lives benefitted enormously from being part of the Zetland fellowship. We particularly cherished the experience of each assembly governing itself. There was absolutely no higher level of authority apart from the Bible – no hierarchy whatsoever, no bishops, no pastor, no circuits, no rules, no limitations. From what Judy and I had read in the New Testament this seemed right to us.
We were only with the Zetland Road church for about two years because we wanted to move up the housing ladder from our unfurnished flat in St Andrews, Bristol, to a small mid-terrace 1960’s house in Yatton, twelve or so miles west of the city. Our first daughter, Debbie, was born shortly before the move and was dedicated at Zetland Road Chapel, a simple expression of gratitude not involving water or godparents. We’d already planned to share a caravan in Ilfracombe for a late summer holiday with Cliff and Ginnie, another young couple from the Zetland fellowship, and although we moved to Yatton before that holiday, we were still able to get away with them later. Cliff and Ginnie collected us from Yatton on their way to Ilfracombe (they had a car, we did not), but for the return journey they dropped us off at Barnstaple Railway Station and we caught the train back part way, but the Barnstaple train was delayed and we missed our connection to Yatton, the last one of the day. We had to ask a friend to rescue us from Bridgewater Station.
Horsecastle Chapel
Horsecastle Church
We were absolutely up against the financial buffers when we made our bid for our first house in Yatton. We were only able to offer £7000 and it was a time of rapid inflation which made saving very hard. The asking price was higher than we could afford: quite a lot higher (perhaps £7500 or so, I don’t recall the exact figure). So when we put in our offer of £7000 we expected it to be rejected. Much to our surprise it was accepted straight away without discussion or argument. This seemed strange, but it was exactly what we needed and so we were relieved and excited as well as a little puzzled. But you don’t look a gift-horse in the mouth, so we just said thank you and the paperwork went through.
Two of my friends from work, Ruth and Peter helped us move. We hired a self-drive van and filled it with our hand-me-down three piece suite; our double bed funded by my grandmother, Nor; all our clothes, books, LPs etc; our cheap second hand dining table and four chairs; cooker and more. We set off for Yatton and and then discovered at the first right hand bend that a rear tyre was rubbing under the wheel arch and making a terrible noise. We had to take all right handers as slowly as possible, and with great relief arrived outside our new home.
With Ruth and Peter’s help we soon had everything indoors or stashed in the garage, and Ruth and Peter left us to it. By now it was late on Saturday and the shops had closed. As the evening light began to fail we turned on the light in the lounge only to find there was no bulb! We looked round the entire house and found all the bulbs removed and of course the shops would remain closed all day on Sunday. Finally, I checked the garage and found a bulb in the light fitting there, took it up to the house and fitted it so we had light at last, at least in one room.
Much later, we learned that the previous owners of our new home were Mark and Jean, members of the local Evangelical Chapel (Horsecastle). They had prayed about selling their home and moving to a bigger house in the village, and felt quite certain that they were supposed to accept whatever price we offered them!
What wonderful ways our heavenly Father has, working unexpectedly and often leaving us in ignorance until the time is right for us to know. He really is amazing!
Of course, one of our first thoughts was finding another gathering of people like those we’d been so delighted to find at Zetland. When they knew we were going to live in Yatton, the Zetland folk had told us about Horsecastle Chapel near the railway station in Yatton, and Claverham Chapel in the nearby village of Claverham. They recommended we take a look at these two places. We found we liked both, but Horsecastle was closer and larger so that’s where we ended up (a second welcoming family).
Our time at Horsecastle was good, we were both baptised while we were there, in a small pool underneath the raised dais at the front of the main meeting room. This was an exciting time and an important step in our journeys. For both of us it felt like a time of triumph and of belonging. We learned a lot at Horsecastle, we grew in faith and in knowledge, and we became deeply involved in the church community at a time when our young family was thriving . When our second child (Beth) was born she was duly dedicated at Horsecastle. But not everything was good.
Horsecastle held quarterly meetings when the entire church would meet to discuss planning for the future. We would talk about what had gone well, any issues that needed attention, that sort of thing. There was no single person in charge, no minister, no lead elder or pastor or anything like that. There was a small group of elders, all older men, but their role was informal, limited to providing advice, and perhaps speaking from the front a little more often than others.
At one of these quarterly meetings we discussed the idea of finding and employing someone to lead the church on a full time basis. Judy and I thought this would be an unwise move, and I expressed this as clearly as I could. I suggested that we already had a full-time leader whose name is Jesus, and pointed out that Israel had demanded a king ‘like all the other nations’ and Saul had been chosen, undermining Israel’s reliance on Yahweh alone. It had not worked out well for ancient Israel and it would not work out well for us, either.
In the end, as you might guess, a pastor was appointed. It was a factor that, over time, led Judy and me to feel a little less comfortable at Horsecastle. There were undeniably some good things about the move; the new pastor, Peter Cresswell, initiated an annual Holiday Club for children from the village with fun and exciting Bible-based crafts and activities, sports events in a local field, and these proved very successful. Judy and I helped with the first two of these events.
But more and more we felt sure that the teaching about spiritual gifts having been present in the early church but now no longer active was incorrect, as was the choice of employing a pastor. These niggles turned into something stronger as we began to experience the gifts for ourselves. And it seemed to us that if you are given something, you should also be using it. But that could not be part of our journey with the good folk at Horsecastle. For that we would need a different environment, with different friends, people open to receive, rejoice in and benefit from the presence of the Spirit of Jesus in our meetings and beyond.
How we found those friends, and what happened next will have to wait for the next part of this series.
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The first step is hearing about the things Jesus did and said, discovering his nature and purpose.
There’s an idea out there among some people that the first step towards following Jesus is going to church, or developing a faith, or taking vows or something like that.
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Nothing could be further from the truth!
The first step is hearing about the things Jesus did and said, discovering his nature and purpose, finding that he is a likeable, kind, and helpful person to everyone who gets to know him. Everything follows from that. It’s where the adventure begins!
17:13 – There’s so much in Jesus’ heart and mind as he completes the prayer for his immediate disciples. And there’s a lot for us to dig into and appreciate here too.
Do bear in mind throughout, that Jesus would have been speaking not only to the Father, but also wanted and expected his apprentices to overhear. His words are for them too, and through them passed on to you and me as well, in written form. Jesus intended you to read his words. It’s very personal!
Joy
Jesus wants his followers to have his own joy within them. What is Jesus’ joy? He doesn’t state it here, but surely what makes Jesus joyful is completing the work his Father sent him to do, returning to be in his Father’s presence again after living a life here in our broken world; and knowing that the Father himself is delighted and joyful that, despite unimaginable hardship, the task is completed and has broken the barriers that kept people from entering his Presence. Jesus has the same joy because he knows the same thing, the work is done, the goal is achieved, the way into Father’s presence is open to every Jesus follower, everyone doing Jesus’ own work. That work is love – love towards family, friends, neighbours, even enemies.
17:14 – Yahshua (Jesus) continues to speak to his Father about the situation, making four points.
He mentions that he has given them the Father’s word (not words, this is singular). Jesus is himself the Word spoken into physical existence.
The world has hated them.
The reason the world hates them is because they don’t belong to the world, and the world loves its own.
We are like Jesus, not belonging to the world.
One thing we should take away from this is that telling the Father things he already knows is perfectly acceptable. Our expressing them to him is neither pointless repetition nor trying his patience. We can do this too, we’re laying out the situation as we see it before we ask for help, guidance, comfort, encouragement, or action. The Holy Spirit may respond as we do this, showing us things we’d overlooked, pointing out the way forward, changing our perspective.
17:15-16 – Think about conversations between two friends perhaps over a coffee or sitting in the shade on a hot, summer’s day. A typical conversation might include saying hello (a greeting), checking how the other person is, asking questions, offering help, discussing mutual interests and more. Yahshua says we are no longer servants, but friends, and he says he and the Father are one. He told the disciples, ‘If you’ve seen me you have seen the Father’. So it’s more than OK to be on friendly terms with the Father, the Son, and the Spirit; all those things we might discuss with any friend are things we can discuss with the Father. It’s what he wants us to do!
Only after describing the situation does Jesus move on to asking for things. He begins with clarity about what he is not asking, and then he asks for their (and our) protection from the enemy. Think about it! You are following Jesus, and he has asked for the Father’s protection over you, personally. The prince of darkness is restrained from harming you. How far does this go? Well, let me assure you, it goes the entire way. Down the centuries many of Jesus’ followers have died, as he did, at the hands of bad or ignorant people – killed by lions in Roman arenas or hanged by Nazis in the Second World War like Dietrich Bonhoeffer or Martin Niemöller. But all of them were protected from the greater catastrophe of falling into the hands of a spiritual enemy.
Why do we get this special treatment? Because in following Jesus we become like him. Jesus is not of this world, and neither are we.
Sanctified
17:17-19 – This Greek word, ἁγίασον (hagiason), is specific in its meaning; its sense is the act or process of making a thing or a person holy, to consecrate, to set apart, or as here to sanctify. Greek versions of the Old Testament use the same word in explaining that the Tabernacle and later the Temple were holy, and the priests were holy (set apart to serve). Jesus used the word when talking about the Temple, and in the Lord’s prayer when he said ‘Hallowed be thy Name’. In modern English we might say, ‘Let your name be kept holy’.
Here, speaking to his Father, he uses the same word of his followers, ‘Make them holy by the truth, your word is truth’. If you are following Jesus, then know that he has made you holy and set you apart to serve him and him alone! He asks that we be made holy, set apart, by the truth. So what truth is this?
Elsewhere Jesus said, ‘I am the Way, the Truth and the Life’. He also said, ‘The truth shall set you free’. He says here in verse 17, ‘Your word is truth’. This makes perfect sense, Jesus himself is The Word, spoken into a broken world by the everlasting Father.
And finally, in verse 19, Jesus says very clearly that he has set himself apart for his Father’s use on our behalf, so that we, too, can be truly set apart for the Father’s use as well.
Don’t forget who you are
If you take away nothing else from these verses, take away the amazing truth that following Jesus demonstrates you are set apart, holy and fit to serve the Father, precious and special. Do not be hoodwinked into thinking you are not significant. And don’t for one moment think that you’re significant because of what you do. You are significant because of who you are! Jesus is your brother, you’ve been brought right into the family, welcomed and hugged and loved by the Trinity, no less.
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Jesus begins by reading back what he already knows. It’s time. His followers still don’t fully understand, but hearing this now, they will gradually understand as events unfold.
17:6 – We learn a lot from the words of Jesus’ prayer. The first thing we can see is that Jesus believes his core followers, the disciples, are a gift to him from his Father. Jesus’ role here was to reveal the Father to these people he’d been given. They were a bit of a mixed bag, four fishermen, a tax agent, Judas Iscariot managed the funds and might have had a background in money management, and the other Judas may have been a farmer or a farm labourer. No doubt the others all had some sort of trade or working background too.
And this disparate bunch had all proved to be obedient and have obeyed the Father’s word. Jesus may just mean that they have done what he has asked of them, because Jesus himself is the Father’s word, a living message of grace, peace and love sent into a broken world.
17:7 – They know that everything Jesus has is from the Father. 17:8 – Jesus has passed on to his apprentices (disciples) the words the Father gave him, and they accepted them. They’re fully convinced that Jesus came from, and was sent by, the Father. 17:9 – And Jesus prays for them, not for the world but specifically for those he’s been given (the disciples). The disciples belong to the Father. Remember that this is true for all of us who believe. If we are following Jesus, then we belong to the Father who has given us to him.
17:10 – On other occasions Jesus says things like, ‘The Father and I are one’, or ‘If you’ve seen me you have seen the Father’. Here he says the same thing in yet another way. Clearly addressing the Father, Jesus says, ‘All I have is yours, and all you have is mine’.
Oneness, threeness, and glory
Notice the last few words of this verse, ‘Glory has come to me through them‘. So the glory that Jesus has comes to him, in part, through his disciples, his followers, his apprentices. Have you thought about what that really means? Bear in mind here that you, that I, that we are his disciples in the world today. Glory is supposed to come to Jesus through us! That can only happen if we, his people, are reaching out into the world as we are supposed to, spreading the knowledge of the anointed Jesus out into the world here and now.
Are you up for that? Am I?
17:11-12 – And now Jesus prays again for the disciples, for a separation is coming. This is prayer for us as well as a prayer for the twelve who were there with him as he spoke with the Father. Drink it in; make it personal.
He says he’s not staying in this world any longer and is returning to his Father, but we are remaining in this world. So he asks his Father (and ours) to protect us. Jesus asks his Father to protect us by the power of his name. And what is the Father’s name? He shared this name to Moses when Moses asked him, ‘Who shall I say has sent me?’ The name is Yahweh, the great I AM. Tell them I AM has sent you (Exodus 3:13-15). Father is the ultimate cause, the source of all things. Jesus is asking this so that we may be one, just as Jesus and his Father are one.
But there’s more! Jesus, speaking to the Father, says very clearly that the name has been give to him also. Perhaps here, more clearly than almost anywhere else, Jesus claims that he and the Father are one and the same. The Jewish leaders condemned Jesus for claiming equality with the Most High; he was actually claiming far more than mere equality!
And he adds (in verse 12) that he protected the disciples and kept them safe by that same name. The only one he lost was Judas, who betrayed him for a bag of cash.
And finally, we can say something else about names. When Jesus appeared in shining brightness on the mountain, he talked with Moses and Elijah (Matthew 17: 1-5). Have you ever wondered why those two?
Moses represents law, Jesus represents deliverance, and Elijah represents prophecy. And these three are seen to be in conversation. Who brought law? The Father, Yahweh, the great I AM inscribed the commandments on the stone tablets (on a mountain). Jesus brings us into the place of promise just as Joshua (the same name, by the way) brought Israel into the place of promise, the promised land. And Elijah brought communication, as did all of the Old Testament prophets, sharing Father’s words with the people.
This is a glorious picture of the trinity – The Father (giver of law), the Son (giver of deliverance), and the Spirit (giver of communication). They are one, and if we have the presence of any one we have the presence of them all. And that, my friends, is why Jesus had to return to the Father in order to send the Spirit. If the Spirit is in you and among you, then the Father and the Son are also in you and among you. It cannot be any other way!
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We need to be noticed for our goodness. If we are filled with the spirit of Jesus we will bear the fruit of his spirit; and here’s that fruit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
My previous post was an image of the day. I wrote about evening mist, and how our lives have a beginning, a middle, and an end, just like a day there’s a certain mistiness about growing old. I ended by writing:
The teaching of Jesus is very logically sound, not testable but also, as far as I can see, internally coherent and free of self contradiction. That quality amazes me, I believe his claims to be true, testable or not. He has convinced me. Maybe he has convinced you too, or maybe not. We have that freedom, and we cannot persuade one another using the scientific approach, good as that is for studying more measurable and therefore testable matters.
If we can’t persuade others using the scientific method of testable hypotheses, how then can we reach those around us? There is a way, of course, so lets take it step by step.
How I live
The first thing to realise is that if we are following Jesus, we are his ambassadors in this world. An ambassador represents one nation by being present in another. Jesus came as an ambassador (and much more than that, of course). He came to represent his Father and his Kingdom here on Earth. He demonstrated Kingdom values and ways as well as talking about them.
I’m an ambassador too, I’m here to represent Jesus and his Kingdom to others. If I’m to represent Jesus I need to be like him as much as possible. So let’s dig into his character for a moment. Why did people 2000 years ago in Israel listen to Jesus? He did speak to individuals and even to crowds, but he also did things that surprised people. He met people’s needs (that will always get attention). He fed hungry people, he listened to lonely people. He healed sick people (that definitely got attention) He told stories (something else that people will listen to). But primarily (and what lay behind everything else) – he loved people and cared about them. So that’s what I aspire to: love people and care about them, meet their needs, feed the hungry, listen to the lonely, heal the sick, and tell good stories. Those are things I try to do as an ambassador for Jesus.
There’s a lot of love but also a good deal of uncaring in this human world of ours. People usually love their close family and their best friends and it’s love that drives us to help, to go the extra mile, to put up with those times when we feel let down or disappointed. But with people we don’t know we may be cautious at first. Some people seem not to care at all about others, appearing to be driven by selfishness alone. But the fact is that almost all of us are a mix, we display love sometimes, at other times or with other people we just don’t care very much.
We need to be noticed for our goodness. If we are filled with the spirit of Jesus we will bear the fruit of his spirit; and here’s that fruit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control – this list was written down in Greek by Paul, an early follower of Jesus. Read what he wrote in context.
It’s not so much about what I say, it’s about what I do. Helping in a food-bank, for example, picking up litter, planting snowdrops on grass verges, listening, learning to be more like Jesus.
Talking about Jesus
If I walk up to a stranger in the street and start telling them about Jesus, what will happen? Will they listen? I think we all know the answer!
If people notice how I behave and what I do and are surprised about that in some way, they might sometimes ask me about it. And I’ll explain that it’s simply because I’m trying to become more like Jesus. They might ask about that as well.
If I claim to be following Jesus, people will assume that Jesus is like me. That is a huge responsibility. If I fail in how I live, what I say will not be believed. Answering questions is always better than telling people things they may not be eager to hear. Reaching people is a matter of my behaviour being interesting enough to spark the why question and then providing good answers.
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Jesus begins by reading back what he already knows. It’s time. His followers still don’t fully understand, but hearing this now, they will gradually understand as events unfold.
17:1 – Here, Jesus reveals to us what is really fundamental through his prayer. He even begins with something fundamental, but it’s easy to read the words without noticing the implication – He looked up.
Jesus looked up. This was the first thing he did, even before he spoke. He looked towards the Father before he spoke to him. This is exactly what we all do immediately before we speak to another person. We look at them and then we begin to say whatever is on our mind. The looking is an important part of the communication; it announces an intention to say something, checks if the other party is ready to listen, and alerts others nearby that a conversation is about to start.
At the very least, if we’re about to say something it is kind and thoughtful to look and see if right now is a good time to do that. We are checking, but also making the connection to establish communication.
Now speak, freely and openly. Jesus speaks to the Father but also to his apprentices, the disciples.
The hour has come
Jesus begins by reading back what he already knows. It’s time. His followers still don’t fully understand, but hearing this now, they will gradually understand as events unfold. They will later recall that Jesus knew what they did not – and that he was prepared for it.
Glory!
17:2-3 – Jesus knows that he is going to receive glory, but he also knows that the purpose of it is that he can then glorify the Father. He has authority over everyone and he’s been given the power to give eternal life to those entrusted to him by the Father.
And what is eternal life? Why, it’s the knowledge of the Father and of the Son that the Father sent! Jesus has told them already, that if they’ve seen him, they have seen the Father. It really is that simple! Simple to say, yet still very hard for them to comprehend at this point. Right now they just don’t get it – but after Pentecost they will.
The work is complete
17:4 – The Father receives glory by the Son completing the task he was sent to do. Jesus has done everything except the very brief final act. Think about what he has already achieved. He was born into a broken world, and grew up as a young child, obedient to his parents. By the time he was twelve-years-old he had understood who his real Father is and was capable of debating with Jewish scholars at the Temple in Jerusalem. He grew up, learning the trade of carpentry. He went out into the river country to be baptised by John in the Jordan, and then he called people to follow him, teaching them everything they would need to know. He had prepared everything for them so that they could accept his Holy Spirit (the Spirit of Christ) when he would arrive and fill them just a little later.
17:5 -Now he is ready to be obedient in the final act too, and to receive again the glory he had in his Father’s presence even before the world began. These five verses at the beginning of John 17 summarise everything he has done and will do.
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Journeys of Heart and Mind 
