Mr. No Name
Have you ever gotten to the cash register to find out what you wanted to purchase cost more than you expected? At that point, you ask yourself, “Is it worth it?” That’s what Mr. No Name Redeemer did as he pondered redeeming Elemilech’s land. The land was worth it, but the full cost would include acquiring Ruth the Moabite as his wife and perpetuating his dead relative’s name at the cost of his. Ironically, this is what happens as he declines the purchase, deciding it’s just too high a price—we never know his name.
Trying to make one’s own name great never goes well… i.e. The Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:4. In contrast, there are people like John the Baptist, cousin to Jesus, who insisted he must become less (John 3:30) and Jesus become greater. And another who, when writing his Gospel account of his time with Jesus, never mentioned his name, but instead referred to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23). It’s never about our names being known, but always about His.
Over and over again in Scripture, we see the phrase “for the sake of God’s name, " reminding us that God’s actions are rooted in His divine nature and purposes. And when our actions align with the new nature available to us (because of our full, complete, and costly redemption) we too live with divine purpose. Boaz was a man who willingly sacrificed for the sake of another. By his actions, he foreshadowed Christ being willing to pay the redemption price to purchase creation. And Boaz, in turn, found his name listed in the lineage of Jesus—the one whose name “is above every name” (Philippians 2:9) and who counts us as worth it.
Jessica Klootwyk
Discipleship Director
The Faithful One
John 13:37-38
Have you ever felt the piercing sting of being betrayed by a friend? It’s the feeling of finding out that the love you have for a person isn’t truly reciprocated. It's finding out you were being used. It’s the realization that someone you trusted was not in fact trustworthy. That feeling cuts deep. At that moment, there isn’t any balm that can be applied that will adequately alleviate the hurt.
The feeling of being betrayed is a feeling Jesus knew all too well. He was betrayed by Judas, one of his disciples, and he was denied by Peter, one of his closest friends. Listen to the way Jesus prophesied Peter’s coming denial.
37 Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” 38 Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times. (John 13:37-38)
I wonder how much it pained Jesus to acknowledge that one of his best friends was going to deny that he ever knew him - not only once, but three times.
In reading passages like this, it can be easy to apply that passage in a way where the takeaway is, “Try really hard to not be like Peter.” That can easily become the punchline. Betrayal and denial hurts Jesus, so don’t betray or deny him. It’s true that denial pricks the heart of God, but I see a deeper and more profound takeaway.
See, we are all like Peter. Every one of us will deny Jesus on some level. We will all fail to live up to the calling that he has for our lives. In those moments, we can remember the moment Peter so brazenly uttered, “I will lay down my life for you!” Jesus knew Peter would fail to live up to even his own expectations of himself. However, it’s also at this moment that Jesus demonstrates to Peter that it’s his faithfulness, not Peter’s, that is his true hope. The same holds true for us. While we are called to lay down our lives to follow, our life is found in the fact that he laid down his life for us; not the other way around. Our hope is built on his faithfulness, not our own; on his sacrifice, not ours.
When we deny or betray Jesus in our thoughts or actions, we are called to repent and believe the good news. The good news is that Jesus is the Faithful One. It’s his faithfulness that empowers and inspires ours, and it’s his faithfulness that ultimately saves people like us who never fully outgrow our propensity to fearfully shrink back into patterns of betrayal and denial. Take some time and praise God for his immense grace.
Pastor Ryan Paulson
He’s all Heart
Thanksgiving is in the rearview mirror and the Christmas countdown has begun. While you’re channel surfing, there’s a good chance you’ll come across the classic holiday comedy movie, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. It’s always good for a December laugh. Near the end of the story, the main character, Clark W. Griswold is humbly apologizing to his boss, taking the blame for a crime of passion, a kidnapping, carried out by his cousin-in-law, affectionately known as Cousin Eddie. He explains, and I quote, “My cousin-in-law, whose heart is bigger than his brain, is innocent.” To which cousin Eddie sincerely remarks, “I appreciate that Clark.”
It’s humorous because it’s not a compliment—saying someone’s heart is bigger than their brain. Everyone knows it’s better to be big-brained than big-hearted…..right?
Or is it….? I wonder what Jesus would say.
Remember the Pharisees, the learned teachers of the Law?— their brains were packed full of scripture committed to memory, of traditions and rules upon rules, protocol, promises, and penalties. Jesus had some memorable quotes when it came to them. In Matthew 3 Jesus calls these big-brained spiritual leaders a brood of vipers. In chapter 23 he really goes off… rebuking the smartest ones in the room for following rules but neglecting what mattered most to God. Jesus called them blind guides, fools, whitewashed tombs, and cups that are clean on the outside and filthy on the inside.
Why did he do this? Because our Savior is more interested in a big heart than a big brain.
Our Savior never mistakes one for the other. This week we take another close look at my favorite follower of Jesus, Passionate Peter. Last week we watched Peter refuse to let his Lord wash his stinky feet, then pivot and insist that his beloved Rabbi wash not only his feet but his head and hands and more! From walking on water to asking questions to rebuke Jesus, Peter’s heart is driven by earnest respect for Jesus, his Lord.
Peter’s heart was in the right place, his heart was good. In verse 33 Jesus is telling his beloved followers, “I am with you only a little longer, you will look for me, but where I am going you cannot come.” Peter replies, like a kindergartener who doesn’t want recess to end, “Where are you going Lord, and why can I not follow you now?” After 3 years, Peter knows he doesn’t want to be ANYWHERE his Messiah is not.
For 3 years Peter lived being fully known.
For 3 years Peter loved the feeling of being truly and fully loved.
He is 100% complete with Jesus. I wouldn’t want to let go either.
In panic and with a bold and desperate, heartfelt plea, passionate Peter blurts out, “Lord, I will lay down my LIFE for you.”
Jesus knows Peter better than Peter knows himself….and he loves him all the more. Peter’s heart shouts a loyalty his brain can’t keep up with.
Peter’s heart is bigger than his brain. And in the Kingdom of God, that is always a compliment.
Donielle Winter
A New Command
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another:
just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. John 13:34
This “new” commandment from Jesus was not new because we already knew we were supposed to love our neighbor as ourselves, right? Wrong, it is new because the followers of Jesus now had God in the flesh, the ultimate example of how to love your neighbor as yourself which followed the greatest commandment according to Jesus: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” See the sequence. Love God with all your heart, love your neighbor as yourself and love one another (fellow believers) just as Jesus loves you!
Jesus showed his followers nothing but grace, mercy and forgiveness, even to those who betrayed him. He modeled humility and true love while being the example of leadership and authority. This new command has a different standard. The old was based on how you love yourself, the new is based on how Jesus loves you. The new is a higher quality of love, a sacrificial love that always seeks the good of others.
Remember this all took place at the Last Supper. Jesus knew that the greatest gift he could leave with his disciples was the understanding that others would be drawn to Jesus after he was gone because their sacrificial love for each other could only come from a relationship with Jesus, even after he was gone. This was not a new suggestion, new idea, new option but a new commandment. Jesus is the pattern we live by but he is also the authority. We are no longer our own, we don’t get to call the shots. Our life is defined now by Jesus and what he wills, not what we want. He laid down his life for us, that is powerful love. We can receive that same power to love when we lay aside our pride and status, ask his forgiveness and become a servant like he was.
Philippians 2:7 says - rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
Are there any areas in your life where you are still holding on to control? Have you completely surrendered to God’s authority? Ask him to reveal any area where he can help you love others the way he loves you–he wants to help.
Deb Hill
Childlike Faith
It seems a bit surprising at this juncture Jesus would call his disciples “little children” after all they had just spent three years of intense mentoring at his side. Did he use this as a term of endearment or as a gentle criticism of their immature faith? Perhaps it was because he knew they simply wanted to stay close to him, like a young child who clings to their mom and dad. But Jesus knew they would soon have to learn how to live without him. It was going to require a quantum leap in their faith. So even after spending three years at his side, in relative terms, their faith was still like that of “little children.”
Mature faith involves complete trust even when we can’t see the future, when the doctor shares a traumatic diagnosis, or when we are desperate or fearful and no answers are available. Mature faith involves complete trust in what God will do even when you know there’s nothing more you can do. Come to think of it, mature faith is a lot like a child’s faith…pure, simple, and trusting.
We will each arrive one day at a juncture where God will say one final time to our soul “Have faith my precious child and do not be afraid to close your eyes. You may not know this road but I do. Simply trust that I am taking you home. When you awake you will be safe in your eternal home.” I pray that whenever that day may come your faith in our heavenly father will prove to be pure, simple, and trusting - being fully assured He knows the road ahead and will bring you safely home.
Pastor Dave Korinek
God’s Glory Doesn’t Always Look Like What We Think It Looks Like
The phrase, “When he had gone out,” is about Judas Iscariot. As soon as Judas left the room to initiate the betrayal that will happen later that night, Jesus says, “Now is the Son of Man glorified.” It is easy to picture glorification happening later. Glory would come through and after Jesus’ death and resurrection. But why does Jesus say the glorification starts now?
More questions:
Is the glorification because all facets of Jesus’ life have come together, leading to this moment?
Is the glorification related to the fulfillment of numerous prophecies?
Is Jesus’ reference like the opening scene or act of a play that will culminate in the author’s praise at the curtain call?
The next verse shows that the glorification isn’t about what is coming, but what is here right now.
“If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once.”– John 13:32
The Son of Man is glorified “at once.” Jesus just washed Judas’ feet and then sent him out to do what he was going to do. Then, Jesus is glorified, and God the Father through him. So, glorification must come through faithfulness, acceptance, and love. Jesus was faithful to his father, and he continued to love and accept Judas right where he was at.
Two important notes here:
People tend to think of glory as it relates to spotlights and applause. Yet, at this moment of glorification, Jesus gives his disciples “a new commandment” – to love each other the way Jesus loves – vs 34-35. He emphasized that the world would know him if his followers loved each other the way he loved Judas.
In this passage, Jesus references “the Son of Man.” This was his favorite way of referring to himself. The prophet Daniel had a vision of the Son of Man, recorded in Daniel 7:13-14.
I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.
The Son of Man is the king of all and his glory looks like his people serving him by caring for each other.
At the conclusion of John chapter 13, the disciples don’t acknowledge Jesus’ comments about God’s glory, and they don’t acknowledge anything Jesus said about loving each other. Let’s not miss out on the correlation between loving those around us and the glory God gives and receives.
Pastor John Riley
A Glorious Life
Series: Light in the Darkness | Text: John 13:31-38
Speaker: Pastor Esteban Tapia
November 26, 2023: On Sunday, Teaching Pastor Esteban Tapia completed our sermon series from the Gospel of John, Light in the Darkness. His sermon message is entitled A Glorious Life. We hope you enjoyed this latest study of the Scriptures.
Do it Quickly
Many fascinating things happen in John 13, yet one thing that stood out to me is the last thing Jesus said to Judas. Our Lord ousted the traitor in their midst with the dipped bread, but then, right before Judas fled, Jesus said, “What you are going to do, do quickly.” (v. 27) There’s no farewell, no pleading, no convincing, or anger. Jesus is resigned to the betrayal and simply wants it over as quickly as possible.
Psalms 41 gives us some clues as to why Jesus said this. When He gave Judas bread to identify the traitor, Jesus wanted his disciples to think of Psalms 41. The protagonist had also given bread to a friend who betrayed him. However, verse 10, is about how the Father will lift him up in victory over his foe and how wonderful everlasting fellowship with the Father will be.
Our Lord was masterful at maintaining the eternal perspective, we can see that on display here. Jesus is looking forward to the other side of the cross! He’s telling his foes, Judas and Satan, to hurry up. The moment was surely somber and heavy because of the price. But the grand victory of the resurrection and ascension provided the mountainous hope to offset the horrors of the cross before him.
All of Satan’s scheming only heightened Christ’s triumph.
So when life betrays us, we can intentionally lean into our security in Christ. We can fix our gaze on the eternal life to come. We can collect ourselves, look at whatever opposes us, and repeat our master’s words, “What you are going to do, do quickly.
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing
with the glory that will be revealed in us.
Romans 8:18
Jonathan Duncan
Oh, Peter . . .
It’s that time of year again, the holidays we anticipate all year long, the ones where family comes together; we see friends we haven’t for some time. You know the routine…We eat turkey and pumpkin pie, decorate the tree, sing carols, wrap presents . . .it’s what we do.
In the first century, Passover was that time of year. They knew the routine: unblemished lamb, a road trip to Jerusalem, a symbolic meal shared amongst family and friends, storytelling of the olden days…
Luke 22:8
Jesus sent Peter and John saying, "Go and prepare the Passover for us, that we may eat it.”
Peter knew the routine. Until Jesus hijacked the routine.
John 13:5
“After that, Jesus poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.” What’s happening? This isn’t right! this isn’t routine, Peter must have thought.
John 13:6-8a
“He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”
Oh, Peter . . .
You just gotta love Peter, don’t you? You gotta love a guy who calls Jesus Lord, and rightly so, then proceeds to tell Lord Jesus precisely what he can and cannot do.
Verses 8b-10
Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!” Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, Peter…
Oh, Peter . . .
This time around, Peter tells Jesus straight up he has a new and much better plan of his own!—wash me more, wash me most, wash my hands, my head, wash my…. Oh, Peter…
Do you and I act like our friend Peter at times?
Am I quick to call Jesus Lord but not quick to listen?
Do I say he’s my Master but I’m more about my own agenda?
Do I worship him as King, even when the King’s ways seem crazy?
I love that Jesus chose Peter to follow him.
I love Peter because we’re all Peter sometimes.
Thank you, Lord, for your patience with Peter.
Thank you, Lord, for your patience with me.
Donielle Winter
Judas’ Journey from Light to Darkness
Judas Iscariot along with the other eleven disciples were with Jesus for almost three years. He walked with the Light of the world, heard Him, saw His love for people, saw miracles, saw lives transformed and, yet, Judas never believed in Jesus and was never cleansed of his sins. Let us look at the scripture to see the denouement of Judas’ descent into darkness. In Mark 14:10-11, shortly after Judas and the other disciples had berated Mary for using the expensive nard on Jesus’ feet, Judas went to the chief priests and offered to betray Jesus to them. They promised to give him 30 pieces of silver.
In John 13, Jesus washes the disciples’ feet, even Judas. In vs. 10-11 in response to Peter, Jesus said, “A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” The others did not know to whom He referred. In verses 21-30, Jesus gives a piece of bread dipped in the dish to Judas as a sign of friendship. Then probably the worst statement ever read “As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.” Satan himself, not a demon, but Satan entered him. “…he went out. And it was night.” Judas left the light to go into darkness, would collect his 30 pieces of silver, and betray Jesus with a kiss.
We are left with the question why and really have no answer. Perhaps it was his love of money, or that Jesus had not established a political kingdom, or perhaps he did not know this was Satan’s plan all along, but he became a willing pawn.
In John Eldredge’s book, Walking with God, he writes about epiphanies that we have on our journey of faith and one of them is realizing that Satan exists and is our enemy. Many followers of Christ are not awakened to this even though we are told in Revelation 12:17 “Then the dragon was enraged…and went off to make war against …those who obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus.” We are in a war, have an enemy, and are commanded “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
I Peter 5:8. We are also told in James 4:7 “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” And then “Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.” Ephesians 6:11 We are not engaged in some fantasy game but in a war and are part of His army. The devil cannot make us do anything. As believers, the evil one cannot enter into us, but we can be influenced by minions of bitterness, discouragement, despair, etc. If something like this occurs, pray to the One who can show you the source that you may know how to resist.
Prayer: Lord, remind me to put on the full armor of God every day so that I might resist the wiles of the evil one. Reveal to me the source of _______________ . May he be defeated and thwarted at any attempt to influence me or my family. I ask this in the name of my Savior, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Amen.
Francie Overstreet
