John 16:1-4a - The Persecution to Come

John 16:1-4a

1 “These things I have spoken to you so that you may be kept from stumbling. 2 They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God. 3 These things they will do because they have not known the Father or Me. 4 But these things I have spoken to you, so that when their hour comes, you may remember that I told you of them.

Message: The Persecution to Come

Time: John most likely wrote between A.D. 85 and 90. John's purpose in writing was, "that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name (John 20:31)."  

What the Lord is Saying: Well, onto Chapter 16. I am still in the middle of Jesus' farewell discourse with Chapter 15 having more of a focus on the relationship of believers in Christ, to each other, and to the world and the promise of the Holy Spirit. Jesus continues to refer often to himself and then his position with His Father. Everything he says has a linkage to the Father to help us see that Jesus now is the Father's appointed sacrifice and from this point forward we must submit and surrender to Him, by faith. However, chapter 15 is specifically addressed to believers and so Jesus here in his message I think is speaking to believers in Christ. 

In Chapter 16 Jesus mentions that He is speaking these things in order that the disciple might be kept from stumbling. Stumbling is a reality. We hear things and we are not confident that they are always true, doubt creeps in and in the process we stumble. I think these things probably refers to the Holy Spirit and not necessarily the persecution words. 

In verse 2, Jesus says "they" in referring I think back to those who are persecuting and hating the disciples, again because of Jesus and believing in Him. Now Jesus seems to focus their minds more securely on the persecution that is coming. He mentions that those persecuting often believe they are doing God's work. The Pharisees are an example. It is tragic that much of the persecution that the church experiences is from other churches. I think there is a great tendency of competition between churches and even denominations. I think part of it simply how we are trained in society with the sports and even education and celebrating victors and not losers. In the process, people within the faith are competing against one another. I admit, at times it is an easier target and easier to think something we are better equipped in the Word of God than others. 

Now I don't think verse 3 necessarily applies to the attacks we often get within the church when it says, "These things they will do because they have not known the Father or Me." I do believe that many of these attacks are more of competition than asserting that people don't know Jesus or God as Father. But, there also attacks between faiths. 

Jesus concludes in verse 4 that the words He speaks are to be an encouragement, to provide comfort to them. But not necessarily today, but in the future, "when their hour comes." We need to tap into these promises that the Lord gives and let them remind us so that when these difficult times come we can remember He is there with us. 

Summary: Persecution is coming, within the church and outside of it; Jesus encourages us to not stumble and remember the words of comfort He continues to speak. 

Promise: We need to stand firm in God's word, remembering God's promises, so that as difficulties and persecutions happen, we will stand firm. 

Prayer: Lord, you are with us at all times and I pray we would remember better and tap into that comfort that you provide and not react to tough situations but respond appropriately, trusting You. Lord, open the eyes of the blind and even those persecuting so that they will see the evil of their ways. Mend us, your church and all of its different colors and systems. Teach us how to disagree. Teach us how to love one another in all situations. I pray that the world would not receive wrong messages about us in seeing us disagree with one another. 

Note: If you are interested in other studies/devotions, check out my index of Bible Study's.

Mark 9:43-50 - The Unquenchable Fire of Hell

Mark 9:43-50
⁴³ If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire, ⁴⁴ [where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.] ⁴⁵ If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into hell, ⁴⁶ [where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.] ⁴⁷ If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell, ⁴⁸ where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.
⁴⁹ “For everyone will be salted with fire. ⁵⁰ Salt is good; but if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”
 
Message: The Unquenchable Fire of Hell

Time: Mark's personal connection with Peter gave him the source material for this book. This book was composed probably between AD 57 and AD 59. It's a book that is on the move, leading to the cross. 39 times is the word 'immediately' used. Mark reveals Jesus as God's servant, reaching into the lives of people and effecting physical and circumstantial change.

What the Lord is Saying: 

Preface -  As they continue in Capernaum, Jesus emphasizes to his disciples another key word about the importance of how we treat others - having already mentioned people's social status, looking at their fruit not their grouping, and the rewards that will come from this - and now he emphasizes that in no way are we to cause another person to stumble. For doing this would result in a horrific path of death.   

Jesus here deals with the subject of hell. In recent years, this is a subject that seems to be spoken of less and less. Even in my church, though the gospel is mentioned, it is not mentioned in the way that it is a matter of conversion, but rather more of an acknowledgement that we have been saved by grace. Conversely, hell is not mentioned much at all. Universalism is the belief that everyone will go to heaven no matter what they believe. Annihilationism is the belief that unbelievers will cease to exist. The idea of suffering or being in a fiery pit is just not even talked about today. 

Yet, here in this passage, Jesus clearly speaks of hell. He speaks in language that presents contrasts. Prior to this verse he offered the seriousness of leading a person astray or causing a person to sin. Here, he continues with striking language regarding hell, that it would be better to mutilate your body than to go to hell. This mentions the seriousness of sin. To Jewish listeners, bodily mutiliation in Judaism was strictly forbidden and it disqualified one from entering the worshiping congregation (Deuteronomy 14:1; 23:1). 

About hell in verse 47, Tabletalk states: 

The word “hell” in verse 47 translates the term gehenna, which was another name for the “valley of the son of Hinnom,” the place near Jerusalem where many ancient Jews sacrificed children to the pagan god Molech (2 Kings 23:10). By the first century A.D., the place was seen as accursed because of that, and it was used as a figure for the eternal place of punishment after death, or hell. Jesus’ use of the unquenchable fire in reference to this place (v. 48) borrows from the fact that in his day, the physical gehenna was a garbage dump where garbage never stopped burning. Jesus uses the physical reality to point to something much worse—unending pain in the afterlife for those who go to hell.

Jesus here mentions the hand, foot, and eye. All 3 are very useful to man. And yet it would be better to part with one or all of these than to cause another person to stumble. The foot should restrain us from stepping or carrying us into the company of evil company, unlawful diversions, and forbidden pleasures. The hand and the eye are to be turned away from those alluring objects which raise in us lust and ambition. 

And then Jesus speaks of hell as an unquenchable fire and gives a picture of them using a worm and fire. where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. "Bodies of men, interred in the earth, are eaten up of worms, which die when their food faileth; and those that are burned are consumed in fire, which extinguishes itself when there is no more fuel added to feed it. But it shall not be so with the wicked; their worm shall not die, and their fire is not quenched. These metaphors, therefore, as they are used by our Lord, and by the Prophet Isaiah, paint the eternal punishments of the damned in strong and lively colours.” — Macknight. It is a horrific picture that Jesus gives here to denote those that end up in hell for he mentions that some will go to the kingdom of God and some cast into hell. It is a gruesome picture that deserves our attention.

Summary - Jesus continues to speak to his disciples about how they are to relate to others and emphasizes the seriousness now of offending ourselves and causing ourselves to stumble. Here we need to be very careful. The consequence of stumbling here is ending up in hell, not the kingdom of God which is the contrast.

Promise: Hell, though painful to talk about, needs to be mentioned. It is a reality that Jesus speaks of. We preach the bad news so that people may know the good news.

Prayer: Lord, help me to remember the contrast of heaven and hell and to speak more of this reality to people's lives. In our inclusive and tolerant world, it simply is not a popular subject. We are falling victim to inclusive and tolerant language and services being more about self help and the Bible a book of moral guidance. Lord, I pray that your churches would be true to the entire message of the Bible and the gospel and would show clearly the complete change that must take place in people's lives.