I said at the close of our John 14-16 study that I wouldn’t be able to continue writing Deep Water guides at the established pace as it was turning into something of a full-time job.

I wondered if perhaps we had the mass to make it financially viable (to enable me to put down some of my other work), but that (evidently) wasn’t the way.

Could there be another way?

I think so.

A month or so ago I reached out to some Deep Water readers who are also writers and Bible teachers and asked if they’d be interested in writing studies. They said yes, and I did a little dance of joy.

Without further ado…

Our next study starts Monday, September 7th! We’ll spend 21 days in Isaiah 55.

Our fearless leader will be the inimitable Bethany Welborn. Bethany is one part warm tea with milk and honey, one part lightning bolt. She is the Christian version of a happy witch. Is there a Christian version of a witch, you ask? Saint Teresa, Joan of Arc, Madeline L’Engle, etc. Also, Bethany Welborn. You’re going to love her.

Here’s the bio she sent me:

Bethany is an Ohio girl at heart who can be found quietly reading, performing improv comedy, or just popping into the local Goodwill on any given day. She works part-time as a bridal shop girl, when she’s not driving her almost-teenagers all over town or talking her husband Bryan’s ears off. (He insists he likes this.) Bethany believes in ice cream the way other people believe in coffee, and that The Amazing Race is always the answer to, “what should I watch next?” Oh - and that the story of Jesus is the truest thing she’s ever found.

More to come as September approaches!

Godspeed,

JL

Today is Day 49. We’ve been together soaking in Jesus’s love for seven weeks. I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. You’re a wise, thoughtful group. Let’s do this again some time. :)

We’ll close our time together in Jesus’ care. The following is Jesus’ prayer to the Father in John 17 (After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed). Let Him speak it over you. As you do, imagine He’s in the room.

Some of this prayer doesn’t apply to you. There’s much to be learned from eavesdropping. Some of it has already been answered. Let those answers confirm God’s power and faithfulness. All of it reveals the heart of Christ for His people.

Read and be loved.

John 17 (CSB)

¹ “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. ² For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. ³ Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.⁴ I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. ⁵ And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.

⁶ “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word.⁷ Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. ⁸ For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. ⁹ I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. ¹⁰ All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. ¹¹ I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. ¹² While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.

¹³ “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. ¹⁴ I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. ¹⁵ My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.¹⁶ They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. ¹⁷ Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. ¹⁸ As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. ¹⁹ For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

²⁰ “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, ²¹ that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ²² I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— ²³ I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

²⁴ “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

²⁵ “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. ²⁶ I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

Amen.

Godspeed,

JL

This 49-day meditation will be available at no cost for four more weeks. After that, you can access it by becoming a paid subscriber.

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To Start

This is our last moment of silence. Soak it up.

Pray

Yahweh, You made so many promises to us over these three chapters. Open our eyes and hands to receive their fulfillment. Make us patient as we eagerly wait for everything You’ll do.

Read

Read three key passages in chapters 14-16 of John. Summarize each one in your own words. Then read Revelation 21:1-7 to see a glimpse of how Jesus’ promises will be fulfilled. Try to picture what’s being described in as much detail as you can.

As you read the excerpt from Revelation, consider…

• Which promises made by Jesus in His Farewell Discourse are fulfilled in this unveiling of the future?

• What’s the best thing about the New Jerusalem?

• Imagine you’re Peter watching the culmination of God’s plan to bring His children home. What are you most excited about in this moment? What memories from your last days with Jesus on earth come to mind?

• Having spent a good deal of time with Jesus over these last few weeks, how do find yourself reacting to this vision of Jesus’ second coming? What are your overwhelming thoughts and feelings?

John 14:1-3 (CSB)

¹ “Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.² In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? ³ If I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am you may be also.”

John 15:9-11 (CSB)

⁹ “As the Father has loved me, I have also loved you. Remain in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commands you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.

¹¹ I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.”

John 16:33 (CSB)

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Revelation 21:1-7 (NIV)

¹ Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. ² I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. ³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴ ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

⁵ He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

⁶ He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. ⁷ Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.”

From JL

Do you remember our first few days in this study exploring what Jesus meant when he said “In my Father’s house are many rooms”? Here’s Lesslie Newbegin on the phrase:

The death and resurrection of Jesus will inaugurate a new possibility—namely that while we are still on the way, we shall have a “place” where we can already taste the joy of the journey’s end… The “place” is not to be understood simply as the destination of their journey; rather there are many “abiding places” on the way, but they are all within the Father’s house.

I’ve been mulling over this concept of abiding places for weeks now. I keep discovering them—physical spaces, moments in time, buildings, natural areas, relationships even. God keeps inviting me into these little protected places of connection.

The prayer closet in my house, my back porch, a favorite corner of the couch. Churches where I’ve belonged: the prayer room at Round Rock church of Christ, a seat with my back to the window overlooking the Foyle at Cornerstone in Derry, the women’s bathroom at Shiloh I “renovated” with my friend Hilde when were much too young to know what we were doing (I walked in there this weekend and felt all the familiar joys of being young and idealistic and having a friend). Cities I’ve loved: London’s elegant scruffiness, the evening sun on Roman cobblestone streets, a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge after a long day trying to prove myself, the miracle of a catamaran in the Cape Town harbor. Hikes that became pilgrimage: the Otter Trail, Angel’s Landing, Haystacks. Scrabble with my family at the dining room table by candlelight. Lying on the front lawn, all four of us, watching meteors and laughing so hard and so long we forget why we’re laughing.

These moments take up more space than they ought to. Time slows. Joy stretches and deepens. Reality expands.

It’s like Yahweh pitches a tent…

I live for the dwelling places. Sometimes at night I’m so excited about waking up in the morning and having coffee and praying that I can’t fall asleep.

God is already dwelling with His people. I can vouch for that.

But it’s not complete yet, is it?

The sense of abiding, it’s interrupted. My experience of God’s presence feels like a radio signal that I have to keep tuning. It feels like singing harmony, how every new note chances misalignment. It feels like something you have to hold onto, something you’ll inevitably misplace and have to look for again.

If only the dwelling could last forever…

It’s that longing in me that makes Revelation 21:3 my favorite Bible verse:

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.”

It’s not new—God dwelling among His people. It’s just more. More in every way. Height, depth, width, time… One day God will live with us without interruption or boundary or blink. There will be no more waiting in silence. There will no straining to keep your eyes fixed. You won’t get distracted and discover you’ve drifted downstream. Everywhere will be a dwelling place. God will shine in every brick, tree, and glass of wine. His voice will be our voice. His breath will be out breath. His love will be our love. There will be no “away.” Only home.

In the Comments

• What do you love about being with Yahweh? What do you hope living with Him forever feels like?

Godspeed,

JL

Today, as a way of reflecting on what we’ve been reading, learning, discerning, and wondering, you’re encouraged to write a response to Jesus’ message.

Imagine John 14-16 was a letter written to you. Now, write a letter in reply.

Start with “Dear Jesus” and then include some combination of the following:

• Gratitude

• Observations on what you’ve read

• Favorite parts of His message

• Questions in your heart

• Dreaming about or imagining what life with Jesus might look like going forward

• Thoughts on seeing one another soon (What do you hope it’s like?)

Write at least a page.

You may want to skim the text before you write. That would be a great idea.

Enjoy your correspondence!

JL

Remember when we read chapters 14-16 aloud and recorded ourselves? Today we’re going to listen to that recording. So find it on your phone or computer and get it ready. Once you’ve done that…

Sit in eager silence for a few minutes.

Then pray:

Father, we have treasured getting to listen to the voice and heart of Your Son over the course of these seven weeks. Plant His words deep in our hearts. Let them bear many abundant harvests.

Today, as we listen to His words in our voices, remind us that Your Spirit dwells in us and that we dwell in Christ. Help us to hear His voice in our voices.

Now listen.

Don’t try to figure anything out; just let God speak. Receive whatever stands out to you. Keep paper and a pen close by in case you need to write something down, but don’t take active notes.

You might decide to listen twice today (morning and night, perhaps).

When you’re done listening, sit in silence for a bit, and then go on with your day.

May you delight in Yahweh today as He delights in you!

JL

To Start

Begin and end in silence today. (We’ll even sprinkle some silence into the middle.)

Pray

Yahweh, give us peace in You. Help us welcome suffering with courage.

Thank You, Jesus, for conquering the world. Show us how to follow in Your footsteps.

Read

Read John 16:33 (the last verse in chapter 16) three times. Spend one minute in silence between each reading. Then write it on an index card.

As you read, consider…

• Jesus says, “I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace.” What things has He told them? Summarize His message. How do those truths contribute to peace?

• Where do we find peace?

• When Jesus says, “You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world” how does it make you feel?

• Identify one area of current suffering. How might you be courageous? How has Jesus conquered the forces arrayed against you? Does it feel like those forces have been conquered?

John 16:33 (CSB)

“I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.”

From JL

“You will have suffering in this world.”

Maybe it doesn’t make sense, but this promise from Jesus has been a faithful comfort over and over in my life. See, I’m tempted to think suffering is what happens when things are going wrong. Maybe I’ve stepped out of alignment with God. Maybe I’m being punished. Who sinned that this man was born blind? But Jesus clears that up: not all suffering comes from bad choices and rebellion. Some suffering is just inevitable, a life tax that comes due for everyone. If you’re a follower of Jesus, suffering is especially inevitable. Don’t think you can skip it.

There’s peace in that.

But not enough peace.

Which is why Jesus adds what comes next. He says, “I have conquered the world.”

My first impulse is to read that line this way: You will have suffering in this world, but this world won’t last forever. I fought the forces of this world and conquered them on your behalf.

I think that’s a legitimate reading, but lately I’ve been wondering if He didn’t mean something else, something more like: Be courageous! I conquered the world. You can, too.

Consider these verses from Revelation chapters 2-3 (also written by the apostle John, each verse straight from the mouth of Jesus):

• “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” (2:7)

• “Don’t be afraid of what you are about to suffer. Look, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison to test you, and you will experience affliction for ten days. Be faithful to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.
  Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will never be harmed by the second death.” (2:10-11)

• “To the one who conquers, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name is inscribed that no one knows except the one who receives it.” (2:17)

• “Only hold on to what you have until I come. The one who conquers and who keeps my works to the end:
  I will give him authority over the nations—
  and he will rule them with an iron scepter;
  he will shatter them like pottery—
  just as I have received this from my Father. I will also give him the morning star." (2:25-28)

• “The one who conquers will be dressed in white clothes, and I will never erase his name from the book of life but will acknowledge his name before my Father and before his angels.” (3:5)

• “The one who conquers I will make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will never go out again. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God—the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God—and my new name.” (3:12)

• “To the one who conquers I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.” (3:21)

Evidently, God’s people will need to conquer the world. They’ll need to endure suffering, persevering in faith until the end.

But how will they do that?

Jesus has been abundantly clear here in the gospel of John: They will conquer in Christ.

They will conquer because Christ conquered, and they are the body of Christ. He lives in them. They live in Him.

Victory will come to one who stays.

And when that victory comes, what will it look like? What will we share with Christ?

• The tree of life

• Paradise with God

• A crown of life

• Protection from the second death

• Hidden manna

• A new name

• Authority

• The morning star

• White clothes

• A permanent spot in the book of life

• Acknowledgement and belonging

• Stability

• Forever dwelling in the presence of God

• Identity

• And the gift of sharing God’s throne

It’s too much to fathom, too great a thing to ever deserve. It’s the kind of fantasy I’m incapable of dreaming up.

You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.

Conquer it with me, Jesus says. And then reign with me forever.

In the comments

• What do you usually turn to for inspiration when you’re confronted with suffering? Is it enough to get you through?

• Do you ever imagine reigning with God in heaven? What do you think it looks like to receive this kind of identity and authority?

Godspeed,

JL

To Start

“You are a ray of God’s own light.”

-Martin Laird, Into the Silent Land

Sit still, be quiet, and shine.

Pray

Yahweh, give us the faith to believe, and give us the humility to admit our doubt. Show us what we don’t know about our own hearts.

Meditate

Before you read today, meditate on what you’ve learned from Jesus so far. Think back to what He’s said over these three chapters. Skim if you need to.

• If you had to list three major themes of this message what would they be?

• What’s been your primary emotion as you’ve spent time in these chapters?

• What’s one truth God’s tattooed on your heart over the course of this study?

Read

Now read John 16:29-32.

As you read, consider…

• What do the apostles “know” at the end of Jesus’s Farewell Discourse?

• What do you think about their response to Jesus’ message? How does it strike you? What do you think Jesus thinks about their response?

• In verse 31 Jesus asks the apostles “Do you now believe?” Is this a rhetorical question or a real one?

• How does the word “now” shape the meaning of the question?

• Why is Jesus not alone?

• What promise is there for us in Jesus’s confidence in the Father’s presence?

John 16:29-32 (CSB)

²⁹ His disciples said, “Look, now you’re speaking plainly and not using any figurative language. ³⁰ Now we know that you know everything and don’t need anyone to question you. By this we believe that you came from God.”

³¹ Jesus responded to them, “Do you now believe? ³² Indeed, an hour is coming, and has come, when each of you will be scattered to his own home, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.”

From JL

(Again) the apostles have me baffled.

It’s not that I’m judging them (they’re just humans human-ing). It’s more that I don’t understand what’s going on in their hearts and minds. Maybe it’s the culture difference—time, place, religion. Maybe it’s gender; the apostles are famously male. Or maybe it’s simply that I’ve never lived a pre-resurrection life; I heard sermons on the possibility of eternal life with God in the womb. It makes sense that Peter and I would react differently to this speech.

Boy, do we.

I finish reading these chapters, and my heart is full. I feel intimately connected to Jesus. I’m excited about the possibility of life with the Spirit. I feel loved by the Father. I feel nervous about the promise of persecution, but inspired to face it, knowing God will be with me and the reward will be great. I’m hyped about the potential for unity among the church (so angry about our division). And I can’t stop thinking about love—the command, the practice, the possibility.

I’m pretty sure my reaction to this speech would be to ask Jesus for a hug. I might not even ask. I feel like the speech is permission enough.

Here’s what the apostles said when Jesus finished talking:

Now we know that you know everything and don’t need anyone to question you. By this we believe that you came from God.

Huh?

Given the moment it just seems so stilted and distant. My British friends would say this is a particularly American way of reading.

I dug around to get some perspective on this (and to give the apostles the benefit of the doubt). Commentators say the apostles are responding to Jesus’ mind-reading in verse 19, His ability to know the questions in their hearts. They aren’t saying, You know all the facts and so now we believe the fact of your identity. They’re saying, Wow, you know everything, even the things you couldn’t possibly know; You must be from God.

Fair.

I do think it’s safe to say, Jesus isn’t completely thrilled with their response here. They seem to be missing something fundamental. It’s like Jesus knows the message hasn’t fully taken root. Partly He knows because He’s fully aware of what the apostles are about to do: abandon Him.

I can’t imagine how much pain they carried knowing they’d betrayed their friend. It’s hard to be human.

I think the thing I’m realizing today is that comparing me in 2026 to the apostles in AD 33 is wildly unfair, because my ability to receive Jesus’ message is far beyond the apostles’. Not because I’m a better listener. Not because I’m empathetic. But because I have the Holy Spirit living in me.

The Holy Spirit played the pivotal part in the apostles’ eventual ability to internalize, process, and act upon Jesus’ words—just as He has played that part for me for the last 36 years.

I have lived in oneness with God for ten times as long as the apostles lived with Jesus on earth.

That breaks my brain a little.

As the apostles’ stories unfold in the book of Acts, we see much different men: men willing to risk everything for the good news of eternal life in Christ. Those are the men I ought to emulate—men who’ve been given the same gift I have, men who’ve experienced resurrection, men who know the power of God to reclaim and remake and renew. One of those men eventually wrote the Gospel of John in which he honestly recounted his own inability to understand Jesus clearly.

Those men love Jesus like Jesus loved them.

In the last chapter of John’s gospel we see Jesus’ grace for the apostles, the way He welcomes them back into His love with a catch of fish, a campfire, and breakfast. It’s around that fire that Jesus asks Peter, “Do you love me?” Three times He asks. The third time, Peter responds with words dripping with intimacy, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” And I can’t help thinking of John 16:30—We know that You know everything.

Maybe it was always personal. Maybe the apostles meant, even from the start, You are amazing, and there’s nothing like being known by You.

If so, amen. That’s the truest truth I know.

In the comments

Whatever you want to share today. I’m all ears.

Godspeed,

JL

To Start

Be still and know that God is God.

Pray

Yahweh, as we enter our last few days with You in these chapters, we surrender all our expectations, all our reasoning, and all our hangups. Show us anything You want to show us. But especially show us Your love.

Read

Read John 16:25-28.

Summarize it in your own words.

As you read, consider…

• Much of what Jesus says here is repetition. What’s new? What is He saying for the first time?

• Jesus says, “I have spoken these things to you in figures of speech.” Other translations use the word “parable.” Did this message feel like a parable to you? Does knowing that Jesus considers it a “figure of speech” change anything about the way you understand what He’s saying?

• When will Jesus talk “plainly about the Father”?

• What is our relationship to the Father? Why are we permitted to approach Him?

John 16:25-28 (CSB)

²⁵ “I have spoken these things to you in figures of speech. A time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures, but I will tell you plainly about the Father. ²⁶ On that day you will ask in my name, and I am not telling you that I will ask the Father on your behalf. ²⁷ For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. ²⁸ I came from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”

From JL

I have a long list of people I love because they love my children.

Kelly Kitts, for example. She babysat them when they were in elementary school. Every time I called to ask if she could, she made Justin and I feel like we’d given her the best possible present. Renee, too. The girls loved playing with her dog. And Patty who somehow made me feel like it was not an inconvenience that the girls got lice at school and brought it home to her house while Justin and I were out of town. She made a party out of de-lousing the children.

Jo saw how lonely my kids were in a new country and invited us for a walk on the beach with her kids. Lorraine invited them to Irish school. Francesca kissed their cheeks and told them how beautiful they were when they’d been too long away from their grandmothers.

We weren’t sure London would fit in with the college Bible study group that meets at our house because she was younger than everybody, but she came and Nicole scooped her up and took her to coffee and talked to her on the phone for hours. Then Gracie found her and made her feel seen and known.

There’s Lily, the college student who adopted Eve as a little sister when London moved away. And Acie who disciples Eve every week and makes her feel like reading books and loving Jesus is a great way to spend a life.

Then there’s Bethany who sends them little presents in the mail and tells them they’re amazing. And Robin who prayed for London in bootcamp the way only a military wife could. And Ryan who teaches Eve to play the guitar. And Bella who I have never met but already love because she’s London’s friend in a new, unfamiliar place.

The list is long.

Loving my children is the surest way to my heart. So I’m not surprised it’s the same with the Father: the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me.

I have been where the Father is (in a way)—His Son sent on a dangerous mission to a new place where He didn’t exactly belong, watching and waiting, hoping He’ll be received, hoping someone will see His worth, witnessing the meanness of the world…

It mattered to Him that the apostles loved Jesus. They loved Him like messy humans love one another—inconsistently and poorly. They didn’t love Him as much as He loved them. But still, the love they gave to the Son earned the Father’s shining face. He was glad someone saw what He saw when He looked at Jesus:

A beloved Son.

The spitting image of His Dad.

A vessel of the glory of God.

Someone worthy of love.

This is why the Father welcomed the apostles into His family. Because of their love.

If they loved Jesus there on earth in the middle of all that chaos and rejection, they will surely love Yahweh when the New Jerusalem comes and everything is made beautiful and right.

In the comments

• What do you love about Jesus? Let’s gush. :)

Godspeed,

JL

Yahweh, I think I’m realizing that _________________

Yahweh, I’m feeling challenged to __________________

Yahweh, thank You for ______________________

Yahweh, I want more of _____________________

Yahweh, help me understand __________________

A Prayer from John 16:12-24

Spirit of truth, guide us into all truth. Speak what You hear. Declare what is to come. Give us ears to hear.

Jesus, we want to see You. It feels like it’s been more than a little while. Come soon.

Jesus, thank You for letting us see You. We see You in one another. We see You in Scripture. We know you’ve never left (even though You left).

Make us bold to approach You with our questions. Let there be no distance between us. Free us from shame or false humility or performative reverence or a misunderstanding of our relationship with You—things that keep us away.

See us and love us and welcome us—as we know You’ve promised You will.

We rejoice because of Your resurrection. New life with You is complete joy.

We are sorrowful because we’re not yet home with You. We want to see You again. We want a joy that can’t be taken away. You’ve given it to us. Thank You. And we’re waiting for it. Make us patient. Give us hope.

We long for the day when questions disappear and understanding is complete.

Yahweh, enable us to ask for anything in Jesus’ name. Give us faith and courage and boldness and wisdom to see what to ask for.

Yahweh, enable us to receive the answers to our prayers. Make our joy complete.

To Start

Part of what we’re trying to accomplish with silence is to turn off the part of our brains that tries to make sense of everything. James K.A. Smith writes in his book, Make Your Home in this Luminous Dark, “It might be that our uncertainty is not a problem to be eradicated but a country to inhabit.” Sitting in silence is a way of inhabiting whatever lies in front of us—a way of facing life (with God) instead of immediately trying to “solve” it.

So sit in silence. Inhabit the uncertainty.

Pray

Yahweh, help us to see all You mean to say. Help us hold two truths (or all the truths) at once.

Read

Read John 16:19-25 one more time. Then read Romans 8:18-32.

• What overlap do you see between the passages?

• How does Romans 8 help you interpret John 16?

Consider this commentary linking John 16 and Romans 8 from bishop and missionary Lesslie Newbegin:

Jesus is speaking both of his manifestation of himself to the disciples after the resurrection, and of the full vision of God in the new age, for the one is the foretaste of the other. The ambiguity is deliberate… The disciples will be able to say of the eternal life of God, “We have seen,” and at the same time, “We know that when he appears… we shall see see him as he is” (1 John 1:3 and 3:2). They will be able to speak in the same breath of rejoicing in hope and rejoicing in tribulation (Romans 5:2) because they have received the Spirit as the first-fruit of the new creation (Romans 8:18-25)…

There are really “things which are to come,” but “he was to come” has come. The birth pangs of the new world have begun in his passion, and those who follow him share them. But the joy of new creation has also begun in his resurrection, and those who follow the way of the cross also share the joy of the new world. For them, the sufferings of this present age are “but a little while” compared to the glory that is already dawning (Romans 8:18-39).

This week we’ve focused on the most obvious interpretation of John 16: Jesus is going to die and then be resurrected. The apostles won’t see Him (because He died) and then will see Him (because He was raised to life). Upon Jesus’ resurrection, their joy would be complete because they would have new access to the Father.

Now consider a second way of interpreting the text, one that looks ahead to Jesus’ second coming.

• If Jesus is talking about His second coming, how does that change what you see in the text?

• If Jesus is talking about both His resurrection AND His second coming (a double-interpretation is common in prophecy), how does that add to your understanding of the passage? How does it complicate your reading of the passage? How does it illuminate your reading of the passage?

John 16:19-25 (CSB)

¹⁹ Jesus knew they wanted to ask him, and so he said to them, “Are you asking one another about what I said, ‘In a little while, you will not see me; again in a little while, you will see me’? ²⁰ Truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice. You will become sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy. ²¹ When a woman is in labor, she has pain because her time has come. But when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the suffering because of the joy that a person has been born into the world.²² So you also have sorrow now. But I will see you again. Your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy from you.

²³ “In that day you will not ask me anything. Truly I tell you, anything you ask the Father in my name, he will give you. ²⁴ Until now you have asked for nothing in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.”

Romans 8:18-32 (NIV)

¹⁸ I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. ¹⁹ For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. ²⁰ For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope ²¹ that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

²² We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. ²³ Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴ For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

²⁶ In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. ²⁷ And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. ²⁹ For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. ³⁰ And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

³¹ What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

From JL

I’m so thankful to Newbigin’s book on John for clueing me in to the connections between John 16 and Romans 8. Reading them together gives me so much peace. It’s as if Paul says amen to John 16 while also saying, “And not yet.”

If it doesn’t feel like I’m receiving all I ask for, that’s okay. God will give us all things (even if He hasn’t yet).

If it doesn’t feel like my joy is complete, that’s okay. Paul’s still waiting, too.

“We ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.”

One of the most important things I’m learning as a child of God is how to walk in this already and not-yet world, how to embrace the kingdom breaking in right here and right now, and how to wait for the kingdom that isn’t here yet. I find it incredibly difficult to discern where and when God will give me power and glory. If I try to anticipate it, I’ll almost certainly be wrong. But that doesn’t stop me from asking for it, because I know it’s on offer. I know God wants to work in this world. I know He gives His children good gifts. Even when my prayers go “unanswered” or my hopes are deferred, I find a great deal of confidence in the long game, knowing that one day I’ll discover all the ways God was saying yes.

In the comments

One of the main truths I’m noticing in our reading of John 14-16 is the paradox at the core of our identity in Christ. Jesus will be the best thing that ever happened to you. And Jesus will be the reason for much of your suffering. In Christ you will find fullness of joy. And fullness of sorrow. You will inherit the glory of heaven, and you will be persecuted by the world. You will have access to everything (even now), but you may not get what you’re longing for anytime soon.

It’s like being at sea—up, down, up, down…. No, it’s like being up and down at the same time. All the time.

This is not a comfortable way of living, and people really like comfortable.

If you had to “sell” this way of being to somebody, how would you pitch it? What’s better about a life in extremes?

Godspeed,

JL

To Start

🫢

Pray

Yahweh, we want to ask anything. Give us the faith to do it. Give us the courage to do it. Show us what “anything” should be.

Read

Read John 16:23-24.

Read it seven times.

When you’re done, ask God one of these questions, and then listen.

• Yahweh, what should I ask?

• Yahweh, why am I scared to ask?

• Yahweh, why did you say no when I asked?

John 16:23-24 (CSB)

²³ “In that day you will not ask me anything. Truly I tell you, anything you ask the Father in my name, he will give you. ²⁴ Until now you have asked for nothing in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.”

Process

This isn’t the first time Jesus has encouraged His apostles to ask anything in His name. In John 14:13-14, we read:

“Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”

This is, evidently, a key point in Jesus’s message here. Later, after Jesus’ death and resurrection, the apostle John will write to the church,

“This is the confidence we have before him: If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears whatever we ask, we know that we have what we have asked of him” (1 John 5:14-15).

This is a truth John repeats three times in writing.

• Is it a truth you’re living?

• Do you feel like it’s true?

• Have you really tried it?

• What are you learning these days about asking God for things?

• Does the promise feel different here in chapter 16 than it did when you first read it in chapter 14?

On the text

In that day you won’t ask me anything…
Anything you ask… He will give you.

At first glance it looks like a contradiction or paradox. Will we ask or won’t we?

2 possible ways of interpreting this:

1. It’s possible Jesus is indicating a shift in who the apostles should approach with their requests: In that day they won’t ask Jesus anymore, they’ll ask the Father in Jesus’ name.

2. More likely, Jesus is talking about two different kinds of asking. When Jesus is resurrected and returns to the Father, the apostles won’t have any more questions about what Jesus is trying to tell them here in this moment. They’ll see it and understand (and what they don’t understand the Spirit will make clear). The Greek seems to suggest that the first use of “ask” is to question or interrogate; one day you won’t need to ask these questions. The second “ask” seems to suggest a request; request anything in Jesus’ name.

From JL

Let me begin here: this asking-for-anything concept isn’t an area of mastery for me. I’m still learning to ask. I’m still learning what to ask.

Sometimes I think I have it figured out. Most of the time I’m walking in a cloud.

One thing that has been especially helpful for my growth has been reading the book of Acts (and the history of the early church) and paying attention to the early Christians’ prayers.

What are Peter and John and Paul asking for?

What aren’t they asking for?

Which of their prayers go “unanswered”?

When does God say yes? When does God say no?

I pat attention to my own experience using the same set of questions.

A few observations:

God likes to answer prayers that make people feel loved.

God likes to answer prayers that give Him glory.

God likes prayers that align with His heart.

God likes prayers with eternal consequences.

Of course, even these kinds of prayers might elicit inexplicable answers. The ways of God are not our ways…

So what am I praying as I wander around trying to understand what to pray for?

Anything.

Slowly, the Spirit is giving me eyes to see the blessings growing from those prayers. Slowly, the Spirit is completing my joy.

In the comments

• Teach me something about asking and receiving. What do I need to know?

Godspeed,

JL

To Start

Be silent with God. Imagine He’s holding your hand.

Pray

Yahweh, keep Your promises. Turn our sorrow to joy. Let Your presence be our joy. Don’t let anyone take our joy from us. We know You won’t.

Read

Read John 16:19-22.

As you read, consider…

• What do you feel when you read the line, “Jesus knew they wanted to ask him”? Who is Jesus as revealed in this passage? What does He feel toward the apostles?

• Why does Jesus use the word “truly” in verse 20? Surely everything He’s saying is true.

• Does Jesus judge the apostles for their coming grief? Is it wrong for them to weep and mourn?

Read verse 22 three times:

1. The first time you read it, try to understand it with your mind. Summarize it in your own words. What exactly is Jesus promising?

2. The second time, try to understand it with your heart. How do you feel after you read these words.

3. The third time, don’t try to understand it. Read it and then sit in silence for two minutes.

This is one of those verses I’d write on an index card and carry around.

John 16:19-22 (CSB)

¹⁹ Jesus knew they wanted to ask him, and so he said to them, “Are you asking one another about what I said, ‘In a little while, you will not see me; again in a little while, you will see me’? ²⁰ Truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice. You will become sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy. ²¹ When a woman is in labor, she has pain because her time has come. But when she has given birth to a child, she no longer remembers the suffering because of the joy that a person has been born into the world. ²² So you also have sorrow now. But I will see you again. Your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy from you.”

From JL

I’ve tried to write about this passage three times now, and every time I try to write I cry.

So you also have sorrow now. But I will see you again…

No one will take away your joy from you.

I’ve had a lot of sorrow.

And I’ve had a lot of Jesus.

And this joy, the joy of dwelling with Him, it’s the dynamo of my life.

Knowing that no one can ever take it away?

Crying again…

-

My daughter Eve’s friends are terrified of childbirth. Truly. They talk about it all the time. They list it as a top reason they might not have kids.

I shake my head. “That’s crazy,” I say. Eve says, “What’s crazy?” And I say, “Being a teenage girl and worrying about the pain of childbirth.” She says, “Why is that crazy? Everybody says it’s the worst pain imaginable.” I say, “Who cares?”

She is perplexed at my being perplexed.

I say, “Yeah, it’s terrible. I labored for 19 hours with London—water broke but she wouldn’t budge. They gave me terrible drugs that increased the pain and made me hallucinate. But then, eventually, I had a baby. I had you naturally after a long night convinced I was dying of constipation. But then, same magic, a baby! And the baby grows up to be a whole person. Are you saying adding a human being to the created world isn’t worth 24 hours or less (rarely more) of excruciating pain?”

She makes a face like she’s thinking about it.

“Eve Gerhardt,” I say. “You are my great joy. You are a vessel of the presence of God. You are extraordinary. You are worth it—whatever “it” is.”

We had this conversation three days ago. When I read today’s text I thought of these two girls of mine, both growing up and leaving home. I have never been as aware as I am today of the deep joy of having them in my home. Jesus was right—I can barely remember the pain.

Maybe one of the reasons these verses are affecting me like they are is that I’m dealing with the grief of my joys “being taken” from me. That’s a wild exaggeration, sure. They aren’t dead. One lives on a boat in the Straits of Florida, and the other wants to go to college 1500 miles from home. Her backup school is 1300 miles in the other direction. They are still my daughters. They love me. We’ll spend lots of time together. But they will be “away.”

Sigh.

But this is not the primary reason I’m crying. I’m crying because I have joy. I’m crying because the devil cannot pry it out of my hands. I’m crying because Jesus is here, because He’s with me and won’t ever leave me. I’m crying because every morning He’s waiting for me on the couch or in the prayer closet or on the porch. I’m crying because sorrow cannot compete with the deep, good, strong spring of life flowing from the very center of my being.

Jesus is my joy.

And it will not be taken away from me.

In the comments

• What’s something painful you endured because you knew there would be something wonderful on the other side of the pain?

• Do you feel like your joy is permanent and guaranteed? If not, why do you think that is? If so, give an example of a time that truth came into sharp relief.

Godspeed,

JL

To Start

Begin in silence.

Pray

Yahweh, give me the courage to tell You the truth. Give me the courage to come to You when I don’t understand the truth.

Read

Read John 16:16-18.

Today we’re going to practice imaginative reading/prayer (or Ignatian contemplation/reading). It’s a centuries old way of entering a New Testament moment to meet Jesus.

I’ve borrowed the following steps from an imaginative reading guide put out by the University of Notre Dame:

1. Place yourself in the presence of God. Close your eyes, relax your body bit by bit, and ask the Lord to speak to you through this prayer. Breathe in the unique and powerful love offered to you, and breathe out any distractions that might cloud your mind.

2. Read the Scripture passage once:

   ¹⁶ “In a little while, you will no longer see me; again in a little while, you will see me.”

   ¹⁷ Then some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this he’s telling us: ‘In a little while, you will not see me; again in a little while, you will see me,’ and, ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” ¹⁸ They said, “What is this he is saying, ‘In a little while’? We don’t know what he’s talking about.”

3. Think of the people in this moment. Which character (any of the apostles, Jesus) stands out to you? Place yourself in his or her shoes, or imagine entering the story as yourself, as you are right now.

4. Read the passage again, this time from the perspective of your chosen person. Use what you know from the greater context to build out the scene. Now, use your imagination. What do you see? Who and what is around you? What do you hear? Is it the sounds of people, birds, Jesus’ voice, or even your own voice? What do you smell? Is there anything you taste?

5. Using your senses and placing yourself in the scene, read the passage a third time. What might God be telling you or showing you through this?

6. Let this Scripture story open your heart to receive whatever message God might be revealing to you. Spend some time in silence, and listen to the Lord.

7. Respond to God, and thank Him for the opportunity to encounter Him in this prayer.

From JL

I had us practice imagining this scene in particular, because it’s one I can struggle to get my head around. In chapters 14-16 we’ve seen Jesus put on a remarkable display of vulnerability, love, and intimacy with His apostles. These chapters are a love letter, a dream about a beautiful shared future. There’s a kind of proposal here—as one might expect after three years of cohabitation, aligned mission, and shared prayer. Jesus knows these guys. He’s about to die for them.

And yet.

When they don’t understand what He’s telling them, they don’t address their questions to Him; they whisper to one another about Him.

In other words, Jesus feels close enough to the apostles to bear his heart for three chapters. And the apostles don’t feel close enough to Him to ask Him a direct question.

What’s going on?

I could come up with a few reasons or excuses or explanations. I could say they wanted to be polite and not interrupt Him. I could say maybe they were feeling gun-shy after their first couple questions weren’t exactly answered. Perhaps they’re just ready for Jesus to be done talking and think that if they don’t speak up with their questions the speech may never end. Maybe they’re afraid of what’s to come. Maybe they’re tired of all the riddles and mystery.

It sounds to me like they’re frustrated: “We don’t know what he’s talking about.”

The apostles are human; humans make weird choices. I can’t say with any authority what was going through their minds.

But maybe this…

I think Jesus loves His apostles more than they love Him. I think He’s in them more than they’re in Him. I think Jesus is yearning to be close to the people He loves, and I think the people are still afraid to get too close.

I get it. Jesus is walking on water and turning water to wine and be transfigured into elemental glory. He’s more than intimidating.

And now He’s standing here promising persecution…

I see why they might hesitate to take a step toward Him, why they might keep a safe distance and crowdsource the answers.

But I don’t want that.

If I have a question for God, I don’t want to turn to my neighbor and whisper about Him. I don’t want to read about God and never talk to God. I don’t want to watch God from a distance. I want to walk with God. I want to laugh with God. I want to cry with God. And I want to climb up into the throne and be held.

The apostles don’t want that yet. They will have it soon enough.

In the comments

Two options for the comments today:

1. Did you enjoy the Ignatian reading exercise? What was it like? What was fun? What was challenging?

2. Do you try to keep a safe distance between you and God? Do you talk more about God than to God? Why do you think that is?

Godspeed,

JL

To Start

You have to have quiet to hear. Get some quiet.

Pray

Spirit, glorify Christ to us and glorify Christ through us. Make us one—one with You and one with one another.

Read

Read John 16:14-15.

• Read it three times. Read more slowly each time through. Try to emphasize a new word with each new reading.

• Try to picture the relationship between the Father, Son, and Spirit.

Then read John 17:20-26 (Jesus’ prayer for all believers, a prayer He prays at the conclusion of the 14-16 Farewell Discourse).

• What does the trinity relationship tell us about our relationship with God?

• What does it teach us about our relationship with one another?

• Try to summarize the passage in your own words.

John 16:14-15 (CSB)

^{14 “}He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. ¹⁵ Everything the Father has is mine. This is why I told you that he takes from what is mine and will declare it to you.”

John 17:20-26 (CSB)

²⁰ “I pray not only for these, but also for those who believe in me through their word. ²¹ May they all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us, so that the world may believe you sent me. ²² I have given them the glory you have given me, so that they may be one as we are one. ²³ I am in them and you are in me, so that they may be made completely one, that the world may know you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me.”

From JL

How much time do you spend contemplating the mystery of oneness with God and His people?

Contemplating mysteries is a habit of mine. I used to do it in a very logical way—explore, observe, question, hypothesize, test. Undo the mystery. Untie the knot. I still do that some, but these days I find myself regularly just staring into the fog, surrendered to whatever’s in front of me, even what I don’t understand. Staring and surrendering don’t always lead to understanding, but sometimes they really do, especially when the mystery is God, especially when I’m welcomed into the fog, especially when the fog isn’t fog but rather the cloud that is the presence of God.

No, understanding is the wrong word. I stand in the cloud and receive the cloud. I breathe in and the cloud dwells in me as I dwell in the cloud. I don’t understand the cloud, but also I don’t need to. The cloud is. And somehow, in some way I can feel but can’t explain, I become cloud.

We’ve talked some about contemplative practice already in this study, but yet again, we find ourselves face to face with something a human mind cannot comprehend, which is, of course, fertile ground for contemplation.

Martin Laird writes in An Ocean of Light:

Contemplation reveals our immersion in the mystery of God in Christ, where Saint Paul says our lives are hidden (Colossians 3:3) and where God is revealed as the Being of our being; the Love of our loving; the Life of our living.

Fourteenth century German monk Meister Eckhart wrote of the results of contemplation,

All that God asks you most pressingly is to go out of yourself … and let God be God in you.

Saint Athanasius:

What God is by nature we become by grace.

All they’re saying is something like this: God is in you and you are in God. All that is God’s belongs to you, because You are His child and dwell in His house AND because He is the Spirit in You, the very center of who you are. SO, consider paying attention to the God in you.

In our texts today we saw the web of our oneness on full display:

All that is the Father’s belongs to Jesus.

Jesus gives what is His to the Spirit, and the Spirit gives it to Jesus’ people.

Jesus’ people, then, have all that belongs to the Father through Jesus and the Spirit.

In John 17, Jesus says he wants the same unity He has with the Father and Spirit for us with one another. He wants you to belong to me in the same way He belongs to the Father—for us to hold everything common, for us to depend on one another and dwell with one another, for all the love I have and all the love you have to be poured out and shared.

And then again—the oneness isn’t just with one another. We are one with Christ. We have unity with Christ in the same way we have unity with one another.

We have the Father’s glory, given from Christ, through the Spirit.

WE ARE ONE THING.

What?!

It is a crazy sentence, easy to misconstrue, but it’s the truth: You are God. You are not all of God. God is (obviously) much, much bigger than you. There may still be parts of you that are unsurrendered to Him, parts He’ll prune in time. But you, you’re a branch. And a branch is just vine.

From the very beginning, God made humans in His image. For most of history we have tried to be less.

What if we stood up straight and received who we were made to be? What would happen then?

In the Comments

I have no idea what the answer is to the question I just asked. I have thoughts (maybe).

• What do you think? What would change if we embraced our oneness with God?

• Similarly, what would change if we embraced our oneness with one another?

To Start

“My heart was defeated by the din of my mind.” (Saint Augustine)

Let God quiet your mind so that your heart might speak.

Pray

Holy Spirit, reveal Yourself to us. Show us how to recognize You. Show us how to rely on You. Show us how to thank You.

Guide us into all the truth, and declare to us what is to come.

Read

Read John 16:12-13 and then summarize it in your own words.

As you read consider…

• Why can’t Jesus tell the apostles everything all at once? Will the Spirit tell everything all at once?

• What does it mean that the Spirit will guide you into all the truth? What does that look like practically?

• Think of some kind of modern “guide”—a teacher, a nature guide, a tour guide, etc. How is the Holy Spirit like a guide?

• What does “all the truth” mean?

• Jesus says, “He will also declare to you what is to come.” Does this mean predicting the future? What do you think?

John 16:12-13 (CSB)

¹² “I still have many things to tell you, but you can’t bear them now. ¹³ When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth. For he will not speak on his own, but he will speak whatever he hears. He will also declare to you what is to come.”

From JL

Most Christians I meet are more confused than confident about the activity of the Holy Spirit. Sitting in passages like this one (all three of these chapters, really) can be a great help in determining what He’s up to.

According to Jesus, the Spirit is…

A Spirit of truth who guides Jesus’ people into “all the truth”

The Holy Spirit is a Sacagawea. She knows the terrain so she can guide Lewis and Clark deeper and deeper into it—her confidence becomes their confidence. Having a guide isn’t the same as teleporting to the destination (a sherpa doesn’t carry you to the top of the mountain). A guide doesn’t remove the fun of the adventure or the pain of exertion. A guide is simply a master of the path—someone to follow on the path, someone to learn from on the path, someone on whom to depend.

The phrase “all the truth” here is so exciting to me. There are no limits to what the Spirit might reveal just as there are no bounds to truth—truth is deep and wide. The idea of setting out into the frontier with the Spirit, the possibilities of revelation vast…You guys. This is my dream. I can’t believe it’s real life.

A faithful messenger

The Holy Spirit is a go-between, bringing God’s words to His people and to the world. He’s not a source himself; He’s a conduit.

The word “prophet” essentially means messenger; so it’s no surprise prophets were filled with the Spirit of God.

By the way, the Spirit of God serving in this way isn’t only a New Testament thing. In the Old Testament we find Him filling people and showing them the truth as delivered from the Father. Before Jesus comes to earth (and then leaves), that indwelling appears to be (mostly) temporary. For us it’s an all-the-time thing.

Here’s a list of OT people filled with the Spirit:

One who declares “what is to come”

While, as we said, “prophet” just means messenger, we usually think of a prophet as one who can see “what is to come”—which sounds very woo-woo. But the truth is, it’s pretty straightforward and ordinary (even as it’s extraordinary). The Holy Spirit tells us what we need to know. Sometimes we’ll need to know what’s coming. In that way, the Holy Spirit is like a teacher at the start of the day. She doesn’t tell the class all of what’s coming, but she prepares them by equipping them. It’s exactly what Jesus is doing in this moment as he prepares the apostles for His departure.

If you’re interested in a deep dive on the Holy Spirit, I highly recommend Tyler Staton’s The Familiar Stranger: (Re)Introducing the Holy Spirit to Those in Search of an Experiential Spirituality as a first stop. Here’s an excerpt that fits with what we’ve been reading in John 14-16:

“Are you eager for manifestations of the Spirit? Are you longing for signs and wonders? For supernatural physical healing and deep inner healing? For the ground-shaking word of prophecy and the still small whisper to the soul? For the fiery power of intercession and the society-altering justice that follows? Then channel all your energy into loving those in your local church who you find are the hardest to love.”

In the Comments

What are you wondering or learning about the Holy Spirit lately? Let’s chat!

Godspeed,

JL

Every Sunday we’ll have these same prayer prompts and then a prayer drawn directly from the text:

Yahweh, I think I’m realizing that _________________

Yahweh, I’m feeling challenged to __________________

Yahweh, thank You for ______________________

Yahweh, I want more of _____________________

Yahweh, help me understand __________________

A Prayer from John 15:26-16:11

Counselor, come.

Spirit, testify.

From the Father, speak the truth about the Son.

Fill us like the cloud filled the temple. Let the whole world see You in us. Move through us like the mighty rushing wind on Pentecost. Let the whole world hear You through us.

Jesus, thank You for Your words that light the way and keep us from stumbling.

When we encounter opposition and persecution, let us feel a kinship with You. Remind us that suffering is a promise.

Jesus, we never got to live with You in the flesh on earth and sometimes the idea of it can seem so much better than our current reality. Help us not to long for a lesser thing. Show us how good it is to be filled with the Spirit, comforted by the Spirit, empowered by the Spirit, and led by the Spirit. Remind us (prove to us) this is better.

Through the Spirit in us convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment. Give us boldness to speak and live the truth.

To Start

According to Martin Laird, silence sets us free from being objects of our own awareness. Enjoy a few minutes unconsidered (and thus unjudged) by your inner critic.

Later we’ll let the Spirit prepare us for a more gracious judgment to come.

Pray

Yahweh, convict me through Your Spirit. Use Your Spirit to reveal to me what sin is and what righteousness is. Remind me of the coming judgment, and by Your Spirit, prepare me for it.

But if I don’t need to be convicted, be my Counselor. Comfort me through your advocacy. Let the truth be my freedom and my hope.

Read

Read John 16:8-11 and then try to summarize it in your own words.

Consider the three “about”s and “because”s.

• What’s the relationship between sin and belief?

• What’s the relationship between righteousness and seeing Jesus?

• What’s the relationship between our coming judgment and the judgment of the ruler of this world?

John 16:8-11 (CSB)

^“8 When he comes, he will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment: ⁹ About sin, because they do not believe in me; ¹⁰ about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me; ¹¹ and about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.”

From JL

Today’s section of text reveals the Holy Spirit’s relationship with the world (in contrast to the Spirit’s relationship with the one who follows Jesus). It’s possible there are unconquered territories in your heart still, places where the world reigns. If so, consider the work of the Spirit we’ll describe below. If you are not in need of conviction in terms of sin, righteousness, or judgement, you may still be convicted by this revelation of the character of the Spirit. Understanding the Spirit as “against” the world (in order to possibly save the world) is an important layer in our comprehension of the character of God.

Here’s Biblical scholar F.F. Bruce writing about verses 8-11:

The Spirit is the ‘advocate’ or helper of those who believe in Jesus, their counsel for the defense. But in relation to unbelievers, to the godless world, he acts as counsel for the prosecution. In both respects he duplicates the work of Jesus: Jesus had been his disciples’ helper while he was with them, and at the same time his presence and witness in the world had served as an indictment of those who closed their minds to his message.

The Spirit’s prosecuting ministry is here expressed by the verb elenchō, meaning (according to the context) expose, refute, convince, or convict. His very presence will be a demonstration to the world which condemned Jesus that he was in the right and they were in the wrong.

Let’s consider the three areas in which the Spirit convicts the world:

First, the Spirit convicts the world about sin, because, according to Jesus, “they do not believe in me.” In his commentary on the gospel of John, Lesslie Newbigin writes:

The failure of the world to respond in faith to the coming of God in the humble person of Jesus is sin. From the beginning the Bible testifies that the root of sin is unbelief. It is man’s basic unwillingness to trust God for everything that is the source and substance of sin.

In other words, sin is unbelief; all sin finds its source in a lack of faith.

Second, the Spirit convicts the world about righteousness, because Jesus is going away and the world will no longer have a pattern or example. The Spirit will come to demonstrate the same righteousness Jesus did, one that does not align with the world’s view of right and wrong.

Third, the Spirit convicts the world about judgment, because “the ruler of this world has been judged.” Jesus’ victory over the evil one, accomplished through the cross and resurrection, is the moment of judgment for the ruler of this world (the devil, Satan, the evil one…). Once he has been judged, anyone who follows him should anticipate the same judgment. The Spirit will come and make that clear to people—Follow Jesus and you will be judged as Jesus has been judged. Follow the ruler of this world and be judged as he has been judged.

All of this is interesting to us as carriers of the Spirit of God. Are we convicting the world of sin, righteousness, and judgement? Part of doing so is active—standing up for what’s right, preaching the truth; but there’s also a kind of passive element—letting the way we live our lives (under the direction of the Spirit) convict others of their unbelief and unrighteousness, causing them to reconsider their allegiance in light of the coming judgment. I think the ideal is a life full of both, telling the truth in the Spirit and living the truth in the Spirit.

In the Comments

• Have you ever born witness to the Spirit’s convicting power?

• When have you see Him “prosecuting” the world? What was the world’s reaction?

Godspeed,

JL

To Start

Mother Theresa said, "In the silence of the heart, God speaks." Silence your heart and listen.

Pray

Yahweh, tell me a better story. Show me a better way.

Help me put aside what’s good to take hold of what’s great.

Read

Read John 16:5-7.

As you read consider…

• Verse five begins with the transition word “but” putting the content of verse five in tension with verse four: “… I didn’t tell you these things from the beginning, because I was with you. ⁵ But now I am going away…” What do the apostles need now that they didn’t need before?

• Jesus says, “Not one of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’” Have they not? What questions have the apostles asked in chapters 13-16? Skim the text. What do the nuanced differences between this question and the questions they’ve asked reveal about what matters to Jesus?

• Why are the apostles filled with sorrow?

• Tomorrow we’ll talk more about what’s good about the coming Counselor. For now, put yourself in the apostles’ shoes. Would it have been hard to imagine something better than life with Jesus in the flesh?

John 16:5-7 (CSB)

^{5 “}But now I am going away to him who sent me, and not one of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ ⁶ Yet, because I have spoken these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. ⁷ Nevertheless, I am telling you the truth. It is for your benefit that I go away, because if I don’t go away the Counselor will not come to you. If I go, I will send him to you.”

From JL

It is for your benefit that I go away…

We sold the house on Liberty to move into a beautiful new house just a few miles down the road. It backed up to a city park with walking trails. The kitchen was extraordinary. The girls had their own rooms. I had a spot for praying beside a giant picture window.

We’d known we’d eventually need to move for years. The Liberty house was a grab bag of problems. Holes in the 70-year-old wood floors. A front door that needed to be replaced. Termites. Feral cats living under the crawl space. And an air conditioning unit always on the verge of dramatic death. We loved the house, held onto it as best we could for ten years, always patching and painting and praying.

On my last day in the house, having cleaned it a final time, hands and knees dirtied with bits of a life I was leaving behind, I stood in the empty living room weeping, my chest heaving, my hands in tight fists trying to hold onto something I’d already lost.

It was the house, but it was more than the house. The girls were entering middle school. They’d have separate rooms. Looking ahead felt scary. If I didn’t have this house, the house they’d grown up in, the house with the pencil lines on the door frame to measure their heights, would I be able to look back?

It all felt like a kind of exile, like leaving behind who we’d been.

I loved who we’d been. I never wanted to leave that house.

But I did. I packed the cleaning supplies into the Kia, and drove away.

It wasn’t easy to get used to the new house. It didn’t have any memories yet. But we made some, and they were lovely.

After just a year in the new house, we moved out. God led us somewhere new—first to England, then Ireland and Croatia, France and South Africa, Italy, Greece, and Egypt. When I think of my favorite moments with my family, these are the moments I remember: a walk beside the English Channel, a sunset beside giant rocky outcroppings on the north coast of Ireland, thrifting in Rome, climbing Mount Sinai in the dark, summiting at dawn, Pentecost in the garden of an Egyptian sheik, tea made over a fire, Justin’s joy, London’s eager eyes, Eve’s embrace.

Now we live in the Ozarks in a house on a holler near a river. And it is perfect, too.

What would life have been like had we stayed in the house on Liberty? It would have been good. But God had more for us. It felt like a risk, letting Him take the good thing out of my hands, but I had to be willing to let go in order to take hold of something even better.

I think this is what Jesus was asking the apostles to do. I imagine it felt like exile at the start, but then, like going home.

In the Comments

Today we’ll use this section to share highlights from your comments a couple days ago. Here’s what it’s looked like for you to let go of one thing to receive another:

Yes, I have made a transition. I founded a nonprofit, Bridge II Sports, and adapted sports program to serve youth, adults, and veterans with physical disabilities through adapted sport in hopes they would find life again after profound brokenness. Twenty years later, many event, many lives' impacted, I felt like Yahweh was asking me to let that go. In December of 2025, I passed the reigns to another leader, and stepped down. I fully believe it was the right decision. I fully believe Yahweh is in it. Many have asked, how does it feel to let go of your "baby". I started it because I felt like Yahweh asked me to be a "light in a dark place, to shine a light as no-one flourishes in a box. I said yes. I have been seeking and asking where God would have me serve. I have been dealing with some health issues that are slowly coming into some compliance (LOL, as if I have much control over my body.). Yahweh gave me time to rest, focus, and pray.

Ashley Thomas

I remember being a junior in high school and finally feeling a sense of belonging. I had a super close-knit group of friends in my church’s youth group, and almost all of us were set to go to the same christian university. Then, on a college visit, I came to find out that they didn’t offer my desired major. I was devastated. The future I had envisioned was no longer possible. Doors were opening to another university and it started to all click into place. I see now that going to school with my youth group friends might have been fun but likely stagnant. God was offering me other friendships and opportunities and I’m so glad I took Him up on them.

Hope Smith

Here is something I’ve been struggling with over the last few years... I’ve shared about my church experiences over the last few years in other comments (moving from one city to another one, coming to a new church, and so on). For the last 2 or 3 years, though, MANY have left. Though there have been incredible reasons for many who have left (some to plant a church, another to lead a university Bible department), others who have left I’ve honestly taken very personally. I’ve felt a sense of betrayal and hurt. Also, I’ve blamed myself, trying to say if I had been a better friend, they’d still be there.

Through all of that, though, I’ve had this sense that we’re still where we’re supposed to be... I think what Yahweh has been trying to help me learn is that, while I was growing so much in my Biblical knowledge, I wasn’t growing in my trust of Him as much as I could have. My prayer life is far better now than it was, and I have a much better sense and confidence in the presence of the Spirit, too.

David Mohundro

I’m a second generation homeschooler who homeschooled my own kiddos for five years until I sensed the Lord asking me to be open to public school last summer. Our financial situation had changed dramatically after my husband left a very lucrative job, I was dealing with some unexplained health symptoms and mental illness relapse, and my kids were struggling academically as a result of my struggle to consistently teach them. As much as I hated the idea of public school, it felt like God was holding my hand while we walked in that direction. I literally panicked on the kids’ first day. And now, a few weeks away from finishing our first full year, I’m so grateful that this was where He led us. It took so much humility and letting go and trusting what I couldn’t yet see. But that one decision of obedience has borne fruit in all four members of our family (because of course it has.) 🙂

Bethany Welborn

(If you didn’t leave a comment already, we’d love to hear your story in today’s comments.)

Godspeed,

JL

To Start

Let’s be quiet and let God give us peace.

Pray

Yahweh, prepare us for suffering. Let Your Word make us strong.

Read

Read John 16:1-4.

As you read, consider…

We know the apostles are not in the upper room anymore. We also know they’re not yet in the garden of Gethsemane. In John 18:1 (two chapters from now) we read, “When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was a garden, and he and his disciples went into it.” So we’re somewhere on the near side of the Kidron Valley. Which means, most of John 15 and 16 are likely delivered as Jesus and the apostles walk through a cemetery; their likely path would have passed by tombs like these (one attributed to the prophet Zechariah, the other supposedly Absalom’s):

The tomb said to be Absalom’s probably isn’t, but the story of Absalom is worth mentioning here. The road Jesus takes out of the city and toward the Mount of Olives (where we find the Garden of Gethsemane) is the same road David took fleeing the city after being betrayed by his son.

How do the cemetery and the storied road out of the city underscore Jesus’ message? Why is this an appropriate setting for the speech?

• According to verse one, what is the purpose of Jesus’ discourse?

• Why does Jesus want the apostles to understand what’s coming?

John 16:1-4 (CSB)

¹ “I have told you these things to keep you from stumbling. ² They will ban you from the synagogues. In fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering service to God. ³ They will do these things because they haven’t known the Father or me. ⁴ But I have told you these things so that when their time comes you will remember I told them to you. I didn’t tell you these things from the beginning, because I was with you.”

From JL

Yet again we find ourselves considering the apostles impending suffering. Jesus says, “I have told you these things to keep you from stumbling.” Jesus knows that expected suffering is easier to bear than unexpected suffering.

If the apostles were to be blindsided by persecution, they might interpret it as a reason to quit. Perhaps God’s favor isn’t upon us. Perhaps we’re trying to do something God doesn't want done. I’ve seen this happen a hundred times. Someone’s sure they’re on the right path, but then they run into hurdles and second guess it.

Jesus is making it clear—Persecution is a part of the plan. Don’t be surprised. Don’t be knocked off your game.

In the comments this past week we had a few people share thoughts on living with opposition or hatred or rejection.

Bethany wrote,

I’ve really struggled with the idea of being a faithful Christian witness while also knowing there are these people in my circle of influence who hate (or strongly dislike) me, despite my attempts to compromise or reconcile. I guess somewhere along the way, I picked up the false belief that being “winsome for Christ” meant that everyone would like me. Ha! Jesus clearly puts this idea to rest.

I appreciated this comment, because I think somewhere along the line this belief did become popular—Good Christians will win the admiration of the world; if you’re unliked, it’s your fault. It goes hand in hand with a prosperity gospel that promises health and wealth to those who’re faithful.

Rosemary wrote,

I'm so tired of the N American church saying...obviously God won't let his church suffer. He will rapture us out. Well I'm not a dispensationalist and I tell them to read the Bible where it says that we will share in his sufferings. I'm done with being liked.

(Then she told a wonderful story about her time loving addicts and sex workers. It’s on Day 26. Don’t miss it.)

Passages like this one that promise a life of rejection, hatred, opposition, and suffering need airtime. They’re not cozy; I get it. But they’re absolutely essential. If the church doesn’t anticipate persecution, if they instead expect physical protection and ease, this kind of opposition will cause them to stumble.

It’s no wonder the biggest source of spiritual confusion and disappointment with God is in the category of pain and suffering. We haven’t done a very good job of underscoring its inevitability (and importance).

Consider other warnings and promises in Scripture:

“Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” (2 Timothy 3:12)

“For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake.” (Philippians 1:29)

“Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.” (James 1:12)

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” (Romans 8:18)

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

Jesus doesn’t hide suffering in the fine print. He leads with it: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must say no to themselves. They must pick up their cross and follow me.”

It might be a good idea for us to follow suit.

In the comments

Have you ever been shaken by unexpected suffering? What did God teach you in it? What made it possible for you to stick with Him?

Godspeed,

JL

To Start

One of my favorite quotes from Oswald Chambers is this:

Faith is the heroic effort of your life; you fling yourself in reckless confidence on God.

One way to fling yourself in reckless confidence is to sit in silence, to refuse to think or strive or discover your way into a plan. You might not think of silence as “heroic,” but it is. Try it today.

Pray

Yahweh, show us how to move forward with unshaken faith. Open us to Jesus’ words. Let them stand guard over our hearts.

Read

Today we’re reading John chapter 16, the last chapter of Jesus’ farewell discourse (not including His prayers in chapter 17).

As you read,

• Look for repeating words and phrases. What have you already heard Jesus say in chapters 14 and 15 that you’re hearing again here in 16? Do you learn anything new about those major themes here in this context?

• Consider Jesus’ character again. Who is He? Who are you discovering Him to be through repeated readings of the text?

• If you only had this chapter, how would you describe Jesus’ relationship with his apostles?

• Jesus spends a lot of time in this chapter talking about what’s coming. What IS coming? Make a timeline of the next two months. Be as thorough as you’d like. What’s about to happen to Jesus and the apostles?

• How does listening to this speech on the other side of the cross and resurrection change the way it’s interpreted? Consider:

1. Imagine listening and not knowing what was coming.

2. Then imagine remembering it as the events recorded in the book of Acts unfold.

3. Then finally, consider how our modern context shapes our reading. Can a modern American Christian understand this passage?

John 16 (J.B. Phillips)

^1-4 “I am telling you this now so that your faith in me may not be shaken. They will excommunicate you from their synagogues. Yes, the time is coming when a man who kills you will think he is thereby serving God! They will act like this because they have never had any true knowledge of the Father or of me, but I have told you all this so that when the time comes for it to happen you may remember that I told you about it. I have not spoken like this to you before, because I have been with you; ^5-11 but now the time has come for me to go away to the one who sent me. None of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ That is because you are so distressed at what I have told you. Yet I am telling you the simple truth when I assure you that it is a good thing for you that I should go away. For if I did not go away, the divine helper would not come to you. But if I go, then I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convince the world of the meaning of sin, of true goodness and of judgment. He will expose their sin because they do not believe in me; he will reveal true goodness for I am going away to the Father and you will see me no longer; and he will show them the meaning of judgment, for the spirit which rules this world will have been judged.

^12-15 “I have much more to tell you but you cannot bear it now. Yet when that one I have spoken to you about comes—the Spirit of truth—he will guide you into everything that is true. For he will not be speaking of his own accord but exactly as he hears, and he will inform you about what is to come. He will bring glory to me for he will draw on my truth and reveal it to you. Whatever the Father possesses is also mine; that is why I tell you that he will draw on my truth and will show it to you.

¹⁶ “In a little while you will not see me any longer, and again, in a little while you will see me.”

^17-18 At this some of his disciples remarked to each other, “What is this that he tells us now, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again, in a little while you will see me’ and ‘for I am going away to the Father’? What is the ‘little while’ that he talks about?” they were saying. “We simply do not know what he means!”

^19-23a Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him what he meant, so he said to them, “Are you trying to find out from each other what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you will not see me, and again, in a little while you will see me’? I tell you truly that you are going to be both sad and sorry while the world is glad. Yes, you will be deeply distressed, but your pain will turn into joy. When a woman gives birth to a child, she certainly knows pain when her time comes. Yet as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers her agony for joy that a man has been born into the world. Now you are going through pain, but I shall see you again and your hearts will thrill with joy—the joy that no one can take away from you—and on that day you will not ask me any questions.

^23b-24 “I assure you that whatever you ask the Father he will give you in my name. Up to now you have asked nothing in my name; ask now, and you will receive, that your joy may be overflowing.

^25-28 “I have been speaking to you in parables—but the time is coming to give up parables and tell you plainly about the Father. When that time comes, you will make your requests to him in my own name, for I need make no promise to plead to the Father for you, for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. Yes, I did come from the Father and I came into the world. Now I leave the world behind and return to the Father.”

^29-30 “Now you are speaking plainly,” cried the disciples, “and are not using parables. Now we know that everything is known to you—no more questions are needed. This makes us sure that you did come from God.”

^31-33 “So you believe in me now?” replied Jesus. “The time is coming, indeed, it has already come, when you will be scattered, every one of you going home and leaving me alone. Yet I am not really alone for the Father is with me. I have told you all this so that you may find your peace in me. You will find trouble in the world—but, never lose heart, I have conquered the world!”

In the Comments

Reading the text today I couldn’t help but notice the theme that Jesus must go to make room for something better. Over the course of God’s history with His people He’s often leading them through doorways, eliminating one way of being to make room for another. Practically speaking, I’ve seen God encourage me to let go of good things in order to embrace new and better things.

• If you’ve experienced this, please share. Tell us about a time when you had to be willing to let go of something (something that had been truly beneficial to your life) in order to receive what God had next.

  I’d like to use these stories this week as we dive deeper into chapter 16.

Godspeed,

JL