Πέμπτη 3 Απριλίου 2014

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN - CHAPTER 19 - 21

CHAPTER 19 VERSE 6

Therefore when the chief priest and officers saw Him they cried out saying “Crucify Him, crucify Him”. Pilate said to them, “You take Him and crucify Him for I find no fault in Him.”

Here we see the cruelty of those who are not aware of God’s principles and invoke God with just words. A pagan king shows more love and God here in this case, then those who supposedly teach and were taught of the Old Testament where the Ten Commandments are stressed and invoked daily in the synagogue. Hypocrisy and fanaticism here has reached in fullness and the reason is because God came and brought equality and love among people (Love others as yourself) which love is to be towards neighbor, friend or enemy. But for those people who have received power in the name of God, given from evil, their actions can reach through fanaticism to the extent of perish. These people will do anything to protect their selfish benefits and not to lose their power. Let us be aware that the power given to people in authority to dominate the world and call themselves God’s chosen people is given and handed to them by us, through our ignorance of the word of God, because sadly almost all people are governed by the ignorance of God and through of these people who are governed by selfish, personal benefits we become followers to be exploited in their works. The way they cover their hypocrisy is by installing fear in us from childhood. And while we do not see in them the beauty of Christ but they resemble more as spiritual merchants who trade innocent souls, we still follow them due to lack of knowledge in God. Indeed, those spiritual merchants possess a hypocritical form of reverence so through them we are lead for centuries, generation after generation to lose. Let us begin to study so we can have awareness to what shall we condemn and when not to take actions against God so we become enemies of God. It is better for us to be excommunicated from the kingdom of the people than from the kingdom of God. It is better for the world to be ashamed of us rather than God to be ashamed of us.

CHAPTER 19 VERSE 7

 The Jews answered him, “We have a law and according to our law He ought to die, because he made Himself the Son of God”.

The godly form of the word of God became the natural Son of man. His divine nature led Him to be a pure man with the form of unaltered as a human who defeated sin. Deceit did not come out from His mouth; neither envy nor ego touched His holy soul. Also, He fulfilled the Mosaic Law and died to become the Savior and gave His life for ransom of many people who will believe in Him. He who will believe in Him and purify himself, he shall never die. He sacrificed His life for us to gain, through purity and love in His name, eternal life. We may encounter conditions that implore life sacrifice, if humanity is found under the power of people who do not want democracy and do not respect human or religious freedom of people. May God protect us and watch over us from such situations. These situations occur because the selfish interests and ambitions and egos still exist. 

CHAPTER 19 VERSE 11

Jesus answered “You could have no power at all against Me unless it had be given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin”.

Those who think they have power shall know that, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning”. And “Neither he who runs or wants but God the merciful”.  All powers are under God’s authority. Let us recall Herod who thought he had power and he was filled with bugs and so many other examples and events in the worldly and spiritual history of our world.  Those who have power in the material and spiritual places what they need to be is good stewards because soon or later they will find themselves in front of the judgment step of Christ and have to give reason for their acts. We have a parable indicating misuse of workers that God entrusted his vineyard.  

CHAPTER 19 VERSE 17

And He bearing His cross went out to a place called, the Place of a Scull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha.

In this case, in essence, symbolism does not exist, it is reality. Indeed, Christ went outside the gates and was sacrificed to sanctify His people and to implement the Law of Moses based on sacrifices. The essence here is holiness unto the people of God. How is it done? It is done through His sacrifice and whoever wants to deny himself and follow His teachings. Holiness takes place today, through the sacraments of the church. We shall emerged out of the gate and sacrifice our worldly pleasures or our life when the circumstances require it to do so. The gate symbolizes the ideology of Christ which is the word of God. 

CHAPTER 19 VERSE 18

Where they crucify Him and two others with Him, one on either side and Jesus in the center.  

Jesus was crucified by the fallen humanity which is unable to distinguish heaven from earth. He was not crucified by the driven conscious by God humanity. Everything was in the plan of God; the Father; so Christ can teach the love of God to people and to grant the great mercy. So people through the sacrifice of Christ may apply the law of God and through God’s mercy and grace may be regenerated and reach the icon and the image of God, which I hope for everyone to reach. Let this be done… Amen.     

CHAPTER 19 VERSE 23

Then the soldiers when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was without a seam, woven from the top in one piece.

The tunic symbolizes love, humbleness, living faith and righteousness which cannot be divided. Everything else may be lost, but never these above elements. 

CHAPTER 19 VERSE 26-27

When Jesus therefore saw His mother and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son!” Then He said to the disciple, “Behold your mother! “And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

John was the beloved disciple of Christ. Therefore, Jesus had to leave him in the loving hands of His mother-Virgin Mary- who was the most appropriate person. Also, Virgin Mary was the mother of the Lord and needed to be taken care off, so for this reason Jesus made sure that after He was gone to leave her in the care of His beloved disciple. He who would be with Virgin Mary was chosen by God because he had the elements of Christ and foster love as his master. So that is how John was chosen to be the most suitable and I wish we can all be likewise. Let this be done … Amen. John and Virgin Mary both entered eternal life through life. Love and obedience is the substances for us to gain the incorruptible life. Let this be done… Amen.   

CHAPTER 19 VERSE 28-30

After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!” Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished”. And bowing His head He gave up His spirit.

In the face of the Lord all the prophecies of the Old Testament were fulfilled. And that is how all prophets were vindicated because they spoke through the Holy Spirit. The later prophecies were announced from the Lord concerning the coming of the Paraclete (Holy Spirit) which will take place the coming years which we live in our days. Let this be done… Amen.


CHAPTER 19 VERSE 33-42

“Fire will not fall unto their heads unless it is the will of God”. The Father does not forsake neither the body nor the spirit of His Son but also He does nor forsake anyone who repents and works with sincerity the teachings of the Gospel. We shall have faith and trust in our heavenly Father. David prophesied the following, “And if I shall walk in the valley of death I shall not fear, the Lord is with me” God works and abides in all detail within the Son and to anyone who is working for the glory of God and the salvation of the world. Assuredly, whatever happens in our lives, if we do the will of God, let us be sure and increase in faith and trust that God will always be there and provide us with multiple heavenly and earthly possessions. Let this be done… Amen.

CHAPTER 20 VERSE 1

On the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.

Third day symbolizes the triune God; it symbolizes the third day were God will resurrect in the lives of the human kind. One day in God is a thousand years in people. Two thousand years have gone by and now we enter the third were God through the Holy Spirit and through the voice of God will be resurrected in our hearts. The stone which will be removed, in order for God to be shown, is the ignorance of the will of God, which reigns today in our whole planet. The Holy Spirit will expose the sin, the benefits, and personal ambitions. It will expose the lie which exists today in our whole planet and we have accepted the lie that the will of God is corruption and death. This stone, because of the misuse of freedom, it will be removed and will unclog the pores of our spirit. Amen.  

CHAPTER 20 VERSE 5-6

And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there.

John had respect towards Peter; as Peter being the leader of the flock of Christ, and he had respect and unconditional love towards all people even his enemies. All these elements and several other made God lead John to the peak of glory which is life through life. I wish to all to be like John. Let this be done… Amen.

CHAPTER 20 VERSE 7

And the handkerchief that been around His head, not lying with His line cloths but folded together in a place by itself.

As being God and human, Jesus was and is perfect and He knew to have an order in His life, so everyone can admire every detail in His life and will want to imitate Him. Great master our Lord Jesus Christ!!

CHAPTER 20 VERSE 9-10

For as yet they did not know the Scripture that must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again to their own homes.

The disciples could not comprehend how it was possible to resurrect from the dead, even though the Lord had told them before. Likewise, when we receive a calling from God we do not comprehend immediately because our old habits have become second nature and rooted deep in our lives and they prevent us to understand the teaching of the Gospel and the will of God. Thus, the disciples decided to return to the same lifestyle as before they met Jesus; fishing etc.. Because they thought the body of Christ was stolen. I have seen this fact many times in my life. People do not understand the call they receive from God, although they show as they understood. They follow for a while but then they leave, showing they never had good intentions to serve God with sincerity and sacrifice. So they return to the same. The call from God, in order to be understood, we need to take a sincere decision, to have love with acts of sacrifice and self-denial. How can it be possible to bring something into your life, whatever that is, if you are not dedicated to the cause? It cannot be done! If we believe that we are with God and do not practice His works we are deceiving ourselves. We are in an illusion and I hope we realize soon and repent with a sincere repentance and begin to practice meaningful relationships with our God and His messenger. A relationship full of elements of life, sanctification and participate essentially on the spreading the message of the Holy Gospel and work hard for the establishment of the kingdom of God on earth. Selfish interests and every day material cares sometimes lead us into deadlock and in great adversity. Instantly, we can realize the mistake. I hope it is not too late because the problems can be huge and it takes great effort and devotion to turn things around. May God enlighten His people to be always united and not to allow anyone to leave the flock at the time that God is building on this earth. Let this be done… Amen.   

CHAPTER 20 VERSE 11

But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb.

When we meet someone who has God in him and lose him, the grief is enormous and we will be weeping day and night. Let alone Mary, who she met God Himself! However, the weeping reveals great love; this weeping brings God to loves us and become the drive force in our lives. The love we say that we have towards God and people will be tested and will become sincere. Indeed, the judgment of God starts in the house of God.

CHAPTER 20 VERSE 12-13

 And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. Then they said to her, “Woman why are you weeping?”

The angels have many qualities and various missions. However, what is certain is that angels are sent from God in order to enhance people to become shareholders of the gifts of God. And Mary having so much love in her heart had celestial and heavenly angels to lead her to the redemption of soul and body and I wish to all of us to perform works of love so we can also gain the pleasing of God.


CHAPTER 20 VERSE 14-16

Now when she had said this she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking? She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, “Sir if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him, “Rabboni!” (Which is to say, Teacher)

Humor is one of the qualities of God and the Lord often had practice humor with His disciples to promote joy. What is wide comprehensible from the word of God is that Jesus came into the world to abolish the devil and his works. The Lord rebuked from Mary Magdalene probably the demons of envy, deceit, selfishness, materialism, fleshly desires, gluttony and wickedness. So Mary saw Him resurrected first and for her not to recognize Him immediately is due to natural human weakness; fear, confusion, carelessness etc…

CHAPTER 20 VERSE 17

Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me for I have not yet ascended to My Father, but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God’”.

The fact that the Lord did not allow Mary to touch Him it suggests that His relations with people regardless of gender were only spiritual, so virulent people fall into assumptions.

CHAPTER 20 VERSE 18

Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her.

This woman was chosen by God to be the first person; first woman, who loved the Lord very much, so for Him to announce by her His resurrection. She is also the first woman that saw the man Jesus resurrected. I wish we can be like her and resurrect God with in us and around us. Let this be done… Amen.

CHAPTER 20 VERSE 19

Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you”.

How the Lord did crossed the upper floor while the doors were shut? These and many more heavenly powers outshine the spiritual reborn in God people. “Peace be with you” is the salutation of God on the earth and more specifically to all humankind. Our soul shall find peace with the peace of Christ so we can increase God within us and around us. Let this be done… Amen.

CHAPTER 20 VERSE 20

When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.

By seeing the Lord risen and alive in front of them, the disciples were overwhelmed with peace and joy, because they also had lived difficult moments near the Lord, but now this joy is giving them infinite power to spread worldwide and broadened the idea of life and the resurrection of the dead unto all nations of the world.  They preached and spread to the world how we can achieve the redemption of our bodies as a result; today we see the accomplishments of God everywhere through the spiritual reborn people which I wish we belong. Many people think that the Lord entered the upper floor as a spirit. Let us be sure that the Lord, through obedience to His heavenly Father, saved His soul and His body. If we can believe and comprehend this, through the Word of God we will succeed also. Let this be done …Amen. Therefore let us be in perpetuity with God as heirs of God, coheirs of Christ and partakers of God’s infinite beautiful glory. Let this be done… Amen.



CHAPTER 20 VERSE 21

Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”

In another verse in the bible the Lord mentions “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” This allows us to think that through practice the will of God, we become chosen blessed vessels and we also have the power to continue the godly work of the Father on earth through people who God will send to us. As a result, God will act through us with divine powers and various miracles of faith. We are all capable to participate in the plan of God, depending on the mission, the decision, the purification and sanctification which governs each one of us. Amen.

CHAPTER 20 VERSE 22

And when he had said this He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit”.

The Lord granted them always the Holy Spirit either through His words or either by touch or with a murmur or through miracles that He performed in His entire life on earth. However, on the day of Pentecost the disciples and all those people who were there saw the glory of the Holy Spirit as we see it today. The powers and the beneficial energy of the Holy Spirit are infinite. I wish we all get to know the third person of God which will help us become spiritual reborn in God and through the Holy Spirit to be able to meet the spiritual world and the highest point culminating to the Son and the Father (God Himself). Let this be done … Amen.


CHAPTER 20 VERSE 23

If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.

When an emissary of God recognizes good intentions in someone else, he is able to stay with him and help him to flee from the voluntary and the involuntary sins. So by the obedience to God’s emissary, remission of sin takes place. However, if someone has the spirit of denial (refusal) and ostentatious, selfishness, showing off, egoism which takes the form of contradiction, the emissary flees away from this person respecting his freedom. So the sin remains. The Lord pointed out that whichever house you enter and they accept you, your peace may be with them; if they do not receive you the worst of Sodom and Gomorra will come to them because they did not accept God who represents happiness, peace, righteousness, health, life. I hope there is no such person in the voice of God to reject the call of God consciously. Denial is also, when we create a personal God and build individual kingdoms, based on material. Let us be reminded of the parable of the rich fool. Forbid this to happen.

CHAPTER 20 VERSE 29

Jesus said to him, ``Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.

The promise belongs to all of us who have not seen the Lord and through His power we act as if we have seen Him, inspired by His Spirit, His wisdom and we carry out godly holy actions in the worldly societies that we live in. These godly actions will redeem human kind from sin, corruption and death, building with in us and around us the kingdom of God. Let this be done …Amen.


CHAPTER 21 VERSE 1

After these things Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and in this way He showed himself.

The continuous visits of the Lord were intended to dissolve any doubts or infidelity the disciples might had as if the Lord was only a spirit. Jesus is body and spirit before and after His resurrection and that was what Jesus wanted His disciples to know. Let us all be assured that God is not the God of the dead, but He is the God of the living and this is what Jesus proved with His sacrifice on the cross His great mercy and glorious resurrection. Paul the Apostle says; the spirit which resurrected Jesus that same spirit will revive our corruptible bodies. Let this be done … Amen.

CHAPTER 21 VERSE 6

And He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat and you will find some”. So they cast and now they were not able to draw it in because of the multiple of fish.

The right side means the world of goodness and purity. Defeat the evil by good. So when we work the good we will find many fish (people) who want to get caught in the nets of God, like we were caught and wish never to leave them. Let this be done … Amen.

CHAPTER 21 VERSE 7

Therefore the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord! “Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment (for he had removed it) and plunged into the sea.   

The sea symbolizes the sin which separates God from people. The garment that Peter wore has infinite qualities. These qualities bring people close to God granting us eternal life in order to meet God face to face and reach the point to become the image and the icon of God. The elements of the garment are materialistic and spiritual; the spiritual is the fruits the gifts and the signs of the Holy Spirit. In a nutshell we shall emulate the life of Christ and make it our own life. The material elements of the garment are the food, which maintains life because it derives from nature, from the soil, from which the natural person has been created. All the components and elements of a person‘s anatomy we can identify them in the soil. So whatever element lessens from within us we will be able to replenish. Therefore by eating the fruits which earth produces we live by God and sustain the mechanisms of life. In continuation, there are other elements in nature, that we can discover, which have and can be formed and invaded, and by eating them they will provide us the power to eternal youth, and body fitness that will grant us eternal life. Whatever a mind can capture as a thought, it can be done and implemented. Otherwise we wouldn’t have the ability to think of it. Let’s think of how we have advance and progress from past years that the most advanced science back then couldn’t even capture as a thought. Nevertheless, let’s be aware that life comes from the soil; there we shall look in the soil and what soil produces. The garment will be given to the people of God when the spreading of the teachings of incorruptible life and sanctification of God will reign in our lives. Spread the living word of the living God is high importance to all of us. I hope we all understand this message in order to strive with all our strength to achieve our goals. Otherwise, if we ignore it, death and decay and old age and corruption will soon or later come upon us. Forbid this to happen. 

CHAPTER 21 VERSE 15-17

So when they had eaten breakfast Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these? He said to Him “Yes Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him “Feed my lambs.” He said to Him again a second time, “Simon son of Jonah, do you love Me?” he said to Him “Yes Lord You know that I love You.’ He said to him, “Tend My sheep”. He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me? Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me” and he said to Him, “Lord You know all things; You know that I love You “. Jesus said to him “Feed My sheep.”     

The Lord inquired three times if Peter loved Him and when Peter assured Him that indeed he loves Him, Jesus gave him the command to tend His sheep (young and old people). After the episode where Peter cut off with the sword the right ear of the servant the Lord told him “Put your sword into the sheath for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father and He will provide me with more than twelve legions of angels? How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled that it must happen thus? If any person was in the place of Peter would understand that the Lord was saying to him “My Peter I know that you love Me and you’re ready to be sacrificed but be aware We are three in heaven; the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit, with infinite powers. You will not teach the world with knives and guns but with My spirit; the spirit of peace love and righteousness. This is the significance of the three proposals of the Lord to Peter and the triple command placing Peter responsible for the sheep and lamb. In the same token, anyone else who has first place or initiative in God’s plan is responsible to teach with these virtues. The three proposals of the Lord to Peter identify the three denial s of Peter but also it shows to the other disciples Peter’s excessive love despite the fact of his fall. This is basically the meaning of the three requests of the Lord to give leading authority to Peter to guide the logic of His sheep. As we know the logic of the sheep (people) is in three stages; the child- the adolescent – and the adult. The catechism shall be proportional to the age and stage of the person and the support which is provided to be benefited for spiritual advancement.


CHAPTER 21 VERSE 19-22

This He spoke signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me.” Then Peter turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also had leaned on His breast at the supper, and said, “Lord who is the one who betray You? Peter seeing him said to Jesus “But Lord what about this man? Jesus said to him, “If I will that he remains till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.”

Love has two sides; two forms. One is to die for another even a martyred death and the other is a living sacrifice for life. A person cannot have both sides of love. Two people; one dies for the love of all and the other lives on to love. Christ died for the salvation of the world and John until deep old age preached love constantly with practical application among the Scribes and the Pharisees and among all opponents of the Lord. He was the indissoluble bond of love. John applied to the letter the “Love your enemies” Jesus is the begotten Son of God and John became through Jesus Christ with the Holy Spirit.  We see here Jesus invites Peter to follow Him and John followed and went with them uninvited.
a.Why? What led him to go uninvited?
Off course, not the lack of discretion.
b.Did John hear what was said to Peter?
c.How then can we know what happened between the Lord and the disciple or disciples?
d.If we believe that John did die, then what is the real meaning of verse 22?
If we knew the character of John, his simplicity, his calmness, his mental serenity, his love we will certainly knew and what happened after Peter’s remark. What we know is that John was the youngest disciple of Jesus and despite the fact that all disciples of the Lord were persecuted and slaughtered, John was preaching Christ message in the society of the Scribes and Pharisees, the terrible persecutors of Christianity, until his very old age. Even during the time of Christ tribulation he was there from beginning to the end. The character of John, his love, tolerance and behavior towards others exceeds all human cognition.
a. John was led by the Holy Spirit (like all people who are connected with Christ) to reveal the genuine conclusions who is John and who is Peter.
b. John did not hear anything, because Peter and Jesus continued to walk further when Jesus said to Peter “You follow Me”.
c. The Lord gave John the enlightenment to capture the meaning of His kingdom, because of his character and his virtues. (Which we can be blessed also if we approach John to the minimum). Also Jesus grants John wisdom and divine power to know what to say when confronted.
d. John himself says that Jesus did not say to him that he will not die but remain until Jesus comes again. However, “ I will “ is hypothetical form. If the Lord had said he will not die, it would have been a sure fact. However, in the Book of Saints it writes that John took his disciples and went into a field and after praying on his own he came over to his disciples and instructed them to dig a hole cross wide where he lied and placed a handkerchief on his face, after kissing him three times and covered him with soil the disciples went away sobbing. When they went into the city and told the event to other spiritual brothers they rushed to the place where they had left John dug and found nothing.

CHAPTER 21 VERSE 23

Then this saying went out among the brethren that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, “If I will that he remain till I come what is that to you?

John is the one who writes this and by humility speaks in this manner about himself suggesting that he is not any different from the other disciples. However, we all understand that the Lord gave John the incorruptible eternal life and he lives in divinity as a holy member representing with his example God until today. I wish for all to have his wise presence in our lives and for us to increase our relationship with God as John did. Let this be done. Amen.    

CHAPTER 21 VERSE 25

And there are also many other things that Jesus did which if they were written one by one I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.

All those other things, when we repent and find favor in God will be passed to us by the Holy Spirit in order to enrich our spiritual energy and be governed and moved by the Holy Spirit. Amen.

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ let us conduct spiritual battles so we reach alive the day of the Lord. I love you very much and thank you for your love and for your faith in Christ and in the Holy Gospel which we must have in our hands every minute in our lives. Amen.
 With love in Christ  

Thomas 

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