John

Check out all the previous John readings here.

John Reading Plan | Week 5, Day 4

Prayer

Pause for a moment of quiet and calm. To be fully present in both body and mind, inhale deeply and exhale slowly. Repeat this three times. Ask God to grant you His wisdom today.

Bible Reading: John 5:24-30

Read these verses three times slowly.

“Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.

“Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned. By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.

Reflection & Questions

If you are familiar with the teaching of Jesus, we can read these words today and not truly understand the weight of them. Jesus is responding still to the religious leaders who are persecuting him for healing on the Sabbath. Yesterday, we saw how Jesus claimed to be God. Today, Jesus says that He Himself will be the judge of eternities for people. That what people believe about Him will be the determining factor in their eternities. This is a shocking claim. And John includes now at this point of the gospel, to make us sit up and listen more intently. Jesus isn’t playing games. Eternity is at stake and what we believe about Him matters. This is what makes reading the gospels a great next step for our ONEs. If they are open to reading the Bible, have them start in the gospel of John. John will lead them on a path to understand the importance of who Jesus is and why we must decide for ourselves what we believe.

Jesus doesn’t hold back in his teaching and he tells us why: “for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.” This is a powerful example for us all. Who are we seeking to please? God? Ourselves? Someone else? Our answer to that, will shape how we do everything.

1. Have you become too comfortable with Jesus’ claims? How might remembering how shocking they are change your thinking and actions?
2. Who are you seeking to please with your life? How do you know?

Prayer

Talk to God in response to today’s reading.

Worship Song

You might use this song today to worship Jesus today:

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Questions?