What unique title does John give Jesus in verse 1? The “Word” of “life”.
Why do you think John refers to Jesus as the Word? Give this some thought even if you’ve never been given a formal explanation.
“Jesus said He had not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it. He was the living, breathing embodiment of all the words God had been speaking to His prophets and scribes throughout the Old Testament. Even at creation, God spoke the words and Jesus created.”
John begins his letter with the premise that the God he knows is a speaking God. How does this encourage you in a culture that often portrays Him as mysterious, silent or unapproachable?
“It is encouraging; I would like to hear God’s voice more plainly. (I think, though maybe it would turn out to be rather scary.)”
Sometimes, I have to remind myself how much God wants to be known.
Who does Jesus tell Martha He is? I am the “resurrection” and the “life”.
When we can’t see what He’s doing, healing comes from remembering who He is.
[Jesus] didn’t tell [Martha] what He could do, rather He told her who He is – life itself.
Do you currently feel lifeless in any areas in your life? (Marriage, work, personal relationships, relationship with God, parenting, outlook, etc.) Don’t worry about what you should say, just let your pen flow.
“I have trapped myself in a pit of procrastination and need to choose chores before games and suppress my entitled, self-indulgent attitudes if I am ever going to get ahead of all my piles and messes. (Randy deserves better)”
Write a prayer asking Jesus to breathe His life into your situation. He has the ability to take what is barely breathing and revive it to wholeness. He can take what is dead and raise it to life, because He is the resurrection and the life.
“Yes, dear Jesus! Please do everything Kelly just said. Give me a new, fresh level of energy and determination. Help me want to work to please You, to please Randy, and to please myself. Thank You, Lord. Amen.”
How does Jesus describe this life in the Gospel of John 17:1-3?
“eternal”
Read the Gospel of John 5:24-26; verse 24 says we will not be “condemned”.
The Jews of Jesus’ day thought that they could have eternal life by doing what (John 5:39-40)? “studying the Scriptures”
Instead, what did Jesus say they needed to do to have life? “come to Him”
Life is Jesus, and anyone who comes to Him may have Him and all that He offers.
Dearest Rachel –
It’s somewhat surreal to see your notes about the passage regarding Lazarus’ raising, and it being applied metaphorically to those aspects of your life that you feel are ‘dead’ or ‘dying,’ especially from the perspective of your being literally dead at this point. And as I’ve said, I wouldn’t consider having you raised (even if that were possible; but is that a question of my lacking faith, or acknowledging that where you are is both where you’re supposed to be and better than anything on earth?).
What’s heartbreaking are assertions like this, about how you couldn’t see a way to escape from the cycle that left the house in perpetual disarray. You knew about it (as opposed to being oblivious to it), and seemed to desperately wanted to change (the bit about me ‘deserving better’ really twists the knife, as you’ve read how I would be more than willing to go back to those ultra-messy days if I could have you back). I know there were evenings when you would be bursting with energy to get stuff cleaned and done, but it got chewed up in the humdrum of washing every single recyclable item so it could be discarded, and before you knew it, that energy was wasted on things that might as well have just been thrown out as is, so you could direct your efforts to more important things.
But I didn’t sense much of this inner turmoil in life; I wonder if you were just that good at concealing it (or at least willing to set it aside so that you could enjoy what you really wanted to do, regardless of your conscience), or I was that oblivious to your feelings. If it was the latter at all, I apologize.
Regardless, at least I take comfort in the fact that you have managed to come to Jesus more closely than any of us down here has been (or is) able to, and I do expect that more than makes up for it.
Letters to Rachel 