Day 4 Blessed by God are the truly servant-hearted

INTRODUCTION

Farewells are often difficult, and it sometimes makes no difference whether they come without warning or whether plenty of notice is given. I think of a friend who died suddenly of a heart attack in his early fifties, unable to say farewell to his family before he died. I recall other friends whose families knew for months or even years that their cancer may well end their lives. They had time to say goodbye, but it was still incredibly hard.

The Lord Jesus came to die. At the age of about thirty he commenced his brief three-year ministry: preaching, teaching, healing, casting out demons and performing various miracles. From the Gospels, we know that this was with his twelve disciples, whom he had chosen to accompany him.

John the Apostle is one of four authors who recorded the life and ministry of Jesus. Of his twenty-one chapters, eight are devoted to the last days of Jesus’ earthly life: his betrayal, trials, crucifixion and resurrection. His public ministry was finished. As John records, ‘Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father’ (John 13:1).

Chapters 13 to 17 of John are traditionally known as ‘the farewell discourse’. In early 2013, while I was the rector of the parish of Jamberoo, we preached a series of eleven sermons leading up to Easter that I titled ‘The Farewell Messages of Jesus’. Trevor, one of the wonderful wags in that church who preached a couple of the sermons, re-named them with an Aussie flavour as ‘The Hooroo Messages of Jesus’.

How to use this book

Over the next six weeks, I invite you to join me in seeing how lovingly and caringly Jesus prepared his friends for his death. You may be doing this as part of a small group, as a family or on your own. I have included seven sets of questions for group discussion or personal reflection. I have also included six outlines of talks, which may be helpful to some.

If you are using the book in the lead-up to Easter, I pray that these daily devotions may be of encouragement and challenge in your own Christian life, as they have been to me. I’ve devoted the week before Easter to thinking about Jesus’ arrest, trials, crucifixion, resurrection and ascension. Of course, the studies can be used at any time, not just in preparation for Easter.

May you be greatly blessed as you re-read John’s account, inspired by the Holy Spirit. John’s writings are the word of God, Scripture, and as such are ‘useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work’ (2 Timothy 3:16–17).

David Mulready, Arcadia Vale, NSW