The Gospel of John: John 13.12-26

Read and meditate on John 13.16, 17.
Every Christian wants to know the blessing of the Lord. But for us to be blessed, certain conditions must be met.

                                         ¹⁶“I say to you,
a servant is not greater than the one
he serves; and someone who is sent by one
cannot be greater than his sender. ¹⁷And
if these examples you can understand,
then you are blessed if you do likewise.

- John 13.16, 17

Reflect
1.  Certain words enter the vocabulary of a Christian, some of which we do not understand as well as we should. Blessed is one of those words. What is your sense of what most Christians mean when they use the word blessed? What do you mean? Complete this prayer: Lord, I seek Your blessing, and I want to be blessed every day. That is, I…

2.  Blessed has its origins in the Old Testament. The blessing of rested upon His creation (Gen. 1). God promised Abram that He would bless him (Gen. 12.1-3). The root of the word makes reference to the knees, as if being blessed had something to do with our knees, perhaps being on one’s knees. Suppose what God was saying to Abram was something like, “I will put you on your knees before Me, so that you may know and serve Me, and I may fill your life with every good gift.” How would thinking of being blessed like this affect what we mean when we pray that the Lord might bless us? Lord, do not let me seek Your blessings more than I seek You, for You are…

3.  Was Jesus blessed of God? In what ways? Did He have the sense of being in God’s blessing? Did that mean that His life was going to be all good things and smooth sailing? How does Jesus seem to have understood the idea of being blessed? Lord, You have called me to follow You. I want to follow You into the blessing of our heavenly Father, and I’m willing to follow You today into…

4.  How do we experience being blessed? That is, what do we feel? What do we know? When we are aware of being blessed by God, are we more likely to be at peace, and to feel safe, or to be disturbed and uncertain? Why? What is the effect of being blessed on our soul (mind, heart, conscience)? Does this make being blessed a condition to be desired? Explain. Lord, I want to be blessed every day, because…

5.  The blessing of God is not distributed willy-nilly. God loves even those who do not love Him, as Jesus explained (Matt. 5.43-45). But He does not bless them. For whom is God’s blessing reserved? Does this condition earn the blessing of God, or express that blessing? Explain. What are the implications of this for our daily lives as believers? Bring together into one prayer the prayers you wrote for questions 1-4.

Summary
“It is not the knowledge of virtue but rather the practice of it that may be appropriately called worthy of both love and enthusiasm.… Whenever actions go hand in hand with knowledge, then assuredly there is no small gain. But when either is lacking, the other will be seriously crippled. And it is written, even faith apart from works is dead. Although the knowledge of God who is one even in nature, and the confession of God in guilelessness and truth is all included in faith, even this is dead if it is not accompanied by the bright light that proceeds from works. Surely, therefore, it is utterly profitless merely to know what is good and yet have no desire to practice it at once.” Cyril of Alexandria (375-444 AD)

Believers are blessed to be a blessing to the world. The life of blessing begins with us on our knees, having been brought there by Jesus, in the power of His Spirit, to adore our heavenly Father and receive our daily instruction, guidance, and provision. The blessing we know in God’s presence goes with us for joy and rejoicing as we obey Him in all our daily tasks. Thus we who are blessed become a blessing to others. What can we do to maintain this focus throughout the day?

Closing Prayer
Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity,
And in whose spirit there is no deceit.
When I kept silent, my bones grew old
Through my groaning all the day long.
For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;
My vitality was turned into the drought of summer.
Selah
I acknowledged my sin to You,
And my iniquity I have not hidden.
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,”
And You forgave the iniquity of my sin.
Selah
For this cause everyone who is godly shall pray to You
In a time when You may be found;
Surely in a flood of great waters
They shall not come near him.

Psalm 32.1-6

Psalm 32.1-6 (Hendon: Take My Life and Let It Be)
Blessed are they whose sins the Lord has forgiven by His Word!
Pure their spirits are within; them He charges with no sin;
Them He charges with no sin!

When in silence I remained, groaning in my sinful pain,
You Your hand upon me lay; all my strength You drained away,
All my strength You drained away.

I confessed my sin to You; You forgave me, ever true!
Let confession’s pleading sound reach You while You may be found,
Reach You while You may be found.

T. M. Moore

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing adapted from The Ailbe Psalter. All quotations from Church Fathers from Ancient Christian Commentary Series IV a and b: John, edited by Joel C. Elowsky, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006. Verse translation of John by T. M. Moore.