Entrusting Faithful Men

It was the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, a celebration of God’s provision in the wilderness during the Exodus. Earlier in the day, Jesus had promised the crowd that “rivers of living water” would flow from their hearts if they would only follow and trust in Him (see the previous post). Division arose among the crows about His identity.

Jesus continued teaching later that day, probably in the evening, for He says in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” One of the hallmarks of the Exodus was God leading the Israelites in the wilderness going before them as a pillar of cloud in the day and pillar of fire at night (Exodus 13:21). In Exodus 14:19-20, the pillar of fire moved between them and the pursuing Egyptians, giving light to the Israelites and casting darkness on the Egyptians. Thus we see both judgment and salvation of the Lord.

God’s glory and His presence is often referred to in terms of light. When God first declared that He was “I am that I am”, He was appearing to Moses as light in the form of a burning bush. God is the source of true illumination. The prophet Isaiah recorded, “I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the Lord, who does these things.” (Isaiah 45:7). Earlier he had recorded God’s plan for a new covenant to be a light to the nations. (Isaiah 42:6) —“I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations.” John reminds us in John 3:16-21 that God so loved the world that He sent His Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life . . . the light has come into the world . . . But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

In John 8:20, we have an interesting statement. John records “These words He spoke in the treasury.” Now, why did John include that statement, just out of the blue? A little research reveals that the temple treasury is in the Court of the Women. Now in the Court of Women stood four 86 foot high lamp stands, each with a golden bowl in which a fire could be hosted, perhaps similar to the bowl of the modern Olympic flame (see the illustration below from the ESV Study Bible linked from http://www.boundless.org/2005/images/articles/1863_complex.jpg). The temple stood as the highest point in Jerusalem and the light of these four lamp stands would be seen from the entire city, reminiscent of the pillar of fire in the Exodus. continue reading…

Much has been preached and written about the Garden of Gethsemane and Jesus praying there the night before His crucifixion. But last week as I was preparing to conclude a seven week study of the “I AM” statements of John with a focus on “I am He” in John 18:5, I came across a detail in John’s eyewitness account of the events that caught my eye and took me off on a fascinating rabbit trail. The Biblical writers, under the inspiration and guidance of the Holy Spirit, provide details for specific reasons. No detail is irrelevant and no relevant detail is omitted. II Timothy 3:16 tells us that “all scripture is inspired and profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness”. Often times amazing insights can be gathered from the details – gold nuggets can be found if we just turn over a few stones!

In John 18:1 we are told that Jesus went out with His disciples across the Kidron Valley to the garden. Where is the Kidron Valley? Gethsemane is positioned on the slopes of the Mount of Olives directly west of the Temple and about one-fifth of a mile from the Temple. The Temple was the highest point in Jerusalem and it would be very much in view from the Garden. Between the Temple and the Garden was the Kidron Valley – a wadi ( a wash that was dry except for the heavy winter rains, when it could become a pretty wild river).

So what is the significance of Jesus walking through the Kidron Valley? The Old Testament tells us that during the period of the divided kingdom, there were continue reading…