Episode 12: Jesus : Glorious Promises Fulfilled
And just like that, another season is wrapped up. Today we’re reflecting on John chapters 6-12, and our big takeaways from this section of John’s gospel. Remember that you can access any of the transcripts to our online Bible studies on our website, as well as questions to dig into the passage a little more.
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What three words would you choose, to summarise your takeaways from John 6-12?
How has your confidence in Jesus grown?
Take some time to pray through your reflections.
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This episode is sponsored by Crossway.
Crossway is a not-for-profit ministry, publishing gospel-centred, Bible-based content that honours our Saviour and serves his church. For information, click here.
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The following is an uncorrected transcript generated by a transcription service. Before quoting in print, please check the corresponding audio for accuracy.
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Sarah: Welcome to the final episode of season ten of two sisters and a cup of tea. My name is Sarah. I live in the UK and as ever, I'm with my sister Felicity, who is in the USA. Felicity, welcome. Can you believe it? We're here. The final episode.
Felicity: I know, it's kind of been flying along, hasn't it? I'm surprised that we've got here. I think maybe it's because we're just doing a chunk of John's gospel. It feels a little like we're just pausing in the middle, which is exactly what we're doing, because we're not at the end. And it continues to be a really sweet time just dwelling on Jesus. I think it's just good to be in a gospel, isn't it?
Sarah: From that point of view, it's been really good. How have you found it? Kind of doing it after two year break. So the last time we were in John's gospel was two years ago. How has it been coming back into it?
Felicity: Good question. I was a little nervous about coming back into it, actually, because I feel like when we're in our season, and as I'm sure the listeners have picked up, we get a bit obsessed with whatever book we're in. So I was all in with John two years ago. I was a little concerned, know, how could I recapture the being all in with John? But actually it's just really compelling, isn't it? I think I've benefited from having a two year break in a way because I feel like I've renewed my love for this gospel and I think the time that I've spent in the Bible in the two years in between has really helped me in kind of getting to grips with what's being said here. What about you? How has it been for you?
Sarah: I think it's been a real joy to remember how much I enjoyed season. What was it, season four chapters one to five. Like, I think I've kind of forgotten all the riches of John. And then coming back into it, you're like, oh, yes, this is where we left off and this is what we're doing next. And, oh, yes, I remember that. This is how the disciples responded and this is what the jewish leaders were thinking. And I think it's just been really good to come back into it. And I think I would echo that comment that we're two years on in just reading the Bible for ourselves, in talking about it with one another, in having a bigger, broader picture of the Bible story. And that has really influenced the way that we've come to this. I haven't gone back and listened to any of season four, so I don't know how different our conversations would be, but I would like to think that we are continuing to grow in how we're grappling with this gospel. And I like to think that next time we come back to it, spoiler alert, we will. At some point, we will have grown even more in how we approach it and what that looks like. So I'm excited for that. But before we talk about any other seasons, let's talk about why we're going to spend a bit of time just reviewing where we've got to. We've kind of done John chapter six to halfway through chapter twelve. Why are we taking an episode to kind of look back on that?
Felicity: Yeah, that is a good question, isn't because it feels like we're maybe going over ground that we've already covered, which is exactly what we're doing, in order to just make sure we pause and dwell on what we have been talking about, what we've been reading, I think it would be tempting to just kind of, like, tick it off. Oh, great. Well, that's that done and move on to the next thing. But actually, we really want to be driving this to our hearts. And in my experience, and I think this is true of you as well, that as we reflect on things, then things sink into my heart more and there's more likely to be an impact that goes beyond just kind of knowing a bit more stuff about Jesus. So I think it's really helpful to just. I think it just helps process a bit, doesn't it? Just.
Sarah: Okay.
Felicity: And pulling things together so it's not just bitty, but actually, what is the whole thrust of this? Where has it taken us? Yeah, well, what's been your experience of that? So we do tend to do this most seasons, don't we? So what's been your experience?
Sarah: I think it's essential. I think it really helps me to root, it helps me to stop and really kind of pray through and ask the Lord. Lord, what have you been showing me? Where has this been landing on my heart? Where are the challenges coming? Where am I tempted to duck? What you've been saying, as you're saying, we want this to drive to our hearts. We want this to impact our worship. We want to be like Mary from last week, don't we? But in order for that to happen, I need time to process it. I don't think I'm a fast processor of these things. Like, I need it to let it sit and dwell and then have a chance to reflect on it with someone else is the bonus, really. So thank you for being here for that.
Felicity: That is an important thing to highlight, isn't it? That actually the value of talking about things, of finding someone to have a conversation with, even if they haven't been in the book. Sometimes I like just grabbing a friend, saying, this is what I've been learning, and even articulating that can be a helpful way of just embedding it a bit more. But what we're going to do this time round, as we review these chapters in John, is we have decided to ask each other what three words best describe your takeaways from this section of John's gospel. So that's how we're going to shape our time over the next 15 minutes or so. So, Sarah, do you want to kick us off? Give us one of your best things?
Sarah: Yes, I think maybe I should give you all three because I think mine do link into one another. So is that okay to do it that way?
Felicity: Yes. I worry that you're going to steal my thunder, but yes, go for it.
Sarah: Okay, so my first one is the word Lord. I think I've just been really struck. It's like really hit me in the face of how much God's name, the I am statements that he's chosen to reveal himself so clearly in this part of John's gospel and that actually that isn't disconnected from Yahweh and his covenant name throughout the Bible. And so Jesus is just solidifying who he is and how significant that he is the God of the Old Testament. He is. All of what God reveals himself to be, who he reveals himself to be, has come to light in Jesus, and that the weight of that in his interactions, in his statements, in how gloriously other he is to anyone else on this earth, I think that's really hit me in the face and it's been really good to see it afresh, but that leads on to my next word, which is promise. And I think we kind of were tentative in titling this season. Jesus promises fulfilled and each title has had a kind of promised kind of fulfillment. And I think we kind of saw some of it. But wow, have we seen the depth. And I'm sure we've only just scratched the surface as well. But I've just really enjoyed seeing what has been signposted. It's been a glorious journey back and forth from the Old Testament, hasn't it? I have really been helped by my Bible read through. That's been in the first five books of the Bible in the last couple of months. That genuinely has really helped me to see some of the connections and to see these promises. But I've just really enjoyed seeing these promises and seeing the, again, Jesus, he's the everything. He really is the answer to everything that's promised all the way through. So there's my first two, Lord and promise. Do you want to give your first two? I just don't want to take.
Felicity: I love that. I love the way that you've linked there, the depth of who Jesus is in terms of the Lord aspect and then how that is then very clear again and again through the fulfillment of the promises. I feel like there's something about that illustration of sort of diving deep down into the lake as we get into the Old Testament. I feel like you, as you're saying that you're swimming in the depths and it's been a sweet, sweet thing and.
Sarah: I don't even like swimming, but I am here and I'm ready for it. And it's making me more and more hungry to see more and more of these promises fulfilled in Jesus. And just what a joy and all the picture language that he's used to help us see the depth of the fulfillment as well.
Felicity: I think it really builds confidence, doesn't it? I think as we see that more and more, it gives us confidence not only in Jesus, but actually that the Bible itself holds together. This really is the word of life. Well, so my first two, they don't really flow as such as I'm looking at them now, I'm like, can I get a flow? My first one is power. I was struck again by just the signs and wonders that show us again and again who Jesus is. But not just the miracles, actually, his compassion and his personal interactions. I don't know, the feeding the 5000 is the kind of the headline one. And while that is a wow, but really the way in which he interacts with Lazarus, the raising from the dead. You can't get more powerful from that all the way through here, even just immediately getting across the lake, walking on water, these kind of things that we're familiar with. But then actually, when you have them in, I think it's been really helpful to read the chapters as a whole and not just isolate these instances. So you actually get Jesus as a person, a powerful, compassionate, tender, and seeing God sovereignly at work in everyday lives and the impact of that is immense. And we've been saying, I feel like we've been growing in the kind of, as we've been going through, more and more amazed that the Pharisees are not seeing the evidence of who Jesus, because these works, they say it all. That is just really evident in what Jesus is doing. So I'm really grateful that Jesus is powerful and that he shows us that and so we can be absolutely confident that this is the work of God. Like God himself is bringing about these things.
Sarah: And that power that you see in his works then backs up his words, doesn't it just really struck as he even just talk about the Ophelian 5000 again and you just go, actually. So for him to then say, I am the bread of life, and anyone who comes to me, I'll never drive them away. I'll satisfy your hunger and thirst. There's such power in his words there because of what we've just seen of him and his ability and his capacity to do what he's done.
Felicity: Absolutely. And so then coming back to your word, Lord, the full weight of Yahweh, of Lord being evident in Jesus, that is more and more believable. And this is the Lord that we have in front of us here, and so he is worth following.
Sarah: Okay.
Felicity: And then, so then I've kind of touched on this, but my second word is relational. Just really reminded that God has always promised to be with his people. And here we see a fulfillment of that in Jesus and his shepherding of his sheep particularly. I just think that kind of, like, just overflows throughout all the chapters is this kind of intimacy that he has with people. And we see it in the personal interactions. I love that he interacts with crowds, but also these sweet, sweet moments with individuals. Intimate, personally called by name. We hear his voice. It really makes me want to press into that relationship more and more.
Sarah: Yeah.
Felicity: And I'm going to go for it and give you my third.
Sarah: Oh, go. Okay.
Felicity: Yeah. My third is life. So more than just kind of giving us the truth, more than kind of telling us information about who God is. We have this vibrant full life being given by Jesus that is utterly secure. It cannot be taken away. And it starts now as we listen to and follow the voice of Christ. So like an invitation into full reality now with Christ by our side and the reality of life in that sense just really struck me.
Sarah: It's really good, isn't it? It's really good. Well, my third word is assurance. And I guess similar to what you were saying with the power comment, just that what Jesus says and what he does and then what he ultimately brings and what he promises for the future as well, it's just so full of assurance. We've got the weight of his character behind what he says, haven't we? And we've got these tender, these beautiful, these concrete words that we truly can hinge our life on. This is an eyewitness account. This is sure and certain. And these promises are for us. They're not just distant. They're not just for those who are there, like actually seeing Jesus face to face. They're for us now. And just coming back to kind of John's purpose statement in that as well, at the end of John's gospel that this was all written down so that we may believe and so that we may have life, as you were saying, life. And I just think Jesus has constantly and consistently moved towards us and moved towards people in this section with words of astounding truth and hope and assurance. And I feel so much more grounded in my hope that, well, in the kind of statement that what is my only hope in life and death, it is Christ. And I've just seen that all the more clearly, and my assurance has been bolstered in that and hooray, hooray, hooray, hooray, hooray.
Felicity: I think that's right, isn't it? And I think as that assurance has grown through all these things that we've been talking about, essentially every word that we've said here then bolsters that assurance and the confidence to then follow Jesus, to be all in with him and to really run towards the light rather than scurry for the darkness. And I think part of the contrasts that we've seen throughout these chapters between those who are against Jesus or those who are unwilling to even consider what he is saying and those who are willing to believe. You remember the blind man who says, well, tell me about him, and I want to believe, and he kneels down and believes and worships. The contrast between someone like that and then the Pharisees who don't even want to. They've decided already that anyone who trusts in Jesus will be chucked out the synagogue. And so I think that contrast helps me as I see Jesus in technical, vibrant reality here. I'm more and more persuaded. I want to follow him, I want to press into him, I want to go all in with him more and more. And I really want to hold that invitation out to others. I think it gives confidence. Do you know, this is Jesus. This is who he is. He is worth it. And that's just a great spot to be in, isn't it?
Sarah: It's really helpful. Do you know what? I was actually just writing an evangelistic talk this morning on John six. But having been through the whole section, I feel like my confidence to kind of really proclaim how good and wonderful and worth kind of getting to know this Jesus is. Has been so kind of enlarged over the last few, couple of months, really, isn't it? Particularly over the last few weeks as we've been in this. And it's been really good for our hearts.
Felicity: I agree. I agree. So I'm thankful. I think I've prayed this quite a lot in my own heart. Thank you for giving us the gospels. Thank you for showing us Jesus like this. That we don't have to wade through some kind of just theological truth. But actually you give us a person and we see him in action and.
Sarah: Stories and kind of people, as you say, relational. But we've kind of stopped halfway through the gospel, haven't we? And we have stopped at a significant point. Because Jesus is kind of. His face is now set towards his death. And the next time we pick this up, which isn't going to be for a while, but the next time we do, it's going to be a hugely significant kind of turning point in the gospel. Which I'll look forward to.
Felicity: Yes, absolutely, we will.
Sarah: Why don't you pray for us, Christie?
Felicity: I will. I'd love to. Father, thank you so much for Jesus. Thank you for giving us this account. Thank you for the ways in which you show him to us, that you show yourself to us through him. Thank you for the riches of the promise, the promises that we see in the Old Testament. Thank you for how the Bible holds together. That this really is the word of life. Thank you for the assurance, the confidence that we can have. As we seek to follow Jesus. And we pray, Father, that you would incline our hearts more and more towards Jesus. Please, would we be those who love to follow him, who love to be all in with him because this is where life is. Pray that we'd have confidence not just to do that in our own life, but to hold out Christ to others. And Father, we pray that as we move on from John's gospel now, we pray that our hearts would be shaped and challenged and changed and just soft to these truths as we go from here. And we pray this in your name. Amen.
Sarah: Amen. Well, what a joy. It's been a privilege, Sissy, to do this with you again, but I feel like it's such a grace from the Lord, isn't it, that we've really enjoyed doing this together. For those listening on, we've got some exciting ideas bubbling away behind the scenes. We're super thankful for Helen and Haley, who joined us back in the autumn, and they're working hard to really help us to serve you the best that we can. And we look forward to sharing more about what's going on behind the scenes in the next couple of months. But if you're not already, do sign up for our mailing list to be first in the know and we'll see you soon for season eleven.
Felicity: Looking forward to it.
Sarah: See you then.
Felicity: Goodbye. This whole season has been sponsored by crossway and we are so very thankful to them.
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