Author: Jim Cantelon

Read John 11

Key Verse: John 11:50 “…it is expedient for you that one man should die for the people…” The raising of Lazarus from the dead was the final straw. The religious authorities were running scared. “If we let him go on like this…the Romans will come and take away our place (temple) and our nation”, they cried (v.48). Especially threatened was the high priestly clique. As long as there was no messianic movement attracting the attention of Rome, the high priest and this “country” were virtually in charge of Jerusalem and the rich temple income,...

Read John 9 & 10

Key Verse: John 9:25b “I was blind but now I see!” What a great story we read in chapter nine! Let me summarize it. Jesus is walking along and sees a man who was born blind. The disciples ask a question typical of orthodox religion of the time, “Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answers, “Nobody sinned here.” This offended the disciples’ religious sensibilities, you can be sure! He then goes through a little ritual of spit and mud and orders the blind man to find his way to the pool of Siloam. Onlookers must have felt...

Read John 8

Key Verse: John 8:31 “If you abide in My words, you are My disciples indeed.” I like the way the NIV puts it, “If you hold to My teaching, you are really My disciples.” The word “hold” is a strong verb; it speaks of mothers embracing their newborn, and ship-wrecked sailors clutching the life-line, refusing to let go. It speaks of commitment. Whenever young couples come to me for premarital counselling, I tell them there are three words to remember in terms of making marriage last. Those words are, 1) commitment, 2) commitment, and 3) commitment. The marriage...

December 2, 2020

Matt. 5 Retaliation vv. 38-42 – Part 1 Revenge is not vengeance. Revenge is vindictive. Vengeance, on the other hand, is retributive justice. Revenge is subjective; vengeance is objective. That’s why the victims of an injustice cannot avenge — only a court of law, or better yet, God himself, can bring vengeance. “Vengeance is mine; I will repay,” says the Lord.” (Ro. 12:19; see also He. 10:30). Only God can right the balance when an injustice has upset the equilibrium of his people. This is why “tit for tat” doesn’t work. The “eye for...

Read John 7

Key Verse: John 7:43 “So there was division among the people because of Him. The setting for this chapter is Jerusalem during the Feast of Tabernacles. As you read it, you get a fascinating insight into the uproar surrounding Jesus in the public sector: He really rocked the boat. For instance, He was an amazement to people simply in terms of His ability as a teacher — “How did this man get such learning without having studied?”, they asked (v.15). Some were sure He was demon-possessed (v.20); others couldn’t believe how immune He was to arrest, “Isn’t...

Read John 6

Key Verse: John 6:51c “…the bread I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.” Jesus certainly was skilled in alienating people. First of all there were His very exclusive claims to deity. Secondly, there was His flagrant disregard for the religious sensibilities of the Pharisees. Then there was His “lonerism”; He would get a big crowd, hanging on His every words, and thought nothing of walking (or boating, as the case may be) away. But the great offense was what is recorded in this chapter. A day after Jesus had fed the five thousand...

Read John 5

Key Verse: John 5:46 “…if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.” Can you trust someone who says he is God? Not likely. Maybe you heard the story of the pastor visiting a mental hospital. He walked by tow of the patients sitting on a bench in the sunshine outside the main entrance. “How ya doin’, Reverend?” one of them asked brightly. “Oh, quite fine, thank you,” replied the pastor. “And what is your name, if I may ask?” “Napoleon.” “Napoleon? The Napoleon?” “Yep!”, declared...

Read John 4

Key Verse: John 4:24 “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” I love this story. For several reasons. First, because Jesus was such a free spirit that He had no qualms about talking to a woman on equal ground. That ground, in this case was at Jacob’s well near Sychar in Samaria. But what made it even more astonishing, as far as onlookers were concerned, was the fact that this woman was a Samaritan and Jesus a Jew. Jews hated Samaritans, and the feeling was reciprocal. Secondly, I love it because it’s such and excellent example of Jesus’...

Read John 2 & 3

Key Verse: John 3:3 “…unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Have you ever been challenged to explain what you mean by the term, when you refer to yourself, or to someone else, as a “born-again” Christian? Maybe you’ve found it a bit difficult to say what you mean. If I can be so presumptuous, allow me to suggest what you mean! You mean that the kingdom of God is a spiritual reality–unseen except with newly-born eyes. Your physical eyes won’t do. Although, ironically, as useless as your natural eyes are, you can’t have...

Read John 1

Key Verse: John 1:18 (NIV) “No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made Him known.” I was riding the commuter train the other day and overheard a conversation between two college students sitting behind me. They were dismissing Christianity as untrustworthy because, “Noah’s ark was a fable. And the Bible was written by a bunch of guys we don’t know. How do we know if their writings weren’t the result of some drug-induced hallucination?” They were quite cordial about all this. Their conversation finally...

November 25, 2020

Matthew 5 Oaths vv. 33-37 – Part 2 “Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the Lord” (Lev.19:12). “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God…” (Ex. 20:7). In Jewish thought the name of God was binding. To abuse his name by invoking it without follow-through was seen as blasphemous. So, when it comes to truth is must, as one old theologian put it, “stand before God undraped” by any subterfuge. An oath must never be a cover for deceit. Jesus simply says, “Yes, is yes. No is no.” God is omnipresent...

November 24, 2020

Looking out the window from my desk I’m watching a squirrel preparing her nest for the winter. For her the rhythm of life continues as usual. For us, however, the rhythm is irregular and scary. As I write, the Internet news is all about the second wave of Covid and the distressing awareness that Christmas will be unlike any others in history. We’re being advised to stay at home and celebrate via Zoom and FaceTime. The popular song ,”It’s the most wonderful time of the year” rings hollow. So it’ll be a truncated Christmas day socially, but it needn’t be spiritually. This will be a time to revisit...