Prior to his arrest in John 18, Jesus prayed fervently for himself, his relationship with his Father, his disciples (who are certainly experiencing confusion and perhaps fear), and for all who would become believers in Jesus for their salvation.
But what was the overall focus of his prayer? What was on his heart as he faced a cruel and unjust death by crucifixion? His family? His mother? Or perhaps his closest disciples, the ones who would be leading the mission in the years beyond Jesus’ crucifixion. Was he concerned about their ability to carry the mantle of leadership?
Or was he thinking about his death and how terrible that would be? Certainly facing an execution in the form of crucifixion was one of the worst horrors among forms of Roman capital punishment. Perhaps we might understand that, as fully man and fully God, it could occupy much of his thinking.
Before we dig further into the Scriptures, let’s imagine for a moment what might fill our thoughts. Would it be our families? The false accusations against us? Or, if you were Jesus, would you think of tapping the power you have to overcome the Roman and Jewish leaders, never facing any of this terror?
Let’s look at John 17:13-26 and see if it gives us insights or teachings that might help us understand Jesus’ focus regarding his mission and followers.
How Jesus Prays for His Disciples
Starting in John 17:13, notice how Jesus prays for his disciples. He longs for them to share life together, like Jesus and his Father, along with the Spirit, finding a rich, deep community that has existed before all time. Christ is thinking of his Church, and what may happen after he leaves, as the movement progresses and moves forward.
But he’s not primarily focusing on how many followers will soon be attending (as we often do), or the kind of church buildings they might need to erect, or similar matters.
No, he is focused primarily on the kind of people who will make up the church, people whose lives emulate the ways and teachings of Jesus, and the Father and the Spirit. People who practice what it means to be a follower of Jesus living in a challenging and difficult world. He wants a new kind of Community to emerge, one based not on laws but rather on grace and truth (see John 1:14). These followers will have the kind of life that will draw people toward.
Jesus Wants to Share His Joy With You
What does Jesus want to see? The same kind of life he has shared with the Spirit and the Father.
“I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them” (John 17:13 NIV, emphasis added).
Jesus tells the Father he wants the same joy they share to be present in his followers, in his growing church. This is a confusing prayer to some extent. He’s headed to the cross, yet he says he wants his followers to have the joy that he shares in that moment with the Father. How could anything related to crucifixion produce an ounce of joy?
We read elsewhere in Scripture (Heb. 12:2) that for the joy set before him, he endured the cross. Could it be that it’s not the cross but what’s on the other side of it — and not just the resurrection, but what is purchased on that cross, who is set free, how the Kingdom of God advances despite the efforts of the evil one?
It seems that Jesus wants us to find joy as we pick up our crosses and go after him, filled with his joy — not a light happiness or momentary rush or thrill, but something that resonates from deep within, borne of the Spirit, energized by the Son, guided by the Father.
The Joy of Jesus’ Community
How is it that we can at times experience joy that is a deep, spiritual, God kind of thing? Others might look and wonder how we find such a joy, but we know that we share it with Jesus who fills us with something beautiful and wonderful, and that resonates within us so that we may face the world with such joy.
I remember my daughter performing with about six other girls in a recital when she was in second grade. She was not following the choreography, not doing the dance steps the others were doing. Other parents were watching and wondering, “What’s wrong with that girl?” Her instructor saw only this utter failure. A quick glance at my wife and I, smiling through the lens of our video recorder, suddenly registered with others in the room. They knew.
We were thrilled. We experienced a deep, unstoppable joy. Not because of her performance (which was totally out of sync with the others). We smiled because she is ours, she belongs to us, in that parental relationship where deep within, is a joy some experience when others only see failure.
And so Christ finds deep, abiding joy in the disciples, knowing that he will be with his followers forever, and together with the triune God, we will celebrate Community — and we will smile.
Putting Truth Into Practice
Now we move to verses 14 and 17 in his prayer: “I have given them your word and the world has hated them, … Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:14, 17 NIV, emphasis added).
The truth is at the core of any Christian community, especially biblical truth. It cleanses, purifies, encourages, grounds us and speaks with strength in the face of evil. And believers — as well as others — know it has transforming power. But it has to be put into practice.
“Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
I was leading a Bible study of businesspeople and one of the participants shared a powerful story about putting truth into practice. He described how he came home one night and opened up his bag and saw a note from his executive assistant inside. The note read something to this effect.
I’ve been working as your assistant for about six months now and wanted to give you a little feedback. In other places I have worked it was pretty common to hear snide jokes and negative comments about women’s bodies and other demeaning gestures and comments. I’ve been paying close attention to how you speak, act, and treat me as a woman in the office. I am pleased to say that you have been a stark contrast to my previous experiences. You often encourage me and you never speak down at me. You certainly don’t make comments about me as a woman in negative sorts of ways. It’s so refreshing. I just wanted to let you know and I’m grateful to be working for you. Thank you.
Jesus certainly desires his followers to engage with the world with integrity, honesty, truth, and consistent and positive language toward others. It’s the kind of church he prayed about and dreamed about.
The Impact of Prayer Against the Evil One
In John 17 Jesus also raised the value and impact of prayer, especially in verses 15 and 16. In verse 15 he specifically focuses on prayer against the evil one.
“My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it” (John 17:15–16 NIV, emphasis added).
He could’ve prayed for their healing, their protection, the strong and vibrant growth of the church, or any number of things. But he focused on protection from the evil one.
Why was this so essential?
Because the evil one wants to divide and conquer — to destroy and break down the power of community, to foster division and arguments and fights. These activities are in stark contrast to the oneness and community Jesus prays about and longs for in his church. In verse 11 of this chapter he asks the Father,
“I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one” (John 17:11 NIV).
The “oneness” Christ is praying about can also be described as transformational community, something Christ modeled among the disciples throughout his ministry, and especially for extended periods of time in the upper room where he modeled this oneness. He prays against the evil one because he seeks to destroy and break down peace and create division. Ever since his efforts in the Garden of Eden, he has been attacking God’s people in these ways.
Christ Is Sent From the Father, and in Turn Sends Us
Now Jesus shifts to the Church’s mission. Few things bring people together in a more unified way than sharing a common mission, a common cause, one that is worth living and dying for. Jesus had such a mission and cause. And he asked his followers to line up with this and follow him and remain committed to it even when he would be gone.
“As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified” (John 17:18–19 NIV, emphasis added).
Verses 18-19 emphasize sending the disciples as Christ was sent into the world. Christ was set apart and sanctified for his mission. He was prepared. He was focused and he sought to share his love, truth, and mission to the world. A mission takes us beyond ourselves. It calls a group of people together to work together and create change and impact for the cause of Christ. It keeps us from being self-centered and prevents us from being inner-focused.
Self-centered nations are isolationist.
Self-centered corporations are greedy.
Self-centered families are dysfunctional.
Self-centered churches are sinful.
Jesus emphasizes oneness again in verses 21-23 because there is power in small groups. This is why I devoted my life to helping churches and other organizations build small groups and effective teams that are dedicated to growth and a transformational mission.
But that mission cannot be accomplished alone. Again, this is why Jesus focuses so much on oneness, coming together in his name, practicing loving community, and sharing that with the world. Most churches started out small but multiplied and traveled across the world in small groups and teams, showing what Christlike community looks like in action.
Groups clearly are powerful, and I have spent most of my life helping churches and other organizations use small groups for discipleship and growth. My new book,How to Lead a Life-Changing Small Group, is filled with resources to help people accomplish that goal.
Listen to anthropologist Margaret Mead on the power of groups: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
The Church Must Return to the Practice of Community
Finally, let’s complete our study of John 17:13-26, and turn to Jesus’ final request to his Father to share Christ’s glory, and end the prayer calling for his love to be in his Church just as the Father’s love is in Jesus.
“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them” (John 17:24–26 NIV, emphasis added).
It’s time to refocus our churches on this practice of community. This is why it was so much on Jesus’ mind and heart, even as he faced crucifixion. In many cases, we have drifted from this oneness community. We started in the right direction when the church was birthed in Jerusalem. In Jerusalem it was a lifestyle; in Rome it became an institution; in Europe it became a culture; and in America it has become an enterprise. Along the way we …
Institutionalized it, overemphasizing structures and strategies.
Theologized it, emphasizing the brand over the bride.
Politicized it, separating Left and Right.
Televised it, emphasizing the popularity of certain churches or leaders.
Romanticized it, believing we should reproduce the first-century church because it was so wonderful and pure.
Sanitized it, making sure people cleaned up before they were invited in.
And franchised it, emphasizing our model over our mission.
The early church was a movement, not a monument. It was known as People of the Way, gathering in larger meetings and in smaller groups for deeper fellowship, mission focus, and prayer and worship.
So today we must ask ourselves, “Do we want to be People of the Way or are we just getting in the Way?” Let’s continue what Jesus started, what he prayed for even as he was headed to the cross: emphasizing community and mission.
Step into your leadership calling with confidence.
We are created for community — for connection that nurtures true spiritual growth. But growth doesn’t happen by accident. As a leader, you need practical, trusted guidance to create an environment where the people in your group feel safe to share, grow, and experience God’s grace together. This resource provides the biblically based tools you need to lead transformational groups while deepening your own faith along the way.
Whether you’re stepping into a small group leader role for the first time or you’re a seasoned minister, your heart’s desire is the same: you want to see lives transformed. How to Lead a Life-Changing Small Groupis your essential companion on this leadership journey.
Though still four years off, preparations are underway for a major milestone for Christians around the world.
Two thousand years ago, John the Baptist baptized Jesus in the Jordan River (Matthew 3:13–17), and we’ll be able to celebrate that moment together on the banks of the very river where Jesus was identified as God’s Son and started his public ministry.
This is more than a blip on a religious calendar; depending on your faith tradition, it symbolizes repentance, renewal, rebirth, and resurrection. It’s the moment we hear the Father speak, watch the Spirit descend, and witness the Son revealed.
Yet while it is clearly a spiritual event, this anniversary is also a geopolitical event.
Though the exact date of Jesus’ baptism is not known, the year 2030 is widely accepted by governments and Christian leaders as a commemorative date for planning. Both Israel and Jordan have taken the lead to be ready for the event, but in different ways.
Israel Appoints Special Envoy to Christian World
The Israeli side of the Jordan River baptism site, known as Qasr el-Yahud, has only been open to tourists since 2011, when it became part of a national park after landmines were cleared and the area developed to handle tourism.
Just three months earlier, Israel’s Foreign Ministry, hoping to build bridges with Christians around the world, created a special envoy dedicated to outreach. By appointing a Christian to lead, Israel is sending a clear response to several scandals that had dampened the country’s relationship with Christian leaders in recent months. The hope for the special envoy was not only to increase dialogue with Christian churches and leaders globally, but also to coordinate their efforts with other Israeli government agencies to make the baptism pilgrimage safe.
Jordan Improving Infrastructure Around Jesus’ Baptism Site
On the other side of the River, Jordan has been busy as well.
King Abdullah II started the process in late 2022, directing the government to fully support the baptism-site initiatives through improvements to local infrastructure, such as shops, walking trails, and hotels. Earlier this year, in a meeting with leaders from the Orthodox and Catholic churches, he reiterated his support for making pilgrimage to the site possible while assuring them that any improvements made to the site would not violate the sacred nature of the place.
Jordan seems to be leveraging the event not just to cement their status as a place for religious tourism and interfaith access, but as a kind of national identity using the UNESCO status of “Bethany Beyond the Jordan (Al-Maghtas),” the traditional location of Jesus’ baptism. They have surveyed 34 Christian or Biblical sites, and will launch a digital platform with the baptism site as the central focus of the project, all with the goal of making religious tourism easier.
Both Countries Hope to Recover From Tourism Losses
Just as Jesus’ baptism was a turning point in his earthly ministry, it may be a turning point for the two nations preparing for its anniversary.
The same place Jesus emerged from the Jordan River is the place we now find the intersection of Christian pilgrimage, diplomacy, religious access, and tourism in the midst of tumultuous times.
First, the pandemic hurt tourism, with numbers only beginning to recover when the Israel-Hamas war began. Both events have hurt tourism for both Israel and Jordan. Israel’s tourism numbers are down about 80% since the October 7 attack, while Jordan is facing a similar struggle at many of its tourist sites. The 2,000th anniversary of Jesus’ baptism looms large, not just for Christians, but for nations struggling to recoup those losses in a region that remains questionable to many travelers.
Religious leaders and government officials are working hard to keep the focus on the importance of spiritual pilgrimage instead of politics. In the meantime, they are focusing on outreach to Christians around the world, preparing them over the coming four years, while internally building the safety and infrastructure necessary to convince millions of followers of Christ to follow his footsteps to the edge of the Jordan River.
The female body is a beautiful part of God’s design. Many in the Church may not feel comfortable thinking about how the menstrual cycle demonstrates this and without taking a careful look at the whole of God’s word, we can miss what he has to teach us through the cycles of women.
To do that, we must look back to the ancient laws and cultural views that shaped how women — and their menstrual cycles — were perceived.
The Law and Our Bodies
The law of Moses states that women are unclean during their periods. Numbers 5:2 (NIV) says:
“Command the Israelites to send away from the camp anyone who has a defiling skin disease or a discharge of any kind, or who is ceremonially unclean because of a dead body.”
The discharge would have included women on their periods.
As a woman and an Integrative Nutrition Health Coach specializing in hormonal health, I’ll be honest with you: reading this in Numbers or Leviticus 15, it can be hard to believe the design of the female body is a beautiful gift:
“When a woman has her regular flow of blood, the impurity of her monthly period will last seven days, and anyone who touches her will be unclean till evening.
“Anything she lies on during her period will be unclean, and anything she sits on will be unclean.” — Leviticus 15:19-20 (NIV)
Hard to read, isn’t it? Those considered unclean were separated from God’s presence and their community. They were sent to the outskirts of town and could return to fellowship with God’s people only after waiting their allotted time, undergoing a cleansing ritual, and offering a sacrifice.
As I work with women, I have had to wrestle with this passage. I believe we are in fact being invited by the Lord to view the female body as a beautiful, God-given vessel that has been intentionally and wonderfully made (see Psalm 139:14), even during menstruation. But in looking at these passages, where is God in all of this? How could our periods possibly be worth celebrating? And even scarier, does he see women as gross and unclean?
Where It All Went Wrong
Within Genesis 3, we are presented with the consequences of Eve’s actions: pain and suffering. Every human faces this on a daily basis, but women specifically have a bodily consequence:
To the woman he said, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” — Genesis 3:16 (NIV)
I’d love to say, “Thanks, girl!” with an eye roll, but if I really think about it, I cannot say I would not have eaten that fruit either.
Many have called periods “the curse” as a result of this passage and how the monthly shedding of the uterine lining prepares a woman’s body to carry children in the cycle ahead.
There is a running theme in the Bible of women in pain, from Hagar in Genesis 16 and Naomi in the book of Ruth within the Old Testament to the woman with the issue of blood in Matthew 9 in the New. Emotional and physical pain are not foreign experiences for us. It seems unfair — but there’s a beautiful story here that points straight to Jesus and his redemption.
The Blood Shed for Us
Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice, and through his blood that was shed, he brought forth new life. Like our cycles, and much like birth, it was the shedding of blood for the bringing of new life. Who can better relate to us than the one who bled for you and me? God humbled himself to be born in a stable, screaming and covered in blood from a woman’s body. He would go on to heal women and girls, never afraid of becoming unclean by their touch, but healing them physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
Hebrews 13:11–13 perfectly captures the beauty, awesomeness, and grace of Jesus:
“The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore.”
Jesus not only saw our pain but took it upon himself and joined us in it — so when we retreat to the lonely corners, the isolated spaces, or the places we think no one else would ever follow, we find him already there, waiting to restore us.
Imaging the God Who Came to Make Us Clean Again
Here’s an invitation to see your menstrual cycle in a different light: as a representation of God’s selfless, redeeming love. In fact, God redefines the world’s perception of love and cleanliness. While the world defines our period as gross and unclean, God sees it as a sacred, divine reflection of his grace, power, and healing.
And let’s not forget that one of Jesus’ favorite things is rest. Though the ancient Israelite women were sent to the outskirts, they were invited to rest. They were given a space to be joined in community, encouraging and supporting one another in their discomfort. Would it not be such an encouragement to have downtime with your girlfriends when you are feeling vulnerable and in discomfort? At a time in the ancient Near East when women were not valued, God created space for them to rest and be supported and loved by one another.
And for us today, how kind of the Father not only to prepare a place for them to decompress but to be there with us, ministering to us in our most vulnerable moments too.
The God Who Sees You
My sisters in Jesus, the ways you’ve been neglected and the pain you feel are valid. There’s a lot we’re up against — from the unnecessary opinions of others, to toxic ideologies about women, to the lack of representation in the medical field. The road to change can feel like walking up a downward escalator.
Over the years, I’ve received many messages from women expressing their deep frustration, hopelessness, and even grief over how their bodies have been misunderstood or dismissed. I’ve sat with women at the end of their rope and held their pain with them. Some have carried these wounds for decades, and others are just now finding the language to describe what they’ve been through.
But together, with Jesus at the center, we can be the ones to say enough is enough. Jesus’ love is the catalyst for change — the love of “the God who sees me,” as Hagar named the Lord in her deepest pain (Genesis 16:13 NIV). And he sees you, too.
It’s time to get off the hormonal roller coaster and take back your life. Befriend your body — and the God who designed it — through this one-of-a-kind guide.
Here is your source for all the latest Bible-related and Bible-adjacent news from the month of August 2026 — from archaeological discoveries and academic research to cultural events and conversations, developments in the global church, and more. Click the link in each story to view the original source(s).
Week of August 30
Catholic Intellectual Tradition Course Draws Growing Interest at Yale — August 31: Yale’s “Catholic Intellectual Tradition” course enrolled 85 students last spring, up from 13 a decade earlier and reportedly making it the university’s most popular history course. The class surveys 2,000 years of Catholic thought, including fourth-century Christology, medieval mysticism, and just-war debates. Its growth coincides with rising Catholic participation among young adults. (Aleteia; Slate)
New Resource Maps America’s Least-Evangelical Communities — August 31: Researchers analyzed U.S. Religion Census data to identify evangelical percentages across every U.S. state, the 100 least-evangelical counties and 50 least-evangelical metropolitan areas. An interactive map and downloadable spreadsheet include 40 years of data. The project aims to help churches and mission organizations recognize underserved communities, understand cultural differences, and adapt outreach methods. (Baptist Press)
Russia Bans Mission Eurasia Bibles and Christian Resources — August 31:Moscow designated U.S.-based Mission Eurasia an “undesirable organization,” making possession of its materials — including Bibles bearing its logo — potentially prosecutable. Authorities have searched and levied fines on seminaries, churches, and bookstores. Russia has not publicly detailed its justification, though Mission Eurasia believes its reporting on persecution in Russian-occupied Ukraine contributed to the ban. (Christianity Today)
Week of August 23
Thousands of Women Gather for Bible-Centered Event in Mexico City — August 28:Thousands filled Arena Ciudad de México for “The Bible and Us,” an event combining Scripture teaching, worship, testimony, and creative activities to strengthen women’s faith and biblical identity. The gathering concluded a tour of 25 cities across Mexico and the United States. Participants were invited to continue studying through a 40-day devotional, extending a movement that began as a small Bible study into an ongoing discipleship community. (Christian Daily)
Excavations Strengthen Historical Case for Jesus’ Traditional Tomb — August 27: Archaeologists beneath Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulcher (see below) uncovered an abandoned quarry with rock-cut tombs and a garden, matching Gospel descriptions of Jesus’ burial place. Evidence suggests a Roman structure covered one chamber before it was exposed and enshrined under Constantine. Researchers stress that the findings cannot prove Jesus was buried there, but they support the site’s longstanding tradition. (New York Post)
United Bible Societies Distributed 148 Million Printed Scriptures in 2025 — August 27: United Bible Societies distributed 148.3 million printed Scriptures last year, including 22.4 million full Bibles, 10 million New Testaments and 115.9 million portions and selections. Digital engagement also grew: resources were downloaded 26.4 million times, chapters viewed 32.2 billion times (up 13.8%) and audio Scripture played 1.4 billion times. Since its 1946 founding, UBS has distributed 25 billion Scripture materials across 240 countries. (Christian Daily)
Christian Leaders Respond to Deadly Floods in Nepal and Tibet —August 27: Flash floods believed triggered by a partial glacier collapse swept away homes, roads and bridges across Nepal and Tibet on Wednesday, killing hundreds and leaving many missing. Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally, Pope Leo XIV, and Franklin Graham each called for prayer. Caritas and the Catholic Church in Nepal are assessing needs. (Christian Today)
What’s It Like to Pray All Night in Jerusalem’s Holiest Church? — August 26: Each night, a representative of the Muslim family entrusted for 850 years with the Church of the Holy Sepulcher’s keys locks clergy and registered pilgrims inside until dawn. In the quiet, near-empty basilica, visitors pray at the site of Jesus’ crucifixion, burial, and resurrection while clergy from various denominations conduct rotating services, creating a powerful, ecumenical space for meditation on Jesus’ ultimate defeat of death. (AP)
How the Gideon Bible Became an Icon of American Roadside Culture — August 26: Gideons International began placing Bibles in hotel rooms in 1908, just as affordable automobiles helped create America’s emerging road culture. The evangelical organization has since distributed more than 2.5 billion Bibles worldwide, including in prisons, hospitals, and military bases. Although fewer U.S. hotels now offer religious materials, the bedside Bible endures as a source of comfort woven into American travel and culture. (AP)
Ancient Christian Amulet May Contain Biblical Passage — August 26: Archaeologists in central Turkey discovered a rare fourth- or fifth-century Christian amulet inside a corroded copper case. Its paper-thin, 0.1-millimeter gold sheet was most likely inscribed with a Bible passage, though researchers have not yet identified the text. The amulet may have belonged to a child and functioned as a protective charm. Excavations also uncovered a 3,500-year-old stone seal with hieroglyphics. (New York Post)
First Temple-Era Figurine Mold Found in Jerusalem — August 26: Archaeologists discovered a 2,600-year-old clay mold near the Tower of David — the first evidence that Jerusalem produced its own female pillar figurines. Scholars debate whether these common household objects were toys, protective amulets, or representations of Asherah, potentially illuminating biblical accounts of tension between worship of Yahweh and persistent Canaanite practices in Judah. (Evangelical Focus)
Dolly Parton Dies at 80, Leaving Legacy of Faith and Music — August 25: Country music icon Dolly Parton is “in the arms of Jesus” after dying peacefully in Nashville. Born into a Tennessee preacher’s family, she began singing hymns at six and carried Christian faith through her seven-decade career. Almost universally beloved, the 11-time Grammy winner recorded 25 No. 1 country songs, entered country, gospel, and rock halls of fame, and donated more than 300 million children’s books through her Imagination Library. (Multiple sources)
Pastors Want AI to Explain Bible Debates, Not Settle Them — August 25:Concern about AI misinterpreting Scripture reaches 74% among U.S. adults, 83% among practicing Christians, and 94% among pastors. Yet pastors generally want engagement, not avoidance: 60% say AI should present major interpretations of disputed passages without choosing a winner, compared with 26% of practicing Christians. Another 26% of Christians want AI to identify the best interpretation, versus 10% of pastors. (Barna)
Young Adults Drive Catholic Conversion Surge in California — August 25: The Archdiocese of Los Angeles reported 8,598 people preparing for baptism or formal entry into the Catholic Church — a 54% increase from 2025 and the nation’s highest archdiocesan total, while college parishes are enrolling adult initiation classes at record highs. These young converts cite loneliness, global crises, charity, ritual, and enduring tradition. Still, experts say one strong year cannot yet reverse decades of decline. (The Guardian)
Israeli Police Discover Second Temple Burial Cave in Jerusalem — August 24: Border Police investigating a deadly clash between two families in eastern Jerusalem discovered an ancient burial cave containing archaeological artifacts beneath a building. Officers alerted the Israel Antiquities Authority, whose preliminary examination dates the burials to the Second Temple period, between 516 BC and AD 70. Few details have been released so far, but the area is being secured so researchers can continue studying the site. (Jerusalem Post)
Week of August 16
Museum of the Bible to Showcase Jordan’s Biblical Heritage — August 22: Washington, D.C.’s Museum of the Bible will host “Jordan: Dawn of Christianity” from early 2027 through the summer, following earlier displays at the Vatican and in Assisi, Italy. Rare artifacts will trace Christianity in Jordan through sites including Bethany Beyond the Jordan, Machaerus, Petra, Aqaba Church, and Madaba. A replica of the Madaba Map will also feature as Jordan prepares to commemorate 2,000 years since Jesus’ baptism. (Christian Daily)
Christians Urged to “Sing the Bible” in the Age of AI — August 21: Hymn writer Keith Getty says congregational singing can anchor believers in Scripture, truth, and community as AI intensifies loneliness and cultural disruption. The 10th Sing! Conference, September 7–9 in Nashville, Tennessee, will mark 500 years since William Tyndale’s English New Testament with hymn sings, orchestral performances, and discussions on the Bible’s continued influence on American and global culture. (Christian Post)
Ukraine Observes “Year of the Ostroh Bible” — August 21: Ukraine is celebrating three milestones in 2026: the 500th anniversary of Prince Vasyl-Kostiantyn Ostrozkyi’s birth, 450 years since Ostroh Academy’s founding, and 445 years since the Ostroh Bible — the first complete Bible printed in Church Slavonic. A traveling program with participants from various denominations plans to visit over 30 locations across Ukraine with its “Ostroh Relic” exhibition, featuring facsimiles, a printing press, and Braille and audio Bibles. (Evangelical Focus)
Ancient Inscription May Point to Lost City Linked to Exodus — August 20: Excavations near Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula uncovered a colossal sandstone beam bearing titles of Ramses II and naming Horus as “Lord of the City of Mesen.” Archaeologists suspect the site may be a lost city along the Horus Military Road, which scholars associate with Exodus’s “way of the land of the Philistines” (Ex. 13:17). A fortified temple citadel, storage rooms, walls, gates, and paved roads strengthen the case, though it remains unproven. (New York Post)
Why Paul Took the Long Road to Pisidian Antioch — August 19:Acts 13 sends Paul and Barnabas more than 160 miles from Perga across rugged mountains rather than along the easier coast. An inscription in modern Yalvaç, Turkey, links Cyprus’s proconsul Sergius Paulus, who believed after Elymas was blinded (Acts 13:12), to a prominent Pisidian Antioch family. This suggests he directed the missionaries toward his hometown, where Gentiles initially welcomed Paul’s preaching (Acts 13:44–45). (Biblical Archaeology Society)
Newly Found Augustine Sermons Explore Saul and the Witch of Endor — August 19: Two previously unattributed sermons, preserved in a 12th-century German manuscript, have been identified as fifth-century works of Augustine. Preaching on 1 Samuel 28, Augustine considered two explanations for Samuel’s appearance: God permitted the prophet to return, or an evil spirit deceived Saul. He accepted either reading and even considered Saul’s possible repentance, comparing it with the thief on the cross (Luke 23). (Christianity Today)
Most U.S. Evangelicals Give Their Spiritual Lives a C+ — August 18: A survey of 1,000 U.S. evangelical Protestants found they rate their spiritual lives an average 2.42—roughly a C+. Only 12% averaged an A, while 16% scored D+ or lower, including 2% who failed. Prayer and their relationship with God ranked strongest; evangelism, giving, and tithing weakest. Self-ratings generally matched behavior: 92% awarding themselves an A for attendance attended weekly, versus 7% giving themselves an F. (Christian Daily)
Moses Mockumentary Heads to Season 2 With Lionsgate — August 18:The Promised Land, writer-director Mitch Hudson’s workplace-style comedy based on Exodus, is filming its second season in Morocco after shooting Season 1 in Utah. Lionsgate has joined as global distributor, replacing the free-to-stream YouTube model of Season 1. The series follows Moses, Miriam, Aaron, Joshua, and the Israelites through Mount Sinai, the golden calf, and Tabernacle construction. (RELEVANT)
Supreme Court Asked to Review Texas Ten Commandments Law — August 17: More than two dozen Texas families and civil-rights groups have petitioned the Supreme Court to review a law requiring public schools to display the Ten Commandments. The measure was upheld 9–8 by an appeals court, which noted that students are not required to recite or affirm the commandments, but challengers say it violates the First Amendment. The case could revisit a 1980 ruling striking down a similar Kentucky law. (AP)
Nearly 9 Million Download Gospel of John Through Digital Outreach — August 17: From October 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026, Pocket Testament League (PTL) recorded nearly 9 million Gospel of John downloads — about 1 million monthly. India led with more than 3.68 million downloads, followed by Bangladesh with nearly 1.48 million. PTL has recorded over 30 million downloads since 2020, and the ministry hopes to invite another 100 million people to encounter Jesus within three years. (Christian Daily)
Nigeria Sees Religious-Freedom Gains Amid Continuing Violence — August 17: Nigeria’s security forces have freed hundreds more victims of mass kidnappings through cooperation with the United States. Additionally, a federal court barred Islamic police from arresting a 22-year-old Christian convert for leaving Islam, and ordered compensation for violations of her dignity and religious freedom. Christian organizations welcome these developments, though abductions and violence persist. (Christianity Today; Christian Daily)
Week of August 9
Europe’s Tallest Virgin Mary Statue Rises Over Tiny Polish Village — August 15: Hundreds gathered in Konotopie, a central Polish village of fewer than 150 people, to consecrate what is believed to be Europe’s tallest Virgin Mary statue. Rising 55.6 meters (182 feet) — including a 15-meter crown-shaped pedestal — the statue is more than 17 meters taller than Brazil’s famous Christ the Redeemer. A viewing platform supports hopes that the site will draw pilgrims and tourists. (AP)
Science Affirms Loving Your Neighbor Is Good for Your Brain — August 14: A study comparing enjoyable activities, cognitive reappraisal, and random kindness found kindness performed as well or better at reducing depression and anxiety as well as other benefits — and alone increased social connection. But since one act provides only a three-to-four-minute oxytocin boost, researchers emphasize habit. The findings add a physiological dimension to passages like Mark 12:31, Ephesians 4:32, and Galatians 5:22. (RELEVANT)
Gospels Launched in Pembrokeshire Welsh Dialect —August 14: An audio recording of the four Gospels in the Welsh dialect of north Pembrokeshire was launched at the National Eisteddfod on August 6, a Welsh cultural festival drawing some 150,000 attendees. The translation was completed around 2000 by Rev Lyn Lewis Dafis, a vicar and National Library of Wales librarian who died in 2022, and remained unpublished in his lifetime. (Christian Today)
Archaeologists May Have Found Room Where Nicene Creed Took Shape — August 13: Archaeologists in İznik, Turkey, believe walls, floor paving, and a column base beneath a later basilica belong to the Church of Saint Neophytos, where the First Council of Nicaea met in 325 AD and affirmed the Trinity and Jesus’ divinity. Its small dimensions match eyewitness Eusebius’s description. An earthquake destroyed the original church in 368; the commemorative basilica was built above it. (RELEVANT)
Evangelicals Serve Migrants and Neighbors After Ceuta Crisis —August 13: After roughly 80,000 migrants crossed from Morocco into the Spanish territory of Ceuta — population 85,000 — in the final days of July, local evangelical churches are providing food and Arabic Scriptures to the thousands who remain. Pastor Javier Santolaria of Casa de Alabanza asked for continued prayer, saying the community needs “strength and to see the hand of God at work.” (Christian Today)
Last Trappist Survivor of Mao’s Persecution Dies at 108 —August 13: Father Benedict Chao, the world’s oldest Trappist monk and last survivor of the Chinese Trappist community scattered under Mao Zedong, died July 31 at the Abbey of Our Lady of Joy on Hong Kong’s Lantau Island. A monk for 79 years, Chao fled China after the persecution that martyred 33 monks at Yangjiaping, then helped rebuild his exiled community in Hong Kong, serving as its prior from 1974 to 1998. (Aleteia)
Church Remembers the Barbastro Martyrs of the Spanish Civil War —August 12: On August 12 and 13, the Church honors 51 Claretian martyrs, mostly seminarians in their early 20s, executed by anarchists in Barbastro, Spain in 1936. During nearly a month of imprisonment, a brother hid consecrated Hosts in meals so the prisoners could receive Communion. All 51 were beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1992. (Aleteia)
Bible Society CTO Warns Churches of AI “Impersonation Problem” —August 11: After Meta pulled an Instagram feature that generated AI images from public accounts, American Bible Society CTO Bryce Allison warned that the “impersonation problem is already here” — urging pastors to prepare congregations for AI-generated videos soliciting donations in their name. Using someone’s likeness without consent, he said, risks treating a person made in God’s image as raw material. (Christian Post)
Theologians Make Biblical Case for Formal Church Membership — August 11: With U.S. church membership falling from 73% in 1937 to 49% in 2020, theologians are pressing the case for committed local belonging. Advocates say Matthew 18:17, Acts 2:41, 1 Corinthians 5:2, and Hebrews 13:17 presume identifiable congregations practicing discipline, ordinances, and pastoral oversight. They describe membership as family rather than a club, offering accountability, assurance, and care. (Baptist Press)
Thousands Gather in Germany for TeenStreet’s Biblical Wisdom Theme — August 11: Teenagers and adults from Europe, the United States, and South Korea gathered in Offenburg, Germany, for Operation Mobilisation’s 34th TeenStreet conference. The event explored Proverbs under the theme “Paths—Wisdom’s Call,” pairing small-group Bible study with worship, talks, games, and workshops, and sharing faith through creative outreach. (Christian Daily)
Armenia Plans World’s Tallest Jesus Statue Amid Church-State Feud — August 10: Armenian tycoon and politician Gagik Tsarukyan, who received under 4% in recent elections, plans a 101-meter Jesus statue atop 2,500-meter Mount Hatis, calling it Armenia’s “calling card.” Meanwhile, Armenian Apostolic leader Catholicos Karekin II and six clerics face up to two years in prison for refusing to reinstate a defrocked bishop at the request of a court. The church calls the prosecution an assault on its autonomy. (Christian Daily; AP)
Americans Trust Small Churches Far More Than Megachurches — August 10: Barna’s survey of 2,000 U.S. adults found that trust runs decidedly local. Small churches scored 61 on its 100-point index, compared with 57 for Christian churches generally and just 36 for megachurches. Christian pastors scored 55, well ahead of celebrity pastors at 30. Christians ranked third overall, behind family members and local businesses. Higher institutional trust in general was linked with stronger optimism, connection, and life satisfaction. (Barna)
Bible Society of Mexico Celebrates 60 Years of Expanding Scripture Access — August 10: Founded in 1966, the Bible Society of Mexico has distributed more than 374 million biblical materials and established distribution centers in 13 cities. Its work includes eight Indigenous-language translations alongside digital, audio, multimedia, AI-assisted, and Braille resources. Anniversary events will include services, conferences, and campaigns encouraging daily Bible reading, focusing especially on children and youth. (Christian Daily)
Christian Lawyers Defend Persecuted Women and Children in Nigeria — August 10: A network of Christian attorneys supported by Open Doors is providing legal aid to Nigerian women and children facing abduction, forced marriage, conversion, sexual violence, and wrongful prosecution. Open Doors recorded 3,490 Nigerian Christians killed for their faith in October 2024–September 2025. (Baptist Press)
Week of August 2
Frequent Small-Group Bible Study Linked to Stronger Discipleship — August 7: A recent survey of American Protestant churchgoers found that those attending small groups at least five times monthly earned an overall discipleship score of 74.1, compared with 60.4 among nonparticipants. The sharpest difference came in “Sharing Christ,” while the only exception (where nonparticipants outscored frequent attendees) was in “Exercising Faith,” possibly reflecting greater self-awareness among mature believers. (Christianity Daily)
Algerian Christians Churches Sealed, Bibles Confiscated — August 7: In 99%-Muslim Algeria, authorities have closed 46 of the 47 churches affiliated with the Protestant Church of Algeria, using registration problems under a 2012 law to justify waves of closures beginning in 2017. Believers now meet discreetly in homes, garages or beneath olive trees, privately celebrating Communion and baptisms. Bible imports are routinely confiscated, while isolation leaves many without regular guidance. (Christianity Daily)
Christians Walk Hundreds of Miles for Peace in Memory of St. Francis — August 6:Christians are crossing England on foot to mark 800 years since St. Francis of Assisi’s death. Organized by the Society of St. Francis, the pilgrimage began July 17 in Alnmouth and passes through Newcastle, Durham, York, Leeds, Bradford and Manchester before ending in London. Pilgrims prayed at Bishopthorpe Palace on August 1, reflecting on Jesus’ call to be peacemakers (Matt. 5:9) and that “Christ’s peace starts with each of us.” (Christian Today)
Who Were the Mysterious Mercenaries Roaming the Biblical World? — August 5: The Shardanu, likely originating in Sardinia, were celebrated Late Bronze Age warriors who served competing Mediterranean powers. Egyptian reliefs show them with horned helmets, round shields and longswords — even fighting fellow Shardanu while defending Ramesses III. Their tradition later appeared among the Philistines and even David, who served as mercenary for Gath’s king before ruling Israel (1 Samuel 27). (Biblical Archaeology Society)
Religious Freedom Movement Reaches a Global Crossroads — August 5: A recent report warns that rising authoritarianism, armed conflict, mass migration, religious nationalism, and waning Western support are eroding protections for believers of every faith. U.S. policy changes such as halted foreign-assistance programs and reduced human-rights staffing have added pressure. The report urges churches, advocates, and civil-society groups to develop new partnerships and strategies against growing persecution. (Baptist Press)
Young Women’s Religious Decline Raises Concerns for Families — August 5: Women historically showed stronger religious commitment than men, but that has reversed among young Americans. The share of young men calling religion “very important” rose in recent years, while young women ranked lowest among demographic groups, often citing gendered expectations and abuse scandals as reasons for leaving. Studies link mothers’ religiosity to greater family cohesion, raising concerns about the transmission of faith. (Religion Unplugged)
Visual Commentary Pairs Scripture With Art Across the Ages — August 4: King’s College London’s online Visual Commentary on Scripture combines theology, art history, and biblical scholarship, pairing Scripture with high-resolution works from around the world and throughout Christian history, by everyone from famous artists like Rembrandt and Caravaggio to unknown craftsmen. Its new Bible and Art Daily newsletter delivers artwork and audio Scripture commentary. (Religion Unplugged)
Africa’s Children Called World’s Fastest-Growing Mission Field — August 4:Africa’s population is projected to reach 2.5 billion by 2050, including vast numbers of children. Gen Alpha already represents 35.6% of Nigeria, while Africa’s overall Christian population has surpassed 700 million. Amid poverty, conflict, displacement, and limited biblical teaching, evangelism organizations see an extraordinary opportunity for local believers to share the gospel and provide discipleship. (Christian Daily)
New Approach to Deaf Bible Translation Launches With Book of Esther — August 3: Deaf translators from six countries are using the Book of Esther to test a shared visual “sign roots” template designed to accelerate Scripture translation across hundreds of sign languages. Because Deaf people can understand up to 80% of a sign-roots presentation, local teams can more efficiently adapt it without changing the biblical meaning. The method could help bring Scripture to many of the world’s roughly 80 million Deaf people. (Baptist Press)
Ancient Cypriot Coin Illuminates Biblical-Era Trade at Ashdod — August 3: A rare 2,500-year-old Cypriot coin found on an Ashdod beach offers fresh evidence of maritime trade between Cyprus and the land of Israel during the Persian period. The coin’s silver-plated siglos features rams and Cypriot symbols. It’s the first of its kind discovered in Israel, and adds historical context to Ashdod, the prominent Philistine city associated with the captured Ark of the Covenant in 1 Samuel 5. (Biblical Archaeology Society; Christianity Daily)
Near-Death Research Raises Questions Science Can’t Easily Answer — August 3: Scientists studying cardiac-arrest survivors have documented remarkably consistent reports of consciousness continuing after the body appears to shut down, including encounters with light, deceased loved ones, and feelings of peace. The findings do not “prove” heaven, but they offer intriguing scientific evidence consistent with biblical belief in an afterlife, even if Scripture, not near-death testimony, remains the foundation of that hope. (RELEVANT)
Three Common Mistakes in Reading Religion Data, From Ryan Burge — August 1: First, public opinion changes much less quickly than headlines suggest, typically about 2.6 points annually. Second, personal experience can exaggerate the influence of specialized theological debates like dispensationalism. And third, Americans wildly overestimate small religious groups, guessing that Jews and Muslims constitute 25% and 20% of the population when the actual shares are about 1.5% and 1%, respectively. (Religion Unplugged)
Hundreds Commit to Long-Term Mission at Arise Asia — August 1: Arise Asia 2026 closed in Manila, Philippines, with 341 young leaders committing to long-term cross-cultural mission among unreached peoples. The five-day congress drew 4,278 participants from 64 countries under the theme “For the Joy,” from Hebrews 12:2. Organizers also launched a multilingual platform offering over 30 training, prayer, ministry, and mission opportunities to help turn the congress’s emotional momentum into sustained service. (Christian Daily)
Young UK Christians Sharing Faith With Confidence — August 1: A survey of 611 British Christians ages 18–34 found 85% had discussed Jesus with a non-Christian during the previous six months, while 74% believed people around them were receptive to faith conversations. The respondents were highly active in church: 93% attended at least weekly, 30% went several times a week, and more than half served on ministry or volunteer teams. (Christian Today)
Catch Up on July’s Bible News Stories — August 1: Don’t forget to catch up on all the biggest, strangest, and most inspiring Bible news stories of July 2026!
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Stillness makes many of us uncomfortable. To the optimization-minded, the pause of sleep can feel intrusive. We don’t like to be forced to stop. Yet God — who certainly had no need to stop — stopped. He had limitless capacity to keep going, doing, and creating, endlessly tinkering like an artist with an infinite canvas and infinite ideas. But he did stop. Genesis 2:2–3 makes this clear by mentioning no less than three times that God did not work on the seventh day.
Clearly this is an important idea. But why? What does it mean that God rested from his work? God doesn’t sleep or grow weary (Isa. 40:28). He doesn’t need anything, including rest. And yet Genesis 2 is clear. God chooses rest. How are we to understand the meaning of this divine seventh-day rest?
Rest Isn’t Just Good — It’s Holy
We can’t think of God’s rest as a powering down prompted by exhaustion. Nor can we think of it as an anticlimactic coda after the rollicking symphony of a six-day explosion of creativity. If anything God’s rest on the seventh day is the climax of the creation sequence described in Genesis 1, not an afterthought.
The first five days of creation God sees as good.
The sixth day’s creation of Adam and Eve he sees as very good.
The seventh day he blesses and makes holy.
The sequence goes from good to very good to holy. Here at the beginning of Scripture, at the beginning of human history, God elevates rest to the highest place, and this elevation persists as the biblical narrative progresses. He creates the day of rest for all humans “in order to point to the goal of human existence, namely, eschatological life with God.”1
This hallowed seventh-day rest is not a postscript ending as much as a true commencement. Construction is complete, and creation can now be enjoyed in the presence of the Creator. Communion can commence. And even though it marks the seventh of seven days in a sequence, God’s rest here is more a beginning than an ending. It’s a thesis statement that sheds light on everything that follows in redemptive history.
On this first seventh day, God is enthroned and present with God’s people in God’s place. Eden is a place of perfect shalom — peace. All is well.
Rest and Restoration
Paradise is lost after the fall, however. The God-people-place harmony is broken. When Adam and Eve are banished from the garden (Gen. 3:23–24), human access to God’s rest is revoked.
Yet the story of Scripture is one of a gracious God pursuing his people by providing progressively richer foretastes and glimpses of his divine rest: deliverance from Egyptian captivity, the institution of the Sabbath, taking up residence in the promised land, and ultimately the victory of Jesus Christ, the Lord of the Sabbath, who is the solution for our restlessness and secures an eternal Sabbath rest for the people of God (Heb. 4:1–11).
On this first seventh day, God’s rest is the pinnacle of perfection: peace, security, beauty, joy. And in the “seventh day” of eternity described in the Bible’s closing book, God’s rest is once again the pinnacle of perfection: no more tears, pain, death, sadness; only communion with the creator God, who, as ever, is making all things new (Rev. 21:5).
God, once again and forevermore, will be enthroned and present with God’s people in God’s place. Eden is restored. A seventh-day rest that will never end, for all who are in him.
Rest as Holy Time
Redemptive history is, in many ways, a history of God’s rest and our relationship to it. In the fall, we lost access to God’s rest. And in the gospel, we gain eternal access to God’s rest.
In The Holiness of God, R. C. Sproul says, “The whole scope of redemptive history, from start to finish, is made sacred in the observance of the Sabbath,”2 which points us back to God’s work of creation and redemption and forward to the inheritance achieved by that redemption: our future Sabbath rest in heaven. Another biblical scholar calls Sabbath “a microcosm of human history — creation, redemption, and consummation.”3 Every Sabbath in this life is a temporal glimpse of the permanent, eternal rest to come.
When God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, he introduced a sort of sacred time set apart from all other time. Abraham Heschel points out that nothing else in the creation account — no object or space — was deemed holy in the first chapter of Genesis. Only time was hallowed, the seventh day: “When history began, there was only one holiness in the world, holiness in time.”4
Heschel describes our keeping the Sabbath day as “a paraphrase of His sanctification of the seventh day.”5 Our observance of a holy Sabbath day is only the faintest glimpse of God’s holy rest, but it is still potent. It regularly reorients our lives around God and eternity, breaking the hold of temporal, passing things and stirring our hearts to long for home in him.
Echoes of the Rest Our Souls Desire
I think about the deep peace and rest I feel sitting on the sand watching the ocean waves near our home in Southern California. The comforting rhythms of unending waves — coming from an unfathomably vast, powerful ocean — provide me with a sublime assurance that one day I’ll be on heaven’s bright shore, enjoying the awesome power and ceaseless love of God up close, forever: wave after wave after wave — times infinity. I think about those Sundays of my childhood when, after singing “Wonderful Grace of Jesus” (or other classics from our Baptist hymnal), we’d enjoy a post-church potluck in the fellowship hall. In spite of imperfect singing and very imperfect casseroles, these moments unmistakably pointed me to the perfect to come.
So it goes with the holy moments in life, both on Sabbath and in every little gift of bountiful rest and precious peace, including a good sleep. These are echoes and paraphrases of the rest our restless souls so deeply desire.
Enter Into His Perfect Rest
To enter God’s rest is to enter the hallowed seventh-day place of security under God’s perfect rule; it is to be free of all that makes us rest-less. And what is it that makes us most restless? Our sin. Think of Adam and Eve in Eden. They had everything, including access to God’s rest. But their sin made them squirmy: ungrateful, untrusting, unsatisfied with God’s rule in God’s perfect place. They wanted more.
Sin is placing ourselves on the throne, assuming we can rule our lives better than God can. This is not only deadly, it’s exhausting. By contrast, living joyfully under God’s rule — being content with him on the throne — is where we find life and rest.
Rest is holy, ordered, and content in stark contrast to restlessness, which is often a product of unholiness, disorder, and discontentment. To trust God with all our hearts rather than leaning on our own understanding makes it easier to be both holy and rested. If we truly believe God is on the throne, sovereign and in control, having “overcome the world” (John 16:33) in spite of persisting troubles, we can rest easier.
Entering God’s perfect rest always goes hand in hand with acknowledging his perfect rule.
In our age of hurry, productivity, and constant distraction, sleep is often treated as an inconvenient pause or means of self-optimization. We’ve forgotten the deeper, theological meaning of rest and the profound spiritual lessons we can learn from our God-given need for sleep.
Drawing from Scripture, science, cultural commentary, and personal reflections, Brett McCracken shows how sleep, rest, and Sabbath are not just necessary downtimes or missed opportunities to be productive–they are sacred practices that deepen our relationship with God, nurture our love for others, and bear witness to his grace.
The Wisdom of Sleep calls you to a higher view of this essential and holy part of our lives.
Footnotes
Guy Prentiss Waters, The Sabbath Rest and Hope for the People of God, Short Studies in Biblical Theology (Wheaton: Crossway, 2022), 28. ↩︎
R. C. Sproul, The Holiness of God (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale, 1985), 261. ↩︎
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Light for the Rest of Us: A Reflection on Psalm 119:130
Many of us carry a quiet assumption about Bible study: that real understanding belongs to other people. Pastors. Seminary graduates. People with shelves full of commentaries and years of training. We read, we try, and when a passage doesn’t open up, we conclude the problem is us.
“The entrance of the Word gives light, whether to nations, families, or individuals. We little realize the sanctifying influence it has had throughout the world. It gives understanding to those who acknowledge themselves to be simple and therefore in need of help.”
That’s an important distinction. “The simple” isn’t a label for the unintelligent — it describes those humble enough to admit they need help. In God’s economy, that admission isn’t a disqualification. It’s the doorway. The light doesn’t go to the ones who already know; it goes to the ones who ask.
Which means the quiet assumption — the one so many of us have about Bible study — has it backward. If you’ve ever felt underqualified to study Scripture deeply, this verse was written for you. The requirement was never expertise. It was openness.
With Bible Gateway Plus, study Bibles and commentaries like the Believer’s Bible Commentary — and many more — appear alongside the verses you’re reading, helping you understand not just what Scripture says, but what it means in context.
In my last article, I introduced a character that appears in the biblical narrative whom I described as the “Dragon-snake”. You may want to review it and get some of the background as to why I described him as such.
As you may have guessed, the Dragon-snake is in fact the crafty one — Satan, himself. And while he certainly steals the storyline from Adam, Eve, and potentially God in the first portion of Genesis 3 (vv. 1-13), he doesn’t get the last word — God does. In Genesis 3:15b, He states: “… he will crush your head …”. The “he” in 3:15b is none other than the One whom the Apostle John calls in John 1:1-5 (NIV), “The Word”:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
Thankfully, Jesus is that Word, and John lets his readers know that He was there in the beginning, with God, for He was, is, and ever will be God Himself. There He is, the incarnation of the God of all the omnis, come to earth — all of His omni-power incarnated and physically present on the planet. That means that He is eternal and that no one, or no thing, can be before or after Him, or ever get the last word pertaining to Him. The Bible is His story, He is the Thesis of the entire narrative, and the reader must never forget that.
However, There Is the Dragon-Snake Problem
We can’t forget that in Genesis 3, although God has spoken, the Dragon-snake seems to have won the day — temporarily at least. The Maker of Days, the Ancient One Himself, cannot ever be outdone, for the Bible is His story and will be written and played out only as He decides. One cannot forget that in Genesis 3:15, He set things in order for the rest of the story by stating His thesis directly to the Dragon-snake’s face, while Adam and Eve are hiding shamefully in the bushes.
All of the great stories have a thesis, which simply put, is a central claim or argument that an author puts forward in an essay, paper, or story, then attempts to prove it throughout the body of his work. I believe that, in the greatest of all stories, the Bible, God has done this emphatically:
So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring(seed) and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” — Genesis 3:14–15 (NIV, my emphases)
There it is! The Dragon-snake will be cursed to crawl on his belly, not walking or flying anymore. There would also be “enmity,” or a murderous battle between the Dragon-snake and the woman. His head, now slithering in the dust, would be repeatedly crushed and ultimately obliterated by the Seed of the Woman. Yes, there would be an epic and bloody battle for thousands of years, but the Dragon-snake had been cursed and put on notice. He would not steal the storyline anymore, for the Author Himself had another plan and had prophesied a Heavenly end to the temporarily hellish story.
So, note that we will now be calling him the Serpent, not the Dragon-Snake, since dragons can fly, walk, and talk, and this one cannot do those things anymore. He has been cursed to be a lowly serpent. His fate would be to remain a slithering, dust-eating snake. Thus, we speak of and remember him merely as the Serpent.
The Rest of the Serpent-Crushing Story
The rest of the Bible is the playing out of this epic, serpent-crushing tale. It’s a tale that will consistently remind the Serpent and the reader that there is One who will ultimately come and eternally crush the dust eater. The Serpent-Crusher would be Jesus — the Thesis. He is the Seed of the Woman spoken of in Genesis 3, as well as the Light who outshines the darkness in John 1:1.
Yes, the Serpent, who is darkness incarnate, would attempt to drown out the Light throughout the annals of time, but he would never get the last word, for God had spoken and the slitherer was cursed to be crushed time and time again. Jesus, the Thesis, shows up to crush him in every book of the Bible, in every way imaginable, sometimes obvious and sometimes hidden, yet always reminding the readers of yesterday, today, and tomorrow that God has an ever-living plan to see His Thesis be proven over and over, again and again, for all eternity.
Serpent Crushing Highlights in the Old Testament
Scripture is filled with the stories of men and women who exercised their faith in the Serpent Crusher and would crush the Serpent in their own unique times and places, pointing to an ultimate, eternal crushing and life in a “country” where the faithful would live in a Serpent-free environment, wherein Jesus would make “…all things new” (Rev. 21:5). The Thesis would be fully realized and emphatically proven. The writer of Hebrews speaks of the faithful ones:
“All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.” (Hebrews 11:13-16 NIV)
Some of the Serpent Crushers of the Old Testament were people like Abraham, who was called to go to a place he had never heard of and, by faith, enter into a covenant relationship with a God he did not yet know (see Genesis 12-25). He would perpetuate the Serpent Crushing seed of the woman to his seed — Isaac, Jacob, and their seed.
There was Joseph, kidnapped by his brothers and sold into slavery. Yet, by faith, he trusted God to crush the Serpent (see Genesis 37-50) and ultimately save his family and his nation. He would, by faith, perpetuate the Serpent Crusher’s seed to his seed.
Perhaps one of the most famous Serpent Crushers was King David. He would engage in an epic battle with Goliath, a serpent-like giant (see 1 Samuel 16-17), and not only crush his huge “hairy crown” (see Psalm 68:21) but cut it off, lift it up, and display it for all the world to see and give God glory. This was so profound an occurrence that Jesus would eventually be called “Son of David” (see Matt. 1:1, 21:9).
There is not enough space in this article to mention where in the other books of the Bible (all of them in my opinion), Jesus, the Thesis, makes appearances. For a larger list of those appearances, you may want to check out my book, Jesus is the Thesis.
Does the Serpent Get Crushed in the New Testament Too?
Absolutely, the Serpent gets crushed in the New Testament, too. In fact, Jesus, the Serpent Crusher Himself is the connecting force between the Old and New. As we have already seen, John reminds us that He, the Word, was there in the beginning at creation (John 1:1), then prophesied by the mouth of God to be the One who would crush the serpent and his seed (Gen. 3:14-15). I have given a few Old Testament examples of Him working through various serpent-crushing heroes of faith. Then, as Paul puts it, “When the set time had fully come,” Jesus came to the planet to initiate a final assault on the Serpent and his minions:
“But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.” (Galatians 4:4-5 NIV)
Jesus’s birth in Bethlehem brought about the crushing reality that, in Him, and through Him, there would be both temporal and eternal hope for all who would have faith in Him. Through Jesus, they would have hope in the Serpent Crusher and could become Serpent Crushers themselves. The Serpent would not get the last word; Jesus would.
In my next article, I will outline what serpent-crushing looked like in the New Testament and then what it might look like today and for all eternity. In fact, Paul gives us an encouraging sneak peek when he says to us, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you” (Romans 16:20 NIV).
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In the Weird Stuff series from Cavetime, Dr. Jeff Voth and Hebrew scholar, Dr. Nathan French, discuss and make sense of some of the weird stuff in the Bible to ultimately point us back to the needed redemption of Jesus Christ.
Ashes from Jerusalem’s destruction have lain hidden for 2,600 years beneath one of the world’s most controversial parking lots. The recent discovery of First Temple-era charred timbers provides promising new evidence of Nebuchadnezzar’s army burning Jerusalem and the Temple as described in 2 Kings 25 and Jeremiah 52.
During recent digs at the Jerusalem Walls-City of David National Park, immediately south of Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, excavators uncovered enormous wooden beams, charred by fire, the Israeli Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced recently.
“The beams appear to have served as the roof of an inner courtyard in a building from the First Temple period,” IAA excavation director Efrat Bocher told The Jerusalem Post. Experts believe the timbers were preserved after surrounding plaster melted and sealed them during the intense fire. The IAA and Tel Aviv University are overseeing the excavation. The remarkable find is among several major archaeological discoveries in the past year that illuminate people, places, and events connected to the Bible.
The Building of the First and Second Temples
Many Jews (and historians) view the construction of the Temple as among the greatest achievements of ancient Israel. The biblical narrative of King Solomon’s construction of the First Temple is primarily detailed in 1 Kings 5–7. Although the temple’s precise location today remains undiscovered, scholarly consensus is that it was likely built on the Temple Mount.
This site is also the location of the Second Temple, constructed around 516 BC as described in the book of Ezra. Generations later, King Herod greatly expanded the Second Temple, but the Romans destroyed it in 70 AD following the historic Jewish revolt. Following the Muslim conquest of Jerusalem in the seventh century, Muslim rulers built the iconic octagonal Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount.
A Connection Rooted in Faith and History
Scholars and others welcomed the discovery of the charred beams. “It is very rare in Israel to find wood with such a large number of growth rings,” Johanna Regev, an archaeologist at the Weizmann Institute of Science who is studying the beams, said in media interviews.
“Here in the City of David, we found thick beams with many rings, offering significant research potential, with more growth rings enabling higher dating resolution. Until now, we could date finds within a range of hundreds of years. Now, we can attain much greater precision, narrowing the dating range down to as little as 10 years.”
The IAA announcement arrived on the eve of Tisha B’Av, widely regarded as the “saddest date” on the Jewish calendar since it commemorates the destruction of the First Temple along with numerous other national tragedies in Jewish history. “On the eve of Tisha B’Av, this discovery underscores that our connection to Jerusalem is rooted not only in faith, but also in history, archaeology, and collective memory. It is our responsibility to continue uncovering, preserving, and passing this heritage on to future generations,” Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu told The Jerusalem Post.
Controversial Parking Lot
The site of the discovery is also known as the Givati parking lot, which has been wrapped in controversy for decades. The Israeli government acquired the property in East Jerusalem’s Silwan neighborhood during urban renewal efforts in the 1970s and converted it into a public parking lot.
Later, during the 1980s and 1990s, the Elad Association, founded by Israeli settlers, began purchasing nearby properties to establish Jewish residential communities and develop a visitor center emphasizing the Jewish historical connection to Jerusalem.
Construction on the site faced delays due to requirements that so-called “rescue excavations” could occur to recover and protect any ancient artifacts. Those investigations ultimately transformed what had once been an unremarkable parking lot into one of the richest archaeological sites in Israel. Starting in 2007, digs at Givati uncovered ruins of a building connected to Queen Helena (the first-century Jewish queen and convert to Judaism), the remains of an ancient Greek fortress, and a hoard of 264 Byzantine-era gold coins. The excavations also revealed evidence spanning 10 distinct periods of Jerusalem’s history. Today, covering 3,500 square meters, this former parking lot ranks among Israel’s largest archaeological excavations.
Some professional archaeologists object to the excavations at Givati. Raphael Greenberg, a senior lecturer at Tel Aviv University, published an essay in 2014 critical of IAA and Elad for their plans for Givati, saying that IAA was violating its legal mandate to protect and preserve Jerusalem’s ancient sites. Mahmoud Hawari, a Palestinian archaeologist, in a 2022 journal article was critical of excavations in Silwan as violating international law since they took place on “occupied land,” resulting from the Six-Day War in 1967. Hawari wrote, “Israel weaponizes archaeology to create an invented ‘biblical’ narrative centered on the so-called ‘City of David’ to justify its settler-colonial project in Silwan.”
Other New Discoveries
This past year has brought several other significant discoveries in biblical archaeology and related fields.
Archaeologists in the Nineveh Province of Iraq uncovered a section of a 2600-year-old stele linked to the reign of Assyrian King Ashurbanipal, referred to in Ezra 4:10 as “Asnappar.” He inherited the vast Assyrian Empire from his father, Esarhaddon, and grandfather, Sennacherib, whose failed siege of Jerusalem is recorded in 2 Kings 18–19. In Shiloh, archaeologists announced that they have uncovered another wall of an ancient stone structure that appears to mirror the size of the ancient Hebrew Tabernacle, in which the Ark of the Covenant was held.
In the field of ancient manuscript restoration, scientists recently announced the recovery of 42 lost pages from a biblical manuscript that monks had hidden inside book bindings for nearly 800 years.
Known as Codex H, the sixth-century Greek manuscript contains Paul’s letters and was preserved in a library on Mount Athos in Greece. By the thirteenth century, its ink had faded so severely that monks dismantled the codex and reused its pages to reinforce the bindings of newer books.
Codex H is among the finest surviving examples of the Euthalian Apparatus, a system of explanatory notes and reference aids designed to help readers navigate biblical texts. Scientists recovered the hidden pages using multispectral imaging and radiocarbon dating.
Archaeologists and historians say these discoveries provide new historical context for biblical narratives and other ancient texts, while raising fresh questions for future research.
It was late morning, and our midwife, Julie, was sitting on the stairs outside, praying and reading Scripture. He was meant to arrive in the birthing pool, but I didn’t fill it in time. I had one actual job that day — and I didn’t even get around to doing it.
I didn’t exactly forget; I just couldn’t bring myself to leave the room. The space between my wife’s contractions wasn’t long enough to make it down the stairs and back. They kept coming — like waves gathering more fury, foam, and more anticipation.
Bon Iver was on the birthing playlist. The song “It Might Be Over Soon” came on at just the right moment. We looked at each other and started crying — delirious with joy. It felt like a declaration of grace and a welcome encouragement: This is going to pass. And it’s going to be worth it.
When he was born, and I watched Kara clutch his tiny, yet chunky, pale body, and I felt a tangible connection to the most primal, ancient truth of our shared human experience; this is what we’ve been doing since the dawn of time.
For all our incredible developments in technology and engineering, this birth is how it all begins. You might have a robot vacuum or a car that drives itself. You might have finally optimized your life to the most precise degree. But it all comes back to the agony and awe of childbirth. Whether squatting in a field, lying in the most pristine and well-equipped hospital, or huddled together in a small bathroom, there’s no escaping it.
This is how we begin.
We Begin in Weakness
We come into the world in the most vulnerable of states — and nothing really changes. We are all the ages we’ve ever been. Beneath overalls and aprons, pinstripes and scrubs, we’re still naked little babies, with a hue of blue beneath the blood and slime we were bathed in.
Sometimes, in an effort to be more compassionate and present with the person in front of me, I glance at their shoelaces. I remind myself that, at some point in the day, regardless of their stature — or lack of it — they contorted their back like Quasimodo and bent low, or perhaps raised their leg in an awkward high-lunge, to cross their laces and tie a bow.
All that ambition and all those grown-up to-do lists poured over a pair of laces, just like when they were a child, tongue pressed to the side of their lips, concentrating as intensely as someone cutting the correct wire on a live bomb. I learned to tie my shoes later than most. In the end, it was my Scottish Granny who showed me how. For some time, I wore Velcro shoes, which offered a sense of independence while quietly revealing a deeper truth. I didn’t want my parents to tie my laces for me, but I knew I couldn’t do it on my own.
Some of the men in the prisons where I run poetry workshops wear Velcro shoes. Mostly it’s a safety measure. But sometimes it breaks my heart because, for all the reasons they are there, I wonder if somewhere inside them is a little boy who never learned how to tie his shoes, and perhaps never had someone patiently say: “Cross one lace over the other and pull it tight. Make a bunny ear. Wrap the other lace around it. Push it through the hole. Make another bunny ear. Then pull them both tight.”
The Grace of Dependence
For too long, I believed the lie that you somehow outgrow need, or that you should. But the illusion of self-sufficiency only distances us from the beauty of care — and the grace of being held.
I watched competent, qualified people and assumed they didn’t face the same gnawing sense of incompetence and helplessness that I so often do. But all you need to do is start something for the first time, and that same rushing feeling of dependency floods back in.
A new hobby will do it. I started doing jiu-jitsu recently, and there’s nothing quite like being folded into a pretzel by someone half your height and weight to remind you that you’re an amateur. It’s the awkward dance of a new relationship. The first day on the job. Walking down the steps to your first recovery meeting.
All our beginnings are marked by naked vulnerability.
Sometimes we don’t even realize we’re being born into something new until we’re already in it — shivering, blinking in the light, with an involuntary cry escaping our lungs as we gasp for air.
Paul’s Paradox of Weakness
Of all the voices in the New Testament, it is the Apostle Paul who captures this paradox of living in strength and vulnerability most clearly. While writing his letters to the Corinthians — a people deeply concerned with status, power, appearance, and strength — Paul does something remarkable. Rather than garnering their respect through building a case for his competence, he speaks openly about his weakness.
Specifically, he tells them about a “thorn” in his flesh, something he desperately asked God to remove. The jury is still out on what exactly Paul is speaking of here, but we know it’s produced a feeling of ailment and struggle in his life. In an act of stunning transparency, as though opening the pages of his prayer journal, he allows us to read God’s response:
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9, ESV)
I have heard these words read from pulpits countless times, but I have rarely seen them lived so publicly. To boast in weakness does not mean simply enduring it or tolerating it, nor does it mean romanticizing suffering. The word Paul used in Greek is kauchēsomai — to glory in, to take confidence in, not because it is somehow desirable, but because weakness reveals the sufficiency of Christ.
An honest relationship with our weakness does not magically transform it into strength. It simply reveals the source of what sustains us. Perhaps that is why Paul’s words remain so compelling and so profoundly countercultural: the deeper he goes into the life of God, the more willing he becomes to acknowledge his need.
Returning to Holy Helplessness
We’re trained to outgrow need. To build distance from dependency. But the older I get, the more convinced I become that true maturity looks more like a return — back to that holy helplessness. Back to trust.
I was in a 12-step meeting last week, and a friend shared her new acronym for TRUST:
TRy Using Step Three.
Step Three reads:
“We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God.”
That, honestly, might be worth trying.
Doesn’t something in you exhale, even slightly, when you think about turning your life over to the care of someone with shoulders broad enough to carry it? Hands calloused enough to manage it? A heart large enough to contain the overwhelm, the exhaustion, and the self-loathing you feel?
Born Beloved
My son was born in need, and he was born beloved — and the good news is that you can’t outgrow either.
I need people. I need grace. I need space to be vulnerable and held and even as I write these words, I feel my shoulders relax and relief flood my body.
Friends, this is the great mystery and beauty of our faith: that God, in all power and sovereignty, chose to enter the world not as a noble king but as a newborn, wailing into the night. The One who breathed stars into being was bathed, breastfed, and bruised His little knees. And this is the invitation extended to us, to return to where we began and boast that in all we’ve been through His love has sustained and His grace is sufficient.
What if the life we long for isn’t elsewhere but rather right here, waiting to be discovered?
Joshua Luke Smith believes the greatest lie facing our generation is that the life we long for lies beyond the life that we have. We so easily learn to disdain the inconveniences and interruptions that infuse our everyday. But the real transformation happens when we look at our life as it is and dare to announce: This Is the Main Event.
How Jesus’ Prayer for Building Community in His Church Applies to Ministries Today
Prior to his arrest in John 18, Jesus prayed fervently for himself, his relationship with his Father, his disciples (who are certainly experiencing confusion and perhaps fear), and for all who would become believers in Jesus for their salvation.
But what was the overall focus of his prayer? What was on his heart as he faced a cruel and unjust death by crucifixion? His family? His mother? Or perhaps his closest disciples, the ones who would be leading the mission in the years beyond Jesus’ crucifixion. Was he concerned about their ability to carry the mantle of leadership?
Or was he thinking about his death and how terrible that would be? Certainly facing an execution in the form of crucifixion was one of the worst horrors among forms of Roman capital punishment. Perhaps we might understand that, as fully man and fully God, it could occupy much of his thinking.
Before we dig further into the Scriptures, let’s imagine for a moment what might fill our thoughts. Would it be our families? The false accusations against us? Or, if you were Jesus, would you think of tapping the power you have to overcome the Roman and Jewish leaders, never facing any of this terror?
Let’s look at John 17:13-26 and see if it gives us insights or teachings that might help us understand Jesus’ focus regarding his mission and followers.
How Jesus Prays for His Disciples
Starting in John 17:13, notice how Jesus prays for his disciples. He longs for them to share life together, like Jesus and his Father, along with the Spirit, finding a rich, deep community that has existed before all time. Christ is thinking of his Church, and what may happen after he leaves, as the movement progresses and moves forward.
But he’s not primarily focusing on how many followers will soon be attending (as we often do), or the kind of church buildings they might need to erect, or similar matters.
No, he is focused primarily on the kind of people who will make up the church, people whose lives emulate the ways and teachings of Jesus, and the Father and the Spirit. People who practice what it means to be a follower of Jesus living in a challenging and difficult world. He wants a new kind of Community to emerge, one based not on laws but rather on grace and truth (see John 1:14). These followers will have the kind of life that will draw people toward.
Jesus Wants to Share His Joy With You
What does Jesus want to see? The same kind of life he has shared with the Spirit and the Father.
“I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them” (John 17:13 NIV, emphasis added).
Jesus tells the Father he wants the same joy they share to be present in his followers, in his growing church. This is a confusing prayer to some extent. He’s headed to the cross, yet he says he wants his followers to have the joy that he shares in that moment with the Father. How could anything related to crucifixion produce an ounce of joy?
We read elsewhere in Scripture (Heb. 12:2) that for the joy set before him, he endured the cross. Could it be that it’s not the cross but what’s on the other side of it — and not just the resurrection, but what is purchased on that cross, who is set free, how the Kingdom of God advances despite the efforts of the evil one?
It seems that Jesus wants us to find joy as we pick up our crosses and go after him, filled with his joy — not a light happiness or momentary rush or thrill, but something that resonates from deep within, borne of the Spirit, energized by the Son, guided by the Father.
The Joy of Jesus’ Community
How is it that we can at times experience joy that is a deep, spiritual, God kind of thing? Others might look and wonder how we find such a joy, but we know that we share it with Jesus who fills us with something beautiful and wonderful, and that resonates within us so that we may face the world with such joy.
I remember my daughter performing with about six other girls in a recital when she was in second grade. She was not following the choreography, not doing the dance steps the others were doing. Other parents were watching and wondering, “What’s wrong with that girl?” Her instructor saw only this utter failure. A quick glance at my wife and I, smiling through the lens of our video recorder, suddenly registered with others in the room. They knew.
We were thrilled. We experienced a deep, unstoppable joy. Not because of her performance (which was totally out of sync with the others). We smiled because she is ours, she belongs to us, in that parental relationship where deep within, is a joy some experience when others only see failure.
And so Christ finds deep, abiding joy in the disciples, knowing that he will be with his followers forever, and together with the triune God, we will celebrate Community — and we will smile.
Putting Truth Into Practice
Now we move to verses 14 and 17 in his prayer: “I have given them your word and the world has hated them, … Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:14, 17 NIV, emphasis added).
The truth is at the core of any Christian community, especially biblical truth. It cleanses, purifies, encourages, grounds us and speaks with strength in the face of evil. And believers — as well as others — know it has transforming power. But it has to be put into practice.
Remember Jesus’ exhortation at the end of the Sermon on the Mount in Matt. 7:26-27:
“Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
I was leading a Bible study of businesspeople and one of the participants shared a powerful story about putting truth into practice. He described how he came home one night and opened up his bag and saw a note from his executive assistant inside. The note read something to this effect.
I’ve been working as your assistant for about six months now and wanted to give you a little feedback. In other places I have worked it was pretty common to hear snide jokes and negative comments about women’s bodies and other demeaning gestures and comments. I’ve been paying close attention to how you speak, act, and treat me as a woman in the office. I am pleased to say that you have been a stark contrast to my previous experiences. You often encourage me and you never speak down at me. You certainly don’t make comments about me as a woman in negative sorts of ways. It’s so refreshing. I just wanted to let you know and I’m grateful to be working for you. Thank you.
Jesus certainly desires his followers to engage with the world with integrity, honesty, truth, and consistent and positive language toward others. It’s the kind of church he prayed about and dreamed about.
The Impact of Prayer Against the Evil One
In John 17 Jesus also raised the value and impact of prayer, especially in verses 15 and 16. In verse 15 he specifically focuses on prayer against the evil one.
“My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it” (John 17:15–16 NIV, emphasis added).
He could’ve prayed for their healing, their protection, the strong and vibrant growth of the church, or any number of things. But he focused on protection from the evil one.
Why was this so essential?
Because the evil one wants to divide and conquer — to destroy and break down the power of community, to foster division and arguments and fights. These activities are in stark contrast to the oneness and community Jesus prays about and longs for in his church. In verse 11 of this chapter he asks the Father,
“I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one” (John 17:11 NIV).
The “oneness” Christ is praying about can also be described as transformational community, something Christ modeled among the disciples throughout his ministry, and especially for extended periods of time in the upper room where he modeled this oneness. He prays against the evil one because he seeks to destroy and break down peace and create division. Ever since his efforts in the Garden of Eden, he has been attacking God’s people in these ways.
Christ Is Sent From the Father, and in Turn Sends Us
Now Jesus shifts to the Church’s mission. Few things bring people together in a more unified way than sharing a common mission, a common cause, one that is worth living and dying for. Jesus had such a mission and cause. And he asked his followers to line up with this and follow him and remain committed to it even when he would be gone.
“As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified” (John 17:18–19 NIV, emphasis added).
Verses 18-19 emphasize sending the disciples as Christ was sent into the world. Christ was set apart and sanctified for his mission. He was prepared. He was focused and he sought to share his love, truth, and mission to the world. A mission takes us beyond ourselves. It calls a group of people together to work together and create change and impact for the cause of Christ. It keeps us from being self-centered and prevents us from being inner-focused.
Jesus emphasizes oneness again in verses 21-23 because there is power in small groups. This is why I devoted my life to helping churches and other organizations build small groups and effective teams that are dedicated to growth and a transformational mission.
But that mission cannot be accomplished alone. Again, this is why Jesus focuses so much on oneness, coming together in his name, practicing loving community, and sharing that with the world. Most churches started out small but multiplied and traveled across the world in small groups and teams, showing what Christlike community looks like in action.
Groups clearly are powerful, and I have spent most of my life helping churches and other organizations use small groups for discipleship and growth. My new book, How to Lead a Life-Changing Small Group, is filled with resources to help people accomplish that goal.
Listen to anthropologist Margaret Mead on the power of groups: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
The Church Must Return to the Practice of Community
Finally, let’s complete our study of John 17:13-26, and turn to Jesus’ final request to his Father to share Christ’s glory, and end the prayer calling for his love to be in his Church just as the Father’s love is in Jesus.
“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them” (John 17:24–26 NIV, emphasis added).
It’s time to refocus our churches on this practice of community. This is why it was so much on Jesus’ mind and heart, even as he faced crucifixion. In many cases, we have drifted from this oneness community. We started in the right direction when the church was birthed in Jerusalem. In Jerusalem it was a lifestyle; in Rome it became an institution; in Europe it became a culture; and in America it has become an enterprise. Along the way we …
The early church was a movement, not a monument. It was known as People of the Way, gathering in larger meetings and in smaller groups for deeper fellowship, mission focus, and prayer and worship.
So today we must ask ourselves, “Do we want to be People of the Way or are we just getting in the Way?” Let’s continue what Jesus started, what he prayed for even as he was headed to the cross: emphasizing community and mission.
Step into your leadership calling with confidence.
We are created for community — for connection that nurtures true spiritual growth. But growth doesn’t happen by accident. As a leader, you need practical, trusted guidance to create an environment where the people in your group feel safe to share, grow, and experience God’s grace together. This resource provides the biblically based tools you need to lead transformational groups while deepening your own faith along the way.
Whether you’re stepping into a small group leader role for the first time or you’re a seasoned minister, your heart’s desire is the same: you want to see lives transformed. How to Lead a Life-Changing Small Group is your essential companion on this leadership journey.