Dan Lee
John 17:1-2, Salvation for the Glory of God

Jesus’ prayer in John 17 begins with a focus on the glory of God. Jesus prays that His impending death will ultimately glorify the Father and that this would come about through the granting (gifting) of eternal life to His elect. What Jesus’ crucifixion puts on display is the glory of God’s grace in salvation.

Dan Lee
Deuteronomy 27-34, Two Ways to Live

As Moses closes his final message to the children of Israel, he focuses on the consequences of obedience and disobedience. He does so by setting down before them two pathways: the pathway to life, good, and the blessing, and the other pathway to death, evil, and the curse. Along with these options for their future, he reveals to them their future in apostasy, judgment, and even a restoration afterwards. The Pentateuch closes with an allusion to the prophet like Moses to come, the Lord Jesus, who speaks from the LORD and all the people ought to hear. The call to choose life echoes throughout the ages, calling all to be reconciled and restored to God and to enter into His blessing through the Savior and Lord Jesus Christ.

Dan Lee
Deuteronomy 12-26, The Place and The Prophet

In this final legal section of the Pentateuch, Moses touches on a wide range of laws. Among these, two stand out as the most prominent in the main message of Moses regarding the Messiah: the place of worship and the future prophet like Moses. These two ideas propel us to build up God’s church, hope in Christ’s return, and listen to Christ.

Dan Lee
Deuteronomy 1-11, Remember and Obey

Moses speaks his final message to the children of Israel before heading up Mount Nebo and see the land of Canaan and die there. His aim is to expound the law but he is gripped by the urgency of the spiritual needs of his people and thus he earnestly exhorts them with a long introduction (nearly all of 11 chapters) to remember and obey. In this three part study of Deuteronomy, we examine the practical relevance of this exhortation and consider the ultimate Israelite who lived up to all that this exhortation required.

Dan Lee
Numbers 22-24, The Messianic Prophecies of ...

The very perplexing figure of Balaam shows that God can use even a wicked pagan priest to speak forth His truth. Unbeknownst to this man, the LORD intended to use him to reinforce His immutable commitment to bless Israel and send the Messiah for our salvation. Balaam’s prophecies show that Jesus is the coming king who will reign supremely over all the nations, crushing all His enemies. They also show that Jesus is the promised seed of the woman, the seed of Abraham, who grants the blessing of salvation to all the elect of God.

John 14:12-14, The Promises of Christ for His People: Answered Prayer (Part 2)

It is the will of God that His people bear much fruit. Jesus described this in terms of the greater works (v 12). But how are we to bear much fruit and do the greater works? Were the disciples strong enough and godly enough to do these things? Are we strong enough and godly enough to do the same? Jesus shows us in this discourse that we are not. The one resource we need to do what we are incapable of doing on our own is Jesus Himself. He is our greatest resource to be and to make disciples (do the greater works), and we tap into this tremendous Christological resource by means of prayer (vv. 13-14). Prayer, in this sense, enables the greater works, because through prayer, we witness Jesus doing through us the remarkable works of God. Furthermore, prayer is worship, because in prayer, we affirm and uphold the revealed will of God as supreme and wise and righteous. Prayer is also worship because God is glorified in its effects. May we learn to pray in Jesus’ name and may we, through His doing in us, do the greater works for which God has saved us.

John 14:12-14, The Promises of Christ: Answered Prayer

Jesus promises answered prayer for His people. His promise brings up many questions. Is His promise a blank check or a magical formula for getting whatever we want? Is this just another version of the pagan idea of prayer? What does it mean to pray in Jesus’ name? How does this passage reconcile with the rest of the biblical teaching on prayer? The teaching of our Lord regarding prayer is this: We pray in accordance to His likeness and His will. We pray as those who abide in Him and His words abide in us (John 15:7). In short, we pray Christian prayers. We pray to seek the purposes of God to be advanced in this His world. May the Lord evermore teach us to pray as we should: in His name!

John 14:12, The Promises of Christ: the Greater Works

Jesus promises for His people provisions for the time of His physical absence from them. In John 14:12-20, Jesus assures His people that they will experience the greater works, answered prayer, and His Holy Spirit. The first of these is the focus of this study. What are the greater works? How should we respond if we are not seeing the greater works being carried out in our lives?

John 14:4-11, Jesus Is God

Jesus possesses a perfect overlap with the Father in His divine nature. He is truly God. But this familiar and orthodox doctrine has ramifications. Jesus first points out the implications of this doctrine to show that the disciples actually had failed to believe the doctrine. There is an important lesson for us in this. If Jesus is God, then certainly, that doctrine must flesh itself out in our lives also. That belief should be evident in our perspective, lifestyle, worship, and obedience to the Lord. May the Holy Spirit, our Helper, give us the grace to embrace Jesus as Lord and God more fully and deeply as we should.

John 14:2-3, Comfort in Times of Trouble (Part 2)

Hope is what enables us to endure times of trouble. Jesus knows the needs of His troubled disciples and points them to the vivid hope of heaven. He portrays heaven as a home, a return, and a reunion. What will mark our reunion with our Lord is His return. This is the rapture explained further in 1 Thess. 4:17. The Lord Jesus Christ will indeed remove His church before unleashing His wrath upon the world for its wickedness and its persecution of His people. May our Lord find us busy about His work whenever He should come for us. Maranatha!

John 13:36-14:1, Comfort in Times of Trouble

Have your dreams ever been shattered? Or, have you ever felt that your situation was outside of your control? This is precisely what Jesus’ disciples faced in this scene in the Upper Room. Jesus’ impending departure from them (13:33) meant shattered dreams. But it was also a loss of control. SImon Peter tried to offer his own life to take control of the situation, but Jesus assures him that that could not be. This was troubling for them all. The shattered dreams and the loss of control weighed heavily upon their hearts. But Jesus is fully aware of their disappointments and sorrows. He, therefore, comforts them with the only assurance that we can hold onto in the midst of trouble: Trust in God. That God is sovereign, that He loves them, and that He is all-wise to orchestrate all things for their eternal good, this is the God-ordained comfort for His suffering people. Jesus also shows us that the object of our faith must be the only true God who has revealed Himself in His Son. We are to place our trust in the Jesus kind of God, the triune God, whose character and glory we see in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the secret to comfort in times of trouble. Trust in the only true God whom we know in Christ.

John 13:33-35, Love One Another

Jesus loves His disciples (13:1). As He sees His impending arrest, trials, and crucifixion, Jesus prepares His disciples for the period of separation they will experience. Jesus will head to the cross and thereafter ascend into heaven. With a telescoping viewpoint, Jesus reveals this twofold destination to which He was going. With this mind, Jesus also prepares His disciples with His prescription for what they are to occupy themselves with while they await His return (14:3). They are to love one another. This is truly a new commandment for the new covenant people in the new church age. This stunning new commandment of Jesus is what we are to fill our lives with. May the Holy Spirit teach us to hold fast to these marching orders of our Lord and make them our greatest aim in life as we await the Savior who is coming again for us.