Back on November 13th I spoke about your
Oikos. I want to revisit that from a
more personal experience.
What do you know about John?
James and John sons of Zebedee (thunder) and Salome
were the high school QB and tight end, basket ball center and point guard,
baseball pitcher and short stop, class and student council presidents but also
starred in the school plays and musicals, played piano and first chair violin
for the school orchestra, and dated the head cheerleader and prom queen. These guys were tough but tender, ambitious
but loyal.
Think about it, their father was referred to as Thunder
and their mother was considered brash as the one who approached Jesus to ask
him to have her sons sit at Jesus’ right and left in the kingdom of heaven. One parent is a bull in a china shop shouting
about everything and the other is a campaign chairman to get you elected
president whether you want it or not. That means you have a lot to live up to,
along with ensuring the success of the family fishing business. Part of John’s Oikos is his family: Mom, Dad
and brother James. Then he has his
business Oikos Luke 5:8-10 When Simon
Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord;
I am a sinful man!" For he and all his companions were astonished at the
catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon's
partners. Matt 4:18-19 Jesus saw Simon called Peter and his
brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. John’s
business Oikos included his brother and father as well as Peter and
Andrew. His friend Oikos would
eventually include Nathaniel/Bartholomew,
Phillip, Judas Iscariot, James son of Alpheus, Simon the zealot, Thaddeus/Jude, Thomas and Matthew.
Jesus
had an Oikos. Can you name them? Peter,
Andrew, James, John, Nathaniel/Bartholomew,
Phillip, Judas Iscariot, James son of Alpheus, Simon the zealot, Thaddeus/Jude,
Thomas and Matthew. It also might
include his mother Mary, as well as Mary, Martha and Lazarus. That puts him at 16 till you take away
Judas. You get the idea, even Jesus
could only be close to and ultimately have an impact in the lives of so many
people. Why do you think he sent them
out two by two; they went places he couldn’t.
Why do you think Jesus said, John 14:12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in
me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these,
because I am going to the Father. Because Jesus could only be one
place at one time, because the infinite God was clothed in a finite body fenced
in by time and space just like us. But
his spirit can reach the world through each of his disciple’s Oikos/families.
Like John’s. What was unique about John?
What made him special in his Oikos? He was the disciple Jesus loved. Just ask him. According to John’s own words:
John: The disciple whom Jesus LOVED
John 13:22-25
His disciples
stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant. One of them,
the disciple whom Jesus
loved, was reclining next to him. Simon Peter motioned to this disciple
and said, "Ask him which one he means."
Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, "Lord,
who is it?"
John 19:25-27
Near the cross
of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and
Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing
nearby, he said to his mother, "Dear woman, here
is your son," and to the
disciple, "Here is your mother." From
that time on, this disciple took her into his home. Mary became part of his
extended family - his Oikos.
John 20:1-2
Early on the
first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb
and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running
to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, "They have taken
the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!"
John 21:6-7
Jesus said,
"Throw your net on the right side of the boat and
you will find some." When they did, they were unable to haul the
net in because of the large number of fish. Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to
Peter, "It is the Lord!"
John 21:20-23
Peter turned
and saw that the disciple whom
Jesus loved was following them. Peter asked, "Lord, what about him?" Jesus answered, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to
you? You must follow me."
Because of this, the rumor spread among the brothers that this disciple
would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he
only said, "If I want him to remain alive until I
return, what is that to you?" As far as we know, John is the
only disciple that died of old age.
The story of Jonathan (JaiLai)
John 15:9-17
"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.
10 If
you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my
Father's commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in
you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have
loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life
for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call
you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I
have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have
made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to
go and bear fruit — fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you
whatever you ask in my name. 17 This is my command: Love each other.
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