Some today would have us believe that love and authority don’t mix. Jesus has the same love for us that the Father has. But Jesus recognized that a command was in order. The command? Love.

Read this brief passage in John 15:

I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. This is my command: Love each other.

John 15:9-17John 15:9-17
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
9 I have loved you, just as my Father has loved me. So remain faithful to my love for you. ¹⁰ If you obey me, I will keep loving you, just as my Father keeps loving me, because I have obeyed him. ¹¹ I have told you this to make you as completely happy as I am. ¹² . Now I tell you to love each other, as I have loved you. ¹³ The greatest way to show love for friends is to die for them. ¹⁴ And you are my friends, if you obey me. ¹⁵ Servants don't know what their master is doing, and so I don't speak to you as my servants. I speak to you as my friends, and I have told you everything that my Father has told me. ¹⁶ You did not choose me. I chose you and sent you out to produce fruit, the kind of fruit that will last. Then my Father will give you whatever you ask for in my name. v in my name: Or “because you are my followers.” ¹⁷ So I command you to love each other.

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Which metaphor best describes the way you usually think about your relationship with God the Father? Child? Servant? Friend? Is this the same role you think of when you consider your relationship with Jesus?

How has Jesus demonstrated obedience and love for us?

Today we will read Proverbs 3. It is a father challenging his child to take hold of all that he has taught him. As you read you may hear your own father asking you to wisely learn from his instruction and mistakes. You may hear things you have offered to your own children.

Ask yourself what kinds of things the son was supposed to learn from the father. What has the father told the son to remember? How does the father see his role?

My child, never forget the things I have taught you. Store my commands in your heart.
If you do this, you will live many years, and your life will be satisfying.
Never let loyalty and kindness leave you! Tie them around your neck as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart.
Then you will find favor with both God and people, and you will earn a good reputation.
Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.
Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.
Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the LORD and turn away from evil.
Then you will have healing for your body and strength for your bones.
Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce.
Then he will fill your barns with grain, and your vats will overflow with good wine.
My child, don’t reject the LORD’s discipline, and don’t be upset when he corrects you.
For the LORD corrects those he loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights.*
Joyful is the person who finds wisdom, the one who gains understanding.
For wisdom is more profitable than silver, and her wages are better than gold.
Wisdom is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her.
She offers you long life in her right hand, and riches and honor in her left.
She will guide you down delightful paths; all her ways are satisfying.
Wisdom is a tree of life to those who embrace her; happy are those who hold her tightly.
By wisdom the LORD founded the earth; by understanding he created the heavens.
By his knowledge the deep fountains of the earth burst forth, and the dew settles beneath the night sky.
My child, don’t lose sight of common sense and discernment. Hang on to them, for they will refresh your soul. They are like jewels on a necklace.
They keep you safe on your way, and your feet will not stumble.
You can go to bed without fear; you will lie down and sleep soundly.
You need not be afraid of sudden disaster or the destruction that comes upon the wicked, for the LORD is your security. He will keep your foot from being caught in a trap.
Do not withhold good from those who deserve it when it’s in your power to help them.
If you can help your neighbor now, don’t say, “Come back tomorrow, and then I’ll help you.”
Don’t plot harm against your neighbor, for those who live nearby trust you.
Don’t pick a fight without reason, when no one has done you harm.
Don’t envy violent people or copy their ways.
Such wicked people are detestable to the LORD, but he offers his friendship to the godly.
The LORD curses the house of the wicked, but he blesses the home of the upright.
The LORD mocks the mockers but is gracious to the humble.
The wise inherit honor, but fools are put to shame!

Proverbs 3

Today, we will look at John 5.

So the Jewish leaders began harassing Jesus for breaking the Sabbath rules. But Jesus replied, “My Father is always working, and so am I.” So the Jewish leaders tried all the harder to find a way to kill him. For he not only broke the Sabbath, he called God his Father, thereby making himself equal with God.

So Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing. In fact, the Father will show him how to do even greater works than healing this man. Then you will truly be astonished. For just as the Father gives life to those he raises from the dead, so the Son gives life to anyone he wants. In addition, the Father judges no one. Instead, he has given the Son absolute authority to judge, so that everyone will honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son is certainly not honoring the Father who sent him.

John 5:16-23John 5:16-23
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
16 They started making a lot of trouble for Jesus because he did things like this on the Sabbath. ¹⁷ But Jesus said, “My Father has never stopped working, and that is why I keep on working.” ¹⁸ Ws . Now the leaders wanted to kill Jesus for two reasons. First, he had broken the law of the Sabbath. But even worse, he had said that God was his Father, which made him equal with God. The Son's Authority ¹⁹ Jesus told the people: I tell you for certain that the Son cannot do anything on his own. He can do only what he sees the Father doing, and he does exactly what he sees the Father do. ²⁰ The Father loves the Son and has shown him everything he does. The Father will show him even greater things, and you will be amazed. ²¹ Just as the Father raises the dead and gives life, so the Son gives life to anyone he wants to. ²² The Father doesn't judge anyone, but he has made his Son the judge of everyone. ²³ The Father wants all people to honor the Son as much as they honor him. When anyone refuses to honor the Son, that is the same as refusing to honor the Father who sent him.

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Sometimes we read it without thought, but in Jesus speech and actions, they found himself to be declaring himself uniquely related to the Father. How are you like your father? This could be in physical ways, personality, the way you have seen God work in your life, etc. It’s easy to claim similarity when it is “good”. Are there ways that you are like your father that you would like to change?

If you are a parent, how are your children like you? This might be simply physical characteristics and manner of speech, but how have your children made decisions to live life following your example? How have you tried to guide them to become like you not only physically, but in how they make wise decisions?

How are we like our Father in heaven? Do you find it easier to relate with Jesus, or with the Father? Why?

Read Luke 10:21-24Luke 10:21-24
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
Jesus Thanks His Father ²¹ At that same time, Jesus felt the joy that comes from the Holy Spirit, v the Holy Spirit: Some manuscripts have “his spirit.” and he said: My Father, Lord of heaven and earth, I am grateful that you hid all this from wise and educated people and showed it to ordinary people. Yes, Father, that is what pleased you. ²² a ; b . My Father has given me everything, and he is the only one who knows the Son. The only one who really knows the Father is the Son. But the Son wants to tell others about the Father, so that they can know him too. ²³ Jesus then turned to his disciples and said to them in private, “You are really blessed to see what you see! ²⁴ Many prophets and kings were eager to see what you see and to hear what you hear. But I tell you that they did not see or hear.”

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At that same time Jesus was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit, and he said, “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way.

“My Father has entrusted everything to me. No one truly knows the Son except the Father, and no one truly knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

Then when they were alone, he turned to the disciples and said, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you have seen. I tell you, many prophets and kings longed to see what you see, but they didn’t see it. And they longed to hear what you hear, but they didn’t hear it.”

Luke 10:21-24Luke 10:21-24
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
Jesus Thanks His Father ²¹ At that same time, Jesus felt the joy that comes from the Holy Spirit, v the Holy Spirit: Some manuscripts have “his spirit.” and he said: My Father, Lord of heaven and earth, I am grateful that you hid all this from wise and educated people and showed it to ordinary people. Yes, Father, that is what pleased you. ²² a ; b . My Father has given me everything, and he is the only one who knows the Son. The only one who really knows the Father is the Son. But the Son wants to tell others about the Father, so that they can know him too. ²³ Jesus then turned to his disciples and said to them in private, “You are really blessed to see what you see! ²⁴ Many prophets and kings were eager to see what you see and to hear what you hear. But I tell you that they did not see or hear.”

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Take a couple minutes, and using this passage, write out your thoughts about the relationship between the Father and the Son.

Also consider, when you read the phrase, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike, do you find yourself comforted? How does this phrase apply to you?

Read the following passage prayerfully considering the following questions:

• In what ways did Jacob fail as a father during these events?
• In what ways was Jacob a good example of a father?
• How do you see yourself in relation to Jacob, both the good and the bad?

So Jacob settled again in the land of Canaan, where his father had lived as a foreigner. This is the account of Jacob and his family. When Joseph was seventeen years old, he often tended his father’s flocks. He worked for his half brothers, the sons of his father’s wives Bilhah and Zilpah. But Joseph reported to his father some of the bad things his brothers were doing. Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other children because Joseph had been born to him in his old age. So one day Jacob had a special gift made for Joseph—a beautiful robe. But his brothers hated Joseph because their father loved him more than the rest of them. They couldn’t say a kind word to him.

One night Joseph had a dream, and when he told his brothers about it, they hated him more than ever. “Listen to this dream,” he said. “We were out in the field, tying up bundles of grain. Suddenly my bundle stood up, and your bundles all gathered around and bowed low before mine!”

His brothers responded, “So you think you will be our king, do you? Do you actually think you will reign over us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dreams and the way he talked about them.

Soon Joseph had another dream, and again he told his brothers about it. “Listen, I have had another dream,” he said. “The sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed low before me!”

This time he told the dream to his father as well as to his brothers, but his father scolded him. “What kind of dream is that?” he asked. “Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow to the ground before you?” But while his brothers were jealous of Joseph, his father wondered what the dreams meant.

Soon after this, Joseph’s brothers went to pasture their father’s flocks at Shechem. When they had been gone for some time, Jacob said to Joseph, “Your brothers are pasturing the sheep at Shechem. Get ready, and I will send you to them.”

“I’m ready to go,” Joseph replied.

“Go and see how your brothers and the flocks are getting along,” Jacob said. “Then come back and bring me a report.” So Jacob sent him on his way, and Joseph traveled to Shechem from their home in the valley of Hebron.

When he arrived there, a man from the area noticed him wandering around the countryside. “What are you looking for?” he asked.

“I’m looking for my brothers,” Joseph replied. “Do you know where they are pasturing their sheep?”

“Yes,” the man told him. “They have moved on from here, but I heard them say, ‘Let’s go on to Dothan.’” So Joseph followed his brothers to Dothan and found them there.

Genesis 37:1-17Genesis 37:1-17
English: Contemporary English Version (1999) - CEV
Joseph and His Brothers ^{37 1} Jacob lived in the land of Canaan, where his father Isaac had lived, ² and this is the story of his family. When Jacob's son Joseph was seventeen years old, he took care of the sheep with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah. c Bilhah and Zilpah: See . But he was always telling his father all sorts of bad things about his brothers. ³ Jacob loved Joseph more than he did any of his other sons, because Joseph was born after Jacob was very old. Jacob had given Joseph a fancy coat d fancy coat: Or “a coat of many colors” or “a coat with long sleeves.” ⁴ to show that he was his favorite son, and so Joseph's brothers hated him and would not be friendly to him. ⁵ One day, Joseph told his brothers what he had dreamed, and they hated him even more. ⁶ Joseph said, “Let me tell you about my dream. ⁷ We were out in the field, tying up bundles of wheat. Suddenly my bundle stood up, and your bundles gathered around and bowed down to it.” ⁸ His brothers asked, “Do you really think you are going to be king and rule over us?” Now they hated Joseph more than ever because of what he had said about his dream. ⁹ Joseph later had another dream, and he told his brothers, “Listen to what else I dreamed. The sun, the moon, and eleven stars bowed down to me.” ¹⁰ When he told his father about this dream, his father became angry and said, “What's that supposed to mean? Are your mother and I and your brothers all going to come and bow down in front of you?” ¹¹ . Joseph's brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept wondering about the dream. Joseph Is Sold and Taken to Egypt ¹² One day when Joseph's brothers had taken the sheep to a pasture near Shechem, ¹³ his father Jacob said to him, “I want you to go to your brothers. They are with the sheep near Shechem.” “Yes, sir,” Joseph answered. ¹⁴ His father said, “Go and find out how your brothers and the sheep are doing. Then come back and let me know.” So he sent him from Hebron Valley. Joseph was near Shechem ¹⁵ and wandering through the fields, when a man asked, “What are you looking for?” ¹⁶ Joseph answered, “I'm looking for my brothers who are watching the sheep. Can you tell me where they are?” ¹⁷ “They're not here anymore,” the man replied. “I overheard them say they were going to Dothan.” Joseph left and found his brothers in Dothan.

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