From beginning to end, John has shown us the Christ. He is the Word made flesh. True God, true man, who truly died, truly rose, truly paid for the sins of the whole world. Join Pastor Bourman and Pastor Walsh as they wrap up the whole book of John!

I think one of the hardest things to do in studying our Bibles is to put ourselves into Jesus' shoes. It's hard, but I'll ask you to try here. See Jesus as he prays to his Father to take the cup of wrath away from. Think of everything you know about the relationship Jesus shares with his Father.  

From all eternity Jesus had enjoyed had the perfect relationship with his Father. He had been loved and affirmed. So much so that the Father had boomed from heaven about it three times while Jesus was on earth. Their relationship was perfect, their communication was perfect, they showed their love perfectly for each other.

And Jesus prays like that in perfect petition.  He prays not my will, but your will be done. He says, Father, I love you more than I love myself. Think about that. Try and put yourself into Jesus' shoes in that. Why?

Because then maybe we can appreciate what it must have been like for Jesus when his Father said no. The Father said no, here. And Jesus knew that. How did he know it? Because Judas walked up.  And when Judas walked up, Jesus knew his prayer had been answered with a no. And so he gets up and says, enough. Let’s go. Here comes my betrayer. And he takes his desire for the cup to be taken away from him and he perfectly submits it to the Father that he loves. Think on this. The Father said no to his Son Jesus. The Father didn’t spare his Son. Why? Because the Father wanted to spare us. 

Think on this as you prepare your heart for Sunday. Write in your heart and mind. This is the love with which you are loved. This is the passion that is for you. The Father said no to his Son, so that his wrath could be satisfied and he could say yes to you. This is the Father’s love for you. And this is Jesus’ love for his Father and his love for you. That Jesus drank the cup of wrath so that each one of us might do nothing else but drink the cup of salvation. This is cosmic God-sized passion. Poured out for you. Drink that in today. Drink in that salvation. And the passion of God for you. Drink it in.

Today's SOAP study focuses on another of Jesus' I AM statements. He tells us: "I AM the vine, and you are the branches." Join in with Pastor Walsh and Pastor Bourman to see this picture of relationship between us and Jesus, and this picture of Christian life in Jesus, who feeds us, and who gives us all that we need to bear fruit in his name.