One On One: 100 Days With Jesus--Ministry YearsSample

I AM: The One who will die for you

You awake? So am I. It’s the last night on the road for our team, way past midnight. We’re in Jericho, camping in a friends’ stable before tomorrow’s final 20-mile hike up to Jerusalem. From what the Rabbi says, we’re heading straight into a storm and we’re not going to make it out alive—at least not all of us. 

Imagine talking with John, the disciple who lived another 60 years after that night. Listen to how he might have reflected on the events near the end of Jesus’ ministry years. 

What new picture do you have of Jesus now that you’ve walked with Him one on one? 

Back when I was a young man, so ruled by my passions that my brother James and I were called “sons of thunder”—back in that day, I walked with God. In the moment, we didn’t realize Jesus was God. He was our Rabbi; He was my mentor and friend. 

That night before we went up to Jerusalem, I woke in the third watch and noticed Jesus’ empty bedroll. Everyone was asleep, but I found Him up and not far away, kneeling against a boulder. I could tell He was praying. 

When I close my eyes, I’m there again. On that night under the stars. Or on the shore of the lake with James and dad. Or on the trail with the other disciples—all of them gone now. I can still taste the wine that moments before had been water. And Mary’s oil—the fragrance filling the room. I still smell it.

Sometimes I still hear Jesus’ voice. 

I am the light of the world, He said. . . . A light—to rescue those whose sin keeps them in a dark place. Like the man Jesus rescued from demons, and the woman at the well. 

I am the door . . . The only entrance—for those looking for God’s greater plan. Like   Nicodemus and Nathaniel—sincere yet searching in the wrong place.

I am the bread of life . . . Satisfaction—for those who hunger for God’s kind of life. Like those in the crowds who experienced a miracle but embraced a Savior.

I am the way. . . Truth. Life.— for every disciple like us who saw in Jesus, a model of faith, living all that He taught. He who is the road . . . the only way to heaven. 

I am the resurrection . . . Eternal life—for everyone who turns to Him when life fails and hope dies. 

Everything Jesus said about Himself came back to us later.

The last memory I have of Jesus from that night was Him sitting in the moonlight, His soul at rest, and a lamb curled up beside Him. The lamb, loved by the family and kept as a pet, would the next week be taken to temple for Passover. An acceptable sacrifice. 

And so would Jesus. 

Walk with Him there on His way to the Cross—the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Witness the greatest gift you’ve ever been given as it happened in that final week.