The Grands Letter

Dear Grands,

John 20:11-15, “But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb; 12 and she beheld two angels in white sitting, one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying. 13 And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.”

14 When she had said this, she turned around, and beheld Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”

Mary Magdalene’s experience at Jesus’ tomb is remarkable in every respect, there is

no substitute for the evidence of her love for her LORD Jesus Christ. One commentator

says, “In any kind of work, it is true that we cannot really interpret the thought of another

person, unless between us and him there is a bond of sympathy. It is at once clear, for

instance, when the conductor of an orchestra is in sympathy with the music of the composer

whose work he is conducting. Love is the great interpreter. Love can grasp the truth when

intellect is left groping and uncertain. Love can realize the meaning of a thing when research

is blind…. We can neither understand Jesus nor help others to understand him, unless we

take our hearts to Him as well as our minds.”

Try putting yourself in Mary’s place. Do you –do I—have for Jesus the love she had?

Mary’s love for Christ was derived from His redemption from her sin. Do we honestly

view ourselves as sinners? Are we aware of the horrendous price He paid to redeem

us from our sin?

Oh, what love that He should die for me;

Saving grace thus to supply for me;

Oh, what love! What love!

Evermore I’ll tell it! Oh, what love!

God is our Heavenly Father! He paid a tremendous price in sacrificing His Son

for us. What are we sacrificing that shows our love for Him?

We love you each and every one!

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”

Dear Grands,

John 19:6-11, “When therefore the chief priests and the officers saw Him, they

cried out, saying, “Crucify, crucify!” Pilate said to them, “Take Him yourselves,

and crucify Him, for I find no guilt in Him.” 7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law,

and by that law He ought to die because He made Himself out to be the Son of God.”

8 When Pilate therefore heard this statement, he was the more afraid; 9 and he entered

into the Praetorium again, and said to Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus gave him

no answer. 10 Pilate therefore said to Him, “You do not speak to me? Do You not know

that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?” 11 Jesus

answered, “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from

above; for this reason he who delivered Me up to you has the greater sin.”

Every verse in John 19 begs to be opened to our understanding. It is indeed a

rich treasure of truth that cannot easily be overlooked. First, the Jews cried out

for Jesus to be crucified. Pilate insisted that he could find no guilt in Him. The

Jews incriminated themselves when they admitted that they understood the

Mosaic Law. Pilate was not familiar with Jewish law and admitted it when he

said in John 18:35, “I am not a Jew, am I?” But, when he said to Jesus, “I have

authority to release You…,” Jesus replied that Pilate’s authority was subject

to the higher authority of the Father in Heaven. Then He said a strange thing:

“…he who delivered Me up to you has the greater sin.” All sin is evil and wrong;

but some sins are infinitely greater than others, leading me to believe that Hell

has variations or degrees of eternal punishment. What is significant in this

passage is that Pilate had no knowledge of Jewish law, but the Jews did. They

pressed him in several ways that made him deliver Jesus for crucifixion.

In the current news, a teenage girl has been convicted of involuntary manslaughter

for aggressively urging her “boyfriend” to take his own life. She did not actually

kill him, but she was a significant factor in his death by her encouragement to that

end. Those who introduce others to sinful practices are guiltier, but those who

participate are guilty as well. We who know the Scriptures and their teaching

against sin will not escape God’s wrath. We belong to Him, and He punishes us

as a godly parent punishes his child.

We love you and pray that you may always be delivered from temptation,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”

Dear Grands,

John 19: 4, “And Pilate came out again, and said to them, ‘Behold, I am

bringing Him out to you, that you may know that I find no guilt in Him.’”

In Acts 3:13, Luke says that “Pilate…was determined to let (Jesus) go.”

Why Pilate was disposed to release Jesus is nowhere clearer than when

it was said that into Pilate’s “life there came Jesus, and suddenly he saw

what he had missed. That day he might have found all that he had missed;

but he had not the courage to defy the world in spite of his past, and to take

his stand with Christ and a future which was glorious” (Barclay).

That is an excellent assessment of what we need to do in our lives. Pilate

waited too long, and missed his opportunity. He knew Jesus was innocent,

but lacked the courage to make a stand for Christ.

I have an Iranian friend to whom I sent the paper, “As Simply As I Can Say It.”

I sent it in Farsi, because that’s her first language. This week, she told me she

received it, but would I send it again in English. I continue to be excited because

her request is an indication that the opportunity for her to come to faith in Christ

has not been missed. Just pray for my Iranian friend that she will be saved.

I am attaching the English copy. Feel free to use it as the LORD leads you.

We love and pray for you and your witness, too,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”

Dear Grands,

John 18:4-6, “Jesus therefore, knowing all the things that were coming upon Him,

went forth, and said to them, ‘Whom do you seek?’ 5 They answered Him, ‘Jesus

the Nazarene.’ He said to them, ‘I am.’ And Judas also who was betraying Him,

was standing with them. 6 When therefore He said to them, ‘I am,’ they drew back,

and fell to the ground.”

As simple as these verses first appear, they are powerfully instructive. Jesus and

His disciples (possibly only Peter, James and John) were with Him in the Garden of

Gethsemane. This is where He prayed while they slept. Jesus’ prayer was that

He might be delivered from having to go to the Cross. It was not His fear of death;

rather, it was being made sin that He abhorred. Still, there was no other way. He

knew all things that were coming upon Him. Nothing ever caught Him by surprise.

But his adversaries were surprised when He said, “I AM.” Notice that the He is

italicized, meaning that it was not in the original language. In Exodus 3:14, the

LORD said to Moses, “I AM THAT I AM.” Translated, it says, “I am God; and I’m

all you need in any given situation.”

Commentator Adam Clarke writes, “Our Lord chose to give them this proof of His

infinite power, that they might know that their power could not prevail against Him

if He chose to exert His might, seeing that the very breath of His mouth confounded,

drove back, and struck them down to the earth. Thus, by the blast of God they might

have perished, and by the breath of his nostrils they might have been consumed.”

Job 4:9 says, “By the breath of God they perish, And by the blast of His anger they

come to an end.”

The power of almighty God is far, far beyond our comprehension! The Scripture

does not say, but it is probable that Judas Iscariot (the traitor), who was “standing

with them,” fell to the ground also. We will do well always to notice who is standing

with whom in any given situation. Yet, our dependency lies with Him, who is “all

that (we) need in any given situation.”

Our love and prayers are with you always,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”

Dear Grands,

John 17:15-19, “’I do not ask Thee to take them out of the world,

but to keep them from the evil one. 16 “They are not of the world,

even as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; Thy

Word is truth. 18 As Thou didst send Me into the world, I also have

sent them into the world. 19 And for their sakes I sanctify Myself,

that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.’”

We often think of Matthew 6 (“Our Father, Who art in Heaven”)

as the LORD’s Prayer, but it is the “Model Prayer.” The LORD’s

Prayer is in John 17. Notice that Jesus does not as the Father to

“take (us) out of the world, but to keep (us) from evil. The word

evil (???????, poneros) encompasses both evil and the evil one.

It means “evil-producing.” Satan is not the only evil-producer.

He does initiate all evil, but some evil itself simply calls for more evil.

How are we to stop this evil that would take over our lives? We

are to live in the Word. Sanctify (??????, hagiazo) means to “make

holy.” Because we have a sinful DNA, inherited from Adam, it is

much easier to give in to sin than to stay holy. The LORD knows

that, so He gave us the Holy Spirit and the Word (the Bible) so we

can counter the evil with His Truth! Jesus even said, “I sanctify

Myself,” meaning that He lived a holy life before His disciples, so

they had a perfect example of how they (and we!) should live.

Make no mistake about it: the world is watching our lives! When

we fall short of being holy, people notice. When we live holy lives,

they also notice. And it is the holy life that glorifies Jesus and

brings the lost to faith in Him.

All our love and prayers,

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas

“We never know that God is all we need

until He becomes all that we have.”