Category: John 14

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John John 14

Never alone

John

One thing my five‑year‑old daughter used to do quite often, and even does now from time to time, is crawl into my wife’s and my bed and snuggle in between us. When we ask why, she’ll say, “I was lonely.”

I think all of us can relate to that feeling sometimes. And the disciples themselves were feeling lonely when Jesus said he was going away.

But Jesus told them,

I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth.

The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.

I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me.

Because I live, you also will live.

On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.

Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me.

He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him…

If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. (John 14:16–21, 23)

Here we see the Trinity in all its fullness. And it tells us a very important truth: God is with us.

Jesus said he would send a counselor to us, God the Holy Spirit. And that the Holy Spirit would teach us and remind us of the things that Jesus said.

Then Jesus said that he himself would come to us and that he would be in us. That he would not abandon us as orphans.

Finally, he said that the Father himself would make his home in us.

The key? We walk in obedience to him. And that all comes down to what we talked about yesterday: trust. Do we trust God enough that we obey him?

That’s why Jesus said at the beginning of this chapter,

Trust in God; trust also in me. (John 14:1)

It is impossible to have a relationship with God if we refuse to trust him.

Closely related to that is love. Do we love God enough to want to please him? Do we love him enough to avoid the things that hurt him, and to do the things that bring a smile to his face?

If we love, trust, and obey him, then we’ll find that God is right there with us, through the good times and bad. And because of that, we can find peace.

Jesus told his disciples,

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid. (John 14:27)

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John John 14

If we truly love Jesus

John

This is one of those passages that would probably make many people turn their heads if they really thought about it.

Jesus says to start off,

If you love me, you will obey what I command. (John 14:15)

Think about that a minute. If your husband, wife, boyfriend or girlfriend said to you, “If you love me, you will obey what I command,” what would your response be?

Most probably, “I’m outta here. Forget this relationship.”

I think there are certain things to keep in mind, however.

First, Jesus is not only our Savior, but our Lord. Yet he’s not some tyrant looking to make our lives miserable just for his own pleasure. Rather, he genuinely loves us and is looking out for our good.

More than that, he’s our creator, and he knows exactly how our lives were designed to work.

And so this idea of obedience is not so much a matter of, “Do what I say!”

Rather, Jesus is telling us, “Trust me. If you really love me, trust me. I truly know what is best for you, and I truly want what is best for you.”

Our problem is that we’ve seen so many people trying to order us around not because they’re looking out for our best, but because they’re looking out for their own interests.

That’s why when God tells us, “Trust me, I want what’s best for you,” we tend to look at him with a jaded eye.

This is not a new problem. It goes all the way to the garden of Eden.

God told Adam and Eve, “Trust me, I want what’s best for you. So stay away from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Believe me, you don’t want to know what evil is.”

But Satan caused Eve to become jaded to God’s intention. To start thinking, “God doesn’t really want what’s best for me. He’s holding something back from me.”

And to this day, people hold that same way of thinking.

The other thing to remember is that our sin really hurts God. He is so pure, and righteous, he can’t even stand the sight of sin.

Do we really want to do something that hurts him? Rather, wouldn’t we want to do things that please him?

If you love your wife or husband, for example, will you purposely do things that hurt them? “Yes, I know it will hurt them, but I’ll do it anyway.” Of course not.

Rather, we do things that we know will bring a smile to their faces.

And that’s what our relationship with God should look like.

We love him so much that we do the things that please him, and we stay away from the things that we know will hurt him.

Jesus modeled this with his own life while he was on earth.

He loved and trusted his Father so much, he always did what his Father said, even though it meant going to the cross.

Why? Because he believed his Father knew what was best.

How about you? What does your relationship with God look like? Do you trust him enough to do what he says?

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John John 14

Powerful promises

John

Jesus made some pretty amazing promises here. The type that make you say, “Really? Are you serious?”

Jesus said,

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. (John 14:12)

Jesus did some amazing things. He healed the sick. Raised the dead. Taught thousands, bringing the good news to those without hope.

And anyone who has faith in him will do these things too? And even greater?

I suppose you could look at the church in the book of Acts, and say that Jesus was specifically talking about them.

And certainly, they did all that Jesus did and more. Not only that, they did it on a larger scale, not only taking the gospel to Israel, but beyond Israel to the world.

But Jesus said, “anyone who has faith in me.” Anyone. Not just the disciples. Not just the people in the New Testament. Anyone who has faith in Jesus will do what he did and even greater things.

How could Jesus say that? Because he was going to the Father, and he would send his Holy Spirit to live in each one of us. And through his power working in us, we can change the world around us.

Does that mean we’ll heal the sick and raise the dead like Jesus did? I wonder sometimes how much we limit God by our lack of faith.

I have heard of cases in third world countries where such things actually happened because people were too “ignorant” of the realities of life, and simply took Jesus at his word, and God worked miracles as a result.

My former pastor in Kobe was dying of cancer, and to the shock of his doctor, refused to give up at his diagnosis of 6 months to live. Now he is healthier than ever, and his doctor can only say, “Keep doing whatever you’re doing.”

Another woman in our church had a grandmother who received Christ recently, and though she had once been almost deaf, now she can hear clearly.

A part of me is skeptical. How long will these things last? Can it last? I don’t know. All I know is that God is working. And he is working today.

Maybe we should take him more at his word when he says,

And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.

You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. (John 14:13-14)

This is not to say that Jesus will give us a sports car if we ask him for it in his name.

But if we ask things, seeking not our own glory but God’s, seeking that his will be done, and not ours, then we will see answers to prayer. Answers beyond what we can even ask or imagine. (Ephesians 3:20)

God wants to shape the world around us. And he wants to use us to do it.

The only question is, do we believe that he can use us? And will we surrender our prejudices, our skepticism, and our lack of faith to him, and simply say, “Your will be done. Use me as you will.”

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John John 14

To see and know God

John

How can we possibly know God? How can we know what he is like?

Obviously, when we’re talking about an invisible God, there can only be one answer: if he chooses to reveal himself.

God first revealed himself through direct contact, through visions, through dreams, through angels, and through prophets.

Then Jesus came. And when he did, he was no mere man. Rather, he was God himself, coming down and living among us. That’s why he could say,

If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him. (John 14:7)

And when Philip asked to see the Father, Jesus responded,

Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time?

Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?

The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.

Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. (John 14:9-11)

This is not to say that the Father is Jesus, or Jesus is the Father. But as Paul wrote,

The Son is the image of the invisible God. (Colossians 1:15)

All that God is, we see in Christ. When we hear Jesus speak, we hear the Father’s words. When we see him react to situations, we see how the Father reacts.

So if we want to truly know the Father, all we need to do is look at Christ.

Let’s put it this way. When people see my daughter, they say, “She looks just like you.”

And as she grows up, a lot of the way she thinks and acts will mirror the way I think and act. You can learn a lot about me by looking at her. It’s the way of fathers and their children.

But while she is an imperfect mirror of what I am like, Jesus is a perfect reflection of what the Father is like.

So what’s my point? Do you want to know God? Look at Jesus.

Do you want to know how God thinks? Look at Jesus’ words.

Do you want to know how God responds to different situations? Look at how Jesus responded.

We don’t have to guess any longer what God is like. We can know because he came down to this earth and he became one of us.

So let us pursue a relationship with him. And if we do, we will find him.

As James wrote,

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. (James 4:8)

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John John 14

The Way

John

This is the one passage that provides such a stumbling block to so many people in the world today.

Many people simply refuse to believe it because the implications of what Jesus said are so deep, and they are simply not willing to accept them.

What did Jesus say?

He had just told the disciples that he was going away to prepare a place for them and that they knew the way to where he was going.

Thomas, who had no idea what he was talking about, then asked the obvious question.

Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way? (John 14:5)

Jesus replied,

I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)

Jesus didn’t say, “I will show you the way to the Father.”

He didn’t say, “I’ll show you the things you need to do to get to the Father.”

He said, “I AM the way to the Father. If you want to go to heaven and see the Father, you need to go through me.”

That’s an amazing statement. But let’s put it this way.

If you want to see the President of the United States, you can’t just walk into the White House and into the Oval Office.

Assuming you have an invitation, someone will meet you at the door and escort you in. Without that escort, there’s no way you’re getting in to see the President. That escort is your path to the President.

Well, Jesus is much more than an escort. He is God’s Son. And it is only because he paid the price for our sin by dying on the cross that we now can have access to the Father.

He takes us in before the Father and he intercedes for us as our high priest. (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 10:19-22).

But without his sacrifice on the cross, and without him by our side, there is no way we’re ever going to heaven, no less see the Father.

Jesus also told Thomas, “I am the truth.”

Many people are looking for truth. Others are convinced that truth really does not exist, particularly when it comes to spiritual matters.

But Jesus says, “I am truth. My words are truth. Truth is not relative. All that I say is absolute truth. And you will never find truth apart from me.”

More, Jesus said, “I am the life.”

So many people seek for the meaning of life. They’re seeking a life that matters. They’re seeking a life that’s worthwhile. And ultimately, they seek life beyond the grave.

To that, Jesus says, “I am life. Do you want the meaning of life? It’s found in me.

Do you want a life that matters? A life worth living? You can try finding life in money, possessions, power, marriage, children, sex, or a thousand different things.

But you will not find life in any of these things. Ultimately, these things will leave you empty. I’m the only one that makes life worth living.

And if you want life beyond the grave, you won’t find it in Buddha, or Muhammad, or any other religious leader. Only in me can your sins be forgiven, and you can find eternal life.”

But like I said, people don’t want to accept this. The implications are too deep.

It means casting aside the things they value most highly. It means that they can no longer simply live as they want to.

And so they say Jesus was a liar. Or misguided. Or misquoted.

But if you want to find true life, you can only find it in Jesus.

Truth is absolute and it is found in him. And if you’re ever going to see heaven and meet the Father, you can only do so with Jesus by your side.

I can’t make you believe that. You need to find that out for yourself. And you will, one way or another.

So as Isaiah urged the Israelites, I urge you now.

Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near.

Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts.

Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. (Isaiah 55:6-7)

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John John 14

What’s waiting for us

John

As I said in my last blog, the disciples were both stunned and troubled by what Jesus had just told them.

First, he told them he was leaving and they could not follow, and then he told them that they would all abandon him.

If that weren’t enough, he told them that Peter, who seemed the strongest of them all, was going to deny Jesus three times.

Jesus must have read their hearts, for he immediately tried to comfort them saying,

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. (John 14:1)

In other words, “Don’t worry. I know these things sound awful. I know you can’t imagine these things happening. But God is still in control. Trust him. Trust me.”

He then gave them a glimpse of the future and why he had to go. He said,

In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you.

I am going there to prepare a place for you.

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. (John 14:2-3)

Here we see three promises Jesus gives us.

First, he’s preparing a place for us. If we have put our trust in him as our Savior, he is preparing a place for us in heaven.

I don’t know if it’s a “mansion” as translated in the King James Version, or if it’s a deluxe condo. But whatever Jesus is preparing for us, I know it’s going to be glorious. Jesus would make nothing less.

I love the sentiment of Keith Green who wrote in one of his songs,

In six days You created everything,
But You’ve been working on Heaven [for] two thousand years.

Jesus then promises that he will come back again.

The disciples were freaking out that he was leaving them. But Jesus reassured them, it would not be for forever. That he would come back. First, by sending his Spirit to dwell in them, but also, someday, by coming back literally in physical form.

And when he does, Jesus promises that he will take us to be where he is.

The apostle Paul writes about it this way,

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

And so we will be with the Lord forever. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18)

Think about this, though. Jesus made these promises to a bunch of people who he knew would be unfaithful to him and would abandon him within hours.

How could he promise them these things? Because he wasn’t finished with them yet. And there was no way that he would ever give up on them.

And neither will Jesus ever give up on you. Whatever struggles you may go through, however badly you may fail him, he is preparing a place for you.

So don’t get discouraged. Keep getting up, and pressing on.

As an old song once put it,

So why should I worry?
Why should I fret?
‘Cause I’ve got a Mansion Builder
Who ain’t through with me yet.

– 2nd Chapter of Acts