Year 2, Day 262: John 14

Captain Obvious

In John 14, Jesus makes some really profound teaching lessons.  {Yet another ‘Captain Obvious’ statement for my blog…}  In the opening verses Jesus says, “If I go … I will come back for you.”  I don’t think I’ve ever stopped and thought about the simple logic in that thought.  But it really makes sense.  Why would Jesus spend all this time making disciples only to leave them here on the face of this planet?  What this means, then, is that something really cool comes out of the process of discipleship that we don’t often consider.  Not only is discipleship about growing closer to God, but it is also a statement of faith.  We enter into discipleship relationships as a testimony to others.  It is a testimony to the fact that we believe Jesus will come back for His disciples.

Honestly think about that for a second.  If we didn’t believe Jesus was coming back, why would we become His disciple?  Therefore, if I am working on being a better disciple, then I must believe Jesus is coming back.  But that’s not really all there is to this thought.  So far I haven’t said anything terribly profound.  So let me do that now. 

What does this imply about a person who says they believe in Christ but doesn’t spend much time working on being a better disciple of Him? 

Now there is a challenging thought.  Is a person who isn’t actively working on their discipleship under Christ actually making the testimony that deep inside they don’t actually think that Jesus is coming back?  Or maybe they think it … but they don’t think it important enough to change their life.  Either way, what this really does is to tie discipleship to our belief in Christ’s return.  If I really believe He’s coming back, why would I spend so much time chasing my own agenda?

Obedience

This leads us naturally into Jesus’ words to Philip.  “Whoever believes in me will do the works that I do – and even greater works!”  We don’t do works to earn God’s love; we do works because we believe.  This takes me back to Bonhoeffer’s quote: “Only those who believe obey; only those who obey believe.”  Again we come back to the question.  What is the statement being made by a person who confesses to believe in Jesus but who is not interested in actually becoming a better disciple of Christ?  What statement is being made by the person who goes through all the motions and says all the right words but never demonstrates any kind of spiritual change in their life?

Jesus again reiterates this point.  “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”  Ergo, if I don’t keep Jesus’ commandments then I must not love Him – especially in those moments of disobedience.  This point is significant enough that Jesus has made it no less than three times so far in this chapter.  {And … Jesus will make this point again in v. 21, 23, and 24.  I think the fact that Jesus makes this point six times in this chapter alone implies that this point is rather significant.}

The Holy Spirit

Then Jesus makes another incredible promise.  He promises to send us the Holy Spirit.  He promises to not leave us alone.  But He also tells us that the world cannot receive the Holy Spirit.  Thus, He makes a pretty clear line in the sand.  If you have the Holy Spirit, you are with Jesus.  If you don’t have the Holy Spirit, you are with the world. 

So it does beg the question: do you have the Holy Spirit’s presence in your life?  If yes, then live out your faith in confidence knowing that Christ will not disappoint!  If no, then let’s talk.  Let’s talk today if possible.  Nobody who is searching for the Holy Spirit and who does not have Him should spend any second longer than necessary in life without receiving the Holy Spirit.  If you aren’t sure … well, let’s talk about that, too.

Peace

Then Jesus moves on to the topic of peace.  Isn’t it interesting that moments before He is to be arrested, Jesus talks about peace.  This is such a cool demonstration of how Jesus’ mentality is not at all what the world would expect.  Jesus should be concerned, worried, tense, stressed, or even easily agitated.  But He looks at His disciples – who are about to abandon Him – and He tells them that He is leaving His peace with them.

Jesus knows that His disciples will act the way that they will act because they do not understand.  So He gives them His peace so that they know that in spite of how they will act that they will be forgiven.  Jesus wants them to focus on peace because the next three days are going to be filled with fear, doubt, and perhaps even self-loathing.  The disciples need to remember that Jesus told them that He was at peace with them.

What a wonderful way to end this chapter.  Jesus is at peace with His disciples.  We may screw up.  We may completely botch God’s plan.  We may run while God’s agenda is being sacrificed.  But as long as we humble ourselves and take up a posture of repentance, there is peace between us and God.  This is a fabulous way to end this chapter and end this blog post.  Go, live at peace with your God.

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