John 14:1-14 NIV
14 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You
believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many
rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to
prepare a place for you? 3 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. 4 You know the way to the place where I
am going.”
5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we
don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and
the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you
will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have
seen him.”
8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the
Father and that will be enough for us.”
9 Jesus answered: “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’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am
in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do
not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who
is doing his work. 11 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
works themselves. 12 Very truly I tell you, whoever
believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do
even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you
ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything
in my name, and I will do it.
Let’s Level Up – Listen To Me
When we hear Jesus
speak, listen. When we listen to His words, He helps us to see that He IS God.
When we know Him as God we trust in Him. When we trust in Him, we witness how
He is in God, AND, in us, SO THAT, we can trust those who believe in His forgiveness
and salvation.
Huh? This permits us
to turn some things over to fellow believers to handle IN the name of God,
THROUGH, the Holy Spirit’s power to lead and guide us along this way in life.
For it’s not about our actions that makes a person righteous. NO, it’s about
Jesus action that has made us righteous. So, don’t get a big head!
I put all of my
trust in You, Jesus. All of it. I can do no other. In this world, as You walk
with me, and teach me, and forgive me, and save me, and lead me to eternal life
in Your Kingdom, I put all of my trust in You alone.
Jesus, even as you
were rejected by me, yes by humans; you were accepted by God. Draw me into
yourself, that you may be in me and I in You. May ALL people come to believe in
what you have done, to forgive, save, and make us One with You into eternity.
This passage of
Scripture is in the Upper Room during the Last Supper. A time just before Jesus
Passion. It’s a point in time, that directs the disciples, and us as well, to
deal with Jesus’ reality, as One with the Father and the Spirit. It’s a point
in time that deals with the urgency that we believe what Jesus has been
teaching and telling us all along, throughout His ministry, of that day, and
this day as well. It’s a time that goes directly to the question of our heart,
our very center of being, our bowels, so to speak. Do you, or I or anyone else,
believe that Jesus IS God?
So just where is
this “House” Jesus speaks of? Well, that’s heaven. Jesus is going to pave the
way for us sheep, AS, the Sacrificial Lamb, or Sheep Himself, as well, to lead
us through the Valley of the Shadow of death to this “House,” this heaven.
Remember last week? It’s only through Jesus, the gate, that we can go to this
“House.” What a Savior!
This “House” is the
reality of life. This place in which we live today, is only a temporary walk,
as Jesus leads us to the “REAL” life that God has prepared for each of us, you
place trust and hope in Him alone. We can’t trust in this world, or the rulers
of this world, or the riches and powers of this world. That stuff won’t grant
NEW and REAL life. Only the pathway that Jesus leads us on, will take us to NEW
and REAL life.
Don’t forget, Jesus
is speaking to His disciples, in this passage, in the Upper Room, at His Last
Supper with them. And He is clearly telling them that He will clear the path to
eternal life with Him, God, forever. But that path will NOT be easy!
Jesus’ WILL come
again. Look at the words He speaks. Listen to His message. Jesus will suffer
and die, rise again, and ascend into heaven. AND… He WILL come again. Jesus
paves the way for us. This isn’t something we can do. We depend on Jesus!
I love Thomas. He
speaks honestly, like some of us would. Thinking within the earthly realm in
which he was most familiar with, Thomas wants to know, how this walk occurs.
What’s the direction? Where are You going, Jesus? How do I get there? You say I
know, but I’m confused. I thank Thomas
for raising such questions, in me. Why? Because Jesus answers those questions.
And in Jesus answer, sometimes it takes me a life-time to figure out what He
tells me. But guess what? I’m okay with that.
And Jesus comes back
in reply with that whole “Gate, Sheep, Shepherd” idea. It’s through Him and Him
alone, that we follow, that leads us behind Him and through Him to this
“House,” this “Home,” this heaven.
We can’t get to the
Father in Heaven on our own. Only through that Gate, this Jesus.
And guess what? All
along, as Jesus lives with us, teaches us; He has been revealing to us, that He
and the Father are One. This is Trinity stuff here! Right before the eyes and
ears of the disciples, and through this passage of Scripture, to us this very
day, Jesus plainly reveals that He IS the Messiah, He IS God, He is One with
the Father and the Spirit, now and forever. Hard stuff to grasp. But give up on
yourself, and believe what Jesus says! If you have seen Jesus, you have seen
the Father, you have seen the Holy Spirit.
And next Philip
enters into the conversation with Jesus. Don’t be so high and mighty, that you
fail to relate to Philip. He wants a little proof. He seeks to see the Father,
and verification to what Jesus is saying. At least that’s what seems to me to
be what’s going on. And, I can relate. Well not only me but others in history.
Look at what Moses wanted in years past…
Exodus 33:18-23 NIV
18 Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”
19 And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to
pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in
your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have
compassion on whom I will have compassion. 20 But,”
he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”
21 Then the Lord said, “There is a place near me where you may
stand on a rock. 22 When my glory passes by, I will
put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I
have passed by. 23 Then I will remove my hand and
you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.”
It’s one thing to
want proof, as is common for myself. But I’m humbled when I stand in the
presence of God and seek proof. Who do I think I am? Forgive me, Lord!
But, all the same,
Jesus answers Philip and me too, as I read this passage. It’s like, “Come on,
Billy!” I’ve been here all along. Open your eyes. Think a little. If I tell you,
I and the Father are One, why do you doubt? See how Jesus has taught, led,
protected, and gone ahead all life long? Believe!
Jesus comes to us
from heaven. Jesus comes to us through the power of the Father and the Holy
Spirit. It’s all laid out for you to see, for you to witness, and most
importantly, for you to receive the faith, freely given, to believe in God.
And if you struggle
in believing Jesus’ words, then look to His actions in this world, AND believe
it!
And here comes Jesus
back with this “truly, truly…” It’s like amen, amen! Not like the phony
Facebook “amen,” but the emphatic and honestly truthful “amen” from Jesus
Himself… Yes! It shall be so!
Jesus works become
our works, through the gifts of the Holy Spirit, when we receive God’s gift of
faith and believe that Jesus IS God. Even as Jesus is preparing to die, rise
and ascend into heaven; through a disciple’s belief in what God has done, so
too, through the power of the Holy Spirit, God’s work will continue to be done.
God’s work of spreading His Gospel of love, forgiveness, and salvation to all
the world, and to all those God gives to us each and every day.
As Jesus tells us
here, as believers, we will do God’s works. We won’t do our own works, rather,
we will do the works of God. And in these works, all glory and honor go to God.
Glory and honor are not something we can attain by the works we do. Glory and
honor go to God and God alone. So, if you think that by doing something or
another, elevates your own status with God, you are sadly mistaken. It’s not
about your works, it’s all about God working in you. As we have seen Jesus,
along with the disciples, it becomes obvious that we are seeing God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
So, get over
yourself and get busy, as a believer, God will give you fruit to bear. Bear it
abundantly to the honor and glory of the God who made you, and showed Himself
to you, that you may be with Him, forever into eternity.
What do I make of
all this? First, I love how Jesus relates and teaches me. I love how He asks
questions that make me think. Questions that lead me away from myself, from
what I do, from what I say, to believe that He truly IS God.
God took all the
work out of my hands and placed it all in His hands. As God came into this
world in the flesh and blood of Jesus; God took it upon Himself, to fulfill all
the Law for me. So, what is left to do?
Well, that part God
took care of as well. Believe! Bear the fruit which God gives you to bear. I
don’t think that you get to pick and choose the fruits of the Spirit that you
think you would like. It’s not like that. You will bear the fruit that God has
chosen for you to bear. So, go with the flow. Give all the thanks and glory to
God for anything you happen to do that displays the goodness, the richness, and
the delight, of the love of God and neighbor in this world in which you live.
Your fruit IS God’s fruit, not something you conjure up on your own. Your fruit
of the Spirit… is like it says… fruit of the Spirit, assigned to you for you to
give up. Don’t let that fruit drop to the ground and die. Let the fruit die to
yourself and live.
So how? As we go
through life, like Jesus, come to all those God gives to you day after day, for
you to freely give yourself in the love of God in Christ Jesus. Wow! That
sounds so “churchy,” so self-righteous. But, it’s not. Salvation is the work of
God, not your work. God works in and through you to do His Will in His Way. You
aren’t the Savior, so give that up and live in the joy, that you are chosen by
God, to live with Him forever, doing what He calls you to do… Love your God
with all your heart, mind and spirit… And love your neighbor, not only in word,
but in action as well… today… tomorrow… and forever. Thanks be to God!
I leave you with
this YouTube Music Video that I used this past week to listen to for this
reflection… Enjoy…
