Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
We’re only a few days after Easter and yet it probably seems like Easter was a long time ago, doesn’t it? Life moves on to other things…quickly. But that is not how it was the week after that famous Passover/Easter 2000 years ago! That week Jerusalem and surrounding towns were abuzz with conflicting rumors of what happened to Jesus!? The soldiers were on edge and the Pharisees and other religious leaders were frightened.
If the rumor was true, that the Jesus they had condemned to death and led the mob to demand His crucifixion, THAT Jesus was now alive, resurrected from the dead in all His power, then can you imagine… those who had called for His death were frightened for their lives?
If Jesus had the power to defeat death by raising other people from the dead like Lazarus, and if Jesus Himself was raised from the dead, then what might He do in retaliation against those who had called for His death?
For the disciples, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of Jesus, Lazarus, his sisters and other well-known friends of Jesus, I imagine they were taking great precautions to stay out of the public view, for they would have been on the most wanted list as those who might explain where the missing body of Jesus was, for the tomb was undeniably empty!
We know that from the cross, Jesus had entrusted His mother to John, and John took that seriously. (John 19:26) So I imagine John and Mary, and perhaps one or two others, were staying with friends in Jerusalem, but staying off the streets. In those days together, waiting to see when Jesus would next appear to them, I presume they filled their days and evenings talking about Jesus, trying to remember as much as they could about what He did and said, hoping that would give them guidance as to what they should be doing now that He was no longer with them every day.
John likely continued telling Mary what they had experienced with Jesus the last time they were together, in the upper room last Thursday evening. As we saw yesterday, John may have been recounting what he wrote in His Gospel account of Jesus. In talking about His miracles, Jesus had said: “…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. And I will do whatever you ask in My name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” (John 14:12,13) John likely paused right there with he and Mary trying to understand how it could be that they might actually have God given power to do some of the miraculous things Jesus had done?
John continued, because what Jesus said next might be a key to that supernatural power: “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to help you and 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.” (John 14:15-18) John paused again. Jesus had left them. He and Mary had watched Jesus die. They’d watched His body buried in the tomb. Last Friday and Saturday were the darkest, most painful days of their lives. Yet both John and Mary, and several others, had seen Jesus alive and healed from His wounds, on Sunday, three days ago!
But they hadn’t seen Him since, nor did they know if or when they’d see Him again. They felt like orphans, abandoned. And yet that Thursday evening Jesus had repeatedly talked about the Holy Spirit of God, and that Jesus would ask God the Father to send His powerful Holy Spirit to live with and even in His people. Now THAT was a startling concept which John and Mary now paused to consider. How could it happen? What difference could it make in their lives if God sent His Spirit to be with them and actually live in them?
They’d both watched Jesus pray, several times, and they’d heard Jesus ask the Father for various things which the Father had done. I can imagine Mary may have said to John right then: “John, you and I both saw Jesus alive a few days ago. But He’s not here with us right now. Do you suppose Jesus is with God the Father right now, asking God to send us His Holy Spirit? If so, how will we know when He comes?”
I think John may have continued telling Mary what Jesus said next and what John later wrote as he remembered that Thursday evening: “Before long the world will not see Me anymore, but you will see Me. Because I live, you also will live… Whoever has My commands and keeps them is the person who loves Me….Anyone who loves Me will obey My teaching. My Father will love them… Anyone who does not love Me will not obey My teaching. These words you hear are not My own; they belong to the Father who sent Me. All this I have spoken while I am still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send to you in My name, will teach you all things and He will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace, I leave with you, My peace I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:19-27)
These are some of the most powerful words Jesus ever spoke. Obedience of God and love of Jesus are inseparably tied together. Disobedience of God, rebellion against God are the result of not loving God the Father or Jesus His Son. But amazingly God’s love for us is NOT in response to or dependent upon our love for God!
In fact, years later this same John wrote these words: “Now this is love: not that we love God but that He loves us and gave His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (1 John 4:10) “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us.” (1 John 3:16)
Finally, I can see John and Mary taking great comfort that when the Holy Spirit of God would finally come to them, Jesus promised the Holy Spirit will help them remember everything Jesus had told them, everything Jesus had done. Those memories would comfort them greatly in His absence from them.
But more, Jesus promised the Holy Spirit would teach them to understand what Jesus had meant by the things He said. Now THAT would be wonderful!! So often Jesus said things which had much greater meaning than they could understand at the time, but with the Holy Spirit leading them, teaching them, oh my, they’d have such a better understanding of the life Jesus lived, the messages He taught and even the power with which He did His miracles. And of course, most of all, they would gain an understanding of why Jesus died on that cross, why He rose again from the dead, and what He meant by saying they too would live as He was alive again! Did that mean they too would defeat death, they too would rise from the dead and live forever? Oh they had so much to learn, so many questions to ask the Holy Spirit.
Do you feel like that today, the Wednesday after Easter? Do you have so many questions you’d like God’s answers for? And finally, what about the peace Jesus promised? Is your heart peaceful my friends, even though all around us our world seems out of control?
Tomorrow we’ll look at the secret Jesus promised for living in peace! For today, here’s a great song to celebrate these wonderful truths that Jesus spoke about:
Today’s Scripture is John 14:12-27.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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