John 14:23-31

 John 14:23-31

There is a pattern in this passage that might escape us if we are not careful. The Holy Spirit sent by the Father comes to us to teach and help us remember. Teaching here is not a new revelation of the faith.  The teaching here is the practical application of the truth, and the Holy Spirit prompts our memory of this practical application when the need for the application comes.

This flows naturally into the peace that Jesus leaves with us. This peace is not the absence of conflict.  If we live and proclaim the gospel we will have trouble in the world. Peace is not silly Pollyannaism where we walk about without the realization of the psychological tensions of life. It is not a warm fuzzy sentimentalism. Peace is the salvation that we have in Christ that is now present, but will be fulfilled when He returns. It exists in the midst of conflict, strain, and pain. It is like hope, joy, life, light, and truth. It is at the core of our being, while all the non-peace realities are at the perimeter or peripheral of our being. We need to remember the connectedness of the Holy Spirit in prompting us and helping us apply Jesus’ teaching for our daily life and His peace at the core of our being.

Note also that in this context Jesus worships and praises the Father. Verse 28 does not deny the co-equality of God the Father and God the Son, but it acknowledges the self-limitations that the Son experienced during the incarnation. There is a depth of peace and intimacy with the Father we can never have apart from living out the holy life that is prompted by the Holy Spirit helping us apply the teaching of Jesus.

“Lord, grant me the peace of holy living.  AMEN”

John 14:15–21

 John 14:15–21

Holiness is too often misunderstood by contemporary disciples and even less often practiced. Jesus says “If you love me you’ll keep my Commandments”. This call to holiness is more than a vague obedience “to love God and love your neighbor”. It is entirely and absolutely not a legalistic kind of man-made righteousness in which we associate holiness with a list of “don’t do this”. Holiness is not the dour, sad, stiff, joyless life that is expressed in harsh mean cranky men and makeupless women and young people working hard not to get caught.

Jesus uses this moment to link holiness with the coming of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes to the disciple and the disciple knows or recognizes the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit stays with the disciple. The love for Jesus, the keeping of His commandments, and the life with the Holy Spirit or all deeply interrelated. While this is an overly short definition we might say that holiness is to know and recognize what the Holy Spirit is doing, enjoying Him and doing it with Him. It is much more proactive than a list of “thou shalt not”. It is more engaging than a vague “love God and people”. It doesn’t focus on appearances. If keeping Jesus’ commandment, i.e. holiness, is joining the Holy Spirit and what He is doing we will certainly not engage in sinful conduct, we will love God and man, and we will be actively going about doing good things, the things that please the Father. This quality will be completely absent from the world. Without the Spirit’s direction the world is incapable of holy living because they can’t perceive what the Spirit wills.

“Lord, help me perceive the promptings of the Holy Spirit in my life. AMEN”

John 14:1-14

 John 14:1-14 

There's so much wonderful material in this passage that it is sad that it is not studied more often. Verses 2-4 are exceedingly difficult to understand. The words even when translated most literally have different meanings. And the what, when, and where, are far from exact. Any interpretation of this passage must take into account the pervasive understanding of Passover.

Jesus commands us to stop allowing our hearts to be troubled.  This indicates that troubling things are a possibility. The picture Jesus paints is confidence in the midst of troubles. That confidence is rooted in the truth that in the Father's place there is plenty of room for everyone. An early English translation of this uses the word “Mansions”. The word mansion in old English might mean little more than a shed. The point is not that we will all have a great home in heaven.  Rather the point is that we will be in the company of the Father.

What does it mean “I go to prepare a place for you”? We have often portrayed Jesus since the Ascension as working like a contractor building rooms in Heaven. We have the idea that the preparation of a place is being done between the resurrection in the second coming. But that is not a very good understanding of what Jesus meant.  We can understand this a little better by asking,  “How did Jesus prepare a place for us?” Knowing “how” will go a long way to understand the place. It was by means of the cross that Jesus prepared a place for us. This is easier understood when we see that the point is ‘being with the Father’ and that is made possible by what Jesus did on the cross.

If Jesus would go to the extreme measure of the Cross to secure for us a place with the Father then we can be sure that He will also go to the effort of coming and receiving us to Himself. Like The Exodus we may have a long journey but we are assured that He who brought us out is able to bring us home.

“Lord, thank You for the way Jesus prepared a place for me to be with the Father.  AMEN”