Read John 14:1-14
1"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2In 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. 3And 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. 4You know the way to the place where I am going."
5Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"
6Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him."
8Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us."
9Jesus 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'? 10Don'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. 11Believe 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. 12I 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. 13And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. (NIV)
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Chapter 14 is filled with many wonderful promises. The first is that there is a place for us in heaven and that Jesus has prepared that place for us. And not only has he prepared that place, he is coming back to take us there. I have been with several people near death who have seen the reception of Jesus coming to take them home. It is a marvel to see as Jesus appears to bring a group of family and friends with him. It is a joy to see the reaction of the people as they greet one another.
Jesus then moves to saying that he is “the way, the truth and the life.” These three things are very important in Jewish thought. For the Jews, they remember the words to Moses by God that he must walk in the ways of God and not veer to the left hand or the right hand. The psalmist writes, “teach me thy way and I will walk in thy truth.” When we seek Jesus’ teaching, we walk in truth. And Jesus is the one who bring life. We see it in our world today that without Christ, there is not this great joyous life, but loneliness, pain, and anger at the world. There is violence and peace is hard to find.
And then Jesus tells the disciples that they will do greater things than he did. This is a powerful promise to us. We have been given a power to help facilitate God’s will in the world. This is why Jesus tells them that he will grant whatever they ask in his name. If we are asking for God to be glorified in our requests, then Jesus says they will be granted. Things that only glorify us or satisfy us will not always be granted. But when we ask, is this something is Jesus’ name, then it will be granted. This is also where the power comes from to do greater things than Christ did. And we see those who have done great things in Christ’s name to advance the kingdom of heaven on earth.
We see in this section, that the disciples are confused on all these promises. For me, this is a relief as I don’t always understand. But Jesus is patient with them and he will be patient with me. But they had not yet received the holy spirit or experience Easter, so it is easy to see there confusion.
The question for us is do these promises make a difference in the way we live? Are we seeking to do greater things than Christ did? Are we walking in God’s ways and are we getting better at it each day? Jesus gave these promises to help us live the best life possible and to sustain us in hard times. Do they help you in times of trouble?
Questions? Comments?
Blessings and Peace
Pastor Harry