John 14:15-24

John 14:15-24

“If you all should love me, you all will keep my commandments.  And I will ask the Father and He will give to you another Helper in order that He should be with you into the age – the Holy Spirit, whom the world is not powerful enough to accept because it neither sees Him not knows Him.  You all know Him, because He remains with you all and He will be in you all.  I will not leave you all behind as orphans.  I come to you all.  Yet a little while longer and the world will no longer see me.  And you all see me because I live and you all will live.  In that day you all will know that I am in my Father and you all are in me and I am in you all.  The one who has my commandments and who keeps them – that one is the one who loves me.  And the one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and I will make myself known to him.”  Judas – not the Iscariot – says to him, “Lord, what has become that you are about to make yourself known to us and not to the world?”  Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone should love me he will keep my word.  And my Father will love him and we will come to him and we will make a dwelling place with him.  The one who does not love me does not keep my words.  And the word that you all hear is not mine but the Father who sent me.”

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

In this passage we hear Jesus speak much about love.  However, for Jesus love is not an emotion or a sentiment.  For Jesus, love is a launching point for obedience.  How many times in this passage alone do we hear Jesus connect loving Him and keeping His commandments!  For Jesus, love isn’t shown in cute sayings but in service.  Love is demonstrated, not told.  Love is something that comes out in our actions, not words that come out of our mouth.

Do you love Christ?  Do you keep His commandments?

Second Thought:

Jesus then connects love of Him to love with the Father.  He tells us that the one who loves Him will be loved by the Father.  What an incredible promise!  Not only will this person be loved by the Father, he will feel the Father and His Son come and dwell with Him.  For Jesus, we see that love is not just the launching point for obedience but also the launching point for relationship with the Father.  When we love – truly love in a sacrificial manner – we are in relationship not only with Christ but with the Father.

What does relationship with the Father look like to you?  How do you see both the Son and the Father in your life?

Third Thought:

Of course, in a very Trinitarian way, Jesus does not only speak of the Father and the Son within this passage.  Jesus tells us about the Holy Spirit.  Jesus tells His disciples that He is about to leave – when He is fully revealed through the death and resurrection.  But even though He is about to leave He will not leave them as an orphan.  He is not going to leave them without someone to continue them along in their journey of discipleship.  Jesus promises the Holy Spirit.  The world cannot receive the Holy Spirit because they neither know Him nor receive Him.  But those who follow Christ both know the Holy Spirit and see His presence in our lives and the lives of others.

Where do you see the Holy Spirit in your life?  Where do you see the Holy Spirit in the life of others?  What does it mean to you to know that Jesus does not abandon us to the world around us?

Passage for Tomorrow: John 14:25-31