Holy Week #2 - March 26, 2013

"Do not let your hearts be troubled."

(Read John 14:1-31)

I find it interesting in John 12:27, Jesus said, "Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say?  Father save me from this hour?  No, it was for this very reason, I came to this hour.  Father, glorify your name!"  Yet in John 14 Jesus tells His disciples to not let their hearts be troubled, and he says it twice. (see 14:1 and 27)

In order to understand the admonition "Do not let your hearts be troubled" it is important for us to look at what comes after it in verse 1 and before it in verse 27.

In verse 1, the admonition "Do not let your hearts be troubled" is followed by another admonition, "Trust in God; trust also in me."  Jesus has been revealing His glory by declaring Himself to be God.
In chapter 14 that revelation and declaration continues.  This is the hour for Jesus to be glorified.  This is God's plan, and Jesus faces the horror of what is to come with confident trust in God (recall John 12:27).  So He admonishes us to do the same: "Trust in God".

In verse 27, Jesus promises to bring peace.  "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.  I do not give as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."  Jesus came to bring peace, and that peace is accomplished through His humiliation and death so that in resurrection He can bring peace.

So what do you see in chapter 14?  What do you think it means when Jesus says, "If you love me, you will obey what I command? (see verse 15)  Do you think the verses that precede this statement inform our understanding of Jesus words?  Let's share our thoughts as we journey with Jesus along the way ...

The Right Companion

Yesterday we saw that Jesus is the "bread of life" (John 6:35 and 48).  He is all we need, all sufficient, to receive God's blessings, and we receive them by faith.  I will remain continually struck by the simplicity of it.  Jesus says, "The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent." (John 6:29)

Believing God is really all that is needed, but it is believing God via the ONE He has sent.   It is all about Jesus!

You see on this journey of life it is all important that we choose the right companion.  Those who believe in the ONE (Jesus) that God has sent receive God's promises and all of them are "yes" in Him!
(see also 2 Corinthians 1:20)  It is simple, yet so very profound!  Believing in the ONE God has sent has implications for every aspect of life.

Believing God's promise fulfilled in Jesus affects every choice we make because believing is also "listening".  Remember Deuteronomy 18:15, "The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you ... you must listen to Him!"  Believing is about listening, and listening is about obeying; doing what God says in His word - the words of Spirit and Life (John 6:63) - spoken by Jesus "the Prophet" (see also John 6:14).

What other aspects of believing God's promise in Jesus can you think of that make this statement, simple as it is, also so very profound?