A New Command.

What is impossible for man is possible for God. There is so much in that phrase – it tells us so much about you oh Lord my God.

“The eye of a needle – a camel passing through it. That is such a small thing against the backdrop of my whole creation. Wherever you look, if you would just see, you will see the possibilities I have made real. But the most impossible – salvation for men’s souls could only be accomplished at the cost of my dear Son‘s life. He had to die as the only answer to true forgiveness of the world’s sin and for the restoration which I desire so that I can have peace with My creation and enjoy an ongoing relationship with all of it. From that arises My glory and ultimately your glory as well. Enjoy meditating on these great truths.”

We go on to John ch 13:31-48. As Judas departed to set a series of events in motion which will ultimately result in Jesus being crucified, Jesus covered that leaving with a statement which is astounding. Now, He says , the Son of Man and God is glorified. The glory appearing now will reach its climax when Jesus ultimately takes the sin of the world on Himself at the cross.. Notice the interplay of glorification of the Father and the Son. Both are being glorified.

Now I must admit I am not sure I understand fully what this glory is exactly. In ch 17:5 Jesus calls on His Father to give Him the glory He has always had when He was together with Him before His earthly mission.

What is significant is that God has, throughout the scriptures sought to glorify Himself. That is His ultimate aim and here is a major step towards that. Then comes the surprising part – we are to share in that glory one day according to Romans 8:30: And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified and those He justified He also Glorified. In a wonderful way we have already received God’s glory yet our ultimate glorification will only happen when we go to be with Him. Well, what will that look like? We can only imagine and wonder and maybe get a bit excited.

As Jesus launches into what is often called “His final discourse” He again warns the disciples that He is going to leave them to go to a place where they would not be able to follow Him. That must have been most distressing to them. We have the benefit of seeing the bigger picture but these men had left everything and followed Him believing, rightly so, that this was going to be permanent. Yet here He is saying words which sound like He is abandoning them and leaving them to their own devices.

Peter, as impetuous as usual insists that no matter where Jesus is going he will follow Him. It is easy for us to be critical from a distance but we need to live ourselves into that moment to understand the confusion these men were surely feeling. Yes Peter is going to disown Jesus, but heh, the rest weren’t even there. They had all run away.

Now we come to the most important part of this passage. Can you see what it is? It governs every part of our Christian life. Vs 34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. By this will all men know that you are my disciples, if you love one another”. This command gathers all the rest together and is the most pertinent instruction to us today. What a challenge!

If God’s church is to be the witness He so eagerly desires, it should be characterised by genuine love demonstrated clearly between its members. No in fighting, no back stabbing, no “skindering”. No running to the news media about the sins of others. No court cases between members, I can go on and on as I look at the public face of many churches today. Let us all take a good look at ourselves and determine, with the help of God’s ability to overcome the impossible, to be known for our love for one another.

Plenty to chew on for this week. May you all receive His blessing.