Ask anything?

A wooden cross? The symbol of the most painful death by execution for the worst of criminals. How could that be the symbol of our faith? The symbol of Hope for everyone?

“That is what sets the whole of the Christian Faith apart from any other belief system. The enigma – the King of all creation, the very Creator, condemned as a common criminal of the worst kind. Take it in. Stricken for us! Made to be a guilt offering for you and everyone else who deserves to die for their sin of rejecting God as the only true one to worship, obey and follow. Every morning as you wake up and take your first breath, it should come home to you again in a flood of grateful thanks. That moment which changed the world, changed history, and set you free. Yes I did it for you personally and for every other person who would choose to believe and receive the most precious gift of eternal life with Me in the centre”.

We continue today with the conversation Jesus was having with His disciples about His departure, His destination and how they were to follow Him as the only Way. We read John 14:8-14.b

Jesus continues the conversation about who He is. We have already considered previously the importance of seeing Jesus as no less than God Himself, clothed in human flesh. It was obviously hard for the disciples to take that in and process it, just as it is for us today. We can read it over and over again, but until it grips our hearts it will not make any real difference. Key to seeing this are words like,”Don’t you know Me, Philip?”, “Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?”. “Believe Me when I say I am in the Father and the Father is in Me”.

The trend of this conversation is leading to an astounding statement. A principle which will be fleshed out more in the coming chapters. “You may ask Me anything in My name, and I will do it.” How did He get there from the previous conversation? What does it really mean? What did. It mean to those disciples and what does it mean for you and me today? I suppose this statement and others like it have been debated and written about many, many times over the years and that is not the purpose of this platform.

What i believe we need to see is the progression in Jesus’s thoughts. He is describing the close relationship He has with the Father and then goes on to explain that the miracles He has done have arisen from God within that relationship which he has with the Father. And now what? How does that affect us?

Well, He is following the thought which flows from that revealing and reminding the disciples of the relationship He has with them. This relationship is intended to be equally intimate to His relationship with the Father. So within that relationship they and us not only have the same intimacy but also the full benefit of the power which He has displayed in doing the miracles He has just mentioned. Notice the words, “It is the Father living in me, who is doing the work”. Just so we have the benefit of Him being within us and so we have access through Him, not only to the presence of God but to His full power.

This is actually quite mind-blowing. What is happening now is a start to a slow revelation of the full benefits of being in a relationship with the Father through Jesus. We need to take this carefully, one step at a time to peel back the layers so that we can eventually understand the full meaning of this enormous privilege we have as Christians, as children of a loving Father. I think that most of us do not really fully appreciate what this means and therefore don’t fully embrace the complete benefits of our relationship with Him.

As we approach Easter meditate on these truths and I will see you next week again.