WHERE ARE WE GOING? – (4)

“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.”  John 14:9

Read the story here: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john%2014:1-31&version=NIV

Listen to story here:  http://www.biblegateway.com/audio/dramatized/niv/John.14  

I’ve heard it said that Jesus never claimed to be God.  That his disciples just misconstrued his words.  Or followers in later centuries got it wrong.  But what can Jesus possibly mean by saying, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father”?  He always referred to God when he talked about the Father, so that translates:

“Anyone who has seen me (Jesus) has seen God.”

Now, it’s true, Jesus didn’t state this quite so clearly to everyone as he did to the Twelve.  Why was that?  Judas (not Iscariot) wanted to know the same thing.

“But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”

“Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.”

Obedience and love precede intimacy.  Why would you marry someone who doesn’t love you?  Jesus is telling his friends that just as they have shown their love and trust by staying with him, and now they are in the “inner circle,” others will also do the same.

In other words, God is not going to issue a mass invitation by a giant billboard, but a private invitation that requires a personal response.

Amazing, that the God of the Universe is creating such a private space for each one of us.  Comforting.  And comfort is what Jesus was giving them on his last night with them.

^“ Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

 Powerful words.  But they would not comfort them for very long unless Jesus really was one with God as he claimed.  All of them were about to go through a grueling ordeal – one that would test each of them to the core.  Before the night was over they would doubt almost everything.  But they wouldn’t forget his promise to come back for them after he went away.

So, where are we going, ultimately?

^“My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?   And 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.”