(continued from last week)
“Because I live, you will live. On that day you will realize that I am in the Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you.” (John 14: 19-20) These words of Jesus hold the secret of life. Just a few moments earlier, the Teacher had spoken a truth He thought should have been clear to His disciples.
“Philip said, ‘Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.’ Jesus answered, ‘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. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in Me? The words I say I do not speak on My own authority. Rather, it is the Father living in Me, who is doing His work. Believe Me when I say I am in the Father and the Father is in Me…’” (John 14: 8-11)
Jesus then promised the Holy Spirit: “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to help you and be with you forever – the Spirit of truth… He lives with you and will be in you… On that day you will realize that I am in the Father…” (John 14: 16-20)
Without the Holy Spirit we can’t ‘get it’! Jesus had walked three years with His apostles, doing the works of God and teaching about the Kingdom of Heaven. But the students still didn’t fully understand the secret of His life: “I am in the Father… and the Father is in Me.”
“I and the Father are one.” (John 10: 30) Can you imagine Jesus ever saying to God: “Today, I think I’ll just go My own way. I know You want Me to do this… but I really don’t feel like it…”? Jesus knew that His Father’s ways were perfect. The Father is love and all His guidance is good. “… I love the Father and do exactly what My Father has commanded Me.” (John 14: 31) Being one with God on earth meant humbly following His Father’s directions.
The beautiful truth is that we are invited into this wonderful life with the Father, Son, and Spirit. “As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Now remain in My love. If you keep My commands, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commands and remain in His love. I have told you this so that My joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” (John 15: 9-12)
Jesus prayed for us to enter the full life where we are one with God and one with each other as we humbly live in Him.
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in Me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You. May they also be in Us so that the world may believe that You have sent Me. I have given them the glory that You have given Me, that they may be one as We are one – I in them and You in Me – so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that You sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved Me.” John 17: 20-23
(continued next week)