Just 4 Us? part II

This message follows on the previous post.

John 14:15-21

”If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.
”I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.”

Comments following John 14:15-21

It’s true that John’s vocabulary is confusing and his writing is a bit run-on. The narrator is as all-knowing as Jesus, which let’s us into a unique view of the story of Christ’s life.
We notice that Jesus is a very long-winded preacher in John’s telling. Not only that, but just when he says, let’s be going, as he does at the very end of Chapter 14, he only ‘goes on’ to preach some more. Yes, we all know - preachers are like that.

But don’t let the difficult reading stop you from hearing the tremendous promises in these few verse. As Robyn & Suzanne pointed out, they come in a few key words:

Advocate: we get both comfort AND support, just think of having someone to advocate for you next time you have a dispute with the insurance company. This is a TRUE HELPER we are promised.

Truth: a deep knowing, an understanding beyond words, that the world cannot know like those who follow the Jesus’ Way.

Presence: we are not orphaned, not left behind, but abide with him.
    “You in Me and I in You” (the great equation.)    and

Love: not an emotion but an action. God’s action of loving and including us and our action in living Jesus’ way of including others by our love.

“They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.”

Now it sounds much simpler doesn’t it?