Resurrection is… Further up and Further in. [John 14:23-29]

“Peace be with you.”

“Let’s Pray: Father, may your will be done. Jesus, may your word be proclaimed. Spirit, may your work be accomplished in us we pray. Amen”

I. Q and A.

In the last meal with His disciples, Jesus shares a lot with them that they will not understand but will remember when they receive the Holy Spirit (v.26), but also so that when the things he mentions comes to pass they might believe (v.29). Verse 23, is Jesus’ response to Judas (Not Iscariot) questions (the last of 7 questions that would be asked).

The questions is How will Jesus reveal himself to the disciples but not to the world. Jesus has already stated that he is going to prepare a place for them and where he goes they cannot come (v. John 13:36-37). Then Jesus tells the disciples that though he is going where they cannot follow, he will not leave them as orphans (v.18). When he leaves, the world will no longer see him but they will (v.19). And it is after he leaves, when the world cannot see him but the disciples do that they will know that Jesus is in them (v.20). This leads to Judas’ question (v.22), “What has happened that you will disclose yourself to us and not to the world?”

Before we unpack Jesus’ answer to this, I need to call you further up and further in.

II. Further Up and Further In.

In his last book in the Chronicle of Narnia series, CS Lewis uses a phrase that draws in the imagination of the read and characters of the story to experience the wonder and amazement of Narnia. At the end of the book, the main characters throughout the series are all there in a small stable, having come through it door. But inside that stable they discover that they are in a whole other world in which they are in a garden, and they are invited to go further up and further in. So they walk through the garden to discover there is another opening and upon walking through this they discover that they have reached a place that is even more lush and glorious than the garden and to their surprise more vast. So they enter up and run and play, then they are invited once again by Aslan the Lion, to go Further up and Further in, and now it does feel like they are climbing up into a world as if they are flying and they discover that the world is getting bigger and more vast and glorious. It is so big that to experience the landscape they must fly around, and then again they are invited to go further up and further in… This helps us imagine what Jesus is fully disclosing to the disciples and us in this Gospel. That greater things await, things we have not experienced, things that are more glorious than we could ever imagine and Jesus is inviting us to go further up and further in. When we do we will experience this:

1. Home is where the heart is. (v.23)

Jesus says if anyone loves him and keeps his words, then the Father will love him and both He and Jesus will come make their home in him. Consider what this means. Trace out the previous meaning of God’s home. Where he resides throughout the bible. How God’s home has been in the heavens, how he comes to make a place and a people to experience his presence at first in a garden, then later in a tent, then later in a temple, and Jesus not talk of home, though he is going away, to be in and among his people. It seems like the progressive nature of making a home with his people comes to rest in his people. God has gone further up and they have come farther in to dwell together. God’s presence is all around but it is most felt within. And this isn’t too hard to understand because we keep those we love and their memory in our hearts don’t we? But imagine something to that affect but only Greater, and not human, but divine. Jesus goes away, to rush to his Father, and for those who love Jesus both will have them come and take up residence in their hearts carrying the love the Father has for the Son, and the Son for the Father, and their love for you inside you. this is why people change is because the love that comes to dwell in their hearts cause them to burst open and express that love through that actions of their life.

Not-so-secret-Society (Don’t hate the player hate the game).

Jesus tells them that when he goes away, the world will not see him but they will. When asked how this will happen. Jesus says those who love me will see me and those who don’t will not. What Jesus means by this is not just some mystical manifestation like a ghost in the room from time to time maybe when you really need to see him, it is more than just seeing, it is a living presence that will be revealed to him a constant relationship that they will experience. But it is only with those who love Jesus and demonstrate that love by clinging and keeping his Words/commands. I suspect this is why the world and maybe even people around act towards christians the way they do. In a fit of secret Jealousy, they want what we want but do not have. They have because they have not asked, and they will not have unless they love. But before we get too far down this road we must understand that there is a dividing line between those of the world and those not of this world which is defined by love for Jesus. Jesus has always made this distinguishing reality in his ministry. He mentions time after time how he comes to the sick not the healthy, how his teaching was for only those who have ears to hear. When he was asked why he talked in parables, he said that it was a way to communicate in a large crowd to only those he intended to understand what he was saying and leave the rest dumbfounded. Now here Jesus takes us further in and farther up with this dividing line and says only those who love him will “see” or “disclose” himself to. They will see him but the rest of the world will not. This too we might be familiar with especially if you have FOMO like me. The world tends to be hostile to Christians, and though there are many reasons for this, one might be because they have FOMO or a malicious jealousy of something we have that they don’t. It’s not that it is out of their reach or that it is completely not accessible to them, but they want it without having to love Jesus and they want what we have but with loving theirselves. But Jesus says those who love me and keep my words, I will disclose myself to. So like I always say to people who don’t think this fair is, “Don’t have the player, hate the game.”

2. Help is on the way! (v.26)

Then Jesus goes further up and further in by telling them that they will not be alone in striving to keep his word but will be given all the help they need to not only keep it but to live it. this help will come in the form of the Holy Spirit who also will be with you. He will cause you to remember all Jesus’ words and help in guiding you in them and living them out so that you are keep loving Jesus and experiencing his presence in your life. Right when you think there is nothing more to offer, Jesus reveals what is behind the next prized door—the Holy Spirit! But wait there is more!

3. The Peace of Christ is with you! (v.27)

Jesus takes us further up and further in and offers us HIS peace which he gives and not like the world gives! What is this peace? It is Christ’s peace! Where have we seen this peace live before us in the life of Jesus? When you survey Jesus’ life, the peace he has is often in the background hiding in plain sight. Attention isn’t drawn to it but it is there. There is a calm and a comforting presence to Jesus throughout his life that we often read but don’t meditate upon. When He is a boy, he is at the temple alone, learning, but has not separation anxiety from having left his family behind. When he is carried to the wilderness and faces satan himself and is tempted in every way we are tempt, it seems an if it is an easy thing to resist Satan and his attempted to led him astray. When he encounters the demoniac, there is a confidence and a peace that Jesus embodies that is even able to extend to the demoniac and we find him at rest, in his right mind, and ready to lay it all down for Jesus. What about the raging seas that Jesus is able to find peace and rest in the midst of? Or the calmness he has while Peter is drowning and lifts him up out of the water? Yet these give us a great glimpse of the peace of Christ but none like the peace we find that he has during his trial, his beating, and in his death. It almost seems as if this peace that He carries steadies him, keeps his wits about him, helps him not to overreact, prevents anxiety, provides comfort and courage in the worse of situations. And here Jesus goes further in and further up with his disciples and offers them a promise of HIS peace, a peace that he will leave with them like an inheritance that comes to them and is theirs to spend. It is not like the world, which passed away, so his peace will always remain. It is not like the world that gives and takes away, but will be theres to keep forever through eternity. Now that is the peace of Christ which is ours through loving him and keeping his word.

4. You think that Jesus is great! Wait till you experience the Father who is greater! (v.28)

You think this sounds great but Jesus goes once again further up and further in and tells his disciples that if you love me then you will rejoice that I go away. Because He goes to his father who is greater than Jesus and as he has already mentioned both he and his father will come and make a home in you. Which means these things that Jesus gives are great, but even greater things will be given to you by his father once he goes to Him!

(At first I thought that I was living in a dream where I was in a candy isle with nothing but king sized candy bars, but now Jesus breaks the bank and I have discovered that he is offering Willy Wonka’s whole Chocolate factory!)

Though they can’t fully understand why Jesus is going away, he still proclaims, if you love me you should rejoice that I am going to my father because greater things await you when I do!

5. When these things happen to you, they will increase your faith (v.29)

Jesus tells his disciples about all this so that when they are realized they might believe. In fact, we know how this all comes to fruition. Everything that Jesus mentions here in this last supper conversation happens over the next 5-7 weeks in the life of the disciples and their faith is increased and they explode into the world testifying about Jesus and what is offers us. In this we too learn, that when we experience these things: the presence of Jesus in our lives, the help of the Holy Spirit, the peace of Christ, and the blessings of the Father, our faith increases and we are invited to go further up and further in with God!

II. Conclusion.

When Jesus returns to the Father, heaven opens to earth. A new kind of relationship begins—not just walking beside Jesus, but living with Him, in Him, forever.

So the question still stands today:

Will Jesus disclose Himself to you?

The answer lies in your love.

If you love Him, keep His word—and He will come and make His home in you.

What if I don’t feel Jesus’ presence in my life? If these things have not happened in your life yet, then whatever it takes, seek the Lord and He shall be found. Those who grow in knowledge of the Lord Jesus will discover there is more love about him and as your heart grows in love with Jesus his presence and abiding will increase as well as your faith in him. So come and experience more of jesus in your life through love.

How can I keep his word? By receiving the Holy Spirit, and through regular and frequent interaction with his word. Every Sunday here we read and teach the word. It is in worship that Jesus speaks to us to keep us in his word, but then there are other times that offer Jesus word to you if you seek them out. To grow in your love and to maintain keeping Jesus’ word you have to frequently and regularly be interacting with it. When I encourage you to regularly attend your church I do not do so for Church attendance or for better numbers, I do so to increase your love for Jesus which comes by hearing his word and taking it to the heart.

Responding to Love. It is for love that I do not seek to dictate or impose upon you how you ought to respond. When I moved by love for my wife, you don’t have to walk me through what is next nor to you have convince me to act. But out of my love for her I respond to the love as it moves me to. Same with the word of God that moves us to love Jesus more and others better. So when I say, “Respond to this word as the Spirit moves you.” That is the invitation to begin to do what your love moves you to do next for Jesus.

Love takes action. Those who are moved by love for Jesus will respond and act appropriately, those who are not can remain and I leave them to the Spirit’s work. So respond to this word as the Spirit moves you.