Easter 5 (5)
Notes
Transcript
31 When he was gone, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once. 33 “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come. 34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
On NCIS last weekend a character in the show was found murdered and the team (as usual) worked together to solve the mystery. Amazingly, the person who had been murdered was able to assist (in a way) with the investigation. That is because she had a hologram made of her before her death which recorded her image, voice, and knowledge which could be manipulated to answer a variety of questions. This is an example of what some are doing in reality. Long before Kim Kardashian West made headlines for being gifted a hologram of her deceased father for her 40th birthday, the tech conference South by Southwest Interactive held a panel called “HoloGramma: How Tech Can ‘Bring Back’ Our Departed” predicting that technology would allow your dead grandmother to be switched on in the living room, whenever you wanted to talk to her.
So if I were to shell out hundreds of thousands of dollars, I could theoretically record what I do as a pastor and in the future I could still be teaching bible class, confirmation class, preaching sermons. You could ask me the questions I used for examination on Wednesday evening and my hologram would answer them.
In the NCIS episode, this lady did this for her estranged daughter because she wanted to pass on important information to her and give her a chance to learn about her mother even after her death.
I find it interesting. I appreciate that about ten years before my father passed away, we video recorded him for my son’s school project in which my father answered a number of question. On occasion I will watch the video of my father sitting in a recliner and answering questions so that his grandson would get to know him better. You may enjoy videos of your relatives and reading letters that they have written . . . or just remembering events in their lives and interaction with them.
Have you ever considered leaving behind your memoirs and your last words?
Publishing a Memoir: Do You Have a Story the World Needs to Hear?
Our world needs memoirs.
It needs individuals who are willing to share the honest reality of who they are and the things they’ve experienced. When someone chooses to read a memoir, it means they’re searching for something. They’re searching for understanding, to gain perspective or insight, and they’re hoping to find something within your story that they can resonate with—perhaps something that gives them hope.
Memoirs are a powerful thing! They have the ability to meet someone right where they are and provide them a sense of connection, companionship, and even healing.
Do you have a story that the world needs to hear?
If you're reading this, you probably do.
It’s important that writers have an accurate understanding of what writing a memoir entails, because there can be misconceptions about the process. Before you commit to writing your memoir, there are some things you should know.
I would think that the greater the realization that you may be speaking your last words, the more determined you would be to speak what really matters. It could be an entire book. Or it could be a letter or video recording.
Did Jesus, the most important person who ever lived, have a record of his last words?
Although we do not have anything that he ever wrote (the only mention of him writing was drawing something in the sand when the woman caught in adultery was brought before him), we do have biblical records of his life, death, and resurrection as well as books of the New Testament which teach us about the significance of Jesus. The Gospel of John is the most exhaustive of the last words of Jesus which he spoke in the Upper Room on the night he was betrayed.
Since these are among his last words, it follows that they are some of the most important teachings that he presented.
31 When he was gone, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.
New Commentary on the Whole Bible: New Testament (27–30)
31 when he [Judas Iscariot] was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him—As long as Judas Iscariot was in the room, Jesus had been unable to speak freely of his coming glory or of his intimate tie with his true disciples. But with the traitor gone Christ looked past the cross to his glorification in resurrection. The Lord’s final discourse begins here (not in 14:1 as is usually stated), and this discourse begins on the theme of glorification. Once Judas went out to betray him, the Lord knew that his crucifixion and resurrection were imminent; he knew he was about to be glorified. Anticipating his glorification, he utters the proleptic proclamation in 13:31, Now is [lit., “was”] the Son of man glorified and God is [lit., “was”] glorified in him.
LJohn 13:33 (NIV84)
33 “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.
Jesus was fully aware that he would soon be leaving. This refers to his imminent death and his future ascension into heaven.
Peter was not sure what Jesus meant, so John 13:36 (NIV84) Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.” Not an exact answer but we do learn what Jesus is referring to.
Then comes one of Jesus’ important final commands. John 13:34–35 (NIV84)
34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
Luke & John (Chapter 13)
34. A new commandment. This command he gave them as he was about to leave them, to be a badge of discipleship, by which they might be known as his friends and followers, and by which they might be distinguished from all others. It is called new, not because there was no command before which required men to love their fellow-men, for one great precept of the law was that they should love their neighbour as themselves (Le. 19:18); but it was new because it had never before been made that by which any class or body of men had been known and distinguished.
The Jew was known by his external rites, by his peculiarity of dress, &c.;
the philosopher by some other mark of distinction;
the military man by another, &c.
IWe may assume what group a person belongs to or what they stand for by outward actions or appearances.
My wife and I were watching a stand up comedian on YouTube on Friday night and the comedian said that there was only one kid in his first grade class that was rich and you could tell he was rich because he was the only one who had the . . . 64 color box of crayons.
We may assume what school someone attends by their clothes they wear.
If two people come to your door wearing white shirts and black ties and slacks and they have a name badge identifying them as Elder so and so, we know they are LDS.
If someone is at a demonstration carrying a sign with a slogan and shouting certain phrases, we know their stand on the hot topic of the day.
Police identify themselves with badges and ID.
In none of these cases had love for each other been the distinguishing and peculiar badge by which they were known. But in the case of Christians they were not to be known by distinctions of wealth, or learning, or fame; they were not to aspire to earthly honours; they were not to adopt any peculiar style of dress or badge, but they were to be distinguished by tender and constant attachment to each other. This was to surmount all distinction of country, of colour, of rank, of office, of sect. Here they were to feel that they were on a level, that they had common wants, were redeemed by the same sacred blood, and were going to the same heaven. They were to befriend each other in trials; be careful of each other’s feelings and reputation; deny themselves to promote each other’s welfare. See 1 Jn. 3:23; 1 Th. 4:9; 1 Pe. 1:22; 2 Th. 1:3; Ga. 6:2; 2 Pe. 1:7. In all these places the command of Jesus is repeated or referred to, and it shows that the first disciples considered this indeed as the peculiar law of Christ. This command or law was, moreover, new in regard to the extent to which this love was to be carried; for he immediately adds, “As I have loved you, that ye also love one another.” His love for them was strong, continued, unremitting, and he was now about to show his love for them in death. Ch. 15:13: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” So in 1 Jn. 3:16 it is said that “we ought also to lay down our lives for the brethren.” This was a new expression of love; and it showed the strength of attachment which we ought to have for Christians, and how ready we should be to endure hardships, to encounter dangers, and to practise self-denial, to benefit those for whom the Son of God laid down his life.35. By this shall all men, &c. That is, your love for each other shall be so decisive evidence that you are like the Saviour, that all men shall see and know it. It shall be the thing by which you shall be known among all men. You shall not be known by peculiar rites or habits; not by a peculiar form of dress or manner of speech; not by peculiar austerities and unusual customs, like the Pharisees, the Essenes, or the scribes, but by deep, genuine, and tender affection. And it is well known it was this which eminently distinguished the first Christians, and was the subject of remark by the surrounding pagans. “See,” said the heathen, “see how they love one another! They are ready to lay down their lives for each other.” Alas! how changed is the spirit of the Christian world since then! Perhaps, of all the commands of Jesus, the observance of this is that which is least apparent to a surrounding world. It is not so much that they are divided into different sects, for this may be consistent with love for each other; but it is the want of deep-felt, genuine love toward Christians even of our own denomination; the absence of genuine self-denial; the pride of rank and wealth; and the fact that professed Christians are often known by anything else rather than by true attachment to those who bear the same Christian name and image. The true Christian loves religion wherever it is found—equally in a prince or in a slave, in the mansion of wealth or in the cottage of poverty, on the throne or in the hut of want. He overlooks the distinction of sect, of colour, and of nations; and wherever he finds a man who bears the Christian name and manifests the Christian spirit, he loves him.
Application:
Jesus teaches us how we will demonstrate ourselves as Christians as we hear above.
Hopefully, you are very transparent in your lives of love and not members undercover agents whose identities are hidden from others.
It is a blessing to be associated with congregations of fellow believers who show such devotion to Jesus by your love for one another. Amen.