Why Jesus?…

In his own words (part 3)

It was in Jesus’ own words, “You believe at last!” in John 16:31 that we see how important it was to Jesus that his disciples believed he’d come from God (verse 30) – because – in believing he’d come from God they’d take what he taught seriously.

And that was important, because as Jesus said in John 14:21, “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me.” So taking what he said seriously would be his disciples’ means of loving him.

But why was loving Jesus so important? Because (same verse), “He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.”

So there’s a sequence here that opens up this world of love that both the Father and Jesus have for us – the sequence being: believing Jesus came from God, which leads to taking what Jesus taught seriously, which is how we love him, which leads to the Father loving us, and Jesus also loving us by showing us more of himself so we love him for who he is, as well as for what he taught.  

In verse 23 Jesus goes back to the point, though, that “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching.” Because that’s the ‘key code’ that opens the door to the second part of verse 23, which is: “My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” 

So this is the sequence by which the love of both the Father and Jesus become real to us: it’s through the Father and Jesus setting up home in those who express their love for Jesus by obeying what he taught. 

But how do the Father and Jesus “set up home” in us? By sending the Holy Spirit to live in us and with us (verse 17) as our constant guide and personal counsellor, bringing to mind what Jesus taught and how it applies to our circumstances (verse 26). Because it’s in the Spirit doing that for us that more and more we see the value of Jesus’ teaching and therefore an even greater desire to obey it, which in turn opens up this whole new world of love for him and the Father’s love for us.

No wonder Jesus was so elated, then, when his disciples believed he’d come from God, because now the ball was really rolling…(continues Monday)