John 14:7-31
School day mornings as a teen would find me stumbling into the kitchen on my way out the door. Each morning Mom would have her radio tuned to a Southern preacher, J. Vernon McGee, who would be sharing commentary on his "Thru the Bible" program. I would wish she had on some contemporary music, not a man with a "funny" accent rambling on about the Bible, (I was from the Midwest, you see!)
Years go by, and I'm writing this blog on the book of John - not because I have all the answers! God through His Holy Spirit leads and teaches as I pray and read and research. And God has an awesome sense of humor through all of it, because my Google search today led me to - you guessed it - J. Vernon McGee, that Southern preacher I couldn't wait to escape each morning! There he was, and I was privileged to listen to him comment on our verses. You can listen too, here's the link:
Thru the Bible with J. Vernon McGee
Here's a brief review of what I learned today:
Philip asks Jesus to "show him the Father", and that will be all he needs. To be led to God, our loving Father is all any of us need! Jesus tells Philip that if he's seen Him, he has seen the Father. In Colossians 1:15 we find that Jesus is, "...the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature..."
If Philip couldn't believe His words, then he should believe for the works that he had seen Jesus do. All that Jesus did on earth - His words, His works were the will of the Father. He was leading men and women to a restored relationship with God, only accomplished through Him. When we believe in Jesus, we too will be able to do this same work, even a greater miracle because it will be Jesus working through frail humans.
Then we come to the verse that can trip up so many of us when we are praying, " If you shall ask anything in my name, I will do it." We pray, claiming this verse, it doesn't happen as we hope - God becomes a liar! Not true! Read these three verses together - 13,14,15. We are asking in Jesus name - not our name, not for our own selfish demands. For His glory, for His merit. Keeping His commandments, because we love Him. It all goes together - as Christ wanted God's will, that should be our desire, too.
In verse twenty we find the most profound statement made in this speech, " Yet a little while, and the world sees me no more; but you see me: because I live, you shall live also." Soon after, Jesus would be crucified and His disciples wouldn't see Him. But Jesus didn't stay in the grave, He rose again and lives, and because He lives those that believe in Him can also have life. Jesus didn't leave His disciples or us alone, He gave the Holy Spirit to live in us. Through the Holy Spirit, the disciples were able to share the good news of Christ boldly!
So can we!
I wish I would've listened more carefully to that Southern preacher all those years ago - it would've saved a lot of time spent searching for what I knew was missing in my life! I hope you'll allow his words to speak to you too!
