Crispads

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

John, chapter 14

Our faith is built on a promise. It is built on the promise that Jesus will intercede with God on our behalf if we believe in Him and His sacrifice. You can write hundreds of words on that subject, but that is the basic point of Christianity. All we must do is believe. We cannot find favor with God through a sacrifice we make, or through any other earthly action. It is Jesus’ way or no way.

John 14 Is Jesus’ closing speech to his disciples. It occurs on the night of the Last Supper and is done in the presence of all the disciples except for Judas. This is a speech that oozes Jesus’ love for mankind, and its beauty is only darkened by the fact that while He was giving this message Judas was committing the worst act in the history of humanity by betraying Him.

23Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. – John 14:23-24

This is the only reason we have hope for humanity. I admit that in days where I am depressed I have trouble seeing this hope. I have trouble seeing this promise as being little more than dusty words on a page. In that, I ask myself what we have to risk by believing? The answer is nothing. If we believe and this promise isn’t real we have no hope anyway, so why not place our hope in Jesus?

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