John 33
33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you. 34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. 35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
36 Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterwards. 37 Peter said unto him, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake. 38 Jesus answered him, Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice.
John 14
1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. 4 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.
5 Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? 6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. 7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. 8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? 10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake. 12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. 13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.
15 If ye love me, keep my commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. 18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. 20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you. 21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
22 Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? 23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. 24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me. 25 These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you.
26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. 27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. 28 Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I. 29 And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe. 30 Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. 31 But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence.
Jesus became the supreme sacrifice for each one of us, that we might receive the full remission of our sins. He brought to an end the sacrifice of animals for sins when He gave Himself as the final sacrifice for sins. If only we can comprehend fully what He has done for us our lives would never be the same again – we would consecrate and dedicate ourselves to our Lord Jesus as never before.
In the previous chapter Jesus told His disciples that He was going to die. He made it clear that no one of them could follow Him presently when He said, “Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward.” The disciples became very troubled because of this. But then He said, “Let not your heart be troubled.” It is amazing that while the Lord Jesus focused on Calvary, He could still comfort and instruct His disciples, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Let us search our lives whether we love our brothers and sisters as Jesus loved us. Be sure that there is no resentment in your heart towards a brother or sister. We Christians should never be disheartened, but always full of joy and have love one to another; that we can’t do enough for our brethren, those who are our brothers and sisters in Christ; that we are prepared to lose everything for our brethren in Christ. We should never grow old spiritually but always be full of vitality.
Most importantly, we must care for our brothers and sisters spiritually. We must love one another, guard and build a wall of protection around each other, that the devil doesn’t get in in any way. Our love must be complete.
Jesus not only removed the sting of death, sin, but even promised a mansion for each one of us after we passed through the valley of the shadow of death. We should be as Paul when he wrote to the Philippians, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” We should only live to do the will of our Lord and look forward to our day of rest when we can enter our heavenly home. Our focus must be on eternity where we will spend our future. Then the things of the earth will grow strangely dim and the misunderstandings we experience will not grieve us so much.
In order to obtain this life in Jesus we must die to our ways and sacrifice everything. Put everything on the altar. Don’t hold anything back but give everything as He gave even His own life. That is the only way. There is no other way. If we want to be His disciples we must take up our cross daily. Our only desire must be that His will be done in our life.
Jesus comforted the disciples when they were troubled and so too should we when we see a brother or sister troubled. Open to them the curtain and show them the beauty of heaven even as Jesus had done.
Is this your life? Are you prepared to let go of your own wishes and everything dear to you so that the next person might also partake of heaven? Are you prepared to lay down your life for the next person so that they might be saved? This is important.
The way of Jesus goes through Calvary. This is the way we must go or perish, no matter what the cost may be. We must die – die to ourselves and our way of doing things. Only the will of our Lord Jesus is important. We must love our brethren as Jesus loved us, so that when the world looks at us they have to admit, “they are disciples of Jesus.” There is no other way. The Lord Jesus had to go this way. He had to forsake heaven and die. He had to go to Calvary, because He saw the end of it. That is what we have to see. No matter how difficult it is, let us be prepared to be the least, the servant of all. What does it matter what I want to do, as long as His will is done in my life? There is no other way to be a true disciple of Jesus.
In verse 23 we read, “Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.” See the heart of our Lord Jesus Christ! Dear son and daughter, brother and sister, He promises that the Triune God will have a dwelling place in our heart and lead us in His ways. May none of us refuse Him.
Jesus also said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” There is no other way. Jesus gave us only one way to reach those mansions, to be with Him in glory. The only way is the way to Calvary, to die, and to rise again. Are you prepared and determined to go this way? May there not be a single one wanting to go another way.