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23 Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Anyone 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. 25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. 28 “You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. (John 14:23-29 New International Version Bible)
This is one of the most powerful chapters in the Bible. It reveals a lot. It's also a very personal chapter because Jesus bares His heart with the Twelve. They had just witnessed a resurrection of a four-day old dead man. And they also saw Jesus anointed by the sister of the dead man for His own death. And Jesus, as the 13th chapter closes, reveals that He, too, is about to die. The first part of this chapter has some incredible claims and promises shared by the Lord to us and this closing part of the chapter deals with our response. We are told, in the first verse of this chapter, to love Him and to obey Him. And we are told that those who love and obey, are loved by the Father and God will come to live with and in us. Those who do not love, will not be obedient to His teachings. And Jesus clarifies that these words are not His, but His Father's. And while Jesus shared some7 things with them, He reveals that there is a coming of an Advocate, Who is the Holy Spirit, with a mission and a purpose. His job will be to teach us all things and to remind us "Of everything I have said to you." He then offers His peace with this clarification, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives." This is important to know. The world can only offer a certain peace; Jesus' peace is from God and that peace far exceeds our complete understanding. And here again, Jesus says, "Do not let your hearts be troubled," as He started this chapter, "and do not be afraid." Jesus promised to always be with them after His departure, and knowing that He returns to the Father should be gratifying to them. And this, He adds, was to fully prepare the Disciples before the actual event, so that they would more fully believe.
At this writing, on a Saturday afternoon, the news of more than ten people dead in what is being called a racially-motivated mass shooting at a grocery store, we get smacked in the face that we all need love. We need to show love more, and we need to be open to receiving love more. We have to step beyond whatever realm got us to think others are different and less than us and we feel the best thing is to rid the world of them! Friends, if the hope of the world is the Church, and we are the Church, it is on us to love others even those who do not love us back. I thank God for the example of my father who had the uncanny ability to work alongside those who did not hide their dislike of him because of his race, and as time went on became his best friends. I've shared the story of "Jim," who was one of those. They lived close by so they started to carpool to work just to save money, but each mile was a new mile of deeper understanding and ultimately acceptance. No one who knew them would have dreamed that the day woud come that Jim and his family would come and have supper at our house. And as the friendship grew so did the trust to share in the good and the bad. All it took was the effort to get to know the other. Love leads us to obedience and obedience leads us to the fullness of life, which leads us to eterna life.
You ready? Let's go! Let's go be the people of love that God called us to be!
PRAYER: Loving God, I thank you for this dear listener and reader. I pray rich and wonderful blessings upon their lives so that as we hear this word and we become a part of that which defines us and helps us be those who defy the odds and become those who love all people. Love us and guide us we pray in Christ Jesus' strong name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Show love to that one who you found hard to love before!
Receive my blessings of love and peace,
Pastor Eradio Valverde
