I Will Not Leave You Orphaned

Beyond the Present Time
Resurrection Hope
The Holy Spirit Comes

John 14:18-24

The Message

^18-20 “I will not leave you orphaned. I’m coming back. In just a little while the world will no longer see me, but you’re going to see me because I am alive and you’re about to come alive. At that moment you will know absolutely that I’m in my Father, and you’re in me, and I’m in you.
²¹ “The person who knows my commandments and keeps them, that’s who loves me. And the person who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and make myself plain to him.”
²² Judas (not Iscariot) said, “Master, why is it that you are about to make yourself plain to us but not to the world?”
^23-24 “Because a loveless world,” said Jesus, “is a sightless world. If anyone loves me, he will carefully keep my word and my Father will love him—we’ll move right into the neighborhood! Not loving me means not keeping my words. The message you are hearing isn’t mine. It’s the message of the Father who sent me.

 

For Reflection

Where have you seen Jesus?  One, lonely in a crowded room?  In the eyes of a child orphaned by war or neglect?  In a church full of people unwilling to show their scars?  In a mirror when doubt creeps behind weary eyes?

Pray

prayers of thanksgiving for the Christ who suffered as we suffer, died in pain as we die, and rose from death to bring us to the truth that is God.  Pray for those who have not opened themselves to the peace that surpasses understanding.  Pray that you will be alert to the presence of Christ around you.