"Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live." John 14:19

Christ has told his disciples a number of times this evening that he is leaving. And I think by now they are starting to realize that He's serious. He's also promised a Comforter would come who would take His place by living within us.

I believe this passage is talking about his appearance to the Disciples after his Resurrection. I know from the other Gospels, the book of Acts and Paul's account in Corinthians that a number of appearances were made by Christ for forty days after the resurrection. He is making them a promise, and by keeping that promise, He will prove who he is... The Son of God.

My thoughts take me to Harry Houdini as I read this. Harry made the promise that if there was life after death he would find a way to communicate with those left behind. He left a secret password with his wife that would prove that he was the one communicating. For many years, his friends met together to hold a seance to wait for the "magic" word... But it didn't come. When the word did come through, there has been speculation that the integrity of the secret had been compromised.

With Christ, there was no such secrecy or "magic"... It was very simple. You'll see me. As we later learn, the appearances were more than apparitions and mass hallucinations. Why? Because he eats with them and invites Thomas to touch his hands and feet. No ghost has a solid body like Christ did.

More importantly for me, he has promised that because He will live again, we will, too. How wonderful is that. But to tell you the truth, just to be alive isn't all that I want. My body is wearing down. I can't hit a golf ball as far as I used to. I can't say that like Moses at the age of 120 that my eyes are as good as at twenty and my strength is unabated. But as we read in other passages, that when I live again, I'll have a glorified body... A whole and healthy body. How awesome is that?

Father, you have made a promise that is totally exciting to me... That I will live again. Not in an endless meaningless cycle of life, but rather in a glorious and meaningful life with you. Thank you for your love for me. Thank you for thinking of me in your last hours.

- posted by Steve R. @ 9:42 AM

 
"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. " John 14:18

I have a colleague who adopted a daughter from a Russian orphanage. He was telling me about something called RAD (Reactive Attachment Disorder). RAD occurs in children when they do not bond with their caregiver as babies. The critical age is usually around 6 months to a year of age. The affects of the disorder can be devastating. The sad thing is, the disorder is more commonplace than one would think. Christ knew how important it is for me to be able connect to their parents.

Christ has dropped a bomb on the men gathered in the upper room, he is leaving... Rather he will be taken away from them. But he makes two promises to them: He will come back and the Holy Spirit will be their guiding parent. I can understand the coming to them... He will be resurrected in about four days and he will be seeing them again. I can only imagine how the disciples must have felt when he showed up that day in the upper room. Probably a lot like Sandi my dog.

Sandi is our latest "child". She is part lab, part spitz, and probably part of a lot of other breeds that we can't identify. We bought her at a flea market in Sweetwater, TN a year ago. She was just a bundle of fur at the time, now she is over 40 pounds... But she's still as sweet as she was as a puppy... Just bigger. When I've been on the road and first come in the door, the first person there to greet me is Sandi: tail wagging, trembling all over with excitement, toy in her mouth wanting to play. She doesn't leave my side, she wants me to show her affection and attention all the time. So when it comes to the Lord, why can't I be more like Sandi?

I've been given a wonderful gift, a companion that will never let me down. An advisor that will never steer me wrong. A friend that will assure me that I am not abandoned or an orphan. That is certainly something to get excited about.

Father, you are with me daily through your Spirit. I have the opportunity every moment to find out more about you, but I don't. Forgive me for my complacency. You are never any further away from me than you are right now, but I'm constantly choosing to ignore you. Touch my heart that I will appreciate the wonderful gift you have given me, today.

- posted by Steve R. @ 4:17 AM

 
"The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. " John 14:17b

This passage is referring to the Paraclete... The advisor, comforter, and companion that would replace Jesus when He was no longer with them.

I woke up this morning thinking about some rumors I heard back in the sixties when the US was involved in their effort to put man on the moon. There was a group of people who couldn't conceive of the advances in technology that would allow us to put human life in space. They really believed that the government in an effort to "fool" the people of this nation staged the entire Apollo missions and were really broadcasting from a dessert in the American southwest, or as one website still claims, a Geodesic dome in Australia. In fact, you can by the boxed video set that proves that NASA never went to the moon. I supposed these people are the same people who still believe the earth is flat.

These nay sayers missed the significance of the reading of Genesis on Christmas Eve in 1968, the spectacular pictures of the earthrise on that same mission. They have missed the thrill of what mankind can accomplish when their efforts have been concentrated on a specific goal. But I've talked with engineers that were on that project. These men have had no doubt that we went to the moon. Why? Because they were a part of the experience.

I know the Comforter has come. Why? Because I'm part of the experience.

Father, the world has a hard time understanding what you've done for your children. The fact that the world doesn't understand or can't accept your caring provision for me in no way diminishes the reality that you have provided your Comforter, the one who walks beside me and lives within me. Thank you for loving me so much.

- posted by Steve R. @ 7:15 AM