John 14:15-26

¹⁵ “If you love me, obey my commandments. ¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. ¹⁷ He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you. ¹⁸ No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you. ¹⁹ Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live. ²⁰ When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. ²¹ Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.” ²² Judas (not Judas Iscariot, but the other disciple with that name) said to him, “Lord, why are you going to reveal yourself only to us and not to the world at large?” ²³ Jesus replied, “All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them. ²⁴ Anyone who doesn’t love me will not obey me. And remember, my words are not my own. What I am telling you is from the Father who sent me. ²⁵ I am telling you these things now while I am still with you. ²⁶ But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.”

Seeing the Savior means:

4. Seeing His Service

Verse 24-25 says “And remember, my words are not my own. What I am telling you is from the Father who sent me. 25 I am telling you these things now while I am still with you.”We don’t really see Savior until we see His Sacrifice. The Father sent Jesus. Which means that Jesus was willing to leave the comfort of heaven and experience the chaos of earth in order to serve us. So often we focus on what we don’t have instead of what we do. We complain about how hard it is but when was the last time you acknowledged what Jesus had to give up to come to earth to serve you and because of His sacrifice what you have gained?

He gave up Control as He intentionally put Himself into the hands of His creation so we could be cared for.

He gave up his throne in heaven for a borrowed feeding trough so we could share in His treasure.

He gave up His glory so we could know God

He gave up comfort so we could be comforted

He gave up his dignity so we wouldn’t have to die.

He gave up being praised so I wouldn’t be punished.

He gave His life so that we could have love

If He had never been sent, we would be sentence to death. But because He came and died in our place we have peace with God and a place in His kingdom. Sometimes people ask some interesting God questions, but sadly over the centuries the church has communicated that it’s not ok to ask God questions. Yet you never once find Jesus saying, “Stop asking questions”. When Jesus is around questions are allowable, because discipleship is all about learning and growing. Jesus’ willingness to allow us to ask questions reveals a caring King, He has every right to tell us what to do, Scriptures says: He has all things under His feet, He is the head of the church, In Him all things live and move and have their being. Jesus could have said, I have decided. Don’t question Me just obey”. Jesus had every right to take that approach, but instead He takes the way of patience, encouragement, and nurture, why because He came to serve. He is willing to help us even when the questions are not the right ones. Jesus is the King who still allows His people to ask and to probe. When was the last time you saw His sacrificial service?

5. Spirit led

Verse 26 says, “the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you”Jesus reminds us of the need to be schooled by the Spirit! This involves not just learning but being led. Because the one you lean on and are led by is the one you will learn from. When you accept Christ, you receive all the Holy Spirit you are going to receive. The question is how much of you is the Holy Spirit going to get? God didn’t give us part of His Spirit He gave us all of the Holy Spirit. He doesn’t hold back so why do we? Often, we don’t see the Savior because we don’t listen to His Spirit. We want to know His will but not his ways. We spend a lot of time telling instead of being taught. Jesus here reveals the Trinity, Father Son and Spirit. What is it that you need to learn or allow the Holy Spirit to remind you of? We need to be reminded of Jesus teachings because like the children of Israel we so quickly forget. Why not take sometime today to celebrate Christ’s sacrifice, praise Him and thank Him for coming and dying on the cross to set you free from sin.