the    sides

This is part of our e-journey through the gospel of John. This week’s from John 16.

“People will think they are doing God a favor when they kill you.”

Jesus, to his disciples the night before he is betrayed and murdered.

The disciples had to be thinking they were getting the worse motivational speech of all time. They didn’t understand half of what Jesus was saying and when he stopped to explain it, it just made it worse.

Then Jesus ends it with this doosy - “A time is soon coming when you ALL will leave me ALONE.”

In other words, Jesus is telling them they are about to fail on a major level. Jesus is telling them - “hey, you are going to abandon the very man you said you would die for and with.” Jesus knows they won’t do either…at least not on this night, not now. One day - yes. But not tonight. And Jesus knows it and he tells them as much. “You guys are all about to fail very miserably and very publicly.”

What kind of motivational speech is that? It’s actually one of the greatest ever.

Jesus knows the extent of their coming failure and tells them so that they would have peace about it. Read it…right there in verse 33.

I think Jesus was trying to make sure they had enough faith…not great faith, just enough faith to make it to Sunday. Do they have enough faith to hang in there and wait for Jesus? Reading back on Jesus’ words here - that’s what it sounds like…

I’m sending another to comfort you. I’m coming back. I will be betrayed. You will leave me. I’m telling you all of this so that when it happens, maybe something (someone) will remind you of the good news I said as well. The news that I will rise again. The news that I will return and rebuild the Temple…the true Temple. I’m telling you these things so that you can have peace in knowing that God is still God.

There will be a time when their faith is tested to the core and they will die for Jesus. There will be a time when their faith is GREAT.

But not now. And for right now, it looks like Jesus just wants them to have ENOUGH faith to get to Sunday.

Isn’t that the truth for most of our circumstances? Don’t a lot of us rush off and try to fix things instead of having ENOUGH faith to wait for Jesus.

That’s what I’m praying for you today - have ENOUGH faith today….GREAT faith will come.