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Relating to the Risen Lord

Delivered May 1, 2005
by Pastor Werner De Jong

Text: John 14:15-21

Main Idea: Christians relate to their risen Lord through the Holy Spirit, who enables them to love and obey him. At the same time, their love and obedience make them people in whom the Spirit delights to dwell.

Purpose: To encourage the listeners that they can know and relate to the risen Jesus just like his disciples did soon after the resurrection. To challenge the listeners to demonstrate their love for Jesus in obedience to him

Introduction: For each of the last three Sundays we have looked at the stories of Jesus revealing himself to his disciples after his resurrection. Each time Jesus appeared to his disciples, whether to Cleopas or Thomas or Peter or to all of them together, he brought wonderful gifts with him–gifts of peace, gifts of joy, gifts of faith, gifts of healing and restoration. As a result of these encounters all of Jesus' disciples were transformed. Their beloved master and teacher was no longer dead, but alive. Now they could relate to him again, not only as students to a rabbi, but as much loved disciples to the Lord of Life, and as forgiven sinners to their precious Saviour who laid down his life for them. Those were glorious times, times when their minds were opened to understand that life is stronger than death, times when their ears were opened to hear that this good news means life for all who believe, and times when their eyes were opened to see that Jesus himself was that life. Imagine what a thrill it was for them to relate to Jesus in this new way. When they talked to Jesus, they were talking to life itself! They could scarcely put words to their experience–how do you talk about an encounter with the God of life who created all life and who gave his life to bring you life? Jesus' good friend and disciple John gave it as good a shot as any when he opened his first letter with these words: "We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life–this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and revealed to us" (1 John 1:1-2).

      Those were glorious days indeed, but they lasted for only a brief period in history. The risen Jesus did not remain for very long on this earth. Which leads to the question–what about now? What about all the followers of Jesus who never had the opportunity to see him in his risen glory, to touch him, to have him come in person with his wonderful gifts? Our risen Lord is no longer walking on this earth. Was the experience of his first disciples, then, only a fleeting wisp of glory? Did the privilege of experiencing the risen Christ endure for only one brief shining moment? Or is it possible for people today to interact with the risen Jesus in as real a manner as the first disciples did?

Relating to Jesus: The Bible's answer to that question is a joyful, resounding yes! Every book in the New Testament was written after Jesus left this earth, yet every author writes with the unshakeable conviction that Jesus is alive and very real to them. Consider, for example, the testimony of the apostle Paul, who never met the earthly Jesus. " to me," he wrote, "living is Christ"–in other words, Christ is my life. And he prayed for his churches that they too may "know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge" (Eph. 3:19). The apostle Peter wrote to his readers, "Even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an indescribable and glorious joy" (1 Peter 1:8). In addition, it has been the testimony of countless Christians throughout the history of the church that it has been their great joy to interact with Jesus. I am glad to add my own voice to that chorus. I profess that I have experienced Jesus, and continue to do so. Jesus is real to me. If he were not, I would never have decided to become a pastor. For why spend your life teaching and bearing witness to someone you don't know? Why make sacrifices on behalf of the body of Christ if Christ isn't alive to you? But Christ is alive, and knowable, and that makes all the difference! In light of all of these testimonies, the key question for us is this: How do we relate to the risen Jesus? How do we relate to someone we cannot see or touch? How do we carry on a relationship with someone who doesn't approach us with a human body? Jesus himself was acutely aware of this concern, which is why he raised the question with his disciples shortly before his death. As he sat with them in the upper room, enjoying a final meal together, he knew he needed to prepare them, not only for his pending death, but also for the day when he would rise and ascend to the Father. It was a very pressing question–his disciples needed to know how they could relate to him when he was absent from them in body.

Today's Text: The answer which Jesus provided is found in our reading from John 14. It is an answer not only for the original disciples, but for all who would come to believe in him. In a nutshell, this is what Jesus said: "Do not be afraid. You will still be able to relate to me when I am gone. Two things are needed. First of all, I will come to you through the Holy Spirit. In fact, through the Spirit I will make a home within you. And secondly, I ask for your love. The way to demonstrate your love for me is to obey my commandments. And these two things go together. It is not one or the other. You need the Holy Spirit in order to help you keep my commandments; and your loving obedience will make you people in whom I delight to dwell through my Spirit."

Relating to Jesus through the Holy Spirit: This is the teaching of our Lord. The good news is that if we have any desire at all to relate to our risen Lord today, it is entirely possible. But we need to pay close attention to this teaching in order to learn how. So let's look at these two provisions, one at a time. First of all, Jesus left his disciples with a wonderful promise: "I will not leave you orphaned," he said. "I am coming to you"; "I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, who will be with you forever. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth."

      Two of the most beautiful words in the Bible are the words "with you." Many times the promise is repeated that God's great desire is to be with us. In our more insecure moments we may wonder if anyone really wants to spend time with us, especially if they knew what we were really like. Sometimes we hide our truest selves from others, and put on a mask, because we are afraid they might not like what they see. God knows what we are really like, God knows all of our strengths and weaknesses. And still God says to us: "I want to be with you. I love you for who you truly are."

      Our Creator does not want us to be lonely and afraid; instead, God wants us to know the reality of his loving, helping, reassuring presence with us. And so he gave us great promises like the one which the prophet Isaiah foretold, saying: the virgin will conceive and bear a son, who will be called Emmanuel, which means "God with us" (Is. 7:14). Jesus is that Son. Jesus is God with us. As we've seen, his first disciples were warmed and transformed by his presence. The worst thing imaginable for them was to lose him. Jesus knew their fear, and so he promised them: "I won't abandon you, I won't leave you without protection, I will always be available to help you. See, I am sending you another Helper, to be with you forever, the Spirit of truth."

      This is a remarkable teaching. What it says is this: the Holy Spirit is directly associated with our Risen Lord. In other words, when we experience the Holy Spirit, we experience Jesus. The Holy Spirit is Jesus with us. Jesus calls the Spirit "another Helper." As "another Helper," the Spirit is, as it were, another Jesus. Jesus was with his disciples a short time; his Spirit would come to be with them forever. This is why Jesus said to his disciples, "It is actually to your advantage that I go away." That must have sounded like strange teaching–how could they actually be better off without the physical presence of Jesus with them? What could be better than being able to see the risen Lord when he chose to appear, what could be better than being able to walk and talk with the one who conquered death, what could be better than eating a breakfast of charcoaled fish with him down by the Sea of Galilee? The answer is this: having Jesus live within you! That is the beautiful possibility that is open to all people. When we receive Jesus by faith, he takes up residence within us.

      The Greek noun which we've been translating as "Helper" is Paraclete. Literally Paraclete refers to someone who is called in, to someone who is called along side to help in time of trouble or need. Before Jesus sent the Holy Spirit his personal help was only available when he appeared in person, and of course Jesus could only be present in one place at any given time. But now that Jesus has ascended to his Father, his Spirit is always available to all of us, to all of his followers, because the Spirit lives within us. We are the home of God, both as individuals, and as the church. If we ask, "How can we relate to our Risen Lord today?", the answer is clear: through his Spirit, who lives within us and among us.

      Once again, please notice what this teaches us about God. In the last three weeks we have seen how the risen Jesus took the initiative to go to his disciples, to seek them out in love, in order to heal and restore them. We see the very same thing here. Jesus didn't have to ask his Father to pour out the Spirit on his followers. But in grace Jesus did. Always, always, always, in a spirit of grace and love, God takes the initiative to reach out to us. God sent Jesus to us, and Jesus sent the Spirit. It is grace upon grace! Surely God loves us and desires to be with us. Let no one say that God is unloving; let no one say that God does not care about us; for the God we are talking about sent his Son to die for us, and after the Son rose again, he sent his Spirit to live within us. God loves us so much that God willingly suffered in order that he might be able to relate to us in such a precious way. The Bible teaches nothing less than the amazing truth that our risen Lord delights to live within us through the Holy Spirit.

      Despite this precious truth, the reality is that the knowledge of the Holy Spirit is limited among many Christians today. One possible reason for this is that today we don't think in terms of relating to the risen Christ–he is written about in the gospels, and his disciples could relate to him, we believe that, but do we imagine that we can relate to him on a daily basis just like they could? And even moreso, because he lives within us? This, and nothing less than this, is meant to be the reality of the Christian life. Every day Jesus intends for us to walk and talk with him as our Risen Lord. Every day all of his power and strength and loving help is available to us.

      But the corollary to this teaching is this: if we ignore the Holy Spirit, we ignore the presence of our risen Lord. If we try to live the Christian life on our own, we ignore the very God who lives within us! Our faith is terribly incomplete without this dimension of relationship with the risen Christ. Then our faith becomes reduced to a mere matter of intellectual belief, rather than the ongoing experience of the living God that it is meant to be. It is only by the Holy Spirit's presence and power that we experience fullness of life in Christ. And what a life that is. It is a life of love. In Jesus love was crucified, but then in Jesus love arose, stronger than hatred, stronger than death, and now this same love lives within us! For our part we need to seek to listen to the voice of the Spirit of Christ, and we need to trust and depend on Jesus' presence with us. This is the opposite of ignoring the Spirit, to seek times and places of solitude, just to listen to the wonderful voice of our risen Lord. And to act in faith when we hear the Spirit calling us, for through his Spirit Jesus will provide us with everything we need to accomplish his will. As the old hymn puts it, "trust and obey, for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey."

Relating to Jesus through Obedience: This leads into our final point. If we want to relate to the risen Christ, we not only need the Holy Spirit, we also need to keep Jesus' commands. Listen again to his words from our text: "They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them."

      There is clearly a direct relationship between our obedience and our ability to relate to Jesus. When we don't keep Jesus' commands, we grieve the Holy Spirit, through whom Jesus comes to us. This doesn't mean that Jesus rejects us, but it does mean that our disobedience will hinder our ability to have a loving relationship with him. For obedience makes a loving relationship possible. A good analogy of this is the relationship between parents and their children. When children disobey their parents, their parents do not reject them, but the disobedience creates a distance in the relationship. Children are more than able to sense this. This distance certainly does not need to be permanent, but the only way to bridge it is through through repentance, that is, through a change of heart and mind leading to obedience. If you ever sense a distance in your relationship with Jesus, one of the first things to do is to ask yourself the question, "Am I doing anything that does not honour him? Am I not keeping his commandments to love others, to serve others, to build others up? Am I being selfish? Am I putting my own needs above the needs of others? Am I rebelling against God, and not doing what deep down I know he wants me to do?" Every time God feels distant it is not necessarily because we are not keeping Jesus' commands. But it is one very real possibility.

      For Jesus there is only one test of love, and that is obedience. We can profess to love him as much as we want, but unless we obey him, we don't truly love him. And if we don't love him, we can't expect a warm, ongoing relationship with him. One of the dangers Christians have also faced is to allow their love for Jesus to degenerate into sloppy sentimentality. This is especially true today because our society defines love primarily as a feeling. Feelings certainly accompany true love, but feeling without action is mere sentiment. Would we like it if someone said to us, "I know I love you, for I feel it within me," but who then didn't do anything to act in our best interest? What kind of love is that? Talk and feelings often come very cheap. But if they are not accompanied by action, they do not constitute love at all.

      Real love is not an easy thing. It demands everything of us. The perfect example of true love was demonstrated by God himself. John 3:16, the best known verse in the Bible, reminds us "that God so loved the world that he gave, he gave his only Son." We love this verse, and rightly so, because it gives us proof of God's love for us–it demonstrates that God's love is real, for it was demonstrated by costly giving. If we receive such love, do we then think that we should not have to show the same kind of love in return? Are we only to be getters and not givers? It was by obedience that Jesus showed his love for his Father, and by our obedience we show our love for Jesus.

      The reason Jesus asks us to obey him is two-fold. First, as our text suggests, obedience enables us to maintain a warm, ongoing relationship with him. And secondly, through our obedience Jesus is able to love others through us. When we are obedient to the commands of Jesus, our obedience will result in life for others, just like Jesus' obedience resulted in life for us. Every single one of Jesus' commands has love as its basis. This is why he said, "all the law and the prophets hang on the two greatest commandments: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and love your neighbour as yourself." And the apostle Paul wrote: "the commandments...are summed up in this word, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself'" (Rom. 13:9). This doesn't mean we don't need the specifics commandments like "do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not covet," but it does mean we must recognize what lies behind all of them–love for God and love for others. When Jesus commands us to bear witness to him, to go into all the earth with the good news of the gospel, there is only one motive which lies behind it–his love for all people, his desire to come to them and to offer them the gift of life. He wants to do that through us, as we depend on his Spirit within us.

      Obedience is not attractive in our society today, which emphasizes individual freedom to do as we choose. This is a strong and powerful force we need to beware of. Some Christians and churches capitulate to this sentiment, and only speak of Jesus as the Saviour who gave everything for us, but not as the Lord whom we must obey. This is only half the gospel, for embracing Jesus not only means embracing his love and forgiveness; it also means embracing his commandments, through which we become instruments to bring love and forgiveness to others. Jesus calls us to live as part of his new community where everything is being transformed.

Conclusion: It is time to conclude. Through Jesus' own teaching we have seen that it is entirely possible to relate to our risen Lord today. We can know Jesus like his disciples did. We can know the love and healing and restorative power with which our risen Lord approached Cleopas, and Thomas and Peter. The reason we can know Jesus is because he comes to us just like he came to them. He comes to us through the Holy Spirit, whom he gives us when we confess our faith in him, for he desires to be with us. In love Jesus takes the initiative and offers us the most precious gift of his very own presence. So daily let us open our lives to be filled with the Holy Spirit. For when we walk in the Spirit, we walk with our risen Lord, just as his first disciples did. And daily let us also seek to obey our Lord. For as we obey Jesus we demonstrate our love for him, which in turn makes us people in whom his Spirit delights to dwell. Amen.

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