Daily Liturgy and Scripture

Though it's hard to digest, Jesus gives a clear picture of what judgment really is in this verse from John. Those who belong to him will stay with him, even through eternity. But those who hate him also hate his Father. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit are all one. There is no picking a favorite part. And even more so, Jesus identifies his followers as himself. If we are in Him, we are taking part in all that He is. If the world hates us, or any part of the Trinity, they bring judgment on themselves.

It's interesting how listening, obeying, and loving are intertwined. Jesus weaves them together in this passage from John 15 like a tapestry. And what happens when we listen to Jesus, obey Jesus, and share the love he gives us? We are him as he is in the Father. It's an eternal partnership in which we are included as long as we abide in Christ.

It must have been a confusing time to be an apostle. Jesus was talking about leaving, and another Spirit coming after him. We have the benefit of centuries of theologians and church leaders who have helped us come to our knowledge of the Trinity, but this ragtag group of former fishermen and others didn't have that. They were getting it first hand, and it would only really make sense after Jesus was gone. But that slowly formed understanding, that Spirit still lives with us today.

Jesus is enough. Even those who walked with him didn't always seem to grasp this. As they asked for more signs and more visions of God, Jesus still had to remind them, "I'm him. I'm God." And he is still the same for us today: not only in his miraculous revelations, but in the simple things.

A person's last words matter. Jesus realizes this is the last time he will have all his disciples gathered together before the crucifixion, so he needs to say something that will stick with them. He chooses this time to encourage them to love one another, and to be known for the love they have within their own group. That same love is what should define the church today.

Jesus seems to be contradicting himself here. He has said many times, such as John 5:30 and 9:29, that he is the judge. Why now does he say he doesn't? This is actually good news for us, because Jesus does not come looking to wield a hammer. He comes looking to show mercy. Still, a person's heart and their actions bring judgment on them, a product of their own doing. 

Mary's extravagant offering produces interesting reactions. For her part, she is making an unvarnished, unfiltered offering of love to her savior. But what does Judas do? He does some quick calculations in his head and figures out that they could have really done some good if they sold that "wasted" perfume. He wasn't wrong. But he wasn't right either, because that wasn't what needed to happen at that time, and in that place. Worship isn't a waste of time. If we give Jesus much of ourselves, what we give is never cast away for no reason.

What an awful mistake to set yourself against the Son of God. How could they miss who he was? That's probably a complicated answer, but some of it is in what they said as they discussed Jesus' growing fame: the people would follow him, and then the Romans would destroy their nation. That seems a bit harsh. Would the Romans really do that? Destroy the nation because someone new became popular? Or did the religious leaders, who also had some political power, fear that they'd lose the level of control they had? Probably a bit of both. We can take a lesson from them, though: certainly, we must be careful never to set our own need for control over what God is doing.

In the raising of Lazarus, it's easy to get caught up in the spectacle. Jesus WAS raising a man from the dead, after all. And that's what everyone was focused on. Sometimes, it's the flashy stuff that we get caught up in. But in the midst of this, something bigger is happening: Jesus is showing what God is like. He's inaugurating the Kingdom. That might have been the quiet part, but it was certainly the most important. Maybe that's why Jesus wept: not because Lazarus had died, he knew what he was about to do. But because in the midst of all of this, the people closest to him were missing the important part.

"You don't believe me because you are not my sheep." That hits pretty hard. Those who know Jesus' voice, who are "his sheep," believe him. It seems pretty simple, but it's a bit more complicated when we work it out in the day-to-day. It's hard to stay a sheep. Believing Jesus for what he says he will do, even in the face of great difficulty, often requires faith that we may sometimes doubt we're capable of.