Great things happen when we are led by the Holy Spirit

By Dean Collins

What’s your favorite? Occasionally someone asks us that. What’s your favorite dessert? Favorite meal? Favorite vacation spot? I have a hard time answering questions about my favorite anything because I like a lot of things. 

Just last week I spoke to some business students at Auburn University about faith in the workplace. In the Q&A session one student asked me about my favorite verses of scripture. I answered by sharing a few verses that I am currently meditating on all year. It is hard to pick a favorite ice cream because if it’s ice cream it’s pretty good. A lot of scripture strikes me that way as well.

I will admit that I have always been fond of three chapters in John’s gospel. Chapters 14 through 17 always provide comfort, strength, and focus when I read them. I don’t know if I will write one or a few devotions from these texts, but I suspect we will park here for a few days.

As I read John 14 this morning, I realized we are three weeks past Easter, and I am still in the middle of passages associated with the events leading up to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. I suspect the temptation we might have as believers is to move on to the next holiday or the next event in the liturgical calendar. But if we were going to stay in one section of scripture, we would do well to stay focused on the events surrounding the resurrection. We are, after all, people of the resurrection!

John 14 is a passage we often hear read at funerals, graveside services, and memorial services. It is a passage that reminds us that God is with us and has prepared a place and a future for us because of his great love. However, to consider this text as only a reminder of things to come is likely a mistake. There is great hope and application for how we live now. Jesus was not just reminding his disciples about the future. He was teaching them a lesson about how to live now.

As chapter 14 opens we read, “Let not your hearts be troubled.” Isn’t it great to know that Jesus knows when our hearts are troubled? Clearly, he could see the faces of troubled disciples when he said this to them. They were processing the things they had experienced in the last few hours. During dinner they heard the exchange about the betrayal of Judas and had watched him leave. They heard Jesus declare that Peter would deny the master. They heard Jesus speak of his body and blood that they were to remember, clearly indicating his impending death. These were disciples who had many reasons to have troubled minds.

It might be helpful to remember that anytime and every time we have a troubled mind over some situation, Jesus already knows and his words from John 14 are for us. In times of trouble, we can follow the instructions Jesus gave his disciples, “Believe in God; believe also in me.” God is aware of our troubles, and he will stay with us through them. And by his grace and mercy we will see the other side of our troubles.

Jesus continued by telling the group that he was going to prepare a place for them. Yes, there is clear reference to our eternal destination. The kingdom of Heaven has plenty of room. To prepare the place, Jesus would have to go through his death, burial, and resurrection. There is also a clear hint that our discipleship includes death to sin and self. The apostle Paul even gave us a beautiful picture in Romans 6 of how baptism demonstrates our dying to self, being buried, and resurrecting. 

In a recent devotional I referenced how the disciples often didn’t quite understand what Jesus was teaching. This passage confirms another misunderstanding. Thomas was stuck in a specific place. Had this happened in our day, he would have asked for Mapquest or Google Maps to outline the path.

Phillip struggled to understand what Jesus told them about his relationship with the Father. Jesus restated that if you have seen and been with him, then you have seen and been with the Father. This was reassuring to hear, but I suspect the disciples’ minds were as blown as ours might be when we consider what Jesus said next:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.”

Greater works than the disciples saw and we have read about? Water to wine, feeding thousands, healing the sick, raising the dead… we his followers could do greater things? Jesus, while on earth, lived in human skin just as we do. While he did many signs and wonders, he was always only in one place at one time. As followers of Christ, we can spread out the hands and feet of Jesus in thousands and millions of places at one time, and as we go, we are led by God’s spirit doing God’s work in significant, maybe greater ways, just as Jesus said.

Tomorrow we will look at the rest of John 14 to better understand what Jesus was saying and how great things happen when we are led by the Holy Spirit.

Father, thank you for the comfort we have in knowing that you have already prepared a place and a way for us to live out eternal life now and later. Thank you for your promise of an eternal home. Thank you that even in today’s troubles we know that you see our troubles and will walk with us through them, even if we walk through the valley of the shadow of death. We can face today with confidence comforted by your presence. Use us today for your glory. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Your Time with God’s Word
John 14:1-14 ESV

Photo by Mohamed Nohassi on Unsplash
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