“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God believe also in Me. John 14: 1, NKJV
Dear Lord, we are willing to take You at Your Word. We will not be troubled; but only believe! Amen
Two days ago we meditated upon the promise of Christ’s return. Our text for today is a part of that promise. Interestingly enough, this text precedes the rest of the promise, it seems, as a sort of an introduction. It would also appear to be the guarantee of the entire promise. And a worthy guarantee it is! It is a double assurance of its fulfillment: If you believe in God, you can believe also in Me. When Phillip asked Jesus to show Him the Father, Jesus replied that anyone who had seen Him (Jesus) had seen the Father (John 14: 9).
To further expand the concept of oneness with the Father, Jesus said, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves” (10, 11). All the works that He did was done by the Father, through Him. The unity was so perfect that as You looked at the Son, you could see the Father working through Him. Even the words that He spoke were authorized by His Father. There was a double assurance attached to everything that He said and did.
When God the Father, and God the Son, put their seal on anything, we can consider it done. For in the presence of omnipotence, there exists no impossibilities. Jesus was saying to His disciples back then, and to us, today, do not be troubled over the fact that I had to go back to the Father. If you believe that God loves you, then you can believe that I love you too. If you believe that the Father wants you to be wherever He is, then you can believe that I want you to be wherever I am, also. You can be doubly sure, because the Father and I are One!
This double-assurance is important. For the Jews, the Father was unequaled (10: 33). For the Christians, no one came unto the Father, except through Christ the Son(14: 6). So for both Jews and Christians, there was full assurance. One phenomenon that I did not pay much attention to, before this study, was that in all of Christ’s dealings with the different Jewish groups, I have never found anywhere in Scripture, where a Sadducee accepted the teachings of Christ. There is, however, record that they came seeking baptism from John the Baptist (a baptism of repentance – Matthew 3: 2, 7). There is a main factor that could account for this. The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection from the dead.
The chief cornerstone of the Christian faith is that Christ, our Leader, rose from the dead. It is also a main distinguishing factor from all other religions. And there could not have been the hope of Christ returning for us, had there been no resurrection. There is record, that from among the sect of the Pharisees, who do believe in the resurrection (Acts 15: 5; 23: 8), there were those who became believers. It would have been a welcome detail for these new believers to have the assurance that Christ’s return to earth, was ratified by both the Father and the Son.
The next time you are tempted to worry about your future, just remember, you do not have to be troubled; there is double assurance of a better life ahead!