Why Church Division?

The Christian Church is united on the essentials. We probably agree on 95% of our faith. We are divided over a lot of non-essentials. Rather than continue the division, it is good to understand various sides of a doctrine without prejudice. To understand all sides of an argument over a non-essential issue can eliminate bigotry. It does not mean that we compromise on sin or heresy, but it does mean we recognize that the Holy Spirit is not exclusive. The more we learn to respect other opinions instead of being dogmatic that only our way is right, the more we recognize God’s grace in the world, and find differences less important.

Love and Manifestation

In John 14:21 Jesus rephrases verse 15, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.” This involves the mutual indwelling of Father, Son and Holy Spirit with us. Those who dwell in Christ are obeying His commands, perhaps summarized in words like faith and love. We accept His words and act on them. The result is being “loved by My Father.” This relationship that exists between us and God rests on faith. Jesus then promises that He will love us and manifest Himself to us. This revelation is a Coming different from His Second Coming. It is the manifestation of Christ in the Spirit.

In That Day

In John 14:20 Jesus said, “In that day,” either referring to the day when “another Helper” “the Spirit of Truth” (verses 16-17) would come, that is, the Day of Pentecost beginning the Christian era or perhaps the day of His resurrection, celebrated every Sunday. His disciples “will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.” This union of mutual indwelling is lived out in our mystical personal relationship with God the Father and God the Son through the Holy Spirit. Is this oneness with God what the resurrection life is all about? Is this the realization of a life at peace with God?

You Will See Me

In John 14:19 Jesus promised his disciples that after His death, “the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me.” This has two possibilities. They would see Jesus as they did between Resurrection Sunday and His Ascension. The second possibility is that this includes seeing Jesus through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Jesus also spoke of their future eternity, “Because I live, you will live also.” This also refers to the higher life of Christ which is independent of death. Because He lives, we will be partakers of life forever more. This indicates that our eternal life is dependent directly on Jesus giving it to us.

I Will Come to You

In John 14:18 Jesus promised his disciples, “I will not leave you orphans.” The Greek word is orphans. The word comfortless in some translations misses the context of the conversation beginning with “Little children...” (John 13:33). Here is another coming of Jesus Christ, in the Spirit. He said, “I will come to you.” This refers perhaps to two things, the time Christ would be with them after the resurrection and his presence with them through the Holy Spirit. MacLaren's Expositions calls this presence through the Holy Spirit the absent-present Christ. As Jesus promised in Matthew 28:20 “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Spirit of Truth

The Holy Spirit is called the “paraclete,” variously translated as Comforter, Helper and Advocate. More closely aligned with being “the Spirit of Truth” in John 14:17 is the translation Advocate. Whenever we meet someone who does not have what we deem to be the truth, we do not need to coerce or persecute them as some Christians have been tempted to do. It ought not surprise us that “the world cannot receive” the Spirit of truth. Our best arguments will all fail, because the world cannot receive the truth. We should simply trust the Holy Spirit to do His job, “He will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13).

East-West Divide

An east-west division is visible in John 14:16. “I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper...” Who does the Holy Spirit proceed from, the Father or the Father and the Son? The Nicene Creed in the East leaves out the words “and the Son” (filioque in Latin). This verse seems to say that the Father sends the Spirit on behalf of the Son. Both East and West may agree on that. Because the addition was never authorized at a truly ecumenical council of Eastern and Western churches, it has caused unnecessary division. Jesus is a Comforter (1 John 2:1). The Holy Spirit is another Comforter.

Jesus’ Commandments

Some Christians presume that the word “commandments” always means the Ten Commandments. That’s a false assumption. Obedience to Jesus’ commands proves that we love Him. He said, “If you love me…” In John 14:15 Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” In this context Jesus commanded, to “believe also in Me” (verse 1). The natural reading (in context) is His commandments, not the Ten Commandments. Jesus also reminds us of several of over 600 Old Testament commandments that we love God and neighbor. The commands of Christ do not dismiss Old Testament commandments, but rather fulfill their spirit through faith in God the Father and God the Son.

Greater Works

In John 14:12 Jesus said, “he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do”. Andrew evangelized Constantinople, Ukraine, Romania and Russia. Peter and Paul evangelized Antioch and more. James the Greater evangelized Spain. John preached at Ephesus. Philip evangelized Greece and Syria. Bartholomew (Nathaniel) evangelized India, Ethiopia, Mesopotamia and Armenia. Matthew evangelized Caucasia, Macedonia, Persia and Parthia. Thomas evangelized Parthia and India. James the Less evangelized Lower Egypt. Judas Thaddeus evangelized Judea, Samaria, Syria, Mesopotamia and Libya. Simon the Zealot pastored Jerusalem and traveled to Africa and Europe. “Greater works” was one of Jesus’ greatest promises.

Show us the Father

In John 14:8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” Verse 6 reveals Jesus as the way to our Father. Could the devil be deceiving our society to create such hatred of manliness and fatherhood so that we no longer wish to come to our heavenly Father? Jesus highly honored womanhood, but he chose men to be the twelve disciples. Why? He could have chosen women. Are manly leadership and male role-models despised in today’s world? Do we feminize men? Do we caricature manliness like a freak show? More than ever, our world needs fathers and the Father we need most is God.

The Life

Jesus made the bold claim, “I am the way, the truth and the life” in John 14:6. Is this a claim to divinity, that Jesus is within himself the possessor of eternal life? Is it also a claim that He can give it to whomever He wishes? In the beginning it was God who gave man life (Genesis 2:7). Whoever believes in Jesus should have everlasting life (John 3:16). Jesus is the prince of life (Acts 3:15). The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus (Romans 6:23). God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son (1 John 5:11).

The Truth

People believe that a particular distinct doctrine is the truth, which in reality may be mere human understanding. They claim that a different understanding is a lie and not the truth. Yet, all Christians agree on the truth, at least the most important element of the truth, Jesus. After all, Jesus said “I am the way, the truth and the life” in John 14:6. Whatever disagreements Christians may have — forms of baptism, qualifications for ordination, formal versus informal formats, wine or grape juice for communion, Psalms, hymns or spiritual songs, Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant authority, tongues, church polity — we agree that what Jesus taught is still the truth.

The Way

In John 14:3 Jesus said, “I will come again.” Then he told them in verses 4-5, “where I go you know, and the way you know.” Thomas speaking for the others said, “Lord, we do not know.” How often do we not know that we know something? A little more instruction clarified what they already knew. Jesus then say, “I am the way.” The way a person and not a road. It has a destination, “to the Father,” also a person. So Jesus is the way to the Father. He went to prepare a place for us and will come again to take us to the place He has prepared.

The Meaning of Mansions

In John 14 Jesus said, “In My Father’s house are many mansions”. Jacob dedicated Beth El as God’s house, the gate of heaven (Genesis 28:15-22). The tabernacle and the temple in Jerusalem were called the house of God. The people of God are also called God’s house (1 Corinthians 3:8-10). True believers are also promised a place of eternal abode with God. The Greek word μοναὶ (monai) translated as mansions or abodes means literally “an abiding dwelling-place (i.e. not transitory).” Our homes on earth are only temporary abodes, but our place in eternity is permanent. The emphasis then is that there is plenty of room in heaven for all.

Comfort in Loss

A soldier in Afghanistan stands guard as a little girl plays with a rock in her hand, or is it a grenade? She gets ready to throw it at a passing Humvee. A split second decision has to be made. Do I lose another group of soldiers to a grenade attack or am I shooting a little girl playing with a rock? The moral dilemma affects all sides making people feel abandoned by the world. The loss of innocence, of youth, a parent, a child, a job, or a marriage make us feel abandoned. In John 14:18 Jesus promises not to abandon his disciples like orphans, but send the Comforter. What have we lost? Is the Holy Spirit teaching us how we should act? Ought we come alongside one another without judgment, giving words of comfort, help and healing?

Advocate for Whom

When we read translations of John 14:16 where the Paraclete is translated as Advocate, we might ask the question for whom is he an Advocate? In court the Advocate helps the accused. We are accused of sin and corruption. The accuser is the devil (Revelation 12:10). Who is the judge? It is Jesus (2 Timothy 4:1) who will judge on that day (Revelation 20:11-12). Is the Spirit pleading our case before a harsh God just begging for his mercy? Or is it the opposite? Has not God already shown his mercy and love for us by the death and resurrection of Jesus? Is not the Holy Spirit an Advocate who is also pleading God’s case to us, that we do not need to face death if we accept the truth of God’s love demonstrated in Easter?

Good News—a Helper

In John 14:16-17 Jesus promised another Helper, a Paraclete. The word Paraclete means a helper in court, a legal advocate who stands up in court and pleads our case before a judge, a comforter, an adviser-helper. This helper is also the Spirit of Truth. He communicates truth. He will reveal the truth about all our sins but also the truth about the penalty which has already been paid by Christ. He is not the spirit of lies and our world is filled with lies. The world cannot accept the truth. The world does not see the truth nor know it. It takes the help of the Holy Spirit living with us and in us to see and know the truth, to face our sins and to acknowledge that we have no other hope of justification before God than Jesus.

Love is a Verb

In John 14:15 when Jesus states that if you love me keep my commandments, the word for love [agapaté] is a verb, not a noun. Such love is doing something not just a warm feeling inside. In fact if we love Jesus it is obvious by our doing, our keeping of his commandments. It is a mistake to think that means the Old Testament commandments. Many times Jesus said things like you have heard that it was said of old, but I say to you and he gave a new instruction. For instance, the woman caught in adultery was not stoned, but shown mercy. Jesus also did not contradict the Father in these things, but said that these new instructions were from the Father. We are to keep, watch over or hold firmly to these new commandments of Jesus.

Lame Ducks

Missionary Methods

Every pastor or missionary eventually becomes a lame duck. The person who worked among the people of God moves on. The book Missionary Methods Saint Paul’s or Ours, (Roland Allen, Eerdmans, 1962) is a masterpiece on missionary work. In a sense, every pastorate is a missionary endeavor. The author challenges missionaries to get in, get on and for the sake of the developing flock to get out. Leaving is one of the best gifts a missionary or pastor can give a church. Only then will leadership develop to its fullest potential. It is with that thought in mind that a pastor leaves a much loved flock behind. Jesus said that he would not leave his disciples orphaned (John 14:15-21). And so it is as a missionary or pastor departs. The Holy Spirit remains behind to complete a maturing work.

You the Orphan

Vinegar Boy

Every one of us will become an orphan, unless we die before our parents. I remember fondly the daily conversations with my mother after school. In later years my father and I delighted in lengthy conversations about life. His wisdom was always gentle but firm in the grace that he had taken a lifetime to learn. He had grown to become very much like my grandmother, emphasizing not being critical of others, but realizing that we all make mistakes and are obligated to show others grace. Many of us can relate to the hole that the absence of such conversations leaves. When Jesus left for heaven, his disciples felt abandoned. Yet he said that he would not leave his disciples orphaned (John 14:15-21). He will return. Therein also lies the best hope of seeing our dearly departed ones again.