Friday after Holy Trinity - Devotion in Exile

Lection for Friday after Holy Trinity 
Proverbs 10:1-23      John 14:1-17

Jesus says, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”

He does not say, “If you love Me, you will try to keep My commandments.”

He does not say, “If you love Me, you will make up your own commandments.”

He does not say, “If you love Me, as times change and evolve, so will My commandments – keep whatever is applicable for you in your time and age.” (And let’s face it, as God who knew all things, the Father did know that some things would change, and He could have forewarned us that His will about such things was going to change… BUT, it is strange that He didn’t… Or it isn’t strange at all, because His will remains the same.)

He does not say, “If you love me, you will understand what I truly mean, even though I said something that was very clearly able to be understood as I said it – without some hidden meaning you had to decipher.”

Jesus commandments are after all, the same ones that He spoke to Moses as the pre-incarnate Word of God.

But, is that what Jesus is talking about here?

While it appears so, notice that His statement truly does not stand alone. And if you could read this in the original Greek, it does not appear to stand alone like it does in our English text.

This one phrase of Jesus comes in between His statements about His being in the Father, the Father is in Him, that the works He does are the Father’s works. He continues explaining that the works He does, those who believe in Him will do. Just before the words I have chosen to consider for our meditation, Jesus says, “If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.”

AND then He says, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments… but our text rightly does not close this off with quotation marks… for He continues, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.”

Yes, you are to do good works! You are to keep the commandments! God’s Law is eternal, for it is holy, right, and good! However, you and I are born in disobedient flesh, the image of our father. We are, by nature, rotten from the core. Yes, you read that correctly, rotten FROM the core – by nature sinful and unclean. We are conceived in iniquity and born in sin, and according to our flesh that is what we bring forth. How can we do what our flesh finds impossible to do?

Christ departs however in order to send another Helper to be with us forever. That Helper brings us to believe and trust in the work of Christ. He moves in us and through us, and therefore we do love Christ and keep His commandments. We do rejoice in keeping the Law, for that which our flesh cannot do, the Spirit of God does in us.

In the Spirit, there are also some new commandments that which Christ gives, commandments based upon the Father’s work in and through Him, that we rejoice in keeping. These commandments have to do with what Christ accomplished upon the cross, beginning a new reality within us that will come to completion on the day of our resurrection – for on that day will gladly and willfully keep ALL of the Law of God – it will be our joy to do so.

Until that day, loving Christ we keep His commandments.

Come to me all you who are weary and I will give you rest.

Take eat; this IS my body, given for you!

Take drink; this cup IS the new testament in My blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.

Whosoever sins you forgive, they are forgiven them.

As we keep these commandments by which we receive the very forgiveness Christ purchased, putting to death the sinful flesh, and being raised to new life – we do live in the love of Christ. Living in the love of Christ, we do keep His commandments. Yes, albeit imperfectly until that last day. But in Christ, it is our joy to do so. It is our joy to love God and our neighbor.

Let us pray:     Heavenly Father, as You have given us Your Son, strengthen us by Your Spirit according to Your will, both in life and in death, in the midst of both good and evil things, that our own wills may be crucified daily and sacrificed to Your good and gracious will, that we may do Your will. Amen.