John 16: 22-28

John 16: 22-28 So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. “Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.”

In our previous breakfast, we saw Christ's compassion for his dear friends' present situation and for what was coming as He said, Now is your time of grief. Yet He went right on to say, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. In today's verses, He wants them to understand in a deeper and fuller sense some of the wonderful realities of the new day his death and resurrection will achieve for all people. He wants them to have a glimpse of the power and authority they will have through his name. As long as Jesus was with his disciples, He served as an intermediator between them and God. He petitioned the Father not only for their concerns, but other people's as well. He touched, fed, and healed many; He significantly impacted the lives of thousands as He walked this Earth. As John said following his first miracle of turning the water into wine, This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him. (John 2:11) As they trusted him, He taught them about God and the kingdom of Heaven. Nonetheless, for the disciples to know anything about God, they had to ask Jesus; for He alone had been with the Father, knew the Father intimately. Jesus knew He must go away for the fullness of God's plan to come to fruition. Yet He also knew that even his disciples did not understand fully his relationship with God and the need for them to be able to have a new covenant with God, the power that He was going to provide for them through his death and resurrection.

Jesus repeatedly told his followers and the religious leaders who sought to defeat him that he came to do the will of the Father and did only what the Father told him to do, for He and the Father were one. We have heard Jesus say words such as these throughout our study: No one has seen the Father except the one [Jesus] who is from God; only he has seen the Father. (John 6:46) We have also seen Jesus' frustration with his disciples' lack of faith such as when He speaks of going to prepare a place for them and says, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him. Thomas says we don't know where you are going or how to get there, and Philip says if you would just show us the Father then we would believe. Jesus answers: Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, "Show us the Father"? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. (See John 14:1-11) Without the indwelling Holy Spirit, the disciples lacked understanding, lacked the ability to discern righty the words of Jesus even when He was in their presence.

Now when Jesus says, I have been speaking figuratively, [but] a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language, He is telling the disciples that when He returns after the resurrection, they will receive power through the Holy Spirit to petition the Father directly in his name. (See Acts 1:8) They will no longer need to ask Jesus in person for answers to their questions about God and spiritual concerns, for they will have authority in JESUS' NAME to go directly to the Father. The Spirit of God will be the interlocutor, the transmitter of this ongoing conversation between the Father and his beloved adopted children. All of this heavenly conversation will transpire through the name of Jesus, by HIS AUTHORITY, for He has won the victory for us. He alone has given us access to the Father. Jesus is the gate to the Father: there is no other way to right standing and fellowship with God the Father except through faith in Jesus Christ. We enter into that Gate through faith, knowing the blood of Jesus Christ has cleansed us and made us righteous, holy and completely acceptable to God. Our requests are always made in HIS NAME, the precious, lovely name: Jesus.

Christ alone gives us the right to call God our ABBA FATHER. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, Paul writes so beautifully: And being found in appearance as a man, he [Jesus] humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:8-11) No other name, no other philosophy, no other theology, only faith in HIS SON pleases Father God. No other idea gives us access to The Beginning and The End, The Alpha and Omega. If we stray from the sheepfold of the Lamb of God, we lose access to the Father God. As blood-bought born again believers, beloved of God, we come confidently to the throne of grace with all that we are and all that we will ever be, saying, "Here I am, just as I am." We lay our petitions before God through Jesus our Savior, believing in his sacrifice, believing in his Word, giving all to him. He says: I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. As born again believers, we surrender all at the cross, and we rest in God's loving kindness and tender mercy, for we know Jesus said, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. Today, believe in your heart: the Father himself loves ME because I love Jesus and believe that He came from God for ME.

Breakfasts have been slow in coming and we pray our lives settle down a bit now. We appreciate those who have sent us encouraging words. Mom has had a lot of tests and appointments with specialists lately and some hard days as well as good days in the Lord. She is going to have an evaluation at the University of Washington for diagnosis of a possible neuromuscular disease. She rejoices every day in the strength of the Lord and appreciates your love and prayer support. Surely blessing He has blessed us and will bless each of you for your patience and kindness!