Posts with important questions and answers

Whom are you seeking? John 18:4,7

Jesus asked this question twice to the band of soldiers, numbering as many as six hundred, and temple police that Judas led to the Garden. The group answered, "Jesus of Nazareth."

When Jesus replied "I am He," the entire group fell backward on the ground. In the English translation, the word "He" is supplied by the translators. What Jesus said was that He is the God who spoke to Moses out of the burning bush. He is Jehovah. Are you coming to arrest the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? Think about this…

A disillusioned Judas was seeking a fraud, a man who passed himself off as the coming king, who turned out to be just talk. The Roman soldiers sought a man likely to incite riot and rebellion. The temple police sought the greatest threat to Judaism since its inception.

Jesus asked them again, and they gave the same answer. He replied (without knocking them down this time), "I already told you, I am God. If you want Me, if you really want to go through with this, then let these other guys go."

When you come face to face with Jesus, whom are you seeking?

• A healer
• A problem solver
• A philosopher
• A prophet
• A teacher
• A rabble-rouser
• A disappointment
• The Savior
• The Redeemer
• Your Lord

Who is He?
The thing is, we don't have to choose just one. Our ideas – or limitations – about Jesus Christ don't change the reality of who He is. He is the sovereign Lord, the Creator God, the Merciful Savior and Gracious Redeemer. He is all these and more. He is unlimited in power, presence and knowledge. Is He the one you're seeking?

Do you now believe? John 16:31
 

Do You Get It?

Finally! Right before they were ready to leave the Upper Room, the disciples "got" it. In Jesus' perfect timing, not a moment too soon or too late, the dots connected for His followers. They didn't know it all and they understood even less, but they realized HE knew it all. HE understood it all.

A Final Prayer
In John chapter 17, Jesus prays for Himself, for His disciples and for us.

Let's Do This
Then Jesus Christ, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, walked out to Gethsemane to change eternity.
 

Now What?
It's a great story. A climactic moment in Jesus' ministry. You can almost hear the music swelling in the background. But what does that mean for us?

• We don't have to know and understand everything. We have to believe that Jesus does.

• He intercedes for us, praying that we can accomplish what we need to

• Our eternity has been changed through Christ.

Do you believe that? Trained? Prayed up? All right, then. Let's do this!

 

Are you inquiring among yourselves about what I said? John 16:19

 

Mere hours before Jesus' arrest, He gave the disciples one last round of heavy teaching, but not all of it registered. Rather than ask Him, they tried to figure it out for themselves. After all, they didn't want to look stupid…

 

Don't we do the same thing? Don't we ask for advice from everybody around before we ask God and search out His answer? Aren't we positive we can figure things out if we just have a little more time?

 

Two simple truths stand out in this short exchange:

 

1.  Jesus knows our questions. 

In John 16:19, Jesus quotes the very question the disciples were asking among themselves. He knows the deep issues on our hearts, and He knows the foolish lengths we go to in order to hide our confusion. And He knows why we do that- pride, doubt, unbelief…

 

2.  Jesus has the answers.

He is the source, the author of all truth. He has perfect knowledge and understanding and He knows the possibilities and outcomes for each situation we come up against.

 

The catch

 In today's conversation with His disciples, He answered their question in straightforward, plain language. The disciples even remarked, "Now He's talking plainly!"

He doesn't always do that. Sometimes… His answer is "trust Me". 

Jesus promises to provide our every need, not our every want. He will always supply the answers we need. 

 

At Christmas, we are willing to wait to find out what's in those packages under the tree because we trust that they are good, and provided by someone who loves us. It's the same way with the answers God withholds for a time. He loves us, the answers are for our good, but it's not yet time.

Even so, He never says to stop asking.

 

Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me? John 14:9

Philip asked for Jesus to show them the Father. After a discussion of death, and denial and departing, (in John 13) Philip needed a little reassurance from Christ. Just show us the Father. Give us some proof that this is the real deal.

We've talked about doubt and unbelief as we've looked at Jesus' questions. Philip taps into another issue that plagues us as believers- the stall tactic. Just a few chapters back, Jesus plainly says He and the Father are one. Philip knew this. But knowing it, grasping it, required action, and Philip was NOT ready for that just yet. So he stalled.

I have already answered that question
There is no more truth. There are no more answers. Jesus Christ is God, complete and undiluted. The Creator God of Genesis? Jesus. The thundering God on Sinai? Jesus. The God of wrath and judgment the prophets warned of? Jesus. The Savior and Redeemer? Jesus.

There's work to do
Jesus then follows the questions with a mind-blowing statement. You will do greater (more) works than I did. You guys are going to carry this message all over, to far more people than I got a chance to talk to in My 3 years. My earthly face-to-face ministry is ending. The rest depends on you.

You have all you need
Jesus assures them that anything they need to accomplish this mission is available to them through prayer. In addition, the Holy Spirit (Jesus again) will not just with us, but IN us.

No more stalling.

Will you lay down your life for My sake? John 13:38

Jesus responds to Peter's claims with this question. Will you? Then He exposed Peter by foretelling the disciple's coming denial. Why did He do that? Jesus requires more than being willing to die for Him. He requires death to self. This is where Peter was fooling himself. Over the next few days, Jesus taught him a painful, yet powerful lesson.

Will you …
Surrender is always an act of will. He could make make us, but He doesn't.

Lay down your life…
Give up your right of self-determination
Give up your agenda

For My sake…
You're not throwing your life away, you're offering it as an act of worship
Is Christ worth it?
Does He deserve all that we are, all that we have?

He asks, "Will you give up this pretense of following Me?"

Do you know what I have done to you? John 13:12

Jesus had just washed the disciples' feet and He was preparing to give them a lesson on servanthood and humility. But rather than focus on service and the example Jesus set for us, I want to look at some very encouraging truths in this one simple question.

Jesus knows we don't get it.
We often fake and pretend like we understand what God is doing. We don't want to look like the only one who doesn't "get" it, after all. Truth is, we know and understand very little, and then it's usually because God explained it to us. Which brings me to my next point-

Sometimes He explains it all.
In this passage, He walks the disciples through what He did, why He did it, and what they should do now. Awesome!

We are worth teaching.
Jesus Christ, infinite Savior and God of the universe, took His time, used His energy to instill a truth in this group of men. He has deemed us worthy of receiving His amazing truth.

He expects us to put the lesson into practice.
Jesus never wastes His effort. Once He's taught us, and we get it, we need to get busy.