Our Hearts – God’s Divine Instrument

 

 

In the previous reflection I asked, “What cord did Jesus strike in the hearts of the disciples to elicit, ‘Now You are speaking plainly…now we know’”?

 

I want to share with you my sense of the answer to that question. There are likely other perspectives, other facets, other thoughts; I can only pass along to you my own sense; that which I have touched, heard, seen, and that in which I live (1 John 1:1 – 4). I am told that I am now old, and being old in Christ I am looking forward to that City, and in looking forward to that City I will die either as a fool, or I will go Home to that for which I was redeemed. The response of the disciples is the essence of my life in Christ, it is indicative of my hope and trust in Him, it is a foretaste of eternal glory.

 

For when Jesus speaks of coming forth from the Father into the world, and then leaving the world and going to the Father, He strikes a cord in the heart of the disciples; a cord of identity, a cord of calling and purpose, a cord of destiny.

 

In the previous reflection I listed moments in the Gospel of John in which the disciples recognized the numinous in Jesus, the Divine, the Other, they identified with Him in those moments, those moments and glimpses of glory pulled them into Jesus.

 

We see these moments in the Gospels along the sea of Galilee when Jesus calls Peter, Andrew, James, and John to follow Him. We cannot explain or understand their response other than there was something inside them that responded to the heart of Jesus Christ; as is written in the Psalms, “Deep calls unto deep.”

 

We see such a moment when Matthew leaves tax collecting, makes restitution where needed, and follows Jesus. We witness a deepening moment when Peter confesses, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”

 

There is a sense in which our lives in Christ are an unfolding of the dawn and the rising of the morning star (2 Peter 1:19), our “paths shining brighter and brighter until the full day” (Pro. 4:18), in a continual transformation into His image as we become who we truly are in Christ Jesus (2 Cor. 3:17 – 18; 1 John 3:1 – 3).

 

Jesus came to bring us home to the Father. He came to declare the Father’s Name to His brothers and sisters (Hebrews 2:11 – 13).  O dear friends, when we hear the Father’s Name spoken to us, when our ears are opened, when our hearts, which have lain dormant, begin to come alive in response to the Voice of our Elder Brother, then our pilgrimage truly begins, then we head toward Home, Home in Jesus, Home in the Father, Home in the Holy Spirit, Home with one another.

 

Our hearts are God’s Divine instrument. Upon them God plays His song of love and compassion and tender mercies. Upon them God plays His song of sonship, of bringing His sons and daughters to glory (Hebrews 2:10 – 11).

 

As the Holy Spirit births the dawn within us, our hearts respond to the light which unveils, “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified” (Ro. 8:29 – 30).

 

The musical score is placed before us and we begin to hear the music, what was once simply notes on paper, comes to life as we take our place both as instruments and as musicians in our Father’s grand massed orchestra.

 

“Just as He chose us in Him [Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him” (Eph. 1:4).

 

“To those who reside as aliens…according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood” (1 Peter 1:1 – 2).

 

There is only one way to encounter these passages, and that is to play the music, to enter into the music, to absorb the music, to allow the Holy Spirit to tune our hearts to the key of Jesus and for our hearts to play and sing to the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world…for whom? Why for you. Why for me. Why for us.

 

When Jesus says, “I came forth from the Father into the world; I am leaving the world again and going to the Father,” the context of the Gospel of John and the immediate context of the Upper Room, informs Jesus’ words thusly:

 

“I came forth from the Father into the world for you; I am leaving the world again and bringing you back to the Father. I will go ahead of you, yet I will not leave you. I will go ahead of you, yet we will walk this road together. This is more than My return, this is our Return.”

 

This is what we see in John chapters 13 – 16, this is what we will see and experience in the Holy of Holies of John 17. This is what Jesus affirms on Easter with, “I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God” (20:17).

 

O dear, dear friends, passages such as Romans 8:28 – 39 are given to us to bring us Home, to transport us into the bosom and heart of the Lamb, into the arms of our Good Shepherd. How foolish we are when we insist on pulling down the glory of God to earth, when the Holy Spirit is saying over and over again, “Come up. Come up. Come up” (Rev. 4:1). Our blessings are in the heavenly places (Eph. 1:3) in Christ, in Christ, always in Christ.

 

My sense is that when the disciples heard Jesus say, “I came forth from the Father and have come into the world; I am leaving the world again and going to the Father,” that their hearts identified with those words, that calling, that destiny. They may not have understood what Jesus was saying, and indeed they still had much to learn, much of which would soon come into focus; just as it is with us – or at least with me.

 

When they heard these words they said in their hearts, “Me too. Us too. Yes, yes – we are going back to our Father with You.” What had been an enigma is now being made clear, what was once perplexing language, is now plain.

 

We are not accidents looking for a place to happen. We are the sons and daughters of the Living God and heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:15 – 17; Gal. 4:1 – 7).

 

This is our identity, this is our destiny. I am told I am old, and for sure closer to Home than I was before. But I’ll tell you a little secret, when that glorious Day of transition comes and I pass through that portal into the Presence of the Lamb and my fellow pilgrims…I will say, “Why, I’m not old at all. Life is just Beginning.”

A Strange Recognition

 

 

In John 16:25 Jesus says, “An hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language.”

 

Then in 16:28 He says, “I came forth from the Father and have come into the world; I am leaving the world again and going to the Father.” As we ponder these words, let’s keep in mind how our journey in the Upper Room began:

 

“Jesus knowing that He would depart out of this world to the Father…knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God” (see John 13:1 – 4).

 

The theme of Jesus coming from the Father and going to the Father will continue into John Chapter 17 and beyond. It is a theme that begins in John Chapter One and continues throughout the Gospel, evoking perplexity and derision from many, and yet drawing His brothers and sisters to Him, into Him, and into that same glorious and loving journey to the Father. As you read the Gospel of John look for the statements and allusions to coming from the Father and returning to the Father. What do you see?

 

This was Jesus’ Way of Life in the Incarnation, it is to be our Way of Life as well as we abide in Him. We are to be ever and always leaving the world and going to the Father; as we follow the Lamb wherever He goes the Father’s Name is written in our hearts and minds (Rev. 14:1 – 5); our union with the Trinity (and with one another) is inexpressible.  

 

But back to our passage, when Jesus makes the statement, “I came forth from the Father and have come into the world; I am leaving the world again and going to the Father,” what reaction might we expect from the disciples? What might our reaction have been? If we place ourselves in the Upper Room, if we imagine ourselves as having been with Jesus for 3 years, if we think about the events of Holy Week that have led to the Upper Room, if we review what Jesus has said in John chapters 13 – 16, if we consider all these things, what might our reaction have been?

 

Would these words of Jesus have been enigmatic to us? That is, would they have been a puzzle, yet another statement of Jesus’ for us to wrestle with in order to understand it?

 

Keep in mind that Thomas had said, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?” (14:5).

 

Judas (not Iscariot) had asked, “Lord, what then has happened that You are going to disclose Yourself to us and not to the world?” (14:22).

 

Recall that earlier in Chapter 16 the disciples were asking, “What is this thing He is telling us, ‘A little while and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’; and, ‘because I go to the Father’? What is this that He says, ‘A little while’? We do not know what He is talking about” (16:17 – 18).

 

Throughout the Upper Room there has been perplexity among the disciples over what Jesus is saying about going to the Father, why should we not expect continued puzzlement over, “I came forth from the Father and have come into the world; I am leaving the world again and going to the Father”?

 

However, instead of more questions, the disciples respond with, “Lo, now You are speaking plainly and are not using a figure of speech. Now we know that You know all things, and have no need for anyone to question You; by this we believe that You came from God” (16:29 – 30).  

 

What has happened between 16:17 and 16:29? What was enigmatic a few moments ago has now become clear. What was once a figure of speech is no longer a figure of speech. The “hour” of 16:25 has arrived or at least is dawning. Jesus is saying the same things, but they are hearing Him in a new way.

 

May I gently say, that when we want God and others to dumb down His revelation of Himself, when we want His Word simplified for our microwave attention spans and our congregations that are accustomed to hearing messages centered on their needs and desires and whims, that we forego the invitation and opportunity to be captured by the glory of God in Jesus Christ. How often I have heard people say in small groups, “Why doesn’t God just say what He means?”

 

Our Father wants us to know Him, He wants relationship, He is not interested in us passing some kind of learning standards exam; Jesus loves us enough to work with us, to bring us along, to challenge us, to be patient with us…and we want nothing of it. We want some kind of AI assistant to give us the answers in lieu of relationship. Sometimes we can be fools.

 

For sure the disciples have had glimpses of recognition over the years.

 

Andrew followed Jesus, bringing his brother Peter with him (1:40 – 41).

 

Philip followed Jesus, bringing Nathanael with him (1:45).

 

Nathanael was given a promise of revelation to come (1:50 – 51).

 

The disciples received a glimpse of His glory at Cana (2:11).

 

The disciples were taken aback when they saw Him with the Samaritan woman, this was beyond their understanding, in one sense it was out of their world (4:27).

 

What were they thinking when He spoke of the Father in 5:18 – 47, even as the religious leaders sought to kill Him?

 

What were they thinking when He fed the multitudes, walked on the water, and spoke of Himself as the Bread of Life in John Chapter 6?

 

Even if the disciples did not understand all that was happening in John Chapter 6, they knew enough deep inside them to say, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life” (6:68).

 

What did the disciples think when Jesus says, “I am the light of the world” (8:12)?

 

There is a steady and often enigmatic progression of unveiling in the Gospel of John; on the night of His betrayal, in the Upper Room, Jesus draws His disciples deeper into the mystery of Divine koinonia, the mystery of the Trinity, the mystery of knowing Him, the mystery of becoming one in Him, of knowing a unity as His People in the Trinity.

 

If we will submit to Him, bow to Him, abide in Him, and trust Him…we will begin to hear Him and see Him; He will say the same things but we will actually hear what He is saying, we will see what He is saying, we will become what He is saying. We will say, “Wow, now You are speaking plainly.”

 

How we forget, if we have ever known, that the “natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them” (1 Cor. 2:14).

 

What cord did Jesus strike in the hearts of the disciples to elicit, “Now You are speaking plainly…now we know”?

 

What do you think?

 

Do these words of Jesus strike a cord in your own heart?