CWA- Gospel Lesson - Easter 6 - Kieth Bernard Kuschel

John 14: 15-21

15 “If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.”

Somebody tells us to do something. Why do it?

IA1 Who was Jesus? A prophet. A Rabbi. A miracle worker. From God. Son of God. Promised One. The disciples were comfortable with those answers. So, were most of the people at Jesus’ time.

2 But when Jesus said, (John 10:30) “I and the Father are one,” the crowds (31) “picked up stones to stone him........(33) for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.” When He claimed to be God, (John 6:66) many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.” When He claimed to be God, His disciples asked dumb questions like, (John 14:5) “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

B1 In the verses before us today Jesus was preparing His disciples for the time that He would no longer be there among them. 19 “Before long, the world will not see me any more.” He physically left this earth. With our physical, worldly eyes we cannot see Him.

2 But Jesus also says, “18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you........19, you will see me............20 you are in me, and I am in you.” Although Jesus isn’t here physically, He is among us and in us. We know He is here because of His promise. We see Him with the eyes of faith.

3 Why can Jesus make such a claim that He is with us even though we can’t see Him with our physical eyes Only a supernatural, spiritual being can be with us and within us, but not physically. That is what Jesus is claiming for Himself with these words, 20 I am in my Father.

C1 Who is Jesus? He is the Savior. Sounds right, but sometimes people mean Jesus shows us how to live to save ourselves. Then "Savior" is wrong. He is the Son of God. Sounds right, but sometimes people mean Jesus is a son of God just as we are sons and daughters of God. Then "son of God" is wrong.

2 Who is Jesus? “I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, is my LORD.” Jesus has a Father-Son relationship with another member of the Triune God. He always had it. Will always have it. That’s who Jesus is.

D1 Next question. Why do we obey Jesus’ commands? Jesus took my sins off me and put them on Himself. He suffered the death and hell I deserve to rescue me from those punishments. He lived and never sinned so He could give me His holiness. He rose from the dead so I might live forever. I obey Jesus’ commands to say, “Thank You” to Him for all that only He, because He is God, has done for me.

2 Why do we obey Jesus’ commands? There is another answer.

Because Jesus has told us to. Lots of people tell us what to do. But Jesus is God. That means His orders take on special significance. Because He is God, He knows what is best for us. That is why He gives us orders. Because He is God, He knows what is best for our world. That is why He gives us orders. We trust that what He tells us to do is best for us because He is God. We do what He tells us to do because we realize who He is.

IIA1 When you look around and see the kind of things people in our world do, are they generally doing what Jesus commands? No. That shouldn’t surprise us. Jesus says, 16 “The world cannot accept this Counselor(the Spirit of truth), because it neither sees him nor knows him.” Since the Holy Spirit is the One who causes people to do what Jesus commands, it is impossible to do what Jesus commands if people don’t acknowledge or know the Holy Spirit.

2 Why? Because all of us on our own are sinners. When we think on our own, our thoughts are the opposite of God’s thoughts. When we act out what comes into our minds, we break God’s laws. If confronted with the differences between what we think and do and what God commands, we insist that we are right and God is wrong.

B1 Did you notice what Jesus called the Holy Spirit? Counselor. The word is used for anybody who stands with us. Mediator, Helper, Adviser. Defense lawyer.

2 The Holy Spirit can do that perfectly because He is the Spirit of truth. The advice He gives us is always going to be the correct advice because it is the truth. The advice He gives us is always going to be the correct advice because He is God and not affected by the confusion caused by the human view of things. Because we never know if the advice coming to us from the world and from our sinful selves is any good, isn’t it comforting to know that we can always rely on the advice coming from the Spirit of Truth.

3 Can the Holy Spirit be effective in our lives? Jesus says He can. Why? 17 “he lives with you and will be in you.” We are not alone. He is with us and in us. He doesn’t let our sinful self control our brain waves. He doesn’t let the world control the air waves. He is our Helper, Defender, Adviser. And it is an inside job.

C1 Jesus says, 15 “you will do what I command.” One of His commands is - use my Word. Use it at worship. Use it in Bible class. Use it to study for Catechism class. Use it for personal reading. Use it for family devotions. Use it by watching it on computer and bigger screens. Use it by listening to it from electronic media. Doesn’t matter how. Just use it.

2 Why does Jesus command us to “not despise preaching and His Word but regard it as holy and gladly hear and learn it”? Because He loves us. He wants to forgive our sins. He wants to cover us with His holiness. He wants to keep us in His family. Those gifts are given to us through the work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit works through the Word. So, Jesus gives us a command that says, “Use My Word.”

3 What happens when the Holy Spirit leads us to follow Jesus’ command to use His Word? We get better and better at following Jesus’ commands. We obey Jesus’ commands because we get help from the Holy Spirit. 4

IIIA1 Jesus has some other commands. One is “Don’t steal.” My sinful self says: “Grab everything you can get. Enjoy yourself. Other people don’t matter. I can use my stuff any way I want to. Nobody has the right to tell me how to use my stuff.”

2 There are some practical reasons for following Jesus’ command. If we take other people’s stuff, how are they going to take care of themselves? If we use all our stuff selfishly, who will take care of those dependent on us and how will the gospel get proclaimed?

3 There is another reason we obey the seventh commandment. Jesus says, (15) “If you love me, you will do what I command.” Jesus is the most important person in our lives. Because He is so valuable to us, we don’t want to mess up our relationship with Him. So with the Holy Spirit’s help we keep the seventh commandment.

B1 Another command is, “Don’t murder.” The world says: “Life isn’t worth much. It all came out of the primeval ooze anyway. So, you can stop it before it comes out of the womb, when it gets old and nonfunctional, if someone gets in your way, or makes you upset.”

2 There are some practical reasons for following Jesus’ command. If you are in constant danger of losing your life, you can’t feel safe, lead a productive life or enjoy life.

3 There is another reason we obey the fifth commandment. 21Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. Jesus is the most important person in our lives.

Because He is so valuable to us, we don’t want to mess up our relationship with Him. So with the Holy Spirit’s help we keep the fifth commandment.

C1 Another command is, “Among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality.”(Eph 5:3) The sinful self says: “Gratify yourself. Use other people to achieve climax for yourself. This is entertainment. There are no long term consequences.”

2 There are some practical reasons for following Jesus’ command. If there is no committed relationship, who will nurture any children produced? How can a human being relate to others after being emotionally and psychologically damaged by one “short term-no strings attached” relationship after the next?

3 There is another reason we obey the sixth commandment. 21 He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.” Jesus is the most important person in our lives. Because He is so valuable to us, we don’t want to mess up our relationship with Him. So with the Holy Spirit’s help we keep the sixth commandment.

Conc: LORD JESUS, thank You for Your promise: “You will do what I command.” Through Your Word please keep reminding us whoYou are, and sending the Holy Spirit so we keep loving You and doing what You command.