A new relationship with God

Friday January 28, 2022

A new relationship with God

Jude (not the Iscariot) said to him : Lord, how is it that you are going to manifest yourself to us and not to the world ? Jesus answered him : If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him ; we will come to him and make our home with him. John 14:22,23

In this long night which precedes the trial of Jesus and the cross, the dialogue is intense between Jesus and his disciples. Jesus entrusts to them teachings which will make the richness of the epistles, when the Spirit leads their authors to write them.

Jude's question hides a lot of incomprehension, and even disbelief. Behind his question pierces the keen expectation of a glorious earthly kingdom. These men had left everything to follow the Lord Jesus. It would be right, they thought, if things were now publicly manifested and their faith rewarded. They could not allow the Lord to appear to them without also being seen by the Jewish world. This explains Jude's questioning which underlines the misunderstanding of the disciples vis-à-vis the mission of the Lord Jesus.

The disciples were overwhelmed by God's plans. They looked for some glorious and visible manifestation of the presence of the Lord and aspired to be the first subjects of this kingdom so much announced by the prophets. And Jesus speaks to them of interior, spiritual manifestation, of a personal presence with them, in them. He reveals to them a manifestation of God and an intimacy of relationship with Him that surpasses anything they could have anticipated and understood.

In Christ, God dwelt among his people : The Word became flesh and dwelt among us... full of grace and truth (John 1:14). He now dwells, through the Holy Spirit, in every child of God. Today, by faith, the believer can enjoy intimate fellowship with the Father and the Son. By the Spirit, he can know Jesus better today than the disciples could when he was on earth. But, for that, he must love Jesus and keep his word.

It is worth loving and obeying to enjoy this life of intimacy with the Father and the Son : it is this that will nourish our adoration and our praise.

Source (Pleasing the Lord)