John 14:19-20 • Pardon Me

The John Project

With his arrest in Gethsemane now just hours away, John 14:19-20 records Jesus telling his disciples they would soon experience three things. They would see what others don’t, come alive in a new way, and understand a mysterious reality. First, he said people would be divided into two groups: those who see him and those who don’t. He said they would, and the world won’t, clarifying that belief would be the determining factor. But the word translated as 𝘴𝘦𝘦 in this text is not the one for the physical experience of sight as when you just happen to see something. He used the word for the second glance you take to examine more fully something you’ve previously only casually observed. It involves intentionality and investigation. He clearly meant that even after he was no longer physically with them, there would still be much about him to be 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 by those ready to explore with eyes of faith. Like a work of art that continues to reveal more of its beauty, meaning, and impact the longer you carefully consider it, their perspective on his stunning glory would keep expanding the more they gave themselves to pursuing the depth of his majesty. Second, he said that because he lives (present tense) – not had lived (past tense) or would live (future tense) – they could experience life in a way they hadn’t yet. He wanted them to understand that although his imminent crucifixion would result in the death of his body, he would not cease to be. He would continue living the spiritual life that has belonged to him eternally. And once he’d paid the death penalty owed for human sin, in his resurrection, he’d be able to impart that life to them, a life of another kind, his kind. Third, he said that once this happened, they would be able to grasp a truth he’d witnessed them struggle with. He told them, “You will know that I am in my Father.” And the word translated as 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 here is about the kind of understanding that results from relationship rather than instruction. So, what follows is significant because it describes the environment of relationship that would provide the understanding they needed. He said they would finally comprehend the mystery of his unity with the Father because they would be experiencing a similar oneness with himself. They would be in him, and he would be in them. Their lives would be entwined with his in a way similar to his with the Father’s. So, what does all this have to do with us? Well, nothing if these words are just part of the historical record of some of the Lord’s final instructions to his original disciples. But if you believe, as I do, that Jesus was speaking beyond his inner circle gathered there that day to an audience that includes every Jesus-follower, then the impact for you and me is staggering. Please, don’t miss this! He has invited us into a relationship with him that results in our eyes being opened to the deeper dimensions of who he is; in his eternal life transforming our mere material existence; and in an experiential knowledge of what it means to be in him as he is in the Father. And the magnitude of just these three aspects of the grace lavished upon us in Christ so overwhelms my ability to comprehend, I’m…I’m struggling to know how to finish this sentence. So, pardon me while I pause here, slip to my knees before him, and attempt to find some way to give voice to my gratitude.