May 25, 2025 Sixth Sunday of Easter The text is John 14:23-29.

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 ²³ Jesus answered [Judas (not Iscariot),] “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. ²⁴ Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me.
  ²⁵ “I have said these things to you while I am still with you. ²⁶ But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. ²⁷ Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. ²⁸ You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. ²⁹ And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe.”

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May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to You, El Adonai, my rock and my Redeemer.

Grace, mercy, and peace are yours from God the Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen.

This morning’s gospel reading from John begins with Jesus answering a question that was posed to him by one of his disciples; Judas, but not Iscariot, the one who will betray him.  Fair enough, but what has been happening before all this; why is Jesus speaking about the Father coming to live among the disciples, the Advocate being sent to teach them, and Jesus’ peace for troubled hearts?  We’ll need to step back a few verses in John’s gospel and take a look at what questions have already been asked of Jesus, in order that we might better understand what it is he telling them this morning. 

Well, this today’s reading is a continuation of what has been happening as Jesus and his disciples are gathered together at the Last Supper.

And after Jesus had washed the disciples’ feet and told them that where he was going, they could not come, he gave them the new commandment to “love one another”.  Peter responds to Jesus’ statement that he is going away from them by asking him where he is going.  Jesus replies with the promise that in the Father’s house there are many rooms, and that Jesus goes to prepare a place for each of his followers.  He then proclaims that they know where he is going, to which Thomas replies, “we do not know where you are going, how can we know the way”.  And in one of the most significant proclamations found in Scripture Jesus says, “I am the Way, and the truth, and the life”.  Even after all this, now Phillip speaks up asking, “show us the Father and we will be satisfied”.  Jesus announces that they have seen the Father because they have seen Jesus, for God lives within Jesus.

And as we join Jesus and the disciples this morning, he has just replied to the question that Judas has asked; “how will you reveal yourself to us?”  And in just a few short verses, Jesus offers a great deal of confirmation and comfort.  When Jesus has departed this earth, God the Father will love the disciples (and all who believe in Christ) and will come to dwell among them.  He assures them that the words Jesus has spoken when he was among them come directly from God.  He will ask God to send the Advocate, the Holy Spirit to be with the disciples, to continue to teach them and remind them of all that Jesus has said and done.  Jesus reassures them, telling them not to fear because he has blessed them with his peace.  And finally, that they should rejoice that Jesus is returning to heaven to be with God.

It's quite obvious that the disciples are afraid, confused, and feeling lost, now that Jesus has told them all that is about to happen to him.  And the disciples’ apprehension is evident by all the questions they have posed to Jesus; they are seeking reassurance that they will not be left abandoned when he departs from them.  Don’t forget that they were following him because they anticipated that he was the long-awaited Messiah, who would come to free the Jewish people from Roman oppression.  All this talk about betrayal, arrest, torture, and execution has left them reeling; this isn’t the way things were supposed to turn out.  What would happen to them once Jesus is no longer with them?  Who will help them once he leaves?  When Jesus returns to heaven to be with God, who will come to be with them, the ones who remain on the earth?

These are valid questions, for the disciples are legitimately fearful that they will be abandoned when Jesus leaves them; they will be forgotten once their Lord is no longer with them.  He has been their teacher, their guide, their very reason to be.  They have left their lives, their families, their vocations behind in order to follow this Jesus, the One whom they acknowledge to be the very Son of God!  And he is acutely aware of their worry and distress at the thought of being left behind.  We have heard all the reassurances Jesus has given his followers that they will not be left to fend for themselves when he has departed from them.  And these words of assurance and comfort are not the last ones Jesus speaks to his followers.  His intention is for them, and us to know that they, and we are not left alone now that Jesus has departed from them, and from us.

He has promised all who follow him his Word, his peace, and the presence of the Holy Spirit.  The Word of Christ is all that he has taught and all that he has done.  His peace is the comfort that only he can bless the world with, a peace that comes from belief in him for who and what he is.  Which brings us to just how Word and peace are bestowed upon all who profess faith in Jesus Christ, the Anointed One, the Son of God.  He has asked the Father to send the Holy Spirit to be with those whom Jesus is no longer abiding with in his earthly incarnation.  And through this Spirit Jesus will remain living within all who believe in him.  He has told Thomas and the others that there are many “dwelling places” in God’s house and that one will be prepared for all who profess Jesus as Savior.  The Greek used by John for dwelling is “meno”.  When Jesus declares that the Father “dwells” in him, John tells us that this abiding within Jesus is described by this same word, “meno”.  Jesus has also assured the disciples that he and God will come to them and “make their home” with them; again, the Greek word for ‘make their home’ is Meno”. And when Jesus promises them, and us that the Holy Spirit will “abide” in those to whom he will be sent; you guessed it; once again, “meno”.

Jesus has described the connection between the faithful being granted a dwelling in heaven with he and the Father when their time comes to depart the earth, and also that until then, God and Jesus will dwell within each of them.  We will come to dwell with God and Christ, in one of the many rooms prepared for us in Paradise; and in the meantime, Jesus and God will make their home in us.  This is what Jesus means when he comforts the disciples, “do not let your hearts be troubled.”

All the questions; and just one answer.  “Where are you going?”  “How can we go there with you?”  “What is the way to the place where you will be?”  “Can you please reveal God to us?”  Jesus assures us all that we are provided for by the Holy Spirit that lives, abides, dwells, “meno” within each of us.  We haven’t been left alone, we are not abandoned, we have not been forgotten; the very same presence of Christ when he walked the earth is alive, dwelling within us.    

The uniquely Lutheran premise of the Kingdom of Heaven is that it exists in two aspects; the “not yet” and the “already here”.  And this is most significantly expressed by the concept that Christians anticipate entering the heavenly kingdom at some point, and that in the here and now, the kingdom already exists within them.  We are comforted, knowing that our God and our Savior dwell within us, always bestowing peace and reassurance in the “already here” and providing hope in preparation for the “not yet”.  So, let us find comfort and solace in the knowledge that the Holy Spirit dwells within us and that blessed with the Word and peace of Christ, that we should never let our hearts be troubled.     

Will you pray with me?  Good, and gracious, and holy God, as we hope for eternity, dwelling in the heavenly places with you and Jesus, we seek to feel you near, in the form of the Holy Spirit, dwelling within our hearts.  And we pray these things in the name of Jesus Christ, the One whose peace calms our troubled hearts.  Amen.

God is Good, all the time.  All the time, God is Good.  Amen.