Truth and Confusion

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Truth and Confusion

John 14:22-24

22 Judas [Ioudas] saith [lego] unto him [autos] , not [ou] Iscariot [Iskariotes] , Lord [kurios] , how [tis] is it [ginomai] that [hoti] thou wilt [mello] manifest [emphanizo] thyself [seautou] unto us [hemin] , and [kai] not [ouchi] unto the world [kosmos] ?
23 Jesus [Iesous] answered [apokrinomai] and [kai] said [epo] unto him [autos] , If [ean] a man [tis] love [agapao] me [me] , he will keep [tereo] my [mou] words [logos] : and [kai] my [mou] Father [pater] will love [agapao] him [autos] , and [kai] we will come [erchomai] unto [pros] him [autos] , and [kai] make [poieo] our abode [mone] with [para] him [autos] .
24 He that loveth [agapao] me [me] not [me] keepeth [tereo] not [ou] my [mou] sayings [logos] : and [kai] the word [logos] which [hos] ye hear [akouo] is [esti] not [ou] mine [emos] , but [alla] the Father's [pater] which [ho] sent [pempo] me [me] . KJV-Interlinear

22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, 'Lord, what then has happened that You are going to disclose Yourself to us, and not to the world?' 23 Jesus answered and said to him, 'If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and make Our abode with him. 24 'He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father's who sent Me. NASB

Peter, Thomas, Philip, and now Judas (Thaddaeus, of Mark 3:18 and Matt 10:3; also known as Judas brother of James of Luke 6:16 and Acts 1:13), all four of these men demonstrate their lack of understanding as to what Jesus is talking about.

Often times we have something so set in our minds that it blocks the communication path to our understanding. These men have been raised thinking that the Kingdom was going to be established when the Messiah came. They all believe that Jesus is the true Messiah, and in that they are correct, but they did not make the connection to the sacrificial ceremonies and their meaning and relation to the Cross. They still do not understand that in a matter of hours now, Jesus will be sent to the Cross to fulfill His single and only purpose for this first advent, to provide a means of salvation for all of humanity.

Now, Jesus is beginning to describe to them a new age, the Church Age, wherein there will be a few relational changes between God and every believer.

So Jesus states that both the Father and Himself (the Son) will reside (abode) in every believer hence forth. Or after his departure, that is. They have been told that He (Jesus) is going to leave them. He will be gone via the Cross and physical death, then He will return after three days and three nights, Jonah 1:17, Matt. 12:40. By the way, Jesus will be in the grave for three full days and three full nights. So the Cross did not occur on a Friday afternoon. Can't get 72 hours in before Sunday morning sunrise.

Then, Jesus will make intermittent appearances for the next forty days, and finally He will ascend into heaven and there He remains to this day, November, 2003, while the Father prepares (divine plan - game plan) a place for us. During our Church Age, the nations are spreading to the four corners of the world, as is the gospel, and the nations are being set up into their array for the next increment of human history - the Tribulation. Likewise the Royal Family is being assembled during our dispensation.

While Jesus is not here physically, He is here via the written word, and is in each one of us as is the Father. Abode means to make a home, a residence, a permanent residence. Throughout the Old Testament, God had no home here on earth. He first stayed in the Tabernacle, then in the Temple, but these were only temporary dwellings. His permanent dwelling is in every believer and that will be forever into eternity. We who are members of the Royal Family are the first to be so privileged to receive God into each of ourselves as His permanent home.

Jesus re-emphasizes that those who reject Him, fail in the first test of love, faith in Christ. No unbeliever will ever receive God into themselves. Second, those believers who do not pursue their spiritual lives, fail in the second and ongoing test of love, and will lose out on the many blessings that are reserved for growing and mature believers. Remember too that the love used here is 'agape' which stands for the principles of and the policies of God which we call love.