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We are
coming to the very end of the Son of God’s earthly
life. This is Yeshua’s last meal with His disciples.
Within 24 hours He will be arrested, abandoned
by most of His disciples, given several unfair
trials, tortured and crucified. Yeshua knows all
this, and so, these are His final words, His final
Torah, to His chosen men. One might reasonably
assume that these things are some of the most
important things that Messiah wants those who
follow Him to know.
Just as
He told them many times before, again He tells
His disciples about His coming death and resurrection.
Let’s begin with verse 16: A little while,
and you will no longer see Me; and again a little
while, and you will see Me. But even the men
who knew Him best, even after all His efforts
to communicate the reality and importance of His
coming death and resurrection, still didn’t understand
His words.
Some
of His disciples then said to one another, "What
is this thing He is telling us, ‘A little while,
and you will not see Me; and again a little while,
and you will see Me'; and, 'because I go to the
Father'?" (which Yeshua had said earlier -
see 16:5) So they were saying, "What is this
that He says, 'A little while'? We do not know
what He is talking about." The disciples were
discussing Yeshua’s statements among themselves,
but they were hesitant to ask Yeshua directly
to clarify His statements and help end their confusion.
In spite of this, Yeshua, full of
wisdom and understanding, knew that they wished
to question Him, and He said to them, "Are you
deliberating together about this, that I said,
'A little while, and you will not see Me, and
again a little while, and you will see Me'?
Truly, truly, I say to you with the utmost
sincerity and truthfulness and reliability,
that you will weep and lament - because your
beloved Rabbi, and the One you believe to be the
Messiah of Israel, will die an unfair and terrible
and humiliating death, but the world will rejoice.
There will many people who will be delighted about
My demise; you will grieve, but your grief
will be turned into joy - because the reason
for your grief will be reversed! I won’t remain
dead very long! Your tears may last for the night,
but your joy will come in the morning!
To explain
the situation, Yeshua gives them an analogy:
Whenever a woman is in labor she has pain, because
her hour has come - and the closer the time
comes for her to give birth, for that baby to
come out of her womb and go through the birth
canal, which is quite small compared to the baby,
the woman has pain; but when she gives birth
to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish
because of the joy that a child has been born
into the world. Ladies, is that true?
Therefore
you too have grief now - but the pain will
only be short-lived, and then something fantastic
will happen that will make you hardly think about
the pain that you are about to go through. But
I will see you again - I’m coming back to
life, and your heart will rejoice - you
will experience a new happiness, a joy that will
come from deep within your innermost being - and
no one will take your joy away from you.
No one
will be able to take away your joy, even if they
persecute you, and call you names, and make fun
of you, because your joy doesn’t come from your
circumstances. Your source of happiness comes
from knowing that I the risen Messiah, and I’ve
overcome the ruler of this world, and the powers
of sin and death, and because I am alive forever,
you too will be alive with Me forever, and that’s
what the purpose of life is all about - finding
Me in this life, and then being faithful to Me,
and then living forever with Me in the World to
Come. That’s a successful life! That’s a victorious
life! That’s fulfilling the reason why God placed
you in this world!
Not only
will we have a new source of joy, but Messiah
also promises us a new understanding: In that
day you will not question Me about anything. In
other words, Messiah’s death and resurrection
will help everything make sense. We are able to
understand the Scriptures, and especially the
Messianic prophecies, and the things in the Word
of God that points to Him. The things that Yeshua
said while He was on Earth will make sense.
May I
say that I had this kind of experience in my life?
This new ability to understand reality that helps
everything make sense? When I was nineteen years
old, and started reading the Bible for the first
time on my own, and understood that Yeshua was
the true Messiah, the Son of God and the Savior,
who had come from Heaven to Earth, and died and
rose again, and that the Scriptures, both Old
and New Testaments were the inspired Word of God,
suddenly, all the pieces of the puzzle came together
for me. All my various academic studies - science,
history, art, music, all of the books that I read,
all of the experiences I had, now had a coherent
context. They fit into their proper place and
everything made sense for the first time. I finally
understood the big picture.
What a
great blessing it is to have this new understanding!
How sad it is for those who remain in so much
darkness, who are always learning but unable to
come to the knowledge of the truth, who think
they are wise and understanding, who assume they
know, but they really don’t know.
A new
source of joy that can’t be taken away from us,
a new understanding, that helps the Scriptures
and life to really make sense, and now Messiah
promises the disciples, and us, that we will have
a new ability to pray.
Truly,
truly, I say to you - with the utmost reliability
and truthfulness, so that you can depend on this
truth: if you ask the Father for anything in
My name, He will give it to you. Until now you
have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you
will receive, so that your joy may be made full.
I want you to be full of happiness, and knowing
that God will answer your prayers that are prayed
in My name will add greatly to your happiness.
But, we
must pray to God in the name of Yeshua. So what
does it mean to pray in the name of Yeshua? It
does not mean praying a prayer - maybe a bad prayer
(Lord, help me win the lottery, and I’ll half
to Shema), a prayer against the will of God, and
then tacking on "'in Yeshua's name, amen" at the
end.
When we
pray in the name of Yeshua, it means that we are
praying as He would pray. We are praying for the
things that He thinks are important. How did Yeshua
pray? What did He pray for? In the Sermon on the
Mount He gave us “the Lord’s Prayer” which serves
as a model pray for us to base our prayers on.
That give us a good idea about the things that
we should be praying for.
Our Father
who is in Heaven, sanctified be Your name: We
pray that God Himself would be treated the way
His character and nature deserves - with holy
reverence and fear.
May Your
kingdom come: We pray that God’s rule would be
extended to the lives of everyone who lives.
May Your
will be done, on Earth as it is done in Heaven:
We pray that God’s will would be done among human
being quickly, eagerly, and with joy.
Give us
this day our daily bread: we ask God to provide
for the necessities we need for each day - not
for wealth and luxury.
Forgive
us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against
us: we ask the Lord to make us forgiving and gracious.
Do not
lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil!
We ask His help to resist temptation and overcome
evil.
For Yours
is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever!
We acknowledge that God eternally has the power
and authority to answer our prayers.
In the
very next chapter, John 17 there is a great prayer
there, and we hope to study the Lord’s great prayer
there, and see what concerned Yeshua, and what
He prayed for. In the Garden of Gethsemene He
expressed to God that if it was possible, He would
prefer to avoid the suffering involved with the
redemption of humanity, but then finally prayed,
“Not My will, but Your will, be done.” On the
cross He prayed, “Father forgive them because
they don’t know what they are doing.” Right before
He died He prayed, “Father, into Your hands I
commit My Spirit.”
What characterized
Yeshua’s prayers? Asking for greater material
wealth? Additional creature comforts? A more successful
career? Or did His prayers burn with zeal to
serve God despite all opposition, for the strength
to be faithful and obedient to God, for the grace
to fulfill the mission God gave Him of world redemption?
Didn’t He pray for His disciples to be strengthened
and endure and fulfill their mission?
When we
pray in the name of Yeshua, we are praying in
agreement with His mind and will. When we pray
in the name of Yeshua, it’s as if Yeshua is giving
us “power of attorney”- authority to truly represent
Him before His Father, praying for the things
that He wants to have accomplished. We are praying
as His disciples, His friends, His coworkers,
joined to Him and the Father. We are praying because
of our new position with God and Messiah, praying
with a new measure of spiritual authority.
Let me
say that it is possible to pray in the name of
Yeshua, without adding the words, "in Yeshua’s
name, Amen.” Adding the words, “In Yeshua’s name”
doesn’t give added wight or power to our prayers,
and rarely, if ever, are prayers found in the
New Testament with “in Yeshua’s name” tacked on
at the end.
A new
source of joy, a new understanding of reality,
along with understanding what is really important
to God and Messiah, so that we have a new ability
to pray properly, so that our prayers will be
answered, and now Yeshua promises them a new clarity
of communication: These things I have spoken
to you in figurative language; an hour is coming
when I will no longer speak to you in figurative
language, but will tell you plainly of the Father.
After
Messiah came back to life, He fulfilled this promise.
He spent almost 50 days on Earth with His disciples,
answering their questions, and teaching them plainly
about God, and opening their understanding of
the Scriptures. And we are the direct beneficiaries
of that plain talk about God. These special chosen
men heard this plain truths about God, and then
integrated those truths into their writings, which
form the New Testament Scriptures. So, what we
have here, in these writings, is Messiah’s plain
teaching about God.
In
that day you will ask in My name, and I do not
say to you that I will request of the Father on
your behalf; for the Father Himself loves you
because you have loved Me and have believed that
I came forth from the Father. In other words,
because of Messiah’s mediation for us, His work
of bringing us near to God, we will have a new
relationship with God, characterized by acceptance
and love. That new relationship enables God to
hears and answers our prayers.
But you
must understand that this wonderful new and intimate
relationship with God rests on the foundation
of our love and faith in Messiah Yeshua. We must
love Him - having positive thoughts about Him,
and appreciating Him, and obeying Him, because
true love for Messiah means obeying Him. And we
must believe that He came forth from God - that
He comes from Heaven, with the blessing and the
authority and truthfulness of God Himself.
Now, toward
the very end of His Torah, Yeshua speaks to the
disciples in language that is unmistakably clear:
I came forth from the Father and have come
into the world; I am leaving the world again and
going to the Father. He is about to die, come
back to life, and ascend to Heaven, to be with
His Father, having successfully completed His
mission of human redemption. By speaking in such
a clear way, speaking directly to the confusion
of the disciples, Yeshua reveals that He knows
exactly what they are thinking.
Well,
the disciples are impressed by Yeshua’s ability
to know exactly what they are thinking, even when
they haven’t expressed their thoughts to Him.
His disciples said, "Lo, now You are speaking
plainly and are not using a figure of speech.
Now we know that You know all things, and have
no need for anyone to question You; by this we
believe that You came from God."
The disciples
believe that He came from God. They can say about
Yeshua, “Baruch HaBa b’Shem Adonai - Blessed is
He who comes in the Name of the Lord. Yeshua,
You are the Messiah who comes from God, bearing
His power and authority!”
That’s
good, but there is faith, and there is faith,
and their belief is not yet what is should be,
what it needs to be. If their faith was what is
should be, they would not abandon their Rabbi
to save their own lives within the next 24 hours!
They would protect their King and stand by Him
at all costs.
Yeshua
knew their faith was lacking, as He likewise knows
where our faith is deficient, which will cause
us problems, and so Yeshua answered
them, "Do you now believe? Behold, an hour is
coming, and has already come, for you to be scattered,
each to his own home, and to leave Me alone; and
yet I am not alone, because the Father is with
Me. Yeshua points out to them that they are
weak in faith, and that their lack of faith will
cause them to abandon the One who should never
be abandoned. And, He will do the same thing to
us.
“Loren,
you are not where you should be in your relationship
with Me. You are not as faithful, as dedicated,
as committed, as you need to be. You are not doing
some of the things that you need to be doing.
You need to reassess some things, and return to
your first love for Me, otherwise, I foresee trouble
up ahead. Let’s change things before then. What
do you say?”
Finally,
Yeshua promises them a new peace. These things
I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have
peace. In the world you have tribulation, but
take courage; I have overcome the world."
In this fallen, corrupt world full of sin, we
are going to have troubles. They are unavoidable.
There will be all kinds of troubles that come
our way - big ones and small ones, long ones and
short ones, physical troubles and spiritual troubles;
troubles that we cause by our own mistakes, and
troubles caused by the sins of others.
Some will
have troubles in the work place, because they
refuse to violate God-honoring standards of ethics
and morality. Some will suffer with chronic illnesses
that don’t seem to have an end in sight. Some
are in love with somebody who doesn't love them.
Some will have troubles in their marriages. Some
will have troubles with unemployment and uncertainty
about being able to make ends meet. Almost everyone
will be troubled by the death of somebody they
loved very much. Some parents have a rebellious
child who has brought great suffering into their
family. Some will struggle with sadness, maybe
even depression that they just can't shake. All
of us should suffer for proclaiming our faith
in Yeshua, and being publicly identified with
Him.
In the
world we will have troubles. They can’t be avoided.
But we can endure the troubles if we are in Him,
which means joined to Him, properly connected
and close to Him. We can have peace in spite of
our troubles in this world - a peace that passes
all human understanding, as we understand that
just as Messiah has overcome all His troubles
on Earth, and all the bad things in the world,
things like Satan, sin and death, and is forever
with God, in His glorified and resurrected body,
we will be there too one day! We can have shalom
shalom - perfect, complete peace, in spite of
our troubles, in the midst of our troubles, because
our well-being is not dependent on our situation
in the world, but our union with the Son of God,
which no one can take away!
A new
source of joy, that can’t be taken away, a new
understanding, that helps life to finally make
sense, a new ability to pray, a new relationship
with God, and a new peace - these are Messiah’s
final promises to His people. Are you experiencing
them? I hope so. Maybe the Son of man is speaking
to you right now, pointing out areas that you
need to work on, revealing some things that you
may need to change so that you will be full of
faith and faithfulness? I hope so.
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