We call this week “Holy Week” (although all of life is actually sanctified/holy for His people). During this time, Christians celebrate a Charcuterie Board of major events in the life of Christ. We celebrate His exalted entrance into Jerusalem, aloft a donkey and riding upon palm branches to the chorus of “Hosanna”. We celebrate the final Passover Feast where He transforms the remembrance of death passing over the Israelite families in Egypt into a prophesy of His own death (which He was about to enact), and a remembrance for us, who stand in it’s shadow, that eternal death passes over those who trust in His sacrifice! We celebrate how He washed feet, and offered Judas a morsel, telling him to be swift about his betrayal. We celebrate Gethsemane, the sweat drops of Blood, the Messiah’s fiat. And finally, the Grand Finale- His most gruesome death, the blackest Sabbath, and the magnificent victory of His resurrection!
I’ve had weeks that felt like an emotional rollercoaster, but this?!?
I just propped open my Bible to John 14. Yesterday I ended with chapter 13 because I wanted to start chapter 14 fresh. For those who don’t know, John 14-17 is a pretty significant chunk of Scripture. Its Jesus’ final address to His closest people, as well as His’ final prayer for them, as He readies Himself for the cross. It falls immediately after the departure of Judas Iscariot, at the Passover Feast, on this most holy of weeks in our calendar.
Because I’ve often read John 14-17 as kind-of a stand-alone part of Scripture, I’ve missed something significant until today.
I want to point out that this passage begins with “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in Me. In my Father’s house are many rooms…” For many years, and ever increasingly as my time on earth grows longer, have I pondered how this hope of heaven sustains me. I recently heard a clip of Jackie Hill Perry (great writer- look her up) talking about fighting temptation, and she said something to the effect of, “When it is really hard, I just remind myself that I’m not going to be here long.” Heaven is vastly longer, absolutely devoid of any suffering, and that hope keeps me charging forward when I want to cave. It also reminds me of the value and purpose of why I’m here on earth (hopefully to bring many others with me, as well as to strengthen the Church to persevere). It gives me a longing for a place infinitely better, when I look around at disease, decay and suffering. I could go on, but it would take too many words, and I want to show you what I saw today…
Look back at the end of Chapter 13. Jesus has just told Peter that he would deny Him three times. I sometimes wonder how much Peter questioned himself, condemned himself, or wondered if he really even belonged to God. This is the man who Jesus once rebuked by saying “Get behind me, satan” (Matthew 16:23). It is also the man to whom He said “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. I say to you, that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and gates of Hades will not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven…” (Matthew 16:18- just before the rebuke).
I feel for Peter. He was a little bit impulsive. I imagine, if he was born in our time, they may have tried to put him on Ritalin. He just didn’t really have a filter. If there’s any disciple I relate to, it’s him. Maybe that’s why I feel for him. Jesus also seemed to want Peter to be humble. If it weren’t for the rebuke and the denial (and even a later rebuke by Paul in Galatians 2), Peter wouldn’t have been a worthy vessel to preach the Gospel with such power, after the resurrection and ascension! It would’ve just gone to his head when he saw 3,000 people get saved in one sermon!
But back to the story, Jesus tells Peter that he is about to betray his Best Friend, but Jesus immediately follows up with a promise of heaven…And this is where I land. If you are in Christ, you have the hope of heaven! We are so easily distracted by everything we see. There is this wild, unshakeable, invisible Kingdom all around us, and the promise that, one day, after we finish out our short sojourn on earth, we will get to see it and live in it! Because our vision is attuned to earth, we are often missing the glories of heavenly delights! In Romans 8, it says “the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace. And later, it says that “the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory that is to be revealed to us.” (that’s heaven, by the way). And again we see, a few verses later, that hope that is seen is not hope… but if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.” Jesus promises heaven to Peter because He knows that in a few hours, when Peter hears that crowing rooster, and knows he just betrayed Jesus, He wants Peter to have the hope that Judas (who also just betrayed Jesus) doesn’t have. He wants Peter to endure, to hold tightly to the promise laid out for him.
Soldier, you may be battle-worn. Some seasons are meant for enduring. The good news is that it’s “the one who endures to the end, he will be saved” (Matthew 24:13). You may feel like a washed-up failure. But the good news is you are purified by the cross, not your perfect score. You may feel like life is agonizing. The good news is, the sufferings here are “not worthy to be compared to the glories that will be revealed to you.” Look at the hope Jesus promised Peter, a sentence after warning him of his impending failure. He promises Peter that, although Peter will never measure up to perfection on his own, that Jesus is still going to prepare a place for him at the Father’s house. So, take courage, soldier. Take courage. For we do not hope in what we see. We hope in the promises of God!
