A Place for You
For Meditation
This week we kick off a new sermon series called Always With You, a study of John chapters 14-17. These chapters are considered some of the most beloved chapters in the Bible. John gives us a glimpse into the final words of Jesus to his disciples before his death and resurrection, as he prepares them to follow Jesus when Jesus isn’t there. The disciples are full of worry and fear as Jesus tells them about his impending departure. But shockingly, Jesus assures them that it is better for them if he leaves, because in the words of William Temple, “his going is itself a coming.”
Because of the gift of his Spirit, Jesus will be always with them. Through the Spirit, he intensifies his accessibility and presence for his followers, and gives us the secret of an abundant, fruitful life. That secret is life with the ascended Jesus, in communion with the Spirit. Because Jesus is risen and gives us the gift of his Spirit, he is always with us.
John 14:1–4
1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”