John 14 (Nineteen) Great in the Lord

²⁸“You heard me say, 'I am going away and I am coming back to you.' If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. ²⁹I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. ³⁰I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me, ³¹but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me. Come now; let us leave (John 14: 28-31).

This must have been a very emotional time for this close company that have spent three years of their lives very intimately together. Jesus was greeting for some reason and at the time the disciples did not quite understand.

In verse 28 Jesus said something very significant. He said: “If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.” For three years the disciples thought of Jesus as being just great. Their colourless, somewhat boring lives had turned about, exploding in vibrant colour and excitement.

For at least four hundred years there had been no prophets and accompanying miracles in Israel and then suddenly that. The best was that they were in the centre of it all. Yes, Jesus was just great. Because Jesus was greater than them, He was always on the giving end and, since He loved them, He gave everything He had. He taught them love, but time was approaching for Him to be on the receiving end - from His Father who is greater than Him. To love is to wish for and give the best to the person you love. You will be glad if something good comes their way. To be selfish is to be unhappy if someone, who meant much to you, has to leave you for their own benefit. This is what Jesus wanted the disciples to understand.

And us, how much do we give for the sake of others’ happiness? If it is going well with us it is easy to give and to care, but what if we ourselves are having a hard time? Can we then still be great enough to be glad for another who receives more than we do? Can we trust God enough to care for us so we can give our last for another’s happiness? Life gets tougher every day. This tends to encourage people to only think of themselves and of their survival, and therefore they miss God’s best for their lives through giving to others. If we obey the Lord, He makes His home in us with all His greatness and care (John 14:23), so we are then great and can be to others what Jesus was to the disciples. However, if we live for ourselves we will be overcome by worry and the need for survival and will be more concerned about self than about others. Where do you stand?

Verse 29 is a very important statement: “I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe.” A number of times in our previous teachings we have spoken about the ‘rhema’ word that brings faith. These words of Jesus is a very accurate illustration of the principle of rhema bringing faith. If the Lord of lords has told us something and we have His word to hold on to, circumstances can be what they wish, the devil can lie as much as he want to - we have a word from God and are waiting in anticipation for it to happen. Imagine Jesus did not warn his disciples with these words and suddenly just greeted them and departed. They would have been devastated, wouldn’t they? But because they had a revelation (rhema) word from Him, they could believe and handle the situation when it came. In God’s Kingdom we need faith, and faith comes from a Word we have been given by the Lord himself (Romans 10:17).

Years ago a very significant prophecy has been spoken over Julia and me. I am a very sceptical person by nature and do not easily believe just anything, but this prophetess knew things about us that she only could have heard from the Lord. Through this prophecy the Lord mentioned a special task and some advantages along with it that He has in mind for us, but that He first had to sort things out in our lives before we would be ready for it. Through the years this ‘sorting out’ process had been tough and the persecution and attacks from the enemy severe, but we had something to hold on to that kept us from losing faith in the midst of circumstances – a Word from the Lord. These teachings resulted from that anointing and gift the Lord had mentioned then.

Lord, please help me to become great through you.