John 16-21

This week’s readings in the 40 Days of Jesus devotional were certainly action-packed! As I read these words that I’ve read so many times before, a few things struck me.

First, that though I’ve heard many a Christian say something to the effect of, “Don’t you wish you’d been there? That you’d gotten to sit at His feet and hear Him speak?” I found it so interesting that Jesus indicates we’re the lucky ones–because we have the Spirit to guide us through our faith.

Ever pause to think about that? That we’re blessed because we haven’t seen Him face to face, yet we believe. And despite never seeing Him with our eyes, we have from the start the indwelling of the Spirit to guide us, to make His teachings clear and understandable–how many times in the Gospels do the disciples not understand a lesson that’s perfectly plain to us, right? That’s why. Which is pretty cool when you think about it.

Then Jesus goes on to pray for us. Us. The believers who come after. The night before His death, when He knows very well what’s coming in the next few hours, the Son of God takes the time to pray for you and me.

But not just some abstract prayer. What He prays for is UNITY in the church.

Ouch, right?

Because how unified are we today? We bicker and we snap at each other and we disagree on everything under the sun. And while differences in style and interpretation are in a way unavoidable–even those early apostles had them!–when it interferes with the message of Jesus going out into the world…when it hinders our witness to that world…then we’re doing it wrong.

There are countless other things to talk about in these rich chapters. If you’ve been reading along–or just love the book of John and want to share your favorite insight or thought before the study moves into I Corinthians next week, do share!