(Jesus says:) If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you the Paraclete, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, they are the one that loves me. And the one who loves me, will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and manifest myself to them.
“I will not leave you as orphans!!!”
Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.
An Orphan
Who has never felt lonely? Felt all alone with no one to turn to??? With no one to talk to??? Or felt like there is no one to care for them?
Who can honestly say that they have never felt abandoned... unloved... or as if they were like orphans with no parental figure to love and guide them down the paths of life, or to teach them left from right, and right from wrong?
John Legend an African American soul singer sang a song to raise money for the people in Haiti last year, It’s title is Motherless child, take a moment to listen to these words, and feel the pain that we all feel at different moments of our lives.
We have all had times where we have felt all alone, when we have not felt as though there is anyone who cares, or that you can rely on. As the song says: we run to long on our own feet, and we become lost, like an orphaned child who does not know which way to go or what to do next.
When I think of good parental figures and what they do for the children in their care, these three things come to mind; they love them (though they do not alway deserve it); they teach them (though they may not respect or fully understand the lessons, YET!) and they stay with that child during the hard times and the good (though they may not acknowledge the time or effort). Why do parents do this? Is it because they have a martyr complex and need to be hurt to feel loved? Or is it because they have an unconditional love for that child?
Jesus will not leave you orphaned
In John 14:15-21 Jesus makes us a promise. He says: “I will not leave you as orphans, I am coming to you”. What does this mean for us today? It means that He will love us (even though we don’t always deserve it), that He will teach us (though we don’t always listen to his commands), and that He will remain with us (even though we are not always thankful for it).
Love of Christ
Christ showed us that He loves us by his death on the cross, on Good Friday; and by His Resurrection on Easter morning. And as He says in today’s Gospel reading, “Because I live, you will also live”. The eternal life that you have been given was won by Christ because he lives. Because he loves you. He has not left you as orphans, he has come to love you.
Christ’s Teaches us to love
Just before these verses(John13:34-35), Jesus said to those who were with Him: “A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another”. Today we heard Jesus develop further the reason for this commandment; If we don’t love one another, we don’t really love Him. If we don’t love him, he is not in us and we are rejecting the one who sent him; our Father in Heaven.
This statement may seem too strong, or maybe too legalistic... but think of it like this: Christ has told us that he will not leave us as orphans... An orphan with no parental figure has no way of knowing what is right and good. They have no teacher. A child who is loved by someone is taught. They are loved by being taught right and wrong. Jesus shows us that he loves us by loving us, giving His life for us, and by teaching us to walk in his love by giving us his commandments. His command for us is to love each other as He loves us. He has not left you as an orphan, he has come to teach you.
One sent to be with you.
To be an orphan is to be someone who is alone in the world. Someone who has no one to turn to for care, no one to turn to for comfort. No one to tell you, that you are loved. Today we heard Jesus proclaim to us that He will not leave us as orphans, that He is coming to us. He says that He will ask the Father to send the Paraclete to us, the Holy Spirit.
A Paraclete is usually translated today as a helper. But the greek is so much richer than this. The meaning of Paraclete is one who comes along side of to help, or to advocate on behalf of. So when Jesus says that he will ask the Father to send you a Paraclete he is saying that he is asking God, Our Father in heaven, to send you someone to be with you, to help you, to uphold and defend you. Jesus has not left you orphaned, he has asked that you have a helper come alongside you to comfort, defend and uphold you.
Not Orphans, Called to have and to keep the commandments.
We are no longer Orphans, we have a saviour who has come to us; Jesus Christ Our Risen Saviour. He loves us, he teaches us, and He with the Father and the Holy Spirit, are with us and in us.
Jesus says that the one who has my commandments and keeps them, that one is the one who loves me. We are loved by the Son of God, and because we are loved by Him we have been given his command to love one another. So got out there. Love one another. Do not treat each other with contempt. Don’t gossip about each other or lie about each others.
But remain with the Spirit of Truth in you. This Holy Spirit whom you know because he is in you and he has come to be your helper; sent by the Father because of Jesus Christ our brother, and saviour and friend, who has not left you as an orphan, but has come to you, loved you, taught you and cares for you, from your birth until the age to come. Amen.
And may the peace of God which passes all human understanding, keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus our Risen Saviour, Amen!
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