Whoever has my commands and keeps them …
Jn 14:21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.
OK – but what are those commands – and are we actually following them?
this will be the introduction to a series – with the details of those commands to follow on later days.
Let’s start by pointing out the graphic – “Be Different“.
Yes – different. Lot’s of us believe we are obeying Jesus’ commands. And therefore He should love us. And The Father will love us. And we’ll go to Heaven.
But is that really true?
Well – lot’s of us probably think this is true for us –
Mk 10:17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Mk 10:18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.’’”
Mk 10:20 “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”
So we’re good. We’re loved. We’re in line for our ticket to Heaven.
I even heard something like this from my own mother about her husband, and yes, my father – he’s a good man, so he’ll be in Heaven. I’m not so sure about either one. A good man? No. He’s never killed anyone – physically. Although he certainly did kill many both professionally and emotionally. In Heaven? Only God knows the answer to that one. But it makes Jesus’ point from above – No one is good—except God alone.
So it would seem that relying on being good to get to Heaven may not be a good idea. For one thing, we’re biased as to what good means, especially as it applies to people we care about. For another – Jesus – the final judge – says none of us are “good”.
Not surprisingly, if we’re honest with ourselves – there’s more –
Mk 10:21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
Mk 10:22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
So Jesus loved this man – even as He was telling him something that was going to prevent that man from following Jesus’ command to him.
Oops.
Jn 14:21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.
This man had Jesus’ command for him. The man even asked Jesus what he should do. Obviously he wanted to follow Jesus. Apparently he thought he was already on the road to Heaven. Apparently he figured that if there was anything left for him to do – it couldn’t possibly be that hard.
But it was. Oops.
And in fact – Jesus let this man off easy.
Yes – easy.
The man said he had kept the commandments – since he was a boy.
But did he really? Did he keep them as Jesus commanded?
Let’s see –
Mt 5:21 “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.
Did this man really keep the commandment to not murder? Or was he like my father who “murdered” in a different way? Or was he like me, who “murders” in a different way? Or was he like my mother – who knows these verses – and yet chooses to ignore them?
And this is just one of the 10 commandments.
And, It doesn’t even get into a single one of the other things that Jesus commanded us to do.
And that’s what this is going to be about.
We may know the “commandments” from God. We may even know how Jesus interpreted them for us. We may even know the additional things that Jesus asks us to do.
But – do we really understand them?
Are we following them?
Do we even want to follow them?
image from mychurchmovement.com.