Jesus Loves Me This I Know

Tom Shrader works through John 14:7-15, using the three Greek words for 'seeing' in John 20 to illuminate what Jesus means when He tells Philip that seeing Him is seeing the Father — not mere observation, but deep comprehension. He unpacks Jesus' promise of 'greater works' as the Spirit-empowered spread of the gospel across the earth, and explores prayer 'in My name' as asking in alignment with God's will rather than presenting a personal wish list. The teaching closes with the children's hymn 'Jesus Loves Me' as a picture of the simple gospel truth that, when truly grasped, motivates love for Christ and obedience to His commands.

“When you see me, you get it, you understand it — my deepest desire is to do what He says to do, because I understand that Jesus died so that I can have life.”

— Tom Shrader

Series: John: The Essence of Life (2007)

Recorded: 2007 at East Valley Bible Church

Duration: 57 min

Themes: knowing jesus, prayer, obedience, love for christ, gospel, seeing god, the holy spirit, greater works, new believer, doubting faith, seeking deeper relationship with god, struggling with prayer, parent teaching children about jesus, young adult, questioning who jesus is, searching for simple gospel truth

Scripture: John 14:1-15, John 20:1-8, John 11, John 13:36, John 14:5, Exodus 33:19

Theological Themes: incarnation, revelation of the father, pneumatology, spirit-empowered ministry, prayer in jesus name, divine will, christology, soteriology

Full Transcript

Welcome and Announcements

If you received something when you came into the room today, let's take a moment and work our way through that. If you're with us for the very first time, please note that we provided a guest registry card. We'd ask you to complete that and drop it in one of the boxes as you leave. That is the vehicle we use to communicate with one another, and we would love to talk with you, send you some material, or meet any need you have — but you need to let us know, and you start that process by completing that card.

As you're leaving the building, hopefully there will be somebody by each of the exits with a little packet of information about East Valley Bible Church. There is also a lot of information on the website, and that address is right there in the bulletin: evbc.org. If you're new or newer to the church and would like to know more, look for the Connect One class listed in the center panel of your bulletin. The next class is the Sunday after Easter at 10:30. Staff will be there to walk you through some important things about the church, and I'll come in around 12:15 or so. We'll have lunch together, I'll answer every question you can ask, and we'll just have an open dialogue with the agenda driven by you. Be sure to register so we have lunch ready for you, and if you have children, so we can arrange childcare as well.

Under Media Ministry in the bulletin, you'll see that camera operators are needed. The room looks fully staffed today, but we are at a point where, like so many things in a church, needs get filled, life changes, and new needs emerge. As we head into summer, those needs become especially intensified as people take vacations. If you've ever wondered how to make a large church feel smaller and more like home, one of the fastest ways to do that is to serve. We need volunteers to operate cameras, and we also need people in all the front-line areas — parking lot, ushers, greeters — along with children's ministry leading into Good Friday and Easter. If you'd love to help, please let us know, and we'd love for you to be part of the volunteer team here at East Valley Bible Church.

Let me mention Insert M25. This is something we do once a month. I was told last week that contributions for March were down a little, and it may simply be that we haven't talked about it enough and have taken it for granted. We place this in front of you every month as a reminder of needs in the community — we take the items you contribute and bring them directly into the community. The list changes every month because we stay in touch with people to find out what the current needs and shortages are. I'd love for you to take that insert, put it on the refrigerator, accumulate things throughout the week, and then next Sunday when you come, there will be people at all the entrances who would love to greet you and receive whatever you've brought. God is going to use it in a significant way.

The other insert deals with Good Friday and Easter. You'll see the perforations — just bend it back and forth and what you have are four invitations, one side for Good Friday and the other for Easter. We have probably done a poor job in the last couple of years promoting Good Friday, Easter, and Christmas, and that's our fault, not yours. We would really encourage you to share these with friends and co-workers. I was at home yesterday afternoon when the doorbell rang, and I found a neighbor at the door with a beautiful four-color card inviting me to a service at his temple. I declined, but it reminded me that we have our own invitations to share with people God brings into our lives.

Regarding Good Friday specifically, all four services in the chapel will be the same, but at 4:00 and 5:30 we will also have what we're calling a family-friendly service in the conference center. Over the last couple of years, a few people have mentioned that some of the content related to the Passion is a little strong for younger children, yet they still want to come as a family. So in the conference center, there will be a video — and I understand it's really good — of what we did three years ago, with the same music. It will be a wonderful time. So if you're looking for a family-friendly Good Friday experience, join us at 4:00 or 5:30 in the conference center.

Review of Last Week's Foundation

Last week we looked at John chapter 14 and the first six verses, and we need to review them because when we get to verse 7, it really is an extension of that. There is a break there, but we could have easily tied these together. The scene is this: Jesus is about to say goodbye, at least for a period of time, to His disciples. They are a little bit discouraged, probably afraid, and I think what is about to occur is starting to sink in. Peter has been told — here is what Peter said: "I'll lay down my life for you" — and Jesus said, you are not going to make it through the night; you are going to deny Me three times yet tonight. Jesus has talked about going and suffering, so there is a lot of concern.

Jesus knows that within a matter of a day or two, He is dead. But before He rises, He is preparing these men for that — then the resurrection, and then forty days later, the Holy Spirit. There is a lot to happen. Against that backdrop, He speaks in verse one.

"Do not let your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many dwelling places. If it were not so, I would have told you, for I go and prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way where I am going."

Jesus is saying: do not worry, do not be overly concerned, because you have believed in God and you have seen His promises and seen how He rescued your ancestors. He is saying, I am God — believe in Me. I am going to prepare this incredible place for you, and I would not tell you that if it were not true. There is a time coming, a point in time, where I will come and get you and take you to this wonderful place. That is a great word.

The Only Way to the Father

Thomas says in verse five, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?" And Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, the life." Definite article — the way, singular; the truth, singular; the life, singular. And in case anyone missed it, He adds: "No one comes to the Father but through Me."

At this moment, Jesus is slamming shut every door we think might lead to the Father. He is saying no to every other religious attempt. He is saying no to us trying to achieve something on our own, trying to find access to God on our own. No, no, no — there is but one singular way. And Jesus says it is Him.

He does not say, "I am a guide." He does not say, "I am a teacher." He says, "I am the way" — I am the path. You climb onto this path, and that path leads you to truth, because He is truth, and it leads you to life, because He is life.

the tomb first. And stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and entered the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the face cloth that had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself. So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb also entered then, and he saw and believed.

Now here is where it gets interesting in the language. In verse one, Mary Magdalene saw the stone taken away. That word "saw" in the Greek is the word *blepo*, which simply means to look at something. It's observational. She sees the stone is gone. Then in verse six, when Peter enters the tomb, it says he saw the linen wrappings. That word is *theoreo*, from which we get our word "theory." It means to look more carefully, to study, to investigate. And then in verse eight, when John enters the tomb and it says he saw and believed, that word is *horao*, which carries the idea of perception, of understanding, of connecting the dots.

Three Kinds of Seeing

So you have three different Greek words all translated into English as "saw," and that's the limitation I was talking about. Mary *blepo* — she looked and saw the stone was gone. Peter *theoreo* — he studied it, he investigated it, he looked carefully. John *horao* — he perceived it, he understood it, he believed. The same progression is at work in John 14. Philip is saying, show us the Father. But Jesus is saying, you have already seen — *horao* — if you would only perceive it.

That's the cry, isn't it? We want a spectacular demonstration. We want the stone-rolling-away moment, the thunderclap, the vision. And Jesus is saying, I have been with you. I have shown you. The evidence is all around you. The question is not whether you have seen it, but whether you have perceived it. Discernment — connecting the dots.

Philip's Question and Our Own

Philip's request is not unique. It is, in many ways, the universal human cry. When we are in the middle of confusion, trial, and testing, we say, "Lord, just show me something. Do something spectacular and I will believe." Jesus turns that around completely. He says believing is seeing, not the other way around. That was the same truth He spoke at the tomb of Lazarus, the same truth that runs all the way through John's Gospel.

Philip may well have been thinking of Moses. In Exodus 33:19, God said to Moses' request, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence." And then the Lord put Moses in the cleft of the rock and covered him with His hand as He passed by. There are moments like that in the Old Testament, and Philip may have been longing for exactly that kind of encounter — something unmistakable, something impossible to miss. That is not what Jesus is about to give him.

"He Who Has Seen Me Has Seen the Father"

Jesus answers Philip in verse nine: "I have been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?" Notice the key words that run through this passage. The word "know" or "known" appears four times. The word "see" or "seen" appears five times. Jesus is pressing on both — perception and relationship. You have been with Me. You have watched Me. You have heard Me. And still you are asking for a demonstration?

That author we read from earlier makes the point that Jesus introduced this subject deliberately, to provoke exactly this kind of discussion. He was about to leave His disciples, and He knew that when He was taken from them, they would be plunged into a dark and melancholy despair, and in that despair, God would seem extremely remote. Perhaps that is where you are today. Perhaps something has happened — the loss of a job, a loved one pushing back, a child in trouble — and in that despair, God feels impossibly far away. But He isn't. He is right where He has always been. That is precisely why Jesus says what He says here. He is anchoring them — anchoring us — before the storm hits.

Knowing God Through Knowing Jesus

When Jesus says in verse seven, "If you had known Me, you would have known the Father also. From now on you know Him and have seen Him," He is making an extraordinary claim. To know Jesus is to know the Father. To see Jesus is to see the Father. There is no separate path, no additional revelation required. The disciples had already received what Philip was asking for. They simply had not recognized it for what it was.

This is the same problem that confronts us. We look for a dramatic sign when the Word has already been given. We look for an experience when the relationship is already available. Jesus says, "Believe, and then you will see." Discernment is the ability to connect the dots — to look at what is already in front of you and perceive what it means. Philip had all the dots. He simply had not connected them yet. And Jesus, with remarkable patience, is sitting with him in the upper room on the worst night of His earthly life, taking time to answer the question.

Seeing with Understanding

Stooping and looking in, he arrived at the tomb first. Now, many of you have your Bible in front of you, and perhaps a pen or a notebook. Circle the word *saw* in verse five. This is really important. The word *saw* appears in verses five, six, and eight, and in the English they all look the same. In the Greek, however, these are three different words, and connecting those dots changes everything.

In verse five, John comes to the tomb, peers in, and *saw* the linen wrappings lying there — but he did not go in. That first word means simply to see with your eye, to take an image and press it on your retina. It is a bodily function — a glance, a quick look. John comes up to the tomb, does a quick look, and steps back out.

Then Simon Peter came following him, entered the tomb, and *saw* — and that is the second word. It means to puzzle over, to scrutinize, to behold, to view attentively, to discern, to ascertain, to find out by seeing. Peter looks into the tomb and is taking it all in. It is beyond the retina now — it is getting ingrained in his brain. He is studying, trying to understand, letting it begin to sink in. He can account for the facecloth, where the linens are, all the detail.

Then the other disciple who had first come to the tomb entered, and he *saw* — the third word. This one means to see with understanding, to see with your mind's eye, to perceive, to comprehend, to understand. And look at how John describes it: "I saw it, and when I saw it, I believed."

The Math Class Illustration

To illustrate the difference between these three kinds of seeing, think about math class. You walk in and notice there are formulas on the board — that is the first word. You really look at them and begin trying to digest the material — that is the second word. Then there is a third moment, the one that is hardest to reach: you look at it, and all of a sudden it clicks. You say, "I got it!" That is the third word.

John kind of comes in, looks around, and says, yes, there was some stuff there. Peter looks more carefully and says, no, here is exactly what was there — the facecloth was here, and this was over there. But John's response is something altogether different: "Oh my goodness, I get it! I see it! I understand! It all came together." He saw, and he believed.

What Jesus Means by "Seeing" the Father

Now go back to John chapter fourteen, because this should be genuinely helpful. When Jesus says, "He who has seen me," He is using that third word. He is not talking about someone who can say, yes, there was a Jesus who lived in Nazareth, born in Bethlehem, and here is a timeline of His life with all the facts and figures. He means someone who can say, "I get it — He is God."

He who has seen Jesus, who gets Him, who understands Him, understands the Father. So why would Philip say, "Show me the Father"? Jesus is saying: you do not need a demonstration. You need comprehension. You need to understand it. You need to get it. You need to see it. He had been with them three years. He and the Father are one. They had already seen God. The question He puts to Philip — and to us — is simply this: do you see it?

Believe Because of the Works

He expands on this in verses ten and eleven: "Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in me, and the words that I say to you, I do not speak on my own initiative, but the Father abiding in me does His work? Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me. Otherwise, believe because of the works themselves."

We noted that the word *know* or *known* appears four times in this passage, and the word *see* or *seen* five times. Now the word *believe* appears four more times in the balance of the passage. Jesus is saying: if you see Him with understanding, if you truly get who He is, you get the Father as well, because He and the Father are one and inseparable.

And if even that is not enough, He says, at least look at the body of works. Look at the miracles. Look at what is taking place. Understand that He is God — that these things could not happen apart from the Father, that He and the Father are one.

The Question for You and Me

That is what He says to you and me. Have you seen Christ? Not merely can you say a little something about Him, or recite some portion of His résumé. Do you actually *see* Him? Do you know Him? And if you do, then you believe Him.

Greater Works

You believe He's who He said He was. You understand that He's God come in the flesh and that He died so that you and I and His people could have eternal life.

Verse 12. Read it with me, just as if you're reading it for the first time. "Truly, truly, I say to you, He who believes in me, the works that I do, He will do also and greater works than these He will do." I wrote next to that: wow. That is a wow thing, isn't it? Jesus is saying that the one who believes in Him — the one who understands Him, who has placed his faith and trust in Him, who knows Him in an intimate way, who sees Him and gets it — that person is going to do the works that He does and even greater works.

Here is what my mind does with that. See if your mind goes the same place. I start thinking: Jesus fed 5,000, I'll feed 10,000. I start running through all the things Jesus did. But I'm not actually thinking of His works — I'm thinking of His signs and wonders. And the verse does not say "the signs and wonders that I did, you will do also." You don't know anybody who is walking on water. You don't know anybody doing these miracles. And yet He said, "The works that I do, you are going to do."

He is not talking about miracles. If He were, we would have to conclude that He either lied or that nobody got it, because you do not know anyone doing these things. You may know men who hold miracle services, but they are not doing any of this. If a man came in with one leg, and someone said "be healed" and it happened, you would know about it instantly — and they would not be able to wait to tell you.

The Real Meaning of Greater Works

Dr. Ironside is helpful here. This is what he writes: "He is not speaking of miracles. His chief work was not performing miracles, but revealing the Father, bringing knowledge of the Father. It was that of which he is speaking. As a result of his three and a half years of ministry, when he left the scene, he said goodbye to a group of about five hundred disciples. There were doubtless a few more scattered about, but not very many. Very few saw him — the revelation of the Father. But go on a few days, fifty days later — then Peter and the rest of the eleven stand up on the day of Pentecost, and the third person of the Trinity comes upon them in power, and they are prepared to witness for him. They preach a crucified Christ, a risen Christ — and what happens? Three thousand believe. Probably more in that one day than in all the three and a half years of our Lord's ministry."

Ironside continues: "When you realize that when Jesus left the scene, committing his gospel to a little group of eleven men in order that they might carry it to the ends of the earth, at that time the whole world — with the exception of a few in Israel — was lost in the darkness of heathenism. But in three hundred years Christianity closed nearly all the temples of the heathen Roman Empire, and the numbers of its converts were in the millions. These were the greater works, down through the centuries, that he still carries out in this ministry."

That is what He is saying to you and me. He is talking about scope. He is talking about how we are going to take this gospel to the far ends of the earth. You are going to be used in ways beyond anything you comprehend at this moment, and that is a promise for you and me. Not that we are going to perform a series of miracles, but that we are going to do something deeper than a physical miracle — though we are certainly attracted to those. We are going to see God use us to change people's hearts.

That is the work of the Holy Spirit, but it happens through our teaching, our loving, our caring. That is the work. That is a wow statement. And it is followed by an even bigger wow statement.

Asking in My Name

Look at what He says in verses 13, 14, and 15. "Whatever you ask in my name, I'll do it so that my Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. If you love me, you'll keep my commandments."

Now let me make sure I have this straight. Those of us at East Valley Bible Church take the Bible literally. So let's make sure we are all reading the same translation. "If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it." Is that what yours says? This sounds like a blank check.

In our house, Susan handles the money and the finances. The other day she gave me a check — I was buying tickets to Screwtape, because they don't give them to me — and I realized I hadn't written a check in I don't know how long. As I was making it out, I thought: this verse sounds like it could just keep going. Just ask, ask, ask. Anything you ask, I will do.

But there are qualifiers in there. Do you see them? He says, "Whoever believes in me" does these works. And He says, "Whatever you ask in my name." So what does it mean to ask in His name? It means to ask in accordance with God's will and God's desires, and to come not on the basis of our own merit, but on the basis of His.

Praying on Our Own Merits

So often I pray, and I may go through the whole prayer, then slam in "in Jesus' name" at the end — kind of like abracadabra, the guarantee, the thing that nails it — and all I've done is really pour out my own wish list. God, I want you to do X, and it may even sound noble. God, I really care about my neighbor, and I really want you to touch their hearts, and I really want you to change them, and I really want you to save them. Not because I care about them, but they've got this barking dog, and it would be much easier for me to talk about them in the midst of a Bible study than just sending them a letter. Or change my husband — why? So my life will be easier. Or my wife — so my life will be easier.

I didn't mention this in announcements, but once a year I'm invited in by Beth to speak to the ladies. This Wednesday morning at 9:15 in the conference center, and then Wednesday night at 7, I'll be speaking to the ladies. The topic they gave me was how to impress a man, so I've been a little worried about this. Yesterday I had an epiphany about what I want to do. I got all excited, sat in the back, started throwing out ideas, and legal pads were flying. Susan came out and said, "What's going on?" I told her what I was doing, and she and I had two totally different reactions to what I was saying — and ladies, I want to talk about those reactions on Wednesday, because it was really an eye-opener for both of us.

This whole thing — I grow a little weary of talking about marriage, because here's the deal: if you just really love the other person, it just works. My problem with Susan, when I have problems with her, is that I'm the problem. I want her to do what I want her to do because it's going to make things easier for me, and then I work God that same way. I begin to pray not on the merits of what Christ has done, but on my own merit.

I may even get a little attitude in my prayer. God, I don't know if you're keeping score, but the church does — I just got my giving statement back from last year, and it's pretty impressive. You know what? They needed camera operators, and I was there. They needed somebody in the parking lot, somebody in the kids' ministry, and I go to women's things and men's things. God, I've been faithful to a church, and God, I've served — have you really noticed all I've done? Now, based on all I've done, you need to do this. He says, "No, no, no. Based on what I've done" — that's verse 15 — "that's what I say back to you."

Honest Prayer Versus Bargaining With God

So we pray, and you have to examine your heart honestly here, because oftentimes in your prayer there's this little undercurrent. God, how can you do this? How can you put me in this wheelchair? How can you let me hurt? How can you let this deal fall apart? How can this job go south? God, why would you do this — look at what I've done. I watch person after person say, "I know when I come to Christ my path is not strewn with roses," but the minute things go south, they want to go to God and say, "God, I did all this stuff. What are you thinking?"

Or we put Him in a box and we pray this way: God, we've got a request here, and we want to bring it before you. Here are all the details — it's somewhat confusing and you're busy, so let me net it out for you. Is it A, or is it B, or is it C? It's got to be one of these three, God — send us an answer. And God says, "Interesting question. Q is the answer." Prayer is this adventure, and I think what Jesus is saying — and I'm not going to die on this hill — is that He's going away, and there's going to be, at least in your mind, a distance. But what closes that distance is prayer.

I've got this Word, and I'm preaching it to you and sending it to you and communicating to you through this Word, and you are communicating to me through prayer. And when you pray, it's not simply God, I need this and this and this. I'm not saying you don't pour your heart out to Him. When you pray, I think you ought to pray openly and honestly. God, here's why I'm hurting. Here's why I'm angry. Here's why I'm mad. Here's what I need. Here's what I see. I'm frustrated. Whatever those things are — there's nothing wrong with expressing them.

He already knows that you're mad, or frustrated, or lonely. He already knows what you want. But there's something about getting it out — here's what I want, here's what I want, here's what I want. After you say it for a while, just like right there, you hear: I, I, I, I, I. Tell Him. Tell Him what you want. Tell Him your desires. But always it's in the context of: God, what I ultimately want is what's best, and I sometimes don't even know what's best. I think I do. I pretend that I do. I want to believe that I do, but I don't.

So God, here's what I want. I want you to do what you think is best, and if you could, could you help me see it along the way? Ralph Kuyper tells this wonderful story. His vision was bad — he could not see well at all — and he talks about being a seminary student...

The Prayer of Surrender

He is studying one night, and the Holy Spirit begins to speak to him. Here is what he writes: "Just like this, it appeared to me, what's the chief end of man? To glorify God and enjoy Him forever, I answered. Do you wish to glorify God? Yes. If you had a choice, would you rather glorify God or have perfect vision? I'd rather glorify God, of course." The Spirit insists: "Do you really believe that God's glory is more important to you than your vision?" He answers, "My vision, or the lack of it, is not worthy to be compared to the glory of God." Then it is as though God were speaking: "If you do, why worry about the method which God chooses for you to glorify Him?"

I have no idea if this next thing is even real or accurate. I came across it years ago — the prayer of an unknown Confederate soldier. It captures for me the whole idea of prayer, my limitation, and why I ought to pray the way that I do. Let me read it to you.

"I asked God for strength that I might achieve, and He made me weak that I might learn humbly to obey. I asked God for health that I might do greater things, and I was given infirmity that I might do better things. I asked for riches that I might be happy; I was given poverty that I might be wise. I asked for power that I might have the praise of men, and I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God. I asked for all things that I might enjoy life, and I was given life that I might enjoy all things. I got nothing that I asked for, but everything that I hoped for. Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered. I, among all men, am most richly blessed."

How I Pray

That is how I pray. God, here is what really needs to happen — and most often it is not what needs to happen. It is: God, here is what You need to do. You need to figure out what needs to happen in my life so I can understand whatever it is You are going to do in this circumstance.

I pray almost every day that Susan will be healed. God, heal her. That is my desire — just heal her. I was watching television the other night, and they had a doctor on talking about Elizabeth Edwards and what she has. It is the same words we heard from our doctor: treatable, but not curable. The doctor said, "We just know she is going to die — in a year or two or three or four, whatever it is. We just know it is going to happen once it is in the bone." So I pray all the time, God, heal her.

But in a lot of ways, I think the last two and a half years have been, in some ways, the best years of our marriage. I was talking to a man the other day, and he said, "Sex is really important to me, and my wife and I — it was a key part of our life. She got sick, and the last year of her life we could not have any physical contact." He said she died however long ago. I said I was sorry. He said, "No, no — here is my point. It was the most intimate year of our marriage."

Now, I would not pray that. Here is what I would pray: God, I want an intimate marriage. And He would say, okay, she is going to get sick, and now you are going to have this. Do you see how that works? And sometimes He just says, bam, and it is there.

God Gives What We Need

I was looking for something this morning on the internet — something I wanted to use for Wednesday — and I had not the foggiest idea what to type in. I did not even know what to ask or what to look for, so I wondered why I was even on the internet. I typed something in, it returned searches one through thirteen or so, and I just clicked one at random. The thing popped up immediately. The chances of that happening statistically are essentially zero.

Now, you may think this is strange, but I really believe God said, "Tom, you cannot afford to waste any more time on this. I need to get this to you, because you have other things to think about." That is that whole prayer thing. He always gives me what I need — maybe not always what I want — and most often what I need is really what I want.

Obedience as the Expression of Love

Then He says this: "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." At East Valley Bible Church, we have proclaimed — and I think we are known throughout the community for this — that salvation is by grace, not by works. When people think of East Valley Bible Church, they think of salvation being of God from beginning to end. We are known for that because the Bible teaches it, and I believe it is true.

But now, when I come into relationship with Him, look at what has happened. I have seen Him. I believe. I comprehend. I understand. I get it. And now I love Him — because I have seen the love that He has given to me, and I have seen that love expressed to me. In the midst of that love, as I love Him, He says: if that is really true, then what you are going to do is obey Me.

The Little Girl Who Wanted to Love Jesus

There is a wonderful little story that fits here. A young girl comes to her pastor and says, "I don't love Jesus. I wish I did love Jesus, but I don't love Jesus. Won't you please tell me how to love Jesus?" I read that story and thought I would not know what to say — but I do now. The pastor said, "Little girl, as you go home today, keep telling yourself: Jesus loves me."

That is what that moment of realization is — when all of a sudden I see, I begin to comprehend, I understand. That is the truth that changes everything.

The Motive to Obey

I'd rather see *You've Got Mail* than *Braveheart*. I was not looking for blood and guts, and I did not want to go see that movie for the violence. But when I saw it, the violence did not bother me, because it was violence with context. I thought it gave me a fraction of the sense of what Jesus must have gone through physically, and He did it because He loved me. He died for me. He got what I deserved.

When I get that, and I love Him, that becomes the motive to obey Him. There is a thing called antinomianism — it is a big word, but here is what it means: I figure I am under grace, so I do not have to obey. That is essentially what it means. So I think, well, Jesus died, He has forgiven me, and I can do whatever I want to do. In a sense, it becomes license.

No — just the opposite. When I understand what Jesus did, when I understand that He died so that I can have life, that He has rescued me and delivered me — as He will you if you come in repentance — all of a sudden I see things differently. My deepest desire is to do what He says to do. Even that is for selfish reasons: it is simply so my life will be better, because if I do what He tells me to do, I know I am in His will, and that is the best place for me to be.

My life in theology seems to be getting simpler. I do not know if that is scary or not. It is that truly genuine understanding that I am not worthy that Christ died for me — but He did, for me, for you, for His people.

I Am Loved

When I was back home in Davenport, Iowa — I am going to guess around 1967 or 1968 — one of the jewelry stores was passing out little buttons that said, "I am loved." We desperately want to be loved. That is at the core of all of us. I do not care who you are or how gruff and tough you are — you want to be loved, you want to be accepted, you want to be comforted, you want to be understood.

And Jesus says, "That's me. I love you. I care for you. I'll comfort you. I understand." I thank Him for doing that for me, again and again.

Jesus Loves Me: The History of a Hymn

When I read that story about the girl on the way home thinking "Jesus loves me," I thought immediately of a little kid's song, so I did a little work. There was a Sunday school teacher who had a young boy in her class who was dying. She asked Anna Warner to write a song that could be sung to this boy, so Anna wrote a stanza or two. Then another gentleman, David McGuire, came along and added to it.

So you know the song. Here is what you know:

*Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to Him belong — remember the context, a young dying boy — they are weak, but He is strong. Yes, Jesus loves me, yes, Jesus loves me, yes, Jesus loves me, the Bible tells me so.*

I did not know any of the other stanzas before — I just gave you everything I knew about the song. But there are more:

*Jesus loves me, this I know, as He loved so long ago, taking children on His knee, saying, let them come to Me. Yes, Jesus loves me, yes, Jesus loves me, yes, Jesus loves me, the Bible tells me so.*

*Jesus loves me still today, walking with me on my way, wanting as a friend to give light and love to all who live.*

*Jesus loves me, He who died, heaven's gate to open wide, He will wash away my sin, let His little child come in.*

*Jesus loves me, He will stay close beside me all the way, Thou hast bled and died for me, I will henceforth live for Thee.*

And then there is a final stanza that is most often omitted from hymnals and other collections. I love it:

*Jesus loves me, loves me still, though I am very weak and ill, that I might from sin be free, bled and died upon that tree.*

Preaching the Gospel to Yourself

That is what Jesus is saying. When you see Him, you get it, you understand it. You need to be encouraged as life unfolds. You need people around you. You need to hear the truth. But at the core of it, you are just preaching the gospel to yourself all day long — just saying, all day long, "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little ones — that's me — to Him I belong. I am pitifully weak, but He is strong." Therefore I am going to do great works. He is going to do what I ask within His will, and that is going to be because I am a follower of His who cares for Him, who asks for His will, and because of my love for Him, I am going to do what He commands me to do.

The Six Words I Skipped

Now, in the midst of all of this, if you were paying close attention, you will notice that I skipped six words in the course of these fifteen verses. They are there in verse twelve, and I skipped them because we will address them next week when we talk about the Holy Spirit. He says, "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also, and greater works than these he will do, because" — there are the six words — "because I go to the Father."

Jesus is about to talk about leaving and sending another, a Helper, and saying, "I will not leave you as an orphan." Jesus is saying, here is the key in all of this. It is for your own good. He is going to leave, and the third person of the Trinity — the Spirit — is going to come and live in you.

The Gospel We Need to Hear Again and Again

So often we talk about preaching the gospel, and I think we picture the bulletins, the handouts, the "join me on Easter," the outreach conversations. And we should think about those things. But we need to hear the gospel ourselves, over and over, day after day — that Jesus just poured His love out on us.

And how do we respond? We are obedient to Him. When we pray, we say, "God, this is what we want, but more than anything, I need You to do what You know is best for me." So I might not get everything I ask for — but I will get everything I truly hope for.

Jesus Loves Me This I Know

Father, we pray that You would do this wonderful work in our lives. It sounds so simple, and yet somehow, as we unpack it all, it doesn't stay that way. It gets complicated and difficult.

I don't know why we sometimes get mired down in these profound thoughts. It is good to think, for sure, but the problem is really simple. When I get bogged down, it is in my own world, my own selfishness, and it is because I have forgotten the gospel — that Jesus loves me, and the Bible tells me that truth, and I belong to Him.

The Simple, Profound Truths of the Gospel

All the wonderful little truths in that song speak to this: that Jesus loves me still today, walking with me on my way. Jesus loved me — He who died. Jesus loves me — He will stay. Such great truths. So simple, and yet so profound. Let them transform our lives.

God, I pray for this Wednesday and the time with the gals. I pray that You give me the right things to say, and that I say them in a way that makes sense. Let the things that are of You be powerful and true, and the things that aren't — somehow let us all forget them.

Preaching the Gospel to Ourselves

God, take our lives and change them. Let us be people who evangelize ourselves, who witness to ourselves, who preach the gospel to ourselves all day long. We can obey commandments but never love You. We can follow the law but never love You. But it is impossible for us to love You and not follow that truth. Drill that into our hearts. We pray to You in Christ's name, amen.

Have a great week. He is Lord of heaven and earth — Lord of all.