John 14:28-29
28 You heard me say to you, 'I am going away, and I will
come to you.' If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to
the Father, for the Father is greater than I.
29 And now I have told you before it takes place, so that
when it does take place you may believe.
Devotion
In the name of + Jesus.
Spoiler alert!! Jesus
wins, and so do those who trust in Him.
Spoiler alert!! Jesus
is coming on the last day, and those who have faith will be taken up to dwell
with Him forever.
Spoiler alert!! Jesus’
own victory is, by faith, your anticipated future.
When watching a movie, you typically don’t like to know how
it ends—it takes the fun out of it. But
when you live each and every day in a world where the Devil, the World, and
your Sinful Flesh are fighting against you, knowing the ending can be quite
helpful. In fact, knowing and trusting
the ending will make all the difference in the world.
When Jesus told His disciples of His coming ascension into
heaven, he’s spoiling the ending of things.
But when Jesus does it, he does it “so that when it does take place you
may believe.” When Jesus spoils the
ending, He doesn’t spoil anything. On
the contrary, He does it to help create and strength faith.
Jesus tells His disciples the ending, and in the pages of
Holy Scripture, the ending of all things is revealed to us as well. The Scriptures tell us that the cross and
empty tomb are the signs Jesus has given of His victory of all of our
enemies. When Jesus said, “It is
finished,” his victory was complete. And
when He burst forth from the tomb, His victory was now revealed. As we now live in the last days, attacked on
all sides by that unholy trinity, we don’t fear, and we do not lose hope.
Death claims our loved ones.
Sin plagues our desires and we are ravaged with guilt and shame. The broken world beats us up, as all around
the world reminds us that we aren’t in control.
But Jesus is. Jesus now sits at
the right hand of the Father, reigning over all things, and is awaiting His
triumphant return. You sin is
forgiven. Guilt and shame give way to
peace. Death will give way to life. And even this broken world will be redeemed
in the new creation.
We know the end of the story. The Scriptures give us a spoiler alert, and
it is Good News. Jesus wins, and while
sin, death and the Devil appear for a time to have won, we know the truth. And by faith, we now wait for it to be
revealed when the trumpet blows on the Last Day.
In the name of + Jesus.
Amen.
Prayer
Though devils all the
world should fill,
All eager to devour us,
We tremble not, we
fear no ill;
They shall not over pow’r us.
This world’s prince
may still
Scowl fierce as he
will,
He can haram us none.
He’s judged; the deed is done;
One little world can
fell him (LSB #656, stanza 3).
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