Sep 09, 2018

Do not Let Your Hearts be Troubled

Jesus’ Last Discourse (1)

“Do not let your hearts be troubled.

You believe in God, believe also in me.”

                  John 14:1

I will be spending some time going through John’s gospel, vs. 14-17. This is known as the Last Discourse, as it occurred at the last supper just before the death of Jesus. Jesus was very aware of what was about to occur, as he had confronted the political authority by his bold statements about the wonders of humanity in the eyes of God. This was at the feast of the Passover, when thousands of Jews came to Jerusalem for this most holy of Jewish feast days. The only thing today that is of similar importance in a major religion is Mecca for the Muslim, at the annual pilgrimage of Hajj, which is required pilgrimage for every adult Muslim. Every Jew scattered in the kingdoms dreamed of coming at least once in their life to Jerusalem, and especially during Passover, which celebrated the time when God revealed to them that they were the chosen people.

Passover was considered a very dangerous time by the Roman overseers, and the Roman legions flooded the area to discourage rabble rousers, arresting them if they came across such. (This raises an interesting point in some of the gospels about the so-called entry in Jerusalem by Jesus and the adulation by a mob just before the Last Supper, but that is a different story.) Yes, Jesus was considered a rabble rouser, with his talk of peace and love, and was definitely antiwar!

Be that as it may, and the gospels differ as to timing, (John’s version has the meal the day before the Passover, not the Passover meal, as in the synoptic gospels), this was the evening when all of the work of Jesus would reach a culmination. Jesus understood what was going on, the dangers involved, and continued on anyway.

This discourse is only mentioned in John’s gospel, the other three just have Jesus leave the meal, heading to Mount Olive where he often went to pray. Since John’s gospel was written 50 or more years after the others, it is difficult to know exactly what occurred. To complicate the story, there is a strong possibility that the gospel was not written by St. John the apostle but by one of his disciples. Certainly John talked about Jesus to his followers over the years, and events moved in a slightly different manner from his viewpoint and memory, then what other members of the small band recalled and had talked about, to be put down in writing by their followers. Perhaps this discourse occurred at a different time than the meal, or is a result of John praying over the tumultuous time and discerning a different thread than the other apostles remembered and talked about. Just remember that we do not know who actually wrote the synaptic gospels, only that they were followers of Mathew, Mark, and Luke, an not the apostles themselves.

When the meal was over, Jesus spoke lovingly to his followers. Even though only the 12 are mentioned, there was obviously more present in the upper room, and I suspect (ok, am sure) that the “13^thapostle”, Mary Magdalen, was present, along with many more woman disciples (after all, men could not be caught dead preparing a meal for a large group). Jesus was known to have a large feminine following, and despite the chauvinistic attitude of the gospel writers, many other writings of the ‘forgotten gospels’ writers were more forthright in presenting a broader viewpoint.

The first part of the discourse was a loving reminder to his followers that indeed, God is overseeing all and is delighted with the response. “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” This statement follows a scary pronouncement by Jesus that Peter, that stalwart supporter, would deny Jesus, not once but three times! (John 13:38). But don’t worry, Jesus said, it will all work out.

Indeed, do not let your hearts be troubled. Good admonition, but futile in heat of the following days, only to be remembered sometime later. This admonition is seen throughout the Bible, usually by angels talking to some astonished viewer. In this case, it was Jesus reassuring his followers that no matter how bad things looked, God was really present and things would work out in their own time.

Jesus was blunt: it was easy to believe in God who was all-powerful, but Jesus was another story: he was another human, got dressed in the morning like themselves, ate, had bowel movements; how indeed could this human being, despite all the wonderful sayings and discussion and even miracles, actually be other than themselves? How could he truly be a person who could talk to the Father like he was the Son?

Indeed Jesus was asking a lot of them: to believe that he could actually speak to the one he called the Father on one hand, this Being who they revered and could not even speak the Name?

I will be taking break from these gospel discussions to write a series of posts directed at a campaign for my book, The 12 Steps to Joy and Happiness, finding the Kingdom of God that lies within.

Meditation

My God, it is easier to believe in the mighty power of a Being we believe we cannot directly see, but so much harder to see the possibilities in a person just like ourselves, physically. After all, we certainly know our limitations, all the times when we fail to do what we truly desire and know we should, and all the times when we do the opposite of what we feel in our hearts we should be doing. I believe in my heart that I am the Image of God, but it is so hard to see myself and act like I am the Likeness of God. But You did assure us that we are indeed, one with you and in our deepest being we are the both the Image and Likeness of You. I accept Your insights, and place all my hope and trust in You.