“Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.”
John 13:1
There’s nothing like brain surgery to get you thinking about what is most important.
Jesus knew his time on earth was coming to an end, so He summed up His priorities in John 13-17.
1. Love
“A new commandment I give to 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 have love for one another.”
John 13:34-35
Jesus knew He wouldn’t be there to referee the disciples’ squabbles and competitions, so He boiled down all of His teachings into one word: love. “Come on guys, just love each other.” Of course, this wasn’t a totally new command, as the great Shema of Israel (Deut. 6) was all about loving God, and Jesus had previously summed up the two greatest commandments in the Law as that one plus “love your neighbor” from Leviticus 19:18. But here Jesus focuses the object of our love on “one another,” showing the priority of love for other believers in small, local fellowships.
2. Trust
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.”
John 14:1
The essence of the gospel is that Jesus is LORD; that He is one with the Father. This verse could be translated, “You believe in God; believe also in me.” Just a few verses later Jesus tells Philip, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father… Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me” (John 14:9-11). This was the heart of the revolution Jesus introduced: that the Messiah was not just a Savior from God, but was God in the flesh (John 1:1,14,18). Just as God’s people had always been called to trust in the LORD their God, so Jesus was calling His disciples to trust in Him.
3. Pray
“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”
John 15:4,7
Six times in John 14-16 Jesus commands His disciples to pray, asking in faith and trusting Jesus to provide for them as they learn to pray in His name (John 14:13-14; John 15:7,16; 16:23-24) and according to His will. Here in chapter fifteen He uses the analogy of a vine and branches to make it clear that His followers are not to believe in themselves but to trust completely in Him and stay close to Him. He is the One with the power. To the extent that we abide in the Lord, making Him our dwelling place, these promises of answered prayer apply to us.
4. Serve
“Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours… And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.”
John 15:20,27
As we abide in the Lord, we will bear fruit for Him. Apart from the Lord we can do nothing, but connected with Him, we can do greater things than even He did (John 14:12) because He now intercedes for us at the Father’s right hand, and His Spirit is with us to lead and empower us! Our job is simply to serve, leaving the results up to God. In fact, we should expect the same kind of opposition and persecution Jesus Himself faced. We will face tribulation, but in Christ we can overcome it (John 16:33).
5. Together
“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one.”
John 17:20-22
Our unity within the church is patterned after the unity of the Godhead – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God has placed the fullness of His glory in us through the person of the Holy Spirit for the purpose that we would be one. Only then, as we live out the unity Jesus prayed and died for, will a watching world have reason to believe that our message is credible.
Those were Jesus’ priorities as He concluded His earthly ministry.
1. Love > 2. Trust > 3. Pray > 4. Serve > 5. Together
As I go in to surgery Monday (7/7/25) this is my exhortation for our church family. Brothers and sisters, love each other. Trust in the Lord with all of your hearts. Pray in faith, abiding in the Lord. Serve the Lord, trusting Him to bear much fruit through you. And do all of this as a unified family.
The results belong to the Lord, just as the outcome of surgery is in His hands.
Through this season of physical weakness and uncertainty the Lord has shown me and Kristin how completely dependent we are on the Lord for every breath we take and every wakeful moment we have together. May the Lord use this time to draw all of us closer to Him and more in step with His priorities.
We love you all and are so thankful for your many expressions of love for us and trust in the Lord!