Rejoice! God Loves Himself

What is Maundy-Thursday? This is the day of Holy Week in which we come together to remember the Last Supper Jesus had with His disciples. It isn't the Last Supper in the sense that this is the last time that Jesus will eat with His disciples, as He will after His resurrection. It is the Last Supper because this is the Last Passover meal that will ever be observed in the Old Testament way. This is the moment where Redemptive History reaches a tipping point. Everything is going to be new. Elements that used to represent freedom from Egypt for over a  thousand of years, are, in a single meal, going to be redefined, given their true meaning.  Bread and wine are now going to represent the body and blood of Jesus poured out for them in the ultimate expression of love ever demonstrated. They will become the new signs, sacraments, of the New Covenant, a source of blessing and spiritual nourishment for Christians in the coming millennia. 

So what does Jesus do after that? Jesus changed the Passover and is about to go to the cross. What is he going to say to His disciples? What does He want them to know before He dies? Here we come to John chapter 15. It is an immensely popular passage for a reason. Doubtless you've all heard sermons out of it and maybe even have portions of it memorized. I'm willing to bet, though, if you are anything like me, you probably don't rejoice in it as much as you should. So I am going to lead you through this passage as we look together at some of the wonderfully comforting and challenging chapters in John's Gospel. We are going to look at How we are connected to God and How we grow in our connection with Christ.