10-28-12
Festival of St Simon & St Jude
Text: John 14:22,23
Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the
world?”23 Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will
come to him and make our home with him.”
AN INQUISITIVE DISCIPLE.
I.
Ask the right questions.
II.
God gives the right answers.
INTRODUCTION
“Don’t ask so many questions!” Grandpa said to his 4-year old grandson. Grandpa could handle “What
makes peanut butter? How do the pictures get on TV? What makes the grass green?” But when he asked “Where
do babies come from?” – that’s where Grandpa drew the line.
When it comes to religion, there can be all sorts of questions. Christians, as God’s children, ask more than
their fair share of questions. Thankfully, our heavenly Father never tells us, “Don’t ask so many questions!” In
fact, one of the lessons we would take for ourselves as we observe this minor festival of the church year, the
Commemoration of the Apostles Simon and Jude – especially from Jude, is that it is a good thing to be AN
INQUISITIVE DISCIPLE. The Lord wants us to ask the right questions and promises to give us the right
answers.
I.A.
From time to time, you hear that biblical names are in vogue. So you have many newborns named Jacob,
Joshua, Rachel, Sarah and Rebekah. But you don’t find many, if any, Judas’. How things were different at Jesus’
time. Out of the same group of 12 disciples, two of those men were named Judas. Even one of Jesus’ halfbrothers (the writer of our second Scripture lesson) had the name Judas. But by the time John wrote his Gospel
account, infamy had already attached itself to that name so that John was careful to distinguish -- Then Judas (not
Judas Iscariot). The other Gospel writers, Matthew and Mark, by referring to him by his Greek name,
“Thaddeus”.
I.B.
But aside from his name, the only other think the Bible tells us about Jude is this question that he asked -“But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”
We could say this question was born of darkness. It was asked in darkness, the darkness of night. More
than that, it was asked on one of the darkest nights in human history – the night on which the Son of God was
betrayed into the hands of His enemies, arrested, falsely convicted and condemned to die. It came from the hearts
and minds of disciples shrouded in darkness. Their beloved Jesus was talking about betrayal, suffering and death.
The disciples were sad and confused.
Against this backdrop Jude asked the question -- “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us
and not to the world?” Perhaps he was thinking about the events of the previous Sunday, when Jesus entered
Jerusalem triumphantly, to the shouts and cheers of many people. Maybe he had in mind the popular but incorrect
image of the Messiah that many Jews had – of an earthly kingdom in which the Messiah would assume the throne
of Israel – and then the world. So instead of talking about suffering and death, wouldn’t dazzling people with
power and glory be more in line? Jude’s question reflected misunderstanding and even some mistrust of God’s
plan and purpose.
I.C.
Good thing we don’t ask those kinds of questions! Right! Such mistrust and misunderstanding of the Lord
and his plans and purposes are stated with questions that start Lord, why did you…?’ or Lord, why don’t you…?
We look at the world around us and ask, Lord, why did You let that deadly storm or that earthquake strike? Lord,
why don’t you stop or prevent all the murder and violence? Or we look closer at our own lives, Lord, why did you
let me get sick and end up in the hospital? Why do you let this turmoil shake up my family? Why did my job
evaporate? Why do you give wealth and success to other people but not to me? When we let ourselves focus on
these sorts of things we are showing that we don’t understand God’s ways or that we don’t trust His plans and
purposes. If these are the most pressing concerns for us, it shows that we are willing to settle for the nickels and
dimes of this world instead of wanting the treasures of heaven. When we are covered with the filth and stench of
sin, we’re satisfied if we are covered with a fragrant scent instead of having our souls cleansed.
It is not wrong to ask questions, but the Lord would have us ask the right ones. Like when we are
confronted with temptations, ask, How could I do such a great evil and sin against God?” (Gn 39:9 HCSB)
When facing our sin, we can ask with the psalmist, “If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who
could stand? (Ps 130:3 ESV) When our consciences terrify us, we could ask with the jailer at Philippi, What
must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30 HCSB) As disciples of Jesus seeking direction, we could ask, Lord, what
would you have me do? Where would you have me go? Questions that have eternal significance, that deal with the
salvation of souls and doing the Lord’s will – these are the right kind of questions.
II.A.
Jude may have asked the wrong question, but he did ask the right person and he received the right answer.
“If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make
our home with him.” Jude and the others would come to realize the beautiful simplicity and yet the amazing
depth of what Jesus said. It would be seen the next day, the first Good Friday, with a cross that was filled. It
would be seen three days later on the first Easter Sunday with a tomb that was emptied. The crucified and risen
Savior would comfort, encourage and strengthen the disciples. They would learn that wherever their discipleship
would take them, they would never be alone. Their Savior and heavenly Father would always be with them.
II.B.
What does Jesus’ answer say to us? “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. Literally, He said,
“hold on to My Word.” It takes us back to the first chapter of John, where Jesus is called “the Word”. It is in
God’s Word that Jesus the Word is revealed to us. We learn that He is the Son of God, True God and True Man.
He, with His life, death and rising from the dead, made us holy and righteous. He saved us from sin, death and
hell.
Holding onto the Word is believing and trusting in Jesus as your personal Savior. Obeying His teaching is to
accept it, to trust in it and to live, all by the power and work of the Spirit.
Jesus and His Word are there to answer life’s questions for us. When we are caught in one of life’s storms,
with the waves crashing over us, the waters rising faster than we can bail it out – there is Jesus to say to the storms
raging in our hearts and minds, “Peace, be still.”
When confronted with temptation, in which we ought to know better and to say “NO” – yet the pull is so
strong – Jesus is there to teach us to say, just like He did when tempted – Away from me, Satan. God’s Word is
our weapon in the fight.
When we are trying to forget our past and the sins that haunt us, but our guilty conscience won’t let us,
Jesus is there to remind us, My blood has purified you from all unrighteousness.
When facing the questions and fears of death itself, the world’s answer is, “Everybody dies. Deal with it”.
But Jesus – the One who has seen the inside of the tomb and who has provided the only way out – He says
Because I live, you also will live. (Jn 14:19 ESV)
We will come to him and make our home with him. The more and more we become “people of the
Word”, this is how the Lord and our heavenly come to us and live with us and in us. With our regular worship,
with our daily reading, with our directed study, we see more and more God’s answers to our questions for faith and
life and especially for the life to come.
CONCLUSION
As God’s children, we will always have questions to ask. But the important thing is to know where to turn
and who to ask, and when we do ask, let us also ask for wide open ears, minds and hearts to the answers the Lord
speaks to us in His Word. Amen.