One of the most commonly read Scriptures at a funeral gravesite is from John chapter 14:1-4: “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” (John 14:1-4)

 

In this and the next three chapters: John 14, 15, 16, 17, Jesus is speaking to His disciples, preparing them (and us) for what is to come. This is where the Holy Spirit (our Helper) is promised. This is where the True Vine is explained, where Jesus prays to the Father, and where Jesus Himself prays for us today: “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.” (John 17:20-21)

 

Certainly, all of the Bible is important, and should be part of a believer’s daily reading/study, but for some reason, many Christians are oblivious of the verses where Jesus says: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,” (John 14:15-16)

 

And, “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” (John 14:21)

 

Also, “Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.” (John 14:23-24)

 

Finally, “These things I command you, so that you will love one another.” (John 15:17)

So the question we need to ask ourselves is, What Are These Commandments? Do we know them? 

 

Let’s talk about what a commandment is, and let’s use something most of us are familiar with. Do parents command their children? Do they “lay down the rules?” Do they lovingly instruct them? Do they teach them how to live, hoping and praying their children will become mature and responsible adults? Of course they do. This is something most parents do for about 20 or so years, sometimes with tears and grief, always looking to the future for success. 

 

Jesus had three years to prepare His disciples to “turn the world upside down,” which through the power of the Holy Spirit, they did.

 

Many Christians can recite these two commandments: “But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, (1) “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: (2) You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”  (Matthew 22:34-40)

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But what about the Old Testament commandments? There are 613 commandments in the Mosaic Law, given by God to the Nation of Israel for Moral, Civil, & Ceremonial purposes. At the beginning of those we can find the famous Ten Commandments, which practically everyone has either seen or undoubtedly heard of.

 

What did Jesus say? “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:17-20)

 

So Jesus came to “fulfil the law and the prophets,” and that He certainly did. But then He warns that unless our (or for that matter, anyone’s) righteousness EXCEEDS that of the (self-righteous) Pharisees, they can never enter the Kingdom of heaven. 

 

How can our righteousness exceed?

 

There’s ONLY ONE WAY:  By placing our faith and trust in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. This is salvation; this is the new birth, this is the second greatest miracle of all. When a person repents and turns to Christ for forgiveness and places their faith and trust in Him for eternal life, the righteousness of Christ is imbued to them. God no longer sees their sin and rebellion; He sees His Son’s righteousness.

 

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”  (Ephesians 2:8-9)

 

And, “for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”  (Galatians 3:26-28)

 

Also, “If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”  (Colossians 3:1-3)

 

Finally, “even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,”(Ephesians 2:5-6)

Through Scripture, we have established several important points: Jesus gave His followers commandments(or instructions), Jesus came to fulfil the law and the prophets, and when we place our faith in Jesus, we experience salvation, and are spiritually placed “in Christ” and receive His righteousness. And certainly, eternal life in the Kingdom of God.

 

So then, as believers and followers of Jesus, what does the great commission tell us?

 

“And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”  (Matthew 28:18-20)

 

The Great Commission includes sharing the good news of the Gospel everywhere, baptizing converts, and making disciples. Oh, and teaching Jesus’ commandments. Where then are these commandments? They are spread throughout the Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. They are His teachings, His instructions, His directives. There are at least 49 of them. Let’s learn them together. Are you ready?

 

May our Lord Jesus Christ be praised and honored and glorified by all that we say, all that we think, and all that we do.