Star Wars, Jesus, and Four Things to Know When We Have That Bad Feeling
“I have a bad feeling about this.” Famous words said over and over again throughout the Star Wars movies. Do you think the disciples ever said the same thing when they were with Jesus?
John 16 says: I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. 2 They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. 3 And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. 4 But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you. I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. 5 But now I am going to him who sent me.
Imagine sitting with Jesus in the temple, or one of the synagogues, and having a heated discussion with the Pharisees and other religious leaders. Jesus wasn’t afraid to tell it like it was. Imagine sitting there with that feeling that Jesus is going to say something really provocative, and you know the religious folk are looking for an excuse to have a good stoning. And then, Jesus says something even more provocative than you had imagined. And suddenly, the rest of your life looks really short. How many times do you think the disciples TRIED to pull Jesus out of a heated debate?
Fast forward to the night before Jesus goes to the cross. John records chapter after chapter of last-minute teaching from Jesus on the way to the Garden of Gethsemane, words filled with the understanding that, life is going to be hard in the near future. And I’m sure the disciples were thinking, I have a bad feeling about this.
And rightly so. Jesus’ words here are rife with implication that the religious leaders were going to come after their lives. How many times do we have recorded in the Gospels for us that they had already tried to stone Jesus? How many more times do you think didn’t get recorded?
In the midst of the bad feeling we’ll get when we live the truth of the Bible, here are a few comforting implications of these words of Jesus:
(1) We’re not meant to fall away
Simply put, we’re not meant to fall away. Jesus warns us, clearly, that bad times are always coming when the truth of God’s Word makes our environment uncomfortable. We will want to flee instead of doing the right thing, but Jesus promises us that there is grace at the end of truth. In the midst of our weaknesses, God will always grant us mercy when we stand up in a right manner. Jesus says, it is better to follow Me than to fall away.
Even in our pleasurable society, there is the opportunity to fall away. When we are tempted to follow that direction, remember that Jesus went straight to the cross after these warnings to the disciples.
(2) A lot of atrocity is going to happen that people think is directed by God
This is nothing new. But every week, lately, it seems that we have a new opportunity to see these words lived out to their fullest extent. We must guard ourselves for when it does happen. We must respond in a way that is pleasing to God, on a societal level and a personal level. That may make us uncomfortable or not the most liked person around, but better to please God than to follow the emotions of the crowd.
Read the comments section on news articles. Read your Facebook feed. See how people are calling you to respond to all the tragedies we are seeing around us. What emotions are they forcing? What nerves are they hitting? What foregone conclusion are they expecting? What discomfort do you feel when you read these things? Perhaps that’s God asking for remembrance of Him before what others are saying is right.
Might we be blind-sided by the atrocity we commit thinking it is directed by God? That can happen on both sides of any debate. Extremism can happen, even when it’s cloaked in a friend’s attempt to direct the Bible to say what they want it to say.
God is bigger than atrocity. Take comfort in that.
(3) God gives us the promise that we know the Father when others don’t
Jesus Christ is the face of God to a world that thinks it knows the face of God. With all of the false interpretations of God around us, we still stay grounded in the message of the Trinity, God’s revealed grace and hope, and the power of prayer. Those things will help us stay focused on the face of God when the world tries to do its own facial reconstruction.
(4) We’re on our own but not on our own
Was Jesus an enabler? Did His presence allow for bad habits to grow and continue with the disciples?
In a single word, no. Jesus was a teacher, and part of the teacher’s job is to cause the student to grow in a safe environment. There needs to be some place of protection to allow for development. Jesus provided that. But now, as the hour neared for His crucifixion, He needed them to understand what ministry would be like without Him physically there.
While Jesus was with the disciples, He provided physical protection. He knew when to get the disciples out of certain places. We have no record of the disciples breaking their legs or getting leprosy under His care. Perhaps the Gospel writers didn’t feel the need to record those things, but you’d think that if those things happened and Jesus healed them, it would further His glory. One way or another, He physically protected His disciples.
He continues to protect us and watch over us. We know that it is not a promise that no earthly harm will happen, but a trust that, no matter the circumstances, God will be with us, to give us words to speak, and the faith, if we cling to it, to keep the confession of Christ under duress.
Jesus provided physical and spiritual restraint. James and John wanted to call down fire on a group of people. Jesus had to intervene when Peter almost killed a man. Jesus was always directing the disciples to think forward to the cross. Jesus is always seeking for us to think backwards to the cross.
Jesus provided the opportunity for leadership training. When Jesus sent out the disciples two-by-two, they had the power to do things they never dreamed they could do by themselves. When they returned and gave the rest of the group a debriefing, it further confirmed what the name of Jesus can do for those who seek to further the Kingdom of God. It was a step away from the physical protection of Jesus; but even being away from him, they had protection through His name.
Though Jesus has ascended into Heaven, His name still accomplishes powerful things. We have the trust that His name brings a new relationship to the troubled situations of this world. That is why we must always invite His way into all things. From the simplest disciplinary action, to the hardest decisions that we make, Jesus grows us when we follow Him.
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Yeah, bad feelings abound when God clashes with misinterpretation, zealotry, and power-grabs. Do we understand it, welcome it, or let someone else deal with it? Amen.
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