Trust in God; trust in Jesus
My stepfather’s graveside funeral was held a few weeks ago. Following a short stay in hospital, he was discharged to a nursing home where he died less than four days later.
During the preceding week he and I had a particularly meaningful telephone conversation. He was bright, not in pain and, more than once, expressed that he was both comfortable and content. I confirmed that this was how he was coming across, which was, I said, an answer to my prayers, ‘…because I have been praying that you would know both contentment and assurance.’
‘That’s what I want – assurance,’ he said. ‘It’s as though I’m looking for something which I can’t quite get; like a bridge from here to heaven.’ He had been a most devout man all of his life, being thoroughly grounded in his religious tradition.
I told him that the bridge he was seeking was Jesus. ‘It’s Jesus who brings us to God.’ I then proceeded to remind him of a previous conversation when we had mentioned a portion from the New Testament, namely the Gospel of John, the opening verses of chapter 14, frequently read at funerals, ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you.…’
It is easy to miss an important point in this familiar quote: a general belief in God only takes us so far, it’s needful to actually trust Jesus who is the one who brings us to the true God.
I then quoted a famous verse, again from John, ‘God loved the world and so sent his Son, Jesus, so that whoever believes/trusts in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.’
I emphasised the word ‘trust’ so as to avoid the pitfall of imagining that ‘believe’ is just a mental acknowledgement that Jesus existed or exists. When a wife says that she believes in her husband, she doesn’t mean that she acknowledges that he exists! Rather, she gives him her trust.
My stepfather then said, ‘When it comes down to it, it’s all about faith isn’t it? That’s all we want; something simple. We talk about knowing God’s will, but we don’t really know what God’s will is. It needs to be simple.’
I agreed and then referred to another verse from John’s Gospel where the people ask Jesus what they must do in order to do the works (or will) of God. Jesus answered, ‘The work of God is this: to believe in the one he sent [i.e. Jesus]’.
From the words he then spoke, it was plain that my stepfather very much valued these shared minutes, as indeed did I.
You may be reading this and thinking that it is inappropriate for me to share such personal things. I am convinced that during the recent months, many people, whether they consider themselves religious or not, will have been looking for strength and assurance. They will have discovered that neither those in places of power, nor those in the field of science, are willing to give authoritative answers on matters of life and death. I believe that, in the name of the love of God, Christians are right to point to Jesus. This is because it is Jesus who is the only credible person that has ever claimed to have been given all authority which includes matters of life and death. Based on this, I am glad to be able to share with you the words ‘… trust in God, trust also in Jesus’.