More wonderful than Jesus

John 14:23-29

This is becoming one of my favorite gospel passages, specifically verse 28. “You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father,’ because the Father is greater than I.”

This passage presented more questions than peace for me until I discovered the Greek word for greater could also be translated as more wonderful. Now it makes perfect sense to me. In fact, it is the good news in a nutshell: the Father is more wonderful than Jesus. I like that picture. It’s a picture the church ought to be sharing more often with the world.

One of Martin Luther’s repeated claims in his sermons of the Church Postil was that people were attracted to Jesus because they heard he was kind, he was able to help them, and he desired to help them. People weren’t afraid of Jesus. He didn’t wield the Law and threaten them with eternal destruction.

If the church wants to be a light that attracts people like moths to a flame, it should work harder to become a hospital for the wounded and an oasis in the desert. Sometimes I think it looks more like a guard checking everyone’s I.D. before it allows passage through the gates of the Garden of Eden.

God the Father is more wonderful than Jesus. God is good ALL the time. That’s the good news more people need to hear. It’s a salve on open wounds. It’s a cold drink of water on a parched tongue.

This is the God everyone can love, worship, and serve.

PWM