RestlessSample

Jesus knew a lot about rest, and he encouraged his followers to rest often. Even in one of his last conversation with his disciples, he spoke about finding rest in Him. This conversation took place after the Last Supper with his disciples.

 If you had one last meal with your loved ones, what would you say?  What if you threw just one more party and all of your closest friends and family arrived, you ate together, laughed together, shared stories together, and then everyone became silent and looked at you? What words would come out of your mouth? Surely you would want to say something that would stick in everyone’s mind and last forever.

Jesus had this type of opportunity in John, chapter 15. He gathered His best friends, His disciples, around a table for His last meal with them a night before His death.  They did not know what was coming, but He did. So, He escorted them out of the upper room, down the stairs, through the narrow streets of Jerusalem, out the Eastern gate, down a path called the path of Kidron, into the Kidron Valley. There they stood…in a vineyard. Can you imagine the disciples, as they formed a horseshoe around Jesus? Peter, James, John, Matthew. They had no idea that before the sun came up, their leader would be arrested. Before the sun set again, their Jesus would die. But Jesus knows everything, and He said one last thing. Did He tell them to buck up and fight? Did He tell them to get ready for war? No. He talked about a vineyard. He told them to “abide.”