You Know All Things

John 21:17, Matthew 28:18

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Well, Happy New Year, everyone. I was thinking about a couple of Bible passages that are, to me very meaningful as we think about the start of the next 12 months on the calendar. One of them is in John chapter 21, verse 17. It’s after Jesus had risen from the dead and He was speaking to his disciple, Peter. He asked Peter, Do you love me? And Peter had to answer that question three times. On the last time Peter said to Jesus in response to this question, Do you love me?

Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you. (John 21:17)

And there’s another passage that is also comforting. And that is in Matthew 28, verse 18 again, Jesus, just prior to his ascension, his return into heaven, told his friends,

All authority in heaven and on Earth has been given to me. (Matthew 28:18)

Now, as we’re standing at the start of a new calendar year, I know I need to get out my calendars and fill in some important dates that I’ll look ahead to. I do that, of course, so I don’t forget about them. We know that when we’re dealing with things like that, we’re thinking about the future. And though we may have in our own minds a sense of what is going to happen in the future, the truth is, of course, none of us can accurately predict the future. For us, that remains something quite mysterious.

But not for God. God is omniscient. It means he has a perfect knowledge and awareness of everything behind us, everything now in the present and everything in the future. And I’m so thankful that our Lord Jesus, the one who came and paid for our sins by offering up his own wholly innocent life for us, that he’s God. So when Peter said to him, “you know all things” Jesus didn’t dispute that. He didn’t say, “Well, I know a lot, but not everything.” As true God, he could accept Peter’s statement. Lord, you know, all things.

What a great thing for us that Jesus is aware of the future. He said, I’m with you always, even to the end of the age. He knows the hard things that are in front of us and the things that frightened us if we knew about them. But we can be assured, he says, Don’t be afraid, little flock. He’s our shepherd who will accompany us every step of the way.

Jesus also told his friends all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. When we think about it, the one who has all the authority gets exactly what he wants. And what Jesus wants is for you and me to be with Him forever in heaven. And He wants us to be happy here on Earth and blessed with him in eternal life. And so he brings that about, too. He causes us to be under his authority so that his will is done in our lives. And his most important will for us is that we know him and believe in him and rely upon him as our true friend, our everlasting Savior, the one who has opened heaven for us poor sinners.

So that while we don’t know everything that’s going to happen here on Earth in 2023, we do know that when we leave this Earth, even if it should be this year or many years from now, knowing his will, knowing his power, knowing his awareness of all things, trusting in him, we can look forward to a wonderful and beautiful future with him in heaven. May God grant that to you and to all of us. Amen.