Cinnamon Buns – John 14:20

John 14:20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.

The secret of good cinnamon buns is the layering of all the ingredients. You want the sugar and cinnamon on every thin layer of the dough. The more layers, the better the taste and texture. You want the flavors of the toppings to be found throughout the bun. You don’t want large sections of dough only.

I also love a particularly bad for you potato and cheese casserole. It has cheese, sour cream and tater tots all mixed together. Then it gets topped with even more cheese! It is really unhealthily for us older people, but it is always a hit with the grandkids. The adults usually have some in moderation. It is hard to resist!

Both of these foods have the same thing in common. They both have the flavors incorporated thoroughly throughout their entire structure. It is not that the flavors get so mixed that you can’t taste the individual flavors, but that with each bit there is a slightly different combination of these flavors that hits your palate.

It is this combination, without the loss of the individuality, that make for a great tasting food.

Now what does this have to do with our text, you might ask. Read it slowly. “On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.” Jesus in Father, disciples in Jesus, and Jesus in disciples. See the mix! Can you see the layers? No mixing of flavors, no confusion of ingredients. Father stays the Father, the Son the son, the disciples the disciples.

The picture is of a vital and intimate connection, an interplay of the elements in one new thing. That is what Jesus came to reestablish with humanity. In the beginning, in the Garden, there was a closeness of humanity and divinity. God walked in the Garden, just as Adam and Eve did. There were no barriers, no hinderances.

That is until humans choose to reject God’s definitions of their roles, God was in charge and humans were in charge, but each in their own place. God had the universe and humans had, under God’s authority, the Earth. No mixing. No confusion. Paradise.

Now that Jesus has risen from the dead and is in the process of restoring all of creation to its original design, Jesus is reestablishing the intimacy and connectedness that was lost when sin was given a place in the world. Heaven and earth will be close again, occupying the same spiritual place, overlapping Earth’s space with Heaven’s space.

We will walk in intimacy like we have never experienced here in Earth realm. And this is what Jesus is inviting His disciples into in the future. And we are invited as well.

So next time you eat a cinnamon bun, recognize the beauty of the layers of flavor and texture. Then think about the relationships in the Trinity, how they don’t mix, lose their individuality, or get watered down. Now throw yourself into that mix. God in you. You in God. You will never be God, but you will have a closeness with Him that He shares within Himself.