1/27/2013

Jesus' Prayer (John 17:1-26)

Jn17

John 17:1-26; Key Verses: Jn 17:24

“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am..."

There are three words that may help us "balance our Christian lives" ("Ortho" in Greek means "right," "correct," "true," or "straight."):
  • orthodoxy (right or correct beliefs/doctrines/theory/opinion).
  • orthopraxy (right or correct practices/action/activity)
  • orthopathy, (right or correct suffering/emotions/passions).
This may be like saying that we Christians need to get at least three things right: God, our life, and our emotions. Among the Beatitudes (Mt 5:3-12), we might add "Blessed are the balanced." In Jesus' magisterial prayer we see Jesus expressing the full range of his orthodoxy, orthopraxy and orthopathy.
  • He expressed profoundly his core being and beliefs in his eternal relationship with the Father.
  • Because of this inseparable relationship with the Father, he would soon be glorified by being pouring out his life in obedience to the Father unto death, even death on the cross.
  • At this most angst filled moment of his life, he displayed nothing but an outpouring of love for his Father and for his disciples and the church, even for us.
Someone stated that meditating on John 13 - 17 (Jesus' Upper Room Discourse) is like going into the holy of holies in the temple of God, for Jesus poured out his heart to God, to his disciples and even to us as future believers, the last night before he died a horrific death. May God bless you to express profound orthodoxy, orthopraxy and orthopathy as we contemplate Jesus' prayer.

The evening before the great Protestant reformer Martin Luther died in 1546, he had this prayer read to him three times in succession. John Knox, who brought reformation to the church in Scotland, on his death-bed in 1572, asked his wife to read him John 17. During his last sermon before his death, Philip Melanchthon, a German reformer, collaborator with Martin Luther, stated he received great comfort from John 17.

This well loved prayer of Jesus is a fitting conclusion to his upper room farewell discourse with his disciples in John 14-16. In some respects this prayer is a summary of the entire Fourth Gospel to this point. Its principal themes include:

  1. Jesus' obedience to his Father (Jn 17:2; 8:29; 5:19).
  2. The glorification of his Father through his death/exaltation (Jn 17:5; 13:31-32).
  3. The revelation of God in Christ Jesus (Jn 17:7-8; 14:7, 10-11; 1:14, 18).
  4. The Son gives eternal life (Jn 17:2; 5:21).
  5. The inseparable love relationship of the Father and the Son, and with the disciples (Jn 17:21, 23; Jn 15:1, 4-5).
  6. The joy of the disciples (Jn 17:13; 16:20-22; 15:11).
  7. The choosing of the disciples out of the world (Jn 17:14; 15:16, 19).
  8. The disciples' mission to the world (Jn 17:18; 13:34-35).
  9. The disciples' unity modeled on the unity of the Father and the Son (Jn 17:11,21-23; 11:52; 10:16).
  10. The disciples final destiny in the presence of the Father and the Son (Jn 17:24).
This prayer reveals the following transitions:
  1. The end of Jesus’ earthly ministry.
  2. Jesus' grand work for the Father on the cross.
  3. Jesus looks forward to the on going work through the 11 apostles.
  4. Jesus also looks forward to the ministry of all believers in the church.
An outline of this prayer (which might be the "simplest" aspect of this intricate and comprehensive prayer) is as follows:
  1. Jesus prays for himself (Jn 17:1-5): the key is the “Father’s glory.”
  2. Jesus prays for his disciples (Jn 17:6-19): the key is “preservation” (and sanctification).
  3. Jesus prays for the church--the present and future believers (Jn 17:20-26): the key is “oneness.”
This prayer is the highest and most extensive example of “intercessory” prayer. The largest part of the prayer is spent on intercessory prayer for his disciples--both present and future. Jesus was much more concerned about them than about himself. Jesus presented the needs of his disciples to the Father.

I. Jesus Prays for Himself (Jn 17:1-5): the key is the “Father’s glory.”

God's sovereignty is not an excuse for fatalism, but an incentive to prayer for its fulfillment. After Jesus' farewell discourse of John 14 - 16, Jesus prayed (Jn 17:1a). This is the appointed "hour." It is God's appointed time for Jesus' crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and ascension into glory, which has now arrived. This was not an excuse for resigned fatalism, but for prayer. Because the hour has come for the Son to be glorified, he prays that the glorification might take place, that the Father will accomplish the purpose of this appointed hour. As so often in Scripture, emphasis on God's sovereignty functions as an incentive to prayer, not a disincentive.

Jesus' one petition. In his prayer for himself (Jn 17:1-5) there is but one petition: "Glorify your Son" (Jn 17:1). What does it mean to  "glorify"?

  1. To do the work the Father sent him to do.
  2. To do the Father’s will.
  3. To live the Father’s character in our life.
  4. To reveal to others the Father’s nature.
  5. To communicate eternal life with others.
In this context the primary meaning of "to glorify" is "to clothe in splendor" (Jn 17:5). The petition asks the Father to reverse the self-emptying entailed in his incarnation and to restore him to the splendor that he shared with the Father before the world began (Jn 17:5). That Jesus prayed for the Father to glorify the Son is a moving expressinn of his own willingness to obey the Father even unto death (Jn 17:9).

Those the Father gives to Jesus get eternal life. "For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him" (Jn 17:2). "...all those you have given him" are the elect. In order to save some/the elect the One who saves them must have absolute authority over all. When Jesus petitions his Father to glorify the Son (Jn 17:1), he does so on the basis of the Father's eternal plan to give all authority to the Son to give eternal life to the elect as a result of Jesus' death and resurrection (Mt 28:18; 1 Cor 15:27-28). Everything and everyone in the universe is subject to this authority, whether it is acknowledged or not.

Eternal life is to know Jesus and be transformed. Eternal life is not so much everlasting life as personal knowledge of the Everlasting One (Jn 17:3). The word ‘'know'’ is often used in the Septuagint and sometimes in the Greek New Testament to describe the intimacy of a sexual relationship (Gen 4:1; Mt 1:25). Thus a person who knows God has an intimate relationship with God. This knowledge of the divine is not merely intellectual and not mere information, though it invariably includes information. Rather the knowledge of God and Jesus entails fellowship, trust, personal relationship, faith. If we met someone we truly admired, our lives would surely be affected in some memorable way. Likewise, to know God is to be transformed and be introduced to a life and an experience that we could never ever know otherwise.

"I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began" (Jn 17:4-5). Throughout his ministry Jesus brought glory to God, beginning with his incarnation (Jn 1:14). Now Jesus would finish the work by his obedience unto death (Phil 2:8). He also asked to be returned to the glory that he shared with the Father before the world began, i.e., before creation. This means that the incarnation entailed a forfeiture of glory.

II. Jesus Prays for His Disciples (Jn 17:6-19): the key is “preservation” (and sanctification).

In this part, let us consider:

  1. What Jesus did for his disciples.
  2. What his disciples did in response.
  3. Why and what Jesus prayed for his disciples.
What Jesus did for his disciples. Jesus' prayer (for his disciples) shows what Jesus did for them:
  1. Jesus revealed the Father (your name) to them (Jn 17:6, 11, 12, 26). The Father’s “name” is mentioned 4 times (Jn 17:6,11,12,26). The word “name” designates a connection with the person, meaning “involvement in all of His attributes and character.
  2. Jesus gave them God's word (Jn 17:8, 14).
  3. Jesus protected/kept them safe in the Father's name (Jn 17:12).
  4. Jesus spoke God's words to them so that they may have the full measure of his joy within them (Jn 17:13).
  5. Jesus sent them into the word as his emissaries/missionaries (Jn 17:18).
  6. Jesus gave them glory (Jn 17:22).
What his disciples did in response. In response to what Jesus did for them, this is what his disciples had done:
  1. They now know that everything the Son has comes from the Father (Jn 17:7).
  2. They accepted and obeyed God's word (Jn 17:6b,8a).
  3. They know that Jesus came from the Father (Jn 17:8b).
  4. They believe that the Father sent Jesus (Jn 17:8c).
  5. They bring glory to Jesus (Jn 17:10).
Jesus' prayer for his disciples. In this part, Jesus turns from his single petition for himself to his several petitions for his disciples.
  1. Jesus prays for his disciples because they belong to the Father (Jn 17:6-11a).
  2. Jesus prays that his disciples may be protected/kept (Jn 17:11b-16).
  1. Protect/keep them in the Father's name (Jn 17:11b).
  2. Protect/keep them from the evil one (Jn 17:15).
  • Jesus prays that his disciples may be sanctified (Jn 17:17-19).
  • Jesus prays for his disciples as opposed to others, for they are those whom the Father has given to the Son (Jn 17:6; 6:37). Jesus said, "They were yours" (Jn 17:6), and "they are yours" (Jn 17:9). This gift was not rooted in anything intrinsic to the people themselves, but God gave them to Jesus who chose them out of the world (Jn 15:19). How do we know who they are? They can be described in terms of their response to God's gracious self-disclosure in Christ: "they have obeyed your word" (Jn 17:6b).

    In the world, but not of the world. Jesus chose the disciples out of the world (Jn 15:19), so that they are no longer of the world (Jn 17:14). But Jesus did not pray for the disciples to be taken out of the world, but protected from the evil one (Jn 17:15). God’s plan was not to remove them from danger and opposition (to take them out of the world) but to preserve them in the midst of conflict. The place of believers during this lifetime is not to withdraw from the world but to remain in the world and to influence it continually for good, as difficult as that may be.

    Jesus prays for our unity, which is the work of the Trinity. "Holy Father, protect them ... so that they may be one as we are one" (Jn 17:11). Jesus shows the kind of profound unity that should be the norm among genuine believers. Subsequent verses indicate that this is to be a reflection of the unity that has existed eternally between the Father and the Son (Jn 17:21, 23), namely, the unity of a common mind and purpose, an unqualified mutual love (Jn 17:26), and a sustained comprehensive togetherness in mission (Jn 17:18), as revealed in the Father-Son relationship characterized by Jesus’ own ministry. Such unity is the result of Jesus' active and ongoing work in the disciples, to protect them by God's name (Jn 17:12) from the evil one (Jn 17:15). This protection is rooted in God's word (Jn 17:14, 17, 20) and involves sanctification (Jn 17:17,19). The kind of unity that is central to Jesus’ high priestly prayer is not organizational but is an all-encompassing relational reality that binds believers together with each other and with their Lord—a unity that can be achieved only through the regenerating and sanctifying work of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Although individual Christians, and the church in general, tend to fall short of the fullness of unity that the Lord intends, whenever such unity is even partially realized (never at the expense of truth or holiness) the result will always be deep joy (Jn 17:13), a persuasive witness to the world (Jn 17:21,23), and a display of God’s glory (Jn 17:22).

    What is God's purpose in sanctifying us? Sanctification is where Christians spend virtually the entirety of our Christian lives. Our conversion happens at a certain point in time. Our glorification will happen when Jesus comes again. What happens in between our conversion and our glorification? Jesus prays that we may be sanctified by the truth of God's word (Jn 17:17). Our sanctification is possible primarily because Jesus sanctified himself through his obedience to the Father to die for our sins (Jn 17:19). What is God's purpose in sanctifying us?

    • Primarily it is that we Christians may "be conformed to the image of his Son" (Rom 8:29).
    • Practically, God sanctifies us so that we may testify to the world as his emissaries, ambassadors and missionaries (Jn 17:18).
    III. Jesus Prays for the Church--the present and future believers (Jn 17:20-26): the key is “oneness,” "unity."

    Jesus does not stop at praying for himself (Jn 17:1-5) and his disciples (Jn 17:6-19) but now prays for "those who will believe in me" in the future (Jn 17:20). Jesus’ concern is for his followers’ unity (Jn 17:21-23) and love (Jn 17:26).

    Secular oneness and Jesus' oneness. “Oneness” is a favorite thought of many false religions and Eastern cults, Transcendental Meditation, Hare Krishna, New Age, Zen, and others. The secular idea of oneness is comprehensiveness without distinction. It is loosey goosey, nondescript and ill-defined. But the oneness Jesus talks about shows a distinctiveness from the world and an opposition to the world by being obedient to the Father’s plan, proclaiming the Father’s name, and defending the Father’s Word.

    "...that all of them may be one" (Jn 17:21) makes the inclusion of all those who believe, from after Jesus’ death up to the Second Coming. This unity would include those alive on earth and those who have died. This suggests that the “oneness” is much more than a physical earthly unity.

    How do believers become one? "...just as you (Father) are in me (Jesus) and I (Jesus) am in you (Father). May they (disciples) also be in us (Father and Son)..." (Jn 17:21).

    • Source of unity: the Trinity. "...in us" (the Father and the Son) suggests the source of our unity and our ability to be one. It does not originate from ourselves, from the disciple or the Christian, no matter how mature and holy they may be.
    • Process of unity: drawing/depending on the Trinity. This oneness and unity is a continual ongoing special relationship that the “believers resemble that which exists eternally between the Father and the Son.” It is a drawing on each other, a support from each other, and the same goal for each other, as the Father and the Son.
    • Goal/result of unity: the world may know that the Father sent the Son (Jn 17:21b, 23b). This oneness is the union of plan, of counsel, of purpose, seeking the same objects, and manifesting attachment to the same things, and a desire to promote the same ends, as that of the Father and the Son.
    • Enablement/empowerment of unity: Glory (Jn 17:22) and indwelling (Jn 17:33). The glory that Jesus gives his disciples suggests the revelation and disclosure of the fullness of the Son by the Father (Jn 17:22). "I (Jesus) in them (disciples) and you (Father) in me (Jesus)—so that they may be brought to complete unity" (Jn 17:23a). It is Jesus' indwelling in us that brings us to complete unity. It is not something that can be brought about by any person or church.
    Jesus wants the world to know that the Father sent the Son (Jn 17:21b,23b). Jesus wants the world to believe that He was the “sent one,” “that the world may believe that you have sent me” (Jn 17:21b), and "to let the world know that you sent me" (Jn 17:23b). Jesus was concerned that the world would understand and acknowledge that “Jesus” was the sent one from the Father. The whole purpose of unity is to present a united front to the world testifying to who Jesus was and what Jesus did. Some suggest that the “world” knowing “Jesus was the Sent one from the Father” is the same as “believing in Jesus as Savior.” The world cannot know or accept or find or reveal the Father (Jn 17:25; 14:17). The only way the Father can be known or found is through Jesus (Jn 17:6, 26).

    Jesus wants his disciples to be with him (Jn 17:24). The word “want” (“theleo”) reveals Jesus’ “wish, pleasure or delight.” This is what Jesus truly deeply wants and desires. Jesus knows the 11 disciples will be going through extreme difficult times in starting the church and Jesus did not pray that they would be removed. However, Jesus’ desire is that all believers would come to be with Him soon. To be our God and for us to be his people and to be with him is a main thrust of the Bible from Genesis (Gen 17:7-8) to Revelation (Rev 21:3).

    Jesus loved and glorified his Father and obeyed Him unto death, so that he might extend God's love to the unworthy, that is, to all of his followers. Jesus also loves his disciples and us by praying for our protection, our sanctification, and our unity. Through out your days, may God bless you to grasp and to contemplate and reflect upon this magisterial prayer of Jesus.

    Questions:

    1. Jesus' prayer for himself has but one petition. What is it (Jn 17:1, 5; 13:31-32)? What do you think this means? What does Jesus mean by "glorify" the Father? What is the hour (Jn 2:4; 7:6, 8, 30; 8:20; 12:20, 23, 27-2, 31-32; 13:1)?
    2. What does God do, and what does Jesus do (Jn 17:2; 6:37, 44; 15:16, 19; Ac 13:48; Rom 8:29; Eph 1:3-6; 2 Th 2:13; Tit 1:1; 1 Pet 1:2)? What is eternal life (Jn 17:3; 20:31)? What does it mean to "know" (Jer 31:33-34; Isa 54:13; 1 Cor 2:13)?
    3. How does Jesus bring glory to the Father (Jn 17:4; 19:30)? What is the glory Jesus had before the world began (Jn 17:5)?
    4. Who does Jesus reveal himself to (Jn 17:6a; 15:19; Eph 1:4; Rev 17:8)? What is the evidence that Jesus has revealed himself (Jn 17:6b; 6:68-69; 11:16; 13:37)? What do they know about Jesus and how (Jn 17:7-8)?
    5. Who does Jesus pray for and not pray for (Jn 17:9)? Why would Jesus pray for their protection (Jn 17:10-12, 14-16; 15:18-16:4)? Did Jesus fail with Judas (Jn 6:64, 70; 13:10-11, 18, 21-22; Ps 41:9)? What does Jesus want for his disciples (Jn 17:13; 15:11)?
    6. What does "sanctify" mean (Jn 17:17, 19)? How does this happen (Jn 15:3; 16:13)? For what purpose (Jn 17:18; 20:21; 15:26-27)?
    7. What is Jesus’ main prayer for future believers (Jn 17:20-23)? Why is unity so important (Jn 17:11, 21, 23)? How does unity happen (Jn 15:4-5, 7, 9-10; 1 Cor 12:12-13; Eph 3:17-19; Col 1:27)? Must unity be observable (cf. Jn 13:34-35)? What does it mean to you for the church to be in unity?
    8. What does Jesus [and believers] ultimately want (Jn 17:24; 14:2-3; Phil 1:23; 1 Th 4:17; Rev 21:3, 22:4)? Who does Jesus know (Jn 17:25)? What does Jesus continue to do (Jn 17:26; Rom 5:5)?

    (Jesus’ prayer shows us what is in his heart and in the Father’s heart. What encourages you the most or means the most to you after reading Jesus’ prayer?)

    References:

    1. Carson, D.A. The Gospel According to John. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. 1991. IV. Jesus' Self-Disclosure in His Cross and Exaltation (Jn 13:1-20:31), D. The Prayer of Jesus (Jn 17:1-26) 550-571.
    2. An Introduction to John 17:1-26. Compiled By Dr. Gary M. Gulan, ©1985.
    3. John 17:1-5 (Part 1). Compiled By Dr. Gary M. Gulan, ©1985.
    4. John 17:6-19 (Part 2). Compiled By Dr. Gary M. Gulan, ©1985.
    5. John 17:20-26 (Part 3). Compiled By Dr. Gary M. Gulan, ©1985.

    Posted via email from benjamintoh's posterous

    1/22/2013

    Your Grief Will Turn To Joy (John 16:1-33)

    Jn16holyspirit

    John 16:1-33; Key Verse: Jn 16:20b

    "...your grief will turn to joy."

    To preach about the Holy Spirit is quite enigmatic and confounding. My first title for this sermon was "The Holy Spirit Convicts and Guides" with Jn 16:8,13 as key verses. Next was "The Holy Spirit is Fully God, Yet Distinctly Different from God the Father and God the Son." But this title is clearly too long and cumbersome. Finally I settled on "Your Grief Will Turn To Joy," with Jn 16:20b as the key verse. My theme and thesis is that authentic Christian life, which is the work of the Holy Spirit, must have grief because of our sins, and it must have joy because of the marvelous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

    The "two sides" of God are often hard to reconcile or embrace together. God loves, but God also judges. Jesus is full of grace, but also full of truth (Jn 1:14). The Holy Spirit comforts but also convicts (Jn 16:8). Because we are sinful we tend to skew toward one side or the other, and we often flip flop depending on the situation. When we are upset with a particular person, we apply judgment, truth, conviction, etc. But if we favor someone, we apply love, grace and comfort. We are unpredictable, wishy washy and often inconsistent human beings. We desperately need the help of all three persons of the Trinity, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

    Jn 16:1-33 can be divided into three parts:

    1. Hostility from the religious (Jn 16:1-4).
    2. Help from the Holy Spirit (Jn 16:5-16).
      • The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgment.
      • The Holy Spirit guides into all truth.
    3. Hope from the promise of Jesus (Jn 16:17-33).
      • Persevering in Christ, our grief will turn to joy.
    I. Hostility From The Religious (Jn 16:1-4)

    Going astray. The greatest danger the disciples will confront from the opposition of the world is not death but apostasy (Jn 16:1). They will be hated and persecuted simply because of Jesus' name, which means that they unashamedly identify themselves as Christians (Jn 15:18-21; Mt 5:10-12; Lk 6:22). If a Christian's roots are shallow, their faith may seem to joyfully thrive at first, but when persecution or hardship comes they fall away (Mt 13:21; Mk 4:17; Lk 8:13). Jesus warns them so that they might know with certainty that "everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted" (2 Tim 3:12).

    Being persecuted not by atheists but by the ultra-religious. Surprisingly, the most pressing threat is not just from the irreligious and the world at large (Jn 15:18-25), but specifically from the religious hierarchy; it is expulsion from "the synagogue" (Jn 16:2a). Historically, the first virulent opposition Christians faced came from the Jews, precisely because the church sprang out of Judaism and all its earliest members were Jews. Stephen was persecuted by the religious Jews (Ac 7:54-8:3). Paul, before his conversion, was an ardent devout Jew, who severely, aggressively and violently persecuted Christians and the church (Ac 8:3, 22:4-5, 26:9-11; Gal 1:13-17; Phil 3:6; 1 Tim 1:12-17). In his religious zeal, Paul likely believed that by persecuting Christians even to their death, he was "offering a service to God" (Jn 16:2b). But after his conversion, the persecutor became the persecuted (2 Cor 11:23-26). Receiving 39 lashes (2 Cor 11:24) was a distinctive punishment meted out by synagogue authorities. Some rabbinic authorities held that slaying heretics could be an act of divine worship. Sadly and inexcusably, Christiandom has heinously repaid the compliment toward other religious groups, including sincere Christians who defy a traditionalistic legalistic institutionalized church that has lost the life giving power of the gospel. Jesus himself was executed by the most "religious people" in the land who claimed that they knew God the best.

    Serving God by persecuting Christians. When William Carey wanted to obey Jesus' command, he was told by the church, "Young man, sit down; when God is pleased to convert the heathen world, He will do it without your help or mine." Whether in the 1st century or the 20th, Christians have often discovered that the most dangerous oppression comes not from careless pagans but from zealous adherents to religious faith, and from other ideologues. Christians have faced severe persecution performed in the name of Yahweh, in the name of Allah, in the name of Marx -- and in the name of Jesus (Jn 16:2b).

    Persecution comes from those who do not know God. Why is there such opposition from the religious? "They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me" (Jn 16:3). Who are these religious persecutors? Tit 1:16 says, "They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good." Usually religious zealots think that they somehow earn their salvation and their status by their own goodness or merit or righteousness (cf. Dt 7:7-8, 9:4,6). They think they have a "more direct access to God," on account of their own goodness, faithfulness, or some virtue. When genuine Christians display clearly that salvation is by grace alone and not by works (Eph 2:8-9), it severely threatens their false sense of security, status and salvation. They also feel dismissed as religious relics and artifacts who are disconnected to both God and people. Like the Pharisees and religious leaders of Jesus' time, they feel their position of religious aristocracy challenged and threatened by sincere Christians. Though they claim to know God, they instead spawn hostility toward sincere Christians (Jn 15:18-21). Jesus told them this so that when persecution breaks out the disciples will not be taken by surprise (Jn 16:4a). Jesus did not spell out the full dangers of persecution earlier because he was with them, and could largely protect them by absorbing all opposition himself, thus deflecting it from them (Jn 16:4b). His arrest was the last time he served them in this way (Jn 18:8-9).

    II. Help From The Holy Spirit (Jn 16:5-16)

    The disciples were too self-absorbed; they just didn't get it and were filled with grief. Peter and Thomas had earlier asked about where Jesus was going (Jn 13:36, 14:5). So why did Jesus say that none of them had asked him where he was going (Jn 16:5)? Though they did ask the question, they were not really interested to hear the answer. They were too self-absorbed in their own loss, sorrow and confusion. The drift of all 4 Gospels assures us that none of the inner ring of disciples entertained the idea, before the cross, that the Messiah would simultaneously be conquering king, suffering, dying servant and resurrected Lord. They did not grasp or understand any of Jesus' talk about his departure (Jn 16:16-19). As a result, they were "filled with grief" (Jn 16:6). Jesus said, "But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you" (Jn 16:7). Jesus leaving them (Jn 14:16, 26; 15:26), which was for their good, was filling them with grief and sorrow. Why? They had their own personal human hopes and dreams (Lk 24:21; Ac 1:6), which could not be realized if Jesus left them. Do we experience similar disappointments when we follow Jesus?

    The Holy Spirit (Paraclete) convicts/proves the world to be in the wrong. Jn 16:8-11 are not easy to explain: "When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned." Jn 16:9-11 is an expansion or explanation of the rather cryptic utterance of Jn 16:8. The Greek elenchō has the meaning of "expose, convince, convict, putting to shame, treating with contempt, cross-examining, accusing, bringing to the test, proving, refuting." The 1984 and 2011 NIV translates it "he will convict the world of guilt" and "he will prove the world to be in the wrong." This verb occurs 18 times in the NT (Mt 18:15; Lk 3:19; Jn 3:20, 8:46; 1 Cor 14:24; Eph 5:11, 13; 1 Tim 5:20; 2 Tim 4:2; Tit 1:9, 13, 2:15; Heb 12:5; Jas 2:9; Jude 15,22; Rev 3:19). In every instance it has to do with showing someone his sin, usually as a summons to repentance. Thus, the work of the Holy Spirit is to shame the world and convince it of its own guilt, and calling it to repentance.

    The Holy Spirit continues the work of Jesus. Just as Jesus forced a division in the world by showing that what it does is evil (Jn 7:7, 15:22), so the Paraclete continues this work--most commonly through the witness of disciples (Jn 15:26-27). This is done in connection with the truth of the gospel of Christ, since his whole purpose is to bring glory to Jesus (Jn 16:14, 17:2).

    The Holy Spirit convicts the world of its sin because the people who constitute the world do not believe in Jesus (Jn 16:9). If they did, they would believe his statements about their guilt and turn to him. Their unbelief brings not only condemnation (Jn 3:18,36) but willful ignorance of their need. The world's unbelief not only ensures that it will not receive life, it ensures that it cannot perceive that it walks in death and needs life. The Holy Spirit presses home the world's sin despite the world's unbelief; he convicts the world of sin because they do not believe in Jesus. This convicting work of the Paraclete is therefore gracious; it is designed to bring men and women of the world to recognize their need, and so turn to Jesus, and thus stop being the world.

    The Holy Spirit convicts the world of its (self-)righteousness because Jesus is going to the Father (Jn 16:10). What does this mean? While on earth, one of Jesus' most startling roles was to show up the world for the emptiness of its pretensions, to expose by his light the darkness of the world for what it is (Jn 3:19-21, 7:7, 15:22,24; Jer 17:9). But now that Jesus is leaving, how will that convicting work be continued? By the Paraclete, who will come to carry on that function, through illumination (Jn 14:26, 16:13), and who drives home this conviction in the world precisely because Jesus is no longer present to discharge this task. Undoubtedly this kind of conviction is driven home to the world primarily through Jesus' followers who, empowered by the Holy Spirit, live their lives in such growing conformity to Christ that the same impact on the world is observed as when Jesus lived out his life before the world. The point is that Jesus was the paradigm, the model of behavior, the master who was to be followed. Now the Paraclete so empowers them by taking "from what is mine and [making] it known to you" (Jn 16:15).

    Religious righteousness is like filthy rags, for there is no righteousness in the world. Jn 16:10 seems odd because the world rejects God's righteousness by actively suppressing the truth by her wickedness (Rom 1:18). Thus, the Holy Spirit's purpose is to shatter the world's pretensions of self-righteousness, by exposing the darkness and hypocrisy of the heart. To God, all man's righteous acts are like a soiled menstrual cloth (Isa 64:6), even if there is plenty of religious righteousness based on the Law. In Les Miserables, Javert represents the righteousness of the Law, which is inflexible, rigid, and non-negotiable. But through Jean Valjean, who represents the free grace of God, the world of righteousness based on the Law was convicted. Javert had only two options: to embrace the grace of God and share it with others as Jean Valjean did, or to reject it, which he did, and he threw himself off a bridge to his death. Similarly, when Judas was convicted of betraying a righteous man, Jesus, he could come forth and accept the free grace of God. Instead, he committed suicide by hanging himself until his intestines spilled out (Mt 27:5; Acts 1:18).

    The Holy Spirit convicts the world of its judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned (Jn 16:11). The judgment of which the Spirit convicts the world is its multifaceted spiritual blindness, supremely displayed in its treatment of Jesus. Because the world is under Satan's control, its judgments are blind, faulty and evil as evidenced in their verdict on Christ. Jesus had exhorted the world, "Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly” (Jn 7:24). Jesus' judgment is righteous (Jn 5:30) and true (Jn 8:16). The world's judgment is profoundly wrong and morally perverse. Now the Paraclete convicts the world of its false judgment, because in the impending triumph of Christ the prince of this world stands condemned. All false judgment is related to Satan who is a liar from the beginning, whose children we are if we echo his values (Jn 8:42-47). Satan, the ruler of the world (Jn 14:30; Eph 2:1-3) who, as the god of this world, has perverted the world's judgment and turned people from believing in Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God (2 Cor 4:4), was defeated at the cross. While Christ's death looked like Satan's greatest victory, it actually was Satan's destruction (Col 2:15; Heb 2:14-15; Rev 20:10). The Spirit will lead sinners to true judgment.

    Jesus is God's final self-expression of himself. Jn 16:12-15 is the fifth and final Paraclete passage: “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.” It is a suitable climax, since it focuses on the completion of the revelation of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the nodal point of revelation, God's culminating self-disclosure, God's final self-expression, God's "Word" (Jn 1:1, 14). All antecedent revelation has pointed toward him, and reaches its climax in him. The same thought is presented in Heb 1:1-4. Because of this theme of the finality of the revelation of God in Christ, the church has always been rightly suspicious of claims of still further definitive revelation that is binding on the consciences of all Christians (say of Mormonism, Rev. Moon, etc).

    The Holy Spirit guides into all truth (who is Jesus, the very revelation of God) (Jn 16:13). Jesus himself is the truth (Jn 1:14, 14:6). But now the Spirit of truth leads the disciples into all the implications of the truth, the revelation, intrinsically bound up with Jesus Christ. There is no other locus of truth; this is all truth. Just as Jesus did exactly what the Father gave him to say and do (Jn 3:34-35; 5:19-20; 7:16-18; 8:26-29, 42-43; 12:47-50; 14:10), so also the Spirit "will speak only what he hears" (Jn 16:13b). Jesus' absolute and exhaustive obedience to his Father ensures that he is the very revelation of God himself (Jn 5:19-30), and the Spirit affirds that this is true.

    Through the Holy Spirit, Jesus' followers wrote the NT and reveals Jesus as God. The Spirit’s ministry of guiding Jesus’ followers "into all the truth" is a promise especially directed toward these 11 disciples, and it finds particular fulfillment in the subsequent work of these disciples in personally writing or overseeing the inspired NT writings. The promise, like the other things that Jesus says in these chapters, also has a broader application to all believers as the Holy Spirit leads and guides them (Rom 8:14; Gal 5:18). The activity of the Holy Spirit in declaring "what is yet to come" (Jn 16:13) suggests that he knows the future, something that is true of God alone; this gives evidence of the full deity of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit's witness to Jesus would primarily be through the church (Jn 15:26-27). The Holy Spirit primarily fleshes out the implications of God's triumphant self-disclosure in the person and work of the Son.

    The central aim of the Holy Spirit is that just as the Son by his ministry on earth brought glory to his Father (Jn 7:18, 17:4), so the Holy Spirit by his ministry brings glory to Jesus (Jn 16:14-15). By "taking from what is mine and making it known to you" (Jn 16:14b) the Holy Spirit presses home on the disciples all the revelation bound up in Jesus' person and mission. The ESV says, "He (the Holy Spirit) will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you" (John 16:14). All that Jesus said and did is nothing more and nothing else than what the Father gave him to say and do, "because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does" (Jn 5:19-20). Therefore, if the Spirit is "taking from what is mine and making it known to you (the disciples)" (Jn 16:14b), then the content of "what is mine" is nothing less than the revelation of the Father himself, for Jesus declares, "All that belongs to the Father is mine" (Jn 16:15a). The Father has declared that all should honor the Son even as they honor the Father (Jn 5:23). And the Son is no less concerned to bring glory to his Father (Jn 14:13, 17:1,4).

    The point of John's Gospel is Jesus. It is important to realize that the disciples are the ones who will directly benefit from these ministrations of the Spirit (Jn 14:26, 15:27), for at the time they still could not bear what Jesus was saying (Jn 15:12). Even though it is not the primary emphasis of these verses, yet this also speaks of the Spirit's continued work in the disciples of Jesus today. From the disciples that Jesus directly addressed we today have a fully Christian understanding of all that Jesus is and did. It drives our attention to Jesus himself, and away from subsidiary themes like discipleship, the continuing work of the Spirit and the like. This almost self-evident fact greatly supports the view that John's Gospel is primarily evangelistic in its content (Jn 20:31).

    III. Hope From The Promise Of Jesus (Jn 16:17-33)

    Jesus dealt directly with the emotions of his disciples. Jn 16:16-33 is the conclusion of the Upper Room Discourse. Here Jesus deals with the emotions of the disciples. The first reference of the repeated phrase “In a little while...after a little while” (Jn 16:16-19) is referring to the brief period between the crucifixion and the resurrection of Jesus; the second reference is to the resurrection appearances, when the disciples will see Jesus again. Jesus explicitly told them that he was leaving for their good, and they were filled with grief and angst like a woman in agonizing labor (Jn 16:21). Though Jesus stated clearly, yet the disciples were clueless.

     
    Were the disciples really that dumb? They are totally confused. It was total chaos. If this was a forgery, if this were a fraud, would they really paint themselves as being so obtuse? There is complete honesty here; they were admitting that they were complete dumbbells. The reality is that they should have figured it out by now, but they had not. It simply illustrates that all of us are that way; we are all dense and we are all obtuse, unless the Spirit of God breaks through.
     
    God uses slow dumb people. The disciples were very real people who did not seem to be very bright or exemplary or spiritual. They were not the "top nothcers" nor the crem della crem. It is a wonderful comfort that God uses imperfect "slow" people. To be frank, the people Jesus chose are not the folks we would have chosen. This means that He can use us as well. You do not have to be highly gifted, in the eyes of the world, for you to be used in a powerful way by God. Instead, you need to be radically dependent. Obedience and dependence; trust and obey, is what really makes the difference. The fact is that some people have greater amounts of intelligence, ability, wealth, or influence. But, the divine equalizer is that reward in God’s Kingdom is based on faithfulness and opportunity, and not on time, talent, or treasure. Therefore, a very, very deficient person, as the world might define them, has as much opportunity to be rewarded in the Kingdom of Heaven as does a person who seems most likely to succeed, even in the Christian world.

    Jesus comforts by giving a promise. A recurring theme is Jesus' comforting his disciples by giving them a promise. Listen carefully: "Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. 21 A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. 22 So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy" (Jn 16:20-22).

    God uses adversity to develop us. Jesus uses this theme of joy and joy is not the same as happiness. Happiness depends upon circumstances, joy transcends circumstances. There is a big difference. We can be joyful in the midst of adversity, because of our perspective (Jas 1:2-4). God very often uses adversity to mature, strengthen, develop you. This is an incredibly important principle, a life changing principle if we see it and grasp it.

    Joy by transformation, not by substitution or replacement. Three times in these three verses Jesus repeats the same point: "your grief will turn to joy...when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy...Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy" (Jn 16:20-22). Here Jesus explains a principle that God brings joy into our lives, not by substitution, but by transformation.  A woman giving birth illustrates this. The same baby that caused the pain also caused great joy. Instead of relieving the mother’s pain, God transformed it.

    Desiring a replacement rather than transformation. The mother’s pain is not replaced by joy; it is transformed into joy. What is the difference? If each time a toy is broken, the mother gets a new toy for a child, what will happen to that child? That child will grow up expecting every problem to be solved by substitution/replacement: If something goes wrong, get a new thing. Sadly, so many people often suppose that say during a mid-life crisis, a new wife, a new career, or a new car, all substitutions or replacements, will suddenly make things better. That is an illusion.

    We want our better life now. Solving our problems by way of substitution is the way of immaturity. The way of transformation is the way of faith and that leads to maturity. No one cannot mature emotionally or spiritually by always replacing our broken toys. When we get desperate we might even try to use God to replace our toys. Then our thought of God is as a kind of a divine vending machine. Larry Crabbe, from his book The Pressure's Off, says, “The sad part is that most Christians are more concerned with the better life of God’s blessings than they are with the better hope of God’s presence.” What is the better life of God’s blessings? What we want. Fill in the blank; better health, better career, more money.

    God-and... In The Pursuit of God, A.W. Tozer writes, "The evil habit of seeking God-and effectively prevents us from finding God in full revelation. In the “and” lies our great woe. If we omit the “and,” we shall soon find God, and in Him we shall find that for which we have all our lives been secretly longing." In other words, we want God, "and" something else. We are hoping not to have God all by Himself, but also what God will provide, whatever that may be, and/or that we want God to solve. Until we finally abandon all those "ands" and pursue God only for Himself, we are still not really pursuing God, but using God.

    Cause and effect thinking does not apply to God; if it did, we're all dead.Do not make your joy depend on something God has not promised. If you do, you will be disappointed and embittered in the end. Never put your hope on something God has not promised. There is no guaranteed promise in the Bible that righteous godly living will lead to greater earthly prosperity. There is no direct correlation between that, or between ungodliness leading to less prosperity. That is pretty obvious in the world. One of the first phrases a child learns is "it’s not fair." We all have this hard-wired and built-in idea of fairness. What we want may be ‘'fair for me,'’ but not always fair for the other person. ‘'God isn’t fair,'’ we say. But if God were fair, we would all be in a Christ-less eternity. If God were fair, He would judge us according to true judgment and we would be separated from Him forever. God is more than fair. He is gracious, and that leads to the issue of how we respond to Him.

    May God bless you to avail yourself to the work of the Holy Spirit and experientially know with confidence that in Christ your grief will turn to joy.


    Questions:
    1. Why did Jesus warn his disciples about being persecuted (Jn 16:1,4; 15:18-25)? Who would be their persecutors (Jn 16:2; Ac 7:54-8:3, 22:4-5, 26:9-11; Gal 1:13-17; Phil 3:6; 1 Tim 1:12-17; 2 Cor 11:24; Rev 2:9, 3:9)? Why (Jn 16:3, 15:21; Tit 1:16)? How should they respond to hostility (Jn 15:26-27; 1 Pet 3:9)?
    2. What was the state of the disciples (Jn 16:5-6, 20-22)? Why did Jesus leave (Jn 16:7, 14:2-4)? How does the Holy Spirit convict the world about sin and righteousness and judgment (Jn 16:8-11, 8:24, 3:19-21, 7:7, 24, 8:44-47, 12:31; Isa 64:6; 2 Cor 5:21; Eph 2:1-3).
    3. How does that the Holy Spirit guide into all truth and speak only what he hears (Jn 16:12-13; 14:16-17,26; 3:34-35; 5:19-20; 7:16-18; 8:26-29, 42; 12:47-50; 14:10)? What is central to the work of the Holy Spirit (Jn 16:14-15, 15:26, 17:1,4; Heb 1:1-4)?
    4. Why were the disciples confounded by Jesus'  words "a little while” (Jn 16:16-19, 6)? Are they really that dumb or clueless (Lk 24:25; Ac 1:6)? What is the lessron from a woman with birth pains (Jn 16:20-22; Heb 10:36-37, 12:2; 2 Pet 3:8-9)? What does Jesus promise (Jn 16:23-28, 14:13; Lk 24:27; Ac 1:3)? How long did the disciples take to "get it" (Jn 16:29-31)? What would happen soon (Jn 16:32-33; Zech 13:7; Mt 26:31, 56)?

    References:

    1. Carson, D.A. The Gospel According to John. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. 1991. IV. Jesus' Self-Disclosure in His Cross and Exaltation (Jn 13:1-20:31), C. The Farewell Discourse: Part Two (Jn 15:1-16:33) 530-550.
    2. Boa, Kenneth. Studies in the book of John: John Chapter 16 (Jn 16:1-33).

    Posted via email from benjamintoh's posterous

    1/15/2013

    John 18, 17, 16 questions

    Tentative Overview of John 18:1-40:
    1. The Kingdom of The World (Jn 18:1-32, 39-40; 19:1-16): Injustice.
      • Betrayal (Jn 18:1-3).
      • Arrest (Jn 18:4-12).
      • Trial (Jn 18:13-14; 19-24; 28-32).
      • Denial (Jn 18:15-18; 25-27).
      • Compromise (Jn 18:39-40).
      • Condemnation (Jn 19:1-16).
    2. Jesus' Kingdom is Not of This World (Jn 18:33-38): Righteousness.
      • Kingship (Jn 18:33-36).
      • Truth (Jn 18:37-38).
    1. After Jesus finished praying, where did he go (Jn 18:1; Mt 26:36; Mk 14:32; Lk 22:39)? How was Judas instrumental in Jesus' arrest (Jn 18:2-3; Lk 21:37; 22:39, 48)? Who collaborated to arrest Jesus (Jn 18:3)?
    2. What did Jesus know (Jn 18:4; 13:1, 3)? What did he do and why (Jn 18:4-9)? Why did the arresting soldiers fall back (Jn 18:6; 7:45-46)? Who was Jesus protecting (Jn 18:8; 17:12; 10:28; 6:39, 44)? How (Jn 10:11, 15, 17-18, 28)?
    3. Why did Peter strike the high priest's servant (Jn 18:10; Mt 26:51-52; Mk 14:47; Lk 22:49-51)? What is the cup Jesus must drink (Jn 18:11; 12:28-28; Mt 26:39, 42; Mk 14:36; Ps 75:8; Isa 51:17, 22; Jer 25:15; Eze 23:31-34; Rev 14:10; 16:19)?
    4. Why was Jesus bound and brought first to Annas (Jn 18:12-14, 19)? Who are Annas and Caiaphas (Jn 11:49-52; 18:24; Lk 3:2; Ac 4:6)?
    5. Why did Peter follow Jesus into the courtyard and then deny knowing him three times (Jn 18:15-18; 25-27)? What do you learn about Peter?
    6. Why did the high priest question Jesus about his disciples and his teaching (Jn 18:19)? What did Jesus' answer mean (Jn 18:20-21)? After being stuck, how did Jesus respond and why (Jn 18:22-23)? What was wrong with the entire legal proceedings of the high priest (Jn 18:19-24)?
    7. What do you learn about the Jews who did not want to be ceremonially unclean (Jn 18:28; 2 Chron 30:21)? How did Pilate began the legal Roman proceedings (Jn 18:29)? Why might the Jews be "upset" (Jn 18:30-31, 3, 12, 24)? How was God fulfilling his will in the midst of such injustice (Jn 18:32; 3:14, 8:28; 12:32-33; cf. Ac 7:59)?
    8. What was the charge against Jesus (Jn 18:33-34; 19:3, 12, 15, 19)? What is the nature of Jesus' kingship (Jn 18:35-38; Dan 2:44; 7:14, 27; Rev 11:15)? How does it compare with the kingdom of this world (Jn 18:36; cf. Mt 26:53 [12x6,000x185,000])? Who is Jesus and why did he come to the world (Jn 18:37; 1:14, 17; 8:32; 14:6)? What was Pilate's verdict (Jn 18:38)? What do you learn about Pilate (Jn 18:38-40)?

    John 17:1-26; Key Verse: Jn 17:1
    1. Jesus' prayer for himself has but one petition. What is it (Jn 17:1, 5; 13:31-32)? What do you think this means? What does Jesus mean by "glorify" the Father? What is the hour (Jn 2:4; 7:6, 8, 30; 8:20; 12:20, 23, 27-2, 31-32; 13:1)?
    2. What does God do, and what does Jesus do (Jn 17:2; 6:37, 44; 15:16, 19; Ac 13:48; Rom 8:29; Eph 1:3-6; 2 Th 2:13; Tit 1:1; 1 Pet 1:2)? What is eternal life (Jn 17:3; 20:31)? What does it mean to "know" (Jer 31:33-34; Isa 54:13; 1 Cor 2:13)?
    3. How does Jesus bring glory to the Father (Jn 17:4; 19:30)? What is the glory Jesus had before the world began (Jn 17:5)?
    4. Who does Jesus reveal himself to (Jn 17:6a; 15:19; Eph 1:4; Rev 17:8)? What is the evidence that Jesus has revealed himself (Jn 17:6b; 6:68-69; 11:16; 13:37)? What do they know about Jesus and how (Jn 17:7-8)?
    5. Who does Jesus pray for and not pray for (Jn 17:9)? Why would Jesus pray for their protection (Jn 17:10-12, 14-16; 15:18-16:4)? Did Jesus fail with Judas (Jn 6:64, 70; 13:10-11, 18, 21-22; Ps 41:9)? What does Jesus want for his disciples (Jn 17:13; 15:11)?
    6. What does "sanctify" mean (Jn 17:17, 19)? How does this happen (Jn 15:3; 16:13)? For what purpose (Jn 17:18; 20:21; 15:26-27)?
    7. What is Jesus’ main prayer for future believers (Jn 17:20-23)? Why is unity so important (Jn 17:11, 21, 23)? How does unity happen (Jn 15:4-5, 7, 9-10; 1 Cor 12:12-13; Eph 3:17-19; Col 1:27)? Must unity be observable (cf. Jn 13:34-35)?
    8. What does Jesus [and believers] ultimately want (Jn 17:24; 14:2-3; Phil 1:23; 1 Th 4:17; Rev 22:4)? Who does Jesus know (Jn 17:25)? What does Jesus continue to do (Jn 17:26; Rom 5:5)?
    (Jesus’ prayer shows us what is in his heart and in the Father’s heart. What does it mean to you for the church to be in unity? What encourages you the most or means the most to you after reading Jesus’ prayer?)




    John 16:1-33; Key Verse: Jn 16:8,13a

    "When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth."
    1. Why did Jesus warn his disciples about being persecuted as his disciples (Jn 16:1,4; 15:18-25)? Who would be their persecutors (Jn 16:2; Ac 7:54-8:3, 22:4-5, 26:9-11; Gal 1:13-17; Phil 3:6; 1 Tim 1:12-17; 2 Cor 11:24; Rev 2:9, 3:9)? Why (Jn 16:3, 15:21)? What should their response be to hostility (Jn 15:26-27; 1 Pet 3:9)?
    2. What was the state of the disciples (Jn 16:5-6, 20-22)? Why did Jesus leave (Jn 16:7, 14:2-4)? What does it mean that the Holy Spirit will convict the world about sin and righteousness and judgment (Jn 16:8-11, 8:24, 3:19-21, 7:7, 24, 8:44-47, 12:31; Isa 64:6; 2 Cor 5:21; Eph 2:1-3)?
    3. What does it mean that the Holy Spirit guides into all truth and speaks only what he hears (Jn 16:12-13; 14:16-17,26; 3:34-35; 5:19-20; 7:16-18; 8:26-29, 42; 12:47-50; 14:10)? What is central to the work of the Holy Spirit (Jn 16:14-15, 15:26, 17:1,4; Heb 1:1-4)?
    4. Why were the disciples confounded by Jesus'  words "a little while” (Jn 16:16-19, 6)? Are they really that dumb or clueless (Lk 24:25; Ac 1:6)? What is the lessron from a woman with birth pains (Jn 16:20-22; Heb 10:36-37, 12:2; 2 Pet 3:8-9)? What does Jesus promise (Jn 16:23-28, 14:13; Lk 24:27; Ac 1:3)? How long did the disciples take to "get it" (Jn 16:29-31)? What would happen soon (Jn 16:32-33; Zech 13:7; Mt 26:31, 56)?
    Misc:
    1. Quote: Reading is important, because reading is about thinking, and by our thinking we honor or we dishonor God.
    2. Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Sat Jan 19, 7 pm; K.A.M. Israel Isaiah Hall [adjacent to the Fokolare Center], 5001 S. Greenwood, Chicago): "What does God require of us?" (Micah 6:6-8) by John Armstrong.
    3. Unity Factor Forum (Sat Feb 2, 9 am to 3 pm; Windsor Park Manor, 124 Windsor Park Drive, Carol Stream, IL 60188). Registration $30 student; $40 group rate 5-14 people. If agreeable, WL may pay for the registration.

    1/13/2013

    True Christians Bear Fruit (John 15:1-27)

    Jn15

    John 15:1-27; Key Verse: John 15:8 "...that you bear much fruit."

    Are you remaining in Jesus? Bearing fruit? What are the fruit that God was us to bear? How do we Christians bear fruit? Consider this: Christian life is not activity without dependency, nor is it inactivity with dependency. Rather, it is activity with dependency simultaneously.

    John chaps. 13-17 is known as Jesus' Upper Room discourse, where Jesus shares his most intimate thoughts with those he loves. The cross was only one day away. Within hours, Jesus would be betrayed, arrested, falsely tried, beaten, tortured and hanging on the cross abandoned. In less than 24 hours, he would be dead and buried. These were the last words the disciples would hear Jesus say to them before he died. {John 1-12 center on the rejection of Jesus by the world and by his own people/nation (Jn 1:10-11). John 13-17 center on those who received him (Jn 1:12).}

    If one thinks of the Scriptures as the temple of God, then John 13-17 is the Holy of Holies--the Inner Sanctuary, where the very presence of God Himself dwells. Jesus the Son speaks exuberantly and mysteriously about his relationship with the Father and the Holy Spirit, as the core reality of who he is. Jesus repeatedly expresses to us the dizzying doctrine of the Trinity, from whom we grasp the very core and center of our own human existence.

    In Jn 13:1-38, Jesus showed us what God's love is like. In Jn 14:1-31, Jesus comforted his disciples by encouraging them to believe in Jesus as the way to overcome their troubled hearts. Jn 15:1-27 describes how intimately God--the Father (Jn 15:1-3), the Son (Jn 15:4-17) and the Holy Spirit (Jn 15:26-27)--works in the life of true Christians. The inevitable result is that all true Christians bear much fruit (Jn 15:5,8,16), and are hated by the world (Jn 15:18-25). The 3 parts of this sermon reveal how the Father, Son and Holy Spirit works in Christians:

    1. Pruning (Jn 15:1-3): The Father (gardener) disciplines.
    2. Nourishing (Jn 15:4-17): The Son (vine) produces fruitful branches.
    • True Christians bear the fruit of:
      1. Prayer (Jn 15:7).
      2. Glorifying God (Jn 15:8).
    1. Obedience (Jn 15:10).
    2. Joy (Jn 15:11).
    3. Love (Jn 15:12,17).
    4. Friendship (Jn 15:13-15).
    5. Election (Jn 15:16a).
    6. Evangelism (Jn 15:16b,27).
    7. Testifying (Jn 15:26-27): The Holy Spirit (Advocate) testifies about Jesus.
      • Opposition from the world (Jn 15:18-25).

      "Remain" and "fruit" are frequently repeated in John 15. "Remain" occurs 11 times in Jn 15:4-10 and "Fruit" 8 times in Jn 15:1-16. True Christians remain in Jesus, with the result that they bear fruit (Jn 15:5,8,16). Bearing fruit is an absolute certainty because Christians are like branches nourished by the vine. The sole and singular purpose of the vine is to bring forth fruit. What is fruit? Fruit are good results coming from the life of a believer, which brings benefit to others and advances the work of God in the world (Mt 13:8; Gal 5:22-23). The function of the branches (Christians) is not for ornament, but to bear fruit. May God bless you to remain in Jesus and bear much fruit as God intends.

      I. The Father (gardener) Prunes (Jn 15:1-3)

      Jesus is the true vine that replaces fruitless Israel. Vine imagery is very common in the ancient world. In the OT the vine is a common symbol for Israel (Isa 5:7; Ps 80:8), the covenant people of God (Ps 80:7-8, 14-17; Isa 5:1-7, 27:2; Jer 2:21, 12:10; Eze 15:1-8, 17:1-21, 19:10-14; Hos 10:1-2). Most remarkable is that whenever historic Israel is referred to as such it is the vine's failure to produce good fruit that is emphasized, along with the corresponding threat of God's judgment on the nation. Now, in contrast to such failure, Jesus proclaims, "I am the true vine" (Jn 15:1a), the one to whom Israel pointed, the one that brings forth good fruit. Perhaps the most important OT passage is Ps 80:16-17 in that it brings together the themes of the vine and the son of man: "Your vine is cut down, it is burned with fire; at your rebuke your people perish. Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand, the son of man you have raised up for yourself." The true vine is not the apostate people, but Jesus himself, and those who are incorporated in him. The simple, yet mysterious, logic and progression is as follows:

      1. Jesus is the vine.
      2. His disciples are the branches.
      3. The branches derive their life from the vine.
      4. The vine produces its fruit through the branches.

      Sucker shoots suck life away from potentially fruitful branches. God, the gardener, cultivates (cuts/prunes) the vine (Jn 15:1b-2). The role of the Father, the heavenly gardener, is twofold (Jn 15:2):

      1. he cuts and
      2. he prunes.

      A vine left to itself, produces what are called "sucker shoots." As they grow larger, they begin to do exactly what their name suggests: they suck away the life-giving sap from the vine to the branch, which becomes malnourished and eventually dies, all because the sucker shoot was allowed to consume what was originally intended for the branches that will bear fruit. Sucker shoots will never bear fruit. They grow leaves abundantly, but will never produce fruit. They only greatly reduce the quantity and quality of fruit the true branches can bear.

      Fruitless "Christians" are cut off. The fact that the gardener "cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit" insist that there are no true Christians without some measure of fruit. Fruitfulness is an infallible mark of true Christianity. The branch that "bears no fruit" seems to indicate one who is not a true Christian (Jn 15:6, 6:66), even if they claim to be one and may look like one, just like the other branches on the vine. The alternative is dead wood or the sucker shoots that are cut off. These branches are dead with no life in them. They have never and will never bear fruit, or else they would have been pruned, not cut off.

      True Christians are pruned for their own good. Every true Christian is pruned by the Father. No fruit bearing branch is exempt. Doubtless the Father's purpose is loving. It is so that each branch "will be even more fruitful" (Jn 15:2b), but the procedure may be painful. Heb 12:5-6 say, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” (Prov 3:11-12) Why would God prune and discipline his children? It is "for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness" (Heb 12:10).

      Christians need pruning of their flesh in order to bear good fruit. Branches bearing fruit is brought about naturally by the vine (Jesus). A branch does not struggle to hang onto the vine, trying to produce grapes, or to get larger. It simply stays on the vine and lets the life of the vine produce the fruit. There is a "passivity" in the Christian life. Whenever, we begin to try too hard some other way to produce fruit, our Heavenly Father starts trimming and pruning the branches. Our carnal nature produces characteristics that are quite different from the fruit of the Spirit: lust, worldliness, resentment, bitterness, selfishness, egocentricity, love for praise – qualities that tend to arise within us – God “prunes” them.

      Pruning of the vine is the work of the gardener, not the work of other branches. You can look at a hundred vines and you will never see one branch pruning another branch! Yes, we sharpen each other (Prov 27:17), and "spur one other toward love and good deeds" (Heb 10:24). But the ultimate job of pruning, shaping and otherwise trimming those vines must be the job of someone besides the branches themselves. That responsibility is left to God.

      God's pruning is to enable us to hear his word. Jn 15:3 says, "You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you." The cleansing power of the word Jesus has spoken to his disciples is equivalent to the life of the vine pulsating through the branches. The Greek word translated as “clean,” is the same word that means “pruned.” Jesus is describing the work that goes on in our life. God, the Father, employs circumstances – situations of our life – to make us heed, hear, His word, which then corrects and changes us.

      II. The Son (vine) Nourishes (Jn 15:4-17; 18-25)

      Though Jesus does everything as the vine (passive), we are still responsible to remain in him (active). Jn 15:4-5 is "the Law of Fruitfulness": "Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." Jesus declares who he is: the vine (Jn 15:1,5), and what the inevitable result will be to our lives: bearing much fruit (Jn 15:5,8,16). But Jesus also adds a note of responsibility--something we must do and act upon: remain in him (Jn 15:4,5,7,9,10). Jesus gives Christians an almost formulaic mathematical guarantee: "If we remain in him we will bear much fruit. If we don't we won't." What does it mean to remain in Jesus? It means to continue in a daily, personal relationship with Jesus. It means to rest in him, avail ourselves to him, and to depend on him for all things.

      Mechanical aping of Christian conduct and witness do not bring forth fruit. Bearing fruit by remaining in Jesus is not the inorganic growth of external addition (accretion), like the growth of a crystal in an alum solution; it is organic growth, internal growth driven by the pulsating life of the vine in the branch. Only this growth produces fruit. The imagery of the vine is stretched a little when the "branches" are given responsibility to remain in the vine, but the point is clear--

      • continuous dependence on the vine,
      • constant reliance upon him,
      • persistent spiritual imbibing of his life
      --this is the sine qua non of spiritual fruitfulness. The Christian or Christian organization that expands by merely aping Christian conduct and witness, but is not impelled by life from within, brings forth dead crystals, not fruit.

      Responsibility and dependency. How do we "do" taking responsibility and depending on Jesus? How does that work? Is there a balance between what I do and what Jesus does in me? Jesus says to remain in him repeatedly. Clearly we are fully responsible to do so. Yet Jesus says that bearing fruit only happens because all nourishment comes entirely from the vine. Paul expresses this similar tension when he says that Christians are to "work out your salvation...for it is God who works in you" (Phil 2:12-13). Christian life is not activity without dependency, nor is it inactivity with dependency. Rather, it is activity with dependency simultaneously.

    What fruit do Christians bear when they remain in Jesus?
    1. Prayer (Jn 15:7). "If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." If God's people truly remain in Jesus, they will desire what he desires, and will pray according to his word. Lord, forgive my poor and undisciplined prayer life.
      Glorifying God (Jn 15:8). "This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples." When God's people remain in Jesus they will bear much fruit and glorify God. Bearing fruit is not about feeling good about myself, but about living out my life purpose which is to glorify God (1 Cor 10:31).
      Obedience (Jn 15:9-10). “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love." Obedience is not drudgery or a burden to a true believer; it grows out of a love for Jesus (Jn 14:15,21,23), making it "easy" to obey the one we love (Mt 11:28-30). Love demands a response, if it is to grow. A relationship is limited, can only go so far and cannot go deep, unless there is a response to that love. But if there is a response to love, it will grow deeper, richer, truer, and eventually it becomes a glorious experience. Lord, I do not want to obey you out of fear or guilt, but because of your immeasurable love and grace.
      Joy (Jn 15:11). "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete." Human joy in a fallen world will at best be transient, ephemeral, shallow and incomplete. But a true believer who remains in Jesus experiences a joy unspeakable and a peace that Jesus gives that is not of this world (Jn 14:27). True joy cannot be attained by human effort or smartness. It is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22).
      Love (Jn 15:12,17). "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you." "This is my command: Love each other." How can God command someone to love when they do not feel love? Such a question arises from a misconception of love as pictured by Hollywood. Love is not "a sentimental feeling of romantic affection." Truly loving others cannot happen without knowing how Jesus loved us: "as I have loved you" (Jn 15:12, 13:34; 1 Jn 3:16). One who remains in the love of Jesus (Jn 15:9) will love others with the love that they have personally experienced. A good personal assessment: Compared with the past, how am I loving others today? Am I doing the things I used to do when I first became a Christian? (Rev 2:4)
      Friendship (Jn 15:13-15). "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends" (Jn 15:13). Jesus exemplified the greatest love anyone can demonstrate by laying down his life out of love for others. "You are my friends if you do what I command" (Jn 15:14). Jesus' friends are the objects of his love, and are obedient to him. This obedience is not what makes them Jesus' friends; it is what characterizes his friends. "I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you" (Jn 15:15). What is the difference between a slave and a friend? Slaves are simply told what to do, while friends are informed of Jesus' thinking, enjoying his confidence, and learning to obey with a sense of privilege and with full understanding of his heart. Jesus' absolute right to command is in no way diminished, but he takes pains to inform his friends of his motives, plans, purposes.
    2. Election (Jn 15:16a). "You did not choose me, but I chose you." Where there is the slightest danger that the disciples will puff themselves up because of the privileges they enjoy, Jesus immediately forestalls any pretensions they might have (Jn 6:70,71). The uncomfortable doctrine of election has never anything to do with the merit of the one who is chosen (Dt 7:7-8, 9:4,6; Eph 2:8-9), but entirely everything to do with God's own sovereign choice. "You did not choose me" does not negate the disciples’ willing decision to follow Jesus when he called them. But Jesus is emphasizing that the ultimate factor in determining who would follow him was Jesus’ own choice. The Greek eklegomai has the sense of “to choose or pick out from a group” (Jn 15:19).
    3. Evangelism (Jn 15:16b,27). "I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you" (Jn 15:16b). Many commentators have suggested that the fruit primarily in view in this verse is the fruit that emerges from mission, from specific ministry to which the disciples have been sent. The fruit, in short, is new converts. One purpose of election, then, is that the disciples who have been so blessed with revelation and understanding, should win others to the faith - "fruit that will last." With references to fruit and to its enduring quality, it becomes clear that these closing allusions to the vine imagery ensure that, however comprehensive the nature of the fruit that Christians bear, the focus on evangelism and mission is truly central. That is why the union of love that joins believers with Jesus can never become a comfortable, exclusivistic huddle that only they can share. True Christians, being an extension of the union of the Godhead, by its very nation, is a union, an intimacy, which, by the necessity of its own constitution, seeks to bring others into its orb.

    Christ-like, fruit of the Spirit and new converts. To bear fruit is to be Christ-like, "to be conformed to the image of his Son" (Rom 8:29). To bear fruit is to experience and live with the fruit of the Spirit: "love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control" (Gal 5:22-23). The result is that God will, through us, enable us to win new converts, that is, to "bear fruit—fruit that will last" (Jn 15:16).

    III. The Spirit (Advocate) Testifies (Jn 15:18-25, 26-27)

    Jn 15:18-25 say, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.20 Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21 They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. 24 If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25 But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’"


    Christians do not belong to the world not because they are better but because God chose them out of the world. The attitude of believers toward one another is love (Jn 15:17). But Jn 15:18-19 shows the attitude believers can expect from the world. Jesus wants to eliminate the surprise factor when persecution does break out. The world, in John, refers to the created moral order in active rebellion against God. The ultimate reason for the world's hatred of Jesus is that it testifies that its deeds are evil (Jn 7:7). Jn 15:19 says, "If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world." Christians do not belong to the world, not because they have never belonged, but because Jesus chose them out of the world (Jn 6:70-71; 15:16). Thus, Christians cannot think of themselves as intrinsically superior. They are ever conscious that by nature they are, with all others, "objects of wrath" (Eph 2:3).

     What is to be the attitude of the Christian toward a world that hates them? Jn 15:26-27 say, “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning." Jesus teaches that Christians are not to retaliate, resent, be vindictive, or return evil for evil. Nor should they retire from the world, withdraw, build a Christian colony or an insular church to hide away from the world. No, Jesus teaches that Christians are to be witnesses (Acts 1:8) who testify about Jesus and the love of God to the world. We Christians need to move into the world, though we are not part of it.

    May God bless you in 2013 to remain in Jesus and bear much fruit--fruit that will last.

    Questions:

    1. What does it mean that Jesus is the true vine (Jn 15:1; Ps 80:7-8, 14-17; Isa 5:1-7, 27:2; Jer 2:21, 12:10; Eze 15:1-8; Hos 10:1-2)? What is the role of the Father (Jn 15:1-2, 6; Heb 6:7-8, 12:5-6,10)? Jesus' words (Jn 15:3, 13:10-11, 6:63)? Is fruitfulness an infallible mark of true Christianity (Jn 15:5,8,16; Mt 7:16-20)?
    2. What does it mean to remain in Jesus (Jn 15:4-5,7) and in his love (Jn 15:9-10)? What is the fruit the Father wants us to bear (Jn 15:7,10,11,12,16,27; 14:27; Gal 5:22-23)?
    3. What is the evidence that a Christian is remaining in Jesus' love (Jn 15:9-10; 14:15,21,23; 15:11; 1 Jn 1:4; 1 Th 5:16; 15:12,17;  13:34)? How has Jesus loved his disciples (Jn 15:13; Rom 5:8)?
    4. Who are the friends of Jesus (Jn 15:13-15)? Of God (2 Chr 20:7; Isa 41:8; Jas 2:23; Ex 33:11)? What is the difference between servants and friends? How do Christians become Jesus' friends (Jn 15:16, 6:70)? On what basis (Dt 7:7-8, 9:4,6; Eph 2:8-9)? Does fruit bearing involve evangelism (Jn 15:27; Rom 1:13-16)?
    5. Why does the world hate Jesus' disciples (Jn 15:18-25, 3:19)? What should Christians do (Jn 15:26-27; Mk 13:11; Acts 5:32)?
    • How has Jesus loved you? What fruit are you bearing?
    References:
    1. Carson, D.A. The Gospel According to John. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. 1991. IV. Jesus' Self-Disclosure in His Cross and Exaltation (Jn 13:1-20:31), C. The Farewell Discourse: Part Two (Jn 15:1-16:33) 510-530.
    2. Keller, Tim. You Are My Friends (Jn 15:9-17). Jan 19, 1992.
    3. Jesus' Upper Room Discourse (John 13-17). An excellent 45 page pdf document.

    Posted via email from benjamintoh's posterous

    1/06/2013

    Believe in Jesus (John 14:1-31)

    John 14:1-31; Key Verse: Jn 14:1  "Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me."

    Do you have any sense of unease as you face the new year 2013? What do you do when you are troubled and distressed? How do you overcome and navigate the difficulties, complexities, hardships and sheer unpredictability of life? We shall consider these questions as we learn how Jesus helped and comforted his disciples who were at the end of their rope and were seemingly inconsolable. The scene is the upper room where the disciples had gathered with Jesus before he was arrested. Judas had been dismissed (Jn 13:30) and Jesus began his address to the remaining 11, explaining that he would soon leave them (Jn 13:33,36). The disciples were bewildered, troubled, confused and filled with uncertainty, anxiety and trepidation (Jn 14:1a). Their world was about to be shattered and coming apart at the seams. Anticipating their devastation, Jesus spoke to comfort them.

    In Jn 13:1-38, we considered what God's love is like. We said that:

    1. The Manner of Love (Jn 13:1-5)...is foot washing. How Jesus showed us his love.
    2. The Necessity of Love (Jn 13:6-11)...is cleansing. Why Jesus has to "wash" us.
    3. The Imperative of Love (Jn 13:12-17)...is to do as Jesus did. What Jesus wants us to do.
    4. The Pain of Love (Jn 13:18-30)...is to love a betrayer. When love cuts to the heart.
    5. The Glory of Love (Jn 13:31-38)...is to love God. Who love is ultimately directed toward.

    In Jn 14:1-31, Jesus encouraged them to believe in him (Jn 14:1b). “Believe” appears 7 times in this chapter. Jesus begins this discourse by saying to his disciples, “believe in me,” and he ends by saying, “so that....you will believe” (29). He teaches them hope in the Father’s house (Jn 14:2-4), the way to God (Jn 14:5-14), and promises them the Holy Spirit (Jn 14:15-31) to comfort them...if they believe. In Jn 14:1-31, Jesus helps his disciples (and us) to believe when they (and we) understand 3 things:

    1. What Jesus does (Jn 14:1-4): He goes to the Father's house to prepare a place for us.
    2. Who Jesus is (Jn 14:5-14): He is the way, the truth and the life.
    3. How Jesus helps us (Jn 14:15-31): He sends the Holy Spirit as our Advocate.
    I. What Jesus does (Jn 14:1-4): He goes to the Father's house to prepare a place for us.

    Jesus comforts his troubled disciples. Jesus was heading for the agony of the cross. His heart was troubled (Jn 12:27). His spirit was also troubled because of Judas who would soon betray him (Jn 13:21). Such a night was overwhelming. Jesus' disciples should have given him emotional and spiritual support. Yet Jesus was the one who gives, comforts and instructs. The disciples too were troubled (Jn 14:1a), not because they were rushing toward pain, shame and crucifixion, but because they were confused, uncertain of what Jesus meant, and threatened by references to his imminent departure. They were under substantial emotional pressure and were on the brink of catastrophic failure. Jesus would help them by unpacking the implications of his impending departure (Jn 13:33,36).

    Believe in God and Jesus. Jesus spells out the solution to their troubled heart: "You believe in God; believe also in me" (Jn 14:1b). How would this comfort them? Jesus' departure, which troubled them greatly, was for their advantage. His purpose for going away, though troubling, was to prepare a place for them, and then to come and get them so that they may be where he is (Jn 14:2-3). What does this mean? What more could they ask for?

    Jesus goes to prepare and will come back to take them home. "My Father’s house has many rooms" (Jn 14:2a). "My Father's house" refers to heaven, and in heaven are "many rooms," or many dwelling places. The point is not the lavishness of each apartment, but the fact that such ample provision has been made that there is more than enough space for everyone of Jesus' disciples to join him in his Father's home. In the context of Johannine theology, "I am going there to prepare a place for you" (Jn 14:2b) means that it is via the going itself--it is via the cross and resurrection--that Jesus prepares a place for his own. If Jesus takes such trouble, all to prepare a place for them it is inconceivable that the rest should not follow: "I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am" (Jn 14:3). There is no greater comfort to be enjoyed by believers than in the presence of God (1 Thess 4:15-18). Then Jesus said, "You know the way to the place where I am going” (Jn 14:4), not because Jesus made some terrible error in assessing his disciples, but precisely because since they do know him, they ought to know the way to the place where he has just prescribed.

    A guaranteed secure eternal destiny comforts us in our present troubles. If we Christians are utterly confident that our eternal destiny is secure and well provided for, we can overcome any troubling, distressing situation being encountered at the present moment.

    II. Who Jesus is (Jn 14:5-14): He is the way, the truth and the life.

    How can we know the way? Jesus provided the best comfort to his troubled disciples. But Thomas responded with words of doubt, lament and apprehension. “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” (Jn 14:5) Thomas is a loyal, even courageous disciple (Jn 11:16; 20:24). His question sounds as though he is unsatisfied with Jesus' assurance, for he wants an unambiguous destination, since Jesus' assurance about his Father's house sounded vague, ill-defined and nebulous. Jesus in fact has just spelled out the destination (Jn 14:2-3) and said that they know the way (Jn 14:4). Thomas replies, in effect, that he (and the other disciples) have not really come to grips with what he has said about the destination. So how could Jesus' further insistence that they know the way bear coherent meaning?

    Exclusivity is offensive. Jn 14:6 is an offensive verse to non-Christians. Also, Christians often have an uncanny knack to present Jn 14:6 in the most offensive, distasteful and insensitive manner. Nonetheless, this is not an ambiguous statement. It is not susceptible to multiple interpretations. One does not have to believe it, but there is no question what Jesus was claiming--he is the exclusive path to God.

    Why is Jesus the way to God? Jesus is the way to God, precisely because he is the truth of God (Jn 1:14), and the life of God (Jn 1:4). Jesus is the truth, because he embodies the supreme revelation of God. Jesus himself "narrates" God (Jn 1:18); he says and does exclusively what the Father gives him to say and do (Jn 5:19; 8:29). Indeed, Jesus is properly called God (Jn 1:1-2, 18; 20:28). He is God's gracious self-disclosure, his Word made flesh (Jn 1:14). Jesus is the life (Jn 1:4), the one who has "life in himself" (Jn 5:26), "the resurrection and the life" (Jn 11:25), "the true God and eternal life" (1 Jn 5:20). Only because he is the truth and the life can Jesus be the way for others to come to God, the way for his disciples to attain the many dwelling places in the Father's house (Jn 14:2-3), and therefore the answer to Thomas' question (Jn 14:5). In context, Jesus does not blaze a trail, commanding others to take the way that he himself takes. Rather, he is the way. It is not adequate to say that Jesus is the Way in the sense that certain actions must be performed, or that life must be lived in a certain way. Jesus himself is the Savior (Jn 4:42), the Lamb of God (Jn 1:29,34), the one who so speaks that those in the graves hear his voice and come forth (Jn 5:28-29). Jesus so mediates God's truth and God's life that he is the very way to God, the one who alone can say, "No one comes to the Father except through me" (Jn 14:6b).

    The way, the truth, the life. Centuries ago Thomas à Kempis wrote in The Imitation of Christ: "Follow me. I am the way and the truth and the life. Without the way there is no going; without the truth there is no knowing; without the life there is no living. I am the way which you must follow; the truth which you must believe; the life for which you must hope. I am the inviolable way; the infallible truth; the never-ending life. I am the straightest way; the sovereign truth; life true, life blessed, life uncreated. If you remain in my way you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free, and you shall lay hold on eternal life."

    Don't you know me? Jesus presupposes that all the disciples ought to know him and by knowing him, the Son, they know the Father as well (Jn 14:7); they ought to believe that Jesus is in the Father and the Father in him (Jn 14:10-11), since Jesus had already been among them for several years (Jn 14:9) during his ministry, and now through the hour of his death and resurrection. Yet, Philip asks for an immediate display of God himself (Jn 14:8). Like all men created in God's image, we yearn for a vision of God (visio Dei), no matter how much we have defaced that image. Moses had begged God to show him God's glory (Ex 33:18). But he was allowed to glimpse only the trailing edge of the back of God's glory. Yet, John, in his prologue, has made it clear that Jesus has made God known, definitively, gloriously and visibly (Jn 1:14,18; 12:45). Jesus' rhetorical questions expresses his disappointment and sadness: "Don't you know me...? How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?" (Jn 14:9), and "Don't you believe that I am in the Father...?" (Jn 14:10) With overwhelming personal interaction, they should have believed in Jesus, or at least believed on the evidence of the works/miracles that they had personally witnessed (Jn 14:11).

    Do even greater things than Jesus. Jesus says that with faith in him, the disciples would "do even greater things than these" (Jn 14:12b). The greater things are not in power or in his miracles but in extent. How is that possible? "...because I am going to the Father" (Jn 14:12c). The only way Jesus' disciples would be able to do those greater works was through the power of the Holy Spirit whom the Father and the Son sends to the disciples after his death and resurrection (Jn 14:16,26; 15:26; 16:7).

    Ask for anything in Jesus' name. To ask in Jesus' name (Jn 14:13-14) is not a mere formula. It means that the believer's prayer should be:

    1. for God's glory alone, not ours.
    2. for God's purposes and kingdom and not for selfish reasons.
    3. on the basis of His merits and not any personal merit or worthiness.
    III. How Jesus helps us (Jn 14:15-31): He sends the Holy Spirit as our Advocate.

    In this part, Jesus promises believers comfort from 5 supernatural blessings that the world does not know or enjoy:

    1. A supernatural Helper (Jn 14:15-17).
    2. A supernatural life (Jn 14:18-19).
    3. A supernatural union (Jn 14:20-25).
    4. A supernatural teacher (Jn 14:26).
    5. A supernatural peace (Jn 14:27-31).
    Love evidenced by obedience is the key to blessings. The key to all these supernatural blessings and comfort is prayer in Jesus' name (Jn 14:13-14), and love for Jesus, evidenced by obedience, which is repeated many times (Jn 14:15,21,23; 15:14; 1 Jn 5:2-3). This does not mean that we can pray and obey God as our effort and attempt to manipulate God to get the blessings we want. Rather, it simply states that true love for Jesus and obedience to his command are inseparable.
    1. Who the Holy Spirit is: A Person.
    2. What the Holy Spirit does: An Advocate.
    3. How to receive the Holy Spirit:
      1. Our Advocate pleads not just on the basis of mercy, but justice.
      2. Realize the magnificence of divine selflessness.
      3. We have an Advocate in heaven and on earth.
    References:
    1. Carson, D.A. The Gospel According to John. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. 1991. IV. Jesus' Self-Disclosure in His Cross and Exaltation (Jn 13:1-20:31), 487-510.
    2. Keller, Tim. Who is the Spirit? (Jn 14:16-26) July 7, 2011.

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