Jesus&#39; Upper Room Discourse (John 13-17)

3/04/2013

Jesus' Upper Room Discourse (John 13-17)

If the Scriptures are thought of as the Temple of God, then John 13-17 would be the Holy of Holies. John 13-17 have been known as Jesus' upper room discourse, where Jesus lays his heart bare before his disciples and speaks his most intimate thoughts to them just before his crucifixion. In effect, these were his last words, for within hours he would be hanging on the cross. In his discourse he taught them the very nature of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and that he was not a helpless victim of evil and betrayal, but that God, who was in sovereign control, was fulfilling His plan all along from eternity past to being about his plan of world redemption and restoration. A new day--a new age--is soon dawning, when because of his Passion, the Holy Spirit will soon take the very life of Jesus and release it in his disciples, including believers today. By the work of the Holy Spirit, the Father is enabling and empowering all Christians to live the very life of his Son (albeit imperfectly). The following paragraphs is a brief synopsis of each chapter.

In John 13, Jesus shows us what God's love is like in the following ways: The manner of love is foot washing (Jn 13:1-5). The necessity of love is our ultimate need to be cleansed (Jn 13:6-11). The imperative of love is to do as Jesus did (Jn 13:12-17). The pain of love is to love those who break our hearts (Jn 13:18-30; 35-38). The glory of love is to love God and to love one another (Jn 13:31-34). When we understand and experience just how much Jesus has loved us (Jn 13:12), God enables us to live a life of love all of our days as wholesome loving Christians.

In John 14, Jesus encouraged his disciples to believe in him. Jesus begins by saying to his disciples, “believe in me” (Jn 14:1), and ends by saying, “so that....you will believe” (Jn 14:29). How do we believe (occurs seven times in John 14)? To help us believe, Jesus teaches us what he does--he goes to his Father's house to prepare a place for us (Jn 14:2-4), who he is--the way, the truth and the life (Jn 14:5-14), and how he helps us--by sending us the Holy Spirit as our advocate (Jn 14:15-31). When we believe in Jesus, we begin to live the life that is truly life (Jn 10:10b; 17:3; 20:31).

In John 15, Jesus teaches us that when we remain in him, we will bear much fruit. How do we remain in Jesus? It is by the work of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit: The Father prunes us (Jn 15:1-3); the Son nourishes us (Jn 15:4-17); the Spirit testifies to us about Jesus (Jn 15:26-27). Despite the opposition and persecution from the world (Jn 15:18-25), God enables us to bear much fruit--the fruit of remaining in Jesus--such as prayer (Jn 15:7), obedience (Jn 15:10), joy (Jn 15:11), love (Jn 15:12,17), friendship (Jn 15:13-15), the affirmation of our election (Jn 15:16a), and the spirit of evangelism (Jn 15:16b, 27). Each of these guaranteed fruits of remaining in Jesus deeply enriches our lives and glorifies God (Jn 15:8).

John 16, which deals with the disciples seemingly inconsolable sorrow over Jesus' impending departure, can be divided into three parts: hostility from the religious (Jn 16:1-4); help from the Holy Spirit (Jn 16:5-15); hope from the promise of Jesus (Jn 16:16-33). Jesus teaches that the Holy Spirit convicts/proves the world to be in the wrong about sin, righteousness and judgement (Jn 16:8-11), and guides us into all truth (Jn 16:13), which is to reveal Jesus as God's full and final self-disclosure of Himself. Even though his disciples just could not quite get it at the time, Jesus gives them (and us) a priceless precious promise that their grief will turn to joy. Grief turning to joy is the very essence of the work of the Holy Spirit.

John 17 records Jesus' magisterial prayer, often known as Jesus' high priestly prayer. In his prayer, Jesus prays for himself (Jn 17:1-5), for his disciples (Jn 17:6-19), and for all future believers, that is the church (Jn 17:20-26). Briefly, Jesus prayed for himself to glorify God through his willing obedience to his Father's will, which is death on the cross. Next, he prayed for the protection and sanctification of his disciples by his name and through the word (Jn 17:11, 17). Finally, he prayed for all believes to be united, just as the Father and the Son are united (Jn 17:21-23). Ultimately, he prayed for all believes to one day be with him forever (Jn 17:24), which is the ultimate longing and hope of all Christians.

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