Prayer: Holy Father ā Thank You for Your Word. Bring us new life as we walk with Jesus and His disciples during this first Holy Week. Our Lord knewā¦ the disciples didnāt understandā¦ we are in various stages of working it out ourselves. Fill us with Your Spirit and speak to us. We ask this in the precious name of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus. Amen.
Jesus Comforts His Disciples
14 āDo not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Fatherās house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.ā
Points to ponder: When we are troubled, we often fret and moan and complain. We are fearful and stressed. We cry in anguish. Sometimes, we justify our emotions by quoting scriptureā¦ we ask ourselves, WWJD, and we rememberā¦ Jesus weptā¦ therefore, so can I. š¤¦āāļø
These chapters, however, point to a level of love and compassion that I am just beginning to grasp. Jesus knows the cross is coming. And further, He knows WHY He must do this and the impact it will have on His disciples who lack understanding.
He demonstrates such comfort and tenderness to them ā telling them and us not to be troubled. Jesus is preparing a place in His Kingdom for themā¦ for all believersā¦ even me. š He promises to come back and take us to be with Him.
Then the kicker statementā¦ You know the way to the place where I am going.
Jesus the Way to the Father
5 Thomas said to him, āLord, we donāt know where you are going, so how can we know the way?ā
6 Jesus answered, āI am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.ā
Points to ponder: Doubting Thomasā¦ we are forever grateful that you didnāt understand. For now we have the next I AM statement regarding Jesusā identity. Jesus is THE WAY, THE TRUTH and THE LIFE. No one comes to the Father except through Jesus.
He has previously told us that He was the Gate and the Good Shepherd. He has given us the pictures of returning to the presence of God. As the Gate, He protects His sheep from getting out of the Kingdomā¦ and He protects His sheep from any enemies sneaking into the Kingdom.
As āThe Wayā, Jesus is a role model. Showing us how to live the Spirit-empowered life. Beginning with this very behavior. In the face of death, He is not self-focused on the present circumstances, He is gracefully patient and kind ā putting the well-being of others first.
Of course, He does this Jesus-styleā¦ taking it up a notch and claiming that knowledge of Him implies knowledge of the Father.
8 Philip said, āLord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.ā
9 Jesus answered: āDonāt you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, āShow us the Fatherā? 10 Donāt you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. 12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
Points to ponder: Now we love Philipā¦ the first disciple to say, āCome and See!ā Here we see Jesus begin to explain the triune God that all Christians wrestle with. I may never be able to fully grasp all that is implied by three-persons in One God. Tri-unityā¦ is a concept of unity that goes beyond anything in our natural world. The Father in the Sonā¦ the Son in the Fatherā¦
JESUS IS GOD revealing Himself to the world to help us understand our creator.
Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit
15 āIf you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you foreverā 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.ā
Points to ponder: Walking the Christian life on our own, cannot be done. Many want to be āfilled with the Holy Spiritā but have an issue with obedience. If itās one thing that this Gospel stresses is the truth of who Jesus isā¦ God and King. Not popular concepts in modern Western cultureā¦ for many good reasons. (Man has a history of taking whatās āgoodā and corrupting it.)
Jesus is talking to His disciples after Judas, the betrayer, has left. He introduces and promises the third person of the Trinity ā the Holy Spirit to help them and be with them forever. As onlookers, we see that whoever āhas my commands and keeps themā is the one who loves Jesusā¦ will be loved by the Father and by Jesus. He will show Himself to us.
So, we ask ourselvesā¦ do we have his commands? Do we keep them?
Donāt miss the implied invitation ā Jesus is in the Fatherā¦ the disciples are in Jesusā¦ Jesus is in themā¦ the tri-unity that includes God, can include us. Our spirits are screamingā¦ āI WANT IN!ā
At least my spirit criesā¦ āI WANT IN.ā Followed by my spirit telling the rest of meā¦ āGET OUT OF THE WAY!ā
22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, āBut, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?ā
23 Jesus replied, āAnyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
Points to ponder: Thank you, āotherā Judas (Thaddeus?) for another great question. Obedience to Jesus implies an incredible intimacy with God ā He will make His home with us.
When we read and listen to His Word ā apply our minds to understanding ā then apply our wills to choose obedience to meet our understanding ā we are taking responsibility to work with the Holy Spirit in our becoming holy.
We donāt do this because weāre supposed toā¦ we do this because we love Him. We desire a more intimate relationship. We know that each additional effort we put in, brings us closer.
The world will not obey His teaching; the world will not focus on Jesus. (We understand this. Itās Relationships 101ā¦ Would we reveal ourselves to anyone who rejects us, dismisses us, or does the eyeroll when our name comes up? And weāre not God.)
25 āAll this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
Points to ponder: Everyone should read the Bible at least once, before dismissing it. If not the whole Bible, then at least Johnās gospelā¦ cause, dang! Jesus promises peace ā His peace. He gives not as the world gives, which usually has conditions attached or comes with an expiration date.
His peace is enough to calm our troubled hearts and wipe out our fears.
28 āYou heard me say, āI am going away and I am coming back to you.ā If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. 30 I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, 31 but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me.
āCome now; let us leave.
Points to ponder: The cross is coming and Jesus knows. He is preparing His disciples to remember after it happens what Heās told them before it happens. There are two āSo thatā clauses hereā¦ (1) for the disciples to believe and (2) so the world may learn.
Interesting reference to āthe worldā again, after the disciplesā last question! Believing Christians need to remember that once they were worldly, too.
Paul tells us in Romans 1:16 that the Gospel has the power of God to save us. Being āin the worldā isnāt a permanent condition by any means. Wait long enough and death will change that status. The other option is to hear the gospel and learn about Jesus and His obedience to the Father.
That sets a burning bush in someoneās path. Itās up to them to draw near. If they choose to do so, like Moses did, God will speak to them. (Exodus 3:3-4) A response of faith to the Gospel message takes a āworldlyā person out of the world and places him into the Kingdom to begin new life.
The Vine and the Branches
15 āI am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 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.
5 āI 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. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Fatherās glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
Points to ponder: Jesus provides the picture of a vine to better illustrate this concept of our Triune God and the unity into which we are being invited.
As Christians we see our dependency on Jesus as a branch that does not suspend itself nor can it bear fruit without the vine.Ā As a branch we are a conduit bringing the life from the vine to the fruit. And the better we are at bearing fruitā¦ the more āpruningā the Father performs! Sounds harsh, but we remember Romans 8:28 and know that only āgoodā comes from the pruning.
Pruning sounds better than the alternativeā¦ thrown away, withering, and thrown into the fire.
Update 03/17/2024 – Pastor Tim spoke on this ‘I am the True Vine’ identity today with references to Jesus’ claim to fulfill what the nation of Israel did not. [Psalm 80:8-15; Isaiah 5:1-7] He also added a helpful rethinking of the verb used in John 15:2… instead of ‘cut off’, think ‘lift up’.
Remember Jesus is speaking to the eleven believing disciples… their salvation is not at stake, so the ‘cut off’ picture is confusing. But since this is a metaphor involving how vines grow… think about the branches that spread from a vine to produce fruit. Occasionally a few branches try to spread along the ground… producing shallow roots, attempting to draw nutrients on their own from the ground, instead of the vine. This would be similar to how Bermuda grass grows in Florida.
A vinedresser would pull that branch off the ground and maybe secure it to a trellis so that the branch remains in the vine. Another explanation can be found at Got Questions. This is a picture of those immature believers who are not producing fruit. They are missing out of the abundant life that Jesus is offering. Abiding in Jesus… remaining in Him, bears fruit as evidence.
9 āAs the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Fatherās commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down oneās life for oneās friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his masterās business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruitāfruit that will lastāand so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other.
Points to ponder: Done with the vine metaphor, Jesus summarizes the invitation to be one with God by reminding them about what love looks like ā and it looks like this: Love others sacrificially. Jesus tells us that love is more taking action and prioritizing others over ourselves than how we feel.
A love that doesnāt cost you anything isnāt love, itās a hobby you enjoy ā youāre getting all the benefits. Jesus is about to be beaten, humiliated, spit-on, and killed in the greatest act of human injustice ever played out in our history. And He knew it. And there was joy in the knowing. Not that He was a masochist, He was being obedient to the Father to substitute Himself to take the punishment for us. (Isaiah 53:5)
This is not how āthe worldā loves. Yet, most moms of a sick, hurting, or dying child would be overwhelmed by joy if she could only switch places.
The World Hates the Disciples
18 āIf 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: āA servant is not greater than his master.ā [John 13:16] 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: āThey hated me without reason.ā [Psalm 35:19, 69:4]
Points to ponder: Back to āthe worldā and back to Genesis 3:15 and the only division that matters. There are two camps: the offspring of the snake and the offspring of the woman. Jesus, born of a woman, creates offspring by His Word. When we hearā¦ and believeā¦ and choose to follow and obey and love like Jesusā¦ we take off our āTeam Worldā shirts and begin to wear our āTeam Jesusā shirts.
The devil will not be pleased. He will lie and manipulate those in the world to believe they are doing a āgoodā thing to persecute and hate Christians. We should never be surprised at the fiery trials we must endure. Do we remember that we are not alone? Who we are in and who is in us? Remember the vine to which we are attached and who is the gardener!
The Work of the Holy Spirit
26 āWhen the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Fatherāthe Spirit of truth who goes out from the Fatherāhe will testify about me. 27 And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.
Points to ponder: The Holy Spirit comes to live in us when we believe. As we do our part in becoming obedientā¦ loving othersā¦ the Spirit helps us and advocates for us. When we start to doubt or fear or question, He will testify and He brings only TRUTH. Nice!
Notice that we are, right now, reading the disciple Johnās testimony about Jesus.
Summary: In these chapters Jesus teaches us more about love ā a little more āchoosingā than āfeelingā. And the āchoosingā is a deliberate act that will (1) benefit someone else and (2) cost us something, yet somehow fill us with joy.
We also see some pretty exclusive claims about Jesus. He is THE WAYā¦ THE TRUTH and THE LIFE, no one comes to the Father except by Him. He is the vine, we are the branchesā¦ without Him, we can do nothing. All other roads outside of Jesus, lead to destructionā¦ we ignore these very clear teachings of the Gospel at our own peril.
š Lord, thank You for Your Word and Your promise to return for us. Thank You Holy Spirit for advocating for us with the Father as we tend to stray, and thank You for sticking with us in the day-to-day activities of our lives ā helping us, guiding us, nudging us, and encouraging us. We offer this prayer of praise and gratitude in the name of Jesus. Amen