Jesus last words call His followers to communion with Him and to community with one another....

This week, we are looking at a prayer that Jesus engaged in during the final conversation with His closest followers before His death. Wednesday, we discovered that Jesus wanted His closest followers to clearly understand that His prayer for them was that God the Father would protect them as He sent them on mission to proclaim the truth about the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel to the world.

Today, we will see Jesus, after focusing on His relationship with God the Father; after focusing on the disciple’s relationship with Him and the mission that they would be given after His departure, shift the focus in a most unexpected way in verse 20. Let’s look at these verses together:

 "I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. "The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. "Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. "O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."

If you are here and you are a follower of Jesus, did you know that Jesus prayed for you today, some 2,000 years ago? Did you know that Jesus, on the verge of dying the most painful death possible, prayed for those throughout history who would respond to His life, death, and resurrection, by believing, trusting, and following Him as Lord and Leader?

And Jesus prayer for His followers today, as it has been throughout history, is simple and to the point. Jesus prays that God the Father would unite all followers of Jesus throughout history in communion with God and in community with one another.

And it is here that we see Jesus, in a prayer that was heard by His closest followers, reveal a timeless call for His followers. And that timeless call is this: Jesus last words call His followers to communion with Him and to community with one another. Just as God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit live in intimate communion and community with one another, Jesus prayer is that His followers would experience that intimate communion and community.

But what does Jesus mean when He explains that “the glory which You have given Me I have given to them”. The glory that Jesus is referring to is the splendor and greatness that followers of Jesus will experience for all eternity in Heaven. Just as Jesus engagement and completion of the mission that He was given resulted in Him returning to the splendor and glory of Heaven, as followers of Jesus, our rescue from selfishness and rebellion through placing our confident trust in Jesus results in us experiencing that same splendor and glory of Heaven.

But notice what our rescue from selfishness and rebellion by Jesus calls us to. Jesus explains that our rescue from selfishness and rebellion calls us to “be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.”

Now this little phrase perfected in unity literally means in order that they might attain perfect unity. You see, the world is able to arrive at the knowledge that Jesus was who He said He was when followers of Jesus live in communion with Him and in community with one another that is marked by unity. The church has been divinely designed by God as the vehicle that He uses to reveal His Son Jesus to the world. And followers of Jesus have been given a mission.

Just as God sent Jesus into the world to reveal and explain God, followers of Jesus are to be sent into the world as missionaries to reveal and reflect Christ to those in our world. And followers of Jesus reveal and reflect Christ and accomplish the mission we are given when we live in communion with Jesus and in community with one another.

So here is the question: Are you living in communion with Jesus? Have you responded to God’s activity in your life by placing your confident trust in Jesus? Do you have communion and connection with Jesus throughout the week? Or do you only attempt to connect with Jesus for an hour on Sunday?

And are you living in community with one another as part of the church? Are you a part of genuine and authentic community that gathers on Sunday and scatters in community throughout the week? Are you a part of a community group? Are you living in community throughout the week, or only for an hour on Sunday?

Praying and Sending...

This week, we are looking at a prayer that Jesus engaged in during the final conversation with His closest followers before His death. Yesterday, we saw Jesus pray that so that God the Father would continue to receive the maximum amount of glory, Jesus is asking that He would receive the glory that He had always had for all eternity, but that He had willingly set aside in order to enter into humanity on a rescue mission for humanity. Today, we will see Jesus shift the focus of His prayer off of Himself and onto His closest followers, beginning in verse 6:

"I have manifested Your name to the men whom You gave Me out of the world; they were Yours and You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. "Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You; for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me. "I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours; and all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine; and I have been glorified in them. "I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are.

Jesus engages God the Father in prayer for His closest followers, whom were given to Jesus by God the Father from humanity. His closest followers, Jesus explains, were given to Jesus by God and persisted in following God and the word of God as communicated through Jesus. And as they had followed Jesus for the past three years, they had arrived at the place where they recognized that Jesus was who He said that He was. His closest followers had come to the place where they recognized that Jesus was God in a bod who had entered into humanity.

Now when Jesus uses the word believe here, this word is the same word that is also translated trust in our English Bibles. This word literally means to entrust oneself with complete confidence in someone or something. And that is what His closest followers had done; they had placed their confident trust in the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel.

And because of how His closest followers recognized and responding to God’s activity in their lives through Jesus, Jesus intercedes in prayer for them. Jesus makes it clear here that His prayer is for their behalf and not on behalf of the world. When Jesus refers to the world here, He is not referring to the physical planet. The world here refers to everything in the world system that is hostile to God and that sets itself up in opposition to Him and His kingdom.

Jesus recognized that the world that is opposed to God and the Kingdom of God will be opposed to His closest followers. And because His closest followers are also intimately connected with God the Father, because all that is Jesus is God’s and God had given His closest followers to Him, Jesus prays that, as He leaves the world, that God the Father would keep them in His name. The word keep literally means to persist in something.

Jesus here is praying that God the Father would keep the disciples connected in relationship with Him and one another after He leaves the earth. Jesus is praying that the disciples would experience the unity and connection with Jesus and one another that Jesus has with God the Father and the Holy Spirit as members of the Trinity. And as Jesus continues, we see Him continue to focus His prayer on His closest followers, beginning in verse 12:

 "While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name which You have given Me; and I guarded them and not one of them perished but the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled. "But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves. "I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. "I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. "Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. "As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. "For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.

Now, imagine yourself as one of the disciples listening to Jesus as He prays to God the Father. Place yourself in their shoes. What would you be thinking? How would you be feeling? What questions would be running through your mind? You hear Jesus say that He had been keeping you unharmed and undisturbed from those who are hostile to God and His kingdom. You hear Jesus say that He had been carefully protecting you from those who are hostile to God His kingdom.

Your hear Jesus say that He is praying these words in your presence so that He could bring to completion a state of gladness that you have already begun to experience in your life. You hear Jesus say that He recognizes that His message and teachings that He received from God the Father has resulted in those who are opposed to God and His kingdom hating them. And the world will hate them because they are not opposed to God, just as Jesus was not opposed to God.

And after saying all of that, you hear Jesus pray and say that He is not asking God to take them out of the world, but to keep them from Satan and His servants.  Now imagine yourself as one of the disciples. Jesus has just told you that He is going out of the world and to God the Father. And then Jesus prays that He does not want you to leave the world but to stay? What would you be thinking? How would you be feeling?

Remember, the disciples, at this point in the story, do not know how this story is going to end. They are not reading the story thousands of years later. Instead, they are in the middle of the story. So, how would you respond?

If that is not enough, then you hear Jesus pray “sanctify them in truth. Your word is truth”. The word sanctify literally means to include something or someone in the inner circle of what is holy. The truth, Jesus explains, is the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel that He has been proclaiming. But how can you as a disciple be in the inner circle of the truth of the word of God if Jesus, who was the one proclaiming the word of God, is leaving?

How can you be on the insider if the insider, who got you on the inside, is leaving? And then hear Jesus say that as He went into the world that was opposed to His message and teachings, that He is sending you into that same world that was opposed to His message and teachings? Sure Jesus says that He is going to include Himself in the inner circle of what is holy, so that the disciples could experience that state as well, but how can that be if Jesus is leaving?

You see, Jesus wanted His closest followers to clearly understand that His prayer for them was that God the Father would protect them as He sent them on mission to proclaim the truth about the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel to the world.

Friday, we will see Jesus shift the focus of His prayer in a most unexpected way…

A Mission To Make Much Of...

During these weeks leading up to Easter, we are looking at the final conversation that Jesus had with His closest followers before His death, which is recorded for us in an account of Jesus life in our Bibles called the gospel of John. This week, I would like for us to spend our time together by jumping back into the final conversation that Jesus had with His followers. But before we jump back into this conversation, let’s take a minute to look at the context in which we will be jumping into.

In the remainder of John chapter 16, Jesus reinforces the reality, in crystal clear language, that He was leaving the disciples and going back to His Father in Heaven. The disciples responded to this reinforcement by proclaiming that they believed that He was the Son of God who came as the Messiah. What the disciples were not prepared for, however, was Jesus response to their proclamation of belief and trust in Him. Jesus responded to their proclamation of allegiance by basically saying “Oh, so now you say that you trust Me? Well, here’s the deal, in a very short while you are all going to bail on Me at the time when I need you the most. And while you are going to bail on Me, My Heavenly Father will not bail on Me, but will be with Me”.

Jesus then ended His conversation with the disciples by explaining that this entire conversation was so that they could understand that it was through Him that they would be able to experience peace with God. And while they would have trials and difficulties here on earth, at the end of the day, they would have peace with God for all eternity as a result of Jesus defeating those in the world that place themselves in opposition to God and the kingdom of God.

After saying these things to His disciples, Jesus changes the tone and the direction of His conversation. Jesus shifts from a horizontal conversation with His disciples to a vertical conversation with God.   Before their very eyes and ears, Jesus shifts from a proclamation to His disciples to a prayer for His disciples. And it is in this prayer that we will see Jesus provide a timeless call to His followers. So let’s look at this prayer together, beginning in John 17:1:

Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. "This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. "I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do. "Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.

Jesus begins His prayer by making a request: glorify Your Son. The word glorify here literally means to cause to have splendid greatness. In other words, to glorify is to make much of someone in a way that makes one great. Jesus is asking God the Father to make much of Him so that He would be great. Now while that may seem to come across as being arrogant, notice why Jesus is praying that God would make much of Him so that He would be great. Jesus is asking that He would receive glory so that He could give God glory. Jesus is asking that God make much of Jesus so that Jesus could make much of God.

In verse 2, Jesus then unpacks how God would be made much of as a result of Jesus being made much of. Jesus explains that God the Father placed Him in a position where He was large and in charge over humanity, so that all of humanity that God gave to Jesus would receive eternal life. The eternal life that Jesus is referring to here is the opportunity to experience the forgiveness of sin and the relationship with God that we were created for.

And that eternal life, Jesus explains in verse 3, is “that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent”. Jesus point here is that forgiveness and a relationship with God is based on arriving at and responding to the knowledge that Jesus Christ is the Messiah that God promised that He would send to provide humanity the opportunity to be rescued from the selfishness and rebellion that separated them from God.

You see, Jesus had been given a mission. A mission to enter into humanity to live the life that humanity refused to live; a mission that would soon result in Him allowing Himself to be treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful lives so that God the Father could treat us as though we lived Jesus perfect life. And Jesus had accomplished that mission. And as a result of accomplishing that mission, God had been made much of. God the Father received the maximum amount of glory from Jesus.

And so that God the Father would continue to receive the maximum amount of glory, Jesus is asking that He would receive the glory that He had always had for all eternity, but that He had willingly set aside in order to enter into humanity on a rescue mission for humanity. But not only does Jesus pray that God the Father would make much of Him, so that Jesus would make much of God the Father.

Tomorrow, we will see Jesus shift the focus of His prayer off of Himself and onto His closest followers…

Jesus last words promise His followers the presence and power of the Holy Spirit...

This week, we are looking at a part of the final conversation that Jesus had with His closest followers before His death, which is recorded for us in John 16. Wednesday, Jesus revealed the reality that the Holy Spirit functions like a great prosecuting attorney that provides the evidence that will result in a guilty verdict for those who oppose God and reject the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel.

Today, we see Jesus transition from explaining the role that the Holy Spirit would play in the lives of those who oppose God to explaining the role that the Holy Spirit would play in the lives of those who follow Jesus in John 16:13:

 "But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. "He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. "All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.

To understand what Jesus is communicating here, we first need to understand how the Holy Spirit engages followers of Jesus. The Bible teaches us that God captures and transforms a person’s heart through the power and activity of the Holy Spirit, so that we would receive and respond to the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel. Now the big 50 cent theological term for the Holy Spirits activity in our rescue from selfishness and rebellion is the word regeneration.

Regeneration simply means that God gives us a new heart. As the prophet Ezekiel promised, God, though the Holy Spirit removes our heart of stone that resists and rejects the claims of Christ and message of the gospel and gives us a new heart that results in us responding to the message of the gospel by believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and Leader.

At the moment of regeneration the Holy Spirit takes up residence in our lives, which is referred to in church mumbo jumbo talk as being baptized by the Holy Spirit. And as the Holy Spirit dwells within us, Jesus explains that He will guide you into all truth.  In other words, the Holy Spirit is truth and guides and leads followers of Jesus to the truth.

In addition, Jesus explains that the Holy Spirit communicates the truth of God from God to His followers. The Holy Spirit does not communicate a message that is different from God. For example, the Holy Spirit will not tell you to go kill someone. The Holy Spirit proclaims God’s message to God’s people and enables God’s people to understand God’s message.

In verse 14, Jesus also reveals for us the reality that the Holy Spirit glorifies Jesus by authenticating that He was the Messiah that would rescue humanity from selfishness and rebellion. The word glorify here literally means to cause to have splendid greatness. The Holy Spirit makes much of Jesus in a way that makes Jesus great. Through the Holy Spirit’s indwelling presence and activity in the life of followers of Jesus, Jesus is made much of in a way that advances God’s kingdom and enhances Jesus reputation.

 And it is here that we see Jesus, in His final words to His closest followers, reveal a timeless promise for His followers. And that timeless promise is this: Jesus last words promise His followers the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.  Just as it was for the disciples, Jesus promise to His followers is that the Holy Spirit will take up residence in their lives in a way that unites and connects them to Him.

Jesus promises that the Holy Spirit will provide them the power to live in a way that reveals and reflects Christ in our character and our conduct. The Holy Spirit provides us spiritual gifts that motivate us to meet the needs of others in a way that builds them up spiritually. The Holy Spirit guides us to the truth and empowers us to live in a way that reflects that truth.

You see, the Christian life is not easy. The Christian life is not difficult. The Christian life is impossible apart from the Holy Spirit’s presence and power. Throughout the accounts of Jesus life that are recorded for us in the Bible, we see that Jesus lived His life here on earth in the power of the Holy Spirit. And here we see Jesus promise that His followers would also experience the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in their lives.

The Prosecuting Attorney Who Never Loses A Case...

This week, we are looking at a part of the final conversation that Jesus had with His closest followers before His death, which is recorded for us in John 16. Yesterday, we looked on as Jesus revealed that after His departure from the earth, He would send a Helper, a Counselor to earth. And this Helper, this counselor, would be the third member of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. Today, as Jesus continues His final conversation with the disciples, we see Him reveal exactly what the Holy Spirit as Helper and Counselor, would do upon His arrival on earth beginning in John 16:8:

"And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.

Here we see Jesus begin to explain to His closest followers the Holy Spirit’s function and activity here on earth. First, Jesus states that the Holy Spirit, upon His arrival, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment. Now, when Jesus refers to the world here, He is referring to everything in the world system that is hostile to God and that sets itself up in opposition to God and the kingdom of God.

Jesus point here is that as the Helper, as the Counselor, the Holy Spirit will act like a prosecuting attorney to bring about the world’s conviction of selfishness and rebellion. You see, there is a difference between conviction and conversion. Jesus here is revealing for us the reality that one of the roles that the Holy Spirit performs is to reveal to those in the world who reject God and the word of God the evidence of their guilt before God.

And that evidence, according to Jesus, concerns sin, righteousness, and judgment. Now a clear and simple definition of sin is that sin refers to acts of commission and omission that are committed against God and others that flow from our selfish rebellion against God and the word of God. Jesus here is revealing the reality that the Holy Spirit provides the evidence that those who oppose God are guilty of selfishness and rebellion because they did not believe that Jesus was who He said He was. Instead of placing their confident trust in Jesus, they selfishly rebelled against Jesus. Instead of loving God and others, they instead chose to love themselves over God and others.

When the Bible uses the word righteousness, a clear and simple definition of righteousness is that righteousness is the quality or state of being right. Deep huh. Instead of recognizing that God is right, they believed that they were right. Jesus point here is that the Holy Spirit provides the evidence that those who oppose God are guilty because God is right and they are wrong. And that evidence, Jesus explains is in the fact that He is going to the Father and that they will no longer see Him. Jesus is revealing for us the reality that the resurrection of Jesus provides the evidence that Jesus was who He said He was and that God was right and those who reject Jesus are wrong.

The word judgment here refers to the activity of Jesus as the just judge. Jesus point is that the Holy Spirit provides the evidence that those who oppose God are guilty because the ruler of this world has been judged. The ruler of this world is Satan, who is the leader of the cosmic rebellion against God and the word of God.  Jesus life, death, and resurrection would provide the evidence that Satan has been defeated and that justice has ruled and reigned.

And the Holy Spirit, like a great prosecuting attorney, provides the evidence that will result in a guilty verdict for those who oppose God and reject the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel. The Holy Spirit reveals the selfishness and rebellion of those in humanity who reject God and the kingdom of God. The Holy Spirit reveals that God is right and those who oppose God are wrong. And the Holy Spirit reveals that the just God wins and Satan loses.

Now does that make your brain hurt? If you feel like your brain is going to explode, I have some good news for you. You are not the first person to feel that way, as we see in John 16:12:

"I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.

In other words, Jesus says “I have much more that you need to know, but you are unable to process what I have to say. You are sad and stressed because I told you that I am leaving. And as I am telling you what is going to happen in the future, your brains are about to explode. You are not able to wrap your minds around what I am telling you”.

Friday, we will see Jesus transition from explaining the role that the Holy Spirit would play in the lives of those who oppose God to explaining the role that the Holy Spirit would play in the lives of those who follow Jesus…

To Leave In Order To Send???

In the weeks leading up to Easter, we are looking at the final conversation that Jesus had with His closest followers before His death, which is recorded for us in an account of Jesus life in our Bibles called the gospel of John. This week I would like for us to jump back into the final conversation that Jesus had with His followers. And to do that, we are going to look at Jesus words to His disciples beginning in John 16:5.

However, before we look at Jesus words in John chapter 16, we first need to spend a few minutes looking at what Jesus explained to His disciples in the rest of John chapter 15. In John 15:11, Jesus reminds His closest followers of His final command to love one another. Jesus commands His followers to love one another just as He had loved them: selflessly, sacrificially.

Then a few verses later, Jesus explains that while they were to love one another, those in the world who were opposed to Jesus and His message and teachings would have a far different response. Jesus basically tells His disciples “Hey, just understand that if the world hates, you, then hated Me first. If you were like the rest of the world who rejected Me, they would love you. But since you love Me, they will hate you. Because I chose to rescue you, they will hate you. And if they persecuted Me; if the harassed Me because of what I believed, said, and did, they are definitely going to persecute, harass, and hate you.”

Now, imagine yourself as a disciple; how would you react to Jesus words here? After you have left everything to follow Him; at the very moment you thought that He was going to kick out the Romans, Jesus tells you that He is leaving and that everyone that is opposed to Jesus is going to hate you. So Jesus is leaving and leaving you to deal with the wake of hate that He is leaving behind.

Then, in the beginning of John chapter 16, Jesus has the audacity to say that He is telling you all this in order to keep you from stumbling. Jesus is letting you know, in advance, that you are going to become outcasts. Jesus is letting you know in advance that people will think that persecuting and killing you will result in them receiving spiritual brownie points from God. And He just wants you to know all this in advance so that you will not bail on Him, even though it seems that He is bailing on you. 

So place yourself in this story. You are a disciple. The story is not going how you expected it to, is it? What would you be thinking? How would you be feeling? How would you respond? Now, with the context in which Jesus words will take place in mind, let’s jump back into Jesus final conversation with His disciples, beginning in John 16:5:

"But now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, 'Where are You going?' "But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.

To which the disciples were probably thinking “Of course sorrow has filled our heart; of course we are distressed at what You have said. You are leaving and we are going to be left to be outcasts and harassed because we have left everything to follow You. How should we feel?” Jesus continues:

"But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.

Now imagine yourself as a disciple: what would you be thinking? I don’t know about you, but here is what I would be thinking at this point: “Jesus, I have a question: How is it to our advantage that You are going away? How is it better for us that You are bailing on us? And who is this Helper anyways? And what is He going to help us with?” You see, the disciples, at this point in the story, do not know how this story is going to end. They are not reading the story thousands of years later. Instead, they are in the middle of the story.

What would make this all the more confusing is that Jesus was going to send a Helper. Now the word Helper, in the language that this letter was originally written in, was a legal term that referred to one who appears on behalf of another. This word conveys the sense of one that provides legal counsel, which is why some of your Bibles refer to the Helper as the Counselor.

Jesus is explaining to the disciples that His departure from them would result in Him sending someone else to them. But before Jesus could send this someone to them, He would have to depart from them. Can you see how the disciples could be confused here? “Why do You have to go before the Helper can come? Can’t You stay and the Helper come?” Jesus here is revealing the reality that after His departure from the earth, He would send this Helper, this Counselor to earth. And this Helper, this counselor, would be the third member of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit.

You see, the Bible teaches us that there is One God who exists in a loving unity of three equally divine persons. The First member of the Trinity is God the Father. The second member of the Trinity, Jesus Christ, is God in a bod, who entered into humanity in order to reveal and explain God the Father, and to provide humanity the opportunity to experience forgiveness and the relationship with God that they were created for by believing, trusting, and following Him as Lord and Leader.

While Jesus Christ is the expression of God, the third member of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, as a different role and function than God the Father and Jesus Christ. This morning, the Holy Spirit is a person; the Holy Spirit as we will see, is a He. The Holy Spirit is not a force; the Holy Spirit is not an “it”. While God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit and all equally God in their nature and essence, they are distinct in their personhood. Thus, they are distinct, but inseparably related.

Tomorrow, we will see Jesus reveal exactly what the Holy Spirit as Helper and Counselor, would do upon His arrival on earth…

An Issue of Openness that Leads to Fruitfulness...

This week, we have been looking at asection of Jesus final conversation with His closest followers before His death, which is recorded for us in John 14. Tuesday, we saw Jesus, in His final words to His closest followers, reveal a timeless promise for His followers in that Jesus last words promise His followers an eternal connection.  Just as it was for the disciples, Jesus promise to His followers is that our confident trust in Him will provide an eternal connection in the relationship with God we were created for. Jesus promises that He will reveal Himself and connect Himself in an intimate relationship with whoever places their confident trust in Him.

Today, we will see Jesus provide a word picture of this reality to the disciples in John 15:1. Let’s look at it together:

"I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.

Now to understand the word picture that Jesus is painting here, we first need to understand something about vines and how they grow. You see, vinedressers who grow grapes understand that pruning is necessary for any vine if it is going to bear fruit. And vinedressers understand that dead wood is dangerous for the vine, as dead wood can harbor disease and decay. And because of that reality, in verse 2 Jesus explains that the gardener removes everything that is not a true branch that would bear fruit.  

You see, just because a person professes that they are a follower of Jesus, that does not mean that they are a follower of Jesus. Just as a branch that produces no fruit is obviously dead, it is the results that are produced in our lives, not our profession, that serves as proof of our salvation

In addition, a vinedresser understands that an untrimmed vine will develop long rambling branches that produce little fruit because most of the strength of the vine is given to growing wood instead of fruit. And because the vinedresser is concerned that the vine be healthy and productive, they will prune the vine so that it can bear more fruit.

Jesus uses this word picture to explain that God removes the dead wood from his church and is at work in the life of followers of Jesus so that they will reveal and reflect Christ in their day to day lives. And the message and teachings of Jesus are the means by which He works in our lives to prune and clean away areas of our lives so that we can be more fruitful.  

The issue that Jesus is primarily concerned with in this word picture is the issue is fruitfulness, not salvation. We see Jesus reveal this reality as He continues to unpack this word picture in verse 4:

 "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.

Jesus commands the disciples to abide in Him. Jesus is commanding the disciples, and followers of Jesus throughout history to remain connected to Jesus. Jesus then reveals the reason behind His command: “As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me”.

You see, the issue for Jesus is fruitfulness. The issue for Jesus is that His followers reveal and reflect Him. And to reveal and reflect Jesus we must remain connected to Him, because as Jesus makes unmistakably clear in verse 5, apart from Me you can do nothing. In other words, we are unable to reveal and reflect Christ in a way that advances His kingdom and makes much of Him apart from remaining connected with Him.

Now for a long time, I viewed the idea of abiding or remaining connected with Jesus as though I had to chase Jesus around and suck the life out of Him.  There was once a pastor who worked with college students who said that to abide in Jesus, we as Christians needed to be sap suckers. He further stated that for us to grow and bear fruit for Jesus, we as Christians needed to latch on to Jesus and suck out the sap that He has for us.

Well, after the pastor finished his talk, a student who majored in botany, which is the study of plants, came up to him. The pastor said hello, to which the college students said “You’re wrong”. The pastor, taken aback, said “How am I wrong”? The student then replied, “that’s not how plants feed. You see, through the process of homeostasis, the branches don’t suck the sap out of the vine, the vine forces its nutrients into the branches”.

Now think about that for a second. How does that impact how you view remaining in Christ? As Christians, we don’t need to suck the life out of Jesus, like that is even possible. The image that Jesus is conveying to His disciples and us today is one of openness. Just as a vine forces life and nutrients into the branches to cause growth, Jesus wants to pour Himself into us so that we can grow and bear fruit for Him. What Jesus is asking us to do by remaining in Him is to simply be open to receive from Jesus what He wants to pour into us.

Think about the idea of God as the gardener that prunes the branches so that they bear more fruit. What happens when you prune or cut back a branch? Is the opening where I cut bigger or smaller? It’s bigger. When God prunes and cleans us through His word, He makes us more open to receive what Jesus desires to pour into us. Jesus desires that we remain connected to Him so that He can pour Himself into us so that we reveal and reflect Him in our character and conduct in a way that enables us to be the vehicle that He uses to reveal Himself to the world. Jesus unpacks this for us in verse 7:

 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. "My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. "Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. "These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.

As we remain connected to Jesus and open ourselves to allow Jesus to pour Himself into us, Jesus explains that we will reveal and reflect Christ by producing the fruit that reveals our relationship with Jesus. We will pray in a way that is focused on bearing fruit for God and making much of God. And God will respond to the prayer that is focused on accomplishing the mission of God in a way that advances God’s kingdom and makes much of God.

God enters into such a life in a way that we experience the love of God and the joy that comes from being connected with God. And we will experience that love and that joy because Jesus last words promise His followers an eternal connection.

So here are some questions to consider: Are you connected to God? Have you come to the place where you have placed your confident trust in Jesus as God in a bod, who is the way, the truth and the source of forgiveness and the life in the relationship with God that you were created for?

Are you a follower of Jesus and yet feel disconnected from God? If that is you, here is the question: who moved? Could it be that the reason that you feel disconnected from God is because you have not allowed God to prune you so that you would be more open for what God wants to do in and through you through Jesus?

Jesus last words promise His followers an eternal connection...

This week, we are looking at a section of the final conversation that Jesus had with His closest followers before His death, which is recorded for us in John 14. Yesterday, we saw Jesus explain to His disturbed and confused disciples that He was the way that one could experience the relationship with God that they were created for, but had been separated from as a result of selfishness and rebellion. You see, up to this point, the twelve disciples had not fully grasped the full significance of who Jesus was. The disciples had not fully wrapped their minds around who Jesus was and how He was connected and related to God. However, Jesus explains to the disciples that would change.

Today, as this conversation continued, Jesus would continue to blow up their categories when it came to who He was and how He was connected to God. Jesus begins to demolish their categories as another of the disciples asks a question in verse 8:

 Philip said to Him, "Lord, show us the Father,

 and it is enough for us."

In other words, Phillip asks “Jesus all you have to do is take us to God and we will be good. So, Jesus, just take us to God already, then things will be clear”. We see Jesus response in verse 9:

 Jesus said to him, "Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, 'Show us the Father '?  "Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. "Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves.

In other words, Jesus says “Phillip, where have you been these past three years? How is it that you have not come to the knowledge that I am God. Phillip, I am God in a bod. You see Phillip, I do not need to take you to God, because I am God who has come to you to reveal and explain myself to you.” When Jesus uses the phrase “I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me” Jesus is revealing the reality that He is God in a bod.

Jesus Christ is the second member of the Triune God. Jesus has the same nature and essence as God the Father. Jesus then backs His statement by explaining that His message and teachings are not of His own initiative. In other words, Jesus is not coming up with what He is saying. Instead, it is God the Father abiding in Me that initiates both His message and His miracles. Now when Jesus uses the word abide here, this word means to not leave a certain sphere of existence, to remain connected.

Jesus here is revealing the reality that He and God the Father are distinct but inseparably related and connected with one another. That is why earlier in the gospel of John, in John 1:18, John stated that the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him. Jesus came to earth to reveal and explain God to humanity and to rescue humanity from their selfishness and rebellion. And the disciples had not fully grasped and wrapped their minds around that reality. And there was something else that the disciples needed to wrap their minds around, which Jesus reveals for them in verse 12:

"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. "Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  "If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.

Here we see Jesus reveal two amazing truths to His closest followers. First, Jesus explains that those who place their confident trust in the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel will accomplish more to advance God’s kingdom here on earth than Jesus did while here on earth. Now a natural question that arises here is “how can that be?” Jesus point here is that His followers would have a greater impact in terms of the extent and effect to advance His kingdom here on earth.

Think of it this way. At the time of Jesus death, how many followers of Jesus were there on earth? In the book of Acts we read that there were 120 followers of Jesus huddled in hiding in Jerusalem after His death. How many churches were there at the time of Jesus death? None.

As a result of Jesus going to God the Father in Heaven, the church was born and followers of Jesus were equipped and empowered to advance His kingdom to a greater extent that Jesus did during His time on earth. Just as Jesus was the vehicle that God used to reveal Himself to the world, followers of Jesus would be the vehicle that He would use to reveal Himself around the world. Second, Jesus explains that whatever you ask in My name, that I will do.

Unfortunately some in the prosperity gospel movement take this verse to advocate a “name it and claim it mentality” when it comes to prayer. In other words, if I just have enough faith, I can ask God for anything and He will give it to me.

The problem with that view however, is that Jesus is not saying that here. Notice what Jesus says here: "Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” Now the word glorified means to cause to have splendid greatness. In other words, to glorify is to make much of someone in a way that makes one great.

Jesus point is that God will respond to the prayer that is focused on accomplishing the mission of God in a way that advances God’s kingdom and makes much of God. God enters into the prayer that asks for the ability to accomplish God’s kingdom mission in a way the reveals and reflects the attitude and actions of Jesus.

Jesus is encouraging the disciples to understand that just because He is leaving, that does not mean that the message and mission is changing. Just as Jesus was the vehicle that God used to reveal Himself to the world, followers of Jesus would be the vehicle that He would use to reveal Himself around the world. And a few verses later, in John 14:18, we see Jesus continue to engage His confused and disturbed followers with an amazing promise:

"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. "After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also. "In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. "He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him."

Now imagine yourself as a disciple. Earlier Jesus stated that where He was going that they could not come. Then Jesus says that they know the way where He is going. Now Jesus says, I will come to you. So which is it? “Jesus, I’m confused. So, are you going or are you coming? When are you going and coming? What do you mean that the world will no longer see you but we will see you? And because I live, you will live also? What are you talking about?”

While the disciples were confused, Jesus was not confused. While the disciples were not fully aware that just a few hours later, Jesus would be arrested, tried, and crucified, which would result in His death and burial, Jesus was fully aware of what was in store. And Jesus wanted the disciples to know that after His death, the world at large would no longer see Him.

However, after Jesus was raised from the dead, He would come to them. Jesus wanted the disciples to know that because God would bring Jesus back to life to never die again, that His followers would also be able to experience eternal life in the relationship with God that they were created for. Jesus wanted to let the disciples know that the resurrection would serve to prove that Jesus was who He said He was as God in a bod.

Then Jesus makes an amazing statement. Jesus explains that the person who takes ownership of the message and teachings of Jesus in the core of their being and who strives to follow the message and teachings of Jesus, reveals the reality of their love for Jesus. Because, as we discovered last week, love is a verb. Love is proved through our actions.

And for the person who loves Jesus, Jesus makes an amazing promise: “he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him." In other words, Jesus promises that He will love and reveal Himself to the one who loves Him. Now this leads to another question from another disciple. We see that question in verse 22:

Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, "Lord, what then has happened that You are going to disclose Yourself to us and not to the world?"

Judas basically asks, “what about everybody else?” What happened to the mission? What has changed that you are only going to reveal yourself to us?” Jesus answers that question in verse 23:

Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.

Jesus answer, if communicated in the language we use in our culture today, would sound something like this: “The mission has not changed. If anyone, red, yellow, black, or white; young or old; if anyone loves Me; anyone who strives to follow the message and teachings of Jesus, reveals the reality of their love for Me. And anyone who loves Me, my Father will love, because whoever loves Me loves My Father. And we will come to anyone who loves Me and stay with them forever. The person who loves Me will live and remain connected in relationship with Me permanently.

And it is here that we see Jesus, in His final words to His closest followers, reveal a timeless promise for His followers. And that timeless promise is this: Jesus last words promise His followers an eternal connection.  Just as it was for the disciples, Jesus promise to His followers is that our confident trust in Him will provide an eternal connection in the relationship with God we were created for. Jesus promises that He will reveal Himself and connect Himself in an intimate relationship with whoever places their confident trust in Him.

Thursday, we will see Jesus provide a word picture of this reality to the disciples…

Confused and Disturbed...

In the weeks leading up to Easter, we are looking at the final conversation that Jesus had with His closest followers before His death, which is recorded for us in an account of Jesus life in our Bibles called the gospel of John. This week I would like for us to jump back into the final conversation that Jesus had with His followers. To help us jump back into this conversation, I would like for us to try to place ourselves in the disciple’s shoes. 

Imagine yourself as a disciple. Jesus has basically told you that He is leaving and that where He is going, you cannot follow Him. Sure Jesus just commanded you to love one another, but that does not change the fact that He is still leaving. You left everything, family, friends, career, in order to follow Jesus.

And if that was not bad enough, when Peter, who is the leader of your group, asks Jesus why He cannot follow Him and tells Jesus that he would die for Him, Jesus replied by saying that Peter was going to deny that he even knew Jesus. And that Peter would not deny that he knew Jesus one time. Jesus told Peter that he would deny knowing Him three times.

Now what would you be thinking and feeling? “What! What do you mean that we cannot follow you? We left everything to follow you. We leveraged everything to follow you.” As a disciple, your world has been turned upside down. Place yourself in the shoes of one of the disciples. Let’s walk together in those shoes as we see what Jesus has to say next, beginning in John 14:1:

            "Do not let your heart be troubled;

To which the disciples were probably thinking to themselves “that’s easy for you to say. It’s easy for you to tell us that we should not be disturbed at what we have just heard because you are the one who is bailing on us, while we are the ones who are left behind”.

believe in God, believe also in Me. "In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. "If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. "And you know the way where I am going."

Jesus explains to the disciples that instead of being disturbed, they should believe in Jesus words. Now when Jesus uses the word believe here, this word is the same word that is also translated trust in our English Bibles. This word literally means to entrust oneself with complete confidence in someone or something. Jesus is saying “You need to trust Me. Just as you are to place your confident trust in God, you need to place your confident trust in Me”.

Jesus then provides the reason why they were to place their confident trust in Him: ^“In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. "If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”

Now the disciples had heard this kind of language before. You see, in Jesus day, this language was used to describe what would happen in a wedding. After becoming engaged, the bridegroom would then go and prepare a place for he and his wife to live, with his family. The bridegroom would basically build an addition on his parent’s house for them to live in. After the addition was completed, bridegroom would then come back in a loud parade-like celebration that would stop at the bride’s house, where they would have the wedding ceremony and reception. The bridegroom would pick the bride up, and take her to be with his family.

When Jesus uses the phrase “receive you to myself”, this phrase literally means to take someone into a close association with oneself. Jesus is saying “I am going to take you to myself”. Now imagine yourself as a disciple. Jesus is using language of getting married, but Jesus does not have a girlfriend. And besides, He is not talking about marrying a girl. Instead, He is talking about you. Jesus has just told you that His Father’s house has many dwelling places and that He is going to prepare a place for you to be able to live in a close intimate association with Him. And if that was not enough, Jesus says that you know the way to His Father’s house. What would you be thinking? We see what Thomas was thinking in verse 5:

Thomas said to Him, "Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?"

In this question, we see Thomas reveal the confusion that the disciples were feeling. Imagine yourself as Thomas. Earlier Jesus stated that where He was going that they could not come; now Jesus is saying that they know the way where He is going? So which is it? “Jesus, I’m confused. So, can I or can’t I come with you? Jesus, how am I supposed to know the way, when you have never told us the way you are going? And where are you going?”

You see, Thomas, as the rest of the disciples are thinking of a literal road to a literal house where they never have been, so how are they supposed to know the way there. Jesus, however, is talking about something all together different, as we see in His response in verse 6:

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him."

You see, Jesus was not talking about an earthly way to an earthly house. Instead Jesus was talking about the way that one could experience the relationship with God that they were created for, but had been separated from as a result of selfishness and rebellion. Jesus is saying “I am the way of life; I am the source and embodiment of truth; I am the source by which you can experience forgiveness and the relationship with God that you were created for forever.

And there is only way to experience that forgiveness and relationship. No one comes to experience that forgiveness and relationship with God apart from placing their trust in Me. You need to trust Me. Just as you are to place your confident trust in God, you need to place your confident trust in Me. If you really understood who I was as both life and the source of life, you would really understand who God was”.

You see, up to this point, the twelve disciples had not fully grasped the full significance of who Jesus was. The disciples had not fully wrapped their minds around who Jesus was and how He was connected and related to God. However, Jesus explains to the disciples that would change. As this conversation continued, Jesus would continue to blow up their categories when it came to who He was and how He was connected to God.

Tomorrow, we will see Jesus begin to demolish their categories…