Click here for the JOHN 18:7-14 PODCAST
7 Again he asked them, “Who is it you want?” “Jesus of Nazareth,” they said. 8 Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. If you are looking for me, then let these men go.” 9 This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: “I have not lost one of those you gave me.” 10 Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.) 11 Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?” 12 Then the detachment of soldiers with its commander and the Jewish officials arrested Jesus. They bound him 13 and brought him first to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year. 14 Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jewish leaders that it would be good if one man died for the people. ~ John 18:7-14
While laying on the ground, these religious posers get the same question from the Lord Jesus, “Who is it you want?” The question was asked in order to protect the disciples as v.8 bears out. v.8 reads, "Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. If you are looking for me, then let these men go.” Thus, the fulfillment of the Lord Jesus' prayer for these disciples in John 17.
A second time in v.7, the Lord Jesus identifies Himself as "Jesus of Nazareth." The Old Testament prophecies told us the coming of the Messiah would be of humble origin and would be despised and rejected. These Old Testament prophecies prepared us for a Messiah who would be of low and despised conditions and would be rejected. These were fully fulfilled in His being an inhabitant of Nazareth.
The phrase “Jesus of Nazareth” is first used in the Bible by Phillip who, after being called by the Lord Jesus to follow Him, told Nathanael, "We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph" (John 1:45). By calling Him "Jesus of Nazareth," Phillip made a statement about the lowliness of His birth.
The character of the people of Nazareth was such that they were despised and condemned. Nathanael’s response, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” (John 1:46) would seem to indicate such. To come from Nazareth, therefore was the same as to be despised, or to be esteemed of low status. The Messiah who would come to save His people would be “like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.” (Isaiah 53:2). No wonder it takes a humble disposition to recognize and follow Him.
Jesus of Nazareth was born and grew up in humble circumstances, but His impact on the world has been greater than anyone ever born before or since. He came to “save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21), an accomplishment that could be accomplished by none other than God incarnate.
According to v.9, this happened as it did in order “that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: “I have not lost one of those you gave me.” You will remember that in John 17:12, He said, “Of those whom You have given Me, I lost not one.” So the Lord Jesus is protecting the disciples, in a moment when if they had been taken prisoner they would have been lost.
He protects them, so that He will fulfill the Scripture that they will not be lost. Had He allowed them to get arrested, their faith would have been completely overwhelmed. It was hard enough as it was. They scattered, and Peter denied knowing the Lord Jesus three times. And, the third time Peter denied knowing Him, he used a bad cuss word in order to protect himself. The disciples were known to be fairly moral, but it is not morality that really sets us a part. No, it is our faith in Him, but their faith was quite shaken in this moment.
In v.10, we read, “Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear.” We are all so much like Simon Peter. The Lord says to us, “I’ll protect you.” Then, we take things into our own hands. Note that Peter is referred to by John as "Simon Peter." This is strategic, due to the meaning of Simon which is weakness. The coolest thing about Peter is this: in His second epistle he refers to himself as Simon Peter. He finally got it ... "less of me, more of Him."
I find that I, like Peter, want the notoriety the world has to offer. I find myself imagining the limelight, and yet, that is not God. No, His way is the unpopular way. His way is the self-minimizing way. His way leads to death to self. His reaction to Peter's boneheadedness is consistent, and it is the same response He gives me when I lose sight of His culture.
In v.11, the Lord Jesus tells Peter, “Put your sword away!” The kingdom of the Lord Jesus is not of this world, otherwise He would have ordered His disciples to fight. We don’t fight. We die voluntarily.
Then, at the end of v.11, the Lord Jesus says, “shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?" The Lord Jesus was no victim. This is the Son of God, willingly, voluntarily, in an act of supreme obedience to His Father in Heaven, giving Himself up for our sake. How can we help but love Him when He loved us so?
The Lord Jesus spent a lot of time with the losers and the outcasts. He talked about the last becoming first and the first becoming last. He embraced the meek and the broken, the humble ones who felt swamped with heavy burdens. He died alone, bitterly forsaken by all.
This upside-down approach to life is the way of His grace. We live in a world where the biggest, best, and brightest succeed, while the littlest, last, and least get trampled. But the Lord Jesus disrupts and interrupts our quest for power and our lust for significance. The ways of our world are rebuked by the inverted way of Jesus. Because of this, Christianity has from its beginning prized weakness. For us, embracing weakness is so contrary, yet so good.
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Friday, January 10, 2020
Thursday, January 09, 2020
John 18:1-6
Click here for the JOHN 18:1-6 PODCAST
1 When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was a garden, and he and his disciples went into it. 2 Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. 3 So Judas came to the garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons. 4 Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?” 5 “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied.
“I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) 6 When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.
John 18:1-6
Whereas John 17 describes the prayer of the Lord Jesus that included a request for protection for His disciples, John 18 is an immediate illustration of that part of the prayer. The Lord Jesus had prayed for their safety, and, although He will be led away to His death, the disciples are and will be protected.
In these events, we see the glory of the Son of God which was the subject of the first part of the Lord Jesus' prayer in John 17. His glory shines through the ugliness, darkness, hatred, pain and suffering. The Lord Jesus is , as has always been, in total control over His circumstances. And, that control continues in His arrest, mistreatment, unjust trial, and execution.
In v.1 we read, “Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley.” The Lord Jesus is moving toward His own death for all of mankind. He is undaunted. And, He will stand firm as God unleashes His wrath on the Lord Jesus for the forgiveness of mankind's rebellion. And the sin problem of all of mankind will be resolved. Think if He had not gone through with this plan; we'd be without hope.
It is now Friday morning, and it is dark. The Apostle John is positioning us to see the glory of the Lord Jesus in His arrest, betrayal and death. Everything is dark, and the darkest of it all is the hearts of the people surrounding the Lord Jesus. In the midst of this darkness, we see the divine resolve, glory, love and righteousness of the Lord Jesus. This is the unfolding of God’s predetermined plan.
Missing in John's account is the agony of the Lord Jesus preceding the coming of Judas and the religious leaders. Missing is His agonizing prayer while in the shadows of the garden of Gethsemane. The other three gospels include these missing events that took place in the garden, but not John's gospel.
The reason John does not mention these incidents is because they reveal the Lord Jesus in His human weakness. John's task was to give an account of the Lord Jesus in His fullness. John's presentation is not contradictory, he just doesn't include certain information that the others do. John draws a contrast in this account between the light and the darkness.
In v.3, we learn that "a detachment of soldiers," came with Judas and the religious leaders. In some cases there would have been 500 soldiers in this group, but it is likely that there were around 50 soldiers who came to apprehend the Lord Jesus. These were carrying lanterns and torches and were armed to the teeth to apprehend the unarmed Son of God. They were armed like this because earlier in the week, all by Himself, the Lord Jesus had run hundreds out of the temple. They knew His power.
So, in v.1-3, the Apostle John includes how the Lord Jesus met the crowd of soldiers and religious leaders who came to arrest Him. In v.2, we read, "Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples."
In v.4, the Lord Jesus asks, "Who is it you want?" They respond, "Jesus of Nazareth." Back in John 10:17-18, we read, “No on takes My life from Me; I lay it down of Myself.” Christianity is not just being saved from sin and death and judgment; it means having a living savior who has conquered sin and death. And, we have a personal relationship with this One who is guiding us through this life on earth.
In v.5, the Lord Jesus replied, “I am he.” So commanding and so unexpected was His response, the soldiers and religious leaders stumbled backwards and fell all over one another. The Lord Jesus actually said, "I AM," which is the relational, covenant-keeping name YHWH.
The Lord Jesus was no victim. He had complete control over this situation. Yet, He is the one of whom Isaiah says, "3 He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. 4 Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed."
1 When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was a garden, and he and his disciples went into it. 2 Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. 3 So Judas came to the garden, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and the Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons. 4 Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?” 5 “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied.
“I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) 6 When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.
John 18:1-6
Whereas John 17 describes the prayer of the Lord Jesus that included a request for protection for His disciples, John 18 is an immediate illustration of that part of the prayer. The Lord Jesus had prayed for their safety, and, although He will be led away to His death, the disciples are and will be protected.
In these events, we see the glory of the Son of God which was the subject of the first part of the Lord Jesus' prayer in John 17. His glory shines through the ugliness, darkness, hatred, pain and suffering. The Lord Jesus is , as has always been, in total control over His circumstances. And, that control continues in His arrest, mistreatment, unjust trial, and execution.
In v.1 we read, “Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley.” The Lord Jesus is moving toward His own death for all of mankind. He is undaunted. And, He will stand firm as God unleashes His wrath on the Lord Jesus for the forgiveness of mankind's rebellion. And the sin problem of all of mankind will be resolved. Think if He had not gone through with this plan; we'd be without hope.
It is now Friday morning, and it is dark. The Apostle John is positioning us to see the glory of the Lord Jesus in His arrest, betrayal and death. Everything is dark, and the darkest of it all is the hearts of the people surrounding the Lord Jesus. In the midst of this darkness, we see the divine resolve, glory, love and righteousness of the Lord Jesus. This is the unfolding of God’s predetermined plan.
Missing in John's account is the agony of the Lord Jesus preceding the coming of Judas and the religious leaders. Missing is His agonizing prayer while in the shadows of the garden of Gethsemane. The other three gospels include these missing events that took place in the garden, but not John's gospel.
The reason John does not mention these incidents is because they reveal the Lord Jesus in His human weakness. John's task was to give an account of the Lord Jesus in His fullness. John's presentation is not contradictory, he just doesn't include certain information that the others do. John draws a contrast in this account between the light and the darkness.
In v.3, we learn that "a detachment of soldiers," came with Judas and the religious leaders. In some cases there would have been 500 soldiers in this group, but it is likely that there were around 50 soldiers who came to apprehend the Lord Jesus. These were carrying lanterns and torches and were armed to the teeth to apprehend the unarmed Son of God. They were armed like this because earlier in the week, all by Himself, the Lord Jesus had run hundreds out of the temple. They knew His power.
So, in v.1-3, the Apostle John includes how the Lord Jesus met the crowd of soldiers and religious leaders who came to arrest Him. In v.2, we read, "Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples."
In v.4, the Lord Jesus asks, "Who is it you want?" They respond, "Jesus of Nazareth." Back in John 10:17-18, we read, “No on takes My life from Me; I lay it down of Myself.” Christianity is not just being saved from sin and death and judgment; it means having a living savior who has conquered sin and death. And, we have a personal relationship with this One who is guiding us through this life on earth.
In v.5, the Lord Jesus replied, “I am he.” So commanding and so unexpected was His response, the soldiers and religious leaders stumbled backwards and fell all over one another. The Lord Jesus actually said, "I AM," which is the relational, covenant-keeping name YHWH.
The Lord Jesus was no victim. He had complete control over this situation. Yet, He is the one of whom Isaiah says, "3 He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. 4 Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed."
Wednesday, January 08, 2020
John 17:20-26
Click here for the John 17:20-26 PODCAST
20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 25 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.” John 17:20-26
In His longest recorded prayer, we come to the section the Lord Jesus prays for all who have believed on Him as our savior. In v.20, we read, "“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message."
In this section the Lord Jesus turns His attention from His eleven disciples to all of those who will believe through them. His prayer for us is for unity and intimacy with the Father and with His followers. Notice the mention of the words "in" and "know" in our text. The Lord Jesus uses the word gnosko which means "know." Gnosko is the intimate Greek word for the word "know." Gnosko is experiential knowledge of God. It involves all of the parts of our souls; our minds, wills and emotions. As a result, the heart is involved, which makes it possible for us to experience intimacy with Him and with other believers.
In v.21, we read, "that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you." The Lord Jesus is asking that in the same way the Father and the Son share life, it is His wish that all believers share the same life: the life of the Son in the believer producing unique intimacy and oneness with God and other believers.
The oneness He is speaking of is not outward union. In fact, this is why the Church at large, does not experience unity and intimacy. Having believed in the Lord Jesus and due to the indwelling Holy Spirit, all believers are a part of the family of God, and we naturally share His life together. When His life is experienced and shared, we will experience eternal life. This is when intimacy and oneness is experienced.
Notice the means by which this is produced in v.22-23: "I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one. 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me." The Father loved the Son which is the Son's glory. The same love enables the believer to love other believers and this creates the security and subsequent safety to experience His oneness among us.
Then, in v.24, the Lord Jesus prays for the church's ultimate destiny. "Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world." This is the ultimate promise of the Scriptures: to be with the Father and the Son and the Spirit, in heaven, and to experience His glory, His unimpeded presence, this is the believer's ultimate destiny.
The Lord Jesus expressed His desire for believers to behold His glory and the purpose is that we may know His love. The glory of God is the totality of who He is, all His attributes. His love is one of those attributes. We behold, we experience the glory of God because He loves us. We should never stop at God's love, though. God's love simply draws us into all of who He is, the totality of His being.
God is love, but love is not God. His love by no means exhausts His essence. He is by nature love. His love draws us into worship all of Him. God can be known in part through His love. God can be known in totality through His glory. But inasmuch as Christ gives the glory of God to us, He gives his love to us, as well. God dwells in us. And if He dwells in us, His love dwells in us, as well. This is the same love the Father has loved the Son. The Father loves us like He loves His Son.
Notice the statement in v.24, "to see my glory." This means that we shall be like Him: 1 John 3:2 puts it this way: "When we see him we shall be like him." His glory will be something that we will actually experience. Then, we will share in His glory.
The conclusion of the prayer of the Lord Jesus is in v.25-26, which reads, "25 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”
The Lord Jesus addresses the Father as "righteous." Earlier He addressed Him as "holy" in the context of the disciples' sanctification, which renders holiness or completeness. Here, the Father is addressed as "righteous" in the context of our knowing Him. It is God's righteousness, given to us through faith in Christ, that enables us to know God.
Intimacy with the living God is the key to the life that we all long for deeply. It begins with the recognition of the Lord Jesus as "sent from God." It develops as we grow in our understanding of the Father's glory and love. God's glory is present in us for the purpose of oneness. Thus, His love is the trademark characteristic of His followers witness to the world. Our witness is the expression of our oneness, which is based in His love for us. And, it is growing us to be like Him: to be others-minded.
20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. 25 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.” John 17:20-26
In His longest recorded prayer, we come to the section the Lord Jesus prays for all who have believed on Him as our savior. In v.20, we read, "“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message."
In this section the Lord Jesus turns His attention from His eleven disciples to all of those who will believe through them. His prayer for us is for unity and intimacy with the Father and with His followers. Notice the mention of the words "in" and "know" in our text. The Lord Jesus uses the word gnosko which means "know." Gnosko is the intimate Greek word for the word "know." Gnosko is experiential knowledge of God. It involves all of the parts of our souls; our minds, wills and emotions. As a result, the heart is involved, which makes it possible for us to experience intimacy with Him and with other believers.
In v.21, we read, "that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you." The Lord Jesus is asking that in the same way the Father and the Son share life, it is His wish that all believers share the same life: the life of the Son in the believer producing unique intimacy and oneness with God and other believers.
The oneness He is speaking of is not outward union. In fact, this is why the Church at large, does not experience unity and intimacy. Having believed in the Lord Jesus and due to the indwelling Holy Spirit, all believers are a part of the family of God, and we naturally share His life together. When His life is experienced and shared, we will experience eternal life. This is when intimacy and oneness is experienced.
Notice the means by which this is produced in v.22-23: "I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one. 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me." The Father loved the Son which is the Son's glory. The same love enables the believer to love other believers and this creates the security and subsequent safety to experience His oneness among us.
Then, in v.24, the Lord Jesus prays for the church's ultimate destiny. "Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world." This is the ultimate promise of the Scriptures: to be with the Father and the Son and the Spirit, in heaven, and to experience His glory, His unimpeded presence, this is the believer's ultimate destiny.
The Lord Jesus expressed His desire for believers to behold His glory and the purpose is that we may know His love. The glory of God is the totality of who He is, all His attributes. His love is one of those attributes. We behold, we experience the glory of God because He loves us. We should never stop at God's love, though. God's love simply draws us into all of who He is, the totality of His being.
God is love, but love is not God. His love by no means exhausts His essence. He is by nature love. His love draws us into worship all of Him. God can be known in part through His love. God can be known in totality through His glory. But inasmuch as Christ gives the glory of God to us, He gives his love to us, as well. God dwells in us. And if He dwells in us, His love dwells in us, as well. This is the same love the Father has loved the Son. The Father loves us like He loves His Son.
Notice the statement in v.24, "to see my glory." This means that we shall be like Him: 1 John 3:2 puts it this way: "When we see him we shall be like him." His glory will be something that we will actually experience. Then, we will share in His glory.
The conclusion of the prayer of the Lord Jesus is in v.25-26, which reads, "25 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”
The Lord Jesus addresses the Father as "righteous." Earlier He addressed Him as "holy" in the context of the disciples' sanctification, which renders holiness or completeness. Here, the Father is addressed as "righteous" in the context of our knowing Him. It is God's righteousness, given to us through faith in Christ, that enables us to know God.
Intimacy with the living God is the key to the life that we all long for deeply. It begins with the recognition of the Lord Jesus as "sent from God." It develops as we grow in our understanding of the Father's glory and love. God's glory is present in us for the purpose of oneness. Thus, His love is the trademark characteristic of His followers witness to the world. Our witness is the expression of our oneness, which is based in His love for us. And, it is growing us to be like Him: to be others-minded.
Tuesday, January 07, 2020
John 17:10-19
Click here for the JOHN 17:10-19 PODCAST
10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled. 13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. ~ John 17:10-19
We continue today in the longest recorded prayer of the Lord Jesus. In this prayer He prays that He may be glorified (v.1-5), His disciples may be protected and sanctified (v.6-19), and the church may be unified (v.20-26). Today, we will consider v.10-19.
In our last blog, we considered the theme of grace. There is nothing more heart changing than God's grace. There is nothing more positioning of our heart's to be defined by God than the God's undeserved favor.
In v.10, the Lord Jesus, once again, identifies His disciples as gifts from the Father. He knows that He is about to leave them, and He is allowing them to eavesdrop in on His conversation with the Father. In so doing, the Lord Jesus commends His disciples to the Father's care for it was in the Father's name that they were protected.
This protection is for their fellowship with the Father. You will remember that our relationship with the Lord is based upon the performance of the Lord Jesus on our behalf. And our fellowship is the experience we gain with God as we choose to live by faith in His involvement in our lives.
According to v.11-13, the Lord Jesus prays, "Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name." The Father's name, in fact, had been given to the Lord Jesus, so He acts on behalf of the Father. The name "Jesus" includes God's personal name "Yahweh." "Jesus" means "Yahweh saves." The Lord Jesus is appealing to the Father's attributes on the behalf of His disciples.
Notice the purpose of the Father's protection at the end of v.11: "so that they may be one as we are one." The result is "oneness" or "not lacking" which is a product of His name and His holiness defining us. The adjective "holy" (hagios in the Greek) in v.11 is the same as the verb "sanctify" (hagiazo in the Greek) in v.17-18. The Father, who is holy, is able to and desires to make us holy or complete or sanctified as well.
God never intended for our relationship with Him and with other believers to exist in a vacuum. Similar to the community among the Trinity, a community of believers nurtures oneness, and the relationships that are forged contribute to the community. The community of believers and the oneness produced plays a crucial role in protecting our fellowship with God. This facilitates the fulfillment the Lord Jesus offers us.
In v.12, we read, "None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled." The Lord Jesus is referring to Judas who never was truly a member of the disciple community. Outwardly he was, but inwardly his heart never yielded to the grace, love and mercy of God. Long ago the scriptures foretold that one would betray the Savior (Psalm 41:9, John 13:18). Nevertheless, the emphasis is not on the one who betrayed but on the eleven who believed and enjoyed the protection of God.
In v.13, we read, "I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them." The Lord Jesus had protected the disciples by His word and His gift of inner joy. He told them the truth, and as they believed it they found it led them to joy. The joy of knowing God has a protective influence in our lives. If we find true joy in knowing Him, we're less likely to look elsewhere for false joy.
The Lord Jesus clearly saw the coming persecution these believers would face. He knew the world would hate them, because He had given them the Father's word. It is the Scripture, the Word of God, that is the primary object of the enemy's hatred. It is the word of God which gives us His culture, His definition of things. And, when we walk in the truth, the world will hate it.
In v.14 the Lord Jesus identifies the threat to our felowship with God: the world. The Lord Jesus has given us God's word, which is the gospel that we believed (17:6), thereby attracting the world's hatred. Anyone who believes the gospel poses a threat to the world, because the gospel confronts the world's sin. The world's hatred, therefore, may draw us away from God, where it appears safer.
As a side note, I have always been astounded by the churches desire to isolate itself away from the world. This passage explains why they would desire such, but this desire is not biblical. We are clearly not to isolate ourselves from the world. Despite the fact that the phrase, "be in the world but not of it" is not in the Bible, the concept is definitely biblical.
The Lord Jesus wants to love the world through the believer. Therefore, He asks the Father to protect his disciples "from the evil one" in v.15. The enemy is not the world but Satan, who inspires the world. As Paul says, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." (Ephesians 6:12).
In v.14-16, the Lord Jesus says the disciple is not of the world, just as He is not. Because this is so, the world will hate us, because it wants undisturbed wickedness. So the Lord Jesus asks the Father that we might be protected from the influence of the world, whose hatred, as inspired by Satan, might cause us to wander from God.
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10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled. 13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. ~ John 17:10-19
We continue today in the longest recorded prayer of the Lord Jesus. In this prayer He prays that He may be glorified (v.1-5), His disciples may be protected and sanctified (v.6-19), and the church may be unified (v.20-26). Today, we will consider v.10-19.
In our last blog, we considered the theme of grace. There is nothing more heart changing than God's grace. There is nothing more positioning of our heart's to be defined by God than the God's undeserved favor.
In v.10, the Lord Jesus, once again, identifies His disciples as gifts from the Father. He knows that He is about to leave them, and He is allowing them to eavesdrop in on His conversation with the Father. In so doing, the Lord Jesus commends His disciples to the Father's care for it was in the Father's name that they were protected.
This protection is for their fellowship with the Father. You will remember that our relationship with the Lord is based upon the performance of the Lord Jesus on our behalf. And our fellowship is the experience we gain with God as we choose to live by faith in His involvement in our lives.
According to v.11-13, the Lord Jesus prays, "Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name." The Father's name, in fact, had been given to the Lord Jesus, so He acts on behalf of the Father. The name "Jesus" includes God's personal name "Yahweh." "Jesus" means "Yahweh saves." The Lord Jesus is appealing to the Father's attributes on the behalf of His disciples.
Notice the purpose of the Father's protection at the end of v.11: "so that they may be one as we are one." The result is "oneness" or "not lacking" which is a product of His name and His holiness defining us. The adjective "holy" (hagios in the Greek) in v.11 is the same as the verb "sanctify" (hagiazo in the Greek) in v.17-18. The Father, who is holy, is able to and desires to make us holy or complete or sanctified as well.
God never intended for our relationship with Him and with other believers to exist in a vacuum. Similar to the community among the Trinity, a community of believers nurtures oneness, and the relationships that are forged contribute to the community. The community of believers and the oneness produced plays a crucial role in protecting our fellowship with God. This facilitates the fulfillment the Lord Jesus offers us.
In v.12, we read, "None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled." The Lord Jesus is referring to Judas who never was truly a member of the disciple community. Outwardly he was, but inwardly his heart never yielded to the grace, love and mercy of God. Long ago the scriptures foretold that one would betray the Savior (Psalm 41:9, John 13:18). Nevertheless, the emphasis is not on the one who betrayed but on the eleven who believed and enjoyed the protection of God.
In v.13, we read, "I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them." The Lord Jesus had protected the disciples by His word and His gift of inner joy. He told them the truth, and as they believed it they found it led them to joy. The joy of knowing God has a protective influence in our lives. If we find true joy in knowing Him, we're less likely to look elsewhere for false joy.
The Lord Jesus clearly saw the coming persecution these believers would face. He knew the world would hate them, because He had given them the Father's word. It is the Scripture, the Word of God, that is the primary object of the enemy's hatred. It is the word of God which gives us His culture, His definition of things. And, when we walk in the truth, the world will hate it.
In v.14 the Lord Jesus identifies the threat to our felowship with God: the world. The Lord Jesus has given us God's word, which is the gospel that we believed (17:6), thereby attracting the world's hatred. Anyone who believes the gospel poses a threat to the world, because the gospel confronts the world's sin. The world's hatred, therefore, may draw us away from God, where it appears safer.
As a side note, I have always been astounded by the churches desire to isolate itself away from the world. This passage explains why they would desire such, but this desire is not biblical. We are clearly not to isolate ourselves from the world. Despite the fact that the phrase, "be in the world but not of it" is not in the Bible, the concept is definitely biblical.
The Lord Jesus wants to love the world through the believer. Therefore, He asks the Father to protect his disciples "from the evil one" in v.15. The enemy is not the world but Satan, who inspires the world. As Paul says, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." (Ephesians 6:12).
In v.14-16, the Lord Jesus says the disciple is not of the world, just as He is not. Because this is so, the world will hate us, because it wants undisturbed wickedness. So the Lord Jesus asks the Father that we might be protected from the influence of the world, whose hatred, as inspired by Satan, might cause us to wander from God.
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Monday, January 06, 2020
John 17:6-9
Click here for the JOHN 17:6-9 PODCAST
6 “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. ~ John 17:6-9
In this chapter-long prayer, the Lord Jesus prays that He may be glorified (v.1-5), His disciples may be protected and sanctified (v.6-19), and the church may be unified (v.20-26). Today, we will consider v.6-9.
Through this prayer, the Lord Jesus brings attention to the concept of "giving" which is used six times in four verses in various forms. This theme, "giving," occurs 75 times in John's gospel. Yet again, we see a subtle hint to the theme of this gospel: the fullness of God, the emptiness of man.
This theme of giving is linked to the oneness the Lord Jesus longs for with the Father, as it was before time began. In this section of His prayer, both the Father and the Son are seen as "givers" and their mutual giving highlights the greatest concept known to man: grace.
Nothing changes the heart like grace. Like water, grace always runs down hill. Spurgeon once said, "We stand before God as if we were Christ because Christ stood before God as if He were you and me." This is the product of such grace.
Grace is God giving to us something that we cannot obtain on our own. Grace is being accepted by God even though we do not deserve it. When God laid on the Lord Jesus our sin, He made it possible for us to enter into a relationship with Him. The Lord Jesus received our deserved punishment, which Romans 6:23 declares is death. God declared that if we believe that His Son paid the penalty for that which separated us from Him, we will be forgiven of every wrong thing we have ever done or will ever do. This is the provision of His grace.
6 “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. ~ John 17:6-9
In this chapter-long prayer, the Lord Jesus prays that He may be glorified (v.1-5), His disciples may be protected and sanctified (v.6-19), and the church may be unified (v.20-26). Today, we will consider v.6-9.
Through this prayer, the Lord Jesus brings attention to the concept of "giving" which is used six times in four verses in various forms. This theme, "giving," occurs 75 times in John's gospel. Yet again, we see a subtle hint to the theme of this gospel: the fullness of God, the emptiness of man.
This theme of giving is linked to the oneness the Lord Jesus longs for with the Father, as it was before time began. In this section of His prayer, both the Father and the Son are seen as "givers" and their mutual giving highlights the greatest concept known to man: grace.
Nothing changes the heart like grace. Like water, grace always runs down hill. Spurgeon once said, "We stand before God as if we were Christ because Christ stood before God as if He were you and me." This is the product of such grace.
Grace is God giving to us something that we cannot obtain on our own. Grace is being accepted by God even though we do not deserve it. When God laid on the Lord Jesus our sin, He made it possible for us to enter into a relationship with Him. The Lord Jesus received our deserved punishment, which Romans 6:23 declares is death. God declared that if we believe that His Son paid the penalty for that which separated us from Him, we will be forgiven of every wrong thing we have ever done or will ever do. This is the provision of His grace.
As He did in v.2, the Lord Jesus says in v.6 that the Father "gave" the disciples to Him. As disciples of the Lord Jesus, we are the precious possession of the Father who has carefully entrusted us to His Son. This enables us to know the security which comes from belonging to the Father and the Lord Jesus. To know that we belong to God is to know the dependability of His sovereignty, and even though He may take us through some rough stuff, we can rest assured that we are in the safe and firm grip of the Father for eternity.
The Lord Jesus says, in v.6, His disciples "obeyed" the Father's word, a phrase that He elaborates on in v.7-8. The disciples, He says, now know the giving heart of the Father. The disciples accepts the definition of all things from the Father and therefore are being defined by them. Obedience is steeped in our understanding of the Father's heart for us.
According to v.7-8, the disciples now "knew with certainty" that the Lord Jesus came from the Father and "believed" that the Father sent Him. The disciples "obeyed" God's word after receiving the words of the Lord Jesus and believing in His divine origin. Obeying the word of God shows the power changing nature of His word. The Bible is not simply words about God, it is the Word of God.
The Word of God is the voice of God in print, and it changes us from the inside out. In Hebrews 4:12, we read, “The word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
In the scriptures, we learn of God's heart for us. In v.6, we learn that the Lord Jesus had "revealed" the name of God to us and He has give the words of God to us (v.7) so that we might believe the gospel and know God. Earlier, the Lord Jesus told the disciples that "I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you" (John 15:15). Because the Lord Jesus considers us His friends, He has shared with us the truth from God.
The Lord Jesus is the possessor of this special treasure, and He has shared it with us. In v.9, we see that the Lord Jesus prays for the disciples, not for the world, because He's sending the disciples into the world to reach it (John 17:20). God's exclusivity of us should produce inclusivity for the world. This has always been His plan. In fact, He said to Abraham, "all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."
Friday, January 03, 2020
John 17:1-5
Click here for the John 17:1-5 PODCAST
1 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4 I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. ~ John 17:1-5
The Lord Jesus had left the Upper Room with His disciples and had passed through the vineyards that surrounded Jerusalem. While in the vineyard, under the brightness of the Passover moon, He applied the teaching that He had given to the disciples when, "he looked toward heaven and prayed."
Preceding the darkness of agony on His cross, the Lord Jesus displays His dependency upon the Father by praying. In this chapter-long prayer, the Lord Jesus prays He may be glorified (v.1-5), His disciples may be protected and sanctified (v.6-19), and the church may be unified (v.20-26).
In today's text, John 17:1-5, the Lord Jesus prays twice to be glorified, in two different ways, and for two different reasons. First, He asks to be glorified in and by the means of the cross. This is what He means by the words. "The hour has come."
The word "glorified" means the pronounced value of God's presence and all that He is. He is praying by means of the cross something that is hidden to the world will be manifested. Given that the Father had given Him "authority over all people," He has the right to rule over all the nations of the earth. The application of this will come by means of the cross where love was displayed at its best. And, according to Luke 12:37, He will rule by serving.
In addition, the Lord Jesus prays "that he might give eternal life to all those the Father has given him." In v.3, eternal life is defined as "knowing God." Eternal life is experienced in a personal relationship with God who is the most exciting Being ever. There is no one greater than He. When we walk with Him, every day becomes an adventure. He is innovative, imaginative, and creative. That is the eternal life that we all long for deep in our souls. And, the Lord Jesus gives this life to all who come to and interact with Him.
Some people think eternal life is a set of beliefs, as if believing the right thing is the life the Lord Jesus offers. Some think eternal life is a set of actions: a routine of attending church or Bible study or prayer or service or whatever. They put a lot of weight in doing the right things. They are disciplined and pure and proud of it. But this is not eternal life. It is morality. Eternal life and morality are not one in the same. Eternal life is the life that is experienced when we interact with God. It is in context and way that He imparts Himself to those who seek Him.
Then the Lord Jesus prays, in v.5, "And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began." Before He came to earth He was not the Redeemer, He was the Creator, the One behind the mysteries of nature, the One who invented all the marvels of the universe. Having provided salvation for mankind, now, the Lord Jesus prays to go home to the Father.
The word glory depicts God's presence. The Lord Jesus is praying that He will be back in the unimpeded presence of the Father. The oneness that He implored the disciples to seek with Him is the oneness with the Father that He so desires. He is praying for that which defined Him for eternity, He is asking for oneness with the Father.
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1 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4 I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. ~ John 17:1-5
The Lord Jesus had left the Upper Room with His disciples and had passed through the vineyards that surrounded Jerusalem. While in the vineyard, under the brightness of the Passover moon, He applied the teaching that He had given to the disciples when, "he looked toward heaven and prayed."
Preceding the darkness of agony on His cross, the Lord Jesus displays His dependency upon the Father by praying. In this chapter-long prayer, the Lord Jesus prays He may be glorified (v.1-5), His disciples may be protected and sanctified (v.6-19), and the church may be unified (v.20-26).
In today's text, John 17:1-5, the Lord Jesus prays twice to be glorified, in two different ways, and for two different reasons. First, He asks to be glorified in and by the means of the cross. This is what He means by the words. "The hour has come."
The word "glorified" means the pronounced value of God's presence and all that He is. He is praying by means of the cross something that is hidden to the world will be manifested. Given that the Father had given Him "authority over all people," He has the right to rule over all the nations of the earth. The application of this will come by means of the cross where love was displayed at its best. And, according to Luke 12:37, He will rule by serving.
In addition, the Lord Jesus prays "that he might give eternal life to all those the Father has given him." In v.3, eternal life is defined as "knowing God." Eternal life is experienced in a personal relationship with God who is the most exciting Being ever. There is no one greater than He. When we walk with Him, every day becomes an adventure. He is innovative, imaginative, and creative. That is the eternal life that we all long for deep in our souls. And, the Lord Jesus gives this life to all who come to and interact with Him.
Some people think eternal life is a set of beliefs, as if believing the right thing is the life the Lord Jesus offers. Some think eternal life is a set of actions: a routine of attending church or Bible study or prayer or service or whatever. They put a lot of weight in doing the right things. They are disciplined and pure and proud of it. But this is not eternal life. It is morality. Eternal life and morality are not one in the same. Eternal life is the life that is experienced when we interact with God. It is in context and way that He imparts Himself to those who seek Him.
Then the Lord Jesus prays, in v.5, "And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began." Before He came to earth He was not the Redeemer, He was the Creator, the One behind the mysteries of nature, the One who invented all the marvels of the universe. Having provided salvation for mankind, now, the Lord Jesus prays to go home to the Father.
The word glory depicts God's presence. The Lord Jesus is praying that He will be back in the unimpeded presence of the Father. The oneness that He implored the disciples to seek with Him is the oneness with the Father that He so desires. He is praying for that which defined Him for eternity, He is asking for oneness with the Father.
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Thursday, January 02, 2020
John 16:29-33
Click here for the JOHN 16:29-33 PODCAST
29 Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. 30 Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.”
31 “Do you now believe?” Jesus replied. 32 “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me. 33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” ~ John 16:29-33
The Lord Jesus is in the middle of preparing His disciples for life without Him present physically. He is developing in His disciples a faith that is realistic. A faith that recognizes the value of its boundaries and weaknesses. A faith that makes room for their own mistakes and failures. A faith that is growing in authenticity as it grows in dependence upon the Lord Jesus.
The Lord Jesus wants for His followers a heart that believes. He wants us to know the development of our faith, our heart's ability to see Him, despite the fact that He is physically absent in our lives. He knows we will not get to this place over night. Like Peter, forging ahead with a naive sense of conquering the world will not help in this process. The Lord Jesus wants us to believe, to be humble, and to learn His economy in a world that constantly screams to the contrary.
In v.29-30 the disciples make an interesting observation ... “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. 30 Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.”
Like us, the disciples think they have finally put all the pieces together. The disciples, like us, actually will never totally get it right this side of heaven. This is the first time that they even claim to “get it.” The problem is they think uncertainty is bad and certainty is good. This is what makes our faith shallow. It is not the coddling of our faith that makes it grow, but the stretching of our faith faith that garners a deeper walk in the kingdom of God.
The disciples had concluded that the Lord Jesus had come from God. This has been one of the key ideas that has come up throughout the entire gospel of John. Over and over again, the Lord Jesus is saying He is “from God.”
In v.31, the Lord Jesus is saying, "You think you know the truth. You have it in your head, but you have not yet got it in your heart. Within an hour, Peter, you are going to be slashing away with your sword in contradistinction to everything I have taught you, and all the rest of you are going to run for home and hide behind locked doors while I am facing my trial all alone. That is how dependable you are."
The final word of the Lord Jesus is found in v.33, which reads, "But take heart! I have overcome the world." Out of weakness is strength put on display. Out of mistakes and failure, He has a way of correcting our mistakes, directing our brokenness, and bringing His will to pass in and through our lives.
The Lord Jesus has to shatter faulty theology in order for our understanding of Him to develop. This process is hard and humbling. When He seems to leave our world to return to the Father, just as He said he would, we are not be so secure in our knowledge and belief.
Our text contains the last interaction between Jesus and his disciples before He faces the cross. This is His goodbye to the disciples. In the next chapter, we will see Jesus praying for His disciples and we will get a fascinating look at His value system for His followers.
It was hard for the disciples to say goodbye to the Lord Jesus, this person for whom they had left everything. And, they found it very difficult to believe in Him when they did not have Him physically present with them. But, His absence was a must for them to be trained to look for Him with their hearts.
This process hurts, but it does not hurt forever. Hope is birthed knowing that there will be great moments of joy to remind us of this truth. The Lord Jesus is most focused on His followers spiritual experience of faith, which is an understanding of who He is based on the clear revelation of the Scripture. His invitation for His follower to learn to trust Him no matter what happens is extended every moment of every day.
29 Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. 30 Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.”
31 “Do you now believe?” Jesus replied. 32 “A time is coming and in fact has come when you will be scattered, each to your own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me. 33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” ~ John 16:29-33
The Lord Jesus is in the middle of preparing His disciples for life without Him present physically. He is developing in His disciples a faith that is realistic. A faith that recognizes the value of its boundaries and weaknesses. A faith that makes room for their own mistakes and failures. A faith that is growing in authenticity as it grows in dependence upon the Lord Jesus.
The Lord Jesus wants for His followers a heart that believes. He wants us to know the development of our faith, our heart's ability to see Him, despite the fact that He is physically absent in our lives. He knows we will not get to this place over night. Like Peter, forging ahead with a naive sense of conquering the world will not help in this process. The Lord Jesus wants us to believe, to be humble, and to learn His economy in a world that constantly screams to the contrary.
In v.29-30 the disciples make an interesting observation ... “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. 30 Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.”
Like us, the disciples think they have finally put all the pieces together. The disciples, like us, actually will never totally get it right this side of heaven. This is the first time that they even claim to “get it.” The problem is they think uncertainty is bad and certainty is good. This is what makes our faith shallow. It is not the coddling of our faith that makes it grow, but the stretching of our faith faith that garners a deeper walk in the kingdom of God.
The disciples had concluded that the Lord Jesus had come from God. This has been one of the key ideas that has come up throughout the entire gospel of John. Over and over again, the Lord Jesus is saying He is “from God.”
In v.31, the Lord Jesus is saying, "You think you know the truth. You have it in your head, but you have not yet got it in your heart. Within an hour, Peter, you are going to be slashing away with your sword in contradistinction to everything I have taught you, and all the rest of you are going to run for home and hide behind locked doors while I am facing my trial all alone. That is how dependable you are."
The final word of the Lord Jesus is found in v.33, which reads, "But take heart! I have overcome the world." Out of weakness is strength put on display. Out of mistakes and failure, He has a way of correcting our mistakes, directing our brokenness, and bringing His will to pass in and through our lives.
The Lord Jesus has to shatter faulty theology in order for our understanding of Him to develop. This process is hard and humbling. When He seems to leave our world to return to the Father, just as He said he would, we are not be so secure in our knowledge and belief.
Our text contains the last interaction between Jesus and his disciples before He faces the cross. This is His goodbye to the disciples. In the next chapter, we will see Jesus praying for His disciples and we will get a fascinating look at His value system for His followers.
It was hard for the disciples to say goodbye to the Lord Jesus, this person for whom they had left everything. And, they found it very difficult to believe in Him when they did not have Him physically present with them. But, His absence was a must for them to be trained to look for Him with their hearts.
This process hurts, but it does not hurt forever. Hope is birthed knowing that there will be great moments of joy to remind us of this truth. The Lord Jesus is most focused on His followers spiritual experience of faith, which is an understanding of who He is based on the clear revelation of the Scripture. His invitation for His follower to learn to trust Him no matter what happens is extended every moment of every day.
Wednesday, January 01, 2020
John 16:23-28
Click here for the JOHN 16:23-28 PODCAST
23 In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. 25 “Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. 26 In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. 27 No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. 28 I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.” ~ John 16:23-28
In context, the Lord Jesus is preparing the disciples to continue in the faith despite His impending absence. The process which leads to joy is through prayer. And, despite our hardships and pain, prayer is evidence that we have received the DNA of God, the Holy Spirit.
The key in today's text is in the phrase, "in my name" which means, asking in accordance with the Lord Jesus' will, in His merit and in His authority. To ask in anyone's name means to ask as though we were that person. This means we are to ask for what Jesus would want, what He is after, and not for our own desires. It was Mother Teresa who said, "Prayer is not asking. Prayer is putting oneself in the hands of God, at His disposition, and listening to His voice in the depth of our hearts."
Prayer is not a means by which we get God to do what we want. Prayer is a means by which God does through us what He wants, and it is a very necessary part of the process that we pray. Most believe prayer is the means of getting God to do what we want, but prayer is a way of aligning our wills with the will of God. Soren Kierkegaard once said, "Prayer does not change God, but it changes him who prays." It would be quite arrogant of us to raise our will above God's.
Prayer enables believers to converse with God and thus make sense of our pain. In our text, the Lord Jesus describes our relationship with God through prayer. He uses two different Greek words translated “ask.” The first one has to do with asking questions. The second has to do with making requests.
In v.23, the Lord Jesus says, "In that day you will no longer ask me anything." Then He says, "Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name." The Lord Jesus is describing two kinds of asking.
In v.23, He says, "In that day (in the day when the Spirit comes) you will no longer ask me anything. Due to the work accomplished on the cross of the Lord Jesus, we can go straight to the Father. Our curiosity and our lack of understanding is settled by coming to the Father, because we now have access to Him and can converse with Him.
He goes on to say in v.24, "Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete." The disciples had not asked the Father in the Lord Jesus' name, that is in His merit and in His authority. The Lord Jesus earned this privilege for the believer by paying the penalty of our sin on the cross. As a result, our joy would be made full. There's that theme again ... fullness. But this time it is His joy made full in those once empty. The thing that once gave the disciples sorrow will be turned into joy.
The world's way of dealing with its pain is to change the circumstance, but to no avail. But God has a process by which when we bring our struggles to Him, He uses our struggles to deliver His joy in our lives.
In v.25-27, we read, "25 “Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. 26 In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. 27 No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.”
To this point, the disciples were not aware of the unique relationship the Lord Jesus had with the Father. He had a dependence upon the Father, a trust of the Father, and a fellowship and communion with the Father which they knew nothing about. They had relied upon Jesus to obtain for them privilege and favor with the Father. But now, they can access the Father themselves, directly, because He bridged the gap that separated them from the Father through His cross.
The believer in the Lord Jesus has been granted the perfect position before the Father and has access to Him not because we behaved well enough, but because we believe that the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus on the cross purchased that perfect standing before Him.
Many believe that if they live a good enough life, God will give them a wink and overlook that which separates them from Him. They forget Romans 6:23 which reads, "the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord."
Then, when life doesn't turn out the way they think it should, they say, "Why should this happen to me? "It's not fair, Lord! Here I've been doing good for you, and this is the way you treat me! It's not fair!"
This is the worst kind of theology. Quid pro quo with God. But nowhere in the Scriptures do we read that His acceptance of us is based on our goodness. No, we can not be good enough to pay for our own sinfulness. God does not love us on the basis of how we behave, He loves us because we believe that His Son earned our standing before Him. As a result, as the Lord Jesus reminds us in v.26-27, we have a direct relationship with the Father, because He sees us through the perfect lens of His perfect Son.
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23 In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. 25 “Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. 26 In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. 27 No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. 28 I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.” ~ John 16:23-28
In context, the Lord Jesus is preparing the disciples to continue in the faith despite His impending absence. The process which leads to joy is through prayer. And, despite our hardships and pain, prayer is evidence that we have received the DNA of God, the Holy Spirit.
The key in today's text is in the phrase, "in my name" which means, asking in accordance with the Lord Jesus' will, in His merit and in His authority. To ask in anyone's name means to ask as though we were that person. This means we are to ask for what Jesus would want, what He is after, and not for our own desires. It was Mother Teresa who said, "Prayer is not asking. Prayer is putting oneself in the hands of God, at His disposition, and listening to His voice in the depth of our hearts."
Prayer is not a means by which we get God to do what we want. Prayer is a means by which God does through us what He wants, and it is a very necessary part of the process that we pray. Most believe prayer is the means of getting God to do what we want, but prayer is a way of aligning our wills with the will of God. Soren Kierkegaard once said, "Prayer does not change God, but it changes him who prays." It would be quite arrogant of us to raise our will above God's.
Prayer enables believers to converse with God and thus make sense of our pain. In our text, the Lord Jesus describes our relationship with God through prayer. He uses two different Greek words translated “ask.” The first one has to do with asking questions. The second has to do with making requests.
In v.23, the Lord Jesus says, "In that day you will no longer ask me anything." Then He says, "Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name." The Lord Jesus is describing two kinds of asking.
In v.23, He says, "In that day (in the day when the Spirit comes) you will no longer ask me anything. Due to the work accomplished on the cross of the Lord Jesus, we can go straight to the Father. Our curiosity and our lack of understanding is settled by coming to the Father, because we now have access to Him and can converse with Him.
He goes on to say in v.24, "Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete." The disciples had not asked the Father in the Lord Jesus' name, that is in His merit and in His authority. The Lord Jesus earned this privilege for the believer by paying the penalty of our sin on the cross. As a result, our joy would be made full. There's that theme again ... fullness. But this time it is His joy made full in those once empty. The thing that once gave the disciples sorrow will be turned into joy.
The world's way of dealing with its pain is to change the circumstance, but to no avail. But God has a process by which when we bring our struggles to Him, He uses our struggles to deliver His joy in our lives.
In v.25-27, we read, "25 “Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. 26 In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. 27 No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.”
To this point, the disciples were not aware of the unique relationship the Lord Jesus had with the Father. He had a dependence upon the Father, a trust of the Father, and a fellowship and communion with the Father which they knew nothing about. They had relied upon Jesus to obtain for them privilege and favor with the Father. But now, they can access the Father themselves, directly, because He bridged the gap that separated them from the Father through His cross.
The believer in the Lord Jesus has been granted the perfect position before the Father and has access to Him not because we behaved well enough, but because we believe that the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus on the cross purchased that perfect standing before Him.
Many believe that if they live a good enough life, God will give them a wink and overlook that which separates them from Him. They forget Romans 6:23 which reads, "the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord."
Then, when life doesn't turn out the way they think it should, they say, "Why should this happen to me? "It's not fair, Lord! Here I've been doing good for you, and this is the way you treat me! It's not fair!"
This is the worst kind of theology. Quid pro quo with God. But nowhere in the Scriptures do we read that His acceptance of us is based on our goodness. No, we can not be good enough to pay for our own sinfulness. God does not love us on the basis of how we behave, He loves us because we believe that His Son earned our standing before Him. As a result, as the Lord Jesus reminds us in v.26-27, we have a direct relationship with the Father, because He sees us through the perfect lens of His perfect Son.
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Tuesday, December 31, 2019
John 16:16-22
Click for the JOHN 16:16-22 PODCAST
16 Jesus went on to say, “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.” 17 At this, some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” 18 They kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand what he is saying.” 19 Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me’? 20 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. ~ John 16:16-22
In the previous section, John 16:5-15, the Lord Jesus told His disciples the Holy Spirit would lead them into all the truth about Him. In the same way, the Holy Spirit leads all believers to see the Lord Jesus. In today's text, we find out what we'll see when we get there.
It is no wonder that we find the disciples struggling with the fact the Lord Jesus is about to leave them and to go back to the Father in heaven. They're afraid to question Him concerning all of the ramifications of this because they're afraid of the answers.
The biggest questions we have in life revolve around our relationship with the Lord Jesus, questions such as, "Is He real?" "Is He really in my life?", "Can I trust Him?", "Will He leave me?" Like the disciples, we have buried such questions deeply, because we're afraid of the answers.
The Lord Jesus is preparing His disciples to experience Him when He is no longer with them physically. His response not only helped them follow Him, but it also helps us in our pursuit of Him.
Note the seven time repeated phrase, “a little while." Whatever sorrow we encounter in this world is temporary, and the joy that replaces it will be forever. This is the bottom line to our existence in this world. Permanent joy will follow temporary pain.
In v.16, we read, "I am going away and you will see me no more, a little while and you will see me no more?" The crucifixion and the resurrection both give the best context to all of life's experiences. The joy of the resurrection mixed with the marks of crucifixion introduces us to a different dimension of living. Our problem is that we do not understand these things. Our perspective and understanding is so myopic and narrow. However, God sees all. This is why we struggle with the revelation of the Scriptures which find it culmination in Him. He is the whole point of the Scriptures and this life for us. And, the Scriptures are not wrong. Our own limited understanding is the problem.
In v.20-22, the words "weep", "mourn", "grieve", "grief", "pain" and "anguish"" appear. Each time one of these words are used, it is contrasted with joy. The point? Not seeing the Lord Jesus causes sorrow; seeing the Lord Jesus causes joy.
In the economy of God, our faith informed grief expects a substantive outcome. Biblical theology prepares us to deal with the darkness while anticipating the coming of the light. The Lord Jesus was preparing His disciples to be apart from Him without knowing all the details of His absence. We know He’s coming back, the Scriptures promise such. But, like the disciples, we don’t have all of the details about His absence. And, instead of giving us more information about the temporary, God spends most of His time teaching the nature of biblical faith.
Temporarily, pain and sorrow temporarily wins. But, in the end, life wins by providing meaning through our pain. We don’t grieve without purpose and hope. Our sorrow is a temporary state. In v.20 we read, “Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.”
This is the last conversation the Lord Jesus will have with His disciples before His crucifixion and resurrection. He begins by describing their emotional experience of being without Him. Then, He tells them how their relationship with Him will change when He leaves.
In v.20, we read, "You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy." Our sorrow actually becomes the very thing that causes us joy. Our greatest pain, sorrow, or tragedy is where God wants to demonstrate Himself to us. He wants to transform those difficulties into sources of joy.
In v.21, the Lord Jesus uses an apt illustration. After the pain of childbirth comes the joy. When the baby is born we see that which caused the pain becomes that which cause the joy. This is the process we believers are engaged in. And, "in a little while" His disciples would no longer see Him with their eyes, however the Holy Spirit would enable them to see Him with their hearts. The same is true for us. Seeing with our hearts is the essence of this faith that He has imparted to our willing hearts.
16 Jesus went on to say, “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.” 17 At this, some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me,’ and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” 18 They kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand what he is saying.” 19 Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me’? 20 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. ~ John 16:16-22
In the previous section, John 16:5-15, the Lord Jesus told His disciples the Holy Spirit would lead them into all the truth about Him. In the same way, the Holy Spirit leads all believers to see the Lord Jesus. In today's text, we find out what we'll see when we get there.
It is no wonder that we find the disciples struggling with the fact the Lord Jesus is about to leave them and to go back to the Father in heaven. They're afraid to question Him concerning all of the ramifications of this because they're afraid of the answers.
The biggest questions we have in life revolve around our relationship with the Lord Jesus, questions such as, "Is He real?" "Is He really in my life?", "Can I trust Him?", "Will He leave me?" Like the disciples, we have buried such questions deeply, because we're afraid of the answers.
The Lord Jesus is preparing His disciples to experience Him when He is no longer with them physically. His response not only helped them follow Him, but it also helps us in our pursuit of Him.
Note the seven time repeated phrase, “a little while." Whatever sorrow we encounter in this world is temporary, and the joy that replaces it will be forever. This is the bottom line to our existence in this world. Permanent joy will follow temporary pain.
In v.16, we read, "I am going away and you will see me no more, a little while and you will see me no more?" The crucifixion and the resurrection both give the best context to all of life's experiences. The joy of the resurrection mixed with the marks of crucifixion introduces us to a different dimension of living. Our problem is that we do not understand these things. Our perspective and understanding is so myopic and narrow. However, God sees all. This is why we struggle with the revelation of the Scriptures which find it culmination in Him. He is the whole point of the Scriptures and this life for us. And, the Scriptures are not wrong. Our own limited understanding is the problem.
In v.20-22, the words "weep", "mourn", "grieve", "grief", "pain" and "anguish"" appear. Each time one of these words are used, it is contrasted with joy. The point? Not seeing the Lord Jesus causes sorrow; seeing the Lord Jesus causes joy.
In the economy of God, our faith informed grief expects a substantive outcome. Biblical theology prepares us to deal with the darkness while anticipating the coming of the light. The Lord Jesus was preparing His disciples to be apart from Him without knowing all the details of His absence. We know He’s coming back, the Scriptures promise such. But, like the disciples, we don’t have all of the details about His absence. And, instead of giving us more information about the temporary, God spends most of His time teaching the nature of biblical faith.
Temporarily, pain and sorrow temporarily wins. But, in the end, life wins by providing meaning through our pain. We don’t grieve without purpose and hope. Our sorrow is a temporary state. In v.20 we read, “Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.”
This is the last conversation the Lord Jesus will have with His disciples before His crucifixion and resurrection. He begins by describing their emotional experience of being without Him. Then, He tells them how their relationship with Him will change when He leaves.
In v.20, we read, "You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy." Our sorrow actually becomes the very thing that causes us joy. Our greatest pain, sorrow, or tragedy is where God wants to demonstrate Himself to us. He wants to transform those difficulties into sources of joy.
In v.21, the Lord Jesus uses an apt illustration. After the pain of childbirth comes the joy. When the baby is born we see that which caused the pain becomes that which cause the joy. This is the process we believers are engaged in. And, "in a little while" His disciples would no longer see Him with their eyes, however the Holy Spirit would enable them to see Him with their hearts. The same is true for us. Seeing with our hearts is the essence of this faith that He has imparted to our willing hearts.
Monday, December 30, 2019
John 16:12-15
Click here for the JOHN 16:12-15 PODCAST
12 “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.” ~ John 16:12-15
The Lord Jesus continues to teach His disciples so close to being crucified. In v.12, He said to them, "I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear." After His resurrection, the Lord Jesus sent His Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost and He, the Holy Spirit, would then take over the responsibility to teach every believer until the Lord Jesus returns at the Rapture.
Of course, this teaching would result in the canonization of the New Testament. This is why the Lord Jesus says in v.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." The Holy Spirit played a crucial role in God giving us the 66 books of the Bible, and He teaches us as we study it.
The Lord Jesus wanted to tell His disciples more than what He had told them to this point, but He knew the disciples were not ready for more. They were distracted by their distraught condition. As a result, the Spirit will teach them what He wants to tell them, when they're able to hear it. This is one of the many roles of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer, to lead us in the truth, to teach us the meaning of His word.
The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, not the believer. Billy Graham once said, “It is the Holy Spirit's job to convict, God's job to judge and my job to love.” The Holy Spirit does not convict the believer of sin, because the sin of the believer has been absorbed by the Lord Jesus. In fact, in Psalm 103:12, we are informed that "as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us."
Nowhere does the New Testament link conviction of the sin of the believer with the Holy Spirit. The conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit is for the world, not believers. The Spirit leads believers to see the truth, but it has nothing to do with conviction/judgement and guilt. God sees the believer through the lens of His perfect Son who has shared His standing before God with the believer.
According to v.13, the Holy Spirit will not speak on His own initiative. Instead, He speaks what He "hears" and then He speaks. The Lord Jesus ends v.13 with "he will tell you what is yet to come." From the standpoint of eternity, everything in time happens in the instantaneous now. Therefore God knows the outcome already, and He has not made anyone make one decision. Since He knows all that is yet to come, He can say, "he will tell you what is yet to come."
As explained in v.14, the truth that the Holy Spirit hears and teaches has as its purpose the glorification of Christ. The Spirit leads us into "all" the truth by showing us all of who Jesus is to the believer. As a rule of thumb, I always measure a local church by how much the Lord Jesus is lifted up. If the Holy Spirit is more prominent, then beware for the Holy Spirit lives to point all to the Son.
In v.15 the Lord Jesus says, "All that belongs to the Father is mine," speaking of how He is uniquely related to the Father. When the Holy Spirit glorifies the Lord Jesus, He shows the Lord Jesus to be uniquely related to the Father. He shows Him to be the Father's beloved Son, and the only way to the Father.
What follows, once again, are the words the Holy Spirit hears and reveals to the believer. In v.14, the Spirit's purpose is to glorify the Lord Jesus. In v.15, the Spirit's purpose is to demonstrate the Lord Jesus' unique relationship with the Father. The Spirit glorifies the Lord Jesus by showing Him to be uniquely related to the Father, to be the only way to the Father.
Thus the Spirit leads the believer. When we think of the Spirit's leading us, or when we ask for his leading, it often concerns circumstantial leading. We speak of the Spirit's leading us to particular people, places or conclusions. And certainly this kind of leading is within the sphere of the Spirit's ministry. He reveals to us the Lord Jesus. He leads us into a deeper and more intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus. We ask for guidance, and the Spirit shows us the Lord Jesus. This is the most important guidance we can receive. The Holy Spirit leads us right into the depths of deeper fellowship with the Lord Jesus.
Even in the context of His circumstantial leading, when the Holy Spirit leads us to people, places or conclusions, He leads us to the Lord Jesus. When we face difficult decisions and pray for guidance, he leads us to deeper fellowship with the Lord Jesus. And, when we see how the Spirit has led us circumstantially, we rejoice not so much over the circumstance but for the chance to see, once again, that God is faithful through His Son.
Having the Holy Spirit within is a tremendous advantage for the believer. As we testify to the world about the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit convicts them of their guilt and offers the gift of redemption, taking the pressure off us to be persuasive, eloquent and convincing. In fact, I have never led anyone to faith in the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit does that.
To contribute to BYM, click here
12 “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.” ~ John 16:12-15
The Lord Jesus continues to teach His disciples so close to being crucified. In v.12, He said to them, "I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear." After His resurrection, the Lord Jesus sent His Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost and He, the Holy Spirit, would then take over the responsibility to teach every believer until the Lord Jesus returns at the Rapture.
Of course, this teaching would result in the canonization of the New Testament. This is why the Lord Jesus says in v.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." The Holy Spirit played a crucial role in God giving us the 66 books of the Bible, and He teaches us as we study it.
The Lord Jesus wanted to tell His disciples more than what He had told them to this point, but He knew the disciples were not ready for more. They were distracted by their distraught condition. As a result, the Spirit will teach them what He wants to tell them, when they're able to hear it. This is one of the many roles of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer, to lead us in the truth, to teach us the meaning of His word.
The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, not the believer. Billy Graham once said, “It is the Holy Spirit's job to convict, God's job to judge and my job to love.” The Holy Spirit does not convict the believer of sin, because the sin of the believer has been absorbed by the Lord Jesus. In fact, in Psalm 103:12, we are informed that "as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us."
Nowhere does the New Testament link conviction of the sin of the believer with the Holy Spirit. The conviction of sin by the Holy Spirit is for the world, not believers. The Spirit leads believers to see the truth, but it has nothing to do with conviction/judgement and guilt. God sees the believer through the lens of His perfect Son who has shared His standing before God with the believer.
According to v.13, the Holy Spirit will not speak on His own initiative. Instead, He speaks what He "hears" and then He speaks. The Lord Jesus ends v.13 with "he will tell you what is yet to come." From the standpoint of eternity, everything in time happens in the instantaneous now. Therefore God knows the outcome already, and He has not made anyone make one decision. Since He knows all that is yet to come, He can say, "he will tell you what is yet to come."
As explained in v.14, the truth that the Holy Spirit hears and teaches has as its purpose the glorification of Christ. The Spirit leads us into "all" the truth by showing us all of who Jesus is to the believer. As a rule of thumb, I always measure a local church by how much the Lord Jesus is lifted up. If the Holy Spirit is more prominent, then beware for the Holy Spirit lives to point all to the Son.
In v.15 the Lord Jesus says, "All that belongs to the Father is mine," speaking of how He is uniquely related to the Father. When the Holy Spirit glorifies the Lord Jesus, He shows the Lord Jesus to be uniquely related to the Father. He shows Him to be the Father's beloved Son, and the only way to the Father.
What follows, once again, are the words the Holy Spirit hears and reveals to the believer. In v.14, the Spirit's purpose is to glorify the Lord Jesus. In v.15, the Spirit's purpose is to demonstrate the Lord Jesus' unique relationship with the Father. The Spirit glorifies the Lord Jesus by showing Him to be uniquely related to the Father, to be the only way to the Father.
Thus the Spirit leads the believer. When we think of the Spirit's leading us, or when we ask for his leading, it often concerns circumstantial leading. We speak of the Spirit's leading us to particular people, places or conclusions. And certainly this kind of leading is within the sphere of the Spirit's ministry. He reveals to us the Lord Jesus. He leads us into a deeper and more intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus. We ask for guidance, and the Spirit shows us the Lord Jesus. This is the most important guidance we can receive. The Holy Spirit leads us right into the depths of deeper fellowship with the Lord Jesus.
Even in the context of His circumstantial leading, when the Holy Spirit leads us to people, places or conclusions, He leads us to the Lord Jesus. When we face difficult decisions and pray for guidance, he leads us to deeper fellowship with the Lord Jesus. And, when we see how the Spirit has led us circumstantially, we rejoice not so much over the circumstance but for the chance to see, once again, that God is faithful through His Son.
Having the Holy Spirit within is a tremendous advantage for the believer. As we testify to the world about the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit convicts them of their guilt and offers the gift of redemption, taking the pressure off us to be persuasive, eloquent and convincing. In fact, I have never led anyone to faith in the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit does that.
To contribute to BYM, click here
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