PM Home Bible Study Group; September 25, 2013
John 14:19-31
Theme: Jesus describes what His on-going relationship with His followers will be like in this world while He is away from them.
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
We have been studying together from the words that the Lord Jesus spoke to His disciples during His last evening with them—just before going to the cross for us.
In our last study, we considered the words that He spoke to them concerning all three Persons of the triune Godhead; and how, if we have a relationship with Him, we also have a full relationship with the Father and the Holy Spirit. And after speaking of the Holy Spirit; Jesus said, “I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you” (John 14:18). These words certainly speak of the promise of the coming of the Holy Spirit. But they also speak to the assurance that the disciples needed in the light of the fact that Jesus said that He was leaving them for a time. That announcement had caused them great concern; but much of what Jesus says in this meal-time conversation was intended to bring them comfort.
In that light, then, we look this evening at the words that the Lord Jesus spoke in the final thirteen verses of Chapter 14—words that are particularly intended to advance the comfort of the disciples during the time when the Lord Jesus was away from them. These words ought to be a great comfort to us as well. They speak to our situation as followers of Jesus in this world during the time between His ascension to the Father and His return to this earth for us.
What is true of Jesus’ followers who are living in this world while the Lord is away from them?
I. THEY WILL ‘SEE’ HIM IN A WAY THE WORLD CAN’T (v. 19a).
A. Jesus tells them, “A little while longer and the world will see Me no more . . .” Jesus had, after all, just told them that He was only going to be with the disciples a little while longer (13:33). But even though He had told them, “and as I said to the Jews, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come,’ so now I say to you” (see also John 7:33-34). But then, He went on to affirm to them, “. . . but you will see Me” (19a). How would it be that the world would no longer see Him but that they would? There are a several ways of understanding this—all of them very true. One way would be to understand the Lord Jesus as saying that though He would be taken from them by betrayal and death, He would nevertheless rise again. They in fact did see Him physically shortly thereafter. He appeared to them when they were gathered together (John 20:19-29); and even had breakfast with them on the beach (John 21:1ff). Another way would be to understand the Lord to be speaking of His return. As He ascended to the Father, two men stood by the disciples and told them, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). They would certainly see Him then! But given the fact that He had just spoken of the ministry of the Holy Spirit—Who’s role it is to reveal the things of Jesus to us—it seems very likely that He is speaking of a kind of ‘seeing’ that comes from a relationship with Him by faith. In one of His appearances, He told Thomas, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:31). This is a very profound kind of ‘seeing’ that the apostle Peter spoke of regarding Jesus—”whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:8-9).
B. You and I today live in a world in which Jesus cannot be physically seen. The world has much to say about Him; but whatever they say is generally from the standpoint of unbelief. They don’t understand His identity or His work. But though the unbelieving world sees Him no longer, we do! And whom we have not seen with physical eyes, we nevertheless behold fully with the eyes of faith . . . and deeply love. Jesus said, “Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you” (John 16:22).
II. THEY WILL ‘LIVE’ BECAUSE HE LIVES (v. 19b).
A. Another word of comfort we’re given has to do with the prospect of our own eternal life. Jesus said, “Because I live, you will live also” (19b). Back in John 5:24, Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.” This speaks, of course, of the promise of spiritual life. But later on, He also says, “Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation” (vv. 28-29). It is in His power to raise the physical dead either to life or to judgment. For the believer, however, this is not a promise of resurrection to judgment. This is a promise that, because He would rise from the dead, He would be “the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20). He has so bound us to Himself that not only is His death our death, but His resurrection is also our resurrection. “For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection” (Romans 6:5). “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you” (Romans 8:11).
B. For the past two-thousand years, the followers of Jesus have walked on this earth in physical separation from their Lord. Most of them have died and are now “asleep in the Lord”. One day—should the Lord tarry His return—we too will die and “sleep” as our other brothers and sisters have done before us. But because He lives—because He has tasted of death for us and has been raised from the dead—we who have been united to Him will live too! We will be raised to be with Him; not just spiritually alone, but in a resurrected body like His. He Himself longs for that day of reunion! That’s why He was eager to tell us, “Because I life, you will live also.”
III. THEY WILL ‘KNOW’ THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM (v. 20).
A. Jesus goes on to say, “At that day . . .” And it would seem that the “day” that He is speaking of is the day that He mentioned in John 14:16-17; “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.” That promise was kept on the day of Pentecost—when the Holy Spirit sent from the Father came in answer to our Lord’s prayer. And so much has changed because of the Spirit’s coming. Jesus said, “At that day, you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you” (v. 20). Because the Spirit now indwells us as Jesus’ followers, we ‘know’ a depth of intimacy with Him and with the Father—and the Father and the Son together in us—that we could never have known before.
B. One great theologian who grasped this was Augustine. Dr. F.F. Bruce summarized Augustine’s teaching by saying that the Holy Spirit is “the bond of love . . . who binds the love which flows between the Lover and the Beloved. The disciples, already loved by the Father and by the Son, now have the same Spirit imparted to them and, being introduced by him into the circle of the divine love, are enabled not only to reciprocate that love but also to manifest it to one another and to all mankind” (F.F. Bruce, The Gospel of John, p. 304). One of the great comforts and joys that we have while walking on this earth—while our Lord is away—is the fellowship we enjoy with the triune Godhead. We experience what Paul spoke of at the end of his second letter to the Corinthians; “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit . . .” (2 Corinthians 13:14).
IV. THEY WILL ‘LOVE’ HIM BY THEIR OBEDIENCE TO HIS WORD (vv. 21-24).
A. That intimacy of relationship is something that we don’t bring about. It’s ours by grace. But it is something that we advance. We embrace that loving communion by our obedience to our Lord’s commands. Earlier, when He spoke of the ministry of the Holy Spirit, Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (v. 15). Now, he says, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him” (v. 21). Our love for the Lord Jesus is certainly emotional. It should be! But it is also active. We love Him in this world—while He is apart from us—by obeying His commands and keeping His word.
B. It’s to those who obey Jesus that Jesus manifests Himself. People who want to “see” Jesus—and who will then only Him on the condition that they like what He tells them to do—will not be given the privilege of having Him manifest Himself to them. The way to “see” a manifestation of Jesus is by obeying Him. It was in the context of this instruction that one of the disciples to ask a question: “Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, ‘Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?'” (v. 22). Judas—also known as Thaddaeus in Matthew’s and Mark’s Gospels—probably represented the others in wondering how it would be that Jesus would come into the world as the Messiah but not manifest Himself to the world. And though it may seem that Jesus doesn’t answer the question, He really does. His answer shows us that it’s because Jesus’ “manifestation”—during this time while He is away—is not to the world but to those who love Him. “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me'” (vv. 23-24). If we would really get to know Jesus during this time of His being away from us, the way to do it is to keep His commandments—which are also the commandments of the Father. As Jesus said, ““My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me. If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority” (John 7:16-17).
V. THEY WILL ‘REMEMBER’ ALL THAT HE TAUGHT THEM (vv. 25-26).
A. Jesus speaks further of the ministry of the Holy Spirit when He says, “These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you” (vv. 25-26). It’s important to note that He spoke these words directly the the apostles; and this promise is—for us today—the guarantee that their testimony in the writings of the New Testament are absolutely reliable. They forgot nothing of what was important for us to know with respect to our life and walk with the Lord Jesus; because the Holy Spirit guaranteed that all that we needed to be told by them was protected and preserved in them. Later, He told the apostles, “But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning” (John 15:26-27).
B. But there is a sense in which the same Holy Spirit also teaches us and reminds us of what Jesus said. When the apostle John—the same author of the Gospel we’re studying—wrote to his brothers and sisters in Christ, he sought to protect their understanding of the truths of the Gospel. He did so with absolute confidence; because, as he wrote, “These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him” (1 John 2:26-27). This “anointing” is the Holy Spirit. He is our Teacher; and as we seek to follow Jesus in this dark and fallen world, how grateful we should be for His ongoing ministry!
VI. THEY WILL ‘EXPERIENCE’ HIS PEACE (v. 27).
A. Jesus also promises ‘peace’. What a wonderful gift this is to those of us who walk in this world while our Savior is away. And it’s not just any peace He promises us! As He said, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (v. 27). This is a peace that is different from the kind that this world seeks. This world seeks—and can only experience—a ‘peace’ derived from outward circumstances. There is no ‘internal’ peace to the people of this world. “’There is no peace,’ says my God, ‘for the wicked’” (Isaiah 57:21). But Jesus promises to give His followers His own peace while they are in this world; a peace that is unlike the world’s version of peace; a peace that is established inwardly, and that remains unchanged by outward circumstances.
B. Jesus promises this peace as a gift of His grace. But it’s our duty to take hold of it in the way that the Scriptures command. We take hold of it by prayer and by obedient living. Paul, in Philippians 4:6-9 wrote, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.”
VII. THEY WILL ‘REJOICE’ THAT HE IS WITH THE FATHER (vv. 28-31).
A. Finally, Jesus says something that must have been hard for the disciples to grasp. Nevertheless it too is a source of comfort to us while He is away from us. He said, “You have heard Me say to you, ‘I am going away and coming back to you.’ If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, ‘I am going to the Father,’ for My Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe” (vv. 28-29). One of the reasons that we can be joyful while our Lord is away from us is because we know where He is. He is, right now, at the right hand of the Majesty on high. He is seated in the position of honor and victory at the side of His Father—having taken up the glory that He had set aside for our salvation, having been given a name that is above every name, having received all authority, interceding for us and advocating for us before the Father, and awaiting the day when the Father will send Him back to this earth to take us to Himself forever! No wonder He said that, if we truly loved Him, we would rejoice that He is with the Father! Because He is with the Father, we have the guarantee that we will—one day—rejoice even more when He comes for us in glory!
B. The time of this conversation was apparently coming to a close. He said, “I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me” (v. 30). The enemy—who had already begun his work in Judas—was now moving in those who were coming to arrest Jesus. But as Jesus said, “he has nothing in Me”—that is, there is nothing of victory over the Lord Jesus that the devil will be able to wrap his hands around. The devil thought the cross would be his victory—but it would prove to be his defeat. “But” as Jesus goes on to say, “that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do” (v. 30-31a). Though Jesus says that we should rejoice because He is going to the Father in victory, the cross must come first.
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Jesus obeyed the Father even to death. And when Jesus says, “Arise, let us go from here” (v. 31b), it’s as if He were telling His disciples to come and follow Him in obedience too.
That’s what we are doing even now. We have risen up and follow our Savior, Lord and dearest Friend—even though He has left us in this world and is away from us for a time. But what rich treasures He has left us, to help us in our ongoing relationship with Him while He is away!