John 14:25-27 – The Holy Spirit and God’s perfect peace

All that Jesus had said to the disciples did not make much sense to them as yet. They were feeling a sense of heaviness in their hearts despite all that He had assured them. Jesus was aware that what He had said to them had not made as much impression as He had hoped. He then assured them that everything would become clearer with the coming of the Holy Spirit, who would be their Comforter. He would help them better understand everything that Jesus had said.  

Here we gather insight into the divinity of the Holy Spirit. Firstly, the Holy Spirit would be a divine teacher. Hence the Holy Spirit is not just an abstract force, but a person. This is further supported by the use of the pronoun “He.” Secondly, this Comforter would be sent by the Father in Jesus’ name. Thirdly, He would be around to assure believers, and make clear what Jesus had taught them while He was with them. Fourthly, His mission was to glorify Jesus. Fifthly, He would teach believers all that Jesus had said. He would bring back to their memory everything that Jesus had taught while on earth.

Jesus didn’t just promise that believers would be clear about His teaching but that they would also receive a peace that surpasses all human understanding. Peace is an experience. It refers to the experience of a life reconciled with God. It also speaks of the state of restfulness. We can only have a restful heart when we are reconciled with God.  The peace Jesus would give could only come as a result of His atonement for us at the cross. This peace would be experienced when we know that God no longer hold us to our past. It would then liberate us from guilt and condemnation that sin had brought. Besides, this peace that Jesus gives is also a personal peace. Jesus was always at peace with God. There was no strife in Him. He was always in accord and perfect union, and communion with the Father. Jesus was always living in the center of the Father’s will. In the same way, the Holy Spirit would help us to be aligned with God, and hence enjoy the same peace that Jesus had with the Father. This peace that Jesus brought would be a permanent experience and not just a temporary relief like that of the world. 

There is no greater assurance than to know that the Holy Spirit indwells us and is here to help us in all situations in life. He is certainly the surest security that we need. We must realize that there won’t be any difficulty in life that He will not be able to help us to unravel. Through the Holy Spirit, we have the same power that Jesus exercised. We must know that the Holy Spirit is not just sent alongside us to work with us, but that He is also dwelling in us. Thus we are enabled to exercise the powerful truth of God in our life. Like Jesus, the Holy Spirit will be in us and with us to comfort, to encourage, and to exhort. He becomes our remedy in our troubled heart, generated by the difficulties we encounter in life. Let’s remember what Jesus has said, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.” 

John 14:21-24 – Obeying Jesus’ word is showing love for Him

Since the beginning of John 14, Jesus had been comforting His disciples and us as well.  He assured us that He was going to the Father, and His going back to the Father was to prepare a place for us. And when that was done, He would come back to receive us to Himself. Jesus also assured everyone that He was the only way to the Father and that we would be enabled to do greater things through prayer. He also promised to send the Holy Spirit to indwell us, to guide and strengthen us. One wonderful thought is that we will not be left as orphans. Just as He and the Father are one, so we who share this relationship will also share that oneness.

Jesus promises us that as we keep His commandments, He will manifest Himself to us. More than that, the Father will also shower His love upon us. In talking about manifesting Himself to us, Jesus was referring to the realization and awareness of His nearness. Every time we seek Him through the Word we can have an awareness of His nearness. We will be able to sense His love and favor as we read and meditate on His words. It’s a sense of Him being right by our side.

Among Jesus’ disciples, there was more than one who was named Judas. The one referred to in John 14:22 was not Judas Iscariot but the brother of James, the son of Alphaeus (Refer to Luke 6:16). This Judas here asked Jesus, “Lord, what then has happened that You are going to disclose Yourself to us and not to the world?” He failed to realize that having the truth would separate those who belong to Jesus, and those who do not. What was Jesus telling us here? It is the privilege of those who are His, to experience His manifestation. From Jesus’ response to Judas, we know that God will only fellowship with those who welcome Him and love Him, and would be willing to submit to His Word. It is to such people that Jesus and the Father will be near, and will love them in return.  

The way to keep the commandments of Christ is to obey them. And obedience is the key to experience His nearness. Jesus knows our heart because He is always looking at it. He knows when we desire and yearn for Him. Thus we must draw near to Him through His Word. This is the surest way to experience His nearness. When that happens we will have the assurance that we have kept the Father’s word as well. How so? Because the Lord Jesus’ and the Father’s word are the same. Our love for them is demonstrated in our obedience to those words, written in the Bible.   

John 14:16 -20 – The promise of the Holy Spirit

In these verses. Jesus was talking about the Holy Spirit whom He would ask the Father to send to the disciples. This Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity. He completes the Godhead. Here Jesus refers to Him as another Helper. In fact the word Comforter would fit the word Helper more accurately. Being a Comforter is more than a consoler. The word comforter is derived from two Latin words: “com” meaning alongside and “fortis” meaning strong. Hence the Comforter, whom Jesus would ask the Father to send would come alongside believers to strengthen them in their needs. Here Jesus specially mentioned the adjective “another”. In English, the word “another” means an alternative. But in Greek, there are two words translated into the word “another.” One refers to another of a different kind. But the word Jesus used is referring to another of the same kind. It means that the Comforter would be another of the same kind as Jesus. Although He would be sent to replace Jesus, He would be exactly like Jesus. He would not be a temporary relief but a permanent feature in the life of the disciples. He would be with them (and us) forever.

In verse 17, this Comforter is referred to as the Spirit of truth. Literally this title “Spirit of truth” means Spirit of the Truth. He would come to make known Jesus and the words He had spoken and taught. By saying that the Spirit would not be visible to the naked eye, He was warning the disciples against expecting to see another visible person. Although eye cannot see Him, this Spirit of truth will be known by the believers of Christ because He would come to be with them and stay within them. And He would be the distinguishing mark between the people of God and the world. The reason the world cannot receive the Spirit is because the natural man cannot receive the things of God. Paul tells us that spiritual things are spiritually discerned.

Here the Lord Jesus also promised that the Holy Spirit would indwell believers. Unlike in the Old Testament time, the Holy Spirit was only given for specific assignments. And when the task was done, He would depart from the person used for the task. But now He would come and remain within the believers and abide in them forever. In other words, believers become the temple of God. In that sense, Jesus won’t leave us comfortless. He won’t leave His people as orphans without guidance. It is the delight of God to be with us, to guide and direct us. We will not be like helpless sheep in a hostile world. He promised to be with His people. Bear in mind that at the beginning of His ministry, God announced that Jesus would be known as Emmanuel, meaning God with us. Now nearing His departure, Jesus affirmed the promise of the Father that He would be with us. He would once again make this promise before His ascension to heaven.

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Christ was hinting about His resurrection in verse 19. The world would see Him one last time when He would be hung on the cross. After that they would not see Him again. Whereas His disciples will see Him again and again as He would appear to them. The world would think that He is dead and gone, but His followers will know that He is alive. And because He lives, we shall live also. When all that happen, it would be the clearest confirmation that Jesus and God the Father are inseparably One. What a glorious promise! The Holy Spirit is here in us to guide us. Come and think of it: we have Jesus in heaven making intercession for us and we have His Spirit here within us to guide us. If we trust Him absolutely, how can we fail in our journey! 

John 14:12-15 – Doing the works of Jesus and more

In John 14, the Lord began by assuring the disciples. He first dealt with their troubled hearts by calling on them to trust Him as they had trusted the Father. He assured them, and us as well, that He had gone back to the Father’s house which have many mansions. And He had gone there to prepare a place for us. And when that is done, He will return and take us there to be with Him forever. What a blessed thought! In the earlier verses, the Lord had also established that He and God the Father are inseparably one, and that His works affirm His deity. If the disciples had realized that, they would know where he would be going.

In the interim, Jesus made a promise to His disciples. In verse 12, He promised them saying, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.” All of us would have considered it phenomenal if we can achieve all that Jesus had done. We just want to be His instrument in whatever way. But it blows our mind that He would grant us the ability to do works greater than those that He had already accomplished. But this verse says exactly that, and we will do the works of Jesus and much more.

What are the greater works? In talking about the greater works, Jesus was referring to the miraculous signs that He had appealed to as proofs of His divinity. It’s the work of healing the sick, delivering the oppressed, meeting the needs of the poor and needy, and proclaiming the message attested to by signs and wonders. Imagine we are to do all that and more. And how is this possible? Jesus had given a few keys here. The first is faith. In the promise He made, notice that He had placed a condition. It is in the five words, “…he who believes in Me (Jesus)”.  Faith in Jesus is needful, for “…without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”

The second key is found in verse 13; it is prayer. Alongside faith, we need to pray. So we read in verses 13-14, “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.” When we ask anything by faith, Jesus will answer our prayer. He will release the supernatural to meet the request we will make on the behalf of those we minister to. Of course it is fervent believing prayer offered in His Name, Jesus. However, take note that the whole purpose of doing the greater works is to glorify the Father through Jesus the Son. Faith and prayer are two critical keys. When these keys are there, Jesus would answer our prayer and meet the needs of those we pray for. In John 14:15, we see another key for accomplishing the greater works of Jesus. It is the foundation on which everything must be built upon. It is the love we have for Jesus. This is not just about a feeling. It is truly loving the Lord Jesus. Having a deep affection for Him that would lead us to do all that He has commanded. Being obedient to His commandment is the best test and demonstration of our love for Him. So Jesus said, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”

The promise of doing greater works of Jesus is ours. We can accomplish the supernatural He had promised. But we must do so with faith and prayer. In so doing, we must not forget to love Jesus by actively obeying all that we have discovered through the Word.    

John 14:7-11 – Jesus is one with the Father

Despite being with Jesus and hearing His teachings, the disciples still had not fully grasped what He had taught, concerning His oneness with the Father. Jesus is the only begotten of the Father. No one can truly know the Father without truly knowing Christ. And when we know Christ we will know the Father. Being so closely kneaded with the Father, Jesus was God manifested in the flesh. Knowing and seeing Jesus was as good as knowing and seeing the Father. Jesus predicted that this truth of His oneness with the Father would become clearer.  

Philip’s statement is a clear illustration of how lack of understanding the disciples had, concerning Jesus being one with the Father. Philip said to Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” He still did not get the full import of all that Jesus was saying. In asking that question, he showed that he failed to realize that Jesus is the manifestation of God. The Lord then replied him saying, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” Jesus was gently rebuking him. In His answer to Philip’s question, Jesus was saying, “Have you been so long with me and yet fail to realize who I am. Can you not see that I am God?” The God whom Philip, and probably the others as well, desired to see could be seen visibly in Jesus. He was the visible expression of the invisible God.  

Jesus Christ and God the Father was in each other. Together they had a perfect union between them. Jesus explicitly said that both His words and works perfectly reveal His Deity. He equates His words with the works of the Father. Remember, in creation, God spoke and everything came into order. God’s words were His works. So in verse 11, Jesus then appealed to them to look at His works. If they could not accept His deity based on His words, they should at least, on the basis of His works, acknowledged that He is truly God. We thank God that what was unclear to the disciples has been made clear to us through the Spirit who has been given to us. Just as Jesus authenticated His words through His works, we must also let the actions of our life speak for us as His followers.  Actions always speak louder than words. Hear what Peter exhorts us to do in his first letter to the early church, “Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation” (1 Peter 2:12)  

John 14:1-6 – Jesus, the sure passage to our eternal home

The mood had changed. When Christ rode into Jerusalem a week earlier everyone was waving palm leaves and branches and shouting “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” Now those euphoria had gone, replaced by the feeling of sobriety.  Remember Christ just foretold His betrayal and talked about His departure to where they could not follow. So they were demoralized.  There was a foreboding sense of evil that was skulking close. Jesus was fully aware of their anguish, so He set forth to address the issue. His calming words are, “Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.”

These words are still as reassuring today as He had given them in the upper room. Rightly appropriated, we can find rest for our heart in our troubled times, where worry and anxiety seemed to be the call of the day. Some fears are caused by what’s happening in the world while some troubled heart are self-invited. Troubled hearts are not exclusively experienced by unbelievers only. We know that even among people who profess to know Christ this is a common experience. If anyone of us entertain anxiety, worry or fear, let’s hear these reassuring words of Jesus again, “Let not your heart be troubled….” These words spoken to the disciples, were also intended for us today. Everything around us may seem to be crumbling, we mustn’t let our heart be troubled.

How to have a grip over our troubling heart? Jesus prescription is, “…believe in God, believe also in Me.” He is prescribing for us the best way to overcome our troubled hearts. His call is for us to keep on believing God and keep on believing in Him. He and the Father are one. Just as we would place our trust and confidence in God, we must also do the same by trusting and placing our confidence in Him. The Lord went on to assure the disciples as well as us, that He is preparing a place for us in eternity. Know it or not, all of us have a longing for heaven. We all desire to be with Christ in our real home, where we truly belong. Heaven is a real place and Christ had gone ahead to prepare our permanent dwelling places. It will not be a temporary shelter. It’ll not be leasehold property. In fact it’ll be the only freehold property that we will ever possess. So when we are assailed by troubles and our hearts are fainting for fear, we can take comfort in the fact there this is only a temporary arrangement. Our permanent peaceful experience is awaiting us in eternity and Christ had gone ahead of us to prepare it. What’s more comforting and encouraging is that Jesus Himself will personally come and take us there. He will not just leave us there but He will also be with us together. We will forever share an unhurried eternal fellowship.

What did Jesus mean in verse 4 when He said, “And you know the way where I am going”? He was assuring the disciples that they know how to follow him for He had been showing them the way through all that He had taught. And if they follow His teachings, they would also come to where he is. But Thomas did not understand, so he asked, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?” Jesus responded by giving one of His “I am” statements. “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” We need to remember that Jesus is everything and so let’s put our entire faith in Him.

In this world we will have tribulations. There is no denial or escaping that we will encounter trials in this world. They are part and parcel of life since the fall of Adam. How can we find comfort in our morose, depressive, pessimistic and gloomy environment? Let’s take comfort in the assurance of Christ, “Let not your heart be troubled, keep believing in God and keep believing in Me” Why should we believe in Him? It’s because He is the way, the truth and the life. He now tells us that He will come back again personally to take us to be with Him. This is the surest comfort. So take heart!

John 13:36-38 – The weak can be made perfect in Christ

In the last three verses of John 13, we see the focus is centered on Peter. He was a man who was slow to listen but fast to speak. What’s worst was that he would often speak without thinking through. Earlier we saw how he had refused to let Jesus washed his feet. Then a few words from Jesus, he vacillated and asked Jesus to wash his whole body. He was always swinging from one extreme to another like a pendulum. In reality, most of us can identify with Peter in some ways. Hence his life has much to teach us on the practical side of Christian living and service.

Jesus was about to go to the cross. Judas had left and gone into his night. The rest of them were still reclining and conversing with Jesus around the table in the upper room. With the betrayer gone, the Lord began to talk freely about His glorification. It appears that Peter had evidently missed what Jesus said about the new commandment to love one another. He only caught the last part of Jesus’ sayings when He told them that where He was going they could not follow. So in verse 36, he asked, “Lord, where are You going?” Jesus in response, explicitly told him, “Where I go, you cannot follow Me now; but you will follow later.” Thoughtlessly, he protested and retorted saying “…why can I not follow You right now? I will lay down my life for You.”

This is typical of Peter, slow to listen and quick to speak. He was being presumptuous.  Don’t for a moment think that Peter was just bragging. He seriously meant all that he said.  However, Peter had over-estimated himself. His was his mistaken zeal and his failure to have a proper estimate of his own ability. He had over rated himself and showed us that he was a person with a shallow understanding of what it truly meant to follow Christ at that point. To be true to the Master would require more than natural human determination, ability and self-will. It requires that we deeply connect with the Lord and allow Him to take a full right to control our life. 

What Peter had said revealed that he was too cocksure. He did not give room to the fact that he was made of clay. Leaning on his own human strength, he wasn’t aware of how weak and vulnerable that strength could be. But credit to him, he loved Jesus deeply and could not bear the thought of being separated from Him. Jesus would now bring Peter to reality, to help him see the real him. So He told Peter in verse 38: “Will you lay down your life for Me? Truly, truly, I say to you, a rooster will not crow until you deny Me three times.”

John left us hanging with that statement. However, we all know that everything fit to the dot on the night of the Lord’s trial, just as Jesus had told him. The night the cock crowed, something inside of Peter died. The self-assured, presumptuous Peter saw how self-deluded he was, and went away to weep bitterly. However, God was not through with him and we will catch a glimpse of it in John 21. 

What happened to Peter to a certain degree depict us who follow Christ. We can walk the path of the presumptuous Peter, if we are not rightly connected to the Lord and learn to lean on His strength. If we fail to make time for quiet reflection of our life in the light of His word, we may also digress off course. We need to know that our sufficiency is only found in Christ. Tuck this somewhere in our mind: God is still in the business of perfecting us. He wants to take us from where we are and bring us to where we ought to be. His grace will be sufficient for us. Weak as we are, when we lean on Him, our weakness will be made perfect through His strength.