Life Project Blog

John 17

This is the longest recorded prayer of Jesus in the entire New Testament.  Jesus is clearly one who prays a great deal, and we can gain a great deal of insight into prayer in this chapter.  For the purpose of these notes, I will attempt to resist the temptation to engage in theological discussion or analysis of what the prayer consists of or what this or that “means” from a theological point of view, instead I hope to focus more on what we can learn about prayer itself.  A good point of beginning is to take notice of Jesus’ posture as He prays; note that He is not sitting quietly with bowed head and closed eyes but rather is looking heavenward with eyes wide open.  In fact, He is most likely standing with the disciples, and if you take note of His language, it might seem that He is not speaking in a very quiet voice at all.  Of course we might say that our traditional posture results in a contrast because Jesus is the second person of the Godhead while we are not.  Might not this view overlook the fact that we are His co-heirs?  Well, it’s food for thought anyway…

Jesus opens this prayer by praying for God’s purpose to be fulfilled; this is and has been the principle focus of Jesus throughout His ministry.  Praying for God’s purpose to be fulfilled is entirely consistent with the idea that the fulfillment of God’s purpose is the reason for His being on the earth in the first place, and by extension is also consistent with the idea that this same purpose is our reason for being His disciples.  Throughout this Gospel, Jesus has used the expression “glorify” to refer to his death and resurrection, His work of atonement on the cross, and this is not different here.  Being thus “glorified” is God’s ultimate purpose for Jesus. Returning to the glory of heaven as He was before coming to this world is indicative of His having completed His work (purpose) in the world.

In 6-19, Jesus is interceding for His disciples.  He will complete His work of “glorification” very shortly and return to the Father, but they will remain in this world and they will have a rough time of it here. In a way, this section reads almost like a report, for Jesus repeats three of the things that He has just taught the disciples in chapters 14-16.  Keep in mind, that while we have been looking at these things over a period of weeks, and they cover the last few chapters, chapters 14-17 all occur in one place in one evening over a short span of time; a dinner.  Those three things that He repeats here are: 1) the belief that Jesus came from God (16:30); 2) the promise of complete joy (16:24); and 3) the coming hate of the world (15:18).  Then He prays for God to protect them as Jesus has protected them.  It is instructive for us to note that this “protection” was not always to protect them from the harm that the world might inflict upon them, and the book of Acts records quite a bit of that harm.  Indeed nearly all of them would be killed by the world eventually.  The “protection” that was provided for them was a protection of their faith and their message, the two things that enabled them to serve God’s purpose.

Verses 20-26 are broken into two smaller sections, the first of which is vv. 20-23.  In these verses, Jesus is praying for the unity of all believers so that the world may see it and believe their message.  The message is the point, for it is trough their message that they have received that the gospel will be spread and the commission He left them with (Matt. 28:18-20) will be accomplished; it is the purpose of God again. The second section within these verses is vv. 24-26 where Jesus prays for all believers in their ultimate destination: eternity with Him.  Note that there is a comparison in all of this:  Jesus is in the world to accomplish the purpose for which God sent him, and then He returns to God’s heavenly presence.  The believer is in the world to accomplish the purpose for which God has placed him there and then goes to God’s heavenly presence with Christ.  This is our purpose, our challenge and our destiny.  Jesus has taken this seriously enough to die on the cross, the Apostles took it seriously enough to suffer and die for their message: How seriously do we take it?

Jesus has taught the disciples that they will have a powerful prayer life; that anything they ask for in His name will be given them.  Each time He has spoken on this point, the context has been doing God’s work; serving God’s purpose.  You will have noticed by now that every aspect of this prayer is in this same context: God’s eternal purpose.  Our prayers are powerful things, how much more powerful they could be if they were for God’s purpose to be accomplished rather than that we get the things we want?

John 16:25-33

Jesus is admitting to them that He has often spoken to them figuratively, but that time is coming to an end.  The Father will not answer their future prayers as a favor to Jesus, nor will they ask Jesus and Jesus will ask the Father.  Their petitions will be going directly to the Father, for the Father loves them Himself.  After Jesus is crucified and has risen from the dead, they will have a relationship with the Father.  Please understand that this is a revolutionary statement. For those who respond in love to their belief in Jesus Christ, relationship with the Father is restored, thus completing the circle of Redemption History that began in the Garden of Eden. Before the Fall, Adam had fellowship with God: the redeemed in Christ have fellowship with God.

It seems from verses 29-30 that the disciples have finally understood that Jesus is in fact the Son of God, but Jesus still isn’t so sure.  Most translations make Jesus’ statement in v. 31 a question, as does the Greek.  He then once more points out that they will have a very rough time, but expresses the hope that they will find peace because of His warnings.  He ends the discourse with the great statement that He has overcome the world.  Theologically speaking, Jesus overcame the world because He overcame death itself.  He arose from the dead, never again to die and in so doing defeated Satan.  This is something that we say over and over in Sermons, books, lectures and classes… but how did this defeat Satan?  Isn’t Satan still very busy even now?

Here is how Jesus defeated Satan:  When He died on the cross, He paid the price for our sins; so far so good, right?  Then He arose from the dead… yes we all know that as well.  Here’s the critical point:  Because He paid the price for sin and established a New Covenant between Man and God, He paved the way for us to receive the gift of eternal life.  Have you entered into the New Covenant?  If so, you have received the gift of eternal life which means that even though you will die one day, you will live forever because the limitations of our physical bodies will not limit our ability to live, we will simply be transformed at the point of separation from our bodies to a new kind of existence.  As Paul put it: “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21).

Satan maintains his influence and control over men because they fear death.  When a people love God and have no reason whatever to fear death, Satan has no means by which to control them, for even if governments or empires murder and torture, they have no particular reason to change their beliefs or teachings for death has no hold on them.  When I was a youth and I read the Gospel accounts, in the back of my mind was the thought that it was all well and good for Jesus to bravely endure the cross because He knew in advance how the story ended.  Well, what Jesus is telling us in the last verse is that we also know how the story ends.  The result is that even under persecution and death, the community of believers would grow so large and become so influential that the Roman Empire itself would be transformed to Christianity.  The same is true today, for even though the world may oppose the church, it cannot destroy it because we know that the grave itself will never be able to hold us. This is how Satan’s grip is lost on Mankind; there will always be a remnant that will refuse to follow him in rebellion against God. Jesus has overcome the world, and in Him so have we.

John 16:16-24

Jesus is continuing His “Farewell Discourse” here, and today’s text is a continuation of what He was saying in our previous text.  You might recall that we ended last time with verse 16 as transition from His discussion about the Holy Spirit into His discussion of the death, burial and resurrection. We will begin with verse 16 not only as transition but as the determining verse relative to the context and subject to be discussed in the remainder of chapter 16.

Although I always try to avoid discussing Greek words and grammar in these lessons, it is unavoidable here, for the English translation in the NIV (and most other English translations) does not note the fact that while we see the English word “see” twice in this verse, two different Greek verbs are used and translated “see.” We need to recognize that in English, the word “see” can mean two different things.  It can mean to comprehend as in “…oh yes, I see what you mean.” Or it can mean that I physically see something as in “…do you see that house over there?” In verse 16, the first “see” is the Greek verb theoreo from which we get our English word theory.  It generally means to observe or to experience visually.  The second “see” is the Greek word horao which means to see in a broader sense.  John has used it several times already in this Gospel (1:18,34,51; 6:46; 11:40) more in the sense of ‘seeing spiritually’ or comprehending.  While these two words are reasonably close synonyms, the difference here is telling; it’s as though Jesus were telling them that they soon would not be able to see him with their eyes (death, burial) but shortly they will realize who He is and what He has done (resurrection).  This double meaning will continue through this passage; it will continue along the lines of He will then be taken from their sight for a time (ascension) and then will return to sight (Second Coming) where even unbelievers will “get it.”

The disciples are buzzing; they are not caught in any great eschatological debate for they still are confused about His imminent departure.  Jesus doesn’t wait for the question and asks it Himself.  Notice that this is the third time it is repeated in a very short span of verses; this is no coincidence, for it would appear that John is putting great emphasis on the statement. Even today we take comfort from the fact that we will see Jesus in a little while.

In verses 20-22, Jesus combines two contrasting emotions: Grief and joy.  Their grief will result in a paralyzing fear that causes them to scatter and hide, but not for very long.  They will then be filled with a joy that will remain with them even in times of severe trial, for they will understand His promises.  Going a little further, He illustrates this by reminding them of the pain and agony that a woman endures during childbirth.  Upon the arrival of the child, her grief and pain are all but forgotten, so filled with joy is she when she sees her baby.

Now in 23-24 we again have a little problem with English.  This time the confusion is in the word “ask.”  The first “ask” is translated from a Greek word meaning to ask a question while the second three “asks” are from a Greek word that means to make a request.  In the first case, they will not ask Him questions because a) they will comprehend much more, and b) the Holy Spirit will be in place to provide understanding.  In the second three cases, He is once again making reference to the fact that they will enjoy a very powerful prayer life.  He also mentions the aspect of joy, a joy that will remain with them.  It is important to notice the connection between “joy” and the presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives. The presence of the Holy Spirit is the ultimate gift of God that cements their full restoration to the Father. Jesus will continue along these lines when we get back together, next time…

John 16:5-16

In 15:1-17 Jesus taught the disciples about relationships within the community of believers and instructed them it would be characterized by love.  In 15:18-16:4 He taught about the relationship between the community of believers and the world, saying that it would be characterized by hate.  Here he returns to giving practical instruction about the coming era that includes more specific information about the working of the Holy Spirit.

Verse 5 raises the question in the mind of the casual reader of whether or not Jesus is mistaken in saying that they have not asked Him where He was going before, for Peter had asked more or less directly, and Thomas had also done so by implication.  It would seem that Jesus was not considering these instances because they were mouthed without understanding of what they were asking, for they had no clue that His journey would be a spiritual one. He explains to them that He must go away before the Holy Spirit can come to them.  This is not because they cannot be there at the same time, but because He must pay the penalty for their sins on the cross before they receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, for this is the eternal purpose of God and His primary mission on this earth.  Put another way, Jesus came to the earth to go to the cross; only then does the Counselor come to the redeemed.

In chapter 14, Jesus presented the Counselor as the defense attorney for the disciples.  Here He continues the legal analogy with the Counselor being portrayed as the prosecuting attorney against the world. He portrays this in three ways: First, the Holy Spirit will convict the world of its unbelief.  Second, the Spirit will convict the world concerning the righteousness of Jesus.  Third, the Spirit will convict the world of its own guilt and coming judgment.  Just as the “Prince of this World” is defeated and destroyed by Jesus’ death and resurrection, so the world will be convicted of coming judgment because light has come but they preferred darkness.

In verses 12-15, Jesus continues to teach the disciples about the work of the Holy Spirit in guiding them in the future, here discussing three more works.  First, the Spirit will guide them “into all truth.” In the coming apostolic community, truth would not be determined by mere human logic or recollection, but guided by the Holy Spirit.  Consider this: God has sent His Son to the earth to teach and testify to the truth.  Then the Son must die on the cross for our sins.  Will God trust the telling of this story and the teaching of the truth to the faulty memories of men?  No, He will provide the Holy Spirit to ensure that the story of Jesus’ life and recitation of His teachings are secure and accurate.  Second, the Spirit will pass on “only what he hears” to the disciples (apostles).  Only what comes directly from God will be given to them as the truth.  Third, the Spirit will continue the work of glorifying Father and Son by revealing Jesus Christ as the Son of God.  This provides a unity of purpose between Father, Son and Spirit with a strong link to God’s original purpose of sending His Son to the earth, a linkage that continues into the eternal future and coincides with our purpose for being born and redeemed as well.

Verse 16 is a transition into the next section which will be our subject for next time.  Jesus will shortly be arrested and crucified and they will see Him no more.  It is as though He is saying to them that they should take heart and have courage, for He will be back very shortly to confirm all that He is telling them, and of course this promise is borne out by history.

John 15:18-6:4

While the first 17 verses of chapter 15 discuss relationships within the Christian community, verses 18 and following discuss the relationship between the Christian community and the outside world.  In the first instance, the relationship is characterized by love, but in the second it is characterized by hate.  This is a new reality that the disciples must deal with, one that exists to this day. To begin to understand this phenomenon, we must remind ourselves that the world Jesus speaks of is continuing to live in rebellion against God.  Jesus brought this contrast between God and Rebellion into the harsh light of day and the people didn’t like it.  His disciples will do the same thing with the same result.  We too will make this contrast easy to see if we live according to His teachings.  We will also cause some to believe and be saved, but the majority will not appreciate our work.  For this reason, Christians in “tolerant” America are ridiculed in the press, movies and television, and are often singled out in the public square for derision.

Christians are not “of this world” but instead “our citizenship is in heaven.” (Phil. 3:18-20) The world we live in today is “post-modern” meaning that the overriding standard of morality is what is right for me.  Post-modernism doesn’t allow anyone to say that something is “right” or “wrong” absolutely and calls on individuals to seek that which is right for them and demands “tolerance” from everyone else.  Obviously, post-modernism is not the philosophical basis of the Bible, and as we all know many people have a hard time listening to anyone tell them differently.  This entire philosophy demonstrates that most people do not wish to be reconciled to God, or as Jesus put it, to “know the One who sent me.”

As a result of Jesus’ ministry, the world was left “without excuse.”  He has spoken the truth of sin, death, right and wrong, and He topped it all off by confirming His teachings with miraculous signs so that there would be no way for anyone to claim that His teachings were simply another random philosophy: They were the very words of God.  As a result, rebellious humanity in large part hated both Jesus and His Father, as the prophets had foretold.

Jesus reminds the disciples about the coming of the Holy Spirit. Note that this is not a teaching about the Holy Spirit as much as it is teaching about what their responsibility would be.  The presence of the Holy Spirit is beneficial in a great many ways, but it doesn’t mean that we have no work to do; our part is to teach people about the Gospel and make disciples.

Jesus has told His disciples unpleasant facts about their future, and now in 16:1-4 He tells them why He has done so.  The unpleasant future would soon begin with the arrest and senseless murder of Jesus Himself by Jewish leaders who believed that they were keeping God’s Law by doing so.  The book of Acts documents a reign of terror against the early church in which many were arrested and tortured or murdered by people who thought they were doing God’s work in silencing God’s truth.  This is not only an irony but sheer madness.  Jesus has told them of these things so that they would not drift away from their faith when the trials came; so that they would hold steadfast in the knowledge that God’s plan was playing out.  In truth, the more the church has been persecuted, the more it has grown because of the courageous stand taken by the followers of Christ.  Sadly, there have also been times when the church itself has persecuted the truth by torturing and murdering “heretics” who were teaching the truth within the church.

John 15:1-17

Today we continue our study of Jesus’ remarks to the disciples in the Upper Room.  Our passage is one of the best known in all of Scripture in which Jesus uses the illustration of a vine to describe key relationships within the Christian Life.  The text moves to its climax in verse 16 with the word “then” giving us a conditional statement that if our relationships are working together properly, “then” our requests will be granted.

This is the seventh and final “I Am” statement in the Gospel of John, and it is intended as an illustration of the relationship between the Father, the Son and the Church.  Jesus is the vine, the Father is the gardener and the disciples are the branches.  Notice that Jesus points out the fact that in a vine a branch has the function of bearing fruit, and no fruit can be borne by a branch that has been removed from the vine.  His point here is that the disciples must remain in Him in order to accomplish their purpose.  The Father as gardener will remove any branches that do not bear fruit, and prune the ones that do so that they may bear even more fruit… but what is “fruit”?  It is easy to say that He is referring to the making of new disciples, and certainly this is part of the answer.  Considering that the Father will be pruning individual branches as well as the entire vine however, there would seem to be something more involved.  In this case, it would be the removal of sin from our lives so that we will not only build new disciples, but that we would live such a life of love and purity that we would produce even more disciples than before.  One could say that this pruning involves God’s fine-tuning of our spiritual lives so as to bring about maximum growth not only in ourselves but as a result, in the entire Christian community.

Here Jesus restates the “I Am” in verses 5-6 and adds that we must remain in Him or we cannot produce anything.  Consider what happens when we attempt to produce spiritual fruit apart from Christ, entirely on our own… what is the result?  Usually the result is either nothing at all or the entry point for sin and wickedness into the community of believers.  One might even suggest that this is the formula for the development of cults in the extreme case. Much has been made of verse 6 in certain circles, but notice the word “like”.  If we do not remain in Him we are “like” branches that will be cast in the fire.  It did not say that we will be cast in the fire; repentance is an option, and most of us have had our times of straying and then come back to living “in Him”.

Verses 7-8 establish clear linkage between “remaining” and being disciples.  If we remain in Him… we will be seen as His disciples.  Remember that a disciple is one who knows what the Master knows (and my words remain in you) and who does what the Master does (bear fruit).  Thus, if we are His disciples in reality then He will answer our requests for His purpose.  It would go without saying that we wouldn’t be making selfish requests.

Jesus now introduces a second analogy to illustrate this relationship, and that is the relationship between the Father and the Son.  The illustration is Father/Son is the same relationship that is between Son/disciple.  The Father has loved the Son, and the Son has responded with love and obedience.  Therefore, since the Son has loved us, we must respond with love and obedience. To remain in His love is to have our joy made complete.

Going one step further now in 12-13, Jesus tells us exactly what obedience looks like: “Love one another as I have loved you.”  This is the command He is talking about, and as we saw a few sections back, this means putting others ahead of ourselves: always.  The Christian life has no room for self!  Verse 13 goes still further when Jesus mentions that the greatest love is to lay down your life for your friends.  In His case this meant the cross.  In our case, who knows the future?  One thing is clear however, to lay down our life of selfishness is paramount.

There is an interesting contrast between “servant” and “friend” in the last 3  verses, one that is even stronger than the NIV gives us, for the Greek word rendered “servant” (doulos) is the word for “slave”.  The contrast is clear: A slave is an inferior relationship while a friend is an equal relationship.  Don’t get crazy just yet, for this equality is entirely conditional.  Go and bear fruit.  Love one another.  These are the conditions, and realize that the first will not happen until we accomplish the second.  Then the Father will grant whatever we ask.  This is the conditional nature of the Christian life, and the challenge before us today.  As our culture continues to crumble and the church falters what will we do? We will remain in Him, love one another and bear fruit!

John 14:15-31

Today’s scene is a continuation of the Farewell Discourse of Jesus.  Jesus has just told the remaining disciples that anything they ask in His name will be given to them.  Keep in mind that in context this was no blank check, but was all about doing the things that He had been doing. As we continue with this discussion, we now move into further elaboration of how this will all work: There will be a new Counselor.  The word translated “counselor” is parakletos which in the ancient world meant “one who gives legal advice”.  Today, we often refer to a lawyer as “counsel” which comes from this meaning.

In verses 15-17 Jesus teaches us three things about the Holy Spirit. 1) The Holy Spirit is our Eternal Advocate who intercedes for us before the Father (1 John 2:1).  2) The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth that unveils for us our relationship with God and thus sets us free from sin, death and the traditions of men.  3) The Holy Spirit is within you.  He cannot be taken He can only be received.  Thus, this world cannot take Him away and cannot even comprehend Him for He is not compatible with the world of men.  Wherever there is a Christian, there is also the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus goes further still in vv. 18-21 with the concept of His being “in the Father” and being “in you” and “you in me.”  By extension of course that means that we are “in the Father” through Jesus.  If we have His commands and obey them, then we will be considered to love Jesus.  If we love Jesus, the Father will love us.  Be sure to catch the “if” here; it goes back to obey.  If we obey Jesus’ commands the Father will love us in a special way, and Jesus will show Himself to us.  Will He literally and bodily do so?  No!  It’s actually better than that:  He will show himself through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

The Judas in 22 ff. is the Thaddeus of Matthew and Mark.  His question should sound familiar as it has already been asked by Jesus’ own brothers in 7:3-4. Jesus will not show Himself to the world because He doesn’t do things the way the world does.  You will never see Jesus as a guest on The Factor or Oprah because He is not out to win the praise of men; He is doing the Father’s work of redemption.  Finally, He introduces another element of the Christian life: Peace.  This is not merely the absence of war; it amounts to the full renewal of fellowship between Man and God.  With this peace, we need not be afraid, for no matter what the world may do, we are in a place where our future is assured.  The chapter concludes with the urgency of the hour.  Satan is busy at work and the time for face to face discussion is very nearly over, yet there is still time for a little more yet to come when Jesus talks about vines and branches in the next chapter.

John 14:1-14

We continue today with the “Farewell Discourse” of Jesus with His disciples.  This particular text is one of the most beloved in all of the Scriptures, full of love, hope and reassurance containing some of the most memorable phrases in the Bible, and indeed in all of literature.  In the discussions that have come before it, there has been a challenge in the example Jesus set when He washed the disciples’ feet.  There has been a betrayal and predictions of Jesus’ death and then of Peter’s denial of Jesus.  Now, Jesus seeks to comfort the  disciples and to help them begin to understand that the events which would soon follow are nothing less than God’s Eternal Plan coming to its climax.

This is the transitional verse that takes us from the tension and distress of the latter part of chapter 13 into a new topic.  Jesus is telling the disciples to take heart because He is not going to forsake them, even though He must be returning to the Father.  The key phrase here is “Trust in God; trust also in me.”  It is key because it is phrased not as a suggestion or as advice but as an imperative: Trust!

Then, in verses 2-4 Jesus uses the illustration of the Father’s house to tell them that His leaving is to serve the purpose of preparing their place in God’s “house”.  He uses an interesting method to tell them that He will return for them in due course so that where “I am” you also will be.  This is a clear play on the words “I am” and it indicates that upon His return there will be some amount of sharing His “I am-ness” with His disciples.

Having left off in verse 4 by telling them that they know the way to where He is going, He now responds to the insistence of Thomas that they don’t even know the where, much less the how…Jesus, with evident patience tells them again what He has been telling them for a long time: He is the Way, you can only come to the Father through Jesus Himself.  He is the Truth; you can know no other truth, for no other truth is genuine.  He is the Life, for there is no other life that is eternal. He expands on this in verse 7 by pointing out to them that He and the Father are one.  If we want to know the Father we will see Him revealed in His Son.  If we want to see the Father, we will see Him in His Son.

Phillip’s reply is to innocently ask Jesus to show the Father to them in the way that a lawyer might produce a witness.  All of them should know that no one has ever seen the Father (John 1:18). It was considered by the Jews impossible for a mere mortal to look directly upon the glory of God, not even Moses had looked directly at Him.  Jesus explains that we see God revealed in Him through spiritual discernment.  He indicates also that His miracles were revelations of God’s presence in Him.  In truth, the logic is that since it isn’t possible for a mortal man to look directly at God and live to tell the story, God has been made manifest in Jesus Christ, having become a man so that direct interaction can occur, a foundational premise of Christina Theology.

Jesus mentions that those who have faith in Him will continue to do what He had been doing, and that they will do even greater things because He will grant them whatever they ask of Him in His name.  This has been the source of considerable confusion and discussion in our time.  Are we doing what He was doing… what was He doing anyway?  The ministry of Jesus on the earth was not one designed to advance my interests, desires, wants or needs.  Its purpose was to advance the redemptive plan of God.  Are we living our lives to advance the redemptive plan of God?  Jesus is not telling us to use the ‘magic words’ at the end of our prayers, “In Jesus’ name Amen.”  He is telling His disciples, soon to become His Apostles that He will do great works through them and in fact He did; they are recorded as answered promises in Acts including many miraculous signs that were performed for the specific purpose of confirming the Gospel message. With that said, it is possible, even requisite that we as Christians have an active and powerful prayer life; I can’t imagine how we can follow Him through life without it.  However, in no way did Jesus promise anybody that He would give them a “blank check” to live selfish lives of demanding benefits from Him; this is simply inconsistent with every word of Scripture. He will give us whatever we ask for in His name to accomplish God’s purposes.