The True Mark of a Disciple

Transcription

1 Lesson #61 The True Mark of a Disciple John 13:31-35 Presented Live on March 11, 2018 I. Introduction and review A. Last time Jesus prophesied that Judas would betray Him 1. He allows John to know that it will be Judas 2. We considered an array of passages that spoke of Judas and his relationship to Satan and the Anti-Christ 3. One passage we did not consider was Acts 1:24-25 And they prayed and said, "You, Lord, who know the hearts of all men, show which one of these two You have chosen 25 to occupy this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place." B. We also learned that Jesus now intends to demonstrate His foreknowledge to His disciples C. In so doing, He demonstrates His claim to Godhood, that is that Jesus claims to be the I Am D. And one more important aspect of His teaching will be the true mark of a disciple II. Jesus plan was for Judas to leave before saying anymore to the disciples [John 13:31-32] A. That is the reason for the use of the term therefore and who is the antecedent of he B. Clearly Jesus wanted two things to occur 1. First, He did not want Judas to hear the things that He was Page 1 of 8

2 going to tell the disciples a. Consider John 15:15 "No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. b. Judas is of course excluded from that pronouncement 2. Secondly, He doesn t want anyone to interfere with what Judas is about to do C. Jesus refers to Himself as the Son of Man 1. Jesus has used that moniker for Himself 12 times before now in John s Gospel a. This is the thirteenth time He has used this name to define Himself b. What does this name mean? (1) Consider Daniel 7:13-14 (2) This person receives a world wide kingdom for God the Father (3) He then rules and reigns forever 2. This also the last time that Jesus uses this name in the Gospel of John a. Why would that be? b. When Jesus ascends into heaven, He will assume and carry out the duties of a different office 3. Understanding the doctrine of sessions a. Jesus was given the position or calling of Messiah b. But He was assigned various offices c. While Jesus was on earth during His first coming, He fulfilled the office of prophet (1) What does a prophet do? (2) He forth tells and foretells (3) By forth telling, a prophets speaks to the sin of the people of his culture or society and the righteousness of God (4) By foretelling, he relates to his society or culture the coming plan of God and the result of the people s sin (5) That was the past or prior session d. When He returns to earth the second time. He will fill the position of king (1) What does a king do? (2) He assumes the throne (3) He rules and reigns Page 2 of 8

3 (4) He judges and condemns (5) That will be the future session e. But between His ascension back into heaven and His second coming to earth what position does He operate under? (1) That of high priest (2) Not as a priest that follows the Aaronic or Levitical order, but one from the order of Melchizedek (3) What does a high priest do? (4) First we must answer what does someone who fills the position of priest do (5) The priest s primary role is to go to or communicate with God for or on behalf of the people (6) And then recognize that the high priest has some additional duties such as sacrifices (7) Jesus, is operating now in what is referred to theologically as the present session (8) Ephesians 1:20 which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, (a) And seated him is the Aorist, Active, Participle of KATHIZO, êáè æù which means, to sit, sit down, set down or appoint. It should read and having seated. This refers to the ascension of Jesus Christ and His session at the right hand of God the Father. (b) At His right hand, EN AUTOS DEXIOS. The phrase right hand means a place or position of strength and power. (c) In the heavenly places, is EN HO EROURANIOS that is literally, in the heavenlies. (d) The Present Session of our Lord Jesus Christ occurred after He ascended to heaven, which was 40 days after His resurrection. (e) At that time He was seated in His resurrection body at the right hand of God the Father. Page 3 of 8

4 (f) And He acts as our high priest f. Psalm 110:1 The LORD (God the Father) says to my Lord (Jesus the Son): "Sit at My right hand Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet." g. Heb 8:1, Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens. D. Then Jesus tells His disciples that He is about to be glorified 1. He uses that word five times in these two verses 2. What does that mean or entail? 3. As far as the physical acts that are going to accomplish that are concerned: a. Arrest b. Torture c. Trial d. Execution e. Burial f. Resurrection g. Ascension h. And yet obviously there is more to it than that 4. The glory of God is like a diamond that has multiple facets 5. The is an appearance of glory a. Moses viewing the trail of God s glory b. Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration c. Jesus on the Isle Patmos 6. There is also a sense of holy majesty involved that causes one to bow or prostrate themselves 7. There are many other aspects of God s glory but one that is often overlooked, but to get there we must consider this word glorified a. doxa,zw doxazo {dox-ad'-zo} (1) Meaning: 1) to think, suppose, be of opinion 2) to praise, extol, magnify, celebrate 3) to honor, do honor to, hold in honor 4) to make glorious, adorn with luster, clothe with splendor 4a) to impart glory to something, render it excellent 4b) to make renowned, render illustrious 4b1) to cause the dignity and worth of some person or thing to become manifest and acknowledged (2) Origin: from do,xa doxa {dox'-ah} Meaning: 1) opinion, judgment, view 2) opinion, estimate, Page 4 of 8

5 whether good or bad concerning someone 2a) in the NT always a good opinion concerning one, resulting in praise, honor, and glory 3) splendor, brightness 3a) of the moon, sun, stars 3b) magnificence, excellence, preeminence, dignity, grace 3c) majesty 3c1) a thing belonging to God 3c1) the kingly majesty which belongs to Him as supreme ruler, majesty in the sense of the absolute perfection of the deity 3c2) a thing belonging to Christ 3c2a) the kingly majesty of the Messiah 3c2b) the absolutely perfect inward or personal excellency of Christ; the majesty 3c3) of the angels 3c3a) as apparent in their exterior brightness 4) a most glorious condition, most exalted state 4a) of that condition with God the Father in heaven to which Christ was raised after He had achieved his work on earth 4b) the glorious condition of blessedness into which is appointed and promised that true Christians shall enter after their Savior's return from heaven (3) Origin: from doke,w dokeo {dok-eh'-o} Meaning: 1) to be of opinion, think, suppose 2) to seem, to be accounted, reputed 3) it seems to me 3a) I think, judge: thus in question 3b) it seems good to, pleased me, I determined b. Therefore to be glorifies means in part to be revealed in such a way as to be vindicated in the eyes of the witnesses to that glorification c. So we come to see that one aspect or facet of Jesus glorification is to display or demonstrate the truth concerning what Jesus has been teaching and proclaiming to His people as to His true identity d. An thus be vindication in the eyes of all humanity III. Jesus refers to His disciples as little children [John 13:33] A. The word for children in Greek is the plural form of te,knon teknon Meaning: a child (of either sex) [see for example John 1:12] 1. The word for little children as used here is not two words like it is in the English but is the single word tekni,on teknion {tek-nee'-on} Meaning: 1) a little child 2) in the NT used as a term of kindly address by teachers to their disciples Page 5 of 8

6 2. This word is a term of endearment, much the same as daddy is as opposed to father 3. Jesus is expressing affection for these 11 men 4. This is the only time that Jesus uses this term in all four gospels 5. But John remembered it and used it seven times in the Epistle of 1 John 6. We should notice that Jesus did not utilize this term of endearment until after Judas was gone B. Why is He speaking to them in these terms? 1. Because He is leaving them very soon and they do not realize it 2. In fact remember how they just stood and stared into the sky after He had ascended back into heaven 3. They had to be prodded by angels to go and obey Him IV. Jesus now provides his Disciples with a new commandment [John 13:34-35] A. You cannot properly understand the new commandment unless it is viewed in juxtaposition to the old commandment B. What is the old commandment 1. See: Leviticus 19:18 You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD. 2. What is the measure or criteria for the degree of love that one should show to their neighbor? 3. Does God teach us that we should love ourselves? 4. And we know who Jesus considered to be our neighbors C. The new commandment 1. Does it do away with the old commandment? 2. Does it provide for a narrower group of those that we are to love? a. It appears to do just that, so what is that group? b. Some scholars argue that this new commandment to love extends only to our fellow believers c. There are some that contest this interpretation d. There would argue that we are commanded to love our fellow disciples as Christ loved the first disciples e. The language and grammar of this passage, that is the parallelism set out allows for a strong argument to be made for the second interpretation, in that the ones to whom He is giving this commandment are all disciples 3. And under this new commandment does it establish a Page 6 of 8

7 criteria for how we should love? a. Yes in the same way that Jesus loved them b. What does that entail? Most of us have come to realize that such a question is quite complex D. Jesus used the word agapeo to describe His love for these disciples, what do we know about that word 1. Well in the Greek language we recognize three primary words for love a. Agapeo b. Phileo and c. Eros 2. That was not so in the time of Jesus 3. In the first century the word agapeo and its noun counterpart agape were rarely found outside of the New Testament writings and those of the early church fathers 4. The Greek culture and its language celebrated the term eros an intoxicating, exhilarating and impulsive type of love and honored the concept of phileo as a warm noble affection of deep friendship 5. But the term agapeo was relatively unknown and for the most part undefined 6. As a result, this word was perfect for the New Testament writers as they were able to adopt and define this previously this unused and obscure word E. While the followers of Christ began to be known as those who espoused a new kind of love, secular society suffered the steady loss of virtue, whether that virtue was of Greek or Roman origin 1. There was a cultural change from honoring the phileo type of love to relishing the elusive eros types of love 2. As these two schools of thought or societies moved in opposite directions, the contrast created by the two became ever more poignant and obvious F. How do the New Testament writers define this new kind of love, here are some particulars 1. It is always demonstrated, not just felt or kept within [see Rom. 5:8] a. It is an attitude b. But an attitude that reveals itself bu its actions 2. It tends to elevate or comfort the weak, the vulnerable or the heavy hearted 3. It is unconditional a. This type of love is never the basis of a bargain or the Page 7 of 8

8 result of an arrangement b. It is not something that comes naturally but is a choice made as a result of that love being infused into us 4. It is motivated by a divine mind set a. Consider 1 Corinthians 13:7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. V. But it is this type of love that set Jesus apart and sets His disciples apart from all others A. This love is the true mark of the disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ B. And then what would the opposite say to our culture and society? C. What evidence is there in your life of either? and Believer s Bible Class, & Douglas W. Brady Page 8 of 8