KCC April Don t Worry, It s Good that I m Leaving John 14

Transcription

1 KCC April 2013 Don t Worry, It s Good that I m Leaving John 14 After the Last Supper, Jesus taught his disciples quite a bit before he was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. We have that teaching in John s Gospel. In John 13, Jesus washed their feet, and Judas the betrayer left them to bring back the crowd that arrested him, and after he left Jesus taught them. And all this teaching is about Jesus leaving, not why he will leave, for the most part, but why they will be fine without him. Don t worry, he says, it is good that I m leaving. Jesus whole life here was a mission, in John s Gospel. Jesus was sent from the Father, and now the mission was nearly over, and he would return to the Father. He first mentioned leaving to return to his Father in John 7 (7:33-34 also 8:21). At the end of John 13 he was clear (13:33-36). So we need to put ourselves in the place of the disciples. They did not know how he would leave, or why, but it all sounded bad. They were worried, and were troubled. How would they carry on without him? There was nothing good about this. In John 14 Jesus covered several different topics, which means I will too. But it is all connected to his leaving, why they will be fine without him, and what they need to do. 14:1-4 Don t Worry, I m Coming Back 14:1 Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going. Jesus would come back! This was the first time he d said that. He would leave, but then he d come back, and get them. Don t be troubled, and the assumption is, you are troubled, you are worried. Notice the opening line: Don t let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. Don t be worried, trust me. Don t be troubled, count on me. Jesus would probably say this to us whenever we were worried. Jesus says this again at the end of John 14, in v27: Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid. They cannot imagine that his leaving is not a bad thing. Jesus comforted them. But the news here is that he s going to get a place ready, and it will be a big place, lots of rooms, and he ll come back and get us, and take us, so we can be with him.

2 Don t Worry, It s Good that I m Leaving John :5-7 You know the way. No, we don t. Yes, you do, it s ME 4 You know the way to the place where I am going. 5 Thomas said to him, Lord, we don t know where you are going, so how can we know the way? 6 Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. o one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him. Apparently we don t need to know where he s going, except that it is to the Father. If we know the way to where he s going, that s enough. Thomas didn t think they knew the way, but Jesus said, yes, you do, it is me. Jesus is comforting them at his leaving. I m leaving, he says, but you know how to follow me to where I m going. He s talking about believers dying. I m leaving, but you know to follow me. You know the way to where I m going. What s the way? I am the way. Don t let your hearts be troubled. Believe in me. I will come back and get you. Between now and then, you can follow me to where I m going. I m the way, the truth, the life. 14:8-11 If you ve seen me, you ve seen the Father 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him. 8 Philip said, Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us. 9 Jesus answered: Don t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, Show us the Father? 10 Don t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. If Jesus sounds frustrated here, and exasperated, it is because he was frustrated and exasperated, he was ready to pull out his hair! In the Gospel of John, the people who rejected Jesus always said they wanted God, but they did not want Jesus. And Jesus always responded, I do what he tells me to do, I say what he tells me to say. If you don t want me then you don t want God. When you look at me, you are watching what the Father does and what the Father says. And now, at the very end of his mission, Jesus is finding out that Philip and probably others in the group have still not gotten this basic point. And don t you dare look down on Philip, because we make the same mistake. There is no room for God the Father being one kind of person, and Jesus of Nazareth being a slightly different person. WE think God is more like this, and Jesus is more like that. Wrong! The notion that we could come up with a more accurate picture of God, than looking harder at Jesus of Nazareth, is preposterous. But we think like that.

3 Don t Worry, It s Good that I m Leaving John 14 3 There is no room here for the God of the OT being any different from Jesus of Nazareth. The Father that Jesus is talking about IS the God of the OT. Who else would Jesus be talking about? But we are satisfied to believe that the God of the OT is actually quite different from Jesus of Nazareth, and because we believe that, Jesus is as frustrated with us as he was with Philip, and he wonders how long we will have to know him before we get it. Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. This is still a part of Jesus comforting them about his leaving. He says to them, and to us: You know the Father, you ve met the Father, and you know the way to the Father, which is me: I m the way to the Father. Don t worry. Believe in me. 14:12-14 Those who believe in me will do my works and even greater works 12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. Some have taken these greater works to mean evangelism, the spread of the gospel; others have taken them to mean miracles, and there are probably more options than that. The real point is deeper. Jesus was leaving, but that would not be the end of what he was doing. No, his work, his mission, would continue on as powerfully and more powerfully after he left. The disciples must have felt like it would all end when he left, but Jesus said, no, you will continue all that I began, and more, because he was leaving. We can see now how that was true, but it must have seemed ridiculous to the disciples. How can Jesus work do even better without him? But it has. It takes two things: it takes trust in Jesus he says his works will be continued by whoever believes in me. And it takes prayer ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14:15-17 The coming of the Spirit, the second paraclete, the other Jesus 15 If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. Paraclete is the Greek word that Jesus used to describe the Spirit. I will ask the Father, and he will give you another paraclete. No one is sure how to translate this word. The new NIV, which I read, says another advocate. The old NIV had another Counsellor. The KJV had another Comforter. The Good News Bible: another Helper.

4 Don t Worry, It s Good that I m Leaving John 14 4 The key word is another. The Father will send another Helper. Everything that Jesus had been doing with his followers he put into this one word Paraclete. It summarized all Jesus did for them. The Father will send another paraclete, another Jesus. I have been a helper to you, teacher, comforter, shepherd, guide, and so on; and now I m leaving, and the Father will send another one like me, another Helper. I was the first paraclete, and he will be the second. And this second Helper, the Spirit of truth, will stay with you forever. I am leaving you now, but he will come and never leave you. The Spirit of Truth. The Paraclete is called Spirit of Truth also in 15:26 and 16:13. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus is a true witness, always tells the truth. So also the Spirit. We could say it this way: Jesus tells them, and us: I always told you the truth that you needed to hear. The Helper, the Spirit, will be another truth-teller for you. 14:18-24 We are not left alone 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them. 22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world? 23 Jesus replied, Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. We are not left alone: V18 - I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. V20 - I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. V23 - We will come to them and make our home with them. There are details here that are not easy to understand, but the underlying truth is pretty clear: we, in this life, after Jesus has gone, are not left on our own. We are not orphans. The we in v23 is the Father and the Son. WE will come to them and make OUR home with them. Father and Son, and Spirit too. We are not left alone in this world. Keeping Jesus commands, and keeping his words Jesus commands, and his words, seem to be the same thing (here is my literal translation): V15 If you love me, keep my commands. V21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. V23 Whoever loves me will keep my word. V24 The one loving me keeps my words. The words you hear are not mine, but my Father s.

5 Don t Worry, It s Good that I m Leaving John 14 5 In the Gospel of John, and also 1 John, there is a lot about loving each other, but there are no other commands. In the other Gospels, Jesus talks about lying and stealing and adultery and honouring our parents, and the other NT letters by Paul and others also talk about those things. But in the Gospel of John, and 1 John, there is none of that at all, only love one another. And in John 1-12, not even that occurred. That does not begin until John 13. So what are these commands and words that we are to keep? All Jesus has done in John s Gospel, and he has done it in every chapter, is call people to faith in him: I am the One God sent, I am the Living Water, I am the Bread of Life, whoever looks to the Son will have eternal life. We ve had this already in John 14: I am the way, the truth, and the life. If you ve seen me, you ve seen the Father. If you ve known me, you ve known the Father. I am in my Father, and he is in me. I am not speaking these words on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, doing his work. The words you hear are not my own, they belong to the Father who sent me. In John, this is all that Jesus has talked about. These are Jesus commands to keep, and these are Jesus words to keep. There is widespread agreement among the commentaries on John that keeping my commands and keeping my word is a call to faith in Jesus as the One God sent. And in vv 18-24, this is tied to loving Jesus and to our loving him, and our not being left alone. If you love me, keep my word, that is, if you love me, believe what I said about myself. And whoever does this will not be left alone, Father and Son will come to that person and make our home in that person. 14:25-27 The Spirit will keep telling you my words 25 All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. The Holy Spirit will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. I had this very thing demonstrated to me yesterday morning, while I was reading over John 14, which I take to mean I should tell you about it. So yesterday morning I had gone for a run, and was sitting in our living room drinking coffee and reading my Bible. This normal for a Saturday morning. I was reading John 14, as preparation for today.

6 Don t Worry, It s Good that I m Leaving John 14 6 I was also grumpy, because I was remembering things someone had done that disappointed me. I was trying to put aside my grumpiness, because it was distracting me, and that was not working. And then I remembered the story in Matthew 18, where Peter asked Jesus, how many times do I have to forgive my brother or sister? Surely seven times would be enough? Jesus said, No, not seven, but seventy-seven (or seventy times seven, depending on your translation). In different words, Peter, you never stop forgiving. And right after that Jesus told the parable about the king who forgave one of his servants a huge debt, ten million dollars, and that servant went away and would not forgive a fellow servant a much smaller debt, five hundred dollars. And as I recalled this I thought: whatever wrong has happened to me is tiny compared to the ways I have disappointed my Father in heaven. And he forgives me all of in, 490 times is just the start of what how many times he forgives me. And thankfully my grumpiness evaporated. It was gone. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. That story that I remembered from Matthew 18, about Peter asking his forgiveness question, and Jesus answer, and that forgiveness parable: that s what Jesus would have told me. If Jesus had been beside me, in my grumpiness, that s exactly what he would have said to me. And through the Spirit, that s exactly what DID happen. The Holy Spirit will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. That is exactly what happened to me yesterday, while I was reading John 14. This is why we ll be fine, even though Jesus has left. He left, but he s gone to get ready for us, and he will come back to get us. In the mean time, we know the way to where he s gone, so we can follow him there he himself is the way, the truth, and the life. He has sent the Spirit, the other Helper, the other Jesus, the second Helper, the second Jesus, and the Spirit will never leave us. We are not left as orphans, we are not left alone. If we keep his word, if we believe what he said about himself, and if we pray (and we do believe what he said, and we do pray), then his work will carry on, it will actually do better than when he was on earth. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. Amen.