Daily Bread John 14
Daily Bread John 14
Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit
15"If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17the 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. 18I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."
22Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, "But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?"
23Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24He 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.
25"All this I have spoken while still with you. 26But the Counselor, 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.
Observation:
Chapters 14-17 record Jesus’ upper room discourse with his disciples, as part of the Last Supper and his last time with them. In the beginning of the chapter, he comforts them and tells them that if they trust in Him, that He will show them the many rooms of His Father’s house (aka “mansion”).
Thomas questions him on the way to this place, and Jesus answers with the famous verse, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except by Me!” In some senses this might be viewed as exclusive ie. Jesus is the only way! But if Jesus is truly God then it makes sense that He would be the only way.
As we are studying in our Christian Worldview series at our church, absolute truth has taken a beating in our culture today. We live in a post-modern age where truth is based on sincerity, and is relative to each person. If you sincerely believe something I can’t question you, because everyone has a right to believe what they want. Tolerance becomes accepting everyone’s views and not being able to question whether they are right or wrong. If one does question whether they are right or wrong, it is seen as being “intolerant”.
But the reality is one can’t have 2 people saying contradictory things and they both be true. To do that we would have to suspend logic, which holds the world together. If I say the moon is made out of Swiss cheese, and you say it is made out of rock, we both can’t be right. Jesus claimed to be the only way to God, and either He is or isn’t. If He is truly God, and is truly sinless and truly died for our sins, and truly was raised from the dead; then all of His claims are true! If not, all Christians believe in a lie and Jesus was either a con artist, or delusional. As C.S. Lewis said, “The only we cannot conclude (as many have) that Jesus was just a good moral teacher. He did not leave us with that option!!”
Then in these last verses of Chapter 14, Jesus makes an important connection which is very important for the 21st century. He says, “If you love me obey what I command!” Jesus says as we obey His teaching, two essential things will happen: 1.) He and the Father will make their home with us. Literally God will dwell in us as we listen and obey His teaching, which starts with accepting that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. 2.) Jesus promises a Counselor, called the “Holy Spirit” that will be with us and in us and will guide us in the Way, the Truth and the Life. We are never alone as we seek to follow Jesus. The Spirit helps, guides, and reminds us of all Jesus has taught. But in the end it is still up to us to obey these commands willingly.
Application:
How are you doing obeying all Jesus has commanded? Where is God calling you to obey Him? Are you relying on the Holy Spirit’s guidance and power to help you to do this? Are there are other people in your life that help give you feedback, encouragement and accountability for this process we call discipleship.
As we obey Jesus’ commands, we show Him that we love Him and importantly we reflect God’s love to the world. The Holy Spirit will fill in the gaps where anything is missing. What an amazing fact that the God of the universe promises to dwell in us!
Prayer:
God send us Your Spirit to remind us to love and obey You. Make Your home in our lives, so we may live out of Your presence and power. Thank you for sending us Jesus and the gift of Your Spirit to show us the Way, the Truth and the Life. Amen.
Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit
15"If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17the 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. 18I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."
22Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, "But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?"
23Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24He 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.
25"All this I have spoken while still with you. 26But the Counselor, 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.
Observation:
Chapters 14-17 record Jesus’ upper room discourse with his disciples, as part of the Last Supper and his last time with them. In the beginning of the chapter, he comforts them and tells them that if they trust in Him, that He will show them the many rooms of His Father’s house (aka “mansion”).
Thomas questions him on the way to this place, and Jesus answers with the famous verse, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except by Me!” In some senses this might be viewed as exclusive ie. Jesus is the only way! But if Jesus is truly God then it makes sense that He would be the only way.
As we are studying in our Christian Worldview series at our church, absolute truth has taken a beating in our culture today. We live in a post-modern age where truth is based on sincerity, and is relative to each person. If you sincerely believe something I can’t question you, because everyone has a right to believe what they want. Tolerance becomes accepting everyone’s views and not being able to question whether they are right or wrong. If one does question whether they are right or wrong, it is seen as being “intolerant”.
But the reality is one can’t have 2 people saying contradictory things and they both be true. To do that we would have to suspend logic, which holds the world together. If I say the moon is made out of Swiss cheese, and you say it is made out of rock, we both can’t be right. Jesus claimed to be the only way to God, and either He is or isn’t. If He is truly God, and is truly sinless and truly died for our sins, and truly was raised from the dead; then all of His claims are true! If not, all Christians believe in a lie and Jesus was either a con artist, or delusional. As C.S. Lewis said, “The only we cannot conclude (as many have) that Jesus was just a good moral teacher. He did not leave us with that option!!”
Then in these last verses of Chapter 14, Jesus makes an important connection which is very important for the 21st century. He says, “If you love me obey what I command!” Jesus says as we obey His teaching, two essential things will happen: 1.) He and the Father will make their home with us. Literally God will dwell in us as we listen and obey His teaching, which starts with accepting that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. 2.) Jesus promises a Counselor, called the “Holy Spirit” that will be with us and in us and will guide us in the Way, the Truth and the Life. We are never alone as we seek to follow Jesus. The Spirit helps, guides, and reminds us of all Jesus has taught. But in the end it is still up to us to obey these commands willingly.
Application:
How are you doing obeying all Jesus has commanded? Where is God calling you to obey Him? Are you relying on the Holy Spirit’s guidance and power to help you to do this? Are there are other people in your life that help give you feedback, encouragement and accountability for this process we call discipleship.
As we obey Jesus’ commands, we show Him that we love Him and importantly we reflect God’s love to the world. The Holy Spirit will fill in the gaps where anything is missing. What an amazing fact that the God of the universe promises to dwell in us!
Prayer:
God send us Your Spirit to remind us to love and obey You. Make Your home in our lives, so we may live out of Your presence and power. Thank you for sending us Jesus and the gift of Your Spirit to show us the Way, the Truth and the Life. Amen.
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