We have come to what are known as Jesus’ ‘Farewell Discourse’.
It starts in 13:31 after Judas leaves, and finishes, at the end of chapter 16.
We call it the ‘Final Discourse’, as if it is one long
monologue. But it’s not. Yes, Jesus does most of the talking, but the disciples
are very much involved They ask questions; and Jesus is concerned about how
they are feeling. Whatever we call these chapters, they are very rich, for
Christians to read again and again.
We are going to look at this Farewell Discourse in three
sections
1. Comfort/reassurance for the troubled disciples – this runs
from 13:31, to the end of 14
2. Encouragement to continue as a faithful disciple. This is
chapter 15.
3. More comfort and radical encouragement, that’s chapter 16.
As Judas goes out, Jesus says ‘Now is the Son of Man
glorified’ ((31) The suffering starts with Judas’ betrayal. Jesus looks around
and see the disciples are upset. Jesus is very gentle with them. He says,
‘Little children’ (13:33) and explains that he has to go somewhere they can’t
come. The tone is very loving. The disciples would understand that He wants to
help them.
Peter then boasts that he would die for him (13:37), and
again Jesus’ answer is just a gentle question, not a rebuke, – ‘Will you lay
down your life for me?’ And we know it’s the exact opposite. Jesus will lay
down his life for Peter.
As chapter 14 opens Jesus is looking at the faces of men who
think they are going to die. Their fear was real. Usually when a government
crushes a political or religious group they kill not just the leader, but also
his close followers. So, the disciples are thinking they are going to die.
Their hearts are full of stress.
So Jesus deals with the issue of death. Jesus’s reassurance
is that death is not the end. There is the ‘Father’s house’, the place where
man dwells with God, and that place has many rooms. And Jesus – by his dying,
not theirs – is going to make sure they can get to those rooms. And then He
will come again, and take them there. This is the Second Coming when Jesus
returns and there is the resurrection of the dead.
The heart of what Jesus says here is that ‘where I am you may
be also’. It is fellowship. It is being together. For the disciples to enjoy
this this reality, they must trust in God and Christ. (14:1) They must trust
that this is true
Jesus then says, as a question: ‘‘You
all know the way to this fellowship’.
Thomas says, ‘We don’t even know
where you’re going to, so how can we know the way.’ So Jesus says that He is
the way… ‘I am the way, the truth and the life, nobody comes to the Father
except through me’. There has to be an encounter with Jesus – the I am. And an
acceptance of His way. From the foot-washing we know that Jesus’ way is always
the way of love and humility.
Jesus is also the truth. That does
not mean two plus two information. Truth in Hebrew ‘emet, which means
trust-worthy Truth shows itself in action.
This way and this truth bring life –
as we have seen in the Gospel, life as wine in chapter two, as water in chapter
four, as healing in chapter four and five, as bread in chapter six, as light in
chapter nine, as resurrection in chapter eleven. Wherever Jesus goes, He brings
life. So, the way to fellowship with God is walking with Jesus.
Let me say something here about this
verse’s exclusivity: ‘Nobody comes to the Father except through me’. This
definitely means that no man or woman can have a relationship with God the
Father apart from Christ. He is the only way to God. But does this mean that
all the millions before and after Christ who have not called themselves
Christians have no relationship with God?
The answer to that question is that
this is a mystery. We come to the Father through Jesus – and in John 1: 4 we
read that Christ is ‘the light of men’, and in v. 9 that he gives light to
‘everyone’. This means Christ is talking in some way to everyone, so – without
knowing His name – they can come to the Father, through Him. But we don’t know
about this. We have to trust that God’s dealings with all of us in this matter
are perfect.
With this attitude of trust about the
exclusivity of John 14:6 we can now focus on Jesus’ main aim here, which is to
reassure the disciples that they can come to the Father. They can have a
relationship with the Father.
Philip then bluntly says, ‘Well, show us the Father’, and
again Jesus emphasizes the same point. By being with me, by seeing me, you are
having fellowship with the Father. Philip, please think about my teaching and
my miracles – you have to conclude I am living in a relationship with God. (10
– 11)
The reality of this fellowship will then be seen by the
‘greater works’ that the disciples do,
and the reality of their prayer life (14: 12 – 13), a prayer life where they
ask and receive. The greater works could mean greater miracles, but many people
think this means the greater work of the spread of the Gospel and the church.
Till now the fellowship can be with the Father and the Son. However,
in v. 16, Jesus promises the Holy Spirit. The usual word used for Spirit in the
New Testament is ‘pneuma’. But in this Farewell Discourse the word is
‘paraclete’. This means one who draws alongside to help you, especially in a
legal situation. In English it is translated as Helper, Advocate, Comforter. The
Holy Spirit then is an active presence to help us.
As Jesus introduces the arrival of the Holy Spirit, notice
where the emphasis is. It’s on the dwelling. That is what Jesus wants them to
understand. He is a ‘Helper’ who will never leave them. He is going to dwell
inside them (v. 17). It’s the being together, the fellowship. That’s been the
emphasis all the way through.
Then in v. 18 Jesus says, “I will not leave you as orphans.”
You see how all the time he is wanting to reassure his disciples. They fear
that they will be abandoned in this very hostile city. Jesus promises this will
not be the case. Yes, there is ‘a little while’, but ‘I will come to you.’ The
little while would be Friday and Saturday. Just two days. But on the third day,
He came – not to the world, but to the disciples. To Peter, to Mary, to the two
on the road to Emmaus. They – we – are just about never going to be left alone.
Jesus is asking them to believe in ‘that day’, that Sunday..
They will be in a fellowship full of love. (14: 20). If you look at v. 21 – 23
you will Jesus again emphasizes the fellowship. He says they are in a
relationship of love, not just with Him, but also with the Father (21), and
this means that they – the Father and the Son, via the Spirit will ‘come and
make our home with him’ (23). Do you see the word ‘home’, again? That is what
this chapter is all about. There is a safe place to be, home – here on earth,
and later in the Father’s house.
You will have noticed that Jesus has been saying that this
dwelling with God is for those who keep his commandments, those who keep his
word – v. 15, 21, 23. And the question will arise – especially for the next
generation of Christians – but what exactly are those commandments what is that
Word?
At the end of chapter
14 Jesus deals with that question. In v. 26 He says that the Paraclete - modafe
will come and will help these first disciples remember all that Jesus said for
themselves – and the next generations. Jesus is saying that the Gospels will be
inspired by the Holy Spirit.
So Jesus answers the question from Judas, son of James, as to
why this relationship is only for those who love God…the ones who love God (v.
23) and the ones who keep His word. And so in v. 27, in the last verses of the
chapter, we end where we began: let not your hearts be troubled.
That is why I say this chapter is primarily about Jesus
wanting to comfort his disciples.
So rather than having troubled hearts, Jesus gives his
followers His special peace. Jesus’ peace is very different to a man-made
peace. It is His peace. Peace with God. It is real. It lasts. Jesus also wants
them to have joy, because He is going to the Father. He is going home.
The statement, ‘for the Father is greater than I’ has been
difficult for teachers throughout church history. Suffice to say it does not
mean that Jesus is not fully God, but when Jesus was on earth – the Word became
flesh – relying all the time on the Father, walking in obedience to the Father,
then of course, the Father then is greater than the Son.
In v 29 we see another aspect of Jesus’ comfort.He wants to
prepare them for what is going to happen. And then he says the ruler of this
world is coming. In other words the hour has come – the hour of betrayal (for
Satan had entered Judas’ heart), and his hour of suffering.
But – the ruler of the world is under God’s control. He has
no authority over (be) Jesus at all, because Jesus – the perfect man – does all
the Father commands him to do. Satan thinks he is controlling events, but he
isn’t. God is in total control.
Chapter 14 ends. I hope you have seen that the main emphasis
of this chapter from beginning to end is that Jesus wants to bring comfort to
his disciples. He wants them to know that they can dwell with the Father, the
Son, and the Holy Spirit. And not even death can stop this happening.
That is their comfort, that is our comfort. We are involved
in a never-ending fellowship of love – loved by the Father, loved by the Son,
and loved by the Holy Spirit who lives in us right now.
In the next section we are going to look at Chapter 15 and
the title for this section is, ‘Encouragement’.
At the end of Chapter 14 Jesus says, ‘Rise, let us go from here.’
The upper room was probably in the south of Jerusalem, so Jesus and his
disciples would have left either by a city gate in the south and it is very
likely they would have then passed vineyards on their way towards Gethsemane.
It is very possible that Jesus then stopped and gave this famous teaching on
the true vine or vineyard.
Jesus has a specific aim with this teaching. He states it at
the start of chapter 16:1. ‘I have said all these things to keep you from
falling away.’
Jesus does not want to just give comfort to his disciples, he
wants to encourage them to have fruitful Christian lives.
The whole point of the vine is to bear fruit. That is where
Jesus’ attention goes right at the start. If there is no fruit, the branch
goes. If there is fruit, there is pruning, so there will be more fruit. And at
the end of the teaching about the vine Jesus returns to this. Look at v. 16.
Jesus chooses us – to bear fruit that will last.
In the Old Testament Israel had been called God’s vine (Psalm
80, Isaiah 5). To underline this outside the temple there was the picture of a
vine. But Israel had only given the fruit of nationalism. So now Jesus says, I
am the true vine…and if anyone abides in me, there will be fruit.
So – in contrast to Israel and the temple, that is what the
Christian life is all about fruit. But - how do we bear fruit? And what is the
fruit? The how is answered by one word in Greek – meinate, in English, ‘abide’.
Where do we stay – in the vine, in Jesus, in the relationship that He has been
talking about in chapter 14. This is the foundation – staying in relationship
with Christ. And this abiding is defined, it is not a mystical spiritual state
No, it is abiding in Jesus’ word (v.7), it is living in the Bible, and
especially in the Gospels.
It is this, and this alone, that will bear ‘much fruit’. It
will happen as naturally as grapes come onto the branches of the vine. This is
all we have to do. And if we do not stay in relationship with Christ, then life
will drain away, just like a branch that has broken away from the vine. It will
become dry, and the gardener will come and throw it in the fire. (15:6)
Always in this Gospel there is a clear choice. Either stay in
Christ and we will go to the Father’s house; or we choose not to stay in Christ,
and we will be burnt.
What then is the fruit? Four things
1. First it is a vibrant prayer life. Fruit means prayers
that are answered. OK, we might not see all our prayers answered, but all of us
as Christians should be able to point to some very specific answers to prayer.
2. Then there is keeping Christ’s commandment to love. That
idea runs from v. 9 – 13. Loving one another as Christ loved us – washing each
other’s feet, even dying for one another, that is the ‘much fruit’.
3. There is intimacy with God, being called friends. Another
way of saying this is that a Christian receives revelation from God. How that
happens is another subject, but it is very definitely a part of the ‘much
fruit’. (14-15)
4. There is a bitter-sweet fruit. This is the hatred of the
world, and the ongoing witness of believers. This runs from v. 18 – 27. The
fruit of our abiding is that we are different from those in the world who get
their satisfaction from power and pleasure and money. People of the world hate
this, and the focus of their hate is the name of Jesus, the name that stands
for foot-washing, humility, self-sacrifice, forgiveness. And it is in that name
that miracles happen (v. 24), whereby people can acknowledge that God is at
work in Christ. Despite all the miracles, the Jews refused to acknowledge Jesus
was from God, instead they hated him – without a cause, as Jesus says here.
This happens. It happened then, it has happened throughout
church history, and it is happening now.
The hatred of the world is bitter; but the witness that
believers give in these situations, that is sweet. And it is made all the sweeter
because here Jesus promises his followers that they will have the help of the
Holy Spirit. The world will throw its lies at Christians, they will reply with
the Spirit of truth (26). Note here too that Jesus specifically mentions the
witness of those who have been with him from the beginning (27). He wants us –
the generations that have followed – to trust what they have said.
How do we bear fruit? We stay in Jesus
What is the fruit? Prayer that works, loving like Jesus,
friendship with God, and being persecuted.
Jesus mainly comforts his disciples in chapter fourteen; here
in chapter fifteen he has encouraged them to bear much fruit.
Chapter 16 revisits a lot of what Jesus has been
saying. There is both comfort and encouragement here.
As a part of not wanting the disciples to fall away, he warns
them (16:2 – 4) about how the Jews are going to treat them. It’s going to be
rough. He wants them to be ready.
Jesus sees that the disciples are still looking sad (16:6),
and so now from v 7 – 15 Jesus seeks to encourage them with one fantastic
truth. Yes, I am going away, I am not going to be with you – but the Holy
Spirit can only come, once I have gone.
In this Gospel the writer is insistent that the Holy Spirit
comes to us because of Jesus’ death. Remember 7:39 when the writer says that
the Spirit had not been given, ‘because Jesus was not yet glorified’ The cross
had not happened.
Then in John 19: 34, after the soldier put the spear into
Jesus’ side, the writer says he saw blood – and water. He emphasizes this. The
death has happened, the water flows, the river begins.
Jesus is emphasizing this truth again for his discouraged
disciples. Yes, I am going, this has to happen for the Holy Spirit to come. So,
Jesus says, this is to their advantage (16:7). Why? Because the Holy Spirit
will be with them – and is now with us – all the time. 24/7. This is surely a
great encouragement.
The Holy Spirit comes – and the Holy Spirit has work to do,
for the world, and for the disciples. The work for the world is in 16: 8 – 11.
The Holy Spirit will expose three things: That people are sinners; that Jesus
is righteous); and that the devil has been judged.
For Jesus the meaning of sin is not believing in Him. Sin is
when we reject that which we know deep in our hearts is loving and true. That
is to reject Christ. The Holy Spirit shows us this. He shows us that our heart
attitude is all wrong. That is the first step to repentance and salvation.
Sometimes people become Christians without this experience.
The Holy Spirit also shows that Jesus is righteous In this
Gospel we have seen that many saw Jesus as a liar, He is not who He says He is.
It is the Holy Spirit who changes people’s minds about Jesus. It is the Holy
Spirit who shows us the significance of the resurrection and Christ’s ascension
to the Father – that this means that Jesus is the righteous man.
And it is the Holy Spirit who shows us the victory of the
cross. To the normal way of thinking Jesus’ death on a cross was the world
judging Him. It was a victory for the ruler of this world. However the Holy
Spirit comes and completely changes our view of the cross. He helps us
understand that Christ’s cross was no victory for the ruler of this world. It
was where he was completely defeated and judged.
All of this is wonderful encouragement for the disciples.
They do not have to serve the world by themselves. Not at all. We all witness
to the world with this ongoing ministry of the Holy Spirit.
As said, the Holy Spirit also has work to do among the
disciples, this is from 16:12 – 15. Till now Jesus has been teaching them. What
will happen now that Jesus is going?
Here is the answer. The Holy Spirit will teach them, under Jesus’
authority, and lead them into all truth. As one looks forward into the early
history of the church, what an encouragement this is. Think of the controversy
over circumcision (khatna) in Acts. Jesus was not there to give a decision; but
the Holy Spirit was, and so we have the wise decision of the Jerusalem Council
(Acts 15)
After this encouragement about the Holy Spirit, Jesus again
brings comfort He wants to help them get through the very difficult time
between his death and his resurrection.
Jesus calls it the ‘little while’. In Greek the word is
mikron. It comes six times in three verses, 16 – 19. A little while you will
see me no longer, a little while you will see me again. The disciples don’t
understand, so we hear the word mikron four more times.
Why such a emphasis? Because just like in John 11 Jesus
wanted to emphasize that Lazarus was sleeping; here he wants to underline that
even though this is a terrible time, it is only a little while, just two days.
Suffering happens, but it does not last. Typically though Jesus does not say
it’s those two days between arrest and the resurrection. Instead he chooses to
describe the ‘little while’ with the picture of a woman in labour (16:21). It
is a perfect picture. Just like when a woman goes into labour, there will be
terrible pain as they see Jesus mocked and crucified. And this pain will seem
to go on for ever. But then the baby is born. Christ bursts out of the tomb.
There is great joy, and all the pain is forgotten.
The source of the joy is the resurrection, ‘I will see you
again, and your hearts will rejoice and no one will take your joy from you.’
(16:22) Verse 23 says, ‘In that day’. In the day of resurrection, in the day
that we know we still living with the joy of the resurrection. How? Again
because of our prayer life. We will ask the Father for things in Jesus’ name,
and we will receive them. And every answer to prayer will point to the risen
Christ and the truth of his words here.
In the next verses Jesus emphasizes how sweet this fellowship
is going to be. There is going to be much more revelation. They are going to
hear much more from Christ. He will no longer talk in riddles, but plainly.
This word in Greek is parresia which means plenty. Jesus’ point is that there
is a lot more teaching to come, which they will understand.
We are now nearing the end of the Farewell Discourse. We see
(16:29) that the disciples are in much better shape. Rather than looking glum
and confused, they are talking about their faith in Jesus. There is though some
irony here. That is typical in this Gospel. The disciples say they believe and
Jesus questions that, because he knows that their faith will not be strong
enough to stay near him during the arrest. All will leave him. But Jesus is not
despondent. Yes, his disciples will leave him – but the Father is with him
(32).
The last verse is a conclusion. It is magnificent. It reminds
us again what the point of this long teaching section has been for: to give
comfort and encouragement. Again Jesus reassure these disciples who are just
about to enter a terrible storm. In me you have peace. Stay in me. Stay
connected to me. Don’t lose your peace.
Surely his message is the same today. Jesus’ last words to
his disciples in this sermon sum up all that he has wanted to do. He wants them
to have strong hearts. True then, true now. Jesus wants us to read these
chapters, and then get up to whatever next life has in store for us – with
strong hearts. This is not sentimental strength. It is based on fact. The one
who washed their feet, the one who goes to the cross, this is the One who is
victorious.
Whatever you are facing, even if it is death, you have fellowship
with the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He is living in your heart
right now. And He says – be strong in your hearts.
Not least because Jesus has prayed for us, that's in the next chapter. See here -
https://sternfieldthoughts.blogspot.com/2025/05/the-gospel-of-john-jesus-prayer-17-1-26.html
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