Jesus was always very open and direct about the cost of discipleship with those who wished to follow Him:

23 Then he said to them all, “If anyone wants to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 25 For what does it benefit a person if he gains the whole world but loses or forfeits himself? 26 For whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man be will ashamed of this one when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels (Luke 9:23-26, see also verses 57-62).

We know from the parable of the four soils (see Mark 4:1-20) that those who were surprised by their sufferings did stumble over them (4:17). Jesus does not want His disciples to be taken by surprise, and so He tells them about the difficulties which lie ahead for them as His disciples. These men will be rejected by their fellow-Jews, put out of the synagogue, and even put to death. And the irony of all this is that when their opponents do such things, they will actually suppose that they are serving God by their opposition to Christ and His disciples.[1]

Who better illustrates this than Saul, before his conversion?

“I persecuted this Way even to the point of death, tying up both men and women and putting them in prison” (Acts 22:4).

9 “Of course, I myself was convinced that it was necessary to do many things hostile to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. 10 And that is what I did in Jerusalem: not only did I lock up many of the saints in prisons by the authority I received from the chief priests, but I also cast my vote against them when they were sentenced to death. 11 I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to force them to blaspheme. Because I was so furiously enraged at them, I went to persecute them even in foreign cities” (Acts 26:9-11; see also 1 Timothy 1:12-16).

Up to this moment in time, the disciples had not experienced anything like this kind of persecution in the time they had spent with Jesus. Jesus’ warnings here about future persecution are prophetic. His purpose in telling them these things now is so that when this persecution comes to pass, they will not be shocked, as though it were unexpected, but rather they will be able to remember that He had told them these things would happen to them. Thus, their faith will not be shaken (they won’t be “caused to stumble”), but will be strengthened.

   Before looking at the message of this chapter, we need to remember where it appears in this Gospel.

   Following twelve chapters of largely public ministry, chapters 13 through 17 are filled with intimate exchanges between Jesus and His twelve disciples. He was deeply concerned about them as His death approached.

   As a result, the teachings in these four chapters were largely devoted to preparing the disciples for His departure from them. By the beginning of our text, chapter 16, Jesus had washed their feet, Judas had left to betray Jesus, Jesus had told them He was “going away,” and He had warned them about the persecution that would come.

——————————————————

   Saying good-bye is never easy, whether it’s at an airport, a family reunion, or the deathbed of a loved one. The single, most important message Jesus wanted to communicate was that His presence would be replaced with that of the Holy Spirit.

   At that last supper Jesus ate with His disciples, He had many things to say. But mainly He wanted them to know two secrets — one about Himself and the other about themselves:

– The secret of His victorious life.

   Time and time again throughout the Upper Room discourse Jesus referred to the vital union He had with the Father. He wanted to impress upon the disciples that the Father was in Him and that He was in the Father.

– The secret of their victorious life.

Jesus’ relationship with the Father was to serve as an example to the disciples of their new relationship with the Spirit. Just as Jesus had a vital union with the Father, so the disciples were to have a vital union with the Holy Spirit.

   Having made clear that the hatred of the world was inevitable to the disciples if they followed Him, Jesus proceeded to make more vivid what that hatred would mean.

   Expulsion from the synagogue, as in the case of the blind man (9:22, 34), and even death would be their lot. Such treatment they were not to regard as abnormal! Saul of Tarsus’ murderous mission to Damascus is an example of this (Acts 9:1ff). Shocking as it was, it was justified by the Jews on the ground that the Christians were blasphemers and. therefore, worthy of death (Acts 6:13; 7:57).

   “”All this I have told you so that you will not go astray. {2} They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God. {3} They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me.”

   Chapter 15 closed with several positive reasons why persecution will occur, and the proper response by God’s children. We should rely on the Holy Spirit and also stand firm and boldly testify of our faith in Christ.

   Negatively, we should not stumble (16:1) and we shouldn’t forget (vs. 4). The Greek word for “stumble” is “skandalizo,” from which we get our word scandal. When you stumble, your walk is interrupted, and that is what the Lord is trying to prevent.

   And we are certainly guilty on occasion of remembering what we ought to forget and forgetting what we ought to remember!

   There is no reason for the Christian to stumble when the world stokes up the furnace of persecution. He should expect persecution, if only because his Lord told him it was coming.

   Furthermore, they must not stumble when this persecution comes from religious people who actually think they are serving God.

   For three years, Jesus had been with them to protect them from attack; but now He was about to leave them. He told them this earlier in the evening (13:33), and Peter had asked Him where He was going (13:36). However, Peter’s question revealed more concern about himself than about the Lord!

   “I have told you this, so that when the time comes you will remember that I warned you. I did not tell you this at first because I was with you. {5} “Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ {6} Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. {7} But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.”

   The phrase “your good” or “advantage” means “profitable” in the original Greek language. It’s hard to imagine that Jesus’ absence could be profitable or advantageous for the disciples, but it’s true.

   The major reason, of course, is that the Holy Spirit might come to empower the church for life and witness.  As long as Jesus was on the earth, He was limited to being in one place at a time by His physical body. Also, the ascended Savior would be able to intercede for His people at the heavenly throne of grace.

   The Spirit would guide the apostles into all truth and the kingdom would not be established until the Lord returned to heaven and took His seat on David’s throne at the right hand of God (Acts 2:29-36).

   The Holy Spirit works through the people in whom He lives.  When the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost, He empowered Peter to preach; and the preaching of the Word brought conviction to those who heard.

   “When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt[1] in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: {9} in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; {10} in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; {11} and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.”

Earlier in His ministry, Jesus had warned the disciples generally about coming persecution, but there was no need then to be as specific as He is now. He was with them, then. He will not be with them physically when they undergo the persecution of which He now speaks. He will be with them “in spirit,” or, better yet, “in the Spirit.” The disciples appear to be in a state of emotional shock. They are overwhelmed with sadness. There seems to be nothing to say. Think of it. Jesus is going to leave them,[2] and when He does, they are not only going to be forsaken by their own people, they are going to hunted down by them as though they were criminals.

Jesus notes the fact that His disciples are not now asking Him where He is going. Earlier, Peter did ask (13:36), and Thomas came close to asking (14:5). It is not that they hadn’t asked; it is that they have stopped asking. It is as though the more they have asked, and the clearer Jesus’ meaning has become (He really was leaving them behind, and they could not accompany Him), the more the disciples have become distressed. And so they simply (as we would say) “clammed up.”

This is similar, I think, to the questions which Nicodemus was asking Jesus in John chapter 3. His questions and comments got shorter and shorter, and finally they just ceased. The more Jesus told him, the worse it seemed to get, and so Nicodemus, like the disciples, chose to keep quiet. Jesus seems to be calling their quietness to their attention, perhaps gently rebuking them by doing so. They were so caught up in their own sorrow and their own sense of loss that they did not wish to consider anything else, anything beyond themselves.

D. A. Carson challenges us to consider the lessons we should learn from our Lord’s gentle rebuke of His disciples for their silence:[3] they are too preoccupied with themselves, and with their own problems, and not focused upon their Lord. Is this not true of us as well? Are we so absorbed in our own lives, that we not only fail to “fix our eyes on Jesus,” but we also fail to see the needs of those about us?

Things are not nearly as bad as they seem to the disciples. Jesus assures them that what He is telling them is the truth. That is, He is assuring them that they will see His words of comfort come to pass in the future. Our Lord’s “going away” is not only necessary, it is to their advantage. It is not that Jesus is abandoning them when He goes away, and that He is sending the Holy Spirit as a kind of consolation gift. He must go away, or the Holy Spirit cannot come. And when the Spirit does come, the disciples will see that they could never have had it better.

Here, Jesus speaks specifically of the Holy Spirit as their Advocate,[4] as they seek to proclaim the gospel to a world that hates them, a world that has crucified Jesus and would also like to kill them. I am reminded of one of my favorite scenes from the movie, “The Bear.” The “bear” is an awesome Grizzly, and he somewhat unwillingly adopts a young cub whose mother has been killed. In one of the final scenes, the baby Grizzly is being pursued by a mountain lion. Finally, the lion has the cub trapped. In desperation, the cub stands erect and sounds the most fierce “roar” he can produce. The mountain lion suddenly cowers and retreats. One wonders how this cub could produce such fear, from such a pathetic “roar.” Then the camera angle widens, so that we are now able to see Pappa Griz, standing some distance behind the cub, towering high above it and the mountain lion. Now we know why the mountain lion decided he had an appointment somewhere else, one which was so pressing he would have to skip lunch. I would contend that when we proclaim the gospel to a hostile world, we are no more awesome than that cub, but we have an Advocate—the Holy Spirit—who seconds what we say, and He is not so easily ignored.

Our Advocate has an agenda. There are certain things to which He will testify as being true, and these are spelled out in verses 8-11. He proves the world wrong with regard to sin, to righteousness, and to judgment. Let us take a closer look at each of these three elements of the Spirit’s convicting[5] work.

First, the Holy Spirit will prove the world wrong concerning sin. The most compelling evidence of a person’s sin is their rejection of Jesus as the Messiah. Jesus is the ultimate and final revelation of God to men (John 1:1-18; Hebrews 1:1-4). Thus, to reject Jesus as the promised Messiah is the ultimate sin. Those who have heard the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ, who have witnessed its truth and power, and in spite of this testimony, reject Jesus as God’s only provision for their salvation, have shown themselves to be guilty of sin:

1 Therefore we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. 2 For if the message spoken through angels proved to be so firm that every violation or disobedience received its just penalty, 3 how will we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was first communicated through the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard him, 4 while God confirmed their witness with signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will (Hebrews 2:1-4).

It is on the basis of this rejection of Jesus that the Spirit proves men guilty of sin.[6]

This is consistent with the argument of Romans, chapters 1-3. All men have been given a certain knowledge about God and have turned from that knowledge, worshipping something other than the Creator. The Jews have received a higher revelation of God in the Law, and they stand condemned by it. And now that Jesus has come to the earth, fully revealing God, they have rejected Him. This is John’s indictment in the first part of John chapter 1. Jesus is God (1:1, 4), made known (verse 18) to men. Yet in spite of this revelation of God to His own people, they did not receive Him as God (1:5, 10-11). To reject Him who is the ultimate revelation of God is to be guilty of the ultimate sin.

Second, the Holy Spirit will prove the world wrong concerning righteousness, because Jesus is going to the Father and will be seen no longer. The Holy Spirit will prove the world wrong with regard to righteousness. The Jews felt they could justify the crucifixion of Jesus because they had condemned Jesus as a sinner, while at the same time deeming themselves to be righteous. To be convinced that Jesus was, indeed, righteous would be to prove the Jews wrong, and Jesus right. It is only when we see ourselves as sinners, deserving of God’s eternal wrath, and Jesus Christ as the righteous One, that we see our need to trust in Him for salvation.

The final proof of our Lord’s righteousness is His resurrection from the dead:

18 So then the Jewish leaders responded, “What sign can you show us, since you are doing these things?” 19 Jesus replied, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up again.” 20 Then the Jewish leaders said to him, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and are you going to raise it up in three days?” 21 But Jesus was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 So after he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the scripture and the saying that Jesus had spoken (John 2:18-22).

22 “Israelite men, listen to these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man clearly demonstrated to you to be from God by powerful deeds, wonders, and miraculous signs that God performed through him among you, just as you yourselves know— 23 this man, who was handed over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you executed by nailing him to a cross at the hands of Gentiles. 24 But God raised him up, having released him from the pains of death, because it was not possible for him to be held in its power”(Acts 2:22-24).

13 The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our forefathers, has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate when he had decided to release him. 14 But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a man who was a murderer be given to you. 15 You killed the Originator of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this fact we are witnesses. 16 And on the basis of faith in Jesus’ name, his very name has made this man strong whom you see and know. The faith that is through Jesus has given him this complete health in the presence of you all. 17 And now, brothers, I know you acted in ignorance, as your rulers did too. 18 But the things God foretold long ago through all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he has fulfilled in this way” (Acts 3:13-18, emphasis mine).

39 We are witnesses of all the things he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross, 40 but God raised him up on the third day and caused him to be seen, 41 not by all the people, but by us, the witnesses God had already chosen, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to warn them that he is the one appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead. 43 About him all the prophets testify, that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name (Acts 10:39-43; see also 4:1-2, 33; 13:27-34).

1 From Paul, a slave of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God 2 that he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, 3 concerning his Son who was a descendant of David with respect to the flesh, 4 who was appointed the Son-of-God-in-power according to the Holy Spirit by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 1:1-4, emphasis mine).

The point of these texts is that the resurrection of our Lord was witnessed by the apostles, and this was to be proclaimed as proof that Jesus is precisely who He claimed to be—the Son of God. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead was the Father’s sign of approval. It was the last and final sign, of which Jesus spoke (see Matthew 12:38-40). The enemies of our Lord remembered His prediction of His resurrection after His death, and took measures to insure that no one stole His body to give substance to His claims (see Matthew 27:62-66). The disciples were witnesses of His resurrection.[7] They testified to the fact that He was raised from the dead. They saw Jesus no more, because they saw Him after He had risen from the dead, and they watched as He ascended into heaven. The Holy Spirit uses the absence of Jesus (at a minimum, the absence of His body in the tomb) to underscore the witness of the apostles, that Jesus is the righteous One, the One who alone can save men from their sins.

Third, the Holy Spirit will prove the world wrong concerning judgment. The “judgment” of which the Holy Spirit will “prove the world to be worthy” is the future judgment of those who have refused to believe in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins. It is the judgment of which Jesus has spoken earlier in John:

21 “For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomever he wishes. 22 Furthermore, the Father does not judge anyone, but has assigned all judgment to the Son, 23 so that all people may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. 24 I tell you the solemn truth, the one who hears my message and believes the one who sent me has eternal life, and will not be condemned, but has crossed over from death to life. 25 I tell you the solemn truth, a time is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and the ones who hear will live. 26 For just as the Father has life in himself, thus he has granted the Son to have life in himself; 27 and he granted the Son authority to execute judgment because he is the Son of Man. 28 Do not be amazed at this, because a time is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice 29 and will come out—the ones who have done what is good to the resurrection resulting in life, and the ones who have done what is evil to the resurrection resulting in condemnation. 30 I can do nothing on my own initiative. Just as I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just because I do not seek my own will, but the will of the one who sent me” (John 5:21-30; see also 8:16, 26; 9:39).

It is the judgment of which the apostles spoke:

24 Some days later, when Felix arrived with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus. 25 While Paul was discussing righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment, Felix became frightened and said, “Go away for now, and when I have an opportunity, I will send for you” (Acts 24:24-25).

The basis on which the Holy Spirit proves the world wrong, and thus worthy of that judgment which is yet to come, is the fact that Satan has already been judged. Jesus spoke of this judgment of Satan and linked it to the judgment of the world: “Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out” (John 12:31).

Satan is the source of man’s sin and rebellion against God. He is the driving force behind all sin. When Jesus died on the cross of Calvary, He defeated Satan. If Satan has been condemned at the cross, then surely every other sinner’s judgment is certain as well. It is the reality of Satan’s defeat, and its consequences, which the Holy Spirit drives home to the world as proof that all sinners will be judged.

   Three specific functions of the Spirit convict the world through the Christian:

– Concerning sin.

The Spirit uses the faithful, loving Christian as a visual aid to convict the unbeliever (see 1 Cor. 7:12-14). If Jesus is the Son of God, as this Gospel declares Him to be, then rejection of Him is the greatest and most fatal sin of all. It is the deliberate refusal of God’s will.

   In order to define sin there must be a standard. There can be no transgression where there is no law, no darkness when there is no light, who sin where there is no holiness.

– Concerning righteousness.

The Christian should have a standard, or lifestyle, foreign to the unsaved person.  Since the world can no longer see the righteousness of Jesus, they can only see it reflected off us.

– Concerning judgment.

Whenever sin and righteousness meet there must be judgment.  When unsaved people see the Christian’s free and unfettered life, the Holy Spirit shows them that their ruler has no power over the saint.

   The key word in these verses is “convict,” which is a legal word that means to “bring to light, to expose, to refute, to convict and convince.” The world may think that it is judging Christians, but it is the Christians who are passing judgment on the world as they witness to Christ!

   The Holy Spirit convicts the world of one particular sin: the sin of unbelief. After all, it is unbelief that condemns the lost sinner (John 3:18-21).

   The Spirit also convicts the sinner of righteousness, not unrighteousness. Whose righteousness? The righteousness of Jesus Christ, the perfect Lamb of God.

Surely this text informs us that we should not expect the world to embrace Christians with open arms. The cross of Calvary assures us that the world does hate Him. Our Lord’s words should prepare us for opposition from the world as well. If the world hates us, then we surely should not love the world in the sense that we seek its approval, embrace its values, or attempt to find our identity with it:

Adulterers, do you not know that friendship with the world means hostility towards God? So whoever decides to be the world’s friend makes himself God’s enemy (James 4:4).

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him; 16 because all that is in the world (the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the arrogance produced by material possessions) is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away with all its desires, but the person who does the will of God remains forever (1 John 2:15-17).

Therefore do not be surprised, brothers and sisters, if the world hates you (1 John 3:13).

4 You are from God, little children, and have conquered them, because the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world’s perspective and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God; the person who knows God listens to us, but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit (1 John 4:4-6).

The Christian and the world are in an adversarial relationship. How, then, do we explain biblical texts like this one?

When a man’s ways please the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him (Proverbs 16:70, NKJV)

I believe we must view such texts in the light of other biblical texts, such as this exhortation from Paul in the Book of Romans:

16 Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty but associate with the lowly. Do not be conceited. 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil; consider what is good before all people. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all people. 19 Do not avenge yourselves, dear friends, but give place to God’s wrath, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 Rather, if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in doing this you will be heap burning coals on his head. 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good (Romans 12:16-21).

We are to endeavor to live in peace with others, including unbelievers, even those unbelievers who actively oppose and persecute us (see Acts 7:60). We are to live in peace with all men, as much as possible, to the degree that we are able (Romans 12:18). We have heard it said, “It takes two to tangle.” While this statement may not be totally accurate, it is certainly true that two hot-headed people will have more strife than a hothead who seeks to pick a fight with a Christian, who purposes to live in peace.

I saw this demonstrated this past week as my wife and I were driving on North Central Expressway. There was a fellow trying to merge into traffic from the access ramp. Since there was a lot of traffic, this was not an easy task. The fellow seeking to enter the freeway encountered another fellow who was already on the freeway, and who was not inclined to reduce his speed to let him into “his” lane. The man entering the traffic, turned on his turn signals, and then just started easing over into the lane he desired. The fellow who was already in that lane did not like the way this driver was forcing his way into traffic, and so he refused to slow down. It was apparent that both men were determined not to give in, and the result was a collision, one which could have been much worse. Had one of these drivers been a Christian, who purposed to live peaceably, there would have been no accident. And so it is true that Christians who live according to God’s Word may have less conflict than others. Having said this, those who abide in Christ, and who manifest Christ in their lives, should expect to be treated as Christ was by the world.

It is sad to say that all too often there is more animosity and hostility among Christians than there is between Christians and the unbelieving world. We should recall that Jesus commanded Christians to “love one another,” while He told us to expect the world to hate and to oppose us.

It seems as though Christians in America fail to grasp the fact that opposition and hostility from the world is the norm. We seem to have a sense of entitlement, a misguided expectation that our lives should be filled with blessings, yet be free from trials and tribulations. Listen to these words from the pen of D. A. Carson:

But are there no painful aspects to being a Christian? Is all happiness and light, though Christ himself was a man of sorrows who walked through the valley of the shadow of death? Do we participate only in his joy, but not in his tears? Does he alone bear the cross? Even to ask such questions is to show that much modern evangelicalism borders on the frivolous. We are so often taught to think that the Christian way brings blessings without buffetings, triumphs without trials, witness without weariness. We are encouraged to believe that Christians exude overcoming joy, and rarely face discouraging defeat; that they live in a realm of constant excitement, and never wrestle with boredom; that they love and are loved, and need not confront persecution, ostracism, hate, rejection; that they are self-confident and ebullient, and never taste terror, loneliness, doubt; that they are fulfilled and satisfied, but not as a result of self-denial and daily death. It is not so much that the promises are false, that they have no substance, as that they distort truth by promising a crown without a cross. We too easily want the fruitfulness of a well-kept vine-branch, but think little about the disciplined pruning performed by the divine ‘gardener.’[8]

From what our Lord has told us, we should recognize that evangelism is not just a difficult obligation; it is an impossible one! We have been commissioned to take the gospel to a world that is opposed to Jesus Christ, to His gospel, and to His disciples. How, then, can we ever expect to see anyone come to faith in Jesus Christ? We can expect them to come to faith in the same way we did—through the faithful proclamation of God’s Word, and through the supernatural ministry of the Holy Spirit, who illuminates the Word of God, and who effectually calls men to faith in Jesus Christ. Specifically, from our text, the Holy Spirit is the One who convinces men of their sin, of Christ’s righteousness, and of the judgment which is coming upon all who do not receive the gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ.

This text has much to say to each of us who believes in Jesus Christ, and who are commanded to proclaim the gospel to an unbelieving and hostile world. First, we are assured that God is working in and through us to win lost sinners to Himself. While we are to proclaim the gospel, it is the Holy Spirit who works from the inside out, to convince sinners of the truth of the gospel. Surely, since the Holy Spirit’s ministry pertains to the issues of sin, righteousness, and judgment, we know what our subject matter should be—these same topics. This certainly is the case with the apostles. Notice how Peter includes all three elements in his epistle:

4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but threw them into hell and locked them up in chains in utter darkness, to be kept until the judgment, 5 and if he did not spare the ancient world, but did protect Noah, a herald of righteousness, along with seven others, when God brought a flood on an ungodly world, 6 and if he turned to ashes the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah when he condemned them to destruction, having appointed them to serve as an example to future generations of the ungodly, 7 and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man in anguish over the debauched lifestyle of lawless men, 8 (for while he lived among them day after day, that righteous man was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard) 9 —if so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from their trials, and to reserve the unrighteous for punishment at the day of judgment, 10 especially those who indulge their fleshly desires and who despise authority (2 Peter 2:4-10).

Our text in John’s Gospel, which speaks both of the world’s hostility and the Spirit’s help, reminds me of the story of Elijah, when he confronted the false prophets of Israel. He alone withstood the 850 prophets on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18). After these prophets failed to call fire down from heaven, Elijah instructed that barrels of water be poured out on his altar, wood, and sacrifice. That way, if Elijah could call down fire to consume the offering, there would be no doubt that it was God who had done this great miracle. The hatred and opposition of the unbelieving world is like those barrels of water, which Elijah had poured on the altar. It only serves to show the power of God, manifested through the gospel, and empowered by His Spirit. If the world truly hates us because of Christ, then if men get saved, it will be apparent that this was God’s doing, and not the work of men.

This certainly means that we do not need to compromise or “water down” the gospel, thinking this will make it easier for unbelievers to embrace the gospel:

14 But thanks be to God who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and who makes known through us the fragrance that consists of the knowledge of him in every place. 15 For we are a sweet aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing— 16 to the latter an odor from death to death, but to the former a fragrance from life to life. And who is adequate for these things? 17 For we are not like so many others, hucksters who peddle the word of God for profit; but we are speaking in Christ before God as persons of sincerity, as persons sent from God (2 Corinthians 2:14-17).

1 Therefore, since we have this ministry, just as God has shown us mercy, we do not become discouraged. 2 But we have rejected shameful hidden deeds, not behaving with deceptiveness or distorting the word of God, but by open proclamation of the truth, we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience before God. 3 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing, 4 among whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of those who do not believe so they would not see the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For we do not proclaim ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said “Let light shine out of darkness,” is the one who shined in our hearts to give us the light of the glorious knowledge of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:1-6).

I find it most interesting that the ministry of the Holy Spirit, as described in our text, deals with those things which cannot be seen. We cannot really see sin, righteousness, or judgment, but the Spirit of God proves the world wrong in these matters. It should not surprise us that these crucial things are “unseen” because faith deals with unseen things:

1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see. 2 For by it the people of old received God’s commendation. 3 By faith we understand that the worlds were set in order at God’s command, so that the visible has its origin in the invisible (Hebrews 11:1-3).

Let me close by speaking a word to those who do not yet believe in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins and the gift of eternal life. If you do not believe that you are a sinner, that Jesus Christ and His righteousness are your only hope for eternal life, and that as a sinner you are under divine condemnation and will stand in judgment before God in the future, then I simply encourage you to try to forget everything you have read in this message. Try to forget what the Bible teaches you about your sin, about the righteousness of Jesus Christ, and about the coming judgment of God on all sinners. But if what our Lord has said in John chapter 16 is true, then the Holy Spirit will bear witness to these truths from within your heart. Don’t try to debate these things with me; try to ignore the inner testimony of God’s Spirit. And if you cannot, then confess your sin, and turn in faith to Jesus Christ for the righteousness which He alone can give. The truths of our text are a great source of comfort to the Christian, and the cause for much consternation and conviction for the unbeliever.

     In John’s Gospel, as the time of our Lord’s death draws near, He seeks to prepare them for the future. The Upper Room Discourse contains a significant portion of our Lord’s preparatory teaching. As we read the things which Jesus told His disciples, it all makes sense to us. Of course, He was speaking of His crucifixion, death, resurrection, and return to the Father in heaven. But what is clear to us in retrospect was not at all clear to the disciples in prospect. They were confused and greatly distraught by Jesus’ words. They did not understand what He was talking about, and what they thought they understood, they did not like.

What a change a few days will make! Once the disciples see Jesus, raised from the dead, their sorrow turns to joy. When the Holy Spirit comes, our Lord’s teaching will seem obvious, and when compared to the events which will have occurred by then, they will see that Jesus foretold and fulfilled all this precisely. We must recall that when John writes this Gospel, he writes in retrospect, looking back on the events he is describing with understanding. But within the timeframe that John is writing about, the disciples are in a complete fog. They do not understand what is happening, or what Jesus is saying. And what they think they do understand, they don’t. What they think and say they grasp, they do not like.

Lest we suppose we are dealing only with matters of history, let me remind you that in many ways, our circumstances today are very similar to those of the disciples so many years ago. They were concerned with our Lord’s departure, as He had spoken of it to them. We are concerned about our Lord’s return, as He has described it as well, in His Word. Much of what our Lord has said of His return is unclear to us, just as much of what He said to them of His departure was unclear. Even with the Holy Spirit’s presence, our understanding of spiritual things is partial and imperfect: “For now we see in a mirror indirectly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know in part, then I will know fully, just as I have been fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:12).

I would say this is particularly true of “things to come”: “Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. But we know that whenever it is revealed we will be like him, because we will see him just as he is” (1 John 3:2).

Just as Old Testament saints awaited the coming of the Messiah and the disciples looked forward to the departure of our Lord, so we wait for His final return and the consummation of all things. Our Lord’s words of instruction and comfort to His disciples apply to us on at least two levels. First, they speak of blessings which are future for the disciples, but which are present for us. Second, they instruct us how and why we should live in the present, in light of the certainty that His purposes and promises will be fulfilled. Therefore, let us heed the Lord’s words in our text, knowing that they are as important to us as they were to those men, so many years ago.

   The Spirit of God reveals the Savior in the Word and in this way glorifies Him:  “”I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. {13} But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. {14} He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.”

   Three aspects of the Holy Spirit are marked in the three main verbs:

– He…will convict (vs. 8)

– He…shall guide (vs. 13)

– He…shall glorify (vs. 14)

   The first two are qualified by the temporal clause, “when He is come,” which indicates that these relate to the work of the Spirit in times as it affects the world and the disciples.

   The third aspect indicates the relation of the Spirit to Christ, who is the source of the Spirit’s teaching.

   Discussion about the Holy Spirit today is often confusing and divisive. While this passage does not say everything that can be said about the Holy Spirit, it does describe the Spirit’s mission: to lead the followers of Jesus into all truth.

   For Christians today, all truth is to be evaluated in light of what the Spirit revealed to the apostles when He guided them “into all the truth.” We are also to remember that the purpose of the Spirit is not to draw attention to Himself, but to glorify the Son. Every teaching about the Spirit must be consistent with these two truths.

While all Bible students do not agree on this point, it would seem that the Lord and His eleven disciples are no longer in the Upper Room. It appears to me that they have left, immediately after the question and answer discussion of chapters 13 and 14: “Get up, let us go from here” (John 14:31b).

I take it that the disciples are now winding their way through the narrow streets of Jerusalem, making their way toward the Mount of Olives and the Garden of Gethsemane.[9] Judas has long since left the group and is at this very moment making arrangements to hand Jesus over to the authorities (Jewish and Roman). Jesus can now speak freely and frankly, preparing His disciples for what lies ahead. He has spoken to them about the ministry of the Holy Spirit to the world (verses 8-11); now He speaks of the Spirit’s ministry to His disciples (16:12ff.).

Jesus has much more to say to them, but this is not the time to do so. I would like to suggest that we often wish God would tell us all that He is doing, or is about to do, at the time we wish to know it. And yet how gracious God is to withhold from us those things we do not need to know, those things which would only cause us needless anguish if we did know them. Jesus withheld information from His disciples for their own good. It was another manifestation of His grace not to tell them all they wanted to know. God is gracious, both in what He reveals, and in what He conceals. I wonder if this is how we view the “unknowns” in our life. “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law” (Deuteronomy 29:29, NKJV).

We should also see from our text an example of the fact that God reveals truth to us progressively. Jesus had much to say to them, but not at that moment. Jesus will teach them after His resurrection and before His ascension (see Luke 24:13ff.), but most of the teaching will be done by the Holy Spirit, after our Lord’s departure. This is the subject of verses 13-16. While Jesus will be physically absent, the Holy Spirit will be present among and within them. The things which the Spirit teaches them are the things which Jesus will be teaching them. The reason Jesus can say this is that the truth which the Spirit is teaching is the truth which He hears from our Lord. The Spirit’s teaching comes from and glorifies the Lord Jesus (verses 3-4), just as our Lord’s teaching came from and glorified the Father (John 8:26, 40).

We should take note of the important fact that Jesus is speaking to His disciples here. He promises to reveal truth to them through the Spirit. He does not make a general statement, that new truth will be revealed to an indefinite number of people, over an indefinite period of time.[10] He informs them that He will reveal His truth to them. I believe that this promise of future revelation through the Holy Spirit is a promise that pertains to the New Testament apostles[11] and is not a promise which can be claimed by men today. By future revelation, I mean revelation which claims to be Scripture and which has authority as Scripture (i.e., the Bible). It seems clear to me that the apostles, through whom the New Testament Scriptures were given, were viewed as a distinct group, confined to New Testament times. Those who were to be regarded as true apostles were accredited by the “signs of a true apostle”:

1 Therefore we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. 2 For if the message spoken through angels proved to be so firm that every violation or disobedience received its just penalty, 3 how will we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was first communicated through the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard him, 4 while God confirmed their witness with signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will (Hebrews 2:1-4).

16 For we did not follow cleverly concocted fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; no, we were eyewitnesses of his grandeur. 17 For he received honor and glory from God the Father, when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory: “This is my dear Son, in whom I am delighted.” 18 When this voice was conveyed from heaven, we ourselves heard it, for we were with him on the holy mountain. 19 Moreover, we possess the prophetic word as an altogether reliable thing. You do well if you pay attention to this as you would to a light shining in a murky place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 Above all, you do well if you recognize this: no prophecy of scripture ever comes about by the prophet’s own imagination, 21 for no prophecy was ever borne of human impulse; rather, men carried along by the Holy Spirit spoke from God (2 Peter 1:16-21).

Indeed, the signs of an apostle were performed among you with great perseverance by signs and wonders and powerful deeds (2 Corinthians 12:12).

A further observation should be noted. Jesus promises to reveal all truth to the apostles. We know that this does not mean that He will reveal all knowledge. How could the omniscience (all-knowing) of God be revealed to men? John makes clear that his Gospel, as all the others, is but a sampling of the things Jesus said and did: “This is the disciple who testifies about these things and has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true. There are many other things that Jesus did. If every one of them were written down, I suppose the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written” (John 21:24-25).

Jesus must therefore mean that all the truth which is necessary for the church will be revealed through the apostles, and that there will be no lack to be made up later on. The words of Paul seem to support this conclusion as well:

18 When they arrived, he said to them, “You yourselves know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I set foot in Asia, 19 serving the Lord with all humility and with tears, and with the trials that happened to me because of the plots of the Jews. 20 You know that I did not hold back from proclaiming to you anything that would be helpful, and from teaching you publicly and from house to house, 21 testifying to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus. … 25 And now I know that none of you among whom I went around proclaiming the kingdom will see me again. 26 Therefore I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of you all. 27 For I did not hold back from announcing to you the whole purpose of God. 28 Watch out for yourselves and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God that he obtained with the blood of his own Son. 29 I know that after I am gone fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Even from among your own group men will arise, teaching perversions of the truth to draw the disciples away after them. 31 Therefore be alert, remembering that night and day for three years I did not stop warning each one of you with tears. 32 And now I entrust you to God and to the message of his grace. This message is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified” (Acts 20:18-21, 25-32).

In this text, Paul claims to have taught the Ephesians all the truth they needed to know. If they were taught all they needed to know, then there is no need for further revelation. Beyond this, Paul warns that false teachers will seek to convey “new truth,” which is nothing more than “man-made teaching” that appeals to fleshly desires and which will attract a following.

Peter’s words also imply a completeness concerning that which our Lord will reveal to and through His apostles:

3 I can pray this because his divine power has bestowed on us everything necessary for life and godliness through the rich knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and excellence. 4 Through these things he has bestowed on us his precious and most magnificent promises, so that by means of what was promised you may become partakers of the divine nature, after escaping the worldly corruption that is produced by evil desire (2 Peter 1:3-4).

Leon Morris therefore issues a sober warning:

Believers should be very careful here, for from time to time through the history of the Christian church, people have arisen who have said that they had new revelations and they have led people astray. It is important for us to keep a firm hold on the truth that the definitive revelation has been given in Scripture. Christian teaching is the teaching God gave through Christ and Christ’s apostles. Nothing can claim to be authentic Christian teaching that does not agree with this.[12]

Allow me to point out one more observation. The revelation which our Lord promises the apostles is not only from Christ, it is Christ-centered: “He will glorify me, because he will receive from me what is mine and will tell it to you. Everything that the Father has is mine; that is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what is mine and will tell it to you” (John 16:14-15).

The revelation which is promised is that truth which has come from the Father, to the Son, and through the Spirit. It is thus our Lord’s teaching. But it is not merely the teaching of (i.e. from) our Lord; it is the teaching concerning our Lord. False revelations are those which appeal to man’s fallen desires (2 Timothy 4:1-4; 2 Peter 2:18-22), which elevate men (Acts 20:30; 1 Corinthians 1:10ff.), and which draw men’s focus away from Christ (1 Corinthians 1:22-31; 2 Peter 2:1; 1 John 2:18-25). Any teaching which claims to be divine revelation and does not exalt Christ is false teaching. A preacher friend of mine used to say, “All false teaching is either the Bible plus, or the Bible minus.” False teaching either seeks to add to or to take away from Scripture. I think one can also say, “All false teaching is either Christ plus, or Christ minus.” Paul would say, “True teaching is Christ only.”[13]

* LET THERE BE JOY (16:16-33)

   This final section of the chapter concludes the Upper Room discourse and deals primarily with the emotions of the disciples. They were sorrowing, they were confused about some of Jesus’ teaching, and they were afraid.

   Jesus made many statements that we easily understand today, but which thoroughly confused His disciples at the time He made them. Such is the case in 16:16-22. Jesus told them that in the coming days they would not see Him, but that “after a while” they would see Him again (16:16, 17). The death, burial, and resurrection of Christ are subjects Christians constantly talk about and the events they remember and celebrate each Sunday as they observe the Lord’s Supper. However, this was an unthinkable idea before the cross. To the disciples it seemed that Jesus was speaking in impossible riddles.

   Jesus continued to prepare the disciples for His departure; because no matter how confused the disciples were on that night, Jesus knew they would be even more confused the next day when He was crucified. Therefore, He pressed on with His message concerning what was about to take place. He told them that they would weep while the world would rejoice; yet He said that in a short time, the world would weep while the disciples rejoiced (16:20-22). We can see that this is what took place in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, but the disciples were unable at that time to grasp this important truth.

   One of the recurring themes in this section is joy.  The 11 were certainly not experiencing much joy that night! But what Jesus said to them eventually made a difference in their lives, just as it can make a difference in our lives today.

   Tenderly and patiently, our Lord explained how His people can have joy in their lives.

– There is a Principle to Grasp (16:16-22).

   In the upper room, Jesus has mentioned impending sorrow and inevitable persecution several times. Now He wants to clarify that this isn’t the end of their relationship.

   “”In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.” {17} Some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me,’ and’ Because I am going to the Father’?” {18} They kept asking, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t understand what he is saying.” {19} Jesus saw that they wanted to ask him about this, so he said to them, “Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me’? {20} I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.”

   The disciples would go through incredible pain and sorrow, but their grief would not last forever.

   To illustrate, Jesus draws a homespun analogy: 

   “A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world”

   No matter how intense, once that tiny, priceless life is laid in your arms, the pain is forgotten. The comparison is clear. “So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.”

    The principle is simply this:  God brings joy to our lives, not by substitution, but by transformation. His illustration of the woman giving birth makes this clear. The same baby that caused the pain also caused the joy!

   Jesus did not say that the mother’s sorrow (pain) was replaced by joy, but that the sorrow was transformed into joy. Verse 16 talks about the soon-to-occur events in connection with His death and resurrection.

   Instead of asking Jesus to explain His words, the men began to discuss it among themselves, almost as though they were embarrassed to admit their ignorance.

– There is a Promise to Believe (16:23-28)

   Jesus continued to comfort and prepare the disciples by telling them how their situation would actually be better once He ascended to the Father.

   Although they could not understand how that could possibly be true, Jesus assured them that when He returned to heaven, unspeakable spiritual power would be released into the world: His blood that was about to be shed for the sins of the world and the Holy Spirit who was about to come and take His place were two forces that would bless the world in unimaginable ways!

   Jesus had spoken to them in figurative language, because that is all they were prepared for at the time. However, they would soon understand “plainly” what He had meant (16:25). He assured them that when thy asked in His name, they would receive the answers to their prayers (16:26-28).

   Just as a violent storm turns the desert into a bed of wildflowers, so the sorrowful storm to pass over the disciples would bloom joy in abundance. But this flower has deeper roots, as unearthed in verses 23-24: “In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. {24} Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.”

  Having broached the subject of prayer, Jesus clarifies the issue of God’s accessibility: “”Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. {26} In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf.”

   There will come a time when the disciples will have direct access to the Father. And what will bring about this new relationship? Love! “No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. {28} I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.””

   The central theme of this section is prayer: “ask, and you will receive, and your joy may be full.” “That day” refers to the time after the coming of the Spirit.

   Jesus knew they wanted to ask Him some questions (vs. 19). He assured them that a day would soon come when they would not ask questions. Instead, they would pray to the Father and He would meet their needs.

   This was the promise they desperately needed to believe: that the Father loved them and would hear their requests and meet their needs. While Jesus was with them on earth, He met all their needs. Now He would return to the Father, but the Father would meet their needs.

   The purpose of Bible study is not simply to understand profound truth, but to get to know the Father better (vs. 25). If our reading and Bible study falls short of this, it does more harm than good.

   “Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. {30} Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.” {31} “You believe at last[1]!” Jesus answered. {32} “But a time is coming, and has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me. {33} “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.””

   The disciples’ response to Jesus’ words of comfort was to confess their faith in Him. Again, we recognize the importance of the word “believe” in the Gospel of John. Belief in Jesus as God’s Son is the goal of this Gospel (20:30, 31). We are reminded that John used “believe” in many ways. In some verses it means that a person accepted a claim as true. In others it means that someone accepted Jesus as the Son of God.

   Sometimes it means “going public” with one’s faith in Jesus, while at other times it means “standing firm” in one’s commitment to follow Jesus. In 16:30 the disciples were saying that they accepted the claims of Jesus to be true; they believed that He “came from God.”

   Jesus challenged their statement of faith, for He knew that they were not yet prepared to sacrifice for their convictions (16:32). He told them that they would all leave Him alone. At this point, we see Jesus looking outside the events in the Gospel of John and challenging us in our claims to believe in Him today.

   Do we really believe? We say we trust that He is the Son of God, but will we stand up for Him when doing so may mean suffering? The Gospel of John is not just the story of the disciples’ faith; it is the story of our faith as well!

    If Jesus’ teachings in chapter 16 come together in one central theme, it must be the message of verse 33.

   All the warnings, all the predictions, all the promises were for the purpose of giving the disciples peace at the most tumultuous moment of their lives!

   Jesus never promised His disciples that their lives would be free from trouble, but He did promise them the peace of God even in the middle of trouble: “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world” (16:33).

   “I” is emphasized here. In many ways the next twenty-four hours would cause the disciples to think that the world had won and that evil had triumphed. Jesus prepared them for this by confidently affirming that He had overcome the world. It is also significant that “have overcome” is, in Greek, in the perfect tense. Therefore, it carries the sense of “I have already overcome the world, and the result of My overcoming is alreay present!”

   While the cross would not literally take place until the next day, Jesus expressed His confident assurance to the disciples that all was going as planned, and that they would be blessed by the events that would shortly take place.

Jesus made a comment about the future, which His disciples found impossible to understand: “In a little while you will see me no longer; again after a little while, you will see me” (verse 16). No one seemed willing to address their questions to Jesus. Instead, they spoke among themselves. It would appear that this took place as the disciples wound their way through the narrow streets of Jerusalem, on their way to the Mount of Olives and the Garden of Gethsemane. How and why would they not see Jesus? To what period of time was Jesus referring by the expression, “a little while”? How and when would they see Jesus after a little while? What did He mean by saying He was “going to the Father”?[14]

Jesus overheard His disciples (although He would have known through His omniscience), and graciously began to explain His words to them, although they still didn’t understand. Jesus lets them know that He is answering the questions which they had just discussed among themselves. Soon, they will “weep and wail,” while the world will rejoice. The term “weep” is frequently employed for the mourning that occurs due to the death of someone (see Mark 5:39; Luke 7:13; 8:52; John 11:31, 33). Indeed it is used in Mark 16:10 for the disciples, who wept over the death of our Lord. Jesus is therefore telling His disciples that they will momentarily experience great sorrow over His death. At this same period of time, the unbelievers (the world) who have crucified Jesus will rejoice over His death. It will seem like their hour of triumph. At last, they are rid of Jesus, or so it appears. The disciples’ time of sorrow will be short, and then their sorrow will be turned to joy. How great the joy of the disciples was when they learned that Jesus had been raised from the dead (Luke 24:41, 52).[15]

It has been observed that Jesus does not tell His disciples that their sorrow will be replaced by joy, but rather that their sorrow will be turned into joy. There is a very significant difference. Many wish to have joy, but they want to have it without sorrow. If joy is sorrow which God has transformed into joy, then we must endure the sorrow to experience the joy. This truth is illustrated by our Lord’s words which follow in verse 21. What a blessing it is for a woman to be able to bear a child … and, what a pain! She must first endure the pains of childbirth before she can enjoy the pleasure of holding that child in her arms. The birth of a child comes only through the pain of childbirth. So it is with suffering and sorrow in the lives of our Lord’s disciples. There is a short time of pain, but that very pain is transformed into eternal joy. Paul describes it this way:

16 Therefore we do not despair, but even if our physical body is wearing away, our inner person is being renewed day by day. 17 For our momentary light suffering is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, 18 because we are not looking at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).

As it is for a woman in childbirth, so it will be for the disciples. They will experience great sorrow because of the death of Jesus, but they will see Him again, raised from the dead. This will turn their sorrow into everlasting joy, a joy that no one will ever be able take away from them.

In 16:5, Jesus seems to mildly rebuke His disciples for not asking Him any more questions about where He is going. They did not ask for all the wrong reasons. They didn’t want Jesus to know they didn’t understand. They didn’t want to admit their ignorance. They didn’t want to look bad. But when they see Him again, raised from the dead, then they will not ask Him anything (16:23), because they will not need to. At that time, whatever they ask[16] the Father in the name of the Son will be given to them. Jesus commands them to pray in His name, assured that they will receive what they have requested, and in so doing, their joy will be made complete.

Consider the inference of these words. Christian joy is not to be found in having everything you’ve ever wanted. Joy is not the lack of want,[17] but rather in having needs so great that only God can fill them, and then in seeing Him provide for us in response to our prayers. The Father will give us what we have requested, so that we may experience great joy. In other words—words which we have heard before—joy is the result of abiding in Christ.

Though the disciples will experience great sorrow for the next few days, their hearts will rejoice when they see Jesus once again. This joy cannot be taken from them. The disciples were concerned because Jesus was going away, where they could not follow. They thought they were losing Him, but in truth they were gaining Him. His promise is that He will never leave them nor forsake them (Hebrews 13:5). Through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, our Lord will continue to dwell among them, in a more intimate and permanent way. Since their joy is in Him and He will never leave them, no one will ever be able to rob them of their joy in Him.

The disciples have not yet begun to enjoy the benefits of this new relationship. They have not yet petitioned the Father for their needs in the name of Jesus Christ. They are now encouraged to do so. Jesus assures them that when they make their requests in His name, the Father will provide for them, and in this they will experience an even greater joy than they have known up to this point in time. It is not getting worse for the disciples, as they fear; it is getting better and better.

Is this promise of our Lord’s presence, of answered prayers, and of permanent joy not ours, as well as the disciples who first heard Jesus speak of it? Why is it, then, that we find so many joyless Christians? I would suggest it may be because we are looking for joy in all the wrong places. It is His joy that we are to pursue (see John 15:11). This is not the “joy” that the world seeks. The world seeks for a “joy” that is rooted in the absence of trials and suffering, that delights in the promotion of self-interest, and often in the downfall of one’s rivals. First and foremost, our joy is knowing for certain that Jesus is alive, risen from the dead (see Matthew 28:8; Luke 24:41, 52). Our joy is in the abasement of self, in the exaltation of Jesus Christ (see John 3:29), and in sacrificial service (Philippians 2:17). Our joy is in the Lord, in His salvation, and His working in the lives of others (Acts 15:3; Romans 15:13; 1 Thessalonians 2:19-20; 1 John 1:4; 3 John 4).

If we abide in Him, what pleases Him pleases us; what grieves Him grieves us; what gives Him great joy becomes our joy as well. When false teachers come, they seek to turn us from Christ, and to the degree that they are able to do this, they rob us of our hope, our joy, our love, and all that comes from Him. No wonder Paul is so emphatic about the sufficiency and centrality of Christ:

1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you, and for those in Laodicea, and for as many as have not met me face to face. 2 My goal is that their hearts, having been knit together in love, may be encouraged, and that they may have all the riches of full assurance in their understanding of the knowledge of the mystery of God, namely, Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I say this so that no one will deceive you through arguments that sound reasonable. 5 For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit, rejoicing to see the order and the firmness of your faith in Christ. 6 Therefore, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and firm in your faith just as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. 8 Be careful not to allow anyone to captivate you through an empty, deceitful philosophy that is according to human traditions and the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. 9 For in him all the fullness of deity lives in bodily form 10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head over every ruler and authority. 11 In him you also were circumcised—not, however, with a circumcision performed by human hands, but by the removal of the fleshy body, that is, through the circumcision done by Christ. 12 Having been united with him in baptism, you also have been raised with him through your faith in the power of God who raised him from the dead. 13 And even though you were dead in your transgressions and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he nonetheless made you alive with him, having forgiven all your transgressions. 14 He has destroyed what was against us, a certificate of indebtedness expressed in decrees opposed to us. He has taken it away by nailing it to the cross, 15 and disarming the rulers and authorities, he has made a public disgrace of them, triumphing over them by the cross (Colossians 2:1-15).

You can see that verses 25-33 are an interchange between Jesus and His disciples. In verses 25-28, Jesus makes His disciples a very encouraging promise. He knows that they are mystified about all that He has been saying to them about the future. He is speaking in vague terms so that they will not understand immediately, but also in order that they will understand in the future. They will soon look back and recall that the very things that had happened to them were the things Jesus foretold.

Jesus promises that a time is coming when His obscure speech will be replaced by very clear teaching. At that time, He will tell them plainly about the Father. At that time, they will ask in His name, and their petitions will be granted. He has already promised this, but here He indicates a substantial change. It is but another one of those “improvements” which the disciples are about to experience in the future, because of His going away. When they petition the Father in the name of the Son, they will not merely receive the answer to their prayers through the Son. They will receive the answers to their prayers directly from the Father. Jesus will have an intercessory ministry on our behalf, but His work on the cross will bring about a personal, intimate relationship between the Father and all who trust in His Son. No wonder the veil was torn asunder when Jesus died on the cross (Matthew 27:51). We now can come to God directly, because of the Son:

19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the fresh and living way that he inaugurated for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in the full assurance that faith brings, because we have had our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water. 23 And let us hold unwaveringly to the hope that we confess, for the one who made the promise is trustworthy. 24 And let us take thought of how to spur one another on to love and good works, 25 not abandoning our own meetings, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and even more so because you see the day drawing near (Hebrews 10:19-25).

The Father will personally attend to the prayers of Jesus’ disciples, because of His love for them, a love which is the same as His love for the Son (14:23; 17:26). He will do so because of the Son’s coming to this earth (to die for our sins) and because He has returned to the Father. These benefits are the fruit of our Lord’s coming and leaving. Once more, it is better for them that He should depart (John 16:7).

What incredible blessings Jesus promises His disciples! But they didn’t understand a thing He was saying, as John makes very clear by the words of verses 29 and 30. Paraphrased, the disciples seem to be saying:

“Why didn’t you say so sooner? Now we get it. Okay, it’s all clear to us now. You’re no longer speaking in riddles, but plainly. Now we see that You really do know everything, so that we don’t have to ask You any more questions, to help You clarify any points. And because we now see this clearly, we believe that You have truly come from God.”

Notice what they are saying here. They have not repeated any of the content of Jesus’ latest words. They have not told Him what they think He has just said, so that He can confirm the accuracy of their interpretations. They have only told Him that they understand, and because of this, they won’t need to question Him further. This is a very neat way of giving the impression you know something that you don’t and of explaining why you are not asking any questions.

No doubt they did believe that Jesus had come from God. I do doubt that they grasped what His return to the Father was all about, and I’m virtually certain they don’t have a clue as to what He has just told them. They are embarrassed at their ignorance, and they want to look good in His eyes. They want His approval, and at the same time, they want Him to think they understand everything He is saying so that He won’t be frustrated by their confusion. The simple fact is that no matter what they profess to grasp, they cannot and do not understand what Jesus has been telling them. He has, in fact, been telling them that they would not understand what He was saying to them, not now anyway.

Jesus patiently and lovingly deals with His disciples at this moment of ignorance and confusion. He did not expect them to understand. However, He does not allow their pretense to stand, unchallenged. He is the One who is all-knowing, and this includes His knowledge of what they claim to know, and yet do not. And so He says to them (loosely paraphrased):

“I know you really don’t understand, and the level of your present belief is far from impressive. Time will tell. There is a time coming, coming very soon, when you will all abandon Me and scatter, hiding out in your own homes. You will leave Me alone, but I won’t really be alone because the Father is with Me. The reason I have told you these things is not with the expectation that you would understand them immediately (as you have professed to do), but so that you may have great peace in the future, when you see how all these things of which I have spoken take, just as I said. You will then see that all things are under My control. You will see how this tribulation of mine was purposed to bring about great blessing for you. Thus, in the midst of your tribulations on My behalf, you will have courage, knowing that I have conquered the world.”

Jesus lets His disciples know that they have not put anything over on Him, that He knows full well that they still do not understand what He is saying, or what is about to take place. The belief they profess is not nearly as strong as they suppose. The events of the next few hours will prove this, for virtually every one of them will abandon Him. And when these traumatic days pass and the words of our Lord come to pass, then they will be greatly strengthened in their faith, and empowered to live courageously in a hostile world, knowing that Christ has won the victory over the world.

Conclusion

We need to exercise caution in the application of this passage because it applies directly to the eleven disciples, and indirectly to us. We are the benefactors of much that Jesus has foretold here, and which has subsequently come to pass. We will never face some of the things which the disciples did. We will never know the sense of loss and defeat that the disciples did when Jesus died on the cross of Calvary. Neither will we experience the relief and joy at seeing Jesus, raised from the dead (John 20:20). We will not be those through whom the gospel was defined and by whom the New Testament Scriptures were written. Nevertheless, while we are not apostles as these men were to become, we are His disciples, and thus this text applies to us as well.

We are able to read these words of our Lord in the light of their fulfillment. We can understand what completely confused the disciples. We will never know the bewilderment and apprehension that they did, simply because our Lord’s words were a puzzle to them at that moment in time. But we can identify with the disciples in this sense: there are things yet future for us, which are declared in Scripture, but which we do not fully understand. We live at a time when we do not yet “fully know” all that God has in store for us and for the future. We, too, “see through a glass darkly” (1 Corinthians 13:12), but then we will know (cf. 1 John 3:2).

Why did Jesus tell the disciples things that they could not understand at the moment? Why do the Scriptures contain many prophecies which we do not understand at the time? One reason is to remind us that we don’t fully understand. That is what it means to be a disciple. We are learners, who learn at His feet as we abide in Him. He knows. He is the Truth. And it is clear that He does not reveal everything we might wish to know at one time. He reveals what we need to know and conceals what we should not know (Deuteronomy 29:29). As these prophecies are fulfilled and we look back on our Lord’s words, we will see that He has done just as He said He would. This will be even further basis for praising Him.

While our Lord’s words will, in the future, be understood in all their particulars, they have a message for us now, in general. From what Jesus was telling the disciples, one should discern that He knows the future, indeed, that He controls the future. His life will not be taken from Him; He will lay it down, voluntarily, and He will take it up again (John 10:14-18). We know that what is yet to happen is not only for His glory, but for our good. We know that He will sustain us through our times of trial and tribulation, just as we know that He will bring us to glory. If we know that He is in control, and that His plans are for our good, why should we worry? We don’t need to know the details of what He has for us in the future. We need only to trust in Him who is in control of the past, the present, and the future.

We should be admonished by the puffed up claims of the disciples. The disciples claimed to fully understand Jesus, His ministry, and His message. They most certainly did not. We should be very careful about assuming that we “have it all together” in matters which we may not understand as well as we claim. The fundamentals should be clear to us, but there are many other things which we will only “know” clearly and completely “then.” We should especially be wary of those who would seek to teach us, claiming they have a full and complete grasp of God’s truth. The most brilliant scholars and students of Scripture that I know are still the best students, ever seeking to understand His Word better, and willing to listen to the insights of other students of Scripture. Those who know it all do not need to learn any more, they think. They need only to teach, and not to be taught.

This passage teaches us that those things which are most perplexing, and even most distressing, are often the things which God transforms into His richest blessings. In the Bible, some of man’s darkest moments were transformed into times of blessing. The curse of death which came because of Adam’s sin became the cure when Jesus Christ, the “last Adam,” died in the sinner’s place. Abraham and Sarah were as good as dead, humanly speaking, so far as child-bearing was concerned. They tried to figure out some way to produce a child on their own, which only led to trouble. Finally, God gave them a child in a miraculous way, glorifying Himself and bringing about good for Abraham and Sarah. Think of how difficult it must have been for Noah to have spent many years of his life preparing an ark, when he may not have even seen rain up to this point in time. Think of all the people in the Gospels who suffered from blindness, demon-possession, being lame, and leprosy. It was these suffering saints who experienced God’s gracious hand, and many of them came to saving faith. No wonder our Lord could say, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, because the kingdom of heaven belongs to them. Blessed are those who mourn, because they will be comforted” (Matthew 5:3-4).

In your darkest moments, when life makes no sense, and you have no idea what God is doing, you can rest in the simple fact that God is infinitely good, infinitely loving, and infinitely powerful. He can and will cause “all things to work together for good” to those who are His chosen, to those who trust in Him (see Romans 8:28). God delights in transforming those things which seem most threatening, most unpleasant, and most dreaded, into blessings. He took death and the fear and bondage it produces and defeated it on the cross (see Hebrews 2:14-15). Now, all that death can do is usher us into the presence of God (see 1 Corinthians 15:54-58; 2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:23).

If there is one thing that has most struck me from this text, it has been this realization: It is the cross of Jesus Christ which puts everything in focus. The disciples had no idea what was about to happen. They were completely perplexed about what Jesus was telling them. The cross was the goal of our Lord’s life and the means by which He fulfilled the Father’s (and His) purposes and promises. After the cross, the disciples understood what Jesus’ mission was all about. They understood what He had been teaching them. It is the cross which makes Jesus’ teachings clear. It is the cross which is the key to understanding all of the Bible, Old Testament or New. Take away the cross of Calvary, and the Bible makes no sense at all. It is from the vantage point of the cross that the message of the Bible becomes clear. Is this not what Paul was saying in his Second Epistle to the Corinthians?

7 But if the ministry that produced death, carved in letters on stone tablets, came with glory so that the Israelites could not keep their eyes fixed on the face of Moses because of the glory of his face (a glory that was fading away), 8 how much more glorious will the ministry of the Spirit be? 9 For if there was glory in the ministry that produced condemnation, how much more does the ministry that produces righteousness excel in glory! 10 For indeed, what had been glorious now has no glory because of the tremendously greater glory of what replaced it. 11 For if what was fading away came with glory, how much more has what remains come in glory. 12 Therefore, since we have such a hope, we behave with great boldness, 13 and not like Moses who used to put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from staring at the end of the glory that was fading away. 14 But their minds were closed. For to this very day, the same veil remains when they hear the old covenant read. It has not been removed because only in Christ is it taken away. 15 But until this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds; 16 but whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is present, there is freedom. 18 And we all, with unveiled faces reflecting the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another, which is from the Lord, who is the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:7-17, emphasis mine).

The cross is the test of orthodoxy. Those who would turn us from the cross of Christ are false teachers, who should be avoided (see 1 Corinthians 1; Colossians 1 & 2). The cross of Christ is what removes the “veil” of blindness from the eyes of unbelieving Jews, and Gentiles too. Have you come to the cross? Have you trusted in Jesus Christ as the Holy One of God, who died on the cross of Calvary for your sins? Once having come to the cross by faith in Jesus Christ, we must always stay near the cross. It is the view from the cross which brings everything else into focus. This is why, in our church, we observe the Lord’s Table weekly. We must always, daily, come back to the cross. It is by means of the cross that Jesus saved us. It is by means of the cross that all of His promises will be fulfilled. It is the cross which should shape our perspective (we should take up our cross daily). It is in the light of the cross that the Scriptures become clear. No wonder the disciples could not yet grasp what Jesus was saying about the future. For them, at that moment, the cross was still future. How different it will soon be for them, as they look back from the cross and the empty tomb. How different it should be for us, looking ahead from the cross and the empty tomb!

These final verses show the disciples making a tremendous affirmation of faith:

   – first, they claimed to understand what He had been teaching them, although this claim was probably presumptuous, as their subsequent actions proved

   – they also affirmed their faith and assurance

   The final verse is the climax of the Upper Room message! In Christ, there is peace; in the world, there is tribulation. Every believer is either overcome or an overcomes.

   Although our circumstances may seem, at first, to be far removed from those of the disciples who first heard the comforting words in this chapter, is our world really so different?

   Like them, we face unexpected troubles, are tempted to lose confidence in God, claim that we believe only to see ourselves denying our confession of faith, and desperately yearn for peace in this often chaotic world.

   Jesus wanted the disciples to be prepared for the intense struggles they were about to face. Surely, His words serve the same purpose in our lives as they prepare us for whatever we may face tomorrow. “Expect trouble, and be prepared” is Jesus’ formula in John 16 for maintaining the peace of God in hard times.

   In June 1995 Captain Scott Francis O’Grady, a pilot in the United States Air Force, was shot down while flying a mission over Bosnia-Herzegovina. He was able to parachute safely to the ground, buthe knew that the people who had shot him down would come searching for him to take him prisoner.

   Putting into practice his years of intense Air Force survival training, O’Grady was able to remain hidden from the enemy soldiers for six days before he was finally rescued by Marines. During that time he survived by collecting rainwater to drink and eating bugs.

   When he was interviewed about his ordeal, O’Grady credited all of his survival training with saving his life. The Air Force had taught him to anticipate trouble, so he was ready when it came.

   Jesus does not want His disciples today to worry about all the terrible possibilities in life (Matthew 6:25-34), but He does M;ant us to know that trouble is part of the disciple’s life. Knowing this, we can be prepared, so that we will not be destroyed spiritually when trouble comes.

   This chapter suggests that many times we need to hear what we do not think we need to hear at the moment.

   People sometimes complain about a Bible class or a sermon, “It has nothing to do with where I am right now.” The truth is that we often need to hear lessons about “where we are not right now.”

   That is, we need to hear about where we may eventually be, to be prepared for situations we may face in the future. The disciples certainly did not enjoy what Jesus said in chapter 16, but Jesus knew that they needed to hear it. In the same way, we need to hear the complete message of the Scriptures.

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[1] “Whether in the first century or in the twentieth, Christians have often discovered that the most dangerous oppression comes not from careless pagans but from zealous adherents to religious faith, and from other ideologues. A sermon was preached when Cranmer was burned at the stake. Christians have faced severe persecution performed in the name of Yahweh, in the name of Allah, in the name of Marx—and in the name of Jesus.” D. A. Carson, The Gospel According to John (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1991), p. 531.

[2] Notice that Jesus does not merely say, “I am going away,” but rather, “I am going to the one who sent me. …” Once again, our Lord emphasizes that He was sent to earth by the Father, and that having completed His mission, He is returning to heaven, to be with His Father. How easy it would have been to dwell on His betrayal, cruel treatment by men, and the agony of His suffering on the cross of Calvary. Instead, He focuses on the “joy set before Him” (see Hebrews 12:2). All of this emphasizes the fact that He has accomplished the task which He was given.

[3] “Christians today need to meditate long on this rebuke. Some branches of Christendom stress the believer’s experience, the believer’s privilege, the believer’s blessings, the believer’s faith, the believer’s love, the believer’s conduct. … Of course true Christianity transforms the personality and can be richly described in the categories of personal experience: but who is more concerned to please Jesus and fulfill Jesus’ desires than to please himself and fulfill his own desires?

“Other branches of Christendom underline the importance of sacrifice and the need for service. … Of course it is true that biblical Christianity demands self-denial and thrusts believers out in sacrificial service and profound sympathy for the outcast; but is it not possible to become so enamored with the trappings of self-discipline and so occupied with the urgencies of injustice that activity displaces adoration and personal sacrifice dethrones a personal Savior?

“Still others tremble at the doctrinal declension which threatens to ravage Christianity from the inside. They see defection from a high view of Scripture as an evil of mind-numbing proportions, and warn against the syncretism which is surreptitiously intruding itself into the flaccid flanks of evangelicalism. Defenders of the truth, they scent heresy in the earliest stages and are quick to pounce on it and expose it. Of course, true Christianity is indeed a religion of the Book, and it boasts certain non-negotiable doctrines and exclusive claims—the denial of which places one outside the camp; but is it not possible to be orthodox and much concerned about correct formulations of the truth while all the time only minimally concerned to follow Jesus himself in a full-orbed and adoring manner?

 “The disciples in John 16 do not fall into precisely these errors of imbalance. Nevertheless their conduct has one thing in common with such deficient representations of Christianity; something other than Jesus himself and all that he is and says receives primary attention. The other things in question may be worthy, good, and even necessary: who, after all, would demean personal experience, sacrificial service, or firm commitment to truth? Yet if these good and essential things displace the centrality of Jesus Christ in our worship, empathy, and commitment, we come close to prostituting the good news of Jesus and following the disciples’ sorry example.” D. A. Carson, The Farewell Discourse and Final Prayer of Jesus: An Exposition of John 14-17 (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1980), pp. 136-137.

[4] “In John’s usage, the legal overtones are sharpest in 16:7-11, but there the Paraclete serves rather more as a prosecuting attorney than as counsel for the defence. NIV’s ‘Counsellor’ is not wrong, so long as ‘legal counsellor’ is understood, not ‘camp counsellor’ or ‘marriage counsellor’—and even so, the Paraclete’s ministry extends beyond the legal sphere. The same limitation afflicts ‘Advocate.’ AV’s ‘Comforter’ was not bad in Elizabethan English, when the verb ‘to comfort’ meant ‘to strengthen, give succour to, to encourage, to aid’ (from Latin confortare, ‘to strengthen’). In today’s ears, ‘Comforter’ sounds either like a quilt or like a do-gooder at a wake, and for most speakers of English should be abandoned.” D. A. Carson, The Gospel According to John (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1991), p. 499.

[5] “The verb occurs eighteen times in the New Testament (cf. Mt. 18:15; Lk. 3:19; Jn. 3:20; 8:46; 1 Cor. 14:24; Eph. 5:11, 13; 1 Tim. 5:20; 2 Tim. 4:2; Tit. 1:9, 13; 2:15; Heb. 12:5; Jas. 2:9; Jude 15, 22; Rev. 3:19). Arguably, in every instance the verb has to do with showing someone his sin, usually as a summons to repentance … The ‘exposure,’ then, is the exposure of one who does evil and who hates the light; it brings the shame that makes the evil person shrink from the light.” D. A. Carson, The Gospel According to John (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1991), pp. 534-535. [I would only add to this the fact that when the Holy Spirit convicts so as to effectively call the lost to faith in Christ, the exposure turns the convicted sinner to the light.]

[6] Though it is not in view here, I would understand that those who have never heard the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ would continue to be judged and condemned on the basis of their rejection of the knowledge of God in nature (see Romans 1:18ff.). Jesus is talking to His disciples, who will proclaim the gospel, and who will suffer persecution from the world for doing so. Thus, those who oppose them will be those who have heard the truth and have rejected it.

[7] See Acts 1:22.

[8] D. A. Carson, The Farewell Discourse and Final Prayer of Jesus: An Exposition of John 14-17 (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1980), p. 114.

[9] “Are Jesus and his eleven disciples still making their way along narrow streets and paths toward the Kidron Valley? Are the men clumping together in little groups of various combinations as the confines of the way rearrange them again and again? Is this what prompts the questions to flit around the group? Perhaps so; it is difficult to be certain of the physical setting at this point.” D. A. Carson, The Farewell Discourse and Final Prayer of Jesus: An Exposition of John 14-17 (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1980), p. 156.

[10] In 1 Corinthians 2, Paul speaks of the ministry of the Holy Spirit, whereby He enables Christians to understand spiritual truth, but this is not the same as having the ability to reveal truth which is regarded as Scripture.

[11] It is self-evident that more than the twelve were known as “apostles” in the New Testament. It is also apparent that a number of the New Testament books were not written by one of these apostles, but by other New Testament “apostles” (e.g., Mark, Luke, Acts, Paul’s Epistles). In my opinion, all the New Testament authors should be viewed as “apostles,” and in a distinct category from anyone else, from that time on.

[12] Leon Morris, Reflections on the Gospel of John (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1988), vol. 3, p. 546.

[13] See Colossians 2:1-19.

[14] The disciples found themselves struggling to grasp what these words meant, not unlike the way we struggle to understand prophecies of “things to come” for us. At least they honestly admitted their ignorance.

[15] Some dispute the interpretation that Jesus is speaking of the disciples’ sorrow and their joy as being related to our Lord’s imminent death and resurrection. Carson forcefully defends the view that this is, indeed, what our Lord is saying:

“There are, however, several indications which argue strongly that the passage … refers simply to Jesus’ departure by the death of the cross and his return by resurrection. The following points should be noted: (1) Only John 16:16 adds the phrase ‘after a little while’ to the promise ‘you will see me.’ This is not accidental. (2) The picture of the disciples weeping and mourning while the world rejoices (16:20) fits only the period during which Jesus is in the grave. After the resurrection, John is careful to point out, the ‘disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord’ (20:20). Acts attests that the early Christians after Pentecost experienced great joy (Acts 13:52; cf. 5:41; 16:25). Only while Jesus’ body lay in the tomb were the disciples overwhelmed with grief. (3) The analogy of the woman giving birth likewise fits best into the sharp, short agony of the three-day period immediately ahead. (4) This interpretation fits best into the Farewell Discourse. Jesus’ departure and subsequent return at the parousia have already been treated, as also has his return by the Spirit; but so far Jesus has said nothing unambiguous about the three-day departure into death.” D. A. Carson, The Farewell Discourse and Final Prayer of Jesus, p. 158.

[16] It is important to note that in the NET Bible, the first word translated “ask” in verse 23 is erwtaw, while the second “ask” is a translation of the Greek word aitew. The NAB reflects the distinction in these verbs and their meaning by this rendering: “In that day you will not question Me about anything. Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you” (emphasis mine). After our Lord’s resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit, the disciples will no longer need to question our Lord about the meaning of His words and the events which are taking place. They will, however, be constantly asking Him to provide for their every need.

[17] It may occur to someone that in Psalm 23:1 the psalmist says, “The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.” We must surely see that this is no “blank check,” assuring us that we can have whatever we want (athough Asaph at one time wrongly supposed so—see Psalm 73), whatever we ask for (see James 4:2-3 here), but rather we will never lack anything we truly need, anything which is for our good and His glory.

   A pair of scissors consists of two single blades. Yet the blades, regardless of  how sharp or shiny, are useless without one essential element — the small metal screw that holds them together.

   Can you imagine trying to cut some paper or fabric without that tiny screw? Of course, you could put a blade in each hand. But think of the effort and difficulty involved in trying to make an even, precise cut that way. But when that tiny screw brings both blades together, suddenly the cutting becomes effortless.

   In our relationship with God, abiding in Jesus is the screw that holds everything together and makes us useful to Him.

   In these opening verses, our Lord uses a similar homespun illustration — that of a vine and its branches — to teach His disciples the importance of fellowship with Him.

   In these verses, Jesus will also use the seventh and last “I Am” statement recorded by John. These two pictures reveal both our privileges and our responsibilities.

   As branches, we have the the privilege of sharing His life, and the responsibility of abiding. As friends, we have the privilege of knowing His will, and the responsibility of obeying.

 Not everyone in that Upper Room found these moments so peaceful and refreshing. The time Judas spent in that Upper Room must have been almost unbearable for him. A good portion of chapter 13 is devoted to Judas and to his departure that night, a departure that forever sealed his doom. As they sat at the table, Jesus shocked every one of His disciples by indicating that one of them was about to betray Him. The eleven believing disciples were perplexed and greatly troubled. But imagine what it must have been like for Judas. Jesus knew what Judas was up to! What would happen next? What would Jesus do? What would the disciples do? (Peter, we know, was armed with a sword—see 18:10.) Judas must have been wide-eyed as he watched Peter gesture to John, and as this disciple asked his Lord (who seems to have been just on the other side of Jesus) who the traitor was. Jesus indicated that the traitor was the one to whom He would hand the bread He had dipped. Judas’ heart must have stopped when Jesus handed him the bread. Surely the others would now know that he was the traitor! Our Lord’s words to Judas, “What you are about to do, do quickly” (13:27), must have been “music to the ears of Judas,” who couldn’t get out of the Upper Room quickly enough. And all of this was calmly brought about by our all-knowing Lord, so that His death would perfectly fulfill the plans, purposes, and prophecies of God.

After the departure of Judas, Jesus announces to His disciples that He will be leaving them behind, and that they will not be able to follow Him where He is going, at least for a while. The disciples are caught completely off guard. Peter seeks to assure Jesus of his dedication, supposing (it would seem) that this might convince Jesus that he could be taken along, even if the other disciples could not be trusted. What a blow our Lord’s words were to Peter. Did Peter wish to assure Jesus that he was trustworthy? In but a short time, he would deny his Master, not once, but three times!

Peter was silent from this point on, but not the rest of the disciples. Chapter 14 is John’s record of the “question and answer session” that takes place in response to what Jesus is saying. The disciples supposed Jesus meant that they would no longer enjoy the intimate relationship with Him that they had been privileged to experience up to this point in time. How wrong they were! It was our Lord’s “departure” that made it possible for them to enjoy His presence and fellowship more intimately than they had ever experienced it before.

In our text in John chapter 15, we come to the final “I am” of John’s Gospel. The words of our text are some of the most familiar words in the Gospel of John, but this does not necessarily mean they are well understood. Many are the interpretations of this passage, and while people are drawn to this text, they are also perplexed by it:

… Christians have long been attracted to these verses, both because they are profound and because they are perplexing. They are profound in that they deal with certain deep realities in the Christian faith. … But the passage is as perplexing as it is profound. Exactly what kind of fruit are we expected to bear? Does any believer really enjoy the extravagant prayer promises in verses 7 and 8? Exactly what does ‘remaining in Christ’ really mean? Above all, how is it that branches are said to be in this vine, yet fruitless? And how can these branches be cut off and destroyed?[1]

Texans use the expression, “between a rock and a hard place.” Verses 1-17 deal with the disciples of our Lord as those who are caught “between a rock and a hard place.” The “rock” is our Lord’s distressing announcement that He will be leaving His disciples behind (chapter 13). The “hard place” is that the Jews will turn against them:

18 “If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own. But because you do not belong to the world, but I chose you out of the world, for this reason the world hates you. 20 Remember what I told you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they obeyed my word, they will obey yours too. 21 But they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know the one who sent me” (John 15:18-21).[2]

1 “I have told you all these things so that you will not fall away. 2 They will put you out of the synagogue, yet a time is coming when the one who kills you will think he is offering service to God. 3 They will do these things because they have not known the Father or me. 4 But I have told you these things so that when their time comes you will remember that I told you about them” (John 16:1-4).

The disciples are not only going to be left behind by their Master, they are also going to be rejected by their peers. Yet in all of this, they are not being abandoned by their Lord. He is sending His Spirit to dwell within them, uniting them with Himself and with one another. The disciples will now be able to “abide in Him” in a way they never could have previously. Things are about to change significantly, but all for the better. Later on, this same change is recognized by the Apostle Paul:

15 And he died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised. 16 So then from now on we acknowledge no one from an outward human point of view. Even though we have known Christ from such a human point of view, now we do not know him in that way any longer. 17 So then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; what is old has passed away, see, what is new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:15-17, emphasis mine).

This new relationship with Christ is described by our Lord as “abiding in Him.”[3] It is apparent that the central concept in these verses is abiding in Christ. Eight times in these eight verses the word rendered “abide” is found.[4] I know from my own experience that abiding in Christ is one of my greatest struggles. From what others tell me, it is their struggle, too. It is perhaps the most serious failure among Christians. The benefits of abiding in Christ are as great as the dangers of neglecting it. Let us first seek to learn what it means to abide in Christ, and then let us strive to do so, by His grace, to His glory, and for our good.

  This chapter contains one of the many rhetorical masterpieces of Jesus found in the gospels. Speakers strive for a lifetime to attain the pround simplicity, beauty, and practicalness expressed in the allegory of the Vine and the branches.

   The first and most important relationship which the disciples should maintain was with Jesus. The relationship between Christ and the Christian is not organizational but organic and living.

   In order to enforce its meaning, Jesus used the allegory of the vine, for the culture of the vine was one of the common occupations of that day in Palestine. Vineyards were everywhere, and it may be that they passed several on the road from Jerusalem to Gethsemane.

   The vine was also known as an emblem of their own nation, just as the eagle is the emblem of the United States.

   The key term in this text is abide;  used 10 times in 11 verses, it emphasizes unity. The key word is love, used four times in six verses, to emphasize communion.

* Five points of  resemblance between the vine and the gardener are given:

– The right stock: “I am the true vine.”

  The first essential in planting a vineyard is to have the right stock. Every nurseryman guarantees that the plants he sells will run true to type.

– The right expert: “My Father is the husbandman(gardener):”

   Every vineyard must be pruned by an expert. The vinedresser had to know how and when to prune and fertilize the vine, so that it would produce the maximum stock.

– The right culture:

   Those branches which did not bear fruit had to be taken away, while those which bore fruit were cleaned so they could bear more fruit.

– The right contact: “Abide in me, and I in you:”

   The process of pruning must never sever the fruit-bearing branch from the main vine. Cuttings will often bear leaves independently through the vitality resident in them, but they will never bear fruit.

– The right fruitage: “The same bears much fruit:”

   In scripture, fruit, more fruit, and more fruit is the divine order! Growth brings increase in fruitfulness, and the more mature a Christian becomes, the more is expected of him.

  Let’s look at the text in detail: “”I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. {2} He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[1] so that it will be even more fruitful. {3} You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. {4} Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.”

   There are four elements in this allegory that we must understand if we are to benefit from His teaching:

1. THE VINE.

   Jesus identifies Himself as the genuine vine—the only source of spiritual life. He is the one responsible for the fruit which we, the Christians, bear. Many view the fruit of John 15 as the result of evangelism, but in all probability it also refers to character qualities of Christlikeness, namely, the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

2. THE BRANCHES.

   “”I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. {6} If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. {7} If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. {8} This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

   Jesus uses the figure of the branch to depict the Christian. Those “in Christ” must “abide in me.” If we abide in Christ, we bear fruit. If not, we become barren.

3. THE VINEDRESSER.

   God the Father is pictured here as a busy, active, faithful gardener, working in His vineyard—an image already well-established in the Old Testament.

   “I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside. {2} He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well. Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit. {3} “Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. {4} What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad?”

   Jesus probably had this passage in mind when He talked of his Father being the vinedresser. In verse 2, He reveals two actions of the vinedresser:

– He does something with the branch that isn’t bearing any fruit at all: He “takes away”

– He does something with the branch that isn’t bearing enough fuit: “He prunes”

   Vines occasionally yield an unproductive, fruitless branch. When that happens, the gardener immediately goes to work, as suggested in one paragraph: “Viticulture…consists mainly of pruning. In pruning a vine, two principles are generally observed: first, all dead wood must be ruthlessly removed; and second, the live wood must be cut back drastically. Dead wood harbors insects and disease and may cause the vine to rot, to say nothing of being unproductive and unsightly.

   “Live wood must be trimmed back in order to prevent such heavy growth that the life of the vine goes into the wood rather than into the fruit. The vineyards in the early spring took like a collection of barren, bleeding stumps; but in the fall they are filled with luxuriant purple grapes.

   “As the farmer wields the pruning knife on his vines, so God cuts dead wood out from among His saints, and often cuts back the living wood so far that His method seems cruel. Nevertheless, from those who have suffered the most there often comes the greatest fruitfulness.” (Merrill C. Tenney’s John: The Gospel of Belief”)

   The greatest judgment God could bring to a Christian would be to let Him alone, let him have his own way.  Because God loves us, He prunes us and encourages us to bear more fruit for His glory.

   Most of our lives are mixtures of wood, hay, and straw, along with old, silver, and precious stones.  God blesses those who abide in Him:

– The first blessing is that prayer is answered.

   “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.” (vs. 7)

– The second is that God is glorified

“This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” (vs. 8)

“– The third is that our life will be motivated by love.

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.” (vs. 9-10)

– The fourth is that joy will be ours in abundance.

“I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” (vs. 11).

In the Old Testament, the “vine” is a well-known symbol for the nation Israel.[5]

1 Now let me sing to my Well-beloved A song of my Beloved regarding His vineyard:
My Well-beloved has a vineyard On a very fruitful hill. 2 He dug it up and cleared out its stones, And planted it with the choicest vine. He built a tower in its midst, And also made a winepress in it; So He expected it to bring forth good grapes, But it brought forth wild grapes. 3 “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, Judge, please, between Me and My vineyard. 4 What more could have been done to My vineyard That I have not done in it? Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes, Did it bring forth wild grapes? 5 And now, please let Me tell you what I will do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it shall be burned; And break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. 6 I will lay it waste; It shall not be pruned or dug, But there shall come up briers and thorns. I will also command the clouds That they rain no rain on it.” 7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, And the men of Judah are His pleasant plant. He looked for justice, but behold, oppression; For righteousness, but behold, a cry for help (Isaiah 5:1-7, NKJV, emphasis mine).

The text in Isaiah speaks of the failure of Israel to produce “fruit” as God’s vine. Psalm 80 speaks of this “vine” as well, but then changes the focus to “the branch,” who appears to be none other than our Lord:

8 You have brought a vine out of Egypt; You have cast out the nations, and planted it. 9 You prepared room for it, And caused it to take deep root, And it filled the land. 10 The hills were covered with its shadow, And the mighty cedars with its boughs. 11 She sent out her boughs to the Sea, And her branches to the River. 12 Why have You broken down her hedges, So that all who pass by the way pluck her fruit? 13 The boar out of the woods uproots it, And the wild beast of the field devours it. 14 Return, we beseech You, O God of hosts; Look down from heaven and see, And visit this vine 15 And the vineyard which Your right hand has planted, And the branch that You made strong for Yourself. 16 It is burned with fire, it is cut down; They perish at the rebuke of Your countenance. 17 Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand, Upon the son of man whom You made strong for Yourself. 18 Then we will not turn back from You; Revive us, and we will call upon Your name (Psalm 80:8-18, NKJV, emphasis mine).

In our text, Jesus employs the imagery of a vine to describe the new relationship which His disciples are about to enjoy with Him and with the Father. Our Lord is the “vine”; unbelievers are the fruitless branches,[6] while believers are the fruit-bearing branches. The grapes are the “fruit” which God produces in and through the saints as they draw their life and strength from the “vine,” the Lord Jesus Christ. And God the Father is the gardener, who tends the vine, removing dead branches and purifying the living branches.

Jesus speaks of Himself not merely as a vine, or even as the vine, but as the true[7] vine. He who created the light (and everything else), is called the true “light” in John 1:9. The “bread” God gave Israel in the wilderness sustained the lives of the Israelites for a time, but Jesus identifies Himself as the true “bread” that comes down from heaven, because He gives eternal life to all those who partake of Him by faith (John 6:30-35). In our text, Jesus identifies Himself as the true “vine,” the full and final revelation of all that the “vine” anticipated and foreshadowed in the Old Testament. Believers in Jesus (specifically, the disciples) are branches, who are a part of the vine, and yet who need somehow to “abide” or “remain” in the vine.

The Father is the “vinedresser” (NKJV) or “gardener” (NET Bible), the One who tends the vine. Every branch which does not produce fruit in the Vine is removed by the Father. As we would expect, this verse is understood differently by students of the Bible. There are two key expressions in verse 2, the translation of which will determine (or justify) our understanding of what our Lord means in this verse. The terms are “in Me” and “takes away.” If the phrase “in Me” indicates that these branches are true believers, then we must either conclude (against a mountain of contrary evidence in John and the rest of the Scriptures) that Christians can lose their salvation, or we must show that “takes away” does not refer to eternal condemnation (hell). One solution is to translate the Greek word airw “lifts up,” with the sense of helping or assisting. Thus, unfruitful branches are given special care by the Father, with the view to helping them become fruitful. The majority of translations seem to render this verse in a way that indicates that the unfruitful branches are taken away in judgment. This view is consistent with verse 6, which is much more clear about the fate of unfruitful branches, branches which did not abide in the vine. There, unfruitful branches are cast into the fire.

I believe the weight of the evidence falls on the side of that interpretation which concludes that the unfruitful branches are removed from the vine and destroyed.[8] In much more blunt language, the unfruitful branches burn in the eternal fire of hell. If this is the case, then how do we explain the phrase “in Me” (verse 2)? Three passages in the Gospels and one in the Book of Romans help me to understand what Jesus is saying here in verse 2. The first is found in Matthew chapter 3:

7 But when he saw many Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Offspring of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit worthy of repentance! 9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ because I tell you that God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones! 10 Even now the ax is ready at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matthew 3:7-10).

In this text, many of the Pharisees and Sadducees were coming to John for baptism. They certainly appeared to be identifying themselves with John and his message. John rebukes them because they assumed they were going to enjoy the blessings of the kingdom of God based upon their lineage. They trusted in the fact that they were descendants of Abraham. And yet John warned them of God’s coming wrath. Surely the fruitless “trees” here are dead trees—unbelievers—and the fire is that of eternal punishment. Those who believe they are truly saved, and may even appear to be to others, are not really saved, but are destined for the coming wrath of God on the unbelieving.

The second passage also comes from the Gospel of Matthew:

15 “Watch out for false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are voracious wolves. 16 You will recognize them by their fruit. People don’t gather grapes from thorns or figs from thistles, do they? 17 In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree is not able to bear bad fruit, nor a bad tree to bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So then, you will recognize them by their fruit. 21 Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of heaven, only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. 22 On that day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons and do many powerful deeds?’ 23 Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Go away from me, lawbreakers!’” (Matthew 7:15-23).

Here, we learn from the lips of our Lord that not everyone who claims to be a spokesman for God is a true prophet. True prophets and false prophets can be distinguished by their “fruits.” The people Jesus describes in verses 21 and 22 certainly thought they were true believers, and many others may have thought so too. But Jesus says that in spite of their profession, and in spite of their impressive deeds, He never knew them. It is by one’s fruit that his profession of faith is found to be either true or false. Though they may claim to be the people of God, those who profess faith without producing fruit are cast into the fire of God’s eternal judgment.

The third text is from the Gospel of Mark:

1 Again he began to teach beside the sea. And a great crowd gathered around him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the sea and all the crowd was on the land by the sea. 2 He taught them many things in parables, and in his teaching said to them: 3 “Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground where it did not have much soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep. 6 When the sun came up it was scorched, and because it did not have a root, it withered. 7 Other seed fell into the thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it did not produce grain. 8 But other seed fell on good soil and produced grain, sprouting and growing, some bore thirty times, some sixty and some a hundred times.” 9 And he said, “Whoever has ears to hear, listen!” 10 When he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. 11 He said to them, “The mystery of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those outside, everything is in parables, 12 ‘so that when they look, they may look but not see, and when they hear, they may hear but not understand, so they may not repent and be forgiven.’”

13 He said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? Then how will you understand any parable? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 These are the ones on the path where the word is sown: whenever they hear, immediately Satan comes and snatches the word that was sown in them. 16 And these are the ones sown on the rocky ground: whenever they hear the word, they receive it at once with joy. 17 But they have no root in themselves and are temporary. Then, when trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they fall away immediately. 18 Others are the ones sown among the thorns: they hear the word, 19 but the cares of life, the deceit of wealth and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it produces nothing. 20 And these are the ones sown on good soil: they hear the word and receive it and are productive, one thirty times, one sixty, and one a hundred” (Mark 4:1-20).

It should be said at the outset that the relevance of this text to our text in John 15 is somewhat dependent upon the conclusion that the first three soils represent those who are not saved, and that only the fourth soil represents genuine believers. If this is the case, then the ultimate proof of one’s faith[9] appears to be the bearing of fruit. Believers do not all produce the same quantity of fruit, but they do all produce some fruit. Each of the other three soils fails to produce any fruit. Notice, too, that one might assume for a time that the seed sown in the second and third soils has produced true believers. The first soil rejects the gospel immediately, but the second and third soils appear to have life for a time. It is not until persecution and hard times come that they fall away. These seeds sprout, and they appear to be lively, but they ultimately fail to produce any fruit.

The fourth and most compelling text comes from the pen of the Apostle Paul:

13 Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Seeing that I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, 14 if somehow I could provoke my people to jealousy and save some of them. 15 For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? 16 If the first portion of the dough offered is holy, then the whole batch is holy, and if the root is holy, so too are the branches. 17 Now if some of the branches were broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among them and participated in the richness of the olive root, 18 do not boast over the branches. But if you boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. 19 Then you will say, “The branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” 20 Granted. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but fear. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, perhaps he will not spare you. 22 Notice, therefore, the kindness and harshness of God: harshness toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness toward you, provided you continue in his kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off. 23 And even they—if they do not continue in their unbelief—will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24 For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these natural branches be grafted back into their own olive tree? (Romans 11:13-24, emphasis mine).

Jewish branches were removed from the olive tree because of their unbelief, even as Gentile branches are grafted into the tree by faith. Surely Paul refers here to the very thing that our Lord is speaking about in John 15. Those Jewish branches which falsely assume they will inherit God’s blessings through Israel (“the olive tree” here, according to their way of thinking) will be severed from the “tree,” Jesus Christ, because they do not believe in Him, and thus they do not abide in Him or bear fruit through Him.[10]

I believe these New Testament texts give us a great deal of help in interpreting and applying our Lord’s words in John 15:2. The Jews of His day (not to mention our own) believe they are in “the vine.” They suppose that by being descendants of Abraham they have a relationship with God which will gain them an entrance to the Kingdom of God, and which assures them that they will not face eternal judgment. Paraphrased according to my understanding of verse 2, our Lord’s words would be something like this:

I know that many of the Jews think they already have a living relationship with “the vine.” That is to say they suppose that just because they are Jews physically they are in fellowship with God and therefore eternally secure. I must say that this is not the case. In truth, anyone who trusts in anything or anyone but Me—the way, the truth, and the life—is not saved at all. Those who are truly “in Me” are those who enjoy a union with Me by faith, and who thus bear fruit in Me. Those who do not bear fruit in Me will sooner or later be severed from any relation to Me, and will ultimately face the fire of God’s eternal wrath.

Having come to this conclusion, let me call your attention to several things I believe we are meant to learn from these first three verses of chapter 15.

First, notice that the purpose of the vine is to bear fruit. We know from the Synoptic Gospels that our Lord cursed the unfruitful fig tree (Matthew 21:18-19). Our purpose as Christians is to abide in Christ so that we might bear fruit. Just what is the “fruit” which is either absent or present? What is the difference between a “fruitful” branch and an “unfruitful” branch? Some think that the “fruit” our Lord refers to here is the “fruit of the Spirit” (see Galatians 5:22-23). Others think of the “fruit” as new converts—those who have been saved as a result of the witness of the branches. I understand the term fruit a bit more broadly. I believe that as we abide in Christ, He abides in us, and when He abides in us, Jesus Christ becomes evident in and through us. The “fruit” then, is being Christ-like. The church is the body of Christ (see 1 Corinthians 12:27; Ephesians 4:12). I believe we bear fruit as Christ is manifested in and through our lives. He is seen in us as we manifest His character (Galatians 5:22-23). He is evident in us as we carry on the work He began when He was on this earth (see Acts 3:6, 12-16; 4:13). Being fruitful, then, is manifesting Christ in our lives.

Second, the branches are the instrument through which fruit is produced. While our Lord produced much “fruit” when He was physically on the earth, He now produces “fruit” through those (branches) who believe in Him.

Third, these branches only bear fruit in union with the vine. The branches obtain life through the vine; they are sustained by the vine; they produce fruit through the vine. The only way to bear fruit is for the branches to abide in the vine.

Fourth, the Father is the gardener, who tends the vine. He removes the lifeless, fruitless branches—those branches which were never truly “in the vine,” but only supposed themselves to be. He “cleanses” (some versions render this “prunes”) the branches, so that they will bear even more fruit. We really need to pause here for a moment, to reflect on what these words of our Lord really mean. There is a way in which Christians can very quickly and easily turn things around, losing the emphasis and focus we should have. For example, we think of the Lord’s return, and rather than seeing this as the time when our Lord will prevail over His foes and receive the glory He deserves, we think of it mainly in terms of the cessation of our suffering and pain, and in terms of the benefits we will gain.

When our pleasure becomes paramount, rather than God’s glory, then we have fallen far short of what God’s Word teaches. Our purpose in life is not to “fill our cups” with all the pleasure we can experience; it is to abide in Christ so that we may bear fruit for Him. The process by which this fruit-bearing is promoted is often painful. Thus, the Father cleanses or prunes us, so that we will be more fruitful. And lest you think the Father is being arbitrary, do not forget that the “fruit” which our Lord produced by His life and sacrificial death at Calvary came at great cost to Him, and to the Father.

Fifth, the Word is the instrument which the Father employs to tend the vine. The Word is the instrument which God employs to cleanse the branches (15:3; cf. also 17:17). Put in different terms, the Word is the super-sharp cutting instrument by which God prunes us (see Hebrews 4:12). Further, it is also my opinion that the Word is often the “cutting instrument” which the Father employs to “remove” the unfruitful (and unbelieving) branches (15:2). As I read through the Book of Acts, I see the closing of a chapter for Israel and the Jews.[11] The gospel is proclaimed, and some Jews receive it. But many are those who reject the Word of God, bitterly opposing Paul and others who proclaim it. It is in response to the proclamation of the Word that some are “cleansed” and others are “clipped off.” The Word of God is at one and the same time the instrument which separates some from the vine, while drawing others all the more closely.       

The teaching of our Lord concerning “abiding” in Him is based upon a fundamental premise, stated in verses 4 and 5: “Apart from Me, you can accomplish nothing.” This is a very basic biblical principle. Jesus means us to understand that the term “nothing” refers to spiritual fruit. There is a certain sense in which men can do nothing at all without Christ. They cannot live or breath or eat, apart from the provisions God has made:

24 “The God who made the world and everything in it, who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by human hands, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives life and breath and everything to everyone. 26 From one man he made every nation of the human race to inhabit the entire earth, determining their set times and the fixed limits of the places where they would live, 27 so that they would search for God and perhaps grope around for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 28 For in him we live and move about and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we too are his offspring’” (Acts 17:24-28, emphasis mine).

Here, our Lord is quite clearly saying that we cannot bear spiritual fruit apart from abiding in Him.

In and of ourselves, we can do nothing to earn God’s favor or to merit His salvation. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). We are all under divine condemnation, helpless and hopeless, apart from Christ (Ephesians 2:1-3). So, too, apart from abiding in Christ, Christians cannot do anything that will please Him. This is the point of Romans 7. Romans 6 teaches us the necessity of dying to sin and of living righteously, but Romans 7 informs us of the impossibility of doing so in the power of our flesh. And so Paul cries out, “Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24). It is only through the work of our Lord Jesus Christ that we are enabled to fulfill the righteous requirements of the law (Romans 8:3-4).

In theory, Christians know the truth that our Lord is emphasizing here, but very often we simply don’t believe it in a practical way. We really don’t believe that apart from Him we can do nothing. The message that we constantly hear from the “human potential” advocates and motivational speakers is that “we have much more power within us than we know, and that by digging deep within ourselves and drawing upon our own hidden strengths, we can do great things.” This is not what our Lord teaches us concerning the bearing of spiritual fruit. He instructs us that we can do “nothing” apart from a vital union with Him, in which we constantly draw from His life, His strength, His truth. When we do “abide” in Christ, we bear much fruit (verses 5, 8), we bring glory to the Father (verse 8), and we prove ourselves to be disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ (verse 8).

Abiding in Christ is fundamental and essential. But just what does it mean to abide in Him? Our understanding of this great text depends upon our understanding of the word “abide” (KJV) or “remain.” The NET Bible has chosen to consistently render the Greek term (menw) “remain” in our passage.[12] The difficulty with the Greek term is that it conveys more than any one English word is able to capture. Let me illustrate this by pointing out the various ways this word is rendered by the translators of the King James Version. Out of 120 occurrences in the New Testament, menw is rendered “abide” 61 times, “remain” 16 times, “dwell” 15 times, “continue” 11 times, “tarry” 9 times, “endure” 3 times, and still in other ways 5 more times. In our text, the idea of “remaining” is clearly present, but the word “remain” somehow fails to convey the full force of our Lord’s words. A number of times in John’s Gospel, the term is used of “dwelling” in a certain place, of staying somewhere as one’s dwelling place:

38 Jesus turned around and saw them following and said to them, “What do you want?” So they said to him, “Rabbi” (which is translated Teacher), “where are you staying?” 39 Jesus answered, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day. Now it was about four o’clock in the afternoon (John 1:38-39, emphasis mine).

After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there a few days (John 2:12).

So when the Samaritans came to him, they started asking him to stay with them. He stayed there two days (John 4:40, see also 8:35; 10:40; 11:6).

In addition to these instances, where menw speaks of one’s dwelling somewhere as a place of residence (even if only for a day or so), there are the two occurrences of the related term (monh) in John 14:1 and 23, which refer to the “rooms” (sometimes rendered “mansions”) or “dwelling places” that await us in heaven, in the Father’s house. Because of John’s use of these terms, I would suggest that we render the term menw “make one’s home” or “make one’s abode.” To “abide” in Christ as the True Vine is to “make our home” in Him, just as He also “makes His abode” in us. If we wish to stress the “remain” aspect of the term, we might translate menw “to make our permanent home.”

The idea of having God as our “dwelling place” is found as well in the Old Testament:

A Prayer of Moses the man of God. LORD, You have been our dwelling place in all generations (Psalm 90:1, NKJV, emphasis mine).

1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. … 9 Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place, 10 No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling (Psalm 91:1, 9-10, NKJV, emphasis mine).

For You have been a shelter for me, A strong tower from the enemy (Psalm 61:3, NKJV, emphasis mine).

The name of the LORD is a strong tower; The righteous run to it and are safe (Proverbs 18:10, NKJV, emphasis mine).

Consequently, it would seem that “making your permanent dwelling place” is not far from the meaning of menw in our text. This helps us discern the message that our Lord is seeking to convey to His disciples, and ultimately to us. What, then, does it mean to “make the Lord Jesus our permanent dwelling place”? Let’s simplify this definition, and say that Jesus is instructing us to make Him our “home” as He makes His “home” in us. Think about what “home” means to us:

• Home is where your heart is; it is where you want to be (especially during holidays).
• Home is the place to which you return, the place to which you are eager to get back to (e.g., when  you’ve been on vacation).
• Home is where you feel comfortable, and can really be yourself.
• Home is a place of safety and security.
• Home is where you bring your friends when you wish to have fellowship with them.
• Home is our base of operations; it is at the center of what we do.
• Home is where you find your strength for life; it is where you eat and sleep.
• Home is where the people and the things we love the most are found.

Isn’t this what Jesus Christ should be for the Christian? Shouldn’t He be our place of refuge and security? Should He not be the source of our life and strength? Shouldn’t He be the reason for our fellowship with others? Shouldn’t He be where our heart is?

To further explore this matter of Jesus Christ as our “abiding place,” our “home,” let us consider the opposite of making Him our home. What is it that should not be our “home”? Answer: this world. The old song goes, “This world is not my home, I’m just a passin’ through …” Isn’t that really true? John warns us not to become too attached to the world, not to love it:

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him; 16 because all that is in the world (the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the arrogance produced by material possessions) is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away with all its desires, but the person who does the will of God remains forever (1 John 2:15-17).

Isaiah had it right, and so did “righteous Lot”:

So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts” (Isaiah 6:5, NKJV).

7 … and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked. 8 (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds) (2 Peter 2:7-8, NKJV).

This is why Christians are not to be “at home” in this world, but to find their home in Christ:

11 Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, 12 having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation (1 Peter 2:11-12, NKJV).

4 For indeed we groan while we are in this tent, since we are weighed down, because we do not want to be unclothed, but clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now the one who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the Spirit as a down payment. 6 Therefore we are always full of courage, and we know that as long as we are alive here on earth we are absent from the Lord— 7 for we live by faith, not by sight. 8 Thus we are full of courage and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So then whether we are alive or away, we make it our ambition to please him (2 Corinthians 5:4-9).

Allow me to attempt to sum up the meaning of the word “remain” in our text. Jesus Christ is the “abiding place” for the Christian. He is the One from whom we derive spiritual life and strength and the means to become Christ-like. It is only through Him that we can “bear fruit.” It is by “abiding” in Him that we also enter into the deepest union and fellowship. Thus, Jesus urges His disciples to “abide” in Him when He departs to be with the Father, assuring them that He will likewise “abide” in them.[13]

 

Further Instruction on Abiding (15:9-17)

A good teacher employs repetition to clarify and to emphasize his content. In verses 9-17, Jesus reiterates and further explains what He has just said concerning abiding in Him in verses 1-8. He now gives us some specifics as to how we are to abide in Him. He also spells out some of the benefits of abiding in Him. Let me summarize our Lord’s teaching by setting down several principles.

PRINCIPLE ONE: WHEN WE ABIDE IN CHRIST, WE ABIDE IN HIS LOVE. You will remember that John introduces the Upper Room Discourse in chapter 13 with a reference to our Lord’s love for His disciples:

Just before the Passover feast, Jesus knew that his time had come to depart from this world to the Father. He had loved his own who were in the world, and now he loved them to the very end (John 13:1).

Jesus now speaks of abiding in Him as abiding in His love. Our Lord’s love for His disciples is like the Father’s love for Him. As our Lord speaks, He is virtually standing in the shadow of the cross. How can He speak of the Father’s love for Him at a time like this? Usually, we tend to emphasize the Father’s love for us, and that this love prompted Him to send His Son to the cross (see Ephesians 2:4). I believe we must also recognize that the Father sent the Son to Calvary out of His love for the Son, as well as out of His love for lost sinners. How can this be? Dying on the cross of Calvary was indeed an act of humility on our Lord’s part (see Philippians 2:5-8), but it was also intended for His greater exaltation:

9 As a result [of His death on Calvary, as described in the previous verses] God exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow—in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue should confess to the glory of God the Father that Jesus Christ is Lord (Philippians 2:9-11).

18 He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn from among the dead so that he himself may become first in all things. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him 20 and through him to reconcile all things to himself by making peace through the blood of his cross—whether things on the earth or things in heaven (Colossians 1:18-20; see also Ephesians 1:18-23).

It is my understanding and conviction that the Father purposed our Lord’s suffering for His own glory, as well as to bring glory to the Son. So, too, God purposes our suffering for His glory, but also for our good. And so it is that our Lord’s love for us includes our suffering (see John 15:18ff.), just as the Father’s love for the Son included His suffering. Abiding in Christ involves “cleansing” or pruning, which is painful for us at the time, but which causes us to cling to the vine, and thus to bear more fruit, and this increased fruit is for His glory, as well as our good.

One more thing should be said about abiding in His love. Abiding in His love is not automatic; it is something which we are commanded to do, and which takes effort and action on our part (albeit, inspired and empowered by God—see Philippians 2:12-13). Abiding in Christ requires the self-discipline that Paul talks about (1 Corinthians 9:24-27) and which the Holy Spirit produces (see 1 Timothy 1:7).

PRINCIPLE TWO: WHEN WE ABIDE IN CHRIST, WE KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS. How, then, do we abide in His love? Jesus is very clear on this matter. We abide in His love when we keep His commandments. We are to keep His commandments just as He has kept His Father’s commandments, thus abiding in His love (verse 10). Just what commandments would these be that our Lord has kept? John certainly indicates what some of these are:

Then Jesus said, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and I do nothing on my own initiative, but I speak just what the Father taught me” (John 8:28).

17 “This is why the Father loves me—because I lay down my life, so that I may take it back again. 18 No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down of my own free will. I have the authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it back again. This is the commandment I received from my Father” (John 10:17-18).

49 “For I have not spoken from my own authority, but the Father himself who sent me has commanded me what I should say and what I should speak. 50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life. Thus the things I say, I say just as the Father has told me” (John 12:49-50).

Jesus never acted independently of the Father, even when Satan sought to tempt our Lord to do so in His testing in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-12). He spoke only what the Father gave Him to speak. He even went to the cross of Calvary, in obedience to the commandment He received from the Father. Do you remember the expression, “Your wish is my command?” The Father’s wish (will) was our Lord’s command. That is the way one truly submits.

We often flatter ourselves here, telling ourselves that Jesus died on the cross of Calvary because He loved us so much. There is a certain amount of truth in this, but we often carry it too far. I often cringe when I happen to be listening to a Christian radio station, and I hear these words, “Could it be that He would really rather die than live without us?” Let’s not flatter ourselves. God’s love for the lost did prompt Him to send His precious and sinless Son to the cross of Calvary, but let us not lose sight of the fact that Jesus went to that cross in obedience to the command of the Father.

Our Lord does not say that we abide in His love “if we keep His commandment (singular),” but rather if we “keep His commandments” (plural). Here, Jesus does not say that we abide in His love when we “keep the law.” So long as the term “law” is properly defined, one might say this. Paul said that the “law” was holy, righteous, and good (Romans 7:12). He called the law “spiritual” (Romans 7:14). And in the next chapter of Romans, Paul said that those who walk in the Spirit will “fulfill the requirements of the law” (Romans 8:4). I believe that our Lord avoided the term “law” here and employed the word “commandments” because He did not want to give legalistic Judaisers an occasion to attempt to put the Gentiles under the Old Testament law.

The Judaisers separated the law from love,[14] though they should not have done so:

“Therefore know that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments”[15] (Deuteronomy 7:9, NKJV, emphasis mine).

Jesus inseparably joins love and commandment keeping. Jesus summed up the whole law by two commandments, both of which were commands to love:

34 Now when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they assembled together. 35 And one of them, an expert in religious law, asked him a question to test him: 36 “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” 37 Jesus said to him, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is like it, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:34-40).

The Judaisers seemed to be ignorant of the fact that the law was given out of love. God gave Israel the law because of His love for those He had chosen to be His people (Deuteronomy 7:7, 12-13; 10:14-16). He expected His people to obey His law out of their love for Him (Deuteronomy 7:9; 30:16). Whenever we separate God’s love from God’s law, we get ourselves into trouble.

God gave the law out of His great love for His people. What God prohibited, He prohibited for man’s own good. What He required, He required for man’s own good. The law is a manifestation of God’s love for His people.[16] No wonder the psalmists can say these things about God’s law:

1 Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night (Psalm 1:1-2, NKJV).

7 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; 8 The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes (Psalm 19:7-8, NKJV).

I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart (Psalm 40:8, NKJV).

Open my eyes, that I may see Wondrous things from Your law (Psalm 119:18, NKJV).

Let Your tender mercies come to me, that I may live; For Your law is my delight (Psalm 119:77, NKJV).

Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day (Psalm 119:97, NKJV).

98 You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies; For they are ever with me. 99 I have more understanding than all my teachers, For Your testimonies are my meditation. 100 I understand more than the ancients, Because I keep Your precepts (Psalm 119:98-100, NKJV).

The law of God should be the delight of every saint because it is a manifestation of God’s love. God gave us His law to keep us from those things which would destroy us and to point us to the only One who can save us—Jesus Christ. Whenever we begin to look upon God’s commands as something other than an expression of God’s love, then we are headed for serious trouble.

For example, consider the account of the fall of man in Genesis 3. When God created Adam and Eve and placed them in the Garden of Eden, He gave them a good work to do, and also many good things to eat. The only thing He prohibited was the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:16-17). Deceitfully, Satan questioned Eve in such a way as to cause her to question God’s love for her. The serpent convinced Eve that God had not prohibited eating from this tree out of love (which, indeed, He had), but out of some less-than-noble motivation. Satan convinced Eve that God was withholding something good, and that she would have to disobey God’s commandment in order to obtain what was “good” for her. Had she trusted in God and believed that He forbade the illicit fruit for her good, she would not have desired to eat of that fruit.

It is quite easy for us to see the truth as it applies to Adam and Eve, so long ago and so far away. But let us pause for just a moment to consider a present day example.

As in all the churches of the saints, 34 the women should be silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak. Rather, let them be in submission, as in fact the law says. 35 If they want to find out about something, they should ask their husbands at home. 36 Did the word of God begin with you, or did it come to you alone? 37 If anyone considers himself a prophet or spiritual person, he should acknowledge that what I write to you is the Lord’s command. 38 If someone does not recognize this, he is not recognized (1 Corinthians 14:33b-38).

Not just in this passage, but in other New Testament texts as well, Paul calls for men and women to function differently in the church, particularly in its gathering for teaching and worship. Paul instructs the women to be “silent in the churches.” He then indicates that this is part of the submission of women which the law requires. And then he goes so far as to insist that his instruction is the “command” of our Lord. Why is it that a distressingly large number of evangelical Christians cannot accept this prohibition in the same way that Adam and Eve should have accepted the prohibition of the forbidden fruit? Why is there the assumption that a loving God would not, and could not, restrict the public ministry of women? Why is it that students and scholars are rushing back to their texts, trying to find some loophole which will allow them to set this command of our Lord aside? This prohibition is one of our Lord’s commands, and we should look upon it as a manifestation of His love. And if we are to truly abide in His love, then we must keep this command, as well as all the other commandments of our Lord.

18 Then Jesus came up and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20, emphasis mine).

PRINCIPLE THREE: WHEN WE ABIDE IN CHRIST, WE LOVE THE BRETHREN. While the words of our Lord make it clear that we are to keep all of His commandments (verse 9), at this moment Jesus gives His disciples but one commandment: they must love one another, just as He has loved them (verse 12). In some ways, this one command encompasses all other commands in that if one acts in love toward others, he will keep the commandments. This command has already been given by our Lord:

34 “I give you a new commandment—to love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 Everyone will know by this that you are my disciples—if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35).

In chapter 13 and in our text in chapter 15, Jesus is commanding His disciples to love each other. The command does not appear to encompass the world at large, but their relationships with one another as His disciples. As the world witnesses this love, they will see that its origin is divine, and that these men really are the disciples of Jesus. Very shortly, Jesus is going to reveal to His disciples that the world will hate them because they love Him. No wonder it is vital for these men to love one another. It is apparent that these men have not always been of one mind. This very night these men were arguing with one another over which of them was considered the greatest (see Luke 22:24). In our Lord’s absence, the potential for division was increased. The Holy Spirit would give them a supernatural unity in Christ, but they must strive to maintain this unity by living in love.

PRINCIPLE FOUR: WHEN WE ABIDE IN CHRIST, WE HAVE GREAT JOY (verse 11). Leon Morris calls our attention to the fact that the word “joy” occurs only once before the Upper Room Discourse, but it will now occur seven times.[17] Obviously, “joy” is a prominent theme in our text, at a time when we might not expect it. Hearts were heavy that evening, for Jesus had told them some very distressing things, which troubled them greatly (13:22; 14:1, 27; 16:6, 22). If His disciples would abide in Him, their sorrows would be dispelled, and they would be replaced by great joy. Not only would His joy be in them, but their joy would be full. Their hearts would overflow with joy. When we read through the Book of Acts, we find joyful believers, very often in the midst of adversity (see Acts 2:28; 8:5-8; 13:52; 15:3; 20:24).[18]

What is it that will give the disciples—and us—great joy? The first thing I would say is that the “joy” one experiences as an unbeliever is very different from the “joy” of the Christian. In fact, the “joy” we experience as Christians is almost the opposite of the joy we once experienced apart from Christ. Unfortunately, Jonah illustrates the wrong kind of joy. He could rejoice in his own personal comfort, thanks to the vine that afforded him some shade (4:6), but he was greatly distressed by the salvation of the people of Nineveh (Jonah 4:1-4).

Our joy is very different …

First and foremost, our joy is really His joy (John 15:11; 17:13). As we abide in Him and He in us, we experience great joy from those things that bring Him joy, as we would also be grieved by what grieves Him.[19]

Second, the disciples had a very special joy. As they were greatly grieved at the death of their Master, their joy at seeing Him alive, raised from the dead, can hardly be described (see John 16:22; 20:20; 21:7).

Third, joy is the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Acts 13:42; Romans 14:17; Galatians 5:22; 1 Thessalonians 1:6).

Fourth, we have joy when we become born-again Christians by faith in Jesus Christ (Acts 8:5-8; Romans 15:13).

Fifth, we rejoice when others come to faith in Christ, as well as when they grow in their faith (Acts 11:23; 15:13; 2 Corinthians 7:13; 1 Thessalonians 2:19-20; 3:9; Philemon 1:7; Hebrews 13:17; 1 John 1:4).

Sixth, we have joy in taking part in the plans and purposes of a sovereign God, even when this brings about our own suffering (Acts 4:23-31).

Seventh, we find joy in doing that which brings the Father’s approval (Hebrews 12:2).

Eighth, we have joy in sacrificial service (2 Corinthians 8:2).

Ninth, we have joy in being with other saints and enjoying their fellowship (Philippians 1:3-4; 1 Thessalonians 2:19; 2 Timothy 1:4; 2 John 1:12).

Tenth, we have joy when we ask God for what He desires and for what we need, and in seeing Him answer our prayers (John 16:24).

PRINCIPLE FIVE: WHEN WE ABIDE IN CHRIST, WE ARE HIS FRIENDS. Jesus tells His disciples that He no longer calls them slaves, but rather friends. Nevertheless, in the Epistles, the apostles call themselves “slaves” of Christ (see Romans 1:1; 2 Corinthians 4:5; Galatians 1:10; Philippians 1:1; Colossians 4:12; Titus 1:1; James 1:1; 2 Peter 1:1; Jude 1:1). They also urge others to think of themselves in this way (Ephesians 6:6; 1 Peter 2:16).

Nevertheless, Jesus speaks of a change which is about to take place in His relationship with His disciples. He will no longer deal with them as His slaves but rather as His intimate friends. A slave is expected to do what his master instructs him to do, whether or not he likes it, and whether or not he understands why he is commanded to do it. The best analogy today would be found in the armed forces. The change would be from the status of a “private” in the army to a “pal” of the sergeant. When new recruits are sent to boot camp, it is to train them to be “slaves.” That is, it is to train these men to obey orders, instantly, and without question. If the sergeant orders a private to dig a hole four feet square, the private is to do it. If the sergeant then orders the private to fill the hole back in again, he is to obey without hesitation. The “private” is virtually the “sergeant’s” slave (at least that’s how it used to be). The private would never think of expecting the sergeant to explain his reasons for giving any order.

Up till now, there was a sense in which the disciples were more like slaves than friends. It was not because Jesus was treating them unkindly, but because they were incapable of being anything else. A “friend” is one with whom you share your thinking, your goals, your motivations, your reasons for doing things. The disciples were simply not able to understand any of these things, even though our Lord communicated many of them to His disciples. But now, with the coming of the Holy Spirit and their abiding in Him, He could openly disclose His plans and purposes, so that they knew not only what He was seeking to do, but how and why He was doing it. No longer were His disciples to be “in the dark”; they were to be fully enlightened as to what He was doing. Abiding in Christ intimately connects us with Christ, so that we not only draw life and strength from Him, but we also come to know His heart and mind.

We see hints of this kind of friendship with God in the Old Testament.[20] God called Abraham “My friend” in Isaiah 41:8. When He was about to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, He would not keep this from His “friend”:

17 And the LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, 18 since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?” (Genesis 18:17-18, NKJV; see Isaiah 41:8.)

The same kind of intimacy can be seen with Moses:

9 And it came to pass, when Moses entered the tabernacle, that the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses. 10 All the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the tabernacle door, and all the people rose and worshiped, each man in his tent door. 11 So the LORD spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle. 12 Then Moses said to the LORD, “See, You say to me, ‘Bring up this people.’ But You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found grace in My sight.’ 13 Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people.” 14 And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest” (Exodus 33:9-14, NKJV, emphasis mine).

I would ask you to take note of the fact that both Abraham and Moses are called the friend of God. In both cases, God reveals things to His “friend” that He does not reveal to others. And in both cases, on the basis of what God did reveal to His “friend,” this “friend” petitioned God on behalf of others, and the petition was granted.

Throughout the Gospels, we are told that the disciples did not know or did not understand much of what Jesus was here to do. They misunderstood and misapplied much of what He did tell them. But after His death and resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit, things became clear to the disciples. And since the apostles wrote the New Testament Gospels and Epistles under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they have passed on to us what they learned. And so from the time of Pentecost onward, any saint can be an informed “friend” of our Lord, knowing what He is doing, and why, through His Word.

Think of someone you know of who is powerful and influential, and who is sought after by many. Can you imagine what it would be like to know that person intimately, to spend time with this one, and to be able to speak freely about the most confidential matters? This is the relationship which our Lord not only makes possible for us, it is a relationship He urges us to enter into, and in which we are to abide.

Conclusion

One’s last words must be assumed to be significant. Prominent among our Lord’s last words to His disciples was the command to abide in Him. It is the key to fruitfulness, but it is much more than that. It is as essential to our spiritual lives as eating or breathing is to sustaining physical life. As I was reflecting on what it meant to abide in Christ, my attention turned to the words of our Lord in John 14:6, where He claimed to be “the way, the truth, and the life.” No born-again Christian would think of denying the truth of these words, but some are inclined to restrict and limit them to the time when people come to faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins and for the gift of eternal life. Jesus is “the way” to the Father, but we must continue in that way. Jesus is “the truth,” and we must believe in the truth of the gospel in order to be saved. But we must constantly be in “the truth” of God’s Word because the world and the devil are constantly dealing in deception and illusions (see Ephesians 4:17-25). Jesus is “the life,” and we must abide in Him, drawing life from Him daily, for these earthly bodies in which we live are, in Paul’s words, “bodies of death” (Romans 7:24). If there are many texts which instruct us regarding our initial entrance into the faith, there are also many texts like our text in John 15 which instruct us to continue to abide in Christ.

And so I would ask a very simple question of you, my friend, “Are you abiding in Christ?” Have you come to recognize your sin, your need for truth, for life, for a way to God the Father and to His heaven? Have you placed your trust in Jesus Christ alone for the forgiveness of your sins and the gift of eternal life? In other words, are you a Christian? There are many who suppose themselves to be, based upon family background, church attendance, an occasional prayer offered God-ward. But are you abiding in Christ, looking only to Him for life, for strength, for fruit? Do you have a daily sense of your inadequacy in and of yourself? Do you find that it is only “in Christ” that you are assured of eternal life and of spiritual fruit? If you are not abiding, it may be appropriate to ask whether or not you are really “in the vine,” whether or not you are one of God’s chosen people.

If, indeed, you are a true child of God, then you should daily seek to abide in Christ. How is this done? How does one abide in Christ? Jesus has told us in this text. We abide in His love as we obey His commands. We abide in Christ as we draw near to Him and rely on Him to meet our every need, which we cannot meet ourselves.

As I conclude this lesson, let me highlight two things which I believe are very detrimental to our obedience to our Lord’s command to abide. The first is complacency—the false sense that we are self-sufficient, and thus do not need to draw our life and strength from our Lord. This was the case with those in Laodicea:

14 “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write the following: “This is the solemn pronouncement of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the originator of God’s creation: 15 ‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot! 16 So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of my mouth! 17 Because you say, “I am rich and have acquired great wealth, and need nothing,” but do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked, 18 take my advice and buy gold from me refined by fire so you can become rich! Buy from me white clothing so you can be clothed and your shameful nakedness will not be exposed, and buy eye salve to put on your eyes so you can see!” (Revelation 3:14-17)

If we feel self-sufficient, we are greatly deceived, and we need to reassess our total dependence on Christ for our life. When we see that “apart from Him” we “can do nothing,” then we will be prompted to actively abide in Him.

Second, we are greatly hindered by the hectic pace of our times. As I have sought to teach this text over the past two weeks, I have emphasized my own appraisal that Christians today are not abiding because they are working so hard to “achieve” for Christ, rather than to “abide” in Christ. We have become preoccupied with programs and activities. We are spending more and more time at church and “in ministry,” but less and less time “with our Lord.” We see Him as the “Giver,” but not the “Gift.” We are intent upon obtaining the “power” that He gives, but we are not as intent on knowing the “person” of God in Christ. Of all the time which you are spending “for Christ,” how much time is spent in the pursuit of Christ? I do not ask this as one who is successful in this area, but as one who sees how badly I have failed here. And my guess is that you are struggling in this same matter.

The words “effective” and “successful” are often found in print in a Christian bookstore. And so it is that we continue to read those books which tell us how to be an “effective” leader or husband or parent. We grab up any book that promises us a successful marriage. I do not think in this day and age (and in this culture) that we are doing a great deal of abiding, but only seeking to achieve. It is my opinion that Christians are doing more and more, but abiding less and less. Perhaps it is time for us to have fewer programs, fewer nights at the church, fewer meetings, with the expressed purpose of giving ourselves to abiding in Christ.

Please do not misunderstand me. I am not saying that we should completely do away with church functions and devote ourselves only to “individual” activities with the Lord. I do not think it is possible for a Christian to abide in Christ apart from commitment to and involvement in a local church body (see Hebrews 10:23-25). But we can be tempted to look to programs to give us what only Christ can give. Christians are so busy that they are running themselves ragged, and when they finally have a moment to sit down quietly with the Word of God, they fall asleep (I speak from experience here).

I have spoken about too much church activity, and I believe it to be true in many cases. But I must also say that many of the families I see that are stressed out and spiritually fatigued are not just consumed with church functions, but with family functions, especially those related to the children. We feel that we must have our kids in little league baseball, in soccer, in music lessons, and a myriad of other activities. Somehow, somewhere, we must stop and say that enough is enough. When was the last evening that you spent together quietly at home as a family? When was the last time you invited your unsaved neighbors over for coffee?

One of my fellow-elders remarked that he agreed with much of what I had said about abiding and over-activity. He also pointed out that busyness is not, in and of itself, an anathema to abiding. He is right, of course. No one was busier than our Lord, and yet He never failed to “abide” in His Father’s love. But even here, Jesus was able to abide because He purposefully removed Himself temporarily from these busy activities to spend time alone with His Father. We need to do likewise.

It occurred to me that many of those whom I would call “abiders” in the Gospels were women, not men. We see them described, not so much in terms of their great works for our Lord, but rather in terms of simply being with Him (see Luke 8:1-3). I was thinking about Mary and Martha, as described in Luke chapter 10:

38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him as a guest. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted with all the preparations she had to make, so she came up to him and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do all the work alone? So then tell her to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is needed. Mary has chosen the best part; it will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:38-42).

What was “the best part” that Mary chose and that Martha neglected? Was it not simply “abiding” in Christ, sitting at His feet, enjoying Him? Are we not so much more like Martha than Mary? I would simply ask you to take the time to sit down and assess the quality of your abiding, and if your abiding is lacking, to purpose before God to do something about it. We are not commanded to produce fruit, for this is what our Lord does in and through us. We are commanded to “abide in Christ,” and thus it would behoove us to have a plan and a process by which we seek to obey His command to abide in Him. After all, isn’t this what we should really want to do anyway? Should we not desire to delight in Him, even as He has chosen to delight in us? May God use this text to stimulate us to actively seek to enhance the quality of our abiding in Him, to His glory, and for our eternal good.

* THE RELATION OF CHRISTIANS TO EACH OTHER (15:12-17)

   Having explained the essential relationship of Christians to Himself, Jesus proceeded to show His disciples what their relationship to each other should be.

   When death nears, it is remarkable how important the shade of our sheltering friends becomes.  Not even the Son of God wanted to be alone when the shadow of the cross darkened His last days.

   The differences of temperament among them and the jealousies that had arisen over the positions which they expected to holdin the coming kingdom made their group unstable.

   Jesus knew that if they were to maintain an adequate testimony for Him they could do so only as a unit.  Disunity would mar their work, if indeed it did not vitate that work altogether. For this reason He gave them the 11th commandment: “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”

   The comparative clause in verse 12 gave the standard by which all real love can be measured and understood. Christ did not ask from His disciples more than He himself gave, and He set the norm by His own life.

   The first element of this lofty love was sacrifice: “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” This marked the highest achievement of human love.

   Divine love went beyond this, for Jesus laid down His life for His enemies.  By emphasizing the word man, the full meaning of the text may be brought into plain view.  Men give their lives for their friends; Jesus gave His life for His enemies.

   A second aspect of love was intimacy, illustrated by Jesus’ contrast of the words “friends” and “slaves.” The bondservant might be loved by the master,, and might be treated kindly; but he never would be regarded as an equal nor given an insight into his master’s mind.

   “You are my friends if you do what I command. {15} I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.”

  The third qauality of divine love was initiative. Jesus had not waited for men to appreciate Him and to invite Him into their lives, but He had first chosen them.

   “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit–fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. {17} This is my command: Love each other.”

   The fourth aspect of love was productiveness. Jesus’ love for the disciples was to be the secret of their effectiveness.  Out of the timid band who fled from His enemies in the garden and who cowered in the upper room after the resurrection, Jesus made convincing witnesses.

When I come to our text, I must confess that the subject of persecution is something else I know almost nothing about. I am told there are more martyrs for the Christian faith today than ever before. And for all those who are killed, there are many others who are allowed to live, so that their persecution can be prolonged. From what I have read, I know that at this very hour, Christians in Egypt are facing intense persecution. This is often the case in those countries where Muslim fundamentalists are in power. In India, many Christians are experiencing persecution at the hands of zealous Hindus, something that was virtually unknown just a few years ago. I must confess that the worst persecution I have faced personally is a little scoffing (when I taught school in a medium security prison), or an uplifted eyebrow. As I approach this passage, aware of the suffering of many of my fellow-believers in distant places, I must readily admit that Christians in America are the exception to the rule, knowing very little of suffering solely for being a Christian. Though the words of our Lord may sound distant and foreign to us, one never knows how soon the day will come when believers here may experience the very things of which our Lord speaks in our text. We should listen well, not only to sympathize with our fellow-saints, but to prepare ourselves for the days to come.

Jesus and His disciples have just observed the Passover. Judas has already gone out, setting in motion his final acts of the betrayal of Jesus. Jesus has shocked His disciples by telling them that He is leaving them behind, and that they will not be able to follow Him immediately. The disciples have been shaken by our Lord’s words that one of them is about to betray Him, and that Peter is going to deny Him, repeatedly. They have asked a number of questions, but it is very clear that they have no grasp of what is about to happen to Jesus, or to them.

In the first half of chapter 15, Jesus has instructed His disciples to “abide in Him.” In our text, He does not turn to a different subject, but rather to a different aspect of abiding. Abiding in Christ is the source of our life, our fruit-bearing, and of our fellowship, both with God and with our fellow Christians. Abiding in Him is also the reason the world will hate us. The same hatred for Jesus which prompts unbelievers to call for His crucifixion will soon be vented upon those who have identified with Jesus, and through whom our Lord will continue to work in this world. And so Jesus turns to the subject of persecution, and the ministry of His Spirit, who will not only give His disciples joy in the midst of their afflictions, but who will enable them to witness and to reap a harvest of souls from among those who hate both Jesus and those who abide in Him.

Let us listen well to these last words of our Lord, to find comfort and courage in the face of rejection and persecution from an unbelieving world.

I remember a song that was popular when I was growing up. The words of the song went something like this:

Everybody loves a lover  I’m a lover Everybody loves me[21]

This is not a song that would have been sung by the disciples after the crucifixion of our Lord. They were commanded to be lovers—that is, to love one another—but this did not mean that they would be loved by the world. Quite the opposite is indicated by our Lord.

In verse 17, Jesus once again commands His disciples to love one another (see also, John 13:34, 35; 15:12-13). If they truly are abiding in Christ, then they will keep His commandments, and the most emphatic commandment He has given them so far is that they love one another. There is a very good reason why this command is repeated in verse 17:

9 “Then they will hand you over to be persecuted and will kill you. You will be hated by all the nations because of my name. 10 Then many will be led into sin, and they will betray one another and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will appear and deceive many; 12 and because lawlessness will increase so much, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the person who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole inhabited earth as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:9-14).

Abiding in Christ has many benefits, but one of the painful side effects is that because the world hates our Lord, it will likewise hate us. Thus, the abiding in Christ which produces a love for the brethren also incites the hatred of unbelievers towards us.    In the very near future, “the world”[22] will manifest its hatred toward our Lord’s disciples. For a short time, this animosity toward the disciples will be predominantly Jewish.[23] As the Jewish religious leaders rejected Jesus, they will likewise reject and oppose His followers. In verse 2 of chapter 16, Jesus tells His disciples that they will be put out of the synagogue. I take it that the temple is not mentioned here because our Lord knows full well that it will be destroyed in 70 A. D., which may have occurred before the Gospel of John was written (see Matthew 23:34-38; Mark 13:1-2). Considerable Jewish persecution of Christians is documented in the Book of Acts (see Acts 4:1ff.; 5:17ff.; 6:8ff.; 8:1; 13:45ff.; 14:2ff.; 14:19ff.). It wasn’t long before Gentiles likewise opposed the spread of the gospel (see Acts 16:19ff.; 19:23ff.). I believe that while the disciples had experienced some resistance and opposition previously (see John 5:16), the crucifixion of our Lord seems to unleash a storm of bitter opposition from the Jews, similar to what happened after the stoning of Stephen (see Acts 8:1). The “triumphal entry,” just a few days earlier, may have given the disciples a false sense of success and acceptance, but this popularity would prove to be very short-lived.

Our Lord’s words to His disciples not only indicate that they will experience great persecution from “the world,” they also explain just why this hostility will be unleashed on them. Abiding in Christ will result in the “fruit” of being Christ-like. Thus, when the world observes Jesus living in and through His disciples, unbelievers will respond to them just as they once responded to the Lord Jesus. When this happens, the disciples are to recall that the world hated their Master first. If those who followed Jesus were to abide in the world, rather than to abide in Christ, the world would embrace them as one of their own. But since Jesus has chosen to snatch them out of the world, the world will hate them, just as it hated Him.

Later on we can see that Peter grasped the meaning of our Lord’s words because he virtually repeats the essence of what our Lord says to His disciples in his first epistle:

3 For the time that has passed was sufficient for you to do what the non-Christians desire. You lived then in debauchery, evil desires, drunkenness, carousing, boozing, and wanton idolatries. 4 So they are astonished when you do not rush with them into the same flood of wickedness, and they vilify you (1 Peter 4:3-4).

Jesus wants His disciples to understand that others will respond to them in one of two ways. Those who reject the Lord Jesus will reject His disciples and persecute them. Those who accept Jesus as their Messiah will also accept them:

19 “I am telling you this now, before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe that I am he. 20 I tell you the solemn truth, whoever accepts the one I send accepts me, and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me” (John 13:19-20).

* THE RELATION OF CHRISTIANS TO THE WORLD (15:18-27)

   A German preacher named Dietrich Bonhoeffer said: “When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.”

   As we turn the pages of the New Testament, the blood of martyrs stains our fingertips. Paul’s life is a good example. Acts 9:15-16 predicts the suffering he would endure for Christ, the fulfillment of which can be found in 1 Cor. 4:11-13 and 2 Cor. 4:8-9.

   Jesus never intended that the Christian should live in pious isolation, but in active contact with the problems of men.

   Nevertheless, He drew a sharp line between the Christian and the “world” which comprises the mass of men who live without God.

   Jesus, in stating the attitude of the world, carefully forewarned the disciples of its hatred because He did not want them disillusionned when they met it.  “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.”

   The type of grammatical condition which John used implied the actuality of the hatred; it was not hypothetical.

   Jesus recognized it as a chilling reality; but He comforted the disciples by reassuring them that He shared with them all the ostracism and contempt which the world could heap on them.

   Throughout all nature, whether in the animal or human world, there is a tendency to dislike any individual that differs from the average type.  Birds will drive from the flock one of their number that differs radically from them in plumage.

   The very fact that He has chosen men out of the world places them in a different category from others.  They have a new nature, a new aim in life, a new productiveness.  The world does not understand their motives nor feel comfortable in their company.

Jesus gave three reasons why persecution will occur:

1. “Because you are not of the world

2. Because they do not know the One who sent Me

3. That the word may be fulfilled

   “If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. {20} Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master[1].’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. {21} They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me.”

   The chief reason, lastly, for the hatred of the world was Jesus’ exposure of its sin.  Verses 22 and 24 describe the effect of Jesus on the world.

   “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin. {23} He who hates me hates my Father as well. {24} If I had not done among them what no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen these miracles, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. {25} But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.'”

   The words and deeds of Christ showed by contrast how evil men can become.  Ignorance could no longer palliate their guilt.

   Two antidotes to the attitude of the world are proposed in the concluding verses: the witness of the Spirit and the witness of Christians.

   Our reaction to persecution should be one of acceptance, as stated in 1 Peter 4:12: “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.”

   Jesus gives us four suggestions on how to react when the persecution starts to bewilder us:

1. We should rely on the Holy Spirit

2. We should stand firm and boldly testify our faith in Christ

3. We shouldn’t stumble

4. We shouldn’t forget we’d been forewarned

   “”When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. {27} And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.”

Jesus speaks about guilt for sin, a guilt for which there is no excuse. The “sinners” are simply referred to as “they” (verses 22, 24-25). John tells us of this sin of unbelief at the very beginning of his Gospel:

10 He was in the world, and the world was created by him, but the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to what was his own, but his own people did not receive him (John 1:10-11).

Jesus’ words in verse 23 would be absolutely shocking and scandalous to the Jews: “The one who hates me hates my Father too.”

The Jews falsely assumed that they had a relationship with God, based upon: (1) their ancestry, namely the fact that Abraham was their forefather (see Matthew 3:9-10; John 8:33ff.); and (2) their keeping of the Law of Moses, at least by their definition of it (see Matthew 5:20; Romans 2:17–3:20). Ironically, they accused Jesus of being just the opposite: (1) that He was an illegitimate child (John 8:41), and (2) that He was a law-breaker and a sinner (John 5:18; 9:16, 24; 18:30-31). They claimed God as their father and were incensed when Jesus claimed God was His Father (John 5:17ff.; 8:31ff.). Jesus now indicates that if anyone hates Him, they also hate the Father. How incredible! The very ones who believe that they love God have demonstrated that they hate Him, and the proof of this is the fact that they hate Jesus.

How is it that apart from our Lord’s coming and speaking to them, they would not be guilty of sin? Does Paul not argue in Romans that all men are sinners, rightly condemned by God (Romans 3:9-23)? How, then, can Jesus say that apart from His coming and the words He has spoken, the Jews would have no sin? Let me suggest a solution. In every dispensation (regardless of what that number might be), God establishes a clear standard of righteousness, which all men fail, thus proving themselves to be sinners, condemned by God, and desperately in need of grace. The Law of Moses proved men to be sinners under the old covenant; Jesus’ coming and rejection by men would prove men to be sinners under the new covenant. Jesus is the ultimate, consummate, revelation of the righteousness of God. To reject Him is to reject God the Father. To reject Him is to demonstrate the immensity of one’s sin.

Put differently, all men since Adam and Eve were born sinners, and their lives have shown it. But, as Paul tells us, apart from the law, they could not be charged with sin. Sin is lawlessness, and thus there must be a law that is broken for one to be charged with sin:

12 So then, just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all people because all sinned— 13 for before the law was given, sin was in the world, but there is no accounting for sin when there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam until Moses even over those who did not sin in the same way that Adam (who is a type of the coming one) transgressed (Romans 5:12-14).

Jesus is the “Light of the world,” the ultimate revelation of God (John 1:4-5, 9; see also Hebrews 1:1-3). By His life and His words, Jesus revealed God to men. When men reject Jesus Christ, they reject the ultimate revelation of God. The rejection of Jesus as the Son of God (whom He claimed to be) is compelling evidence of one’s sin and guilt. In this “new covenant” age, men’s sin or righteousness is evidenced by their response to Jesus Christ. Confronted with Jesus, the people of Israel had to make a decision. The decision to reject Him—indeed, to crucify Him—was proof of how sinful they were. The same standard, of course, applies to the Gentiles.

Jesus is even more specific about the sin of the Jews. Jesus had not merely mingled with the Jews, He had performed countless miracles as they looked on: “Now Jesus performed many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples that are not recorded in this book. But these are recorded so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:30-31).

In spite of these compelling proofs of His identity, they still rejected Him. In so doing, they hated both Jesus and the Father. It was our Lord’s words, as well as His works, which proved the truth of His claim to be Israel’s Messiah, God incarnate. The ultimate sin is not just to break the law, which partially reveals the righteousness of God. The ultimate sin is to reject Him who is the full revelation of God, Jesus Christ, and to crucify Him as a sinner, deserving the penalty of death.

Was this rejection of the Messiah something completely unexpected? Was God caught off guard by the unbelief of the Jews? Far from it! It was all a part of His plan (see Romans 9–11). Indeed, in rejecting Jesus without cause, the Jews were fulfilling prophecy, which foretold of His rejection without a cause:

Let them not rejoice over me who are wrongfully my enemies; Nor let them wink with the eye who hate me without a cause (Psalm 35:19, NKJV, emphasis mine).

Those who hate me without a cause Are more than the hairs of my head; They are mighty who would destroy me, Being my enemies wrongfully; Though I have stolen nothing, I still must restore it (Psalm 69:4, NKJV, emphasis mine).

It was, in fact, God’s plan to employ Jewish unbelief as the occasion to bring the gospel to the Gentiles:

11 I ask then, they did not stumble into an irrevocable fall, did they? Absolutely not! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make Israel jealous. 12 Now if their transgression means riches for the world and their defeat means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fullness bring? … 28 In regard to the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but in regard to election they are dearly loved for the sake of the fathers. 29 For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable. 30 Just as you formerly were disobedient to God, but have now received mercy due to their disobedience, 31 so they too have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they too may receive mercy. 32 For God has consigned all to disobedience so that he may show mercy to all (Romans 11:11-12, 28-32).

This opposition and persecution should not cause the disciples to withdraw or retreat. It will be their task not only to abide in Christ, but to proclaim Christ to the world that hates Him, and them. How can Jesus possibly expect His disciples to testify to the world with all this hostility and persecution? He gives them and us the answer. He will send His Holy Spirit, who will testify about Christ through them. The disciples have been with Jesus since the beginning of His ministry, and thus they have witnessed the hand of God on His life and ministry. As they testify about Him, the Holy Spirit will facilitate their witness:

26 When the Advocate comes, whom I will send you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me; 27 and you also will testify, because you have been with me from the beginning (verses 26-27).

* SOME FINAL WORDS OF APPLICATION

  Jesus warned His disciples that they were headed for difficult times. Jesus prepared them for this painful experience in a number of ways.

   First, He told them that when the world hated them, they should remember that the world hated Him first (15:18). Because they were His disciples, they could expect the same treatment which He had received (15:20). If the world had listened to Him, then it would listen to them. However, since the world had generally persecuted Him, they could expect the world to do the same to them as well.

   Persecution by the world, Jesus told them, would not be “personal,” but would come to them because they were His followers (15:21).

   He wanted His disciples to know that those who hated Him and them also hated the Father (15:23).

   Jesus knew that what would be most distressing about the approaching persecution was that it would make no sense! He foresaw that it would be “without a cause” (15:25).

   He hoped that knowing this ahead of time would somehow make it more tolerable for the disciples.

   The disciples could also expect to be thrown out of synagogues. (Being thrown out of a synagogue was more than a temporary eviction from a house of worship.

    The synagogue was the social and religious center of a community. To be separated from one’s own family and people would be a painful price to pay for following Jesus.)

   Of all that Jesus warned them about, the most painful may have been this statement: “An hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God” (16:2). Why did Jesus give them such distressing news on the eve of His crucifixion? His purpose was to prepare them so that they would not stumble when the hard times arrived (16:1). If they would remember that Jesus had warned them about such troubles, then they would not be disheartened (16:4).

   With Jesus present to encourage and instruct them, they had needed no such warnings. As He prepared to leave them, these teachings were essential for their spiritual survival.

   Although our situations as followers of Jesus are somewhat different today, we likewise need to hear His words about the trouble that we will face. In some places in the world today, the opposition which confronts Christians is severe. They are beaten and imprisoned. Their homes are burned, or their church meetings are forbidden.

   These Christians can understand Jesus’ words in this passage. They know they should not be surprised by their suffering, because Jesus Himself suffered first!

   Other Christians may not face physical persecution as much as they face social persecution. While not physically beaten, they may be ridiculed for their beliefs and laughed at for their convictions.

   In 1992, movie critic Michael Medved published a book called Hollywood vs. America, in which he demonstrated how the movie-making industry takes every opportunity to belittle religion and religious values. Later he produced a video called Hollywood vs. Religion. In both the book and the video he stated that even though it often costs them great amounts of money in lost revenues, Hollywood movie-makers seem intent on attacking those who believe in God.

   Persecution is sometimes most intense within a Christian’s own home. A husband or a wife may criticize and belittle the faith of a believing spouse. This form of persecution may be the most difficult to endure. This is surely the reason that although first-century Christians were instructed to remain with their non-Christian mates, the idea of a Christian’s marrying a nonChristian was unthinkable (1 Corinthians 7:1216, 39).

   Paul–no stranger to persecution himself-wrote to the church in Rome, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men” (Romans 12:18).

   The first nine words of this verse indicate that it is not always within our power to live at peace. Sometimes our spiritual opponents will not let matters rest, and we will have to face persecution.

   We should not be surprised at this, remembering Jesus’ suffering and His warning that we will also suffer for following Him. His words are our protection to keep us from stumbling!

– There is a great difference between picking a fight and enduring a persecution.

– There is a great difference between loving the world and living in the world.

– There is a great difference between running scared and running informed.

————————————————————

   Jesus has warned us that persecution is to be expected by those who dare to follow Him. In some way or another, all Christians face hardship because of our faith.

   When that happens, what are we to do? The answers Jesus gives us are “Remain in the vine” and “Love each other.” The day after He gave these instructions, Jesus went to the cross as the greatest demonstration of love that the world has ever seen. However, He was not loved in return. Instead, He was cursed, spit upon, beaten, humiliated, and killed. It was a terrible scene of the most irrational hatred the world has ever witnessed.

   Even in this madness, Jesus demonstrated faithfulness and love. He faced persecution and showed us the way to overcome it.

   Where I live, we have an expression that we use when we have had an unusually bad day. We say, “My mother always said there would be days like this.” When we are called to pay a difficult price for the privilege of wearing the name of Christ, we can, in the same way, say, “My Lord said there would be days like this.” Not only did He say that suffering would come, but He also told us what to do when it does come: Cling to the vine, and love one another!                                    

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[1] D. A. Carson, The Farewell Discourse and Final Prayer of Jesus: An Exposition of John 14-17 (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1980), pp. 90, 91.

[2] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the NET Bible.

[3] It had never occurred to me before that the exhortation of our Lord in John 13-17 is similar to that found in the Book of Hebrews, where the Greek term menw (“abide”) is found six times. Just as the writer to the Hebrews seeks to keep them from stumbling when persecution intensifies against them, so our Lord speaks to His disciples in the Upper Room, to keep them from stumbling (16:1) and to encourage, instead, their abiding in Him.

[4] The Greek term menw occurs 120 times in the New Testament, nearly half of which (55) appear in one of John’s writings. The term occurs 34 times in the Gospel of John, 20 times in the Johannine epistles (18 times in 1 John, 2 times in 2 John), and 1 time in Revelation.

[5] In addition to the verses cited below, see Psalm 80:8, 14; Isaiah 27:2ff.; Jeremiah 2:21; 12:10-13; Ezekiel 15:1-8; 17:8; 19:10-14; Joel 2:22; Zechariah 8:12; Malachi 3:11. Rosscup adds, “… the vine had been an emblem of Israel on Maccabean coins as well as on the gate of Herod’s Temple.” James E. Rosscup, Abiding in Christ: Studies in John 15 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1973), p. 246.

[6] In the context, unbelieving Jews are in focus, but in its broader application “fruitless branches” would include all unbelievers, especially those who falsely suppose themselves to be true believers in God.

[7] This word is found 28 times in the New Testament. It is found only once in the Synoptic Gospels. It occurs once in 1 Thessalonians, three times in Hebrews, and the other 21 times it is found in one of John’s writings (John, 9 times; 1 John, 2 times; Revelation, 10 times). Carson writes, “The word for ‘true’ (alethinos), here and often in John, means ‘real’ or ‘genuine.’ … In some passages this notion of ‘true’ or ‘genuine’ shades off into ‘ultimate’, because the contrast is not simply with what is false but with what is earlier and provisional or anticipatory in the history of God’s gracious self-disclosure.” D. A. Carson, The Gospel According to John (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1991), p. 122.

[8] The best defense of this interpretation I have seen is that of James E. Rosscup, Abiding in Christ: Studies in John 15 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1973), pp. 248-249.

[9] This is speaking from man’s point of view, as in Matthew 7:20. God knows men’s hearts; we don’t.

[10] Hendriksen writes, “In no sense whatever do such passages as 15:2 and 15:6 suggest that there is a falling away from grace, as if those who were once actually saved finally perish. This allegory plainly teaches that the branches which are taken away and burned represent people who never once bore fruit, not even when they were ‘in’ Christ. Hence, they never were true believers; and for them the in-the-vine relationship, though close, was merely outward. There is, accordingly, nothing here (in 15:1-11) that clashes in any way with 10:28. … The true believers of chapter 15 are represented by those branches which, abiding forever in the vine, bear fruit, more fruit, much fruit. These never perish!” William Hendriksen, Exposition of the Gospel According to John, 2 vols. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1953-1954), vol. 2, p. 296.

[11] We know from Romans 11 that this “hardening of Israel” is not total, but partial; not permanent, but temporary.

[12] I much prefer the rendering “reside” which the NET Bible suggests in its footnotes.

[13] His “abiding” in us is not exactly the same as our “abiding” in Him. By abiding in Him, we draw life and strength, and thus we bear fruit. As He abides in us, He imparts His life, truth, and strength to us. Thus, Christ is manifested both to us and through us. He does not draw His strength from us, but imparts it to us. Our abiding is that of dependence; His abiding is the gracious manifestation of His presence and power in and through us.

[14] In Luke 13:10-17, we read of our Lord healing the woman who had been bent over double for 18 years. Because she was healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue official was indignant—the law had been broken (by his reckoning). Jesus rebuked the official for not caring about this woman’s affliction, and for not rejoicing in her healing. The official was only concerned about the law; Jesus acted in love, and in so doing, the law was not broken, but fulfilled (cf. Matthew 5:17). 

[15] Notice that here, the keeping of the law was spoken of as keeping God’s “commandments,” virtually the same words we find on the lips of our Lord in John 15:10.

[16] This is a point at which some dispensationalists need to be very careful. In their efforts to contrast “law” and “grace” (the old covenant and the new), they tend to portray the law as being evil, and opposed to grace, when the law was given out of God’s love to point men to the grace they desperately need as sinners, condemned by the law, and which they can obtain only in Christ.

[17] “Up till this point the word joy has occurred in only one verse in this Gospel (3:29). But in the Upper Room it is used seven times.” Leon Morris, Reflections on the Gospel of John (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1988), vol. 3, p. 521.

[18] See also James 1:2; 1 Peter 4:13.

[19] Compare Romans 12:15, which instructs us to enter into the joy of fellow-believers, and also into their sorrows.

[20] “We should remember that in the Old Testament we read that Abraham was the friend of God (Isa. 41:8) and that God did not hide from Abraham what he proposed to do (Gen. 18:17). Similarly, God spoke to Moses as to a friend (Exod. 33:11). The disciples had been admitted to a relationship like that. They were not slaves, but friends.” Leon Morris, Reflections on the Gospel of John, vol. 3, p. 525.

[21] I wasn’t sure who the female artist was who sang this, though I’ve had several suggestions. That’s what comes with the passing of time.

[22] Morris writes, “The word kosmoV [world] has an especially Johannine ring about it in the New Testament. Altogether it occurs 185 times, of which 78 occurrences are in John, 24 in the Johannine Epistles, and 3 in Revelation. Its occurrence in the Synoptic Gospels is not frequent (Matthew 8 times, Mark and Luke 3 times each). It occurs in the Pauline Epistles a total of 47 times. It is thus a word of some importance for John and to a lesser extent for Paul, but it is not much used by other New Testament writers.” Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1971), p.126.

Carson adds, “Although some have argued that for John the word kosmoV (‘world’) sometimes has positive overtones (‘God so loved the world,’ 3:16), sometimes neutral overtones (as here; cf. also 21:24-25, where the ‘world’ is simply a big place that can hold a lot of books), and frequently negative overtones (‘the world did not recognise him,’ 1:10), closer inspection shows that although a handful of passages preserve a neutral emphasis the vast majority are decidedly negative. There are no unambiguously positive occurrences. The ‘world,’ or frequently ‘this world’ (e.g. 8:23; 9:39; 11:9; 18:36), is not the universe, but the created order (especially of human beings and human affairs) in rebellion against its Maker (e.g. 1:10; 7:7; 14:17, 22, 27, 30; 15:18-19; 16:8, 20, 33; 17:6, 9, 14). Therefore when John tells us that God loves the world (3:16), far from being an endorsement of the world, it is a testimony to the character of God. God’s love is to be admired not because the world is so big but because the world is so bad. … In fact, the ‘world’ in John’s usage comprises no believers at all. Those who come to faith are no longer of this world; they have been chosen out of this world (15:19).” D. A. Carson, The Gospel According to John (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1991), pp. 122-123.

[23] “There should be little doubt that the first virulent opposition Christians faced came from the Jews, precisely because the church sprang out of Judaism and all of its earliest members were Jews. It is not surprising that Paul five times received the thirty-nine lashes (2 Cor. 11:24)—a distinctive punishment meted out by synagogue authorities—or that Acts reports many forms of opposition stimulated by the opposition of Jewish authorities (e.g. ch. 7).” Carson, The Gospel According to John, p. 531.

“There is certainly evidence that some rabbinic authorities held that slaying heretics could be an act of divine worship (e.g. Numbers Rabbah 21:3 (191a) [with reference to Nu. 25:13]; Mishnah Sanhedrin 9:6­).” Carson, The Gospel According to John, p. 531.