The Next Day: A sermon John 6:26-40

A sermon on John 6:26-40.

John 14:28-31 - Going away

14:28,29

There are several pitfalls in understanding this verse. The most obvious is in taking “the Father is greater than I” out of context, or considering it purely on its own, and then drawing the erroneous conclusion that Jesus is not fully God. There are several reasons why such a conclusion is erroneous. The most important one is what I have just said about looking at the verse (or, in this case the phrase) in isolation. The rest of the gospel and the New Testament quite clearly shows that Jesus is fully divine. The immediate context is twofold, sending the Spirit, and Jesus’ obedience to Christ. Finally there is a complete misunderstanding we have of authority and superiority. Jesus has stated repeatedly that He only does what the Father wants, and in verse 31 this is seen as the climax of this section. When we talk about God words are limited in what they can express, especially when it comes to the Trinity, so anyone sentence will be inadequate to express the whole truth!

If you love me. Again we need to make sure we do not apply our soppy idea of love! If all the disciples had was an emotional/sentimental attachment to Jesus they would indeed be sad. But if they understood the whole plan, if they were committed to Jesus and the fulfilling of God’s plan then they would be glad.

Jesus knew that they would not understand everything just now, but He is telling them now so that they can better appreciate and understand things later.

14:30

The is the second reference to the “prince of the world”. The previous reference is in John 12:31 where we are told “now is the judgement of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out”. It would seem as though the “prince of this world” was getting his way, succeeding in his plans, but in reality it was God’s plans that were being fulfilled and satan’s hold on the world was being broken. Satan has no hold on Jesus. We do well to remember this, especially in days when we see evil seeming to triumph, whether it be in the extreme cases  of ISIS, or the increasing anti-Christian attitude of governments and society in the west. They have no hold upon Jesus.

14:31

Satan thought he was fulfilling his plans, in reality it was God’s plan that was being fulfilled, but this was not in the way that any man would think of. Jesus came to fulfill the Father’s plan, not man’s plan. People are constantly trying to fit Jesus into a manmade mould, all such attempts are futile, they are a violation of the command not to make any image of God. Jesus does “exactly what my Father has commanded me”. We need to let God shape us into His mould, not the other way round.

“Come now, let us leave”. This probably indicates that Jesus and the disciples left the upper room to make their way to Gethsemane.

John 14:25-27 - The Advocate

14:25,26

Jesus had spoken and taught many things (see verse 24), the teaching would not stop after His departure but would continue. The Holy Spirit would continue to teach them. This is one of the few places where the Holy Spirit is explicitly identified with the Helper. Here it says the Father will send the Holy Spirit. Elsewhere it refers to Jesus sending the Holy Spirit (eg 15:26). The Spirit is sent in Jesus’ Name. That means He comes to represent Jesus, to teach us the things that Jesus taught, also to remind the disciples of the things that Jesus taught. This is part of the doctrine of the inspiration of Scripture.

So part of the blessing of the gospel is that we can be taught in the same way that the disciples were taught. So how did Jesus teach His disciples? He brought up incidents and situations that they encountered along the way. He exposed defects in their heart attitudes, limits on their understanding, and above all else He revealed to them what Scripture really meant. We should expect the Holy Spirit to do the same with us.

14:27

Jesus then promises to give them His peace. This peace is not like the world’s peace which is usually based on falsehood or vain hopes. Jesus’ peace is based on truth. Jesus also taught them in the midst of conflict and testing situations, as indeed He was doing here. The disciples were in the midst of a terrible situation, their saviour was about to be killed. In the midst of this Jesus taught them some of the greatest truths contained in the Bible. When we go through difficult circumstances we too should expect Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, to teach us new things (new to us, that it is). There are times to have quiet contemplation and meditation, but Jesus also teaches in the midst of the storm.

So we should not let our hearts be troubled or be afraid. Now I guess all of us feel troubled or afraid from time to time, even a lot of the time. What should we do? We should speak to our souls to be still (Psalm 131). Now we might ask what good will that do, but in Phil 4:6,7 it tells us the same thing. We should pray, and the peace of God will guard our hearts and minds. When we do stuff God does stuff. Our part may seem inconsequential, but when we take these small steps God takes big steps in our lives.

John 14:22-24 - Obeying Jesus

14:22

Judas (not the traitor) asks why Jesus intends to show Himself to the disciples but not to the world. This is a question that many, probably including ourselves, ask. We wonder why doesn’t God make Himself more obvious. Indeed some atheists, Bertram Russell perhaps being the most famous, say that if after dying they discovered that God did exist they would ask Him “why didn’t you provide more proof?"

14:23,24

Jesus’ answer is very revealing, and highlights the difference between man’s thinking and God’s thinking. Man is self-centred, thinking that the fault lies with God. The root of the problem is that we do not love God. Now we think of “love” either in a sentimental or a romantic way, in the Bible it often has a much deeper meaning. The atheist does not want to end his rebellion against God, that is the root of the problem. Man wants God to act on our terms, but we need to act on God’s terms. Jesus declares that these words are the words of the Father. They are not an opinion, not a logical deduction, but the words of the creator and sustainer of all things.

John 14:20,21 - Whoever keeps my commands

14:20

“On that day”. Which day is this? It is certainly after the resurrection. It became all the more real at Pentecost. “Day” is probably not referring to a specific day, but talking in general about the time after the resurrection. Everything would change after that. Why? Because Jesus would send the Holy Spirit. What will we realise? That Jesus is in the Father, we are in Christ and He is in us. So we see that the unity that exists in the Godhead is also a unity that will exist with us. This is the goal. When we rebelled we were cut off from God, separated from Him. This was the judgement and the consequence of our sin. The consequence of the cross is that we are reconciled with God, and the intimacy of the relationship is beyond anything we can imagine. However well you may think you know God (and a lot of the time God may seem far off), we need to realise that God’s intention is that we know Him, that there is a close relationship between Him and us.

As an aside, note that Jesus says “He in us” when it is the Holy Spirit who is in us. There is complete unity between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. You cannot have one “part” of the Godhead without the others, for God is One. And when we know the Father, the Son or the Holy Spirit we know all of God.

14:21

This gives a very simple test of how we can tell if we, or someone else, loves Jesus. Do we obey His commands? This does not mean we earn salvation, rather it is the fruit of salvation. Note that this is consistent with what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount when He said “by their fruit shall you know them” (Matt 7:21). The corollary of this is that if someone says he or she loves Jesus or is following Jesus but blatantly disobeys His commands then they are lying. Today the most obvious example of this is so-called Christians who claim that a homosexual lifestyle is consistent with Christianity, but it applies to all sin. Now this does not mean a Christian will never sin, we all know that is not true, rather it is the direction of our lives.

If we love Jesus then the Father loves us too. Jesus will love us and show Himself to us. Again, let me say this not salvation by works, rather Jesus is teaching us about the depth of the relationship between God and us, and the nature of our relationship. Jesus demonstrated this within Himself. He lived a life of complete obedience to, and dependence on, the Father, and was in close relationship with Him. The goal for our lives is exactly the same.

John 14:18,19 - You will see me

14:18

The disciples were naturally upset at the prospect of Jesus leaving them, and this would become more so when the circumstances became all too apparent. The disciples would sense that something significant was going to happen, but would not, at this stage, know what. They knew the Jewish authorities were out to get Jesus, but then they had witnessed the triumphal entry into Jerusalem. They would be somewhat confused, but that would quickly turn to fear. But Jesus would not leave them as orphans, He was not going to leave them alone. “I will come to you”. Now this could refer to the resurrection appearances, but more likely refers to the Holy Spirit, given the context of what He has just been saying. We have the presence of Jesus with us (Matt 28:20).

14:19

In talking about the Holy Spirit “seeing” is used in a metaphorical sense, now Jesus uses the word in its physical sense. The world had seen Jesus, they had heard Him teach, seen Him do miracles, seen His actions, but soon they would not see Him. This is contrasted with the disciples who would continue to see Him (now back to using the word metaphorically). Why the difference? The disciples had faith, the world did not.

“Because I live you also will live”. Jesus would die but then be raised from the dead, and because of this we also will live. This has two meanings. It means that we will be raised from the dead to new life at the end of time, but it also means we live now. Given the context the latter meaning is probably more to the fore. Jesus “going away” was not bad news. Now we know this, at least intellectually, but imagine how the disciples felt. Now think how often we feel as though Jesus is far away. This is not what God intended or intends. The promise of the gospel, the promise of the Holy Spirit, is that He will be with us. We need to develop an intimate relationship with the Lord through the Holy Spirit.

John 14:16,17 - Spirit of Truth

14:16

We now come to key part of this section, and what will be a main focus of the following chapters, the sending of the Holy Spirit. The word translated “Helper” is “paraclete”. It means one who consoles, encourages or an advocate. They had had Jesus with them for some three years. Jesus had taught them and encouraged them, now He was going to leave them. However, they were not going to be left alone. They would receive the Holy Spirit and He would fulfil the same role. Moreover, He would be with us forever. Sometimes we might think how wonderful it would have been to have been around when Jesus was around. We would do far better to concentrate on getting to know the Holy Spirit better, learning to learn and receive from Him. And one of His key roles is to help us know Jesus better. Note also the implicit message that the Helper, the Holy Spirit, is a person. If we think of Him as a force or a power then we are going down the wrong track.

14:17

The Helper is the Spirit of Truth. So we see here the close connection with Jesus, for Jesus said He is the Truth (14:6). “The world cannot accept the Spirit, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him”. Now this is a strange saying in some ways. The Holy Spirit is not visible, so why does Jesus say the world does not see Him? It is because they do not see Jesus. Now did obviously the people did see Jesus physically, but most of them did not really see who He was. Likewise today, many people know about Jesus, but very few really recognise who He is.

“But you know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you”. This emphasises the identity with Jesus. The disciples did see Jesus and did know Him. Now think about this. The disciples knowledge and understanding of Jesus was very very limited. At this stage they had no idea about the resurrection, despite being told about it. Yet Jesus still said that they did see and know Him. So God does not expect our faith to be perfect for progress to be made.

The Holy Spirit will be in us. He dwells within us. Remember also Jesus’ words about the Father being in Him and He in the Father. Just as there is a unity between the Father and the Son, so there is to be a unity between the Spirit and us.

In all this we need to remember the fundamental doctrine of the trinity. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one God, there is complete and perfect unity between them. Yet they are three distinct persons. This must always be borne in mind when interpreting anyone verse, ie anyone verse must be interpreted in light of the rest of Scripture. For no one sentence can encapsulate the fullness of the doctrine of the trinity, so any one verse will emphasise one aspect of it. So if we base our understanding on one verse alone we will have a skewed view of things.

John 14:13-15 - Whatever you ask

14:13,14

We now get a great promise about prayer, but it is vital that we take it in its context. It lends no support to a “name it and claim it” theology, it is more powerful than that! If we ask in His name. Now this most definitely does not mean simply tagging “in your name” on to the end of prayers. It means praying as Christ would pray, praying the things He would pray. Remember that on several occasions we have seen Jesus emphasising that He only does what He sees the Father do and says what the Father says. We are to do likewise. We have been saved to become more and more like Christ, so that the Father’s name may be glorified. We have become part of God’s plan, active participants in His purposes.

14:15

In your Bible there is probably a section heading here. This is unfortunate, we should remember that it follows on directly from the previous verse. The promises on prayer are not a licence for “name it and claim it”, but for obedient servants of Christ. When we are obedient we have authority, when we live with Jesus as Lord of our life we have authority. As soon as we make ourselves lord of our life we lose authority.

The keeping of commandments is nothing new, it was central to the Old Testament. There is far greater continuity between the Old and New Testaments than most people appreciate.

Notice also the significance of Jesus telling His disciples to keep His commandments. This was not just a call to respect Him, but a general way of life. No one but the Son of God could make such a claim.

John 14:11,12 - Do the Jesus works

14:11

Jesus urges them to believe Him when He says the Father and He are one. Even if they cannot grasp the concept intellectually, He urges them to believe because of the works. The works here can be viewed in its widest sense. It includes the miracles, the signs and wonders, but it also includes all His teaching and actions.

14:12

Jesus did not just draw attention to the  works He does as “proof” of who He is, He also did this because His disciples would do the same things. In fact we will do greater things. As mentioned earlier, there is something of a transition or progression in Jesus’ teaching in this chapter. Previously the focus has been on who Jesus is, and that is still a key element. However, two further elements come to the fore. One is the Holy Spirit, and the other is our place in all this.

Because Jesus is going to the Father we will do greater works than Jesus did. Now what did Jesus mean by greater works? First, remember that the works applies to everything that Jesus did, the signs, the teaching, the actions. So does it mean we will do greater miracles? If we look in Acts we see the apostles doing similar miracles. In fact on several cases the incidents recorded would fit nicely in the gospels. However, they did not do greater miracles in quality. The “greater” refers to the global nature, ie the gospel spreading throughout the world, and the effectiveness. In Jesus’ time on earth there was very little real faith. After the resurrection and Pentecost there would be real faith. People would hear the gospel, would be born again and would truly believe. A transformation would take place in their lives.

We have not been saved just for our own benefit, but so that the work of God will continue through us. And this is only able to happen because Jesus was returning to the Father. Why did this matter? For two related reasons. First He would pay the price of our sins on the cross, and secondly the Holy Spirit would then be sent to us.

John 14:9,10 - Don't you know me?

14:9

Jesus re-emphasises the point He has been making. If they have seen Him then they have seen the Father. If we know what Jesus is like then we know what the Father is like. So again we see the unity of the Father and the Son.

Jesus had spent almost three years with them, yet they still failed to realise fully who He was and what He was about. Why is this? It is because they have not yet received the Holy Spirit, and we will shortly hear much more about Him. Without the Spirit we cannot see who Jesus really is.

14:10

Jesus now elaborates on why if they have seen and know Him then they know everything they need to know. Note that belief comes first. We need to believe that the Jesus is “in the Father” and that the Father “is in Him”. The Father and the Son are distinct but completely united. Jesus did not come with His own ideas or His own agenda. Rather He came to do His Father’s will. It was the Father living in Him that caused Him to do the things He did. He acted on His Father’s authority not His own authority.

Now see how different this is from the world’s approach, and indeed of man’s rebellion. The root of our rebellion is a desire to act on our own authority. We see this very much today in an increasing rejection of anything to do with God. We will decide what is right and wrong.

If we want to have true authority in our lives and true freedom, then we need to submit to the Father, to God. We are loathe to do this because we fear losing our life, losing authority. But Jesus said if we lose our life for His sake then we will truly find it. Just think about it for a moment. Without God we have nothing, we owe our very existence to Him, so it actually makes perfect sense that if we are to be truly fulfilled, truly what we are meant to be, then we need to submit to Him.

John 14:6-8 - I am the way

14:6,7

Jesus then makes it clear that He is the way, the truth and the life. If we follow Jesus, if we trust in Him then we will get to the place where He wants us to be. Moreover, He is the only way to the Father. So Jesus is not just a way, He is the way.

If we really know Jesus then we will know the Father as well. There is complete unity between the Father and the Son. Then Jesus says that the disciples do know the Father and have seen Him. Why did He say this? Because they knew Jesus, so they did know the Father. So the disciples actually knew more than they realised.

14:8

Thomas had said they didn’t know where Jesus was going. That was true, in a sense, but they didn’t need to know. Philip doubts that they have actually seen the Father. Maybe Philip said it in response to Jesus’ words “from now on you do know Him”. Maybe he was expecting some new revelation. The truth was that he didn’t realise what he already had, what Jesus had already given to them. We need to appreciate what God has already given to us, we need to have our eyes and ears opened to see and hear what we have already been shown.

John 14:3-5 - Where are you going?

14:3

Then He tells them He will come back for us to take us to be with Him. There was a purpose in all that was about to happen, and that purpose was good and was good for us, because of what Jesus was doing.

“Come back” has been interpreted in various ways: (i) their seeing Him again after the resurrection; (ii) the sending of the Holy Spirit; (iii) the return of Jesus at the end of the age. Clearly all three of these are important and are related, but it is primarily the third option that fits best. The goal of God’s plans is that He will be our God and we will be His people, or as it says in Revelation, “now the dwelling of God is with men” (Rev 21:3). We will be with Jesus forever, and everything will be changed.

14:4,5

“You know the way to the place where I am going”. Clearly the disciples, especially Thomas, did not think they knew the way. In fact Thomas’s question was based on the fact that they didn’t know where Jesus was going, so how could they know the way? Now this was understandable, but even though they did not know where Jesus was going, they actually did know the way. We do not need to know where Jesus is going in order to follow Him. In fact the Bible has many examples of people following the Lord without knowing the details. Abraham was called by God to leave his land but was not told where he was going (Heb 11:8). When Jesus called the disciples to follow Him He did not tell them where He was leading them. We want to focus on the what and the where. It is actually more important to focus on the who.

John 14:1,2 - Many rooms

14:1

Another case where it is helpful to forget the chapter divisions. “Do not let your hearts be troubled”. Jesus has just told them some very troubling things, one will betray Him, another will deny Him. The times themselves were troubling, the disciples knew that the Jewish leaders were out to get Jesus. Even more troubling things were about to happen with the arrest, trial and crucifixion of Jesus.

Yet Jesus tells them not to be troubled. What are they to do instead? Trust in God and also in Jesus. Note the tacit equality between Jesus and God. We are not to let ourselves be governed by the circumstances, instead we are to put our focus on the Lord, to trust in Him.

14:2

“My Father’s house has plenty of room”, or as other versions put it “has many rooms”, or even “many mansions” (AV). The word translated “rooms” is used only here and in v23 of this chapter. The key point is that Jesus is going to prepare a place for us, an abundant dwelling, and the defining characteristic of that dwelling is that we will be with the Lord. We will live in perfect fellowship with Him.

Jesus is going there to prepare a place for us. What does this mean? It refers to His death and resurrection. He was going to pay the price of our sin, to provide our justification, He was going to defeat the power of sin, death and the devil over us. He was going to reconcile us with the God.

John 13:34-38 - In denial

13:34,35

“A new command I give to you”. What was new about it? Love was not new, indeed the two greatest commandments were to love God and to love our neighbour. The newness was that they must love as Christ had loved them. We were made in the image of God, we are to reflect His nature. Jesus came to love sacrificially. We are to love like He loved. But the sacrificial aspect is not the only vital feature. Jesus loved by living a life in total obedience to the Father. We too are to have our lives totally directed by the Lord.

This is how the world will know that we are Christ’s disciples, when we love one another as He loved us. And I emphasise again that the two aspects of this are vital, the sacrificial nature, and the obedience to the Father. Too often we just interpret this in a soppy way. Jesus does not fit any of our liberal conceptions of what love means.

13:36-38

These verses are very rich, and beyond just Jesus predicting Peter’s denial of Jesus. Peter wanted to know where Jesus was going. Jesus doesn’t tell him where, but just that at present he cannot follow Him, but will do so later. Why doesn’t He tell him where? Partly because it is more than a place, it is a way of life, a life lived in perfect fellowship with the Father.

Peter thinks he can follow Jesus, thinks he will lay down his life for Jesus. Why cannot he follow Jesus? We all harbour delusions about the level of our commitment. There are two vital things to learn here. One is that in our own strength we cannot follow Jesus. Today we read of IS killing Christians. How would we react if that sort of thing started happening here? Or how would we react if we were in danger of losing our job for teaching Christian truth? We might like to think that we would stand up for Jesus, but we would be foolish to rely on our own strength.

On the other hand we must not despair. For Peter would later lay down his life for Jesus. Jesus can enable us to do the things that we would otherwise find impossible. We need to depend upon the Lord.

But in the immediate future Peter would deny Jesus three times.

John 13:32,33 - Glory!

13:32

The first part of this verse, “If God is glorified in Him” is not included in many early manuscripts. It really matters little as the end of verse 31 tells us that God is glorified in Christ. So because God is glorified in Christ, Christ is glorified in God. Now elsewhere we read that we will share in Christ’s glory (Rom 8:17). Rebellious man objects to God seeking to be glorified and want glory for himself. Now the problem is not actually man wanting glory for himself, rather it is the way he goes about it. It is only when we submit to the Lord, when we seek His glory above all else that we can truly receive glory ourselves. You see God is the source of everything. He is the One who created us in the first place. without Him we have nothing and are nothing.

“and will glorify Him at once”. There is no delay in Christ being glorified.

13:33

Earlier Jesus had told the Jewish leaders that where He was going they could not come (John 7:33,34). However, there are key differences. First is the tone with which Jesus addresses them, He calls them “my children”. Then a little later, v36, He says they will follow later. Jesus would not be with them for much longer. Jesus would go to the cross and die there, suffering God’s judgement.

John 13:28-31 - It was night

13:28-30

“No one at the meal understood”. The rest of the disciples presumably hadn’t heard John’s private conversation with Jesus, and it may be that John means “no one, except John, understood. However, it could also be that John, at that stage, did not understand why Jesus wanted Judas to do his deed quickly.

The others reasoned that Judas was being sent out to buy some stuff for the Festival or to give to the poor, since Judas was in charge of the money bag.

“And it was night”. This could be a simple statement of fact, or it could be a more meaningful comment on the state of affairs that were now unfolding. Evil was being allowed to have its way, or so it thought.

13:31

Judas has now gone, so it is just the “real” disciples left. “Now the Son of Man is glorified”. We need to appreciate that the prime purpose is to bring glory to Christ and to bring glory to the Father. Now  modern man baulks at this idea, we think it is arrogant of God to want glory, so let’s look at this a little more closely. First, glory includes moral excellence and significance. One of the root meanings of the word in Hebrew is “weight” in the sense of significance. So the cross demonstrates the moral excellence of God. Two of the key ways in which it does this are (i) it demonstrates God’s goodness and justice; and (ii) it demonstrates God’s mercy and love. The cross also demonstrates the significance of God. Throught the cross and resurrection the effects of sin are undone, we are made righteous, we are forgiven, we are justified. The power of death is defeated.

John 13:22-27 - Who is it?

13:22-25

All the events on this last week were going to cause great consternation to the disciples, and that included the fact that one of them would betray Jesus. They had assumed Jesus was the Messiah who would save them, and that they were united in following Him. What did Jesus mean? Perhaps more importantly, who did He mean? Verse 23 contains the first of four references to the disciple whom Jesus loved. This is generally taken to mean John, the author of this gospel. Why does John refer to himself in this way? To our ears it sounds as though he has too high an opinion of himself. However, in John’s gospel we learn of many things that could only be known by a close confidante of Jesus, and what John is doing is explaining how he came to know these things about Jesus that he relates in the gospel. It does not mean that he was loved more than the other disciples. Note also that Jesus drew close to John for a reason, so that the things read of in this gospel would be related to the whole world, so that we could all benefit from them. Peter urged John to ask of Jesus who the betrayer was, and John did this.

13:26,27

Jesus let John know who the traitor was surreptitiously. The Greek does not actually say “piece of bread” but just “piece”. However, it being a piece of bread fits in Jesus’ earlier quote from Psalm 41:9. Jesus then dipped the bread, presumably in the bitter herbs, and gave it to Judas.

“As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered him”. As indicated earlier, this Satanic involvement in no way absolves Judas of any responsibility. Also, we tend to associate demonic or Satanic activity always with “the Exorcist” type stuff. Now this sort of thing does happen, indeed there are incidences presented in the gospels, but it is not the only sort of demonic activity, nor even the most common. The influence of Satan is much more pervasive. In fact in John’s gospel it is the more mundane activity of the devil that is the focus, eg referring to the devil being the “father” of the Jewish leaders.

Judas was not irrevocably acting in league with the devil, though he probably didn’t appreciate this. Jesus knew this was also part of God’s plan and urges Judas to get on with it.

John 13:20,21 - Accept me

13:20

This verse must be referring back to verse 16 where Jesus has spoken of messengers, or ones who are sent (apostles). Throughout this gospel the emphasis has been upon Jesus being sent by the Father, on Jesus representing the Father and only doing what He sees the Father do, and saying what the Father does. Now this chain is being extended. The Father sent the Son, and now the Son sends the disciples, and sends us. We will see this throughout the teaching in the coming chapters. We are sent in the same way that the Son was sent. We do not go on our own authority, nor to achieve our own ends. We go in God’s authority to achieve His ends. So if, when we are acting as Christ’s messengers, as His apostles, we are accepted, it is Jesus they are accepting and in doing so they are accepting the Father.

13:21

This is the third time that we read Jesus was troubled in spirit. The first time was when Lazarus was dead (11:33,38), the second was at the prospect of going to the cross (12:27) and now here at the prospect of Judas betraying Him. I think this helps us to interpret the reading in 11:33,38. There I noted that a widely held view is that Jesus was disturbed at the lack of faith on the part of Martha and Mary. Yet the other two are Jesus being disturbed with very human emotions, so it would seem reasonable that in 11:33,38 is the real human emotions experienced at the death of a friend that caused His emotions. We need to equally appreciate the humanity and the divinity of Jesus.

Jesus declared to all the disciples that one would betray Him.

John 13:18,19 - A traitor in the camp

13:18

Jesus now quotes from Psalm 41:9, talking about Judas. In verse 17 He has just pronounced a blessing on them, if they follow His example, but He knows it does not apply to all of them. One will betray Him. Jesus knew the disciples He had chosen, He also knew that Judas would betray Him.

“He who shared my bread ...” Hospitality was extremely important in middle eastern culture and to betray someone who had shown you hospitality was a particularly heinous thing to do.

Now we need to appreciate that there are two things that are true here. Jesus always knew what Judas would do, He chose Judas as a disciple knowing what He would do. The betrayal did not come as a surprise. At the same time the betrayal of Judas was real, it was real in the heart of Judas, in the sin he committed, and it was real in the pain it caused Jesus. The sovereignty of God, His foreknowledge, His decree, does not mean that the decisions we make, the attitudes of our heart, the actions we take are not real.

13:19

Jesus was not telling His disciples this so that they could comfort Him in His anguish, but for their benefit, so that later on they would understand and believe. “When it does happen ...” Clearly immediately after it happened they did not believe, rather they were in despair. After the cross the two disciples on the road to Emmaus were downcast. But after Jesus revealed Himself the disciples did begin to understand and believe.

John 13:12-17 - An example to follow

13:12-15

Jesus then asked them if they understood what He had done. They probably didn’t. and we aren’t told any of the answers they gave, if indeed they did give any answer. So Jesus explains the significance to them.

They called Him Teacher (or Rabbi) and Lord, and were right to do so. Yet Jesus had washed their feet, this most menial of tasks. In the world we so often people take positions of prominence, authority or power as an opportunity to receive praise, to get their own way, or to lord it over others. In the Kingdom authority works differently, we have authority to serve. So there are two aspects to this, and we need to appreciate both of them. On the one hand we need to appreciate the authority and respect that certain positions have. On the other hand, if we happen to be in one of those positions we must make it our goal to serve. We are to follow Jesus’ example.

13:16,17

Jesus is much more than an example, but He is certainly an example, the supreme example. If we want to know how the gospel works, how the Kingdom works, how Godly authority works then we need to look at Jesus. The church has a nasty habit of going to one extreme or the other. On the one hand some ignore the authority that Jesus has and the real effect He has on our lives, on the other we have “prosperity gospel” (which is actually no gospel at all) preachers talking complete rubbish. If we follow Jesus then we may end up going to a cross!

So we need to appreciate the authority we have in Jesus, and we need to appreciate how the authority works, how we are to be servants, servants of Christ, servants of each other, and servants to the world. If we do this we will be blessed if we do them. So we need to live servant lifestyles if we to experience the true blessings of the gospel. And a fundamental part of the blessing is seeing the increase in kingdom influence in the world.

Note that the word translated “messenger” is “apostolos”, ie apostle. The base meaning of apostle is one who is sent. The equivalent Hebrew word is “envoy” and according to rabbinic teaching the one who is sent is as the man himself, and anything done to the messenger is regarded as being done to the one who sent him.

John 13:9-11 - Being clean

13:9

In typical Peter fashion, Peter now went from one extreme to the other. Rather than not wanting Jesus to wash his feet, he now wanted Him to wash his hands and head as well. Peter wanted to be a part of Jesus above all, so if getting washed by Jesus was necessary, then he was all for it.

13:10,11

Jesus’ reply is somewhat enigmatic. The practical reference is to the fact that someone going to the feast would have washed themselves before leaving, so only their feet would need to be washed again after arriving. Then Jesus says they are already clean. Later in John 15:3 Jesus says they are clean because of the word that He has spoken to them. So what does all this mean for us? We need to believe the word that Jesus speaks, we need to believe the gospel, and indeed the whole Bible. That is essential, but there are still things that need to be done for us. Now faith itself is a gift of God, but we need to exercise the gift, but there are also things where we are passive and just to let God do things for us.

Even so, Jesus knew that one of the disciples was not clean. That of course is Judas who was going to betray Him, and Jesus always knew that Judas would do this. Judas had not believed the gospel and so was not clean.

John 13:3-8 - You will understand

13:3-5

See how these two verses fit together. What does Jesus know about Himself? He  knew that the Father had put all things under His power, that He had come from God, and was returning to God. So what is His response? A normal human response would be to be full of oneself, to be proud. Instead, Jesus got Himself ready to wash the disciples’ feet, and then proceeded to do so. Note the details given, emphasising the careful preparation and the dedication to the task. Now washing a person’s feet was the most menial of menial tasks. Sometimes they wouldn’t even allow a Jewish servant to do the task. Yet here was Jesus, the leader of the group, doing this task.

The more secure we are in God’s love for us, in our position in Christ, the more of a servant we will be. In the world the confident person is thought to be the one who promotes himself, who pushes himself forward, but this is really just a sign of insecurity. The truly secure person is ready to do any task that is required, even ones that are viewed as the most menial. We can do this because we know who we are in Christ.

13:6-8

Imagine the thoughts going on in the minds of the disciples. Jesus was the Messiah, the one they were devoting their lives to, He was their leader. Yet here He was doing this job that was the lowest of the low. It would challenge every social convention they had. Typically Peter voices these concerns, while the others kept them to themselves. Peter is horrified and seeks to stop Jesus washing his feet. Jesus tells him that Peter must let Him do this, otherwise he has no part in Jesus.

This task was both a demonstration of how we are to serve, but also of the cross. We are sinners, we need to be cleansed of sin, we need to be forgiven. Our sins are not nice, our uncleanness is far worse that any dirt the disciples might have picked up on their feet. Yet Jesus went to the cross to cleanse us of these sins, He had to do a far more terrible and costly thing than wash our feet in order to wash us of our sins. And unless we are prepared to let Him do this then we have no part in Him. There is only one way to come to Jesus and that is as a repentant sinner seeking forgiveness and cleansing.

John 13:1,2 - Foot-washing for beginners

13:1

We are now moving into the final phase. It is during this phase that Jesus gave lots of invaluable teaching to His disciples, and the first teaching comes in the form of a practical lesson. “Jesus knew His hour had come”. Several times before John said His hour had not yet come, and Jesus avoided arrest or being killed. Now He would make no attempt to resist, the time for Him to go to the cross had arrived.

He also knew that He had to leave the world and go to the Father. Jesus knew the cross was not the final destination, it was a necessary and essential part of the route. He would return to the Father after the cross. When we go through hard times we need to keep in mind the final destination, which is to be with the Lord forever.

He loved them to the end. This can also be translated “He loved them to the uttermost”. So he could either be saying that He loved them all the time He was on earth, even though He was about to face the most horrendous suffering, or it could mean the washing of their feet demonstrated the extent of His love.

13:2

There are some who say this could not have been the Passover meal but was a fellowship meal eaten before the Passover meal itself. However, it is better to take it as the Passover meal, and then it is consistent with the synoptic gospels.

We then read that Satan had already prompted Judas to betray Jesus. This does not absolve Judas of responsibility. Throughout the Bible, especially in the New Testament, we see that something is the work of God, the work of Satan and the work of men. We always want to narrow it down to just one of these parties, and that is why we get in such a fix over things like predestination. According to the Bible many things are the work of all three. Satan was at work in the cross, so were men, especially the Jewish leaders. Both these parties had evil purposes in mind and are guilty for what they did. But we also know that supremely the cross was the work of God, designed to bring about our salvation.