Last time we established that as the disciple closest to Jesus, John wrote about him in deeply personal terms, focusing on his words rather than his miracles and conveying much about Jesus’ feelings. After only 12 chapters describing Jesus’ life and ministry, he then devotes 5 to the hours leading up to the crucifixion, and the words Jesus shared with those he loved. I believe that in those chapters we can understand much of what Jesus wanted his disciples and us to know. I’ll pick up where I left off.
After affirming the pre-eminence of love and delivering a new commandment, and after assuring his disciples that the chaos they were about to experience was not the end, he reaffirms that all they need to know about God can be seen in him. He wants them to have no other image of the Father than the compassion and service of his own nature. John 14:10-11,
‘Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me’
Modern day evangelicalism can be confused about its understanding of the nature of God, mixing Old Testament portrayals of a wrathful, terrifying God with the softer, more compassionate image of the Healer. I firmly believe that Jesus meant exactly what he said to his disciples. Our image of God should be of Christ and Christ alone, as the clearest, most distilled manifestation of God – the invisible made visible. If you can’t see it in Jesus, it is not part of the nature of God.
The centrality of the Holy Spirit
Next he reassures them that though he is going somewhere they cannot follow, he will be with them in their spirits through the indwelling Holy Spirit, who will soon take his rightful place in their hearts. John 14:16-21,
‘And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you for ever – the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me any more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realise that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.’
The language is interesting here. Jesus makes it clear that through the Holy Spirit he will come to them, through whom they will continue to walk with Jesus. It is through the Holy Spirit alone that we see Jesus, that we are in him and he in us. The Holy Spirit empowers us to live a life of love, yielded and submitted to God, through which we make room for the entire Godhead to make their home in us. Verse 23:
‘Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.’
My takeaway from this is that every aspect of the Christian life is lived through the Holy Spirit. I grew up in a church that largely rejected the gifts of the Spirit, did nothing to encourage their use, and sometimes taught that those who did were ‘of the Devil’. Let’s be clear – this is blasphemy. There is no version of Christianity in which de-emphasising the Holy Spirit is an act of obedience. When you de-emphasise the Holy Spirit, you de-emphasise Jesus and the Father.
The only type of prayer life, worship life, and service God desires is that which flows from a genuine connection with the Divine, and which is led by the Divine. Every one of us should actively seek to deepen our knowledge of the Holy Spirit, hear him more clearly, learn to follow his leading, and fashion ourselves as vessels for the flow of his power. There is no discipleship without this – only human effort.
The Holy Spirit draws our eyes to Jesus and leads us into all truth – today as then. Verse 26,
‘But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.’
Without the leading of the Holy Spirit, our doctrine and theology is merely carnal – a human attempt to understand the Bible in all its complexity.
The assurance of peace in dark times
Towards the end of chapter 14, Jesus returns to preparing them for the dark days to come, assuring them of his peace in verse 27:
‘Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.’
Oft-quoted verses can lose their meaning, so let’s pause a moment to consider what the peace of Jesus actually is. For me, it is the willingness to rest and trust even as danger looms, based on several factors:
- God has promised to always find a way through trouble. He will lead us out.
- The presence of God is a tangible comfort.
- The Holy Spirit is whispering assurances to us.
- By yielding control and trusting, we can find a place of peace that exists despite the roaring and fury of our circumstances.
- At the end of the day, Heaven awaits. Though intense in the moment, our struggles are but light and momentary sufferings. Our willingness to trust God in the middle of them earns us a glory that far outweighs them all.
The encouragement to walk closely with God
In chapter 15, Jesus speaks of the Father as a gardener, of himself as the vine, and of us as the branches of that vine, urging us to stay connected at all times, warning that a distant, unconnected faith is one that leads to destruction. The only way to walk closely with God is to learn to flow with the Holy Spirit. Just as the sap of the vine flows into its branches, and the root of the vine draws goodness from the soil, passing it along every limb, we are called to remain in an organic flow of spiritual connection to God. Chapter 15:7-8,
‘If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
‘As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.’
Jesus is clear that in him, there is no such thing as a fruitless disciple. Verse 8 states that the bearing of fruit is first of all a natural result of remaining in the vine (walking closely with God), and secondly the evidence that we are disciples in any real sense. Similarly, chapter 14:12-14 demonstrates that walking intimately with God leads to all kinds of answered prayers and interventions of God in our lives and the lives of those we minister to and pray for:
‘Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.’
For me, all these encouragements, exhortations, and teachings speak of connection to God. Our understanding of the nature of God, our connection to Jesus, our ability to enter supernatural, inexplicable peace, how closely we walk with God, whether or not we bear fruit, and even the answers to our prayers, and miraculous activity flowing through us as it flowed through Jesus are first of all the intention of God, and secondly dependant on our commitment to walking closely with the Spirit day by day.
How closely do you walk with the Holy Spirit? Putting aside the limited expectations and perspectives of others, even those you respect, just imagine for a minute that a far deeper connection is possible – more love, more transformation, more power.
Lord, we yield to you. Fill us with your Spirit and lead us to lives of love and power. Amen.
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