John 13

Chapter 13. The Parting Words of Jesus to His Own Disciples at the TableJoh_13:12 to John 14:31This entire discourse was given while they sat at the table in the upper room. It is naturally divided into six sections by the six questions or statements to Him; each contains His answer. Christ’s Question

1. His own question to the disciples: “Do you understand what I have done for you?” (John 13:12). The answer to this contains His beautiful teachings concerning humility and brotherly love, as expressed in the example He had just set them by washing their feet. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. (John 13:14-17) John’s Question
2. The question of John: “Lord, who is it?” (John 13:25). This question refers to the betrayer, and Jesus answers it by giving the sign to Judas, and so addressing him that the betrayer is forced to withdraw from the presence of the Master and the disciples. This is what Jesus desired before speaking His words of tender and confidential farewell. He could not bear the pressure of this hideous consciousness of treachery and evil, and yet He did it so tenderly that the act was Judas’ own. His departure is followed by a solemn and emphatic declaration, suggested by what He knows of the dark purpose of the traitor: “Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him” (John 13:31). He does not say now is the Son of Man crucified, but above all the shame and anguish of the cross He sees the spanning rainbow of the glory it will bring to His Father and the subsequent recompense which it is also to bring to Him, for He adds, “If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son” (John 13:32). Then there falls upon His loving heart the shadow of the separation which it is to involve for His beloved disciples: “I will be with you only a little longer…. Where I am going, you cannot come” (John 13:33). But this separation is to bind them closer to each other, and bring them that blessing which will be next to His own presence and love: the bond of brotherly love. And so, in this way, the new commandment of Christianity is instituted and promulgated. “A new command I give you: Love one another,” not, as the old law expressed as you love yourselves, but “as I have loved you” (John 13:34). This is indeed the divine principle of Christianity, and was, by the admission of its enemies, among the divinest causes of its successful progress in the early centuries. It is not a natural affection, based on congenial affinities and qualities, but born of the Holy Spirit, imparted from the heart of Jesus, and measured only by His own measureless love. Peter’s Question
3. The question of Peter: “Lord, where are you going?… why can’t I follow you now?” (John 13:36-37). The first answer Jesus gave was an assurance to the impulsive disciple that he shall yet follow Him where He goes, which must have been a comfort in view of all the words and experiences that followed. The next reply is a solemn intimation of his own great sin, which must have fallen like a shock of unutterable, and perhaps of long continued silence on the little group. “I tell you the truth, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!” (John 13:38). The effect of these three tremendous announcements, that one should betray Him, another, even His boldest follower, deny Him, and He Himself soon pass out of sight where they cannot even follow Him, we can easily believe was a shock of intense distress and almost complete prostration to the little band of disciples. Dark shadows must have gathered on their faces, and perhaps their eyes were filled with tears of anxious grief. It was then that the Master spoke again and uttered those sweetest words of consolation perhaps ever expressed by Him, in which He most fully answers Peter’s question, “Where are you going?” Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going. (John 14:1-4) a. He comforts their hearts by sympathy, with the words, “Do not let your hearts be troubled” (John 14:1); and the tone in which they were doubtless uttered was meant to cheer them by the very tenderness of His love and sympathy for them, even before He spoke a single word of faith or hope, and still that loving sympathy is throbbing in His heart toward every one of His troubled children. He would shield us from our heart troubles and pillow our heads upon His gentle bosom. If the heart can but rise above its troubles they will not overwhelm us, even as the billows of the ocean cannot submerge the struggling ship, so long as the hatchways are closed and the water does not enter the hold. Christ, and Christ alone, can keep the heart victorious and still in the wildest conflict. b. He comforts them by encouraging their faith, “Trust in God,” He says, “trust also in me” (John 14:1). It is not “you believe in God,” but a command. Over against every difficult place let us write the words, “but God.” Let us remember that we have a divine Protector and Shield, but let us also add to the transcendent thought of God, this sweet thought of Jesus, “Trust also in me.” Let us clothe His sweetness with the divine omnipotence, and let us color the divine omnipotence with the soft light of His love. This is the Lamb in the midst of the throne, the gentleness in the midst of the Almightiness. “Trust also in me.” Faith is the true source of abiding comfort. Sympathy alone is not enough, we must also trust, and the first resting place of our trust is His person. “Trust in God.” Then He adds the following words to lift their faith to the throne where He is about to ascend and the work on which He is immediately to enter in their behalf, “I am going there to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2). Faith not only rests upon the person of Christ, but also loves to dwell upon the place where He has gone, the right hand of God, and the work which He is doing, representing us and preparing our future home. And once more He reveals the way by which they are still to have communion with Him even in His absence and in a little while to rise to meet Him. “You know the way to the place where I am going” (John 14:4). It is not enough to know that He is there, and there for us, but we also need to know how we may communicate with Him and ultimately follow Him. This, too, He says, we know. And a little later He tells them it is He Himself. Faith thus rests upon Jesus, the way of access to God, and if we will only thus believe, our hearts will never be troubled. c. He comforts them not only by faith, but also by hope. He intimates first that He Himself is coming again for them in a little while. This is the church’s chief hope, oft obscure and even forgotten, but her one supreme consolation, the coming of her Lord. “I will come back and take you to be with me” (John 14:3). This is not death, but the brighter, better hope of His own personal return. d. He gives them a glimpse of the glory that awaits them at His coming, and speaks of the rooms, and the Father’s house, and the place prepared. All this is suggested by the figure of the Father’s house, the metropolis of this magnificent universe, the rooms with which His infinite power and glory will adorn that celestial city, and the preparation which His loving hands are about to give to their future home. We may be assured there will be nothing wanting which thoughtful love could plan, and all this may well suggest a vision of glory and happiness which should dry their tears and fill their hearts with hope and consolation. There is still another thought suggested by the word “many” which hints at the happy reunion which His coming will bring with the many that are linked with their affections and hopes. It shall not be a solitary grandeur, but a restoration of broken ties and a healing of broken hearts in everlasting love. And there is a still finer hint in one sentence which suggests an inexpressible meaning of comfort, “If it were not so, I would have told you” (John 14:2). But how much this covers; hopes that we scarcely dare to utter, but still feel that He has not forgotten, and a whole world of unrevealed and unutterable satisfactions which our bursting hearts cannot regulate. Thomas’ Question
4. The question of Thomas: “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” (John 14:5). Thomas is a natural doubter, partly because of his ardent love. His heart takes so intense a hold on things that he cannot bear to be deceived. He, therefore, cannot rest in any indefiniteness, but must know without doubt or vagueness, not only the certainty of these bright hopes, but the very way by which they are to be fulfilled. This Jesus answers by giving a more emphatic announcement of His own personality as the one answer both to this and all their questionings. “I am the way,” He says, “and the truth and the life” (John 14:6). It is not in a physical or material manifestation that you are to be led into these hopes and maintain this communication with Me, but through your spiritual union and fellowship with Me, for I am not only the Way, but I am also the Truth and the Life. And as you know Me and abide in communion with Me, you are also to know the Father and have access to His presence, and also to know of the truth of My teachings, and the deepest experiences of spiritual life. For I am also the Life as well as the Truth and the Way. The first of these beautiful expressions may well describe our justification, the second, our deeper teaching, and the third, our deeper life in Christ. We are saved by simply coming to Him and becoming united to Him. There is no way but He, and there is ho need of any way to Him, for He Himself is the way. And so, as regards our higher teaching, it is not truth in the abstract that we need to know, but the truth as it is in Jesus. He is the substance of all the teachings of the Old Testament and the deeper revelations of the New. They all terminate with Him; the object of each is to reveal Him and have us know Him as our personal light, and the substance of all knowledge and wisdom. And so of our life, whether it be of soul or body, it is not an impartation from Him, but it is His own very life shed abroad in us, sustaining us by constant dependence upon Himself, so that, as He says a little later, “Because I live, you also will live” (John 14:19). Philip’s Statement
5. The question of Philip: “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us” (John 14:8). This whole passage is, in some sense, the answer to this question. a. He tells them that He is the manifestation of the Father, and that all His works on earth have been through the energy of the Father working in Him. And He expresses surprise that Philip should not yet have known Him in His divine character and relationship. b. He tells them that He is about to go to the Father. However, He will still reveal His power and grace, no less than when on earth, but even more mightily through His disciples, that just now as He represents the Father on earth, so they, then, shall represent Him; “He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12). c. He tells them that the answers to their prayers are about to be revealed after His ascension. They will be the evidence to them of His union with the Father. “And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father” (John 14:13). d. The Holy Spirit, who is about to descend upon them, will be another proof of His union with the Father, and will come from the Father at His intercession, and will dwell in them both as the Revealer of the Father and of the Son, and as the Representative of the Godhead henceforth on earth. e. The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, shall not be so distinct from Him that He shall be another presence, for He shall be the spirit which has hitherto dwelt in Christ, and He shall come as the Spirit of Christ, and thus bring the personal presence of Christ in abiding union and conscious fellowship, and shall reveal to the soul the person of Jesus and His relation to the Father with glorious vividness and blessedness; for, He says, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you” (John 14:18). That is, through the coming of the Comforter. And then He adds, On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him. (John 14:20-21) Thus the question of Philip is fully answered. Not only does Jesus say that the Father is in His own incarnate person, but after His ascension, He is to send the Holy Spirit to reveal Himself to them in closer intimacy and to bring the presence of the Father Himself into their hearts, so that they shall know that He is in the Father and they in Him and He in them, and thus the whole mystery of the Trinity will be revealed in the living experience of the consecrated heart. This, indeed, is the only way in which any soul can ever fully grasp and find comfort and support in the doctrine of the Trinity. As a speculation, it is as cold as it is lofty; but as an experience, brought to the heart by the Holy Spirit through the indwelling presence of Jesus, it is a threefold cord of infinite joy and everlasting love. Jude’s Question
6. The question of Jude: “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?” (John 14:22). First, He tells them the very secret of this manifestation is obedience and love. The world cannot, therefore, know Him, because it neither loves nor obeys Him. But he that will obey Him shall know this, not as an occasional flash of light and glory, but as an abiding joy, making the heart a literal heaven where the Father, Son and Holy Spirit erect their throne and make their continual abode. “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him” (John 14:23). Conclusion
7. Summing up of all these teachings and closing benediction as He rises from the table. First, He tells them that these parting words have been spoken to them in view of His separation from them; but that these and all other things which they shall need to know, and many of which they may indeed forget, will be brought to their remembrance and more fully revealed by the manifestation of the Holy Spirit who is about to come in His very name, as His Substitute and Successor, to represent Him and to finish His work. “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” (John 14:26). Therefore, although there may be much at present that they cannot fully comprehend, and much they may fear they shall forget, yet He shall be their faithful and patient Teacher, and all that now seems strange shall be made perfectly plain. Next, He gives them His parting benediction and bequest, His own divine peace: “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” (John 14:27). They had seen this wonderful peace in Him and felt its majestic power, now He breathes it into their very hearts and leaves it to all of His disciples as His last will and testament, the peace of God which passes all understanding to keep their hearts and minds through Jesus Christ. Then He tries to rouse them to the still higher thought of love to Him and awaken in their breasts the unselfish consideration of His needs and feelings in this trying hour. “If you loved me,” He says, “you would be glad that I am going to the Father” (John 14:28). There is no higher consolation to the troubled heart than to be lifted out of itself and think of the greater sufferings of others. If they had only realized their Master’s condition and immediate prospects, their own troubles would have seemed like a dream, and they would have thrown their arms about Him and cried, “Master, let us comfort You, let not Your heart be troubled.” Then, with a brief reference to the conflict which is just coming, and the victory which He is already sharing, and the solemn consideration of His Father’s will and glory, which is His chief support, He slowly rises from the table and summons them to follow with the words which might well look forward to every future place of difficulty and duty. “Come now; let us leave” (John 14:31). The whole of this beautiful chapter might be summed up under two divisions: First, His going, and second, His coming again. His going is to prepare a place for them, to open a way for them, to intercede for them with the Father, to work through them from the throne His greater works, and to send to them the Comforter to represent Him and continue His work. His coming again looks forward ultimately to His glorious second advent (John 14:3), but also includes His personal indwelling in their hearts (John 14:18, John 14:20-21, John 14:23), and His giving to them as His ever-present legacy of blessing, His own perfect peace (John 14:27).