Now, we’re continuing with Jesus’ discourse with His disciples following that last Passover observance. In John 14:22 Judas asks Him why He is going to reveal Himself to them, but not to the world. This is not Judas Iscariot, but the son of James (Luke 6:16, Acts 1:13). This is verses 14:23-25. “If anyone loves Me, he will obey My teaching. Then My Father will love him and we will come to him and make Our home with him. Anyone who does not love Me will not obey My teaching. And the teaching you hear does not come from Me, but from the Father Who sent Me.”
Again, Jesus asserts His unity with the Father. But notice the plural pronouns in verse 23, “We will come to him and make Our home with him” (go back and read verses 6-11). Remember, the purpose of this last conversation with the disciples is to comfort them. Jesus has just told them He is about to go away. The emphasis here is not simply that Jesus is in perfect union with the Father, but believers are included in that union. And not just with the Father and the Son, but now the Holy Spirit is included (verses 16-17)! And those in the world who refuse to recognize and follow the Son will not enjoy this union with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
This brings us to verse 26, where we learn a little more about the ministry of the Holy Spirit. "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send to represent all that I Am, will teach you everything you need to know. And He will enable you to remember everything I have told you."
Jesus says the Holy Spirit will be sent by the Father "in My name", which, as we’ve discussed before, is an idiom or word picture that means "as a representation of all that I Am." (See also John 14:13, 14, 15:16 and compare I John 5:13-15) Then when we consider everything that I’ve just described, we conclude that the Holy Spirit is God and was sent by the Father at Jesus’ request to be His substitute and our helper on the earth until Jesus comes back.
He further explains that the Holy Spirit will “teach” them. This is didasko, to teach or instruct by word of mouth. Now, in religion today there are many who say that God does not speak to us today, because we have the Scriptures. But this is in direct contradiction to those Scriptures. I’ll not belabor the point here, as we will look at this in later lessons. For now I’ll just mention I Corinthians 2:12-13, “Now we have not received the spirit that belongs to the world, but the Holy Spirit that comes from God, so we could understand the gifts freely bestowed upon us by God. And this we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Holy Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.” The truths expressed by Paul in the Scriptures were learned over time from the Holy Spirit sent by the God Who will not change (Malachi 3:6).
In the last part of verse 26 Jesus says the Holy Spirit will enable the disciples to remember everything He had told them. In later lessons we will look at the incredible journey the disciples embark upon beginning with Pentecost, as they remember what Jesus had taught them and experience the new revelations coming from the Holy Spirit as they prepare to give their lives over to the cause of Christ and His Gospel.
Then in verses 28-29 Jesus actually predicts His ascension to the Father, which the disciples witnessed in Acts1: 9. Now, let me quote for you verses 30-31, there’s a few things we’ll need to look at concerning these verses. “I will not talk with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. And he has no power over Me. But so the world may know that I love the Father and I do only what the Father has instructed Me to do. Get up, let’s go from here.”
First, the “prince of this world” is Satan. “Prince is archon, a ruler. The same reference is made in John 12:31. Paul calls him the god of this world (II Corinthians 4:4). That Satan is, in fact, the ruler of this world is something many in religion refuse to recognize. Satan rules this world through the simple principle of the consent of the governed. If you follow him, you’re a child of the Devil; but if you follow God, you’re His child (John 8:38-47).
Then Jesus says, “he has no power over Me”. Jesus has predicted His death (John 12:23-24). Yet it has already been made abundantly clear that He has power over death (Jairus’ daughter in Luke 8, Lazarus in John 11). In John 10:17-18 He clearly says He has authority over His own death, something He clearly demonstrates in the timing of both His death on the cross and His resurrection. Jesus had no sin, no sin nature and so was not subject to death. Had He not voluntarily gave up His life in obedience to the Father’s plan (John 13:37, 15:13), He would have lived forever.
In verse 31 above Jesus says, “I love the Father”. This is the only place such a statement is recorded, though there are several instances where Jesus says the Father loves Him (John 3:35, 10:17, 15:9 and 17:23-26). The verb agapao illustrates an important principle, which is this: true love is only recognized by the action it inspires. This is why Jesus told His disciples, “If you love Me, you will obey My teaching.” (John 14:15, compare 14:21, 23, 15:10)
Did you notice Jesus’ last statement in verse 31, “Get up, let’s go from here.” Now they’re leaving the place where they had observed that last Passover and are going to go to Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36, Mark 14:32). Gethsemane, often called the Garden of Gethsemane, is located on the western foot of the Mount of Olives just east of the Temple site. Today it is a popular tourist attraction and visitors are surprised to see dozens of ancient olive trees known to be approximately 2,000 years old, probably saplings in Jesus’ day.
John chapters 15, 16 and 17 record Jesus’ conversation with His disciples as they walk what was probably between 1½ to 2 miles to Gethsemane. We’ll look at some of the more important parts of this conversation, and then go to Matthew 26 where Jesus arrives at Gethsemane and is arrested.