Beginning in John chapter 14 and continuing through chapter 17, Jesus is giving His disciples words of encouragement in order to prepare them for His absence from them. These chapters are often referred to as the “Upper Room Discourse” since they are still in the upper room where they had celebrated the Passover meal. In John 14:8-14, Jesus encouraged them to believe that He was God and, as a result of their belief, they would do greater works than He did. Now, in verses 15-24, Jesus goes from the topic of faith to the topic of love.
I. HIS STATEMENT (verse 15)
Up until now, Jesus has spoken of His love for His disciples and their responsibility to love one another. Now, for the first time in this gospel, Jesus speaks of their love for Him. In verse 15, Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Jesus is saying, “If you really love me, the best way you can show it is not by sorrow and tears, but by obeying my words. There is a short poem that goes like this:
“We love you, Lord Jesus,” we often say
But are we as ready His will to obey?
Let’s heed what God’s Spirit would have us to do,
For that’s how to show Him a love that is true.”
II. HIS PROMISES (verses 16-20)
Now that Jesus has asked for genuine evidences of their love for Him, He now proceeds to give them evidences of His love for them by giving them several promises. In verses 16 and 17, Jesus promises them another Helper. The Greek word is Paraclete which means, one who is “called alongside” to help. That Greek word could be translated Counselor, Advocate, Comforter, Strengthener, or Helper.
Several years ago, a 42-foot sailboat got caught in stormy seas off the east coast of the United States. Waves rose higher and higher until a giant wave flipped the boat upside down. The heavy keel came back down into the water and righted the craft, but the damage to the sailboat was significant. A Coast Guard cutter quickly responded to the sailboat’s SOS signal, but when the ship located the desperate boat, no one could be rescued because of the violent seas. So the cutter drew as close as possible to the smaller craft, taking the brunt of the waves. The ship remained alongside the damaged boat and led her into the port. The action of this Coast Guard cutter is an illustration of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. The cutter came alongside to help and protect that sailboat.
The Holy Spirit would take over the work that Jesus had been doing with the disciples. In verse 16 Jesus said, “And I will send you another advocate to help you and be with you forever.” The Greek word translated “another” literally means “another of the same kind.” Jesus is saying that this Helper is also God, just as He and the Father are God. It’s a verse that speaks of the trinity of God and has all three members of the trinity mentioned in it. The Spirit’s responsibility would be to represent Christ, to be for the disciples all that Christ had been to them, and to be to us today all that Christ would be if He were here physically right now. The Holy Spirit would be at their side to counsel, to guide, to comfort, and to strengthen and empower them to holy living. The Spirit of God would be with them forever, and verse 17 says that later on, at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit would be “in” each believer.
A seminary student was writing a term paper about confession of sin. At one point he intended to type, “When we confess our sins, He takes away our guilt.” But when he came to the word guilt, he hit the letter q by mistake. This made the sentence read, “When we confess our sins, God takes away our quilt. He turned in the paper without noticing the error. When the paper was returned, the student grinned as he read the marginal note from his professor. It said, “Never fear, little one, you’ll never freeze, because God has given us a “Comforter.”
In verses 18-20, it seems clear that Jesus is speaking here of His appearances to them after His resurrection from the dead because He says, “I will come to you” and “you will see me.” We find a parallel passage in John 16:16 where Jesus says, “A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.” Jesus was seen only by those who believed in Him. His resurrection guarantees the glorious resurrection of all believers. In 1 Corinthians 15:20, the apostle Paul said that Jesus was “the first fruits of all who have fallen asleep.” These promises given by Jesus to His disciples that He would rise from the dead, spend time with them again before going back to the Father, and then send the Helper to them to be with them forever, were meant to give them hope and confidence.
When the Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen left for the North Pole in 1893, he took with him a strong, fast carrier pigeon. For many difficult months, Nansen explored the desolate Arctic regions. One day during that time, he penned a tiny message, attached it to the pigeon, and prepared to release the bird to travel 2000 miles back to Norway. Nansen took the trembling bird in his hand and flung her upward into the air. She circled three times and then headed south – a thousand miles over ice and another thousand over the ocean. When the bird finally arrived at the Nansen home, the explorer’s wife knew her husband was safe.
Similarly, the heavenly Dove, [the Holy Spirit], brought encouragement and hope to the early Christians on the Day of Pentecost. Before the Savior left this earth, He promised to send a Helper, a Comforter. The Spirit’s arrival assured the disciples that Jesus had returned safely to the Father, and had fulfilled His promise to them.
III. LOVE’S REWARD (verses 21-24)
Now, beginning in verse 21, Jesus goes back to what He said in verse 15 and elaborates upon it. In verse 15 He said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” In verse 21 Jesus tells them their proper motivation for doing so when he says, “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 him and show myself to him.” That’s quite a promise, isn’t it? If we could reduce the Christian life to one thing, it would probably be obedience — not just simple obedience but willing obedience and loving obedience.
A little girl was having a bad day. In defiance, she continued to stand up after her father had told her many times to sit down. Finally her father said, “Sit down or I’ll spank you.” She sat down, but she looked up at him and said, “I’m sitting down on the outside, but I’m standing up on the inside!” Have you ever had one of those moments? That’s not the kind of obedience that God is looking for, is it?
Jesus may have paused in His instructions to His disciples because Judas, not Judas Iscariot, expresses the concern of all the disciples. He says, in verse 22, “Lord, aren’t you going to manifest yourself physically to the world, and not just to us?” They may have been thinking, “If you just show yourself to us, the rest of the world will think it’s a hoax and laugh at us.” They didn’t want to have that experience.
IV. JESUS’ ANSWER (verses 23-24)
Jesus replies that He reveals Himself to those individuals who respond to Him in love and obedience to His words. The Lord Jesus will not reveal Himself to anyone who does not respond in love and obedience to what he already knows about Him. The Bible isn’t a textbook but a love letter. How do you read a love letter? You read it slowly, don’t you? You cherish every word and think about the wonderful person who wrote it. You read it again and again, not wanting to miss anything. You read it carefully, looking for any desires or requests in the letter that you might be able to fulfill, so that you might bring greater joy to your loved one.
One of the tests of our love for the Lord Jesus Christ is our own personal attitude toward the Bible. An unsaved person often considers the Bible to be an impossible book because he does not understand its spiritual message. An immature Christian may consider the demands of God’s Word to be burdensome. He is somewhat like a little child learning to obey, who asks, “Why, Mommy?” “Why, Daddy?” “Why do I have to do that?” But a Christian who is maturing in his relationship with God finds himself enjoying God’s Word, loving it, and trusting in it’s promises. Obedience is the test of the quality and genuineness of our love for the Lord Jesus Christ and God the Father. How many of you have watched the movie, “Ben Hur?” If so, you probably remember the chariot race in that movie. Before the movie came out in the theaters, Charleton Heston was training to drive a chariot. Heston was having trouble with the apparatus, so he confided in his director, William Wyler. He said, “I can barely stay on this thing! I can’t win the race!” Wyler told Heston, “Your job is to stay on it. It’s my job to make sure you sin.” The Holy Spirit is the One who orchestrates the victories for God’s kingdom. Out job is to stay on the chariot of obedience.
Jesus gives a wonderful promise in verse 23 when He says, “If anyone who loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” There is a little booklet that I have read many times. The booklet is entitled, “My Heart, Christ’s Home.” Have you ever read it? It is an excellent little booklet by Robert Boyd Munger. He shows how the Lord Jesus Christ moved into his heart as His home and began cleaning and remodeling each of the rooms. He is probably still at work in our lives also. Let’s not get in His way!
Jesus ends this part of His conversation with His disciples by saying, “Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.” Jesus inverts what He said in the previous verse. Why would He do that? I think Jesus is emphasizing the relationship between love and obedience by giving them both sides of the story. Love for Him is a choice as well as a commitment to obey Him. Willing obedience is the proof of their love for Him and for the Father who sent Him. Those Jews who claimed to believe in Him but did not love Him and demonstrate that love by their obedience to Him were not genuine believers.
CONCLUSION:
There are several principles that can be drawn from this passage of Scripture – John 14:15-24. Let’s take a look at four of them.
- Our love for God expresses itself in obedience to His word. That is the test of whether or not our love for God is genuine. Do you and I really love the Lord? If so, our lives will show it.
- Obedience that is motivated by love will be willing and joyful obedience.
- God will not reveal Himself more deeply and personally to the individual who does not respond in loving obedience to what he already knows of God’s character and His will.
- Jesus keeps His promises. He did return to His disciples after His resurrection. He did send the Holy Spirit on Pentecost to live inside us, and to lead and strengthen us. He will also keep His promise to return again in glory..