What Jesus Leaves Behind (John 14:22-31)
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[SLIDE 1] Introduction
I invite you to please turn in your Bibles to John 14:22-31.
Illustration
Context
We are in the middle of the section known as Jesus’ Farewell Discourse or Upper Room Discourse.
Jesus’ imminent death is approaching.
Eventually, He will return to His Father in heaven after His resurrection.
His disciples, however, were in emotional distress.
Their hearts were troubled.
However, Jesus makes a lot of promises to His disciples in John 14 to encourage and strengthen His disciples.
He’s going to leave His disciples, but He’s NOT going to leave them empty-handed.
This brings us to the main idea that I want you to remember for this message:
[SLIDE 2] What Jesus leaves behind is more than enough for us to face the world with faith and courage.
There are five truths that He left behind before His death.
Exposition
[SLIDE 3] First, Jesus left us “His Promise of Presence” in verses 22-25.
22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone 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. 24 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. 25 “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you.
At the end of verse 21, Jesus makes a promise to His disciples: “I will love him and manifest myself to him.”
Those last four words - manifest myself to him - are what light the fuse for Judas’ question in verse 22.
The Apostle John gives us a parenthesis that this is not Judas Iscariot.
Judas Iscariot - the betrayer - left the Upper Room back in chapter 13.
This is a completely different Judas.
Luke 6:16 and Acts 1:13 tell us that he’s Judas the son of James.
In the gospel of Matthew and Mark, they call him Thaddaeus, which was his Aramaic name.
We don’t know much about him because the New Testament gives little biographical detail about this Apostle.
But, this is the only time in the gospels that he speaks.
And Judas asks Jesus: “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?”
In other words, why only us?
What about the world?
If You are truly the Messiah, why not reveal Yourself publicly to everyone?
Why not put Yourself on a billboard for the world to see!?
Therefore, Judas was puzzled and confused.
Now, why did Judas ask that question?
You have to recall that these disciples were Jewish who knew the Old Testament.
They had an Old Testament expectation that their Messiah would come and rescue them and the nation of Israel from the oppression of the Roman Empire.
Thus, if Jesus is indeed the Messiah, then Judas expected Him to be the political Messiah.
He expected a visible, glorious Messiah to reveal Himself for everyone to see.
That Jewish framework prompted Judas to ask that question.
Many of us may resonate with Judas’ question.
It’s the same question we ask ourselves.
“Jesus, if You just reveal Yourself clearly to the world, then they will trust You!”
That sounds rather reasonable, right?
In verse 23, Jesus responds to Judas’ question.
Jesus repeats the same idea of love and obedience to the Lord that we learned in John 14:15 and John 14:21.
If anyone loves Jesus, then there are three promises made by Jesus that are given to those who love Christ.
First, the believer who loves Jesus will keep His word.
We remember that love for Christ should produce obedience to His word.
It shouldn’t be a burden to obey Christ.
Obedience should be the natural expression of someone who loves.
Second, the believer who loves Jesus will be loved by the Father.
This is talking about the delight and pleasure that the Father has for His people who love His Son.
Third, this promise is extraordinary.
The Father and the Son will come to this believer and make their home (monen) with him/her (See also John 14:2-3).
This word, “home,” is mone, which means “the dwelling place.” It’s same word used back in John 14:2
2a In my Father’s house are many rooms.
Jesus prepares the many rooms for His people to dwell in, which is in Himself.
Now, the direction reverses.
He and the Father will make their dwelling place or home in us.
Just think about this.
This is the mutual indwelling that Jesus has been talking about in chapter 14.
In fact, He’ll expand on this in chapter 15 when tells His disciple: “Abide in me, and I in you.”
This is staggering promise from our Lord Jesus.
Just visualize a King with a crown on his head and a throne he sits on.
Where does a King usually live in? A royal palace, right?
Suppose a King decides to move out and decides to move into a poor man’s house.
He doesn’t merely visit the house. He moves in and unpacks completely.
How does the poor man react? It must be a very shocking reaction.
He loves the King because the King is a good king.
He feels a sense of impostor syndrome.
He doesn’t feel worthy for a royal figure to take up permanent residence in his home.
Brothers and sisters, we are that poor man.
Why in the world would the King of kings and the Lord of lords, the Creator of the universe, choose to dwell in a poor man’s house, like us?
Let’s reframe Judas’ question.
Judas’ question should not be, “why aren’t you not manifesting yourself to the world?”
I think that’s the wrong question.
The right question should be…“Why us? Why me? Why would the God of the universe choose to live in us?”
Here’s the answer:
It’s not our merit.
It’s not what we have done.
It is ultimately His grace.
It is His sovereign grace and love that first produced in us our love for Him.
On the basis of our love for His Son, the Trinity takes up residence in us and dwells in us.
The image we get to experience is this intimate and sweet fellowship with God in our union with Christ.
The more you grow in your love for Christ and obedience to Him, you more you should get to know God personally.
Jesus promises that He leaves His presence in us because of our love for Him.
However, the Father and Son won’t dwell in the world because they don’t love nor obey Christ.
They have closed their eyes to God’s opened door of invitation while complaining that the world is dark.
So, in verse 24, it answers why Jesus doesn’t manifest Himself to the world.
Whoever does not love Me does not keep My words.
Because of that, they do not receive the Father and the Son.
These were not merely the words or opinions that Jesus spoke.
They were the revelation from the Father.
The Father sent His Son make the Father known
Everything that Jesus says and does are from the Father. (John 7:16, 12:50)
The words of Jesus are the words of the Father.
To reject Jesus is not merely to reject a teacher.
It is to reject the Father Himself.
You cannot have one without the other.
Hence, in verse 25, Jesus spoke what He said to His disciples while He’s still with them.
That the language of a man who knows that His time is short.
It’s like a father telling his children before his long deployment for military duty.
He’ll tell everything that needs to be said to his children and wife while there’s still time because he won’t be with them for long period of time.
Or, there’s even a chance that he won’t return.
Verse 25 points to a transition point in redemptive-history.
Jesus has been teaching the truth throughout His earthly ministry.
But, there will be a point in time when Christ will NOT be with them physically on earth.
Everything will eventually change.
And He’ll explain why in verse 26.
But, before we do that, we need to consider what Jesus just said.
Jesus leaves behind the presence of the Trinity in the believers because they love Him and obey Him.
Brothers and sisters, if we are to experience fellowship with our God, then are we meeting those conditions that Jesus clearly laid out for us?
Sometimes, we may think it’s possible to love Jesus without obeying Him.
Or, we may think that since we are justified by faith, we have no need to walk in obedience.
Of course, we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, and we are called to live out the Christian life by loving our Lord.
However, genuine love for the Lord and genuine saving faith in Christ will inevitably express themselves in obedience and submission to the Lordship of Christ.
Obedience to His word is not about perfection and not without a struggle because we still have the indwelling sin in us.
But, the direction of the Christian life should be moving towards Christ and not away from Him.
Ask yourself:
“Have I been persistently in different to Jesus’ word? Am I resistant of it? Am I dismissing His word.”
Those who fall short of their love and obedience won’t get to experience the intimate fellowship that Jesus speaks about in verse 23.
Maybe you are more in love with the world and obedient to the world than Christ
If that’s you, then that ought not to be so.
Jesus is calling you to repent and come back to Him.
Return to your first love, remember His death and resurrection, and keep His word.
And discover and experience what it means for the Trinity to dwell in you.
That should be sufficient to motivate us to continue in the faith.
[SLIDE 4] Second, Jesus left us “His Gift of The Spirit” in verse 26.
26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
Jesus introduced the Holy Spirit back in John 14:16 where He said:
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,
There will be a time when Christ will not be present on earth.
After His death and resurrection, He will ascend back to heaven, seated at the right hand of the throne of the Father.
John 13:1 made it clear that His hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father.
However, Jesus promises that the Father will send the Helper, the Holy Spirit, in His name.
Before we look at work of the Holy Spirit and what He does, we need to understand the person of the Holy Spirit and who He is.
What you need to understand theologically about the Holy Spirit is that the Father is not sending an impersonal force to His people.
He’s not sending an “IT.”
He’s sending a Person.
The Holy Spirit has a mind and will.
He is the third Person of the Trinity, who is co-equal, co-eternal, and consubstantial with the Father and the Son.
To put it simply: the Holy Spirit is God.
Jesus promises two things about the work of the Holy Spirit for His disciples.
First, the Holy Spirit WILL teach His disciples all things.
I want us to consider what this means in the wider context in the gospel.
These disciples walked with Jesus for 3 years.
They heard His teachings.
They witnessed His miracles.
They were there for all of it.
Yet, they struggled to understand.
It didn’t click with them.
No light bulb moment for them.
Here’s one example: After Jesus cleansed the temple, He told the Jews
19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
The work of the Holy Spirit helped fill the gap for the disciples between that event and their understanding.
And not only is the Holy Spirit their Helper, He’s also their teacher who will teach them all truths.
He will live in them and open up their eyes to understand the events that happened in the ministry of Jesus.
The Holy Spirit will teach them the message of Jesus Christ, as if to relay the message to His disciples.
So, it was only in hindsight, through the work of the Spirit, that everything began to make sense for them.
Furthermore, the Holy Spirit will continue to unfold truth beyond what Jesus taught during His earthly ministry.
However, the Spirit won’t teach by His own authority.
In fact, the Holy Spirit will supernaturally guide and lead the writers of the New Testament to pen down exactly what the Father and the Son reveal in unison.
13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
Second, the Holy Spirit WILL bring to their remembrance all that Jesus has said to them.
This promise was a primarily about the His apostles writing down the divine inspiration of God’s word.
Through the supernatural guidance of the Spirit, He led the apostles and those closely associated with the apostles to complete the New Testament in their writings.
For example, you have the Apostle Matthew and the Apostle John writing down the gospels to describe the life and ministry of Jesus.
You have Acts that explains the early church’s proclamation of the gospel.
You have the letters in the New Testament that explains the significance of Jesus’ life, death, burial, and resurrection for the Christian life.
Whatever they wrote in the New Testament are not merely the thoughts, recollection, and words of men, but every word is the inspired word of the living God.
Brothers and sisters, here’s a crucial point.
Verse 26 is a promise given specifically to the apostles.
The New Testament is now complete.
We have all the books in the Bible.
We are not promised new revelations to place alongside Scripture.
But, we have the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
When we stray, the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sins.
And He will lead us and guide us back to His written and inspired word because He’s the Spirit of truth, and His word is truth.
16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
[SLIDE 5] Third, Jesus left us “His Supernatural Peace” in verse 27.
27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
What exactly is peace?
It doesn’t mean absence of warfare or inner emotional tension.
It’s not the absence of hostility from the world.
It’s a gift of calm and trust in the Lord because of your relationship and union with the triune God.
When you are going through the storms of life, you can experience a deep and settled peace not because your circumstance has improved, but because your relationship with God is secure.
Such peace is distinct from the the world.
The peace from Jesus does not resemble anything remotely close to the world.
Jesus’ peace is superior peace.
This supernatural peace comes from God Himself.
He’s the Prince of Peace and the God of peace.
And this peace comes through the Spirit He just promised in verse 26.
He’s not giving His disciples His best wishes.
He leaves them His peace through the Spirit.
If you know the fruit of the Spirit, you’ll know that it is the Holy Spirit who produces godly qualities in His people who walk by the Spirit and not by the flesh.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
The peace Jesus gives is a gift the world cannot give.
The world attempts to offer peace by removing the source of your distress.
The world offers you a momentary, fleeting peace through materialism, substance abuse, self-indulgence, partying through raves, sex and romance, and other placebo effects.
But, the world cannot truly give the peace that only God can give.
Jesus doesn’t just leave us His peace. He commands it.
Jesus gives His disciples two commandments.
First, He called them not let their hearts be troubled.
He returns to the issue back in John 14:1.
It’s like John 14 begins and ends in a similar way like a bookend.
Jesus has already given them reasons for why their hearts are not to be troubled.
He will return and receive them to Himself.
He is in the Father and the Father is in Him.
He promises the Holy Spirit.
He gives them His peace.
Second, He’s calling them not to be afraid.
The Greek word for “afraid” is only used once in the New Testament.
It’s can also be translated as “don’t be a coward.”
It’s the type of fear where you are tempted to abandon your position or your post, and where you are tempted to compromise on your faithfulness.
Jesus is calling His disciples not to be cowardly, but to be bold and courageous.
He calling them to have a spine, backbone, and courage to hold their ground when they are tempted to run.
That’s the peace Jesus is commanding them to have.
But, we know the disciples abandoned Christ.
We know Peter denied Jesus three times.
That’s because the Holy Spirit was not given them to yet.
But, Christ poured out the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, His disciples were bold to proclaim the gospel.
[SLIDE 6] Fourth, Jesus left us “His Call To Rejoice” in verses 28-29.
28 You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe.
In other words, the disciples heard that Christ will go to the cross, and that really shook them to the core.
But, unexpectedly, Jesus reveals to them His death meant for Him.
Jesus says, “If you loved me Jesus, you would have rejoiced.”
Some of you who are parents may understand the idea of watching your child leave your home either for school, study abroad, or get married.
You may experience tears, but if you love them, you’ll also be joyful for them, right?
You wouldn’t try to cling onto them for the rest of your life.
Why should the disciples rejoice?
It’s because Jesus is returning to His Father.
He longed to return to His Father after His humiliation and crucifixion.
His departure is not a loss, but a victory and a triumph over Satan, sin and death.
Loving Jesus implies loving to see Him glorified over our preferred comfort and experience with Him.
The reason is because the Father is greater than Jesus in superiority during His time on earth.
Jesus willingly submitted to the will of His Father.
Now that Jesus completed the will of His Father, He went back to the place where He was for all eternity.
Jesus’ glorification should be a reason for the disciples to rejoice.
We too should rejoice as well.
In verse 29, Jesus has already told His disciples about the cross, which includes His betrayal and arrest.
He’s preparing them.
In the next 12 hours, their lives will be shattered.
Jesus reminds and strengthens the wavering faith of His disciples that His death will happen.
However, they will remember what Jesus said to them.
They’ll remember that Jesus has not lost control of the situation.
They’ll remember that Jesus had told them that the cross will happen.
So, when Jesus was raised from the dead and received His disciples to Himself, just as He promised, their faith will be made realized.
Brothers and sisters, whatever situation you’re going through in your life, know that Jesus is still on His throne.
He is still sovereign and in control of all things, so that you can depend on Him.
[SLIDE 7] Fifth, he left us “His Example Of Love For The Father” in verses 30-31.
As the chapter comes to a close, Jesus does not simply teach His disciples.
He’s about to demonstrate that the prophecy He made is about to come true.
30 I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, 31 but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.
Jesus is about to move on and not talk much longer with His disciples.
Now, the conflict is about to begin.
Why? It’s because the ruler of this world is coming (John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11).
This is referring to Satan.
He’s the adversary.
He’s the god of this world.
It is an imminent moment.
He is on his way as Jesus speaks.
At the same time, while Satan is powerful over the fallen world, he is still powerless over the sinless Son of God.
Jesus is declaring that He has no claim on me.
Although Satan has dominion over the world, he has no dominion over the Son.
Even though Satan would want Jesus to be killed, he is not in control of Jesus’ death.
Rather, Jesus is in control of His own death.
17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.
His death is a demonstration of His obedience to His Father’s commands.
What’s the purpose of the Son obeying His Father?
The cross is the clearest lesson on love.
It’s so that the world may know that the Son loves the Father.
The cross is the clearest expression of not just Jesus’ love for the world, but also His love for the Father.
Because Jesus loves His Father, He submits and obeys His word.
Jesus doesn’t just tell us to love and obey Him without doing it Himself in His relationship with His Father.
Because Satan is coming, notice what Jesus doesn’t do.
He doesn’t escape.
He doesn’t run away.
Here is the God-man who lives out verse 27.
He has supernatural peace.
His heart was not troubled.
He doesn’t coward Himself and abandon His post.
Jesus is going to lead the way for His disciples by heading to the cross.
He demonstrated courage and leadership in the face of death.
The cross isn’t just a clear expression of God loving the world.
The cross is also a proof of how much Jesus loves His Father.
If Jesus didn’t love His Father, we would not have salvation, right?
How joyful and grateful we ought to be in our Lord Jesus.
So, Jesus holds nothing back.
He willingly lays down everything to save His people from their sins and from the wrath to come.
That’s what Jesus leaves behind for us to learn and witness from the pages of sacred Scripture.
Application / Conclusion
[SLIDE 8] Big Idea: What Jesus leaves behind is more than enough for us to face the world with faith and courage.
His promise of presence (the Trinity)
His gift of the Spirit
His supernatural peace
His call to rejoice
His example of love for His Father
Here are some questions and final comments before I close:
First, do you want the Father and Son to move into your life? Because His saving grace, He calls you to love and obey Jesus.
Second, are you experiencing the supernatural peace from Jesus? If not, then why not?
Third, are you grateful that Jesus did not just tell us what to do, but demonstrated what He taught?
Benediction
Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
