John 16:16-33 | I Go to the Father
Notes
Transcript
We are moving into John 16 today, continuing in our series in the book of John
And in this chapter we are seeing some of the final teachings recorded in the book to the disciples
Next week in chapter 17 we have a series of prayers to the father that Jesus shares, and then in chapter 18 we begin with the story of the crucifixion.
So we are nearing the end, but before Jesus would be leave his disciples he needed them to understand the role of the father.
You see while he was on earth with them, they became reliant on him, naturally.
They went to him when they needed clarity, power, direction, and now Jesus is telling them he will no longer we with them.
So what are they supposed to do?
We need to understand the important fact that the Holy Spirit at this time did not dwell within believers yet.
And as believers today, we can’t really even understand what that is like
To believe, but not have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, is something entirely unnatural to us
Now Jesus has already shared with them in depth what the spirit will do, and how we will guide them, but the spirits responsibility is different from that of the responsibility of the son, and the father
We will never fully understand how God can be three in one.
We will never understand how Jesus, The Father, and the Holy Spirit can all be one, fully equal in deity
But what we can understand is how they differ in responsibility
And you can’t remove either of those aspects or you fall into heresy
Often times we look at the father as the one who is God, Jesus just as like the human version of the father, and the spirit is like the lower level employee that gets sent out by God
Almost like God is the President, Jesus is the Governor, and the spirit is the town employee
What is dangerous about this outlook however is it commonly diminishes the equal deity between all three
But at the same time you can take it too far in the other direction to see that the father, son, and holy spirit are all just the same identical person that occasionally step into one another's field of responsibility
As if the father, son, and holy spirit are all equal President's that occasionally step into one another's office to do some of their designated work
But this is not accurate either
You see what we have instead, when it comes to how they work in their responsibilities is much more like the overall structure of our government entirely
We have a judicial, legislative, and executive branch
Congress passes a law. The President signs and executes it. The courts interpret and apply it.
They aren't three separate governments—they are distinct branches operating within one government.
Now where God differs from this example though is that the father, son, and the spirit are not three branches of one deity, they are all fully equal in deity, not branches of one source of deity.
But the illustration can still be helpful in understanding how the responsibilities work
The branches of government do not carry less authority then one other.
But they all carry unique responsibilities
Again where the government illustration falls short of being accurate to God is that the primary reason for the three branches of government is for accountability, and to keep one another in check.
While God needs no accountability
The son needs no accountability from the father, the spirit needs to checks and balances, BECAUSE THEY ALL HAVE AN EQUAL WILL
THEY ALL AGREE, ALL OF THE TIME, BECAUSE THEY ARE ALL GOD
But even in light of that, they have different responsibilities
And so far while Jesus was in the world, their attention was very much focused on him, but soon he would no longer physically be with them, and that perception would need to change
Jesus explains to them just how hard this will be
16 “A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father.”
17 Then some of His disciples said among themselves, “What is this that He says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’; and, ‘because I go to the Father’?” 18 They said therefore, “What is this that He says, ‘A little while’? We do not know what He is saying.”
Jesus is prophesying to them what is going to happen soon in his death and resurrection, he is preparing them for what is coming just within the next few days
19 Now Jesus knew that they desired to ask Him, and He said to them, “Are you inquiring among yourselves about what I said, ‘A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me’? 20 Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. 21 A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. 22 Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.
Jesus is speaking to them specifically here about what would happen within the next few days and he compares their experience to a woman giving birth
He says soon I will leave you, and it will be very hard
Just like a woman has immense pain when having a child, but as soon as the child is born, she forgets about all that because she is overjoyed at the presence of the child
In just a short amount of time, these men would see Jesus hung on a cross, and he would die
The one who they had followed, and learned from, and lived with for 3 years of their life, and given everything too, would soon die
And for a period of 3 days, they would be lost, confused, grieving, but Jesus says it won’t be long, because soon you will be rejoicing
And when he resurrects from the dead, all of the sudden they forget about all that grieving and sadness because life has returned
But , he wouldn’t be with them again forever, and things would look a little different when he returned after his resurrection
23 “And in that day you will ask Me nothing. Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. 24 Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.
So Jesus is talking about joy and how excitement will come following this moment of despair
BUT IN THAT DAY HE SAYS, THEY WILL ASK HIM NOTHING
Jesus is helping them see just how important this work that he is about to do is
Because after his death and resurrection, there is now a completeness in our standing before God
The access doesn’t change, the relationship doesn’t change, but before the relationship and access to God was looking forward to this work Jesus was about accomplish, but soon, it would look back, and it would be complete
He says to his disciples, you have always just came to me, you also went to the father in prayer, that hasn’t changed, but after this work on the cross is accomplished, then you go to father in my name
HE IS TELLING THEM THAT AT THAT TIME, THEY WILL COME TO THE FATHER IN THE BOLDNESS AND CONFIDENCE OF THE ACCOMPLISHED WORK OF JESUS
This is a newfound confidence and boldness that wasn’t present before, but soon it would be
Now this was a tough thing for the disciples to understand
And because many of the teachings of Jesus were so difficult to understand, he often spoke to them in symbolism, parables, and figurative language, but there’s no more time for that
The time is now short, the cross is coming soon, and its time to lay it out, so he does, he tells them plainly
25 “These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; but the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I will tell you plainly about the Father. 26 In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you;
They would soon ask of the father, and go to the father directly in prayer, as they already had, but now they will go to the father directly in the name of Jesus, on his authority
But he needs to clarify that even though he is our intercessor, yes he stands in our place between us and the father, and yes it is because of his finished work we can do so
HE IS NOT SAYING THAT HE HAS TO TAKE OUR PRAYERS TO THE FATHER FOR US
Jesus is not saying that now there needs to be some game of telephone between us and God
Like Jesus is our heavenly receptionist
Where we send a message to a pastor, or a priest, or a saint, or a dead loved one, and then that message goes to Jesus, and then Jesus takes that message finally to the father
HE HAS TO CLARIFY, CLEARLY, THAT THIS IS NOT HOW THIS WORKS
AND THIS IS SO IMPORTANT BECAUSE THIS IS ONE AREA WHERE TRYING TO SUM UP THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE SON TO THE FATHER FALLS SHORT OF THE EXAMPLE OF OUR GOVERNMENT THAT WE LOOKED AT EARLIER
Because in our government there is a chain of access
You can’t call up a supreme court Judge, or the president, or a member of congress and speak to them directly
And if you want something, or you need guidance in something there are multiple layers of delegated points of contact before your issue would come to that level
When there is a pothole on your drive to work, you can’t call up the president, and he comes and fixes it
AND EVEN IF IT IS AN ISSUE THAT WOULD NEED ATTENTION BY SOMEONE AT THAT LEVEL, LIKE POSSIBLY A SUPREME COURT CASE, THAT ISSUE WOULD GO THROUGH MULTILPLE DELEGATED LEVELS FIRST
IT WOULD GO TO THE LOCAL POLICE, THEN THE DELIBERATION PROCESSES, THEN A LOCAL JUDGE, THEN MAYBE A STATE JUDGE, AND AFTER MULTIPLE LEVELS OF AUTHORITY, MAYBE SOMEONE AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL WOULD EVEN BE AWARE THE PROBLEM EXISTS
AND THIS IS WHAT JESUS IS TRYING TO CHALLENGE,
HE DOESN’T SAY I AM GIVING YOU ANOTHER LEVEL OF DELEGATED AUTHORITY YOU HAVE TO GO THROUGH TO GET TO THE FATHER,
IN FACT HE IS DOING THE OPPOSITE - BECAUSE OF HIS FINISHED WORK ON THE CROSS, HE HAS RECONCILED MANKIND TO THE FATHER, SO THAT WE CAN NOW GO BOLDLY BEFORE HIM AT ANY TIME, AND IN FULL ACCESS
BUT WHY WE WOULD HE DO THIS? WHY WOULD MANKIND EVER HAVE ACCESS TO THE GOD OF ALL CREATION
THERE IS NO LOGICAL REASON OR BENEFICIAL PURPOSE FOR THE MAN MADE OF DIRT TO BE ABLE TO HAVE FULL, OPEN ACCESS TO THE FATHER, WHILE THEY ARE STILL IN THEIR SIN ON THIS EARTH
26 In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; 27 for the Father Himself loves you,
I’m sorry to tell you but the President doesn’t even know you exists
Yes he has authority over you, yes congress makes laws that effect you, yes the judges are in place to potentially handle issues that involve you
but they don’t know you
they don’t care about you personally, because they don’t even know you exists
BUT THE FATHER DOES!
HE HAS 100X THE AUTHORITY OVER YOUR LIFE AS ANY GOVERNMENT LEADER COULD EVER HAVE, YET HE DOESN’T JUST KNOW WHO YOU , HE DOESN’T JUST KNOW YOU EXISTS, HE DOESN’T JUST CARE ABOUT YOU = HE LOVES YOU, AND HE LOVES YOU MORE THAN YOU COULD EVER KNOW
EX: IMAGINE IF YOU GOT A TEXT FROM THE PRESIDENT TODAY THAT SAID “HEY JUST WANT TO LET YOU KNOW I CARE ABOUT YOU TODAY, AND IF THERE’S ANYTHING YOU NEED JUST LET ME KNOW, I WANT TO HELP YOU HOWEVER I CAN BECAUSE I REALLY DO LOVE YOU”
COULD YOU IMAGINE THE WAY THAT WOULD MAKE YOU FEEL
TO BE KNOWN BY SOMEONE WITH THAT MUCH AUTHORITY, AND NOT JUST KNOWN, BUT LOVED AND CARED FOR
YOU WOULD TELL EVERYBODY, YOU WOULD PROBABLY NEVER WORRY ABOUT A THING BECAUSE ANY PROBLEM YOU HAD YOU KNEW YOU COULD BRING IT TO THE ONE WITH THE HIGHEST AUHTORITY IN OUR NATION
BUT YOU DON’T HAVE THAT, INSTEAD YOU HAVE SOMETHING SO MUCH GREATER, WE HAVE ACCESS TO THE GOD OF ALL CREATION, AND HE IS PERFECT, AND HE NEVER FAILS, AND HE CAN BE TRUSTED, AND HE IS ALL POWERFUL, AND HE IS ALL KNOWING, AND HE CALLS US TO COME TO HIM BOLDLY, AND TO LOVE HIM TOO
But this isn’t anything new
Believer’s in God have always come to him in prayer and trust before
But what has changed now, what Jesus is saying will be different now, is now we have the clear authority by which we can come to him
EX: When Daniel was in Babylon, he prayed three times a day, this is OT, hundreds of years before Jesus
Daniel didn’t have any less access to God then we do know, but when he came to God in prayer, it was by an authority that he did not fully understand, and strictly based on the mercy of God
If someone were to ask Daniel why God would listen to him, like why he thinks he has the right to come to God in prayer, he doesn’t really know, or at least the full picture
He would probably say something along the lines of, just by the grace of God to hear me in that moment
And before you start thinking “oh so the access to the father being found in the work of Christ on the cross is just a technicality, that it didn’t really change anything, YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT DID
WHAT CHANGED WASN’T THE ACCESS TO GOD, OR THE RELATIONSHIP, IT WAS THE CONFIDENCE, IN NOW KNOWING WHY THEY HAVE THE RIGHT TO STAND BEFORE THE GOD OF ALL CREATION IN PRAYER
Daniel even talked about this in Daniel 9
He knew that he was unable to adequately come before God, not understanding yet the full picture of the work of Christ
3 Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
Daniel is coming to God in this intense, drastic way to bring supplication for the people of Israel
And he comes in the very humble way hoping God’s mercy would be favorable on him to hear
He pleads with God throughout Daniel 9 for him to have mercy on the people
And notice the way he prays
17 Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord’s sake cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate. 18 O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies. 19 O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”
He is PLEADING WITH GOD, JUST FOR HIM TO HEAR, JUST FOR HIM TO LISTEN
HE KNOWS THAT HE HAS NOT RIGHT OR AUTHORITY ON HIS OWN TO COME BEFORE GOD, AND IF GOD LISTENS IT IS ONLY BECAUSE OF HIS MERCY IN THAT MOMENT
And I think this is something, in my opinion, you can see shift in the prayers throughout scripture
OT prayers, again in my opinion appear to be far more lofty and formal, overall (not every example), and they are very much given with a sense of hope (not surety) that God would hear their prayer
And what’s interesting is notice what happens in Daniel 9:20-23
20 Now while I was speaking, praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God, 21 yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, reached me about the time of the evening offering. 22 And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, “O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill to understand. 23 At the beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved; therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision:
How does God respond here, he sends an angel
Gabriel comes and speaks with Daniel, and Gabriel gives the message to him that God heard him, and that God loves him, and he gives him a vision to give direction on what is coming next
You see for those who say “Oh I wish God talked to us like he did to the people in the OT, like I wish that was how we communicate with God”
I CAN PROMISE YOU THAT YOU DON’T ACTUALLY WANT THAT
Because at this time, you had mankind pleading with God that he would just hear them
intercessors like the priests, and the prophets, were standing in the middle to bring request to God on behalf of the people
There was no completed work of scripture to rely on
No continued indwelling of the holy spirit
Many of the responses were given through a chain of conversation, or through representatives
And NOBODY HAD ANY CLEAR UNDERSTANDING AS TO WHY THEY WERE ABLE TO STAND BEFORE GOD, THEY HAD NO CLEAR CONFIDENCE IN THE REASON FOR WHICH THEY HAD THE RIGHT TO DO SO
BUT NOW, WE HAVE CONFIDENCE, WE HAVE CLARITY, WE HAVE THAT AUTHORITY TO DO SO, BUT ITS NOT BY OUR POWER, BUT IN THE POWER OF CHRIST AND HIS FINISHED WORK ON THE CROSS
AND WHAT WAS RELAYED OFTENTIMES BY ANGELS OR PROPHETS, IS NOW RELAYED TO US BY THE SPIRIT, THAT SPEAKS TO US THROUGH THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS, ON THE WILL AND AUTHORITY OF THE FATHER
1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;
YOU SEE THIS IS WHAT MAKES THIS PICTURE OF THE TRINITY SO BEAUTIFUL TO THE BELIEVER
WE DO NOT SERVE THREE GODS WITH DIFFERENT ACCESS
WE DO NOT SERVE A PART OF GOD WITH A CHAIN OF COMMAND BELOW HIM
WE SERVE ONE GOD, ONE FATHER, ONE SON, AND ONE HOLY SPIRIT, EQUALLY, AND IT IS BY THE RESPONSIBILITES OF ALL THREE THAT WE CAN NOW HAVE GUIDANCE BY THE SPIRIT, IN THE WORDS AND INTERCESSION OF CHRIST, TO COME BOLDY BEFORE THE FATHER
16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
19 Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21 and having a High Priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
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Jesus was about to leave them, he knew the time was short, so he speaks plainly to the disciples, and they are encouraged to finally hear clarity, even though they still couldn’t fully understand what he was saying
28 I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father.”
29 His disciples said to Him, “See, now You are speaking plainly, and using no figure of speech! 30 Now we are sure that You know all things, and have no need that anyone should question You. By this we believe that You came forth from God.”
You see they are encouraged by this newfound clarity, but Jesus needs to remind them something, that though this is encouraging, it will cost something
31 Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe?
He tells them all these things and they say OH NOW WE BELIEVE, BECAUSE YOU HAVE NOW TOLD US THESE THINGS CLEARLY NOW WE CAN KNOW WITH CERTAINTY YOU ARE FROM GOD
And Jesus just sort of stops and says, do you really? Like do you actually believe?
Because that belief is going to be put to the test soon
32 Indeed the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own, and will leave Me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.
The clarity in speech wasn’t ever the issue for them
Jesus tries to realign them here that what they needed was not more information, it was more faith, and that was something they were lacking in, and its why he didn’t just continue to load them down with all the clear foreward teachings of truth
He says soon you will all abandoned me
BUT I AM NOT ALONE, BECAUSE THE FATHER IS WITH ME
Anytime we may start to drift back into this idea of a corporate structure of the trinity, Jesus pulls us back into reality
Jesus tells them that the father doesn’t just love them, and care for them, and be with them, he is with him too
All throughout John we have seen this beautiful picture of Jesus showing how he is.....
one with the father, but he submits to the will of the father
that he loves the father, and the father loves him
that he desires to obey the commands of the father, and the father gives him all authority
And this type of relationship is something we can’t explain or understand fully, but we can dwell in it ourselves regardless
Jesus shows us by his life what our relationship to the father looks like
BOLD ACCESS, LOVE, GUIDANCE AND POWER IN THE SPIRIT, A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP
And this isn’t all with the purpose of just teaching a lesson or trying to set the record straight, no he tells his disciples, and us, all of this for a wonderful reason
33 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
Notice the wording.....
YOU CAN COME TO FATHER BOLDLY, AND HAVE PEACE WITH HIM, IF YOU ARE IN ME
THATS THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE FATHER AND THE SON, AND WHY WE CAN COME BOLDLY TO GOD
NOT BECAUSE OF OUR DOING, BUT BECAUSE OF HIS LOVE, EXPRESSED COMPLETELY AND FULLY IN THE WORK OF CHRIST ON THE CROSS, TO PAY FOR OUR SINS, AND BRING US TO PEACE IN THE FATHER
Can I end with a quick story.
Jesus taught a parable earlier on in his ministry, of a son who struggled with these same things
We may wonder, and challenge the question, how is that we could come before a holy God, when all we are, are sinners
Well the son in this story questioned the same thing
The son came to his father one day and asked for an advance on his inheritance
And notice what he did with it
13 And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living.
He wasted it all, he chases sin and pleasure, forgets about the father, and falls into despair
A famine comes in the land and the son is now broke so he goes to work on a pig farm, and he ends up eating the pig food because nobody would give him anything
You see this is sort of the same story as mankind
Mankind was placed on this perfect world, given everything we could have ever wanted or needed, and we decided to take all of that and use it for sin and pleasure instead
And so as a result, we end up in despair in our sin
But one day the son remembers where he came from
17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you,
This makes perfect sense, we now in our sin come to father and repent for how we have lived
BUT WE WOULDN’T DARE ASSUME THAT WE HAVE ANY RIGHT TO COME BOLDY BEFORE THE FATHER AND REQUEST TO BE REINSTATED BACK TO THE LEVEL OF ACCESS WE HAD BEFORE RIGHT
THE SON CERTAINTLY DIDN’T THINK THAT
AND IF YOU ARE IN YOUR SIN TODAY, LOOKING BACK AT YOUR LIFE AND YOU SAY THERE IS NO WAY THAT I CAN BEFORE THE FATHER BOLDLY, HE WOULD LAUGH ME AWAY BECAUSE OF MY SIN, WELL THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT THE SON THOUGHT IN THE PARABLE
19 and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.” ’
Daniel thought this way, David thought this way, Abraham thought this way, and to no fault of their own, but they had no final clarity on a reason that they could come before God in boldness
THEY RECONGIZED CLEARLY THAT IS WAS ONLY BY THE MERCY OF GOD THAT THEY COULD BRING REQUEST TO HIM AND HE WOULD LISTEN TO THEM
But Jesus gave us that confidence
20 “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. 23 And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; 24 for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.
THE FATHER DIDN’T IGNORE THE SONS SIN, INSTEAD HE SAID YES HE WAS ONCE DEAD = BUT NOW HE IS MADE ALIVE
YES THERE WAS A DEBT OWED AND THAT DEBT WAS DEATH = BUT IN HIS REPENTANCE HE IS NOW MADE ALIVE, THE DEBT HAS BEEN FORGIVEN
YES HE WAS ONCE LOST = BUT NOW HE IS FOUND
YES WE WERE SEPARATED FROM GOD BECAUSE OF OUR SIN, BUT WHEN JESUS DIED ON THAT CROSS HE BROUGHT US FROM DEATH INTO LIFE
HE PAID THE DEBT THAT WE OWED THE FATHER
AND NOW WHEN THE FATHER LOOKS AT US HE DOESN’T SEE THAT SIN DEBT ANYMORE, HE SEES HIS SON
And it is only for that reason that we can come boldly to the father
not by our works, not by anything we have done
But because the love of the father was so great, that he sent his son to the altar of the cross to die for us, to pay for our sin, and raise from the dead, victorious over our sin,
to satisfy the judgement of God,
and now because of what he did for us......we can now go boldy to the father
