Jesus is leaving his disciples

Introduction

Try to imagine how the disciples would have felt… They were called by Jesus to be his disciples, they left all that they had and followed him. They depended on him for everything for the past three years, they grew to love the Lord Jesus, they believed that he was the Christ the Son of the living God. They expected him to usher in the kingdom immediately, they probably thought it was just a matter of time. Then to their suprise the Lord Jesus tells them that he must leave them. Imagine how they would have felt, the confusion, the sorrow.

The Lord Jesus knew how they would feel once he told them of his departure and so over the next few chapters we have an acoount of the Lord Jesus speaking to his disciples and preparing them for the inevitable.

In our reading the last supper has just taken place, Judas has gone out to betray Jesus. A series of events have now begun that will result in the Lord's departure.

He will be betrayed, handed over to Pilate, crucified for our sins and buried. However, he will also rise again from the dead and afterwards ascend to heaven and sit down at the right hand of the Father.

The Lord Jesus knows that all of this must take place. However, his disciples do not. The Lord Jesus in the following chapters prepares his disciples for this.

Our reading this evening records for us the beginning of this conversation.

In the verses we have read we see that the Lord Jesus begins by explaining all that will take place will be for his glory and the glory of the Father.

He then gives them a new commandment which they are expected to obey while he is gone.

In these verses there are important lessons that the disciples needed to learn now that the Lord was leaving them and there are also important lessons for us to learn today as we await the return of the Lord.

I. The Lord is glorified v.31-33

Firstly then we see that the Lord is glorified, v.31-33.

v31 begins “31 So, when he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him.”

The Lord Jesus here is referring to the fact that Judas has gone to betray him, which will invevitably lead to his death. The Lord’s summary of this is that he is now glorified, and that God the Father is glorified in him.

The death of Christ brought glory to himself and to the Father.

How is this true?

Firstly, through Christ’s death he purchased all of the people who would go on to believe in him. He saved his people from their sins, he opened the way of salvation to the entire world.

Secondly, he glorified himself and the Father because he destroyed the works of the devil. The curse that was brought upon the human race through the deception of the devil was undone by Christs death on the cross and his resurrection.

Thirdly, he glorified himself and the Father by putting on display the grace of God for all to see. At the Cross we see the grace of God. The eternal Son of God, took on our human nature and on the cross died for our sins.

What is the result of the Lord Jesus glorifying the Father?

v.32 says “If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and glorify Him immediately.”

The result is that the Father will also glorify the Son, and he will do so immediately. Here the Lord Jesus is refering to his resurrection, ascension and exaltation.

The Lord Jesus glorified the Father by dying for those whom the Father gave him, and the Father was going to glorify the Son by raising him from the dead and exalting him to his right hand in the heavens.

He was going to restore him to the same glory that they shared before the foundation of the world.

To put the two verses very simply; The Son was going to glorify the Father by humbling himself and the Father was going to glorify the Son by exalting him.

After saying these things to the disciples in language which shows the ultimate purpose of whats about to take place, but yet may have been a little confusing at the time, he tells them plainly what is going to take place.

v.33 Jesus says “Little children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come,’ so now I say to you.”

Here the Lord Jesus tells them very clearly that he is going to leave them. He also informs them that they will not be able to follow him straightaway.

This must have been a very difficult saying for the disciples to hear. But in reality it should have brought them joy, because it meant that the Lord Jesus was going to be glorified.

It was neccesary that the Lord Jesus would leave the disciples. In order to accomplish salvation for his people he had to die and rise again and ascend into heaven.

But yet, it was hard for the disciples to come to terms with, even though the Lord Jesus leaving them resulted in greater blessings for all than if he would have stayed.

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Today we find ourselves on the other side of the resurrection and we can look back in hindsight and see all that took place resulted in greater blessings for the followers of Jesus than would have, had he remained with them on earth forever.

We can and should experience the joy that the disciples should have felt, because we know that our Lord and Saviour has glorified the Father and the Father has glorified him. His death, though tragic in many ways, has redeemed us from the bondage of sin and his resurrection has secured for us eternal life.

The Lord Jesus glorified the Father and the Father has glorified him. The one who saved us is seated at the right hand of the Father in the heavens. He is the Sovereign Lord of all creation, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him.

The first point is the Lord is glorified. Next we see the Lord’s commandment for the disciples is to love.

II. The Lord’s commandment is love v.34-35

After the Lord Jesus has shared these truths with his disciples he gives them a commandment to keep while he is away.

v.34 the Lord Jesus says “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.”

The new commandment the Lord gives them is to love one another.

Now, the disciples may have been tempted to say that this is not a new commandment. He has already commanded them to love. To love God, to love their neighbour, to even love their enemies.

How is this a new commandment?

What makes this commandment new is that the Lord tells them to love each other just as he has loved them.

The way they were to love one another was in the same we that he loved them.

How did Jesus love them? He loved them with a selfless love.

Earlier in this chapter the Lord Jesus had washed their feet. But even greater than this, the Lord Jesus was going to suffer and die on their behalf. The good shepherd was going to lay down his life for the sheep.

He was going to the cross to save them from what they deserved as sinners before God.

The Lord of creation was going to lay down his own life for those he had created even though they had rebelled against him.

This selfless, self giving love that the Lord displayed for his disciples and all mankind, was the same kind of love that the disciples were to show to each other.

Jesus said that there is no greater love than that a man should lay down his life for his friends. This was the kind of love that Jesus was commanding his disciples to have for one another.

The Lord Jesus goes on and in v.35 he says “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

The way the world would recognise them as followers of Christ would be by their love for one another.

The Lord Jesus glorified the Father by humbling himself to the death of the cross, the Father exalted the Son by raising him from the dead and exalting him to his right hand, followers of Jesus glorify him by loving one another.

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This same commandment that the Apostles were to keep until Christ returns is the same command that we must keep today. We as Christians must love one another with the same kind of love that Jesus has shown to us.

Jesus laid his life down for us and we are to imitate this same love by putting eachother before ourselves. The question is do we do this?

Jesus said this is how men would know we are disciples of Christ, if this is the test of discipleship selfless love for fellow disciples do we pass the test?

Would the world say of us, they are followers of Christ, you can tell by their love for one another.

Do we glorify our Lord Jesus Christ by loving one another? Do people consider the claims of Christ to be true because of how we love as Christians?

Conclusion

The Lord Jesus is leaving his disciples, he is going back to the Father.

He is going to accomplish what he came to do by dying on the cros and rising again the third day. By doing this he was glorifying the Father. The Father in turn glorified the Son by exalting him to his right hand in heaven.

This should have comforted his disciples and surely did after they understood it properly.

The Lord after explaining what was going to happen. Left them with a commandment, which was to love eachother as he loved them. This would glorify him, by this men will know they are disciples of Christ.

We live on the other side of the resurrection and are awaiting the return of our Lord. Let us remember these words of Jesus to his followers. He is glorified and the Father is glorified in him, in this we should rejoice. We have a command to love one another, as Christ has loved us, in this we should obey.

Rejoice he is glorified, obey by loving one another.