Full Disclosure.

You have heard it said: “Sin has separated us from God. Our connection and relationship with God the Creator is severed and broken. Jesus restores and reestablishes our relationship with God the Father through his death and resurrection.” This is usually what we say in our 30 second gospel presentation. This states man’s biggest problem and man’s biggest remedy all at once. In sin no one can see God. In Jesus all have seen Him.

I. The Last Supper (Chapters 13 & 14)

A. Jesus washes feet.

1. Question 1: Peter

John 13:6 NASB95

6 So He came to Simon Peter. He said to Him, “Lord, do You wash my feet?”

Jesus’ Answer:

John 13:8 NASB95

8 Peter said to Him, “Never shall You wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.”

Jesus washes the disciples feet as a demonstrate of the very thing he came to do- to make people clean so that they can have a relationship with the Father. That was the purpose that Jesus was sent to save the world and bring them to the father.

B. Jesus is betrayed.

2. Question 2: John

John 13:25 NASB95

25 He, leaning back thus on Jesus’ bosom, said to Him, “Lord, who is it?”

Jesus’ Answer:

John 13:26 NASB95

26 Jesus then answered, “That is the one for whom I shall dip the morsel and give it to him.” So when He had dipped the morsel, He took and gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.

Jesus reveals that not all will follow, not all will listen, not all will love Jesus. Instead, though they break bread with him, they betray him because they do not love Him.

C. Jesus is leaving.

3. Question 3: Peter

John 13:36 (NASB95)

36 Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?”

Jesus’ Answer:

John 13:36 (NASB95)

Jesus answered, “Where I go, you cannot follow Me now; but you will follow later.”

Jesus tells his disciples that he is going to the father and he must do it alone, but later his disciples will follow and come where he is. What Jesus goes to accomplish will bring them back together forever, never to be separated again.

D. Jesus gives a new commandment.

4. Question 4: Peter

John 13:37 NASB95

37 Peter said to Him, “Lord, why can I not follow You right now? I will lay down my life for You.”

Jesus’ Answer

John 13:38 NASB95

38 Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for Me? Truly, truly, I say to you, a rooster will not crow until you deny Me three times.

Jesus informs Peter that he will not follow Jesus now and that he will deny him instead of lay down his life for Jesus. The significance of this will be seen later at the end of John’s gospel where we will see Peter confirm his love for Jesus and then follow him as he is filled with the Spirit. The difference between Peter now in this passage and the Peter later that we read in the Acts of the Apostles is Spirit which Jesus also reveals at this supper as a helper who will empower them to do greater things than even Jesus did.

E. Give us the Father.

5. Answer 5: Philip

John 14:8 NASB95

8 Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”

Jesus’ Question:

John 14:9–10 (NASB95)

9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me?

Here is a bit of role reversal. The Disciples make a statement and then Jesus provides the question. The big idea is the Disciples want to be with the Father but they do not complete understand that Jesus has the Father and they have Jesus. Therefore, they have already seen, walked, talked, and ate with the Father whom they seek. This becomes even more significant as Jesus continues his discourse with them during supper.

F. The Way to Jesus.

6. Question 6: Thomas

John 14:5 NASB95

5 Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?”

Jesus’ Answer:

John 14:6 NASB95

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

Jesus tells Thomas who wants to know how they can find the way to Jesus who is going somewhere by himself, that He is all they need to find their way to the Father- for where the Father is, there Jesus will be.

G. Jesus’ Full Disclosure.

7. Question 7: (The last question) Judas

John 14:22 NASB95

22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, what then has happened that You are going to disclose Yourself to us and not to the world?”

Jesus replies is twofold: 1) Who he discloses himself to, and 2) How he will disclose himself.

II. Who He discloses (reveals himself to).

John 14:23 NASB95

23 Jesus answered and said to 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 abode with him.

Whether is this the only commandment that Jesus was referring to or if there are others, we can only know in the immediate context that Jesus intends for us to love each other they way Jesus has loved us as one of the commandments that we are to follow and by doing so we demonstrate our love for Him.

Reflection: Our love for Jesus can be measured in this: how we love others in the way that Jesus has loved us. How much to do you love Jesus? It would be of great benefit to measure yourself by the standard that Jesus has set before all those who love Him.

A. Those who Love Him.

(v.25)- Denotes a transition/a conclusion of sorts of the prior statements and moving into another statement.

Jesus now offers His disciples the comfort they need to this news of His departure. John 14:18

John 14:18 NASB95

18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

This is how Jesus will disclose Himself to those who Love Him:

III. How Jesus will disclose Himself.

John 14:26–29 NASB95

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 said to you. 27 “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. 28 “You heard that I said to you, ‘I go away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced because I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 “Now I have told you before it happens, so that when it happens, you may believe.

A. (Help) to Guide (v. 26)

1. Teach God’s Word.

2. Remember God’s Words.

B. Peace to ride (Hope) (v.27)

1. Not like the World

2. To live without trouble and fear

Jesus speaks about peace twice in this Gospel. Once here and in chapter 16:33. It is always tied to what is about to happen. Jesus is leaving them but by Jesus telling them beforehand is how he is leaving peace with them. That knowing what lies ahead they will be able to endure because they know that Jesus has overcome whatever they will experience.

C. Piece of (Home) inside (v.28)

John 14:12 NASB95

12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.

Essentially, Those who love Jesus and live according to His word will be the very home of the Triune God; experiencing the Love of Father, the life of Jesus, and have the light of the Spirit.

Jesus is telling Judas that the reason He will not disclose Himself to the world is because they are going to disclose Him to the world. The game plan is that Jesus is going away so that He and the Father and the Spirit will make their home in them and they will disclose to the world the love, life, and light to the world. This game plan is contingent upon them loving and living His Words.

John 17:18 NASB95

18 “As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.

Application:

1. A lesson from Judas Iscariot.

If Jesus discloses himself to those who love like He loves, then you need to consider how Jesus loved even Judas. Are you willing to love those who stab you in the back, sell you out for cheap gain, or even those who would have you killed. Many of you want to feel the presence of God in your life but the reason you aren’t feeling close to God is because you aren’t loving like Jesus who forgives his enemies. Many of us struggle with bitterness that comes from being unwilling to forgive. But learn a lesson from Judas who was stealing from Jesus. When you are engaging in sin you are demonstrating to the realm of the demonic that you are available for hire for your actions are proving to be their lifeline in, which led to Satan entering into Judas. You actions are an open invitation to either the demonic or the Divine. If you want to be possessed by Jesus you have to keep his commandments which is to love others like He does. In grace, forgive those who don’t deserve it, and embrace Jesus who makes his home in you.

2. A lesson from Thomas.

We all want to know where we are going. We even seek God’s will for our lives. Jesus tells us that following him, believing in Him, and living for Him will get us where we want to be- In the will of God. Some of you are derailed, or completely off the beaten path. You have tried to find your way back but you haven’t found it because you aren’t letting Jesus guide you. You are trying to wrangle this on your own but you can’t machete your way back to God, you need to come to Jesus and let him steer you in the right direction. If you want a relationship with God then you have to come to Jesus and you have to continue coming after Jesus to reach the hope given to you. What does following, believing in, and living for Jesus look like? How would you say you are doing that? The level at which you follow after Jesus will determine how close you are to God. If you want to get to the Father, you have to come to Jesus, and if you continue in Jesus then the Father will come to you.

3. Lessons on the Spirit.

1 John 4:13 NASB95

13 By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.

The Spirit in the life of the believe is the mark that you have a relationship with God. The Spirit role is to help guide the believer into living like Jesus, loving like Jesus, and understanding Jesus Word. Paul encourages us to walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh. Walking by the Spirit is sometimes not so obvious. I want to tell you something that I have found to be most useful that has increase my living by the Spirit than by the Flesh. We often talk about that still small voice, or a gut feeling, or we get good or bad vibes. That can be the spirit or it can be your flesh so how do you discern the difference? 1) Consider what that feeling, voice, or vibe is inclining you to do and would it result in any of these outcomes: love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, or self-control. Then it is most likely a prompting by the Spirit. 2) if you are for sure, take a step in faith, and go with it. Maybe your wrong but at least you have learn what the Spirit is not prompting you to do. Maybe you are right and you begin to build trust in listening to that small feeling, voice, or vibe and you learn how to recognize the Spirits prompt and the feeling, voice, or vibe will continue to get louder and louder the most you seek to walk in it rather than your flesh. You will go through a season of figuring this out, you’ll be hit and miss for a little. You stats might look like this 35 percent wrong which means your 65 percent correct. As you continue to trust those percentages will reflect your sensitivity to the Spirit and your walking by the flesh will begin to wane.

4. The Foxes have holes, the birds have trees...

Matthew 8:20 NASB95

20 Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”

Finish that statement. “but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” Correct me if I am wrong but did Jesus just tell us where he calls home? In the hearts of his disciples? This comes from a scribe who wants to follow Jesus and Jesus tells him he has no home. What would Jesus say of you? Does he find a home with you? Do you feel Him residing in you. Are you experiencing the life change that comes with the Divine hosting inside your heart? Are you seeing your desires change? Are the actions of your life leaning more towards love, unity, peace, Spirit living? Or do they lean towards hate, dissension, anxiety, and flesh living? Has Jesus found a home with you? If you want the divine to find a home with you, then you must be a disciple of Jesus and he will disclose himself to you fully.

Other Implications:

the gospel: sin breaks us from relationship with God but the savior bonds us to God. This idea of the gospel is understood as early as ________

Jesus is doing something that may not be done before. Being at home inside of his people. He once walked beside us but now Jesus reveals you lives within us.

Jesus discloses the outcome of keeping his word. Jesus’ word is this: that we believe and then live in him. Jesus transforms us from loving our way to loving his way.

The implication that Jesus gives during supper is revealing to them what his disciples are being saved to- a home with the divine.

So much of our ideas of heaven, being at home with God, is understood as future. Jesus declares that it’s a present reality; and one where are get to the invite others to experience now! Jesus gives us the privilege of bringing some of heaven into the present life’s of those currently experiencing some of hell.

Poor analogy: The Disciples are given a treat. They have been given a bowl of ice cream that is there very own. The other people in the school do not have ice cream, they aren’t enjoying any, and they don’t know where the disciples go theirs to get their own ice cream. the others see that this ice cream is delicious and satisfying. Some people don’t want ice cream because it doesn’t set well with them and they go about their lives, while others see the joy and are enthralled with how the disciples are eating their ice cream and want some for themselves. The only way to get to have their ice cream is to ask the disciples where they got it and go and get some for themselves. this is what Jesus is telling the disciples, I will disclose myself to you and not to the world, but I will send you into the world to love them as I have loved you that they might believe and I will disclose myself to them.

in regards to those who live alone in your faith. You are not alone, and you are not without purpose. God tells you that He lives in you. God tells you that He has disclosed himself to you but not to the world. God informs you that you are the means He will be disclosed to others. God is the worker but you are the agent. Take comfort that God resides in you, Take courage that he will work through you so that you do not have to be alone in your faith. He desires to use you to disclose himself to those around you, but you must be his player and not sitting the bench.

Jesus is calling his disciples to a completely different kind of relationship that no one in the world can experience, because it is not of this world.

God’s love is not called into question. He has disclosed it to the world. The love that is in question is yours towards God. God expects His love to change the way people love. To reciprocate his love echoing into the hearts of those He is drawing to Himself.

Either you are drawn by the lure of sin or you are being drawn by the lure of God’s love. If you are raptured by the Love of God then be complete taken by it. For if you do Jesus says, then the fullness of God will come and dwell in you forever. Consider the implications of such a host. The desires of the Father, the obedience of the Son, and the power of the Spirit sit upon the couch of your heart- which is the spring of your life. Home is where the heart is. In your heart either lies the Godhead or a headstone. One gives true life and the other is nothing but death.