STUDY THEME: ONE SOLITARY LIFE: THE LIFE OF JESUS 7-1-01

UNIT 6: THE PERFECT SACRIFICE; “WHEN COMMITMENT STUMBLES.”

JOHN 13:31-33, 34-35, 36-38, ; 18:15-18, 25-27.

PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLE TO JOHN 13.

Chapters 1to12 of John have been called “The Book of Signs,” wherein Jesus performs miracles which bring some to faith in him and others to rejection of him. Chapters 13 to 20 have been called “The Book of Glory.” Chapters 13 to 17 take place at the Last Supper--a long farewell address discussing glorification, departure and fraternal love. Chapters 18 to 20 describes the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus as his glorification whose ascension to the Father results in Jesus’ Father become his disciples’ Father also in chapter 20:17.

In Chapter 13:31-35 John gives a short introduction to Jesus’ Last Supper Discourse, the themes of which—glorification, departure and fraternal love—become the subjects of the following chapters, but in reverse order.

This is the last occasion on which John records Jesus using the title “the Son of Man” for Himself. The first is found in Chapter 1. Ten times John used it on the way through Ch. 13. . Chapter 1 is the first and Chapter 13 is the last time it is used.

Judas had just left the Supper, and, according to Vs 28-29 none of the disciples knew why. Confusion swirled. Later that night it would become clear that Judas had left to tell the Jewish leaders the whereabouts of Jesus so that they could arrest him. Vs. 31 begins with “therefore,” referring to Judas’ departure, so the words of Jesus here are motivated by the ensuing confusion, and soon-to-be despair, among his disciples. The departure of Judas sets in motion the events which assure our Lord’s death at the appointed time. Now, alone at last with His true disciples, Jesus speaks more candidly with them than ever before.

Jesus is about to “go home” to the Father. He has suffered by living in a fallen world (see Romans 8:18-30) and by putting up with the likes of men (see Matthew 17:17). He is about to suffer a temporary separation from God for the sins of men, but here His focus seems to be on “the joy set before Him” (see Hebrews 12:2).

There were many things for which the disciples could have been scolded that night. They had argued over who was considered the greatest. They had refused to wash the feet of one another, and Peter had even attempted to prevent Jesus from washing his feet. They completely failed to grasp most of what Jesus was telling them. On top of all this, Judas would betray Him. Peter would deny Him, and all the rest would forsake Him. In spite of all this, Jesus tenderly spoke to His disciples as to little children. This is one of the warmest, most intimate moments our Lord ever shared with His disciples. Let us listen well to the words and to the heart of the master on this evening.

1. PLEASE READ JOHN 13: 31-33.

Our Lord’s disposition toward His disciples is one of gentleness and patience. He speaks to them, not as the Master to His disciples (which, of course He is), but as a father to his little children. “(Little) Children, I am still with you for a little while. You will look for me, and just as I said to the Jewish authorities, ‘Where I am going you cannot come,’ now I tell you the same.”

When Jesus broke the news of His “departure” to His disciples, they were shocked. How could the Master go somewhere and leave His disciples behind? Why could they not follow Him? They were not thinking about Him going to heaven, they were thinking He meant that He was going somewhere else on earth. When Peter made a point of assuring Jesus that he would never desert Him, Jesus indicates that Peter is soon to deny Him.

If the disciples are troubled in spirit, I do not believe that Jesus is distressed. I know that elsewhere John has written of our Lord’s distress, but I don’t think this is the case here. His frame of mind at this meal is indicated to us in Luke 22:14-16 “Now when the hour came, Jesus took his place at the table and the apostles joined Him. And He said to them, ‘I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”

The first words which John records in Vs. 31 and 32 should have come as no surprise to the disciples. The time had come for Jesus to be glorified. The disciples had expected this, but the “glory” of which Jesus speaks is not what they would have expected at all. Several things are important to observe regarding the glory of which Jesus speaks.

First, the glorification of the Son of Man is the ultimate goal of history. Jesus welcomes it willingly, joyfully, triumphantly. Some people live under the false impression that God’s ultimate purpose in history is to make them happy, and to make their lives free from pain and trouble. So the disciples seemed to think as well, until after the cross.

Second, the glorification of our Lord is realized both in His suffering and in His resulting exaltation. The glory of God is achieved at a very high price. The Father will sacrifice His own Son. Who can imagine the agony in that? The Son will lay down His life, dying on a Roman cross, and suffering separation from His Father—as the payment for our sins. And afterward the disciples will undergo their own suffering, which we see throughout the Book of Acts.

It would be wrong to speak of our Lord’s glory, apart from His suffering. It would likewise be incorrect to speak of His suffering apart from His glorification. Jesus here informs His disciples that His glorification is imminent—“right away”. His glory begins at the cross, but it does not end there. He is glorified by His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension to the right hand of the Father. Our Lord’s suffering and His glorification cannot be separated. This is what the prophets of old struggled with: How can Messiah be both a suffering Servant and a Triumphant King? The answer is found in the person and work of our Lord. Paul speaks of it this way in Phil. 2:5-11. “You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus had, who, though He existed in the form of God did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied Himself by taking on the form of a slave, by looking like other men, and by sharing in human nature. He humbled himself, by becoming obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross. As a result, God exalted Him and gave Him the name above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow—in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess to the glory of God the Father that Jesus Christ is Lord.”

In our church we observe the Lord’s supper without apology or regret. We do so as a celebration, not as a funeral service. Jesus spoke joyfully of His coming death and resurrection. An now, as we look back upon our Lord’s death and resurrection and all that was accomplished by it, how can we remember the Lord’s Supper in a somber, sad fashion. Reverently, Yes. Sadly, No.

Third, the glorification of the Son is synonymous with the glorification of the Father. Notice the manner in which our Lord intertwines His glorification with that of the Father. Jesus does not seek to be glorified apart from the Father, but with the Father. Both Father and Son are glorified by what takes place shortly. This is consistent with the message of John’s Gospel. Throughout the Gospel, our Lord has emphasized not only His unity with the Father, but also His subordination to the Father. In chapter 1, Jesus was intimately involved (as was the Father) in the creation of the world. In chapter 2, at the cleansing of the temple, Jesus is looking after His Father’s house,. In Chapter 5, Jesus claims to be working on the Sabbath (by healing the paralytic by the pool of Bethesda) because His Father is also at work. Over and over again, our Lord stresses His union with the Father. It should therefore come as no surprise when we read that the time has come for Father and Son alike to be glorified, through the death and resurrection of the Son.

Fourth, the glorification of the Son necessitates a separation from His disciples. Jesus has a way of introducing future events gradually, especially those to which the disciples are resistant. So it was with His going to Jerusalem, His rejection, crucifixion, and death. So now it is also with His “departure.” Earlier, in John 7:33-34 Jesus had spoken to the Jew about His physical absence from the world: Jesus said, “I will be with you for only a little while longer, and then I am gong to the One who sent Me. You will look for Me but will not find Me, and where I am you cannot come.”

The disciples do not appear to have understood our Lord’s earlier words to the Jews about His departure any better than His Jewish opponents did. No doubt the disciples “translated” Jesus words to mean something like this: “My disciples and I are going to be going away from this place, to a place you cannot come, even though you look hard to find us.” A fair bit of their time with Jesus was spent in some remote place, avoiding the Jewish religious leaders in Jerusalem. They must have assumed Jesus simply meant that He was gong to go somewhere else on this earth—with His disciples—where His opponents could not find them.

Any such misunderstanding was now corrected. When Jesus told the Jews that He was going away, He meant that He was returning to heaven, to be with His Father. There they certainly would not find Him, because they would not be there. Heaven is a place for those who believe in Jesus; hell is the place for those who reject Him. The shock was that Jesus was going away, and yet not taking His disciples with Him.

You should have seen the look in the disciples’ faces when Jesus said He was going away and they couldn’t go. We don’t like to be told “No.” Think how those disciples must have felt. Divorce probably produces the emotions closest to what the disciples were feeling at this moment. They had given up their lives, their jobs, and left their families behind, just to follow Jesus. And now, Jesus was going away and leaving them behind. They must have felt abandoned. Jesus will amplify His statement in Vs. 36 and following so that it becomes even more clear that this separation is only for a time, and that His disciples will eventually follow Him,. But at this moment in time, such fine points are of little concern or comfort. They are confused and bewildered.

Fifth, the glory of God is achieved through suffering and sacrifice, but it is ultimately for the good of all who believe in Him. I confess that I am getting ahead of myself, or rather ahead of our text But I need to emphasize here, at this difficult moment for the disciples, that what Jesus is about to do was for their on good, even though it was not what they would have preferred. He said in John 16:7 “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I am going away. For If I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.”

God’s glory is ultimately for the good of every Christians. This is proven in Romans 8:28-30. “And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose. Because those whom God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that His Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those God predestined, He also called; and those He called, He also justified; and those He justified, He also glorified.”

2. PLEASE READ JOHN 13: 34-35.

We all know that there is a sense in which this “new” commandment of our Lord is not entirely new. The O.T. law could be summed up in two commands: (l) Love God; and (2) Love your neighbor as yourself. What, then, is so different about our Lord’s command here that He can call it “new”? First, we should note that it is a command given by our Lord to the church, and not a command given to Israel. In this sense, it is the first of the “new commandments” that our Lord will give to the church through His apostles.

Second, it should be noted that this command is specifically directed toward the disciples and their relationship with one another (surely this takes us back to the lesson of foot washing). It is therefore the first of the “one another’ commands of the N.T. This command does not address love that we have for unbelievers, though those in Matt. 5:43-48 and Romans 12:17-21 do.

The most important “new” dimension to our Lord’s command here is the standard that He sets for the love He requires: “Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another”. “Just as I have loved you” is what makes this command new. It is one thing to love one another as we love and care for ourselves. It is a vastly greater love that gives up one’s own life for another, that sacrifices self-interest to promote the interests of another. The sacrificial work of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary is the “new” standard for the Christian’s love for fellow-believers.

The “newness”of our Lord’s “new commandment,” then, was not in its originality or novelty, but in its extent. It was the practice of this kind of love that would cause the world to recognize these men (and us) as the disciples of Jesus.

Tertullian, who lived towards the end of the second century, said that the heathen said of believers, “Behold, how these Christians love one another!” The heathen, of course, were prejudiced against the Christians. They did not like them at all and were ready to spread any slander about them. They ridiculed and opposed them. They put them in jail and executed them. But they were compelled to pay their grudging tribute to Christian love. It was undeniable.

Such references ought to make Christians think hard. There are not many places in our busy, materialistic world where we believers so live as to compel the heathen to bear this testimony to the love we have for one another. On the contrary, they often accuse us of bickering among ourselves, of hardness, of indulging in petty criticism of one another, of backbiting, of intolerance…. Modern Christians should give serious thought to the importance of love for one another.

3. PLEASE READ JOHN 13: 36-38.

I laugh to myself as I read Vs. 36. It is just as though Peter has not even heard what Jesus said about love in Vs. 34 and 35. I don’t think this is because Peter thought he was too much of a he-man to talk about such things (though I wouldn’t rule it out altogether). I think Peter was so shocked by our Lord’s words in Vs. 33 that he just couldn’t get past them. Peter “locked in” on what Jesus said about going away. He wanted to know where Jesus was going and why he could not go with Him. He had followed Him all this way, all the way to Jerusalem. There was no turning back for him. He was committed to follow Jesus. And now Jesus is talking about going somewhere where he cannot follow. No way! Not for Peter.

Peter does not seem to have a clue that Jesus is talking about going to the Father in heaven. He seems fixed on the idea that Jesus is going to change His place of residence on earth. Peter seems to be reasoning something like this: “Jesus says He’s going somewhere, and I can’t follow. He won’t say where, and He won’t say why. It must be the danger. He doesn’t want me coming along because it’s too dangerous. He doesn’t think I can take it. Well, I’ll let Him know that I can handle anything anyone dishes out.

John simply writes that Peter said (which, at times, can be a lot more than he’s thought): “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you!”: If commitment is the determining factor in who goes with Jesus and who does not, then Peter wants Jesus to know that his commitment is unmatched. He is willing to pay any price, including that of his own life, to follow Jesus.

In connection with this boast a few additional facts must be noted:

Notice that Peter spoke these words both before and after Christ’s prediction which is recorded in Vs 38. Evidently at the time, the words of Jesus telling Peter that in spite of his boasting he would do the very thing he promised so emphatically not to do, failed to register. Peter was too sure of himself.

He used very emphatic language. Note the double negative in Matt. 26:35, so that the boast may be rendered: “I will certainly not deny thee,: And compare “I will never deny thee.”

In Mark 14:31 he spoke with great vehemence, evidently not at all pleased with the fact that Jesus had a different opinion.

The passage here in John indicates that Peter’s boast was not only negative, ‘I will not deny’, but also positive. In Luke 22:33 he says, “Lord, I am ready to go with you, both to prison and to death.”

His self-reliant exclamation was copied by the others. “Likewise also said all the disciples.” Not a single one among the disciples knew his own heart. Remember Matt. 26:56 says in the garden, when Jesus was arrested, “The all the disciples left him and fled.”

Was peter getting just a little bit too “cocky”? I think we can all agree that Peter is not suffering from “low self-esteem” here, but from over-confidence. He provides us with a powerful illustration of this warning from the pen of the Apostle Paul in 1 Cor. 10:12, “So let the one who thinks he is standing be careful that he does not fall.” Though not one of the disciples knew his own heart, while all fled, Peter went much farther, he denied that he even knew the Master.

PLEASE TURN TO JOHN CHAPTER 18.

4. PLEASE READ JOHN 18: 15-18.

As we come to Chapter 18 everything is climacteric. After the immediate fright in the Olive Grove, when the mob took Jesus and the disciples ran, two disciples returned and followed the Lord and His enemies back across the Kidron and into the city. They were Simon Peter and another disciples. The other disciple is not named but he may well have been John, the son of Zebedee. This disciple knew the high priest and therefore had access to the high priest’s courtyard. Thus he was in a unique position to know what was going on and to enable Peter to get into the courtyard.

Peter’s denial before the servant girl was a striking contrast to his earlier boast to lay down his life for Jesus, and his show of offense in cutting off Malchus’ ear. Evidently the other disciple was in danger but he did not deny Jesus. Peter stood by the fire warming himself in the cold spring evening. Perhaps the warmth would allow him to think.

5. PLEASE READ JOHN 18: 25-27.

The final denial was prompted by a question by a relative of the man Malchus, whom Peter had tried to kill in the garden. In these verses we see Peter’s failure and shame. Yet no man has been so unjustly treated as Peter by preachers and commentators. Always what is stressed is failure and shame. But there are other things we must remember.

We must remember that all the other disciples, except John, if he is the unnamed disciple, had forsaken Jesus and fled. Think what Peter had done. He alone drew his sword against fearful odds in the garden; he alone followed to see the end. The first thing to remember about Peter is not his failure, but the courage which kept him near to Jesus when everyone else had run away. His failure could have happened only to a man of superlative courage. True, he failed; but he failed in a situation which none of the other disciples even dared to face. He failed, not because he was a coward, but because he was brave.

We must remember how much Peter loved Jesus. The other had abandoned Jesus; Peter alone stood by Him. He loved Jesus so much that he could not leave him. True, he failed; but he failed in circumstances which only a faithful lover of Jesus would ever have encountered. Just when Peter denied Jesus the third time, the Lord looked on him and he went out weeping bitterly. Then a rooster began to crow, which fulfilled Jesus prophecy.

He knew he was unworthy, and he was a broken man. Yet in John 21:15-19 Jesus returned to him. He cooked him breakfast on the beach of the sea of Galilee--a warm expression of friendship. Three times Peter denied Jesus. Then Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me?” three times. And He instructs Peter, “Shepherd my sheep” three times. And he tells Peter, “Follow Me.” With these words Jesus assures Peter that he loves Jesus, that he’s able to serve Jesus and that he is a full disciples.

CONCLUSION:

Here, then, is our first lesson is it not? The one who is most confident that he will not fall is the most likely to fall. How can this be? It is because his confidence is in himself. Far better to be wary of falling, than to be confident of standing. Far better to have no trust in oneself, and thus to trust only in God. Far better to know you do not have the strength to stand and to lean on Jesus, than to stand alone and fall on your face. Here is one of the great dangers of the “message” proclaimed by many of the motivational books and seminars today. If they make us confident in ourselves, rather than in God, they are pointing us in the wrong direction, they are setting us up for a fall.

The second thing I find emphasized in today’s lesson is that Jesus is in complete control. In Ch. 1, Jesus knows it is His time to be glorified. He knows also of the betrayal of Judas, and even dismisses him early to carry out his deed. And in addition, Jesus knows of Peter’s denial. Jesus is not taken in by all of Peter’s assurances of his loyalty and faithfulness, though I believe He felt he meant them when he said them. Jesus knows all of this about Peter, and yet He chooses him to be the one who will become such a powerful instrument of the gospel in the Book of Acts. God really does choose the weak and foolish things of this world to confound the wisdom of the wise. And in all this He is glorified.

I believe the most important lesson in our study today is about true love. This chapter virtually oozes with the love of our Lord for His disciples. And who is better qualified to speak on love than He who has loved us to the uttermost. The disciples refused to serve one another, and it seems to me that it is because of their lack of true love for one another. Their “love” at this moment as just the “love” we see and read about in our culture—a self-serving “love” which continues to love so long as our interests are being served. The love which our Lord displayed was a self-sacrificing love, which prompted Him to serve the disciples by washing their feet, and most of all by dying on the cross of Calvary to save sinners form the guilt and penalty of their sins. The Christian standard and source of love is the Person of Jesus Christ, as demonstrated on the cross of Calvary.

Let me further observe that “loving” one another is not a recommendation of our Lord---a good piece of advice. Love is a command, one which John most certainly would not forget. If loving one another is a command, then our only choice is to obey or disobey our Lord in this matter. Love is a duty we must perform in deed. Some people think of love as a feeling; Jesus describes love her in terms of our actions. If we would know true love, let us not look to our culture to define, it, let us look to the Word of God, let us look to the cross, and let us look to Him who is love, the Lord Jesus Christ. How much are we to love each other? As Christ loved us. This is the measure of Love.

NEXT WEEK FROM JOHN 19: 16-42 WE STUDY THE CRUCIFIXION LESSON.

“IT IS FINISHED.” A.V.DAUGHERTY 7-1-01

SOME WORDS IN PETER’S DEFENCE.

Things could not have been easy for Peter. The story of his denial would soon get about, for people love a malicious tale. It may well be, as legend has it, that people imitated the crow of a cock when he passed. But Peter had the courage and the tenacity of purpose to redeem himself, to start from failure and attain to greatness.

The essence of the matter was that it was the real Peter who protested his loyalty in the upper room; it was the real Peter who drew his lonely sword in the moonlight of the garden; it was the real Peter who followed his Lord alone; it was not the real Peter who cracked beneath the tension and denied his Lord. And that is just what Jesus could see. A tremendous thing about Jesus is that beneath all our failures He sees the real man. He understands. He loves us in spite of what we do because He loves us, not for what we are, but what we have in us to be. The forgiving love of Jesus is so great that He sees our real personality, not in our faithfulness, but in our loyalty, not in our defeat by sin, but in our reaching after goodness, even when we are defeated. We see a completely different Peter in the Book of Acts. We see a man living out the truth of his discipleship. That is what Jesus saw all the time. AVD 7-1-01

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