John 16 – 18
Imagine knowing you are going to die and trying to relay that to your closest friends. Jesus has been doing this since chapter 13, yet the disciples still don’t quite get it. Granted he was quite cryptic as in verse 16:16 where he is not straight forward:
“A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.”
We know what Jesus is saying because we know the story, but imagine not knowing that he would be brutally beaten and eventually die on a cross, only to rise and be with them again in 3 days.Would you just assume Jesus was just going away for a little bit to pray and be with himself? Or would you understand what he was saying?
Verse 16:24 is another “prosperity preacher” gem:
Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.
For some reason throughout the Bible we see men go through some rough times, being refined and forged. For some reason we think that being melted in a furnace and then being pounded into a shape with a large heavy hammer is supposed to be pleasant. Sure it may not be like Job who lived in misery, but more like David where his promise was held from him while his character was molded. I think of recent times and our preacher at 12 Stone.
PK laid the foundation some 25 years ago with a small humble crew. He struggled and almost quit more than once. As he tells the story, his marriage and vision almost crumbled before him, yet he continued to be “refined” and “forged” into a preacher that today has 4 locations and an online ministry that reaches thousands each week. This did not just happen for PK as it does not just happen for countless others who are called for a larger purpose.
Verses 17:21 – 22 are comforting words to those who follow Jesus:
20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
We learn the Holy Spirit is not just for the disciples, but for all who follow Jesus. I read these and have hope that God is with us all once we confess that Jesus is real and we accept Him as Lord. In his prayer he asks “that they may all be one” asking for unity in the cross. I wonder if He knew the strife and bickering that would go on in His name. Some of the most brutal fighting the world has known, have been between Christian denominations. I specifically think of the Catholics and Protestants in England. This conflict rages on in the name of God. Ironic that Jesus asks Christians to “be one” yet blood is spilled not following His words.
Carefully read all of chapter 17, I believe this is more detail on the prayer in the garden and is a great model prayer.
The reading ends in chapter 18 with Jesus being arrested and brought before Caiaphas and Pilate. Peter denies Jesus three times as predicted in this chapter also. A bunch happens all at once in the demise of Jesus. I find it interesting how his last evening takes about a quarter of the book of John and a fifth is devoted to his death and resurrection. So we see that almost half of the Book of John is devoted to Jesus’ last days. The reason is all his teaching mean less without the sacrifice and resurrection.