He Truly Is (John 15:1)

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.” (John 15:1, ESV)

John recorded for us seven claims to deity that Jesus made of Himself. The first of them was in John 6:35 where Jesus said, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” (John 6:35, ESV) This statement was made the day after He divided the loaves and fish to feed five thousand men and an unnumbered amount of women and children. The religious leaders confronted Him demanding more to prove Him being sent by the Father. After all, He only fed them one times and God through Moses did it day after day, year after year for their entire time in the wilderness. They saw the works but they weren’t enough for some.

Later at the Feast of Booths on the last day while Jesus was likely standing at the foot of four seventy-five foot tall candelabras we read, “Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”” (John 8:12, ESV) The Jews had celebrated year after year the Feast of Booths and central to their celebration were those four ornate light stands towering above Jerusalem testifying to the God who made both day and night creating the sun, moon, and the stars and the God who led the people of Israel in the desert by a pillar of fire by night. They knew the many prophecies of God as light in whom there was no darkness, and even the words of Isaiah who said, No longer will you have the sun for light by day, nor for brightness will the moon give you light; but you will have the Lord for an everlasting light, and your God for your glory. “Your sun will no longer set, nor will your moon wane; for you will have the Lord for an everlasting light, and the days of your mourning will be over.” (Isaiah 60:19–20, NASB95)

Later in John chapter 10, “So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.” (John 10:7, ESV) … “I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.” (John 10:9, ESV) Jesus declared Himself the entrance by which sheep would enter their shelter. It is only through Him that anyone would receive salvation and a place to rest.

He went on in the next verses to also declare that not only was He the gate through which we gain entrance to God, but that He is also the good shepherd who was to lay down His life for His sheep. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (John 10:11, ESV) … “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,” (John 10:14, ESV)

In John chapter 11 after declaring that as the good shepherd that He would lay down His life, that He was also the resurrection. “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,” (John 11:25, ESV). Everyone who believes in Him, though physically they would die, like Him they would also live.

And then in chapter 14 Jesus declared that He is the only way, the full truth, the fullness of life, and the only way to come to the Father. “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6, ESV)

Here in John chapter 15 Jesus makes another declaration about who He is. He is the true vine. There is none other, and the Father is the One who dresses it. In the next few verses Jesus went on to explain what this meant in more detail, but clearly (for now) anyone who believes Jesus to be a mere man who was a good prophets has quite a conundrum to solve. Having said all of these things about Himself if any of them were wrong then He was hardly a prophet. At best He was greatly deceived as a fool or an incredible liar. As crazy as it might seem to some, He was neither of the last two. Everything He said came to pass just as the Scriptures declared and was proven by His resurrection.

Jesus did not say “I might be.” He said “I am,” and it is up to each individual to accept Him as truth or suffer the eternal consequence of rejecting Him as something else. This was the problem with the religious leaders. It did not matter what He said or did, they would not believe Him and Jesus told them in very clear words that they were to remain in judgment as a result. There is no other option.

“My Peace I Give” (John 14:27-31)

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe. I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.” (John 14:27–31, ESV)

John 14:27 is an amazing verse. It is one of incredible encouragement to us reading it on this side of the resurrection of Christ knowing that He is at the right hand of the Father and that the Father has sent the Spirit to indwell every individual believer forever and to be with His church. But for the disciples this same verse was quickly followed by the words, “Rise, let us go from here.” 

Jesus had told His disciples that He was leaving and that He was not going to leave them as orphans, but that after He left the Father would send the Spirit and that they would do even greater things. He had told them that though He was leaving it would not be the last time He would see them. He would come again, and He was also going to prepare a place for them where they would be with Him forever. I can only imagine the tenderness with which He spoke to these men whom He loved, and how He tried to assure them in every way that what was about to happen was not going to be the end, but really in many ways just the beginning.

In today’s passage Jesus tells His disciples that while it might be hard for them, think of the joy that He would regain by returning to the presence of the Father. The task for which He was sent would be completed and He would return to where He eternally belongs. In their sorrow, think of His joy, but also think of what greater things might be accomplished. 

All of this He told them so that when it does happen they would know that it was all true, even the things which they would have yet to see. It all happened just as He said. It all happened just as the prophets had spoken. Everything that they learned was true, and they could go forward with great confidence. This was going to be of particular importance to them because the times to come were going to become increasingly more difficult. With Jesus leaving there was going to come another who would seek to tear down everything He came to accomplish. Jesus referred to him here as the “ruler of this world.” He would work with great tenacity to destroy the church and to silence every follower of Christ. He was and is none other than Satan who is still at work today.

Jesus also told them that Satan had no claim on Him. He was far and above him, and in fact we know from Scripture that he has to answer to Him and will even be eternally cast away by Him. But there was going to be a season where he would rule and those who followed after Christ were going to have to suffer many of the same things that He suffered. For this reason it was critically important for them to know that what Jesus had told them was true—every single word. When things got tough they were being made ready to stand knowing that they were on solid ground in Him.

The same is true for Christians today where the persecution they suffer is the rejection of family, the chastisement of co-workers, the judgment of governments, and even their own physical suffering and death. All of these are the result of an enemy who is currently ruling the earth. God is not the author of evil, but He is sovereign over the evil one. He will bring his reign to an end in His time when He accomplishes all that He intends through it—which is the salvation of man.

The apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 6, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.” (Ephesians 6:10–13, ESV)

True Spiritual Insight (John 14:25-26)

“These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 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 have said to you.” (John 14:25–26, ESV)

Jesus had not yet gone to the cross. He had not yet been resurrected and left His disciples, and they did not really understand what was to lie ahead. Nor did they understand many of the things that He had said about things that had not yet happened. But Jesus knew that once He left them to return to the Father that they were going to need some answers and some help putting all of the pieces together in relation to what they had seen. Knowing this He told His disciples that the Holy Spirit was going to come sent by the Father in the name of Jesus to help them with all of these things.

In particular with the disciples this was going to be critical because they were the ones chosen by Jesus to get things going after He left. They were the ones who spent time with Jesus and who would be relied upon to communicate what they had seen and heard. And they were the ones even who were going to be used to record even for us today the very word of God.

This function of the Spirit is particularly noticeable in the study of John’s gospel as he regularly inserted commentary about things that were going to happen but had not yet happened when he wrote of what Jesus said and did. Later in the same evening Jesus told His disciples, “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.” (John 15:26–27, ESV) And then He said, “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.” (John 16:7, ESV)

Being with Him they were seeking to understand, but there was going to be a time when they would see things much more clearly through the work of the Holy Spirit. They would truly know why Jesus came and would be charged with sharing that message with others. They were to be the primary witnesses to whom many would listen and be saved. They would be the foundation upon which His church is built.

Paul wrote in Ephesians, “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:19–22, ESV)

The Spirit would work through Jesus’ chosen disciples to build His church and to record His Word. Peter tells us, “For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:21, ESV) and Paul wrote to Timothy that all Scripture is God-breathed. The Greek word used is theopneustos. When I first saw this word I didn’t need to open a Greek dictionary. I immediately thought of tools I had used which were powered by air—pneumatic tools, and I saw the prefix “theo” and I knew that the word of God was literally God breathed or breathed out by God. Just as Peter had said, these men were carried along by the Spirit. And in order for all of this to happen the Spirit had to come.

While we subsequently are not those use by God to write His word because we weren’t there from the beginning like His disciples or even Paul who was personally confronted by Christ, we do have the same Spirit in us and the Spirit brings the word of God to life for us. The write of Hebrews wrote, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12, ESV)

The ministry of the Spirit is vast and this is only a small glimpse, but this glimpse sets the foundation for what we know. It was through the work of the Spirit that these chosen men of God built upon the work of Christ and laid for us the foundation of our faith and it is the Spirit who gives us understanding such that we believe also.

“But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” (2 Corinthians 3:16–17, ESV)

God in Residence (John 14:21-24)

“Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” Jesus answered 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 home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.” (John 14:21–24, ESV)

In verse 11 Jesus said, “Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.” (John 14:11, ESV) Jesus was speaking to His disciples and telling them to believe that He and the Father are one, but if they could not grasp it, wrap their minds around it, or settle it in their own minds then at least look to the works and believe on account of the works. He had said before that the works were to proof of Him being sent by the Father. The works testified to His words affirming that He truly was who He said He was. And now He tells them that just as He did what the Father wanted because of His love for the Father, so were they to keep His words because of their love for Him.

John records for us several statements of the Father’s love for Jesus. In John 3:35 it is John the Baptist testifying to the Father’s love with these words, “The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.” (John 3:35, ESV) In chapter 5 Jesus spoke of the Father’s love for Him personally and in this said, “For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel.” (John 5:20, ESV) Because of the love which the Father has for the Son the Father showed Him all that He was doing and was even going to demonstrate greater things through Him. And then in chapter 10 Jesus spoke of the ultimate or greatest act that the Son was sent to do, which was to lay down His life and then take it back up again so that man might be given his. “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.” (John 10:17, ESV)

Clearly Jesus established that people who love do for those they love. And just as the Father loved the Son, so would He love anyone who loves the Son. And beyond that the Son would also love them and even manifest Himself to them. Those who do not believe will not see the Son after His death and burial, but those who love Him He would show Himself to them. One of the remaining disciples who also was named Judas, but not the Judas who had already left, spoke up and asked Jesus how could it be that He would be able to show Himself to some and keep others from seeing Him.

In His response Jesus paralleled what He had already about the relationship He had with the Father. Jesus had said that He demonstrated His love for the Father by doing what the Father willed and that the Father loved Him and was with Him. In a unique way Jesus is one with God. The Father in Him and He in the Father. When it came to His followers Jesus said that those who loved Him as demonstrated by their obedience the Father would also love and “We”—Father, Son, and Spirit would come to them and make Their home with them. In the next verses we will read again about the coming of the Spirit, and particularly Jesus saying that through the coming of the Spirit that God—Father, Son, and Spirt—“WE” would indeed come and dwell in believers. In contrast to this Jesus also said that those who do not love Him will also prove it by their actions—their lack of obedience.

And just as Jesus had said all along these words were not His own, they were the words of the Father and they were totally trustworthy. “and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Romans 5:5, ESV)

Pie Aren’t Square – Pie Are Round (Malachi 3:6a; James 1:17)

“For I the LORD do not change….” (Malachi 3:6a, ESV)

Last night Robin and I had the privilege along with our kids of eating dinner with a group of our brothers and sisters in Christ (other Christians). At the table were several math teachers. When it came time to ask about dessert our daughter (Beth) chimed in that she would like some. To this we offered to get her some for later, which we did and even stopped to enjoy on our way home. Where we were was a place known for its desserts, and when the question was asked one of those at the table made the comment that you can’t square pie (pi or π), which is a math joke based upon mathematical definition. In response, one from my family (I don’t know which one exactly) responded by asking if they knew the square root of pi (π). No one came up with an answer, and the conversation moved on.

This morning, while in my shower where I often think of strange things, including illustrations, I thought again of this conversation. Following is a note that I sent to one of those at the table. I have included it as a response and have not reworded it really for sake of time but also to keep it in context.

“I know we had some mathematicians at our table last night and one of my family threw out the question about the square root of π in response to a statement about squaring π as being something that we cannot do. For me, mathematics did not make sense until I took calculus and moved from memorizing a bunch of formulas to understanding how these formulas were derived, and that when it comes from curves they could only find their answers in accepting some constants that could not be fully defined and using approximations which bring you close but never get you there.

I quickly thought about going further with it, but decided not to. But as I sat thinking about it this morning I realized where there was a gap between the understanding of a child and the understanding of the educated mind.

By definition π is an irrational or transcendent number. It cannot be represented accurately in fractional form, nor is it the root of others. By definition, based upon observation and calculation, it is a constant—a non-varying existent number which can never be fully represented even with the best computers which man has invented. It goes on and on and on without end or ever repeating itself in an endless cycle of numbers. It is totally unique to itself as is another famous constant e (Euler’s number or constant used in logarithmic equations).

[In response] a mathematician will resort to [this] definition and base all of his assumptions on [the] definition leading to the fact that [no] product of that number cannot accurately be [deduced] either. This would make deriving a square root impossible just as it would make squaring a circle impossible because you can always go a step further.

But from a child’s or non-mathematician viewpoint there is a limit to the number. It only extends as far as they can know it and as such they then can square or even square root that number. In doing this they remove the irrational and make it seemingly rational. They remove the transcendence and make it something they can wrap their hands around. And having reduced it to a limited number which they can plug it into their calculators, and using limited decimal spaces they can then manipulate it. Thus where the mathematician would say by definition that there can be no square root of π the non-mathematician would say that 1.772 is close enough for them.

In a sense isn’t what the non-mathematician does with π similar to what man does with our God who he does not understand. Sure they might make some sense out of it that they can work with, but in the end they have done nothing more than taken that which they cannot fully see and rationalized it into that which they can see, after all their calculators let them do it. And on an opposite side, there are also those who because they cannot fully grasp the limitless nature of something kept them always questioning. In that sense I am glad that at some point in time men discovered constants, and because of those constants he could move forward. He doesn’t have to fully grasp them though much has been revealed. He doesn’t have to know their exact end but trust that the results are dependable. He can move forward knowing that some things do not change, and because of that he finds stability.

I am so thankful that our constant is not found in a number, but in our God who created everything and even demonstrated for us in His creation that some things just have to be accepted as true for things to make sense."

“For I the LORD do not change….” (Malachi 3:6a, ESV)

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” (James 1:17, ESV)

“For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” (Colossians 1:16–20, ESV)

Adopted and Loved (John 14:18-21)

“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in Me, and I in you. Whoever has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves Me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”” (John 14:18–21, ESV)

Before Jesus’ death and burial He could be seen by everyone, but after His resurrection He was seen by those who believed. He promised His believers that He would not leave them alone—as orphans, but would return to them. What they did not anticipate was that once He was placed in the grave was that they would in just a few days see Him as the resurrected Christ, but they did. Jesus made a promise and He kept it. The big difference is that after His resurrection He made Himself known only to believers, and from that point forward it would be settled that because He lives they were to live also.

He had told them that if they had seen the Him they had seen the Father, and knowing Him they knew the Father. Upon His resurrection they would know without a doubt that He indeed was (and is) in the Father and the Father in Him. He would prove Himself to be more than a man and to be fully God. And beyond that because of their belief they would also know Him in a new way. Rather than walking alongside Jesus they would be walking with Christ in them. When the Spirit comes they would be filled forever, as He had just said, with the very presence of God.

Jesus had already established that the commandments were summed up in two things—love God and love others. Those who have these commandments and lives in accordance with them demonstrates his love for Christ. And those, Jesus said, who love Him will be loved by the Father. And beyond that Jesus would love them in return and manifest Himself to them. He already spoke about Himself being manifest in believers when the Spirit comes, and this surely would happen to His disciples and every single person who believes in Him from that point forward.

When I think of them not being orphans I think of being left alone without parents. Prior to our trusting in Christ the Bible says that we are slaves to our Father the devil. Speaking to the Jewish leadership in John 8:44 Jesus said, “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44, ESV) In contrast to that Paul wrote in Romans 8:14-15, “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”” (Romans 8:14–15, ESV)

What an incredible contrast. When we trust in Jesus Christ and are saved we are moved from one family apart from God and adopted into His forever family, destined to be with Him forever. Jesus surely did return to them with His resurrection and He surely has taken all who have died as beloved children of God to be with Him for eternity. This is the certain hope that we all possess, not because of works that we do, but because of the love of God show to us such that we believe, are saved, and are then called to reciprocate in loving Him and others just as He loved us.

Help is Around the Corner (John 14:16-17)

“And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. You know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. (John 14:16-17)

In these verses and the ones that follow we clearly see the fullness of the Trinity present. Jesus had said that He was returning to the Father, and here we read that He will ask the Father to send another Helper. This other helper is not a spirified Jesus coming back to help them in some special way. He was asking the Father for another Helper, and this Helper unlike Jesus would soon return to the Father would be with them forever, and this Helper is the Holy Spirit—the third person of the Trinity being fully God. The Spirit has been God from eternity past and is fully and eternally God. Up until that point the Spirit was always present with man, but not given to dwell in all believers.

In this passage we see the word “Him” to speak of the Spirit and this can give us a clue as how to refer to the Spirit in pronoun form, but the Greek word translated Him is the word “autos” which is used to speak of a separate and distinct individual. We can see this in the root of our word “autonomous” or acting independently. But unlike our word “autonomous” the Spirit like the Father and the Son never work independently. While they are on one way looked at individually as God they are also clearly spoken of as fully One as God. All three are God, but the Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Spirit, and the Spirit is not the Father.  This is how Scripture declares it to be.

Jesus was returning to the Father and the Father was sending the Spirit to continue that which Jesus put in place by laying down His life and taking it back up again. Having done this all that believe are saved, and as Jesus said and John commented on in John 7:38-39, “Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ” Now this He said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” (John 7:38–39, ESV)

Jesus was soon to be glorified and the Spirit was soon to come in a full and different way, and the only ones who would know the Spirit are those who are saved.  The world would not see the Spirit or be able to receive the Spirit. The Spirit was only being sent to those who believe. Up until that time the disciples had known of the Spirit and they had even experienced the working of the Spirit. We read throughout Scripture that followers of God had been filled with the Spirit, but what Jesus was telling them was there was soon going to be a time where the Spirit would be in them and the Spirit would remain.

And the most incredible thing is that those works that Jesus said that they were going to do which were to be greater than His, the Spirit was going to help them accomplish. There are many terms used to refer to the Spirit, but here Jesus uses the term “Helper.” It is the Greek word “parakletos” and it is variously translated as “helper” and “comforter” or someone called to one’s side. And in reference to Jesus it is even translated “advocate.” The disciples were not to do this alone. Jesus was going to be with them through the inner-working power of the Spirit.

We also read that the Spirit was the Spirit of truth. There was much that the disciples did not know and could not grasp. They did not even fully comprehend what He was telling them as we saw by the question of Philip a few verses back. But when the Spirit comes the Spirit was going to guide them in all truth. Just as Jesus spoke the words given to Him by the Father, so would the Spirit. Later in chapter 16 of John Jesus would tell His disciples, ““I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth, for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak, and He will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify Me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that He will take what is mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:12–15, ESV)

Later in this current chapter (14) we read that the things Jesus was saying to them the Spirit would even bring to their remembrance. “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 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 have said to you.” (John 14:25–26, ESV)

Our God is so awesome. He did not send His Son to save us and leave us to fend for ourselves trying to muscle things through for Him until we die and join Him in His presence. He gave us life at the time of our salvation, and He gave us His Spirit to be fully in us to equip, enable, and empower us for His service so that we might be an incredible part of the greater works that Jesus left to be accomplished.