When Your Feeling All Alone. (John 14: 8-21)

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When You Are Feeling All Alone: Episode Notes For (John 14:8-21)

Introduction: 

Imagine being one of the apostles, having lived, worked, and loved alongside Jesus for years. You would have formed incredibly close and intimate bonds. This was not a typical teacher-student relationship but more akin to a mentorship and partnership, filled with personal interaction and encouragement. The source of their united friendship, fellowship, security, and significance was about to depart. They likely felt deserted, alone, and abandoned.

Setting the Scene: John 14 records this pivotal event, and we've been examining it over several days. Today, we'll continue exploring this discourse in our latest episode of BPDP.

Overview: The disciples were reeling from Jesus' announcement of His imminent departure. During this upper room dialogue, Jesus began by washing their feet, then declared His departure, prompting a series of questions from the disciples—Peter, Thomas, Philip, and Judas (not Iscariot). Despite their questions, Jesus used this opportunity to teach them important spiritual truths. Today, we'll focus on Philip's question, which takes us from John 14:8 to John 14:21.

Philip's Question: Philip's question reveals his deep desire to see and know God more fully, (John 14:8). This question arises from a misunderstanding of Jesus' earlier statement in verse 7, where Jesus said, "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him."

Jesus' Response: Jesus' response to Philip is profound and addresses the disciples' fears about His departure.

Jesus emphasizes His unity with the Father. Seeing Jesus is equivalent to seeing the Father. His words and works are those of the Father. This reassurance must have been overwhelming for the disciples. Even though Jesus was leaving, they were not being abandoned. The Father remained with them because He is in Jesus, and Jesus is in the Father.

Jesus assures them that they will do even greater works through prayer. This doesn't necessarily mean performing more spectacular miracles but achieving greater scope through prayer and the power of the Holy Spirit. Their works would no longer be limited geographically but would spread worldwide.

Jesus reassures them that although He is leaving, He will send another Advocate, the Holy Spirit, who will be with them forever. This Comforter will counsel and empower them to continue Jesus' work. The Holy Spirit's presence ensures that they are not left as orphans.

Conclusion: Jesus' departure was not the end but a new beginning. Through prayer, obedience, and the Holy Spirit, the disciples would do even greater works. They would experience Jesus' ongoing presence and love. This passage reassures us that we are never truly alone. Jesus' presence, through the Holy Spirit, is with us always, guiding and empowering us to carry out His work.

Transcript

When You Are Feeling All Alone.  (John 14: 8-21)

Full Transcript.

  Imagine you being in the place of the apostles. Living, working, and loving together for years, you can't help but become close, intimate friends. 

In such a context, you would very likely be draw incredible close together.

In the case of Jesus and His disciples, they had grown closer and become supportive intimate friends and coworkers. They shared the experience of being companions, as well as teacher, and pupil. 

But this wasn't the typical teacher-student relationship we find in high schools, or even university. It was akin to the relationship that develops at a mentor and partnership level, where there's significant time for personal interaction and encouragement getting to know one another intimately and personally.

The disciples had spent three years with Jesus, growing to love and know each other deeply. So, imagine being in their shoes as they gathered one evening in an upper room and Jesus announced, in essence, "I'm leaving." 

The source of their united friendship, fellowship, as well as security, and significance was about to depart. Imagine how they must have felt: deserted, alone, maybe even abandoned. 

If you can empathize with those feeling of loneliness and abandonment, you can perhaps understand the emotions of the disciples as they listened to Jesus in that famous upper room the night before He was crucified.

John chapter 14 records this event, and we've been looking at it for a few days and today we continue with that process in the latest episode of TBPDP….

Before we begin let's first remember what has just hit the disciples so hard. The announcement Jesus has just made is that He was about to depart, leaving them all alone. 

If you lay out the whole upper room dialogue and look at it as an overview, you see that the Lord began by washing their feet. He then announced His departure, which prompting the disciples to start asking questions, one after another. 

Peter asked a question, Thomas asked a question, Philip asked a question, and another disciple named Judas (not Judas Iscariot) also asked a question.

In the midst of these questions, the Lord was still using the opportunity to try and teach them. Sandwiched between their questions, He took opportunities to make points and teach important spiritual truths before He left. 

So far, we have looked at the questions from Peter and Thomas. Today, we will drop back into the middle of this upper room discussion. 

Today we will focus on the question that Philip asked, which takes us from John 14:8 down to John 14:21. 

After Philip, Judas (not Iscariot) asked a question, recorded in John 14:22-26. 

The last several verses of the chapter, verses 27-31, record some of the Lord's closing remarks. 

More important than the structure of the discourse is the fact that the disciples were asking questions, and the Lord was answering them and teaching them in the process. From these verses, a great spiritual truth emerges, one that I believe still today speaks directly to loneliness, abandonment, and the feeling of being all alone.

Let's do a survey through all these verses to capture the one overriding truth the Lord is trying to teach. We'll begin with Philip's question in John 14:8:

"Philip said to him, 'Lord, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.'" (John 14:8)

This question reveals Phillip’s deep desire to see and know God more fully. Philip's request is simple but sincere: “Show us the Father.”.

But what Philip said in total was, "Lord, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us." This question has an interesting context. 

In verse 7, Jesus had just said, "If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him." Jesus had been just emphasizing that seeing Him was equivalent to seeing the Father. Yet, Philip still asks, "Show us the Father."

Now of course all Jews at that time believed that God the Father had already revealed Himself to Moses, as recorded in Exodus. 

But Isaiah also promises a future manifestation of God. The disciples themselves had heard God's voice from heaven. But there's another sense in which Philip's request is insightful. He it seems is seeking a direct and clear revelation of the Father.

Jesus' response to Philip's question is equally profound and addresses the heart of the disciples' fears and concerns about His departure.

9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves 

(John 14:9-11)

Jesus is emphasizing His unity with the Father. Seeing Jesus is exactly the same as seeing the Father, he says. His words and works are those of the Father. This would have been an overwhelming reassurance to the disciples. Even though Jesus is leaving, they are not being left alone or abandoned. The Father is still with them because He is in Jesus, and Jesus is in the Father.

Jesus then makes it clear to Philip and the other disciples that seeing Him is equivalent to seeing the Father because they are I fact one. His words and works bear witness to this truth. There is perhaps no greater testimony to the deity of Jesus Christ in the Gospel of John than these verses. Jesus states plainly that seeing Him is seeing God.

In verse 10, "Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me?" He uses the singular "believe," addressing Philip directly. In verse 11, "Believe Me (Plural) that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me," He switches to the plural, extending His remarks to all the disciples. 

Jesus is telling them all now that His words and works testify to His unity with the Father. In Chapter 10, He had already declared, "I and the Father are one." His words again attest to His divine nature. He also previously claimed to be the Good Shepherd that gives life, equal with God (Chapter 5), sent from God (Chapter 7), and we hear him used the divine name "I AM" many time throughout this gospel account.

If you listen to Jesus' words, you hear His deity proclaimed. If words aren't enough, His works will also confirm it. 

Throughout the Gospel of John, He performed miracles to demonstrate His deity: turning water into wine, healing the sick, feeding 5,000 with a few loaves and fishes, calming the sea, and raising Lazarus from the dead, among many other miracles.

Jesus' argument is clear: His words and works bear witness to this truth. By looking at Jesus, you understand what God is like. Creation shows God's power, but Jesus shows God's compassion and love. 

Until Jesus came, we knew through the Old Testament the God could create a universe, but we never imagined He would labour with carpenter's tools. We knew He was surrounded by angels, but never thought He would sit eat with sinners. We believed He held the world in his hands, but never suspected He would care about a sparrow's fall.

Jesus intimately associated Himself with us through His actions and teachings, allowing us to understand that the One who inhabits the entire universe, lives among and within us.

At this point in the upper room discourse, Jesus seems to be done answering questions. He had already addressed several from Peter, one from Thomas, and one from Philip.

But he will now continue by offering further reassurance:

12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it."

(John 14: 12-14) 

Jesus had been interrupted by questions but now returns to His teaching. He explains that those who believe in Him will do the works He has done and even greater works. 

Some interpret this literally, suggesting that believers would perform even greater miracles than Jesus did. However, this interpretation in my estimation is too simplistic. Does it mean that because Jesus fed 5,000; does that mean we will feed 50,000? He calmed a storm; does that mean we must calm a hurricane? He raised Lazarus, who had been dead for four days; does that mean we must raise someone dead for longer? 

Most believe that while not excluding the occurrence of miraculous events, we don’t need to or should expect to surpass them in quality, but it means the scope of our work sould be greater.

I suppose it reasonable to say that indeed greater things in terms of scope have been achieved by Christians founding great missionary societies, or hospitals worldwide than just witnessing some sick people being healed in our local churches.

Jesus' works, and by nature the Holy Spirits’s work through us are no longer limited geographically to ancient Israel but today is spread all over the whole world. 

So how will followers of Jesus greater works than He did? In verses 13 and 14, He explains that we can do greater works through prayer, saying that, "Whatever you ask in My name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it." 

Some have taken these verses as a blank check to ask for anything, but that is not the meaning of the text.

Notice He says, "If you ask anything in My name." The key to understanding this promise is His use of the phrase "In My name." It does not mean merely adding "in Christ's name" at the end of a prayer, and that’s it guaranteed, It means praying as Christ would have and asking for God's will to be done. 

Prayer is in reality about coming to the word of God to determine the will of God, then asking for God's will to be performed in a specific situation.

Christ is saying that they will do greater works through prayer. He emphasizes that these statements qualify "I will do it," ensuring it aligns with God's will and thereby bringing glory to the Father.

God's people must learn to pray boldly that is true, the Bible reveals there is no limits to the number of answers that may be obtained through prayer.

Then on top of reassurance he makes them a promise.

15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

(John 14:15-21)

Jesus is telling them that even though He is leaving them, their work is not ending. In fact, they will continue to do His work through them. 

When we pray in His name and for His glory, He promises to act. 

In verse 12-14, the focus was on belief, but in verse 15, the focus shifts to obedience. Jesus links love and obedience, implying that through love, prayer, and obedience, we will then do the greatest works. 

Jesus has already said, "If you love Me, keep My commandments." Obedience shows that love is demonstrated through actions. But Jesus also suggests that we will do greater works not just through prayer and obedience, but through the power of the Holy Spirit. 

In verses 16 and 17, Christ transitions from prayer to obedience to the Holy Spirit, all connected by the statement that we will do greater works. He is saying that through the Holy Spirit, we will accomplish these greatest of works in His name.

Jesus says, "I will ask/pray to the Father." Jesus addresses the Father as an equal and prays that He will send another Comforter of the same kind. This establishes that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all on equal footing. The most important observation here is the word "Comforter." 

Technically, in the Greek text, the literal meaning of this word is "one called alongside to help," or "advocate." It refers to one called to give counsel, much like a lawyer. While the Comforter provides comfort, the primary thrust of the word is to offer counsel.

So, Jesus has said, "I am going to leave now," but He also says, "I am going to send you another advocate, a lawyer, a counsellor." The question might then arise, will this advocate leave too, will his presence also be a temporary thing? Jesus answers that in the latter part of verse 16, saying he will abide with us forever. 

The promise of Jesus Christ is that when the Holy Spirit comes, He will be with us forever. This suggests to me the doctrine of eternal security. If He promised the Holy Spirit would come and be with us forever, surely His promise is then that those who receive the Holy Spirit possess Him forever.

Jesus identifies the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of truth. The Spirit of truth is crucial because, as our advocate, He speaks the truth at all times. 

All these verses begin to merge together, making sense of the flow of the upper room discourse. Jesus is leaving, but He reassures His disciples by saying, "Philip, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. I'm leaving but let me tell you what you need to know: you will do greater works than I have done through prayer, obedience, and the Holy Spirit who will dwell in you." 

Jesus then adds something equally comforting in verse 18: "I will not leave you as orphans." This aligns with the theme permeating this whole passage—the announcement of His departure and the reassurance that He will not leave them fatherless. He says, "I will come to you."

Although He is leaving, He will send another Comforter—the Holy Spirit. Through the Holy Spirit's ministry, they will be able to do great works. His presence, through the Holy Spirit, will continue to be with them, empowering them to carry out His work.

There is some debate over the interpretation of Jesus' promise to come to His disciples. Some interpret this just to mean He will come to them after the resurrection in His appearances, while many believe it refers to His coming in the person of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. 

Given what Jesus says in the following verses, the second interpretation seems correct to me. He promises, "I will come to you; you will see me, and you will live." In verse 19, He says, "A little while longer, and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you will live also."

In the Old Testament, seeing God was believed to bring death. Now, Jesus clarifies to Philip that seeing Him is seeing the Father, and this new sight of Giod now brings life, not death. 

He explains that they will experience seeing Him after His resurrection but also beyond that through the presence of the Holy Spirit, they will live and will know for certain that He is in the Father, the Father is in Him, and He is in them. 

This is a promise that through the Holy Spirit's ministry, Jesus will manifest Himself to His followers, showing them the things of Christ.

The key to understanding this promise lies in verse 21: "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him." Jesus emphasizes loving obedience as the condition for this special manifestation.

The notion of seeing Jesus' work and presence becomes clear through loving obedience. Those who do not know Him intimately might find this concept strange. However, believers who obey Jesus with love will indeed see Him and His work. This can be witnessed in the lives of godly individuals who naturally speak about their experiences with the Lord. Such people know God deeply, and their conversations reflect a natural flow of sharing what they have seen the Lord do.

Ok now Judas (not Iscariot), asks a question which we shall look at in tomorrow’s episode of TBPDP….