It is late Thursday night, and Jesus has just finished the Passover dinner with his disciples. He showed them humility by washing their feet. He told them that there was a traitor among them. During their time of astonishment, the traitor, Judas, left.
The events are now in motion. By the next morning, Jesus will be taken away to die on a Roman cross.
But Jesus needs to prepare his struggling disciples. He is going to leave and they cannot come. Jesus was their entire life for the last three years, and now he will be gone! They are still struggling with the thought that one of the disciples would betray him, and this new news must have been too much to bear!
What follows is one of the most touching and heartfelt conversations between Jesus and his disciples:
“I am leaving and you cannot come”
These events will lead to God’s glory. Before anything else, God’s glory is most important!
He will crush the power of sin and death.
God will show his justice, faithfulness, mercy and love by letting his own son die for the entire world!
Jesus will have the ultimate glory when he rises from the dead and returns to Heaven.
But what about the ones left behind?
What about his followers here on earth?
They are not left alone. We are not left alone. We have each other.
Jesus’ final command is to love each other. Regardless of background. He will repeat this command throughout this final conversation (see here).
Peter: “Why can’t I follow you? I would die for you!”
Peter is ready to follow his Lord Jesus to death! But Peter does not know his own weakness. When the time comes to be brave, Peter will be hiding like a coward, denying that he ever knew him!
He will do this three times.
It is easy to fall upon our own bravado. We belittle others’ failures and vow that we would have never done that if it were us!
But notice that this follows closely on Jesus’ command. We are to be known by our love — even when we fail!
“You will be with me for all eternity!”
Jesus gives some of the deepest words of encouragement in all of Scripture. He will no longer be physically present. But they needed to put their trust in an invisible God, and believe in him in the same way.
“Just as you have believed in the unseen God through the years, I want you to put your faith in Me, the unseen Christ, after I have gone back to the Father.” [7]
“Stop agonizing in your hearts. I am completely trustworthy.” [5]
Like a husband who is preparing a place for his bride, so Jesus is returning to the Father’s house to prepare a place for us. He will bring us back to himself and we will be with him for eternity!
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”
Thomas: “How can we know the way?”
Thomas speaks for the rest of the group when he says, “I don’t get it”. How can we know the way?
Jesus’ reply is direct.
“I am the way”. He is the way, the only way to God. He is not just giving directions, he will take us there himself.
“I am the truth”. He is the truth, the only truth. They know the Father because they know the Son. With him is truth. Apart from him, there is no truth.
“I am the life”. He is the life, the only life. There cannot be death in his presence (see here). There cannot be life apart from him.
He is exclusive. No one else can get to the Father except through Jesus Christ.
“Religion is worthless because it provides no way to get to heaven.” – John MacArthur [9]
“While many religions will try to take bad people and make them better, only one is qualified to take dead people and make them alive.” – Stephen Davey [8]
Philip: “Just show us the Father.”
Philip’s request is, “Please just give us something tangible.”
But we already know the Father when we know Jesus Christ. He is given us not one, but two tangible things: his words that he said, and his works that he did.
How often do we look something more from God when we should be relying on what he has already given us!
“You will do greater things. Ask in my name and I will do it.”
Jesus showed the Father when he was on earth. Now that he is returning to the Father, he will enable us to do even greater things.
We reflect God the Father to our broken world.
We pray from the heart of Jesus Christ himself, asking to fill what he wants. We pray for God’s glory. We pray to love one another. We pray that our joy may be full. He promises to give us what we ask.
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