IF YOU LOVE ME (15-24)

1. Read verses 15-16. (To whom is Jesus speaking? What were his disciples troubled about?) How can a disciple express love for Jesus? What does Jesus promise those who love and obey him? Who is the other Counselor? Who was the first Counselor? In what way is “another Counselor” better? (16b) How can he be there forever?

2. Read verse 17. Why is it important that the Counselor speak the truth? Why can the world not accept him? Why can it neither see him or know him? How will disciples be different? Read verse 18-19. What does Jesus promise? How will the disciples see Jesus?(19) How does he give life?

3. Read verses 20-21. What is “on that day?” What will they realize? What difference will the coming of the Holy Spirit make? What difference does love make? How do we show our love for Jesus? How does he show his love for his disciples?

4. Read verses 22. What did Judas ask? Why did he ask this? Read verses 23-25. How does Jesus answer Judas’ question? What is the Father’s best blessing?(23) Why is his indwelling a blessing? What is special about the words Jesus is speaking? (24b)

THE COUNSELOR COMES (25-31)

5. Read verse 26. Who is the Counselor and who sends him and what does he do? (What else does the Holy Spirit do? See Rom 8:26,27; Jn 3:5-6) Read verse 27. What does Jesus promise to give? How is Jesus’ peace different from that of the world?

6. Read verses 28-31. Why should disciples be glad that Jesus is going away? Why did he tell them before it happened? (20:31) Who is the prince of this world? Why does he have no hold on Jesus? What can we learn from Jesus about how to defeat the world and its prince? Where did they go after this?

IF YOU LOVE ME (15-25)

Jesus is speaking to his disciples. In verses 15-24 he says three times (in slightly different words) ,“If you love me, you will obey what I command (15,21,23). Furthermore, he promised to send the Holy Spirit (Comforter, Spirit of truth) to those who love him. Jesus was continuing his conversation with his disciples. Jesus knew their hearts. He knew how empty they were. He knew that when he left they would feel like orphans abandoned by their parents. So he said in verse 18, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” The disciples were deeply troubled by his disclosure that he would leave them soon. They could not imagine life without him, so they were troubled and distressed. Even though he told them that he was going to his Father’s house to prepare a place for them and that he would come back soon and take them to be with him in heaven, they were not comforted. This did not resolve their immediate anxiety. So in these verses, Jesus promised to send them another Counselor. This Counselor would be with them forever. He would dwell in them.

The Counselor is called the Spirit of truth. Jesus is the way and the truth and the life. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. He leads us according to the truth by the true way to God. His presence in us gives us the life of God–spiritual life.

In just a few hours Jesus would die on the cross. He would be buried. But he would conquer death and rise from the grave. Because he lives, we also will live. By his resurrection power we who hear Jesus’ word and believe in God who sent Jesus have eternal life. We will not be condemned. We have crossed over from death to life. Someday we will see Jesus as he is and we will be like him. Jesus promises us that as we travel on this earthly pilgrimage to the heavenly kingdom, the Counselor, the Holy Spirit will be in us and with us.

In the Book of Exodus God instructed Moses to build a sanctuary. God taught him the exact pattern. God would come and dwell in the sanctuary. He would live in the midst of his people and lead them from Mt Sinai through the desert to the promised land. But the Holy God could not live with sinful men. Provision was made for blood sacrifices of animals to atone for sin. Provision was made for the priest to offer prayer for the people. This sacrificial system pointed to Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. When we repent and come to Jesus our sins are forgiven by his atoning blood. His resurrection power gives us life. His Holy Spirit comes and dwells in hearts cleansed by the blood of the Lamb.

Jesus promised to come and dwell in the hearts of those who love him and obey his commandments. The commandment that he gives repeatedly is “Love one another.” In chapter 13 he said plainly, “A new commandment I give you; love one another.” He says it continually in chapter 14. “Love one another” is not an option. It is a command. How can we love those we don’t even like? With our own human strength it is

impossible. But all things are possible with God. Jesus promises to reveal himself to those who love him. He promised, “He who loves me will be loved by my Father. We will come to him and make our home with him.

Jesus’ disciples were not as yet spiritual men. They had no spiritual sight. So Judas (not Iscatiot) suggested that now might be the time to show himself to the world. Perhaps he thought that if the people of the world saw the Son of man coming in clouds of glory with his holy angels they would believe. But it was not the time for Jesus to come in clouds of glory. Someday he would, but there were things for him to do first and there were things for the disciples to do first. He gave them the command to love each other. He also gave a command to bring the good news of forgiveness and God’s love to the whole world. When the Holy Spirit came on them with power they could be his witnesses to the ends of the earth. Obedience to his command is the way we express our love for God. Jesus revels himself through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.

Thomas and Philip were also unspiritual men. The Holy Spirit had not yet been given, so their inner lives were not yet changed. Thomas could not understand that Jesus was going to the heavenly kingdom. Philip did not realize that to see Jesus is to see God. Thomas did not know the way because the way was through the cross of Jesus, Jesus the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Jesus would die on the cross, rise from the dead and ascend to heaven. Then he and the Father would pour out the Holy Spirit on those who love God and truth. On that day their spiritual eyes would be opened. Their inner lives would be changed. They would become spiritual men.

* THE COUNSELOR COMES (25-31)

Jesus made a promise to his disciples. He would send to them the Comforter, the Counselor. They did not understand, but they believed and they remembered. The word Jesus spoke in verses 15-24 were God’s own words of promise. They were words to be believed and obeyed. What would the Counselor, the Holy Spirit whom the Father would send in Jesus’ name do? He would teach the disciples how to be a disciple of Jesus. He would remind them of the things Jesus had said to them. He would give them strength to live the life Jesus called them to live. He would give them the most precious gift of all–peace. The peace that Jesus gives is not like the world’s peace. The peace of the world is a peaceful environment, the absence of war, a frenzy of activities that take our minds off of our troubles. Jesus’ peace is within. It is peace in the midst of war and conflict. It is the peace that every one wants above all else. It is peace that money cannot buy. Jesus told his troubled disciples, “Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” The Counselor takes away fear and anxiety.

In verses 28-30 Jesus tells his disciples about the victory he will experience on the cross. It is a victory over the prince of this world, the devil. He will defeat the devil by his death on the cross. He would defeat the devil by holding on to the words of the Father. He says, “I love the Father and will do exactly what he commands.” This is Jesus’ secret of victory.

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