INTRODUCTION

My freshman year of high school I went out for wrestling. I don’t remember why I decided to do it, but I did. I was short and rather pudgy and had never done any physical exercise other than what any kid does when he plays. I had no strength, was very slow and because of my weight had to wrestle big guys who were fast and strong. I only got to wrestle in one actual meet on the JV squad and I lost that match. Most of the time I went to the meets and worked as the water boy. Needless to say, the pain and suffering I endured in practice was far greater than any benefits I received from being on the squad. So, when the wrestling coach approached me the next fall I told him I wasn’t interested. I spent that winter watching reruns of Star Trek and Gilligan’s Island after school rather than going to wrestling practice and enjoyed it far more.

My experience with wrestling is not unique. All of us have made commitments, begun hobbies, started jobs, entered into relationships only to find that the benefits we received from the arrangement were less than the cost of remaining in it. We dissolve our relationships, end our commitments, put our hobbies on the shelf, change our job because we find that the people are not who we thought they were, the work is harder than we anticipated, the enjoyment is not as great as we expected.

Jesus’ 11 disciples are about to discover that who Jesus is and what it is that he came to do is far different than what they believe and expect. They are, at the moment, devoted and loving followers of Jesus. But the Jesus they are following is not the Jesus who actually exists. The life they are expecting to live with Jesus is the opposite of what life with Jesus will actually become. They are not mistaken because Jesus has deceived them, he has been very clear. They are expecting the wrong things because of their prejudices. They have very selective perception. They hold on to the things that bolster their belief that Jesus is going to conquer the Romans and set up God’s kingdom on earth now, with them in the key leadership roles. They ignore and refuse to believe the many signs that show that Jesus is not who they think he is and his mission is not what they are hoping for.

When things don’t turn out as you expect, then the only way that you will stick with your commitment is to be persuaded that the changed circumstances are really to your benefit. This is what Jesus sets out to do in the passage we are going to consider today. Jesus sets out to convince them and us that even though things are not going to go as they planned, the benefits that those who love him experience are infinitely greater than the costs involved. In these 16 verses we will discover the benefits that Jesus gives to those who love and obey Him.

MAIN POINT

If we’re going to correctly understand Jesus’ argument in this passage we have to understand what v. 15 is saying and what it is not saying. We also need to understand how v. 15 is connected to what comes before in vv. 12-13 and what comes after in v. 16. Jesus essentially repeats v. 15 two other times in these verses. Look at v. 21 and then v. 23. Notice also that he states the same thing negatively in v. 24. Do you see what he is saying? Everyone who loves Jesus obeys Jesus’ commands and everyone who obeys his commands loves him. If you don’t love him then you won’t obey his commands and if you don’t obey his commands then you don’t love him. To claim to love Jesus but to intentionally disobey him is to be a liar. Love and obedience are inseparable.

This is not a strange thing to say. All of us know this to be what is true of all loving relationships. In marriage how do spouses show that they love each other? By doing all that is in their power to provide the other with the things that make them happy. When a wife tells her husband what will make her happy and the husband has it in his power to provide it for her, then he shows his love by doing for her what will make her happy. However, when a husband never gives his wife the things that make her happy, even though he has the ability to do so, then we know that the husband doesn’t love his wife, no matter what he says. The analogy breaks down because usually, when we give our spouse what will make them happy, we are meeting some deficiency in them. However, Jesus has no deficiencies. Our obedience doesn’t supply a lack in him but shows our love for him.

Next how does v. 15 connect with what proceeds and with what follows? Jesus is not talking about how to become a Christian in this passage. He is talking about what is true of those who are Christians. Notice how he does this beginning in v. 12. If you believe in Jesus you do the works that Jesus did while on earth and in fact you do greater works. As we saw last week, the work that Jesus did was to show off how great God the Father is. In v. 13, if you are one who believes in Jesus then you regularly ask Jesus to do things for you that show off how great the Father is. Then in v. 15 Jesus equates believing in him with loving him. The essence of faith is love. If you are a Christian then you are loving Jesus and obeying his commands. In v. 16, if you are a Christian then Jesus asks the Father to give you another Counselor to take his place. It’s very important to see that these are not cause/effect statements but rather statements of fact. In other words, Jesus is not saying that the reason he asks the Father to give you the HS is because you love and obey him. Rather he is describing what is true for every true Christian. Each true Christian loves Jesus, obeys his command and the Father gives him the HS at his request.

It is at this point that Jesus begins to show these men and us why being his follower, even though life doesn’t go the way you want, is better than not being his follower. The chief benefit of belonging to Jesus is that the Father has given you another Counselor in place of Jesus. Let’s look at what Jesus says about this Counselor so that we can appreciate how amazing it is to be a Christian. These are some of the richest verses in the whole Bible. Every clause could be the subject of a half-hour discussion. As I have meditated on this passage I have felt like a young child let loose in a "Toys R Us" and told that every toy in the place is his. It is overwhelming. I will only look at some of what is here but hope to whet your appetite so you will take this passage and spend time meditating on what it says yourself.

• First notice that he is another Counselor. In other words he is a person who is distinct from Jesus but he is like Jesus as well. Jesus was the counselor of the disciples when he was with them. When he leaves he asks the Father to send someone else to take his place. But this other person is a counselor, just like him and does with us what Jesus did with his disciples while living on earth. This means, based on Jesus’ claim in v. 9, that the Holy Spirit is fully God like Jesus but he is also a different person from Jesus.
• Second, the Greek word that is translated "counselor" in the NIV is used most often to describe a person who goes into a court of law to represent and support a friend who is suing for legal protection. He both helps his friend understand the proceedings and his rights in them and he argues his friend’s case before the judge. He loves his friend and is an expert in the law and uses his expertise to both encourage his friend and make sure his friend is treated justly. I’ve never needed a lawyer but if I ever did I would call my brother-in-law Mark. He is a gifted lawyer and he cares about me. I would be very happy to go into court because I am confident in Mark’s abilities and I know because of our relationship, that he will give me the best counsel that he can give.
• Third, it follows then that Jesus would call this counselor the "Spirit of truth". We were just told in v. 6 of this chapter that Jesus is the truth. Therefore, the Holy Spirit tells us the truth about Jesus and all that he has accomplished for us in dying and rising from the dead. He is the one who teaches us and persuades us that Jesus’ death on the cross was sufficient for our sins. He also intercedes for us before God the Father seeking to obtain justice for us in light of the fact that Jesus has died and risen from the dead for us. We would know nothing about Jesus and would never trust him or love him if not for the work of the Holy Spirit. God the Father would never accept us for the sake of Jesus unless the Holy Spirit represents us.
• Fourth, we know this Counselor because he is with us and in us. Notice that the world does not accept the HS because it neither sees nor knows him. We know him not because we are smarter than others in the world or more spiritual but because the HS lives with us and is in us. It is his initiative that enables us to know him. It is not our sensitivity that enables us to know him. Those final four words of v. 17, "and he will be in you", are a nuclear bomb of spiritual reality. Earlier, Philip asked Jesus to see the Father. Jesus now promises that God himself will not only be our companion but he will actually live inside us by means of the Holy Spirit.
• Finally, Jesus gives us a glimpse of what life without him is like. He tells us that living in the world, without the Holy Spirit is like being an orphan. There is no more pitiful condition than that of orphan. To be a young child whose parents have died is to be weak and helpless and vulnerable. An orphan is at the mercy of the world around them. They are alone and lonely. This is the condition of every human being yet most do not know it. The lie of Satan is that we are competent and strong and self-sufficient. It was his lie to Eve in the garden and it is his lie to us now. Most humans spend all their time trying to persuade themselves that they are in control and do not need anyone to take care of them. If you do not feel like an orphan, then you will never know you need a Father. The promise of the gospel is that by Jesus dying and rising again the God who made the universe comes to those who trust him to be our Father and Savior by means of the Holy Spirit.

If you really are an orphan but you are trying desperately to deny that reality, then you will have no reason to love a great benefactor or to love others for his sake. Rather, you will give all your energy to using those around you to meet your needs. You are an orphan and so you are a very needy person. But, if you are working to prove you are not an orphan then you must manipulate the people around you to meet your needs. Therefore, you cannot love others, you will only love yourself. When God graciously enables us to see our true condition and we stop trying to prove that we have no needs but instead allow Jesus to love us and provide for us, then we are free to love him and others for his sake. Do you see yourself as an orphan without Jesus? Do you see Jesus as your benefactor?

One of Jesus’ disciples asks another question in v. 22. His question is prompted by Jesus’ statement at the end of v. 21. Jesus said that he is going to show himself to those who love him and obey him. So Judas, not Iscariot the betrayer, wants to know why Jesus will show himself to them and not to the world. His question shows that the disciples still do not understand who Jesus is or what his mission is. They cannot conceive of a Messiah who does not show himself to the world in all his power and glory by destroying all evil and establishing his rule on earth. How can you take over the world without showing yourself to the world? They still are not prepared to accept a Messiah who dies like a criminal and a kingdom that is spiritual and invisible.

Jesus’ answer is meant to show us why it is better to love and obey him than to want what the world wants, a comfortable life here on planet earth. The disciples, for all their devotion to Jesus still are in love with the idea of having a comfortable life in the world. They are not primarily concerned about knowing and loving God and finding all their happiness in him. So Jesus shows them that loving and obeying him is far better than being the rulers of the world.

First Jesus shows that there are only two groups of people. There are those who love him and obey his teaching and there are those who do not love him nor obey his teaching. Here is the dividing line in humanity. All other distinctions are meaningless compared to this distinction. You either belong to the world or to Christ. If you belong to Christ then the benefit you have is that the Father loves you and the Father and the Son have made themselves at home with you. They treat you like family. Don’t you feel the wonder of this? The Triune God, who made the heavens and the earth and who rules over all, treats all those who love and obey Jesus as if they were part of his divine family. However, if you do not love Jesus and obey him then the Father does not love you and he will not treat you like family but like the enemy you are. Notice at the end of v. 24 how deadly serious Jesus is about this. He tells us that he is not just making this up. This is the Father’s plan. This is how he is going to deal with human beings.

In v. 25 Jesus continues to show how the Triune God treats us like family. He, the eternal Son, is right now telling them things that no one else in the whole world knows. However, after he leaves something even better is going to happen. The Holy Spirit is going to come and remind them of everything that Jesus said while with them. First of all this is a promise from Jesus to guarantee that what the disciples wrote down in the NT would be accurate and true. But, even greater than that it is a promise to every believer that the Holy Spirit will be present to help all those who love and obey Jesus to understand what Jesus said. Have you ever had the experience of being with a family when they begin telling "family stories"? You feel like an outsider. It is the stories that families share that distinguish them from everyone else. The Holy Spirit has come to tell us the stories of God’s family and enable us to understand them so that we see that we are members of that family and not outsiders. The Holy Spirit convinces us that we belong to God’s family by reminding us of and explaining to us the life and teaching of Jesus.

Finally, Jesus shows us the superiority of loving and obeying him instead of living in the world by giving us a peace that is far greater than any peace the world can give. The peace the world gives does not last. It only lasts as long as the paycheck lasts or as long as you are drunk or as long as your army is bigger than the other nation’s army. And even if someone was able to live a contented life here on earth apart from Jesus they will discover at the end of life that they did not achieve the most necessary peace, peace with God. They will live forever in a state of misery experiencing the just anger of God against all who refused to make peace with Him. The peace that Jesus gives is first of all and most importantly, peace with God. Then it is a sense of well-being and contentment as we rest in the knowledge that the God who rules the world is our Father. He will provide all we need to live the life he wants us to live and to take us safely to our heavenly home. There is a good purpose behind everything that happens to me. No longer am I at the mercy of cruel forces beyond my control like an orphan, but I am watched over by this great, Triune God. Finally, the peace of Jesus is peace with other people. No longer do I need to defend myself against others. No longer do I need to manipulate others to get my needs met. I am free to love and accept others as they are because I am loved and accepted by this great God.

Here is the choice that Jesus sets before us. You can either love and obey him and so live as a member of God’s family, sharing in the intimacy of fellowship with the great, Triune God and experiencing the blessing of his peace. Or you can refuse to love and obey Jesus and so live as an outsider to the family of God, as an orphan and so experience all the anxiety and fear that comes to orphans and then when you die, live forever experiencing the wrath God has reserved for all his enemies. Which will it be?

Hebrews 12: 4 says that Jesus endured the cross because of the joy that was set before him. What was it that filled Jesus with such joy that he willingly went to the cross? There are several aspects to that joy but vv. 28 –31 show us the center of that joy. Jesus gladly endured the cross because he knew that something better waited on the other side. In the same way that the thought of winning the gold medal enables an Olympic athlete to endure the hardship of hours of grueling training so the joy of being with the Father, of loving the Father motivated Jesus to endure the cross. He did not endure the cross primarily because of his love for us or the joy of being with us but because of his love for the Father and his delight in the prospect of being with him forever.

There are two things that Jesus wants us to know in these verses. First, if you love and obey him you are going to suffer. Second, the joy that awaits you is infinitely greater than the suffering you will endure. Jesus begins v. 28 by reminding them of the thing that is most troubling to them. He is going away. In v. 29 he tells them that the reason he has told them this in advance is so that they will believe when they see it happen. They are about to witness Jesus’ brutal torture and death. That is how he is going away. According to v. 30, Satan himself is going to vent all of his rage against God upon Jesus and it will appear that Jesus has been destroyed by Satan, that evil has won out. It will seem that Jesus has ended his life in failure. It will seem pointless and useless. But, the disciples need to know that this suffering is exactly what God has commanded for him. He is not going to suffer because Satan is in charge and has power over him. No, he is going to suffer because this is God’s will and as a loving Son he wants to do God’s will. Don’t miss what Jesus is saying in v. 31. Over and over Jesus has said that those who love him will obey his command. Here he says that he loves his Father and obeys his Father’s command. What is that command? That he suffer and die for the sins of his people. What has Jesus commanded us to do? In chapter 13 we saw that he commands us to love other believers by being slaves to them. If you love Jesus and so obey him by loving others you are going to suffer. People will take advantage of you, they will not appreciate you, they will expect you to serve them, they will not love you back. Some will mock you and persecute you as you seek to love them. This is God’s will for you. God wants Christians to display their love for Jesus by gladly obeying him through a suffering love for others, just like him.

This shows off the greatness of Jesus because it shows that the Christian is serving others not because they are trying to get others to love them back but because they know there is a greater joy awaiting them in heaven. Look at v. 28 again. Jesus tells these disciples that if they really loved him they would rejoice that he is leaving them and going to the Father. When you love someone, then whatever makes them happy makes you happy. Jesus is delighted at the thought of returning to the Father through the cross because the Father is greater than he. By this Jesus is not saying that the Father is God and he is not. When I say that the President of the United States is greater than I, I am not saying he is more human than I am. I mean that he has more authority and prestige than I do. In the same way, Jesus is not saying that the Father is more God than he is but rather that at the moment, while the Son is living as a man on planet earth, the Father is enjoying a glory that the son has laid aside. What Jesus is referring to is what he says in John 17: 5, "And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began." Jesus is looking forward to enjoying the happiness of being with the Father and sharing in the Father’s glory, just as he did from all eternity, before he freely laid aside his glory to take on human flesh. The only way that Jesus will enjoy that glory is by dying on the cross for the sins of his people. In the same way, the only way that you and I will enjoy the glory of God is when we follow Jesus in suffering love.

If you are a Christian then you love others even when they take advantage of you and mock you and don’t love you back. The Christian doesn’t look at how others treat her but rather at the joy that awaits all who belong to Christ. The Christian fixes his attention on Jesus who displayed his love for God and his confidence that he was going to live in the joy of the Father’s glory by dying on the cross for the love of sinners like us. The Christian loves Jesus, loves others and embraces the suffering that loving others requires because she is so confident that infinite joy awaits her.

© Copyright 2000 John Swanson.
You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that:
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