John - Week 43

Show Us the Father 

READ 

John 14:8-11 

8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” 

9 Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me. 11 Just believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Or at least believe because of the work you have seen me do.” 

The disciples still did not understand what Jesus was saying. They had to have something physical to examine. Philip wanted to see the Father. What Jesus answered is similar to a person going to a bank seeking a financial loan. The son of the president comes to meet the applicant. When the applicant hears something he questions, he asks to meet the father. The son of the president could say, “If you have seen me, you have seen the father.” But the concept Jesus mentioned goes even farther, He is “in” the Father and the Father is “in” Him. The Godhead cannot be fully understood. Although there is one God (see Deuteronomy 6:4), there are three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit (see Matthew 28:19). If the disciples could not yet believe Jesus was God, all they had to do was look at His miracles. 

REFLECT 

Do not be concerned that you cannot fully understand everything about God. Focus on the person of Jesus in the Gospels, His miracles and His resurrection.  

RESPOND 

Make it a point when witnessing to someone that you are not sidetracked by questions about God that have no answer. Focus the person on who Jesus was and what He did as well as His resurrection (see 1 Corinthians 15:1-6). 

Ask Me for Anything 

READ 

John 14:12-14 

12 “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. 13 You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. 14 Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!” 

While He was on earth, Jesus was limited in His physical body to being in one place at a time. But after His death and resurrection His followers would be motivated to do miracles (see the book Acts) and be used in bringing many into a right relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice that a believer can’t just ask anything and it will be granted. The request has to be made in the name of Jesus. In other words, does the request honor the Lord and bring Him glory. And note that the Son answers to bring glory to His Father. 

REFLECT 

Think of what you have asked the Lord for this past week. Was each one a desire to bring honor and glory to Jesus? In what way would they have done so? 

RESPOND 

In considering how to pray for others, observe what the apostle Paul prayed for in Ephesians 1:15-23 and 3:14-19. Think of ways to weave these matters into your own prayers for others.  

If You Love Me 

READ 

John 14:15-17 

15 “If you love me, obey my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. 17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.” 

It is always questionable if a person claims to be a Christ-follower but is not obeying what honors Jesus. Language and activities that dishonor the Lord cannot be thought to be obeying Him. When Jesus promised another “Advocate,” the word in the original language of the New Testament meant “one called alongside to help.” This help could take various forms: comfort, counsel, rebuke when needed, ability to honor the Lord Jesus Christ. At the time Jesus spoke to the disciples the Holy Spirit was with them, as in an Old Testament relationship. He would be “in” them later when the church age began on the Day of Pentecost (see Acts 2). 

REFLECT 

Imagine the privilege you have now as a Christ-follower: the Holy Spirit lives inside of you as one “called alongside to help.” Even though the Holy Spirit is a Person of the Godhead, He indwells every believer in Christ. Just as you cannot see the wind but its effect, so you cannot see the Holy Spirit but His effects in and through one’s life. 

RESPOND 

Examine verses that tell of the Holy Spirit in the believer’s life. See Romans 8:9 and notice what it says about those who do not have the Holy Spirit living in them. Then see Ephesians 4:30-32 that tells how a Christ-follower should live. 

The Ones Who Love Me 

READ 

John 14:18-21 

18 “No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you. 19 Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live. 20 When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.” 

Jesus sought to comfort the disciples by reminding them that He would not forsake them. He also promised, “Since I live, you also will live.” This is similar to what Jesus told Martha after her brother, Lazarus, died (see John 11:25-26). The disciples may not have understood the mystery of how Jesus could be in the Father and the Father in Him, and how Jesus could be in them after His resurrection. They could clearly understand the statement, however, how to know whether they loved Jesus. It must have been special to them to realize that Jesus would reveal Himself to those who love Him. 

REFLECT 

Do you sometimes get hung up on phrases in the Bible you do not understand? Keep reading and you will find enough that you do understand to tell you how to live for Jesus. 

RESPOND 

Who have you told to follow the advice you are receiving? Do not let Bible teaching end with you. God wants you to pass it on (see 2 Timothy 2:1-2). 

The Ones Who Do Not Love Me 

READ 

John 14:22-24 

22 Judas (not Judas Iscariot, but the other disciple with that name) said to him, “Lord, why are you going to reveal yourself only to us and not to the world at large?” 

23 Jesus replied, “All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them. 24 Anyone who doesn’t love me will not obey me. And remember, my words are not my own. What I am telling you is from the Father who sent me. 

Notice how the Bible often distinguishes people by the same name. Here the apostle John made clear he was not referring to the one who betrayed Jesus. The other Judas wondered to whom all Jesus would reveal Himself. Jesus more directly talked about those who love Him. Those who “say” they love Jesus but don’t do what He says, proves to others what they say is only talk. Those not obeying what is taught in the Bible demonstrate they don’t really love Jesus. He and the heavenly Father are agreed about this. 

REFLECT  

How to you respond, if you do, to those who say they love Jesus but are not obeying what Jesus taught? 

RESPOND 

Read James 1:22-27 and think about it until you can express what it says without having to read it aloud. But don’t apologize for reading it aloud if you need to as you are talking to others about true faith in and love for Jesus.