Let us first look at the new commandment to “love one another” and explain why this is a new commandment. Second, Jesus predicted that Peter would deny the Lord three times, and its fulfillment of His prophecy. And we see that Peter was truly repentant. After turning back, Peter strengthened his brothers and led them forward. The Triune God also used miracles to confirm his position. Third, the Lord is truly the way, and the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through the Lord. Fourth, the Scripture tells us that seeing the Lord Jesus is the same as seeing God the Father. At that time, they could see Jesus directly, but now, although we have not seen Him, we love Him. It also discusses how we can do greater things. What does the matter refer to? Finally, we discussed Jesus’ promise of the coming of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit of truth, which was fulfilled on the first Pentecost after Jesus’ death and resurrection. He came to guide us into all truth.
1. The new command to love one another
“Therefore when he (Judas the betrayer) had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him; if God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and will glorify Him immediately. Little children, I am with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ A new commandment I give to you, that you love (G25, Agapao, verb) one another, even as I have loved (G25) you, that you also love (G25) one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love (G26, Agape love, noun) for one another.””(John 13:31-35)
At the beginning, it talks about the glory of Jesus’ crucifixion. After His resurrection, Jesus said to them (the two disciples who left Jerusalem for Emmaus), “…O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?”(Luke 24:25-26) Thus He also gloried the name of God the Father by this way, since it is clearly stated that “…I (Jesus) came for this (crucifixion) time.”(John 12:27) God the Father Himself said that Jesus also glorified the name of God the Father because of this. You see, when Jesus said, “Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came out of heaven: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.””(John 12:28)
Jesus did say to the Jews before, “…Where I am going, you cannot come” as said in John 13:33. This was in John 7:33-34, where “…Jesus said, “For a little while longer I am with you, then I go to Him who sent Me. You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come.””(John 7:33-34) Of course they could not, Jesus was to be crucified and die, “…yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, …”(Romans 8:34) Yes, “Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God.”(John 13:3) How is it possible for people to return to heaven without dying? Jesus is a complete man. He returned to heaven only after He was crucified and died. So He would say then as He does now, “Little children, I am with you a little while longer. You will seek Me; and as I said to the Jews, now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’”(John 13:33)
Christians all have the Holy Spirit dwelling within them. “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?”(1 Corinthians 6:19) This is the Holy Spirit “whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior”(Titus 3:6) The Trinity “…God is love (Agape love, G26, noun).” (1 John 4:8) The Holy Spirit is one of the three persons in the Trinity, so Christians already have the love of God within them. They must put to death the old self so that this love can be manifested, as the Bible says, “for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”(Romans 8:13) So this verse is asking us to cherish our spiritual life. As for our physical life which will die at time unspecified, we don’t need to worry because God will make the best arrangement. This does not mean that we should not take care of our physical life at all. For example, in our physical life we shouldn’t “…have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, …”(1 Peter 4:3) We should also take time out to do appropriate exercise instead of just blindly saying that God will work anyway since we should work with God in everything.
So it indeed is “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, …”(John 13:34) Because God’s love is already in our hearts, it is possible to fulfill this new commandment. The old command in the Old Testament is, “…but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; …”(Leviticus 19:18) The result of this will of course be love for one another. But in the Old Testament, there was no indwelling Holy Spirit, and people could only love one another with human love. Things are different in the New Testament. God’s love is already in Christians. No wonder Jesus gave us a new commandment to “love one another!”
2. Jesus predicted that Peter would deny Him three times
“Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?” Jesus answered, “Where I go, you cannot follow Me now; but you will follow later.” Peter said to Him, “Lord, why can I not follow You right now? I will lay down my life for You.” Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for Me? Truly, truly, I say to you, a rooster will not crow until you deny Me three times.”(John 13: 36-38)
Peter was to stay on earth to complete his mission, so Jesus prayed like this in the high priestly prayer, “I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.”(John 17:15) Yes, Peter in the flesh, that is, from the perspective of his old self, or from the so-called human perspective, was truly willing to lay down his life for Jesus. But in the old self there is absolutely no choice, as Paul said, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.”(Romans 7:18-19)
Because faith allows free choice to believe that the Bible is inspired by God, but the old self has no choice, so faith is not in the old self. When we believe in faith that the Bible is inspired by God, we will see logically that looking at it from the Bible’s perspective is looking at it from God’s perspective. On the contrary, from God’s perspective it is greater than from the Bible’s perspective, because God is infinite, and the Bible is composed of finite words. The infinite is absolutely greater than the finite, and it is absolutely impossible to draw an equal sign between the two. Back to Peter, we see that he could not rely on human strength, and when he was really faced with the moment of life and death, he retreated (see Luke 22:54-60). Finally for this event, “The Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had told him, “Before a rooster crows today, you will deny Me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.”(Luke 22:61-62)
We see that Peter truly regretted his actions. Although he knew this prophecy, as Jesus told him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go.””(John 21:18) “Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me!””(John 21:19) He knew ahead, but still chose to follow Jesus to death. This was what happened in the end that he died for Him.
The Bible says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”(1 John 1:9) So Peter finally led the disciples forward, and the Triune God also used miracles to confirm his position. During his first personal sermon, “So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls.”(Acts 2:41) This does not include the number of women and children, because the tradition at that time only counted the men. I want to emphasize that this was his first personal sermon because before this he had preached with others.
Let’s look at his second personal sermon, “But many of those who had heard the message believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.”(Acts 4:4) Clearly, these also fulfilled a prophecy of Jesus at the Last Supper: “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”(Luke 22:31-32) And he did just that.
3. Lord Jesus is the way, and the truth, and the life
““Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way where I am going.” Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.””(John 14:1-7)
At the very beginning of these verses, Jesus said in a hidden way, “I and the Father are one.”(John 10:30) Because believing in Him is believing in God. Moreover, He promised that He would come again the second time and take us to heaven. The Bible clearly states, “…where I am, there you may be also.”(John 14:3) The Lord also clearly said, “…I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”(John 14:6) Same as “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”(John 3:18) How could one not believe in the Lord?
4. Seeing the Lord Jesus is same as seeing God the Father
“Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.”(John 14:8-14)
We can see that Philip really did not understand, so he asked questions that people would think that they were necessary to ask. This passage clearly states that seeing the Lord Jesus is the same as seeing God the Father.
In the New Testament as in the Old Testament, we cannot see God the Father directly, just as the Lord said to Moses, “…You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!”(Exodus 33:20) But the New Testament era is indeed different. At that time, they could see Jesus directly, but now it is, “and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.”(1 Peter 1:8-9) The greatly rejoice mentioned here can be experienced.
When Jesus said, “…otherwise believe because of the works themselves.”(John 14:11) We see that Christians must have actions of faith, just as the scripture says, “Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.”(James 2:17) Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.”(John 14:12) I used to wonder how we could possibly do greater things than Jesus did. Now I understand that these words were spoken when He became flesh. Those who believe in Him are compared with Him when He became flesh.
When He became flesh, He was limited by His flesh. The scope of His activities was from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea. But here, because He is going to the Father, He is no longer limited by His flesh and can be anywhere. His existence is demonstrated through subjective evidences and objective facts. Except for one objective fact, all my testimonies are subjective evidences. Regarding this objective fact, we have shared it before in “1123 God reveals His existence through objective facts that are visible to others.” Please go to the website “ https://a-christian-voice.com/ ” and click “Understanding of Spiritual Life” to find this article.
Because at least we are not limited to the places Jesus visited, so the Bible will say, “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”(Acts 1:8) If those who believe in Him do not care about their own lives, putting them together, they can basically go anywhere at any time, that is, to the ends of the earth. This is “…he will do …greater works than these he will do…”(John 14:12)
Although the verse, “If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.”(John 14:14), was repeated twice, the key point is “…the Father may be glorified in the Son.”(John 14:13) This is not a blank check. If you read the context, you will know that unity comes first. For example, this verse says, ““I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one.”(John 17:20-22)
5. The coming of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit of truth
““If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also. In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.”(John 14:15-20)
We see in the first sentence that love can be put into practice. The Comforter is the Spirit of truth. “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.”(John 16:13) The Holy Spirit came on the first Pentecost after Jesus’ death and resurrection (see Acts 2:1-13). We also saw that “When the Helper comes, …He will testify about Me.”(John 15:26) Not on your own initiative.
Although Christians, like the rest of the world, cannot see or touch the Holy Spirit, they have the Holy Spirit dwelling within them and can know Him through His different manifestations, which are the subjective evidences and objective facts just mentioned. Jesus is now in us in the form of the Holy Spirit. Thus, He has never left us orphans. We know that He lives forever and lives in our hearts so that we can obtain eternal life. We now know, “…I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.”(John 14:20) Yes, be united.
(Verses refer to those in NASB95 unless otherwise specified.)
(You can get all articles in “https://a-christian-voice.com/” under “On spiritual understanding about life.”)
aChristianVoice 一個基督徒的聲音 