You Are Privileged to Pray (14:12–15)
I have seen a plaque in many homes that asks, "Why worry when you can pray?" One of the best cures for worry is prayer.

But if God is to answer our prayers and provide us peace in our hearts, there are certain conditions we must fulfill. The fulfillment of these conditions is a blessing in itself!

We are to pray in faith (v. 12). This verse is a promise that we have to claim, and claiming it is by faith. The double use of “verily” makes this announcement sound all the more solemn. It is an encouragement that Jesus did go back to the Father, for there He intercedes for us. This intercessory work He will speak of more later in His discourse.

The "greater works" would apply first to the apostles who were given the power to perform special miracles as credentials of their office (Rom. 15:18-19; Heb. 2:3-4). These miracles were greater in scope and quantity, but not in quality, for “the servant is not greater than his lord” (John 13:16). Peter preached one sermon, and three thousand sinners were converted in one day! The fact that common people performed these signs only added to their wonder and brought great glory to God (Acts 5:13–16).

Now, of course, these “greater things” are not done by the believer himself; it is God working in and through the believer: “And the Lord working with them” (Mark 16:20). "For it is God which worketh in you" (Phil. 2:13). Faith and works must always go together. This is because it is faith that releases the power of God in our lives.

Prayer works by means of love and obedience. “If I regard [see and approve] iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me” (Ps. 66:18).

We don’t obey the Lord simply because we want our prayers answered as if we were children right before Christmas. We obey Him because we love Him, and the more we obey Him, the more we experience His love. To “keep” His commandments means to love them, cherish them, protect them, and obey them; “I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food” (Job 23:12).

Believed-in prayer is a wonderful balm for an aching heart. Meditate on Philippians 4:6–7—and put it into practice!

We are to pray in the name of Christ (vv 13-14). This is not a “magic formula” we automatically attach to our prayer requests, ensuring God will answer. To ask the Father anything in Jesus’ name is to ask what Jesus would ask, what would please Him, and what would glorify Him by carrying on His work. When a friend says to you, “You may use my name!” he is giving you a remarkable privilege as well as a tremendous responsibility.

The “whatsoever” of John 14:13 is qualified by all that God has revealed in His Word about prayer; so also the “anything” of John 14:14. God is not giving us a carte blanche; it is “in My name” that is the controlling factor. Knowing the name of God means understanding who He is and what He wants to do. God answers prayer to glorify His name; therefore, prayer must be according to His will (1 John 5:14–15). The first petition in the model prayer of the Lord is, “Hallowed be thy name” (Matt. 6:9). Every request made in God’s name shall glorify God’s name.

We must pray in loving obedience (v. 15). When you love someone, you respect their name and would never use it in a disparaging fashion. The important theme of love, appearing fifty-six times as a verb or noun, is significant in the gospel of John.

You Know the Father (14:7-11)

We don’t have to wait until we get into heaven to know the Father. Today, we can know Him and tap into the spiritual resources we need to carry on when the days are tough.

To “know” the Father, what does this term mean? The word "know" occurs 141 times in John’s gospel, but it does not always mean the same thing. In fact, John distinguishes 4 “levels” of knowing. The lowest level is just knowing a fact. The next level is to understand the truth of that fact. But you can know the fact and know the truth behind it and still be lost in your sins. The third level brings in the idea of relationship: “to know” means “to believe in a person and become related to him or her.” This is how 'know' is used in John 17:3. The words "to know" are used in Scripture for the most intimate relationship between man and wife (Gen. 4:1).

The fourth use of "know" means "to have a deeper relationship with a person, a deeper communion." It was this level Paul was referring to when he wrote, “That I may know him” (Phil. 3:10). Jesus will describe this deeper relationship in John 14:19-23, so we’ll reserve comment until we get to that section.

When Jesus said that knowing Him and seeing Him was the same as knowing and seeing the Father, He was claiming to be God. From now on they would know more and more about the Father, even though Jesus was leaving them.

I like Philip’s desire to know the Father. He had traveled far since that day Jesus found him and called him (John 1:43-45). Every believer has a strong desire to know God better. We read and study the Word of God so that we might better know the God of the Word.

The Greek construction of the question in John 14:10 indicates the Lord expected a "yes" answer from Philip; he did believe that Jesus was in the Father and the Father in Him. In that case, Philip should have known that the words of Jesus and His works came from the Father and revealed Him. But in the Word we do see Him and His works. Today’s believers have not seen the Lord Jesus in the flesh (1 Peter 1:8). Throughout John’s gospel, it is clear that you cannot separate Christ’s words from His works. Both come from the Father and tell us about the Father.

The “believe” in John 14:10 is singular, for Jesus was speaking to Philip, but in John 14:11 it is plural, and He speaks to all of the disciples. Both are in the tense of “continue believing.” Grow your faith!

Jesus Christ revealed to us the Father and Maker of the universe. We can know Him. Why should our hearts be troubled when the Father and Governor of the universe is our own Father?

Our Father is the Lord of heaven and earth (Luke 10:21). For He is in control. Troubled hearts need not be troubled.

You Will Go to Heaven 13:36-14:6 

Jesus did not rebuke Peter for asking Him where He was going, but His answer was quite cryptic. One day Peter would “follow” Jesus to the cross (John 21:18–19; 2 Peter 1:12–15) and then would follow Him to heaven. Tradition has it that Peter was crucified but desired to be crucified upside down because he did not consider himself worthy to die as his Master had died.

Almost as if to make Peter feel like a hero, Jesus said that He Himself was about to become a casualty. The message shocked Peter, but it stunned the rest of the disciples too. For after all if brave Peter denied the Lord, what hope was there for the rest of them? And then Jesus gave His message to calm their troubled hearts.

Jesus says heaven is a real place. It is not a product of psychedelic mind seeking “pie in the sky by and by,” nor is it a figment of religious imagination. Heaven is where God lives and where Jesus sits today at the right hand of the Father. Heaven is a kingdom (2 Peter 1:11), an inheritance (1 Peter 1:4), a country (Heb. 11:16), a city (Heb. 11:16), and a home (John 14:2).

The word "Father" is found fifty-three times in John 13-17. The Son of God says heaven is His, my Father’s house. It is “home” for the children of God! 

The Greek word "mone" is translated as “mansions” in John 14:2 and “abode” in John 14:23. It simply means “rooms, abiding places,” so we shouldn’t be thinking in terms of manor houses. It is a pity that some unbiblical songs have promoted the error that faithful Christians will have beautiful mansions in glory, whereas worldly saints will have to be satisfied with little cottages or even shacks. Jesus Christ is now making ready places for all true believers, and every place will be beautiful. Jesus was a carpenter when He was here on earth (Mark 6:3). He is back in glory, but He is now building a church on earth and a home for that church in heaven.

John 14:3 is a certain promise of the Lord’s return for His own. Some will go to heaven through the valley of the shadow of death, but those alive when Jesus returns will never experience death (John 11:25–26). They will be transformed to be like Christ and go to heaven (1 Thess. 4:13-18).

Heaven is the Father’s house, so it must be a place of love and joy. When the apostle John tried to describe heaven, he nearly ran out of pictures and comparisons (Revelation 21-22)! At last he listed the things that would not be there. Death, sorrow, crying, pain, night, etc. What a lovely home it will be, and we will enjoy it forever!

Thomas’ question showed how greatly he wanted to be with Jesus (see John 11:16), and this required him to know where the Master was going and how he himself would get there. The Lord stressed that He was going to the Father, that He was the only way to the Father. Heaven is a real place, a loving place, and a hidden place. Not everyone will go to heaven, but only those who have put their trust in Jesus Christ (see Acts 4:12; 1 Tim. 2:4–6).

Jesus does not only teach the way or show the way; He is the way. One of the early designations of the Christian faith was “the Way” (Acts 9:2; 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22). Our Lord's saying, "No man cometh unto the Father but by Me," wipes out any other suggested way to heaven—good works, religious ceremonies, costly gifts, etc. There is only one way, and that is Jesus Christ.

How would this promise of going to heaven quiet the troubled hearts of the disciples? The knowledge of a heavenly home at the end of life’s journey enables us to meet with joy the obstacles and conflicts that come to us on the way. It was this assurance that even encouraged our Lord, "who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross" (Heb. 12:2). Paul had this truth in mind when he wrote, “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18).

HEART DISEASE - Introduction
John 13:36-14:31

This section begins and ends with our Lord's loving admonition, “Let not your heart be troubled” (John 14:1, 27). It’s no wonder the apostles were upset. After all, Jesus had said that one of them was a traitor, and then He had warned Peter that he would deny his Lord three times. Peter was self-assured, convinced that he could not only follow his Lord but also die with and for Him. Alas, Peter did not know his heart, and we do not really know our hearts, except one thing: that they are easily troubled.

But perhaps the heaviest blow of all was the realization that Jesus was going to leave them (John 13:33). Where would He go? Could they follow Him? How were they to arrive where He was going? Some of the questions tossed back and forth in their conversation at the table were perplexing, rumbling around in their minds and hearts.

How did Jesus comfort their troubled hearts? He would give to them six glorious promises to lay hold of, promises that we today may claim and so enjoy untroubled hearts. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you can claim each and all of these assurances.

Hypocrisy: Jesus & Judas (13:18–35)—part 2 of 2

"And it was night” is a small phrase of John’s, but it makes a giant impact when you remember that light and darkness are important spiritual images in his gospel. Jesus is the Light of the World (John 8:12), but Judas rejected Jesus and went out into darkness; for Judas, it was still night. Those who do evil hate the light (John 3:18–21). Judas did not heed our Lord’s warning in John 12:25–26, and lost sinners today do not heed it either. Lost sinners are people who will go where Judas went unless they repent and trust the Savior.

As soon as Judas had left, the air cleared, and Jesus started teaching His disciples, preparing them for His crucifixion and His eventual return to heaven. It was after Judas had gone that He instituted the Lord's Supper, something that Judas, as an unbeliever, could not share. Judas was out in the night, under the control of the prince of darkness, Satan, but Jesus was in the light, giving love and truth to His beloved disciples. What a difference!

Now the theme changes; it is presently the glory of God (John 13:31-35). From the human perspective, the death of Christ was a dastardly deed of unspeakable suffering and humiliation, but from the divine perspective, it was the revelation of the glory of God. The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified” (John 12:23). The title “Son of man” occurs twelve times in this gospel, and this one in John 12:31 is the last occurrence. This title is Messianic in Daniel 7:13, and Jesus sometimes used it thus (Matt. 26:64).

What did glorifying the Father mean for Jesus? He tells us in His prayer, “I have glorified Thee on the earth: I have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do” (John 17:4). This is how we all glorify God: by faithfully doing what He calls us to do. In our Lord's case, the Father's will was for the Son to die for lost sinners, be raised from the dead, and ascend into heaven. The Son glorified the Father, and the Father glorified the Son (John 17:1, 5)

There would be a time when the Son would be glorified in these disciples (John 17:10), but they could not follow Him then. Peter boasted that he would follow the Lord even to death (Luke 22:33), but alas, he denied Him three times.

Jesus told the Jews on two occasions that they would try to locate Him but would not be able to find Him or follow Him (John 7:33–36; 8:21–24). Note that He said to the unbelieving Jews that they would not be able to find Him, but He did not say this to His disciples. The believing disciples would see Him after His resurrection (John 14:1–3), and someday they would go to be with Him. But during His suffering and death, it was important that they refrain from trying to follow Him.

I have heard eloquent sermons on the sin of Peter, who “followed afar off” (Luke 22:54), and the emphasis was that he should have followed closer. The simple fact is he should not have followed at all! The statement in John 13:33 is proof enough, and when you add Matthew 26:31 (quoted from Zech. 13:7) and our Lord’s words in John 18:8, the evidence is conclusive. Peter did not listen to the warning, and it got him into trouble.

The disciples’ task was to love one another as Christ had loved them. In the hours to come, they would surely need this love, when their Master would be taken from them and their brave spokesman, Peter, would fail Him and them. They would all fail, and their only bond would be their love for Christ and one another.

In John 1-12, the word "love" is used only twelve times, but in John 13-21, it is used forty-four times! It is the key word in Christ’s farewell sermon to His disciples and a burden in His high priestly prayer (John 17:26). The word "new" does not mean “new in time,” for love has been important to God’s people even from Old Testament times (see Leviticus 19:18). It is 'new in experience, new.' It’s the opposite of “worn out.” The death of Christ on the cross would provide a new meaning and power to love (John 15:13). But the Holy Spirit would bring a new power to love in their lives.

Love is the bookend of this section: Jesus’ love for His own (John 13:1) and the love of the disciples for each other. Love is the true evidence that we belong to Jesus Christ. “See how they love one another?” the pagans said of the Christians, quoted by the church leader Tertullian (AD 155–220). And how do we show that love? The only way we can do what Jesus did is to lay down our lives for the brethren (1 John 3:16). And the way to begin is to get down and wash each other’s feet in sacrificial service.

Happiness: Jesus and His Disciples (13:12-17)

John 13:17 is the key. "If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them." The order is important: humbleness, holiness, and then happiness. Happiness is the by-product of a life lived in the will of God. When we serve others humbly, walk in God’s paths of holiness, and do what He tells us to do, then we will enjoy happiness.

Jesus asked the disciples if they understood what He had done. He was doubtful that they did, so He explained: He had taught them a lesson of humble service, an example for them to follow. The world believes happiness comes from others ministering to us, but true joy comes when we minister to others in the name of Christ. Happiness is something the world is constantly searching for, but that's like chasing after a shadow; it's always just beyond reach.

Jesus was their Master and therefore had the authority to command their service. No! But He waited on them! He indeed offered them a real Christian ministry. For more than one occasion in the past three years He had taught them lessons in humility and service, and now He had demonstrated the lesson to them. Perhaps the disciples recalled His lesson about the child (Matt. 18:1-6) or His rebuke to James and John when they asked for thrones (Matt. 20:20-28). Now everything made sense.

The servant is not greater than his master; if the master becomes a slave, where does that leave the servant? As good as the master! Our Lord didn’t push us down by becoming a servant: He lifted us up! He paid tribute to sacrifice and service. Remember that the Romans had no use for humility and the Greeks despised manual work. Jesus combined these two when He washed the disciples' feet.

But the knowing of this truth is not enough; James 1:22-27 stresses that the blessing is in doing the Word, not in hearing it. To study this section in John's gospel can move us emotionally or enlighten us intellectually, but it cannot bless us spiritually until we do what Jesus told us to do. Obedience is the only road to lasting happiness.

Keep these lessons in their proper order: humility, holiness, and happiness. Submit to the Father, keep your life clean, and serve others. This is God’s plan for real spiritual happiness.

Holiness: Jesus and Peter (13:6-11)

Peter saw the Lord wash His friends’ feet. He was becoming increasingly upset and could not understand what Jesus  was doing. As you read the Gospels, you cannot help but notice how often Peter spoke impulsively and was corrected by Jesus. Peter opposed Jesus going to the cross (Matt. 16:21–23), and he tried to run our Lord’s affairs at the Transfiguration (Matt. 17:1–8). He conveyed the faith of the disciples (John 6:66–71), not knowing that one of them was a traitor.

The word translated “wash” in John 13:5–6, 8, 12, and 14 is "nipto" and means “to wash a part of the body." But the word translated "washed" in John 13:10 is "louø," and it means "to bathe all over." The difference is important, for Jesus was trying to teach His disciples the importance of a holy walk.

When a sinner believes on the Savior, he is “washed all over"; his sins are washed away and forgiven (1 Cor. 6:9–11; Titus 3:3–7; Rev. 1:5). “And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more” (Heb. 10:17). But it is easy for the believer, walking in this world, to become defiled. He doesn't need a whole bath again, just that defilement removed. When we confess our sins to God, He promises to cleanse us (1 John 1:9).

But why is it so important that we “keep our feet clean"? If we are defiled, we cannot have fellowship with our Lord. “If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with Me” (John 13:8). The word translated as “part” is "meros," and its meaning here is “participation, having a share in someone or something." Then God “bathes us all over” in salvation, and that is a settled relationship that cannot change. Our union with Christ is a settled relationship that cannot change. (The verb "wash" in John 13:10 is in the perfect tense, which indicated that it is once and for all settled.) However, our union with Christ depends on our keeping ourselves “unspotted from the world” (James 1:27). If we allow unconfessed sin in our lives, we hinder our walk with the Lord. That is when we need to have our feet washed.

The Old Testament priesthood beautifully illustrates this fundamental truth of Christian living. When the priest was ordained, he was bathed all over (Ex. 29:4), and that was never repeated. But in his daily ministry he became defiled, so he had to wash his hands and feet in the brass laver in the courtyard (Ex. 30:18-21). Only then could he go into the holy place to trim the lamps and eat the holy bread and burn the incense.

The Lord cleanses us in the blood of Christ, that is, His work on the cross (1 John 1:5-10) and by the application of His Word to our lives (Ps. 119:9; John 15:3; Eph. 5:25-26). The “water of the Word” can cleanse our hearts and minds so that we are not polluted by the corruptions of this world. But if we sin, we have in glory a loving Advocate who will hear our prayers of confession and forgive us (1 John 2:1–2).

Peter didn't understand what his Lord was doing, but he would rather not wait for an explanation, so he impulsively tried to tell the Lord what to do. John 13:8 is a forceful double negative. In essence, Peter’s statement was, “You shall by no means wash my feet, no, never.” Peter really meant it! And when he realized that to refuse the Lord would mean losing the Lord's fellowship, he went the other way and asked for a full bath!

There is an important lesson we can learn from Peter: don’t question the Lord’s will or work; don’t try to change it. He knows what He is doing.  Peter had a difficult time accepting Christ's ministry to him because Peter was not yet ready to minister to the other disciples. Serving others takes humility and grace, but it also takes humility and grace to let others serve us. The beautiful thing about a submissive spirit is that it is able to give and receive to the glory of God.

John was quick to notice that Peter and Judas had a different relationship with Jesus. Jesus washed Judas’s feet, yes! But Judas was not washed all over, so it did him no benefit. Some people teach that Judas was a saved man who sinned away his salvation. But that is not what Jesus said. Our Lord obviously told us that Judas had not been cleansed from his sins and that he was an unbeliever (John 6:64-71).

[1] Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour was come that He should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end.
[2] And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray Him;
[3] Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He was come from God, and went to God;
[4] He riseth from supper, and laid aside His garments; and took a towel, and girded Himself.
[5] After that He poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith He was girded.

Humility: Christ and the Father (13:1–5)

Jesus had entered Jerusalem on Sunday and had cleansed the temple on Monday. Tuesday was a day of conflict as the religious leaders attempted to trip Him up and obtain evidence to arrest Him. We read of these events in Matthew 21–25. Wednesday was probably a day of rest, but on Thursday He met in the Upper Room with His disciples to observe Passover.

In John 13:1-3 the emphasis is on what our Lord knew; in John 13:4-5 it is on what our Lord did.

The hour of Jesus had come. Of all the gospel writers, John most emphasized the fact that Jesus lived on a “heavenly timetable” as He did the Father’s will. A development of this theme:
 - 2:4 "My hour is not yet come." 
 - 7:30 “His hour was not yet come.” 
 - 8:20 “His hour had not yet come.” 
 - 12:23 “The hour is come that the Son of man shall be glorified.” 
 - 13:1 “Jesus knew that His hour was come.”
 - 17:1 "The hour is come, Father." 

What was this “hour” that was divinely appointed? It was the time that He must be glorified by His death, resurrection, and ascension. Jesus had finished the work He came to do on earth (John 17:4) and would soon leave this world and return to the Father who sent Him. When the servant of God is in the will of God, he is immortal until his work is done. They could not even arrest Jesus, much less kill Him, until the right hour had come.

Jesus also knew that Judas was going to betray Him. There are eight references to Judas in John’s gospel, more than in any of the other gospels. Satan had entered into Judas (Luke 22:3), and now he would provide him the thought needed to bring about the arrest and crucifixion of the Son of God. The word translated “put” in John 13:2 means literally “to throw.” It calls to mind the fiery darts of the wicked one (Eph. 6:16). Judas was a disbeliever (John 6:64-71), so he had no “shield of faith” to protect him from Satan’s assaults.

Finally, Jesus knew that the Father had given all things into His hands (John 13:3). This statement echoes John 3:35 and also brings to mind Matthew 11:27. Even in His humiliation, our Lord had all things through His Father. He was poor, and yet He was rich. Jesus was the complete master of the situation because He knew who He was, where He came from, what He had, and where He was going. You and I as believers know that we are born of God, that we are going to God one day, and that in Christ we have all things. So we ought to be able to follow our Lord’s example and serve others.

What Jesus knew determined what Jesus did (John 13:4–5). The disciples must have been shocked when they saw their Master rise from supper, lay aside His outer garments, wrap a towel around His waist, take a basin of water, and wash their feet. Jewish servants did not wash their employers' feet; Gentile slaves might. It was a menial task, and yet Jesus did it! A host or hostess might wash a guest’s feet as a special mark of affection, but it was not standard operating procedure in most homes.

Jesus knew there was a spirit of competition in the hearts of His disciples. Within minutes the men were arguing about who of them was the greatest (Luke 22:24-30). By His example He reproved their selfishness and pride and gave them a lesson in humility that they would never forget. The more you think of this scene, the deeper it becomes. This event is certainly illustrative of what Paul wrote years later in Philippians 2:1-16. Peter must have had this event in mind when he wrote his first epistle and exhorted his readers to “be clothed with humility” (1 Peter 5:5).

It is wonderful how the gospel of John shows the humility of our Lord, even while it magnifies His deity: “The Son can do nothing of Himself” (John 5:19, 30). "Not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me” (John 6:38). "My doctrine is not mine" (John 7:16). "And I seek not My own glory” (John 8:50). "The word which you hear is not mine." (John 14:24). His death upon the cross was the highest act of humility.

Jesus was the Sovereign, but He made Himself the servant. He had all things in His hands, but He took a towel. He was Lord and Master, yet He served His followers. It has been well said that humility is not thinking meaningfully of oneself but simply not thinking of oneself at all. True humility comes from our rela­tion­ship with the Father. If we want to know and do the Father's will to glorify His name, we will know the joy of following Christ's example and serving others.

Like the disciples that night, we desperately need this lesson on humility today. The church is filled with a worldly spirit of rivalry and faultfinding, as believers compete with one another to see who is the greatest. We are growing in knowledge, but not in grace (cf. 2 Peter 3:18). An absence of humility sufficiently accounts for all defects and failures.

Jesus served His disciples because He was humble and loved them. Compare John 13:1 with 1:11 and 3:16: Jesus came “unto His own [world], and His own [people] received Him not.” “For God so loved the world." In the Upper Room Jesus ministered in love to His own disciples, and they received Him and His words. “He loved them to the uttermost.

John chapters 13–17 represent our Lord’s “farewell message” to His beloved disciples, culminating in His intercessory prayer for them and for us. Moses (Deut. 31–33), Joshua (Josh. 23–24), and Paul (Acts 20) gave other farewell addresses in Scripture. But Jesus added an important “action section” to His message when He washed the feet of His disciples. It was an object lesson they would remember forever.
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Here we see our Lord in a fourfold relationship: to His heavenly Father (John 13:1–5), to Simon Peter (John 13:6–11), to all of the disciples (John 13:12–17), and to Judas (John 13:18–35). In each of these sections of the gospel of John, you will find a special message, a spiritual truth to help you in your own Christian life. I trust you will be able to join us starting tomorrow, Sunday, May 3, as we examine these relationships.