“A Kingdom Question” John 14: 22-31
Last week we concluded with Jesus’ statement in John 14:21: “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him." We saw that loving the Lord Jesus inevitably is connected with obedience to all that Jesus taught (which are his commandments). Loving God is characterized by obedience to Him; it is a result of believing in Jesus, not a requirement. Loving and obeying cannot be separated since true faith is manifested by works. (James 2:14-26)
A Reasonable Question
In verse 22, Judas (not Iscariot but the son of James also known as Thaddeus) said to Him, "Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?" Thomas had just asked Jesus a question in verse 5: "Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?" Jesus’ reply pointed to a spiritual reality: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Jesus’ reply told the disciples that entrance into the Kingdom of God was not through “doing” but was through faith (believing and trusting) in a person, namely Jesus. The entrance into the Kingdom is by trusting Jesus’ works.
Judas’ question shows that he and the others probably were still looking for Jesus to fulfill the popular 1st century Jewish expectations of an EARTHLY Messiah who would deliver them from Roman authority and establish His rule in Israel. Judas’ question correlated with such a view: “Jesus, if you are going to stage a political takeover, how is it that you will only manifest your kingdom to us? It would be kind of hard to keep that private!”
Jesus’ Answer
Look at Jesus’ answer in verses 23-31: Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. 24 He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me. 25 "These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. 28 You have heard Me say to you, 'I am going away and coming back to you.' If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, 'I am going to the Father,' for My Father is greater than I. 29 And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe. 30 I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me. 31 But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do. Arise, let us go from here.”
God’s Kingdom Defined
Jesus came in the flesh in order to introduce us to the Kingdom of God (synonymous with the Kingdom of Heaven). God’s Kingdom is the active Sovereign rule of God. His rule is not so much geographical as it is God’s dynamic dominion; it is not of this world but yet His rule and reign are active in the hearts and lives of believers in this world. The Kingdom is often described as the NOW and NOT YET. The Kingdom is present in the person of Jesus and His rule is evident in the life of the Church NOW, but it’s greatest aspects are in the future with Christ’s Second Coming, the Judgment and His rule for all eternity. Between Christ’s first coming and His second coming we live in two eras or epochs, that of Adam and fallen man and that of Christ and being brought into the Kingdom of God. POSITIONALLY we are in Christ. We have His righteousness imputed to us. We have been crucified with Him and baptized into His death, and so are joint heirs with Him.
However, PRACTICALLY we still live in a fallen world in a weak physical body…and we still sin…and we will receive the wages of sin, which is death. We already participate in His death, but do not yet participate in His resurrection; we wait expectantly for the hope of our resurrected bodies by faith because Jesus arose.
God’s Home with Believers
In verse 23 Jesus says: "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; (The Kingdom of God includes the idea of love, obedience and submission to the King.) and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.” The ongoing relationship between Jesus and His followers is characterized by obedience, which is the mark of true love. The obedience of Jesus’ disciples is the ground for the promise of the Father to demonstrate His love for the believer by these wonderful words: “And we will come to him and make Our home with him.” There are two things in mind here.
First: The future promise definitely includes the indwelling of the Father and Son in the life of the believer by the work of the Spirit of God. For those who have become children of God and citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven, the presence of God inhabits their lives (the “NOW” part of the Kingdom): another way to put it is that The King of the Kingdom reigns in the hearts of believers and The King reigns in the world through His Church today.
Secondly: The future promise could be regarded as the part of the Kingdom which is “NOT YET”. The Greek word in verse 23 for “home or abode” (“and make our “Home” with him”) is the same word for “mansions” in verse 2- “In my Father’s house are many “mansions”. We saw that Jesus’ message at the beginning of the chapter was that there would be no shortage of accommodations in His Heavenly Kingdom and that He would certainly return for those who believed in Him, “that where I am, there you may be also.” This promise is seen by faith in Revelation 21:3: "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.”
In verse 24, Jesus states verse 23 in the negative and explains that one cannot keep Jesus’ words without true agape love for Him. “He who does not love Me, does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me.” The Father’s Word/commandment is always kept in perfect obedience by the Son, demonstrating subordination within the Godhead and perfect obedience. Those who do not love the Son, will not be able to keep His commandment because love is practically revealed in obedience. God’s promises and Kingdom are only for those who have been born from above and have been given the gift of His love.
More of the Work of the Holy Spirit
Look at verses 25-26: "These things I have spoken to you while being present with you.(Jesus is preparing His disciples before His crucifixion and subsequent ascension.) 26 But the Helper (Parakletos, the Comforter and Advocate, The One who walks with us in Jesus’ absence), the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”
In the Old Testament the Spirit is expressed by the Hebrew “ruach”, also meaning wind, wind in motion, or breath. The power or energy as applied to the Spirit of God in the Old Testament pertained to various activities which exhibited The Spirit of God as creator, controller, revealer, enabler.
In the New Testament, the Spirit is personal and closely related to the Father and the Son. He possesses the characteristics of deity, which is why He is called the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of Truth and the HOLY Spirit. He is never described as a force like in the OT. He hears, speaks, witnesses, convinces, shows, leads, guides, commands, forbids, desires, provides speech, helps, intercedes, advocates.
In verse 17 the Holy Spirit was revealed as the Spirit of Truth, (Gr. to pneuma tes aletheias), describing His Work and Power. Here in verse 26 He is revealed again as the Parakletos and also as the Holy Spirit (Gr. to pneuma to hagios), describing His name, His being, His nature, His personality and character. His HOLINESS aligns Him with the very nature of God, coequal and coeternal with the Father and the Son, since only God is Holy. Revelation 15:3b-4 quotes several Old Testament verses: “Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. 4 Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.” If God alone is Holy, then the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, the Spirit of God, the Paraclete is also God.
One of the Holy Spirit’s tasks is that of leading Jesus’ disciples to a deeper knowledge of the gospel truth and to correct misunderstandings of what Jesus said and did. The Holy Spirit also brought to remembrance the very life, work and words of Jesus. This later task was essential in the birth and writings of the New Testament as inspired by the Spirit of God to the first disciples. Because of it, we can be assured of the accuracy and teaching of the revelation given to us in the New Testament and that the Spirit’s Work is always Christ-centered. Whatever might have been lacking in the disciples’ memories would be supplied by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is still our teacher today in understanding and accepting God’s Word as truth. God ALWAYS works faith and salvation through the Spirit AND the Word, not separately.
The Holy Spirit gives disciples divine strength, guidance, and teaching needed to enable us to witness, to grow in faith, to undergo trials and persecutions on behalf of the Kingdom of God, and always for God’s Glory alone.
You cannot miss the obvious in this verse: Jesus the Son, who has been decreeing His Divine Nature, is proclaiming the promise of the Holy Spirit and it is the Father who will send the Holy Spirit in Jesus’ name. In John 15:26, the Son sends the Holy Spirit from the Father from whom He proceeds: “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me.” Remember that Jesus is the very agent of God the Father in the Flesh, and now the Holy Spirit is the agent of the Son and comes from the Father as well, so we have the saving Work of God being performed by the three coequal persons of the Trinity. You would only miss this important truth if you try hard to deny it! Actually you miss it unless the Holy Spirit of God reveals it to you. Then it’s undeniable!
The Peace of the Kingdom
Look at the familiar verse 27: “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” The word for peace (eirene) reflects the customary Jewish word “shalom”. In this verse, Jesus is giving a word of farewell, but “peace” is also used as a greeting, just like the Jewish word, “shalom”. “Shalom” was characteristic of the anticipated messianic Kingdom in the Old, and “Peace” in the New is the fulfillment of the Old with the introduction of the Kingdom of God through the Lord Jesus Christ. It is only through Christ and His sacrifice that we have peace WITH God. Sin makes us enemies of God, having committed cosmic treason against the Holy God, but Jesus became our peace offering on the cross so that we can be reconciled to God. The enmity between us and God has been removed by the Peace through the cross.
It is the peace of Christ that maintains harmony among His People in the New. Col. 3:15 says: “And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.” Phil 4:7 says:” and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” It is the peace of God which guards the hearts and minds of His People, as a result of the indwelling Holy Spirit of God. No prescription of the world will ever bring peace or harmony with God and a lasting peace for the soul. The peace of Christ is far different also from the peace of the Old Testament, which referred to good fortune, health, and national prosperity. Peace is the normal state of being in the Kingdom of God because it is where God’s will alone is done and God is the God of Peace and not confusion: This is only accomplished through the saving work of God through Christ and the Holy Spirit. It is where the human heart and soul find freedom from anxiety and true contentment. Romans 15:13 explains: “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” It is a result of faith…IN BELIEVING.
Continue in verse 28 You have heard Me say to you, 'I am going away and coming back to you.' If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, 'I am going to the Father,' for My Father is greater than I.” The Father is “greater” than the Son only until Jesus returns to the Father. Remember that the Glory of Jesus has been diminished in His incarnate fleshly state. He is the active agent in creation, revelation, redemption and judgment, perfectly conforming to the Father’s Will. He would conform totally to the Father’s will on the cross within hours, only to arise bodily from the grave and eventually return to His full glory at the Father’s side.
Jesus gives another note to prepare His Disciples: 29 “And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe. 30 I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me. 31 But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do. Arise, let us go from here.”
Satan holds the influence as the ruler of the rebellious sinful realm but God is still Sovereign over all things and Satan has absolutely no claim on the Lord Jesus nor on us who are IN CHRIST. Jesus remained the Sinless Son of God; there would be no legitimate charges against Him, so that when He died, He triumphed over the devil and His domain. The resurrection and ascension would validate His victory and if there are any doubters, Jesus’ return as judge will settle all false charges. And so Jesus resolutely sets His eyes toward His mission and purpose on the Cross by way of the Garden of Gethsemane. May the Peace of God through the Lord Jesus be yours, now and forever. Amen
Outline:
1. A Reasonable Question (vs. 22): Judas’ question shows that he and others were still looking for Jesus to deliver them from Roman authority.
2. God’s Kingdom Defined: the active Sovereign rule of God-Dynamic dominion! The NOW and NOT YET; Positionally in Christ, practically still in a sinful world. NOW in a corruptible body, waiting for the fulfillment of Jesus’ return and eternity (the NOT YET).
3. God’s Home with Believers (vs.23): a. NOW:The indwelling of the Father and Son in the life of the believer by Holy Spirit. b. NOT YET: Rev 21:3: "The tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.”
4. More of the Work of the Holy Spirit (vs 25-26) OT: The Spirit of God is creator, controller, revealer, enabler. NT: is personal, hears, speaks, witnesses, convinces, shows, leads, guides, commands, forbids, desires, provides speech, helps, intercedes, advocates. The Holy Spirit brought to remembrance the life, work and words of Jesus in the birth of the NT.
5. The Peace of the Kingdom (vs 27) Peace is the normal state of being in the Kingdom of God because it is where God’s will alone is done. Peace is only accomplished through the saving work of God through Christ and the Holy Spirit, where the human heart and soul find true contentment.
