MOVE DAY:
Not that many weeks after Easter, The Salvation Army will announce its 'moves' - who in this organization is going to be transferred to where across this country. At the last supper, when Judas left the room the eternal moves were announced, so to speak. Jesus let his disciples know that the time is coming and is actually now here when Jesus will move from them. He has a new appointment. He informs them of this and gives some instructions and a number of his disciples take this opportunity during the last supper here to ask Jesus a bit about the move. They inquire about where he is going.
Picture this with me. Jesus and his disciples are having dinner upstairs in a rented room in Jerusalem. Jesus has conversations with John and Judas and then Jesus knows, allows, enables, prompts or even provokes Judas to move to do what he is going to do. This will be Jesus’ last evening with his closest disciples: the twelve, now the eleven. After Judas leaves, Jesus turns to his friends and he breaks the news, among other important things that, 13:33-35: “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come. A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
Jesus is moving away and he tells his friends what he wants from them is that they love each other. I think this is important. I know that each time Susan, the girls and I are moving this is the same thing we want: that our congregations, contacts and friends continue to love each other. I know that when I see pictures on Facebook, receive news, or a visit from places we have been stationed, one of the first things I wonder is how is everyone getting along? Are we still a good little group fighting together for the gospel of Christ? “By this everyone will know you are my disciples”, Jesus says, “if you love one another.” There is even more to this command of Jesus’ to love one another. As part of this same farewell discourse Jesus says that greater love has no one than to lay down his life for his friends (15:13). That is what Jesus did for us. That is what the apostles did for him. That is what me must do for each other. Call or visit someone from your church this week and spend some time with them – especially someone you haven’t seen in a while. Jesus says, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
PETER: WHERE ARE YOU GOING?
This is good but Simon Peter cues not on the instruction to love his comrades, colleagues, or congregation so much as the fact that Jesus is leaving. ‘Where are you going?’ he asks, in essence, ‘what do you mean we can’t come with you? Why not? I’d die for you!’ Now Jesus’ response is really quite interesting; he tells Peter in essence, ‘Really? You’d die for me? Honestly, even before tonight is finished you will deny me not once, not twice, but three times.’
This is not the sort of response usually recommended to offer a grieving person coming to terms with an impending move. It is certainly not the response that we instructed people to give in the Emotional and Spiritual Care courses I have taught Now about this denial, Jesus is right, of course, and Peter does deny him and we know that Peter is later repentant of his actions. And Jesus, after he rises from the dead, forgives, reaffirms, and/or reinstates Peter and we know that according to tradition Peter is good to his word and God does award him with his martyr’s crown.
And there is more because at this moment the exchange isn’t as lacking in pastoral care as it first appears. As you read on, contained in the very next verses, 14:1-4, Jesus says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many mansions; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”[2] Then he says, “You know the way to the place where I am going.”
THOMAS: HOW CAN WE KNOW THE WAY?
Now sitting around the table after the last supper, while Peter is still trying to figure out Jesus’ somewhat confusing answer to his simple question, ‘where are you going?’ Thomas tries to help Peter out a bit here. He re-asks, re-phrases, re-articulates, adds to Peter’s ‘where are you going?’ with his own words, Verse 5, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”[3]
Jesus answers, Verse 6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
So Thomas, after trying to help out by re-phrasing Peter’s simple ‘where are you going’ question; now like Peter, is left to ponder Jesus’ somewhat less than simple responses. The response to, ‘how do we get where you are going?’ is ‘I am the way where I am going.’ This probably isn’t all that illuminating for Peter or for Thomas.
Jesus does give them some very important information though. He says point blank that the ONLY way to get to God is through Jesus Christ. There is no other way. There is no other truth. Jesus is the only way to life and the only way to the Father. This is important and while Thomas and Peter may not understand this at the moment, they do later and we should now, right? Basically in layman’s terms: if your mother, brother, son or daughter, do not enter into a relationship through Jesus Christ, they are not going to inherit eternal life with the Father. This is significant. Jesus is telling Thomas, Peter, and the others that there is no other way to be a part of the Kingdom of God than to come through Jesus Christ. So, for us here today, if there is someone you claim to love and you don’t tell him about Jesus, do you really love him? If there is someone you claim to like and you don’t tell her about Jesus, do you really like her? As the only way not to perish is to go through Jesus Christ, if there is someone you do not loathe, it follows that you will tell them about Jesus; if you do not at least try to introduce someone you know to Jesus, is it not true that you really must despise them? Why else would you keep them from salvation? This is what Jesus is saying – Salvation is easy. There is only one way but it is easily accessible. Jesus provided salvation for everyone and if you really do love Jesus and if you really do love your friends, family, and acquaintances then you will point them to the way.[4]
PHILIP: SHOW US THE FATHER...
Peter’s simple question ‘where are you going?’ still seems unsatisfied for him though even as Thomas has re-stated it as ‘which way do we go?’ So now Philip takes a crack at getting an answer as he asks for further clarification, Verse 8, “Lord show us the Father and that will be enough.” Jesus’ answers here are hardly any more straightforward and concise but Jesus does give them more important information: Jesus offers them a free introductory course - Trinity 101[5] - so to speak. Jesus says that he is in the Father and the Father is in him. Jesus speaks about the coming of the Advocate, the Paraclete, the Helper, as well as the post-resurrection role of the Holy Spirit and the importance of obeying Christ.[6] He says that they will know that Jesus is in the Father and that we will be in Him so long as we simply obey His commandments and then He will reveal himself to us as he is in us.
JUDAS: WHY JUST TELL US?
So we are starting to make some ground in the conversation here. Remember that this is after dinner and Judas Iscariot has already left. And this has led to a long conversation as the disciples are repeatedly asking Jesus, ‘where are you going?” So now we have Judas (not Judas Iscariot, the other Judas), as they are starting to understand the answer to ‘where are you going’? He ultimately asks, 14:22, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?” Jesus then more fully explains to his disciples that He is going away but He will come back (15:28) and when He comes back those who love Him and keep His commands will be eligible to receive that mansion that He has prepared for us (14:2).
THE ANSWER:
So the answer to the question, ‘where is Jesus going?’ After dinner, Jesus and his disciples will leave and then this very night in our text, Jesus will be arrested. He will be tried. He will be executed. Three days later He will rise from the dead and come to his disciples, then later he will ascend to the Father.
That is where Jesus is going now in our text and then sometime very soon now in our world he is coming back and before that happens we will all need to answer a most important question and that question is, where are WE going? Jesus is going to the Father and the ONLY way to the Father is through the Son. Everyone who loves Jesus (as shown by obeying His commands) will go to be with Jesus in our eternal mansion. So the question for us today is not where is Jesus going – we know that - but rather the question for us today is where are WE going?
[2] Gail R. O’Day, The Gospel of John, The New Interpreter's Bible, Vol. 9, ed Leander E. Keck, et. al. (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1995),740 also N.T. Wright, John for Everyone Part 2 (Louisville, Kentucky, USA: WJK, 2004),58.and Colin G. Kruse, John: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 2003 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 4), S. 292
[3] Cf. Lincoln, 390.
[4] Cf. Gerard Sloyan, John, Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching, ed. James L. Mays, et. al. (Atlanta, Georgia: John Knox Press, 1988),179.
[5] Cf. Gerard Sloyan, John, Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching, ed. James L. Mays, et. al. (Atlanta, Georgia: John Knox Press, 1988), 185ff.
[6] Merrill C. Tenney, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:John/Exposition of John/III. The Private Ministry of the Word (13:1-17:26)/B. The Last Discourse (13:31-16:33)/1. Questions and answers (13:31-14:31)/e. The promise of the Spirit (14:16-21), Book Version: 4.0.2
Not that many weeks after Easter, The Salvation Army will announce its 'moves' - who in this organization is going to be transferred to where across this country. At the last supper, when Judas left the room the eternal moves were announced, so to speak. Jesus let his disciples know that the time is coming and is actually now here when Jesus will move from them. He has a new appointment. He informs them of this and gives some instructions and a number of his disciples take this opportunity during the last supper here to ask Jesus a bit about the move. They inquire about where he is going.
Picture this with me. Jesus and his disciples are having dinner upstairs in a rented room in Jerusalem. Jesus has conversations with John and Judas and then Jesus knows, allows, enables, prompts or even provokes Judas to move to do what he is going to do. This will be Jesus’ last evening with his closest disciples: the twelve, now the eleven. After Judas leaves, Jesus turns to his friends and he breaks the news, among other important things that, 13:33-35: “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come. A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
Jesus is moving away and he tells his friends what he wants from them is that they love each other. I think this is important. I know that each time Susan, the girls and I are moving this is the same thing we want: that our congregations, contacts and friends continue to love each other. I know that when I see pictures on Facebook, receive news, or a visit from places we have been stationed, one of the first things I wonder is how is everyone getting along? Are we still a good little group fighting together for the gospel of Christ? “By this everyone will know you are my disciples”, Jesus says, “if you love one another.” There is even more to this command of Jesus’ to love one another. As part of this same farewell discourse Jesus says that greater love has no one than to lay down his life for his friends (15:13). That is what Jesus did for us. That is what the apostles did for him. That is what me must do for each other. Call or visit someone from your church this week and spend some time with them – especially someone you haven’t seen in a while. Jesus says, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
PETER: WHERE ARE YOU GOING?
This is good but Simon Peter cues not on the instruction to love his comrades, colleagues, or congregation so much as the fact that Jesus is leaving. ‘Where are you going?’ he asks, in essence, ‘what do you mean we can’t come with you? Why not? I’d die for you!’ Now Jesus’ response is really quite interesting; he tells Peter in essence, ‘Really? You’d die for me? Honestly, even before tonight is finished you will deny me not once, not twice, but three times.’
This is not the sort of response usually recommended to offer a grieving person coming to terms with an impending move. It is certainly not the response that we instructed people to give in the Emotional and Spiritual Care courses I have taught Now about this denial, Jesus is right, of course, and Peter does deny him and we know that Peter is later repentant of his actions. And Jesus, after he rises from the dead, forgives, reaffirms, and/or reinstates Peter and we know that according to tradition Peter is good to his word and God does award him with his martyr’s crown.
And there is more because at this moment the exchange isn’t as lacking in pastoral care as it first appears. As you read on, contained in the very next verses, 14:1-4, Jesus says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many mansions; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”[2] Then he says, “You know the way to the place where I am going.”
THOMAS: HOW CAN WE KNOW THE WAY?
Now sitting around the table after the last supper, while Peter is still trying to figure out Jesus’ somewhat confusing answer to his simple question, ‘where are you going?’ Thomas tries to help Peter out a bit here. He re-asks, re-phrases, re-articulates, adds to Peter’s ‘where are you going?’ with his own words, Verse 5, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”[3]
Jesus answers, Verse 6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
So Thomas, after trying to help out by re-phrasing Peter’s simple ‘where are you going’ question; now like Peter, is left to ponder Jesus’ somewhat less than simple responses. The response to, ‘how do we get where you are going?’ is ‘I am the way where I am going.’ This probably isn’t all that illuminating for Peter or for Thomas.
Jesus does give them some very important information though. He says point blank that the ONLY way to get to God is through Jesus Christ. There is no other way. There is no other truth. Jesus is the only way to life and the only way to the Father. This is important and while Thomas and Peter may not understand this at the moment, they do later and we should now, right? Basically in layman’s terms: if your mother, brother, son or daughter, do not enter into a relationship through Jesus Christ, they are not going to inherit eternal life with the Father. This is significant. Jesus is telling Thomas, Peter, and the others that there is no other way to be a part of the Kingdom of God than to come through Jesus Christ. So, for us here today, if there is someone you claim to love and you don’t tell him about Jesus, do you really love him? If there is someone you claim to like and you don’t tell her about Jesus, do you really like her? As the only way not to perish is to go through Jesus Christ, if there is someone you do not loathe, it follows that you will tell them about Jesus; if you do not at least try to introduce someone you know to Jesus, is it not true that you really must despise them? Why else would you keep them from salvation? This is what Jesus is saying – Salvation is easy. There is only one way but it is easily accessible. Jesus provided salvation for everyone and if you really do love Jesus and if you really do love your friends, family, and acquaintances then you will point them to the way.[4]
PHILIP: SHOW US THE FATHER...
Peter’s simple question ‘where are you going?’ still seems unsatisfied for him though even as Thomas has re-stated it as ‘which way do we go?’ So now Philip takes a crack at getting an answer as he asks for further clarification, Verse 8, “Lord show us the Father and that will be enough.” Jesus’ answers here are hardly any more straightforward and concise but Jesus does give them more important information: Jesus offers them a free introductory course - Trinity 101[5] - so to speak. Jesus says that he is in the Father and the Father is in him. Jesus speaks about the coming of the Advocate, the Paraclete, the Helper, as well as the post-resurrection role of the Holy Spirit and the importance of obeying Christ.[6] He says that they will know that Jesus is in the Father and that we will be in Him so long as we simply obey His commandments and then He will reveal himself to us as he is in us.
JUDAS: WHY JUST TELL US?
So we are starting to make some ground in the conversation here. Remember that this is after dinner and Judas Iscariot has already left. And this has led to a long conversation as the disciples are repeatedly asking Jesus, ‘where are you going?” So now we have Judas (not Judas Iscariot, the other Judas), as they are starting to understand the answer to ‘where are you going’? He ultimately asks, 14:22, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?” Jesus then more fully explains to his disciples that He is going away but He will come back (15:28) and when He comes back those who love Him and keep His commands will be eligible to receive that mansion that He has prepared for us (14:2).
THE ANSWER:
So the answer to the question, ‘where is Jesus going?’ After dinner, Jesus and his disciples will leave and then this very night in our text, Jesus will be arrested. He will be tried. He will be executed. Three days later He will rise from the dead and come to his disciples, then later he will ascend to the Father.
That is where Jesus is going now in our text and then sometime very soon now in our world he is coming back and before that happens we will all need to answer a most important question and that question is, where are WE going? Jesus is going to the Father and the ONLY way to the Father is through the Son. Everyone who loves Jesus (as shown by obeying His commands) will go to be with Jesus in our eternal mansion. So the question for us today is not where is Jesus going – we know that - but rather the question for us today is where are WE going?
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[1] The Salvation Army, Boundless: the International Bible Reading Challenge (2015). Available on-line: http://www.salvationarmy.org/biblechallenge[2] Gail R. O’Day, The Gospel of John, The New Interpreter's Bible, Vol. 9, ed Leander E. Keck, et. al. (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1995),740 also N.T. Wright, John for Everyone Part 2 (Louisville, Kentucky, USA: WJK, 2004),58.and Colin G. Kruse, John: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 2003 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 4), S. 292
[3] Cf. Lincoln, 390.
[4] Cf. Gerard Sloyan, John, Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching, ed. James L. Mays, et. al. (Atlanta, Georgia: John Knox Press, 1988),179.
[5] Cf. Gerard Sloyan, John, Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching, ed. James L. Mays, et. al. (Atlanta, Georgia: John Knox Press, 1988), 185ff.
[6] Merrill C. Tenney, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:John/Exposition of John/III. The Private Ministry of the Word (13:1-17:26)/B. The Last Discourse (13:31-16:33)/1. Questions and answers (13:31-14:31)/e. The promise of the Spirit (14:16-21), Book Version: 4.0.2
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