Since Judas has left the table to go and betray Jesus, Jesus begins looking toward the cross. Jesus does not see the cross as one might think; He looks to the cross and says “glorify” five times – “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him. If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and glorify Him immediately.” Jesus knows the cross, although humiliating, disgraceful, and beyond painful, is the only way to provide salvation to the world. Jesus tells His disciples where He is going His disciples cannot come, and He urges them to love one another – “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
“Then Jesus said to them, ‘All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: ‘I will strike the Shepherd, And the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee’” (Matthew 26:31, Zechariah 13:7).
Peter says he will never stumble, even if all others do, and that he will lay down his life for Jesus. However, Jesus responds, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times.” Jesus knows Peter better than Peter knows Peter. He knows that when the situation becomes dire, Peter is going to stumble and deny Him. However, Jesus still loves him in spite of his upcoming betrayal. And Jesus won’t leave Peter in his failure. After Peter sees the resurrected Christ and is filled by the power of the Holy Spirit, he will never again deny Christ. Peter will proclaim that Jesus is Lord and the only way for salvation until the time he is crucified upside down on a cross, not deeming himself worthy to die in the same manner as Jesus.
Jesus tells His disciples not to be troubled for there are many mansions in His Father’s house. “And 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 where I go you know, and the way you know.”
Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” It’s hard for our finite minds to understand the Triune God which is God in three Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as one God. In an article written by Don Stewart from Blue Letter Bible, he explains how the three Persons of the trinity work together as One – “The Father creates, the Son redeems, and the Holy Spirit sets apart. Yet they perform these roles in full cooperation with the other members. In each operation, all three members are present. Although the Father is preeminently the Creator, the Son and Spirit were also involved. The Son is the Redeemer, yet God the Father and the Spirit are described as sending the Son to redeem. The Holy Spirit is the Sanctifier, yet the Father and Son also cooperate in this work… The general teaching on the subject is that the Father is the head of Deity; the Son is the one who reveals Deity, while the Holy Spirit carries out the work of Deity… While the members of the Trinity are co-equal and co-eternal, they have different roles or functions within the Godhead. This is known as the economic Trinity. Each performs their role with full cooperation of the other members.”
Jesus teaches about the Holy Spirit, which will be poured upon His disciples ten days after His ascension to heaven – “If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever – the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you… 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. 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 Holy Spirit working within the disciples will allow them to be rooted in Jesus Christ in order to bear fruit for the kingdom of God. Jesus says to His disciples – “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.”
Jesus tells them these things so that His joy may remain in them, and that their joy may be full. Then He commands them to love one another as He has loved them, by laying down their lives for each other. Jesus reminds His disciples that He didn’t choose them just so they can sit at home full of joy; He chose them so they will go out in this world loving people well and sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ so that others can experience the joy that comes from a relationship with Jesus Christ – “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.”
More from Jesus tomorrow. Keep reading. (John 13:31-38, Mark 14:27-31, Matthew 26:31-35, Luke 22:31-38, John 14:1-15:17)
Chronological Bible in Layman's Terms 