John 13:36 - 14:1

Sunday Morning Bible Study

July 7, 1996

Introduction

We are on the Thursday evening before Jesus is crucified, at the event known as "the Last Supper".

Jesus is alone with His disciples in the upper room.

He has just washed their feet, giving them an example to learn how to love and serve each other.

He warned them that He was going away when He said:

Joh 13:33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you. (AV)

He gave them a new commandment, that they were to love each other with the same kind of love that He loved them with.

This was a sacrificial, unending love demonstrated by Jesus even loving Judas, right to the end.

:36-38 Peter will deny Jesus

:36 Lord, whither goest thou?

Isn't it interesting that Jesus has just said one of the most important things ever, giving His disciples this new commandment, and yet Peter doesn't seem to be paying any attention to it?

Instead, Peter is kind of stuck on this thing Jesus said about going somewhere:

Joh 13:33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you. (AV)

He seems to have missed the greater statement.

Lesson:

Don't be missing the important things!

Mathew Henry: It is common to be more eager to know about secret things, which belong to God only, than about things revealed, which belong to us and our children; to be more desirous to have our curiosity gratified, than our consciences directed; to know what is done in heaven, than what we may do to get thither.

Examples:

We can get into all kinds of discussions about the end times, which is all right and good.

But have we learned how to really serve one another?

We can get into all kinds of discussions about the finer points of Mormon doctrine.

But are we concerned about how to love like Jesus?

Illustration:

A speaker held up a blank sheet of paper and asked, "What do you see?"

The reply was, "A piece of paper."

He then placed the paper on the podium, made a tiny dot in the center and held it up again. "What do you see now?"

"A dot," was the unanimous reply from the audience.

"Imagine this blank paper is a person," the speaker said. "The small dot you saw is his/her biggest fault. The white surrounding the dot represents all of this person's worthwhile qualities which we so easily fail to see. Often a fault seems bigger than it really is and we allow it to overshadow the many positive aspects of that person's personality."

This can apply in our personal relationships as well.

We can become very critical of each other by spending too much time focusing on the little insignificant things, while missing out on the important big things.

Illustration:

Maranatha Magazine carried the following humorous story about criticism: "The wife of a hard-to-please husband was determined to try her best to satisfy him for just one day. 'Darling,' she asked, 'what would you like for breakfast this morning?' He growled, 'Coffee and toast, grits and sausage, and two eggs -- one scramble and one fried.' She soon had the food on the table and waited for a word of praise. After a quick glance, he exclaimed, 'Well, if you didn't scramble the wrong egg!"

Illustration:

Some people are so negative!

Did you hear about the farmer that had a brilliant dog? He had a neighbor that just absolutely was negative, no matter what. If it was raining, the farmer would say to his neighbor, "Boy, look at it rain, God's sort of washing it clean."

"Yeah, but if it keeps up it's gonna flood." Then the sun would come out and he'd say, "If it keeps that up, it's gonna just scorch the crops."

The farmer thought, "What am I gonna do to win this guy?" So he trained his dog to walk on water. He didn't tell his neighbor, he just took him duck hunting. Boom! Boom! They brought these ducks out of the sky, and said to his dog, "Go get 'em." The dog went across, picked them up, and hopped back in the boat, nothing wet -- just his paws. The farmer said, "What do you think of that?"

The neighbor said, "He can't swim, can he?"

We can get so critical that we tend to ignore the more important things.

Peter got so caught up in something that Jesus mentioned, that he missed the bigger thing.

Do you really listen to everything people are telling you?

What's the greatest thing Jesus has just commanded His disciples?

To love one another like He has loved them.

:36 Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now

Jesus was going to His death.

He was going to a cross to die for the sins of the world.

That was something that Peter could not follow Jesus in.

:36 thou shalt follow me afterwards.

Though Peter wouldn't be following Jesus to the cross right now, he would one day die a martyr's death for His Lord.

According to tradition, the Romans crucified Peter in about AD 64 during the reign of Nero. Declaring that he was not worthy to die in the same way that Jesus had, Peter asked that his executioners hang him on the cross head downward.

:37 Lord, why cannot I follow thee now?

He hasn't really got the message yet.

:37 I will lay down my life for thy sake.

Luke records Peter's remarks as:

(Luke 22:33 KJV) )And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death.

Mark's gospel is often called "Peter's Gospel" because Mark was Peter's nephew, and it was thought that he got most of his material from his uncle.

Mark records:

(Mark 14:29 KJV) )But Peter said unto him, Although all shall be offended, yet will not I.

I can almost hear a kind of pride in what Peter is saying.

Lesson:

Be careful about having confidence in your self.

Peter's confidence isn't in Jesus, it's in what he's going to do for Jesus.

And that's confidence in the flesh.

That's confidence in something pretty undependable.

Take a look at what happens later on in the Garden of Gethsemane:

Matthew 26:35-46 Peter said unto him, Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also said all the disciples. 36 ¶ Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. 37 And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. 38 Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.

Jesus is going through His darkest time of agony, and He'd like a little support about now.

He'd really appreciate it if the guys would do a little praying too.

39 And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. 40 And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? 41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. 42 He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done. 43 And he came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy.

About this time, I'd be kicking the guys or making some serious noise to wake them up.

"Now wait a minute, Rich" you say, "Don't be so hard on the guys, they were just tired!"

They may have been tired, but they were also totally ignorant of just how weak they really were.

If they realized just how much they needed God's help at the time, they would have been on their knees praying with Jesus.

44 And he left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words. 45 Then cometh he to his disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Rise, let us be going: behold, he is at hand that doth betray me.

I think it's interesting that Jesus doesn't condemn them for their lack of trust in God.

This is one of the big testing moments.

Is there any correlation between the fact that Jesus prayed and passed His test, and the fact that the disciples didn't pray, and failed their test?

Jesus went to God for help.

The disciples apparently felt they didn't need to.

Jesus goes on to walk in obedience to the cross.

Peter and the others go on to deny Jesus and flee.

Our flesh only has capabilities of failure in the things of God.

Ro 7:18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. (NIVUS)

Warning: This is not to get us into the attitude, "Well, I just can't do anything, so why even try?"

I get a little heartbroken when I see certain people who have so much potential in the Lord, yet all I hear from them is what they can't do.

As long as our confidence is in our "selves", we're in trouble, but when we learn to trust God and let Him work, then there isn't anything we can't do.

Php 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. (AV)

Joh 15:5 I am the vine, ye [are] the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. (AV)
Our focus:
By myself I am going to fail.

With Jesus by my side, I can't lose.
:38 Verily, verily, I say unto thee

Greek: amhn amhn (amen, amen!) (found 25x in John alone)

or,

Truly, truly, I say to you (NAS)

I tell you the truth, (NIVUS)

Whenever Jesus says this phrase, it's His way of saying, "Pay attention!" or, "What I'm about to say is very important and is the complete truth!"

But what Jesus is going to tell Peter isn't exactly the kind of thing you want Jesus to be telling you with "amen, amen" in front of!

:38 The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice.

Greek: Jesus uses a very strong "not"

ou mh- never, certainly not, not at all, by no means

"the cock shall absolutely not crow ...", or, "the cock shall never crow ..."

... until you have denied Me ...

I kind of get the idea that Jesus is so sure that Peter will deny Him, that it's almost as if He's declaring that the sun is going to wait to come up until Peter is done denying Jesus three times.

When we read in John 18 that Peter denies the Lord, you don't get the idea that the sun had to wait very long.

Lesson:

Denying Jesus doesn't have to be the end.

Though it is a very serious thing for Peter to deny the Lord, it's not going to be the end of the story.

I think that at times we get to feeling so condemned over certain things we've said, or actions that we've done, that we feel like we've really lost our salvation for good.

We hear verses like:

Mt 10:32-33 Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. 33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. (AV)

And then we think we've somehow committed the unpardonable sin.

But this isn't the end of the story for Peter.

Peter is going to weep bitterly over his denial of Jesus.

And Jesus is going to seek him out and find out if Peter still loves Him.

Is it possible to have committed the unpardonable sin?

The unpardonable sin is to "blaspheme the Holy Spirit" (Mat.12:31)

And that means to continually reject the work of the Holy Spirit in your life, telling you about Jesus.

Those who have committed the unpardonable sin don't care that they've done it.

The fact that you might be concerned shows that you haven't done it yet, because you still care about being right with God.

If you've denied the Lord, then it's time to come back!

Illustration:

We're going to hear the testimony tonight at the Harvest Crusade of Billy Graham's son, Franklin, who became the prodigal, running away from the Lord.

But there came a time when he realized that he had to stop running, and he got down on His knees and came back to the Lord.

John 14
:1-3 A reason to go

:1 Let not your heart be troubled

What does Jesus want them not to be troubled about?

Somebody is going to betray Him?

That He's going away?

That they're going to deny Him?

All three are on the minds of the disciples about now, all three are troubling them.

troubled - tarassesqw - tarasso - to agitate, trouble (a thing, by the movement of its parts to and fro); to cause one inward commotion, take away his calmness of mind, disturb his equanimity

By the say, Jesus knows what this is all about, He's been "troubled" several times:

Joh 11:33 When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled, (AV)