Introduction

Jesus knows that the next several days will be incredibly devastating for them. So, He leaves them with words of hope, truth, and promises they can reflect on during that time. Just as we would hang on to the final words of a loved one on their death bed, we should listen carefully now. Jesus is not presenting a new theology to the disciples. Old Testament promises to speak of God doing miracles inside His people. And the people who experienced those inner changes would greatly expand God’s kingdom (Ac 1:7-8; Isa 54:1-3). Jesus is establishing a new covenant. The new covenant is established through Jesus by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, replacing our hearts of stone with a heart of flesh (Ez. 36:26), enabling us to walk in His commandments (Ez.36:27).

The Spirit of Truth; Our Helper (Jn. 14:15-21)

• In verse 15, we hear Jesus say, “If you love Me, you will keep (obey) My commandments” (literal). Considering prophetic passages, we can understand His words not as a challenge to prove their love for Him by trying harder to obey His commands but as a description of what will happen when the new covenant arrives.
• It is always possible for us to choose to love Him more. Still, in this context, looking forward to these inner miracles, which would begin at Pentecost, Jesus’ words were most likely an assurance to His disciples that they would love and obey Him than a warning that they might not.
• Jesus commanded them to wash one another’s feet (Jn. 13:14-15). He commanded them to love one another after the pattern of His love to them (Jn. 13:34). He commanded them to put their faith in God the Father and in Jesus Himself (Jn. 14:1).
• The disciples feared that Jesus was abandoning them. They were afraid they would not know what to do without Him. But Jesus assured them He would pray, and the Father would send them another Helper. So, they would have more help, not less.
• Jesus understood that His disciples (including us) would need God’s presence and power to keep His commandments. So, God the Son promised to pray to God the Father and ask for the giving of God the Holy Spirit to the believer to accomplish this.
• Jesus spoke of how the Persons of the Trinity interact and work for the good of God’s people and the furtherance of His plan.
• Jesus’ death and resurrection meant this promise could finally be fulfilled (Ro 8:3-4). So that evening, Jesus explained to His disciples that this divine assistance would be released. He said the Spirit of Truth would come to remind them of all He had taught them (Jn 14:26) and guide them to obey (Jn 16:13).
• The “new covenant” promises continuous forgiveness, which makes it possible for God’s Spirit to dwell inside an imperfect person and not depart every time that person sins (Ro 8:3-4; 1Co 3:16; 6:19), making this new level of love and obedience possible.
• In verses 20 and 21, Jesus connects loving obedience to the experience of knowing God’s presence. Verse 15 tells us that love is the motivation for obedience.

Love and Obedience (Jn. 14:22-24)

• Jesus is interrupted by one of the disciples, Judas (not Iscariot), who is clearly confused with a question. Jesus does not answer it directly but instead uses the opportunity to link love and obedience.
• In answering Judas, Jesus repeated the themes from the previous verses. Jesus would be revealed to and among the disciples through love, obedience, and union with the Father and the Son.
• In addition to repeating themes about love and obedience, He told them that not only would He come to be with the obedient disciple, but the Father would also be present. He said, “If someone loves Me, he will keep (obey) My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and We will make a dwelling place with (para; beside) him” (literal).
• The reward for loving and obeying Jesus, believing what He taught, obeying His commands, and submitting to His ongoing spiritual leadership would be the presence of God surrounding that person. Both Father and Son would be present.
• Then, so no one would miss the connection He made between love and obedience, Jesus restated that truth from the opposite perspective. He said, “The one who does not love Me, does not keep (obey) My words…” (literal).
• In other words, consistent, willful disobedience to believe what He taught, do what He commanded, or submit to His ongoing spiritual leadership reveals a lack of love. A disciple who truly loves Jesus wants to be like Him.
• In many ways, this is what separates one believer from another. God’s Spirit indwells every believer, but not every believer is filled with the Spirit and knows the blessing of God’s manifest presence in their life.
• Jesus again emphasized His total reliance upon and submission to God the Father. Jesus openly stated His equality with the Father (Jn. 14:1, 14:3, 14:7, 14:9).

The Gift of The Holy Spirit (Jn. 14:25-27)

• In verse 25, Jesus returned to the subject of the Holy Spirit. Over the past few years, it had been Jesus who taught His disciples the will of God.
• They learned about God by watching and listening to Him, but the Holy Spirit would be their Teacher in the new season ahead of them. He would reveal the true meaning of God’s Word, convict them when they went astray, encourage them to walk in faith, and give them discernment between what is true and what is false (1Jn 2:27).
• The prophets had said that when the new covenant arrived, the Spirit would write God’s Law on the believer’s heart (Jer. 31:33; Eze 36:27; Heb 10:15-16).
• He would put the desire to obey God inside that person and help them recognize the right path.
• We hear Jesus saying that the Holy Spirit will remind His disciples of all the truths He taught them. That meant that the confusion they were experiencing would progressively disappear after the Holy Spirit came to dwell within them.
• He would reveal to their minds the true meaning of all that Jesus had taught.
• When John wrote this gospel, he looked back and noted that the Holy Spirit had by then revealed to them things that, at the time, they hadn’t understood (Jn 2:17, 22; 12:16).
• The Holy Spirit can and will do the same for us. He can minister to you in a way that separates the confusion from the truth.

Conclusion

In John 14:12, Jesus promises that those who believe in Him will do greater works than these. There is no greater work than a person being able to write the laws of God on their heart, an inner change of love, obedience, and unity with the Trinity. The miracle of the new covenant has three elements. First, God washes away the person’s sin through the work of Jesus’ death and resurrection (Ro 8:3-4). Then, God transforms the person’s heart by removing their heart of stone and replacing it with a heart of flesh (Eze 36:26). And third, God puts His Spirit within us, enabling us to walk in His commandments.

Discussion Questions

Why do you think love for Jesus and obedience to Jesus are so closely linked?
Can you think of a time in your life that you had an unusual sense of God’s presence in your life?
Why do Christians sometimes minimize the significance of the Holy Spirit in a believer’s life?
Bonus: Review all the referenced scripture in the sermon notes with a friend.