Rejoicing with Jesus
Throughout the world, men and women, boys and girls are suffering. They are troubled and distressed. They are discouraged and depressed. They are nervous, worried, and afraid. Sadly, this is not only true for nonbelievers. It is true for those who believe on Jesus Christ as well, just as it was true for the first disciples of Jesus.In John 14, Jesus gave his disciples many reasons why it was not a bad thing that he was going away from them to die. It was a necessary and good thing for them. But they were still troubled and overwhelmed, even after all the good news that Jesus gave them in this conversation. Why?Join me for a few moments in making observations about the root cause for the discouragement of Christ’s disciples (John 14:28-31). This will help you to consider the root cause for the discouragement that you face, too. In doing so, you should recognize that not all anxiety is the same. You should also recognize that the causes for anxiety are often multilayered, meaning that a variety of factors contribute to the problem: genuine sorrow, physical pain, complicated circumstances, or genetic, medical and psychological factors. For instance, the disciples were experiencing a degree of genuine sorrow. They were saying goodbye to Jesus, their beloved teacher and friend. Feeling sorrow from saying goodbye to a close friend is a normal, natural experience that is not sin all by itself.However, even when normal factors like this contribute to your anxiety, there is a spiritual aspect that easily enters in. This complicates the problem and intensifies your pain. The words of Jesus in these verses will help you to diagnose and address this spiritual root cause that easily complicates and intensifies the distress that you experience. Furthermore, when you love Jesus, you focus your attention on the purposes of God.John Chapter 14 is a written transcript from a full-length, private conversation that Jesus had with his early disciples in the top floor room of a house. These men were worried and distressed. Their nerves were on edge and their hearts were filled with worry, questions and fear. Through everything that Jesus said in this conversation, he intended to calm their troubled hearts. But after he provided them with many soothing words of comfort, blessing, purpose and promise, he briefly identified the root cause of their anxiety. They were too focused on themselves and their own situation, and not focused on him.
I. You should focus on the glory that Jesus deserves more than on your own condition. (John 14:28)
He said, “You have heard Me say to you, ‘I am going away and coming back to you.’ This reminds us of what he had been telling them throughout this conversation (14:3, 18). He is alluding to and summarizing this conversation, through which he intended to calm their troubled hearts.But then he said this: “If you loved me, you would rejoice because I said, ‘I am going to the Father.’” By saying this, Jesus revealed the self-centeredness of his disciples. This is the underlying root cause that easily complicates so much of your anxiety. He did not complain about this problem and he did not give them a sharp rebuke, but he brought it to their attention. The root of their anxiety was a misplaced focus. They were focused on what would happen to them, their comfort and their plans, if Jesus would go away and die. This is a very natural response. But Jesus taught them that this self-centered worry was evidence that they loved themselves more than they loved Jesus. If they loved Jesus, they would have been happy for him. They would have been rejoicing because he was going to heaven where he belonged, and so they would not have been discouraged.Notice that Jesus said, “For my Father is greater than I.” This does not mean that God the Father is God and Jesus is not, and it does not mean that Jesus is somehow less God than the Father (John 10:30; 14:7). Instead, it refers to the submissive role of a servant that Jesus accepted when he came into the world to die for your sins and mine. By doing this, he had let go of his clear and obvious status as God, being equal to God the Father (Phil 2:5-8). In fact, when he told people he was the same as God the Father and equal to God the Father, they accused him of blasphemy and stoned him for it (John 8:58). They did the same thing when he performed miracles which showed his equality with God the Father.If you love Jesus, you should desire for people to know him for who he really is as God. You do not want his glory to be hidden. So, when he told the disciples that he was going away from them so that he could go back to the presence of God where it would be obvious that he is God, they should have rejoiced for him after all the shame and mockery that he had endured for them (Phil 2:9-11).
II. He reveals the future to strengthen your faith in him, not to increase your anxiety. (John 14:29)
Jesus said, “And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe.” Think about this. Jesus could have trained his disciples but said nothing about what he was going to do. Then he could have sent them to bed and slipped out quietly to die on the cross. Telling them in advance was not a necessary part of dying on the cross to take away your sins. So why did he tell them ahead of time what he was going to do, knowing that it would send them into panic? He answered that question in this verse. He told them in advance so that when the events of the crucifixion and resurrection occurred, they would be able to look back knowing that Jesus had told them beforehand. This would strengthen their confidence that he was God (Isa 46:9-10).By saying, “you may believe,” Jesus is probably not talking about believing on him for salvation. According to John 6:66-69, the disciples had already believed on Jesus as God and Savior. Instead, he is probably talking about strengthening their assurance that he is God. The New Testament letter called “First John” was written for the same purpose, because sometimes after you believe on Jesus as the lover and leader of your life, you slip into moments and periods of doubt. Jesus knew that the original disciples themselves would experience this. They would run away and hide. They would return to their former occupations, and one – Thomas – would even slip into depression.Later in John’s ministry, he would write another book of the Bible called Revelation. That book reveals many things that are going to happen in the future, near the end of time. If you have ever read from that book, you know that there will be many scary and terrible things that will happen before the end of the world. But why God did guide John to write this book? For the same reason that Jesus told his original disciples about what would happen to him on the cross. To encourage their faith. But sadly, many Christians read the book of Revelation and get scared, or worried, or anxious. Just as Jesus foreshadowed this coming death on the cross to encourage the faith of his disciples, so God has given us the book of Revelation to calm our troubled hearts.
III. He recognized the role of Satan in his suffering and death, but he was unafraid. (John 14:30)
Jesus said, “I will no longer talk much with you.” By saying this, he reminded the disciples that it was almost time for the moment of his death and departure. It was only hours away, so not much time remained for him to talk with them.But he also said, “For the ruler of this world is coming.” This is a curious thing to say. We know that it was the purpose of God for Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. But who is the “ruler of this world?” This is a reference to Satan. He is the mastermind and leader of all the evil workings that go on in the world. He is on a mission to resist and defeat God, which he will never be able to do. But to do this, he set out to kill Jesus. Looking ahead to the betrayal of Judas, the false trials of the Jewish leaders, the torture and crucifixion of the Roman soldiers, Jesus saw more than evil people doing evil things to him. He saw the evil one himself orchestrating it all. Satan had opposed him throughout his earthly ministry. Through a death decree by King Herod, Satan had attempted to kill Jesus as a baby (Matt 2:16). Satan attempted to tempt him away from his mission in the wilderness (Mark 2:13). And he had repeatedly incited men to attempt to kill him throughout his ministry (Mark 14:1; Luke 4:28–30; John 5:18; 7:1; 8:59; 10:39; 11:53–54; cf. Matt. 21:38). But though Satan fought against him and would kill him on the cross in the cruelest way, Jesus remained peaceful. How could this be so? First, it could be so because he knew that whatever occurred would occur within the plans and purposes of God. But there is another reason as well.He said, “And he has nothing in me.” The phrase “has nothing in me” is a legal phrase that means something like “he has no case against me.”“How could he? Jesus is not of this world (8:23), and he has never sinned (8:46). The devil could have a hold on Jesus only if there were a justifiable charge against Jesus. Jesus’ death would then be his due, and the devil’s triumph.”[1]So whatever Jesus would allow Satan to do to him, it would be his free choice to allow it. He allowed your sins and mine to be placed on him. He allowed himself to become guilty in your place. He allowed every detail of his trial and crucifixion to happen to him, and he allowed himself to be killed. But because Satan had no legal case against him, he would die and then freely rise again from the grave.By allowing Satan to kill him, he actually defeated Satan, and he also defeated your own sin. “He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). The writer of Hebrews says this, “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared in the same, that through death he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil” (Heb 2:14). Jesus allowed Satan to kill him, then he defeated sin, death, and Satan by rising from the dead.
IV. He showed his love for God by doing his will, even though it meant suffering and death. (John 14:31)
Jesus said, “But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do.” By saying this, he did what he was teaching his disciples to do. He would teach them to show their love to him by doing what he commanded them to do. But he would do more than teach them this. He would do it himself. He would show his perfect love for God the Father by doing what the Father had sent him to do – walk right into the darkness of night, into the clutches of the devil, into the jaws of death for your sins and mine. He proved his love for God the Father, regardless of the pain and suffering that he would go through. That’s what we learn later in a letter that John the disciple wrote called First John. He said, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love” (1 John 4:18). The love of Jesus did not fear what Satan would do to him.There is something else important here. Ask yourself the question, “Why did Jesus die on the cross?” You might answer by saying that he did this to save you from your sins, and you would be correct. But there is a more important, underlying reason why Jesus did this. A higher reason that Jesus did this was because of the love relationship between the members of the Trinity. It was the purpose of God the Father to save you from your sins, so Jesus would do everything that God the Father desired. This is important to recognize, because if you’re not careful, you may get the idea that Jesus loves you first of all. But he doesn’t. He loves God the Father first of all. But that eternal, unshakable love is the foundation of his love and commitment to you. Why would Jesus die for a sinner like you? Because he loves you? Yes. But the deeper, better answer is because he loves the Father. That, my friends, is the kind of love you can count on.He said, “Arise, let us go from here.” By saying this, Jesus signaled a transition from his teaching in the upper room. Now he would begin the walk to the olive grove called Gethsemane, which was outside the city. He set the plan in motion. He stopped talking and started walking toward the cross. Actually, he didn’t stop talking, but he kept on talking as they walked through the nighttime streets of Jerusalem, knowing that this stroll with his disciples would end in death.
Personal Reflection
- Are you a born-again Christian? Are you a disciple and follower of Jesus? Have you turned to him as the Lover and Leader of your life? If not, then you are still under the power of the ruler of this world, Satan. He is out to destroy you and unlike Jesus, he does have a legal claim to your life. You are a person of this world and you are guilty of personal sin against God. Therefore, Satan has the right to control your life and bring it to a sudden end in death. To remove yourself from under his control, you need to turn your allegiance and trust to Jesus Christ who died for your sins and returned victorious. Once you believe on Jesus for salvation, Satan has no more authority over your life. You will become free from the penalty of sin just as Jesus is. Perhaps you’ve been thinking about this for a while. Will make this choice today?
- Is your anxiety the result of a self-centered focus on your personal aspirations and comforts? Are you more concerned about what happens to you than what happens to Jesus? Are you more concerned about your good or God’s glory?
- Are you afraid by the power of Satan in this world? Do you allow your fear of death, persecution, rejection, and being marginalized to cripple your service and obedience to God? Are you allowing your fear to prevent you from fulfilling your God-given purpose?
- Are you prepared to follow the example of Jesus by showing your love for God to the world? Are you prepared to go through anything for Jesus? Disciples who cower in fear don’t love Jesus and fail to fulfill his purpose for their lives (1 Pet 4:13). What does the Bible clearly teach? What does God clearly want you to do? What is his clear purpose for your life and what steps is he calling you to take? It is probably not dying on a cross, like Jesus. But what is it for you? Are you loving yourself more than Jesus?
[1] D. A. Carson, The Gospel according to John, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Inter-Varsity, 1991), 509.
