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Sunday Sermon Outline STUDIES IN THE GOSPEL OF
JOHN- PART 78
Chapter
14, verses 28-31-repeating that He is going away, Jesus declares “if you love Me, you would rejoice…” Here, He proposes that genuine “love”
will put first the interest of the One being loved
[Jesus]. This points to how love is
selfless. Further in vs.28,
by Jesus going to the Father, He is going to One who is
“greater”. This verse has been used by
anti-Trinitarians to declare Jesus is inferior or subordinate
to God, the Father. The answer lies
in realizing that Jesus is speaking from His incarnation, and therefore, is in
position less than the Father, but not in
essence—note In vs.29, Jesus explains that His words
are given so the disciples may “believe”-use
of aorist subjunctive in a purpose clause.
Some see it as indicating “come to trust” in view of the crisis of His
passion. Jesus then turns to the
reality that “the ruler of this world
is coming”- (present tense) to indicate what the civil &
religious leaders do to Him has its source in
Satanic endeavor (13:2, 27; I Cor.2:8; Gen.3:15;
Rev.12:12) “and he has nothing in
Me”- this likely expresses the absolute conflict between Satan and
Christ. The intensity of hatred for
Jesus by Satan is witnessed in the ferocity of physical and emotional abuse He
receives by both Jew & Gentile.
Isaiah 50:4-8 is seen by some as a challenge to Satan by the Lord
Jesus. Vs.31 shows Jesus as an example of
obedience to the Father just as He has been commanding obedience
by His disciples. Further it
is His love for the Father than brings such obedience. He then says “Arise, let us go from
here”- they leave the house where the supper was eaten and travel to
the are said either on the way to the
garden or as they arrive at the garden.
But first they go to the Mt. of Olives- Matt.
26:30. Chapter
15, verses 1-5- brings us to Jesus’ powerful illustrative use of the
grape vine to teach discipleship. The care and treatment of the
vine was used in Isaiah 5:1-7 to show God’s Hand of protection and provision for
Benjamin Keach
(1640-1704) suggests the following parallels between a vine and the wonderful
person of Christ: I. The vine, in its natural state,
is not so lovely or beautiful as other
trees. Christ came in humiliation and appeared
only as another man-Isa.53:2-3. Page 2 II. The vine gives large shoots and
abounds with sap to nourish large branches. Christ is full of divine virtue and
treasures of godliness and sustains His church through
an intimate relationship- John III. The vine produces fruit (wine)
that makes glad the heart of man Psa.104:15. Christ provides abundant
fruit in the lives of His church through the Holy Spirit’s
indwelling-
Gal.5:22-23, Ephesians 5:9. IV. The vine provides shade and
protection from the heat of the sun. Christ is a protector from the
severities of life- Isa.32:2—including the
effects of sin as well
as the wrath of IV. The vine is subject to bruising
and damage by the abuse of men. Christ was abused and
wounded in His suffering of the Passion- Isa.53:3,
5. This use of vitaculture by Jesus serves marvelously to express the deep
intimacy of relationship and the rich vitality of life provided for the
believer. It is dynamic, not static, living,
not merely existing and illustrates a life-force from the natural world to show Christ
as the Giver and Sustainer of “life”. |