The Breathtaking Invitation by Jesus into a New Dimension of Connection to God

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Goal:

To get three things:
1. The surprising beauty
2. The size of what is being asked
3. The immensity of what is being offered

1–12 ”Book of Signs”	13–21 ”Book of Glory”

13 A meal with the disciples

14–17 New Teaching
from Jesus
to the disciples

18–20 Arrest
Crucifixion
Resurrection

21 A meal with the disciples

To take in the care and empathy of Jesus
To feel empowered by the relationship we have with the Father—who is just like Jesus

I tell you the truth, the person who believes in me will perform the works that I am doing,
and will perform greater works than these, because I am going to the Father..
And whatever you ask in my name, that I will do…
If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

Last week’s passage ended with the promise of doing “greater things” than Jesus
- This anticipates the need for power
And then “greater things in Jesus’ name” anticioages what that means? and how it relates to his commands?

People have been really confused as to what is going on in this passage because it seems to be so repetative and disorganized.
- I hope to demonstrated in the next 2 minutes how this is not the case at all.
- Nothing could be farther from the truth!

Look at handout:

How do we know that this is a unit?
- John has very clearly marked the ending for us, with a place change, something he often does
- We start with an abrupt change of subject
Also Use of key words is a great way of spotting the units.
- Several key words, particularly love, which occurs 10 times in this passage, in red
- Commandments or teachings, 6 times in yellow.
- Intimate connection, particularly using the word dwell, or dwelling in bold
- Promise of the coming Holy Spirit in green
- Word of comfort, underlined
- I have also marked Father in blue
  - Although this name is frequent in John, how it relates to other words is unique in this passage
Having done that, we can see some really striking things.
- “If you love me, you will obey my commandments. occurs in some form 5 times, with variations
- I have given each of these a box, with ideas that connect with it also in each box.
- But then we see something really interesting

If you love me, keep my commandments
Connection with the Father
- Promise of the Spirit
- Word of comfort (not like the world)
Future intimate connection with Father, Son & Spirit

How come not “if you believe in me”, or even “if you trust me”
Do we have to perform well enough at this love to get rewarded?
Sound like a guilt trip, like your mom saying
- If you really loved me, you’d do the dishes and vacuum the floor
The first thing to notice is that the reward of love is more of God
- This is beginning to make more sense
- If you really love me, there’s a way you can have mucn more of me
- e.g. it is very clear in v.23
But there is one more thing we need to make sense
- If “obey my commandments” was something like “don’t eat pork or carry anything on the Sabbath”, and then you will have more of me
  - Then it would stil be odd
- But what are Jesus’s commandments? Can you summarize them?
  - Follow my example. Love one another sacrificially
    - be God-like
But why is there this condition?
- In the night I prayed for a metaphor, an illustration to understand this
  - If you want us to dance together, we must be dancing the same dance
  - If you wnat us to sing in harmony together, we must be singing the same tune
  - If we are to build a new city together, we must be working from the same plans
- God is calling us into such an intimate relationship with him, that it requires we and he fit together
How do we do this?—it still seems to require a lot of effort from us?
- It turns out that the next sections is addressing exactly this
- He can also supply us with the energy

If you love me, you will obey my commandments
If you love me enough to want more of me, this is what brings us together:
living in tune with me, particularly giving yourself to others in love

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
“Behold, the dwelling place of God is with humankind.
He will dwell with them, and they will be his people,
and God himself will be with them as their God.