Some of Jesus’ last words to His disciples

The primary focus of Christ’s last words here is the nature of Jesus’ mission and what will take place after His impending departure. The emphasis is on understanding the significance of Jesus’ death, exaltation, glorification, and the consequent coming of the Comforter. What Jesus shares is a foundational explanation needed by any Jew or proselyte who is entertaining the possibility of becoming a Christian.

Now that Judas has gone, Jesus signals the development: God will glorify the Son.

The glorification of the incarnate Word does not occur in a spectacular display of blinding light, but in the matrix of human existence.

Isaiah 49:3 And said unto me, “Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”

Jesus, by perfectly revealing the Father to human beings, has brought glory to the Son’s voluntary sacrifice. The very purpose for which you and I exist is to give glory to God, and Jesus leads the way.

Jesus & God Will Be Glorified

To give God glory means to reveal His attributes, to believe in His attributes, to praise His attributes.
His glory is the composite of all that He is.

Both God and Jesus are Glorified at Calvary

At Calvary, Christ performed the greatest work which had ever occurred in the history of the universe. On the cross He brought to pass the salvation of damned sinners. He had accomplished the redemption of the human race, satisfied the justice of God, repaired the broken law, and set men free, and on the cross the Son of man received glory. Christ put on display in His death, all the attributes of God in a way that had never been manifest before and as a result God was glorified in the death of Christ.

The Attribute of Power

God is powerful, and the power of God is seen on the cross. The world, Satan and every demon in the universe, threw all the power that it had at Jesus Christ and Jesus overcame it all by His power in death.

The Attribute of Justice

The justice of God demanded blood to atone for sin. When our Lord Jesus Christ hung on the cross as the guilty one, the blessed substitute, the penalty of the law was payed.

The Attribute of Holiness

When Christ was made a curse on that tree, God had to turn His back on the sin and Jesus cried out in agony, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” Never did God so manifest His hatred for sin as
in the suffering of the death of His own Son.

Jesus Gives a New Command

John 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you: that you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

Jesus began to lay out what He expected of them while He is away. The new command is simple enough for a toddler to memorize and appreciate, and yet also profound enough that the most mature believers
are repeatedly embarrassed at how poorly they comprehend it and put it into practice.

The new command is not ‘new,’ because nothing like it had ever been said before. It had. The Mosaic covenant had mandated two love commandments: (Deut. 6:5).

The new command is not only the obligation of the new covenant community to respond to the God who has loved them and redeemed them by the sacrifice of His Son. It is a privilege rightly lived out, proclaiming the true God before a watching world.

Orthodoxy without principal obedience to this characteristic command of the new covenant
Love One Another is merely just a lot of talk.

Peter’s Bold Words

John 13:38 Jesus answered him, “Will you lay down your life for My sake? Verily, verily I say to you, the cock shall not crow till you have denied Me three times.

Good intentions in a secure room after good food are far less attractive in a darkened garden with a hostile mob. At this point in his pilgrimage. Peter’s intentions and self-assessment vastly outstrip his strength.

Jesus Promises a Future Place

John 14:1 Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in Me.

The disciples are to calm their hearts by trusting Him as they have trusted God. This action links Jesus with the Father as an appropriate object of faith.

Jesus’ departure is for the disciples’ advantage. True, He is going away, but He is going away
to prepare a place for them, and He will come and get them so that they may be where He is.
What more could they (we) ask for?