Testifying in Persecution

John 15:18-John 16:16

Good morning, it is a real joy to be able to share from God’s word with you today. I say that for 3 reasons: 1) I can do it in English, which even after all these years is so much easier for me than Nepali; 2) y’all are so much like family to us now – and I want to thank you again for the warm welcome that you have given us into this fellowship; and 3) God’s word is living and relevant and powerful, and I am always blessed and humbled whenever I dig into it.

The subject of today’s passage from John is “Testifying in Persecution,” as we finish up chapter 15 and look at the first half of chapter 16. As Carl mentioned last week, this is all part of the long discourse that Jesus gave His disciples between the time of the Last Supper and His arrest, much of which, though faithfully recorded by John, probably didn’t make much sense to the disciples until after Jesus had left them and returned to heaven – and they faced the task of living out the Christian life without His physical presence, but with the help of the Holy Spirit. Jesus was preparing them for that new way of relating to Him and the Father. Last week we considered Jesus as the True Vine and the need for the believer to abide in Him in order to bear fruit. I appreciated Carl’s reminder that that fruit can take many different forms, including the love that God can give us for other people.

The True Vine

John 15:1-17

I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside. He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well. Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit. – Isaiah 5:1-2

Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad? Now I will tell you what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be destroyed; I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled. – Isaiah 5:3-5

I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and briers and thorns will grow there. I will command the clouds not to rain on it. The vineyard of the Lord Almighty is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the garden of his delight. And He looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress. – Isaiah 5:6-7

The Way

John 14:1-31

Welcome! Today we continue our series into the Book of John, focusing on Chapter 14. As a brief recap of what is going on, we are in Jesus’ final days, even final hours, before His crucifixion. Jesus and His disciples are in Jerusalem. They have come from a nearby village where Lazarus had earlier been raised from the dead, and where, a short time ago, Mary had poured a huge amount of very pungent, very expensive perfume on Jesus’ feet. Most likely the odor is still with Him. At the time, when Judas criticized the act as a waste of money, Jesus defended Mary, saying, it was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of His funeral. The passage does not record what the disciples thought of that statement, but I bet they were pretty bewildered.

Then Jesus entered Jerusalem and was given a victor’s welcome, even a king’s welcome, with shouts of “Hosanna” and “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord” and “Blessed is the king of Israel.” Then Jesus spoke to the crowds, and instead of a victory or acceptance speech, said that unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. He also said that when He would be lifted up (speaking of how He would die), He would draw all men to Himself. The crowds were disappointed at this and even became hostile. What about the disciples? Again, I suspect they were lost and confused.