Latest / Teachings On This Day On FerventWord / On May 07, 2014: John 16-21 Jesus Is God Part 3
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- You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2014. We are here this evening in John chapter 16, looking at chapters 16 through 21, which is the chapters that we read this week going through the Bible in three years. We're finishing up the Gospel of John this evening, which is unique compared to the other Gospels. All the Gospels have their unique emphasis of Christ and different aspects and things that they share. But Matthew, Mark, and Luke are very similar. We call them the synoptic Gospels. because there are a lot of similarities and parallels and, you know, largely the same content, John introduces a lot of new insights into the life of Christ that are not recorded in the other Gospels. And he's really focused primarily on the final week in the life of Christ leading up to his crucifixion and then resurrection. And so that's where we're looking at this evening as we finish up the chapter is we're looking at the final hours in the life of Christ. After the Passover supper that he had with the disciples as he was in the evening with them and talking to them and then on into the trial and crucifixion that he endured. So the Gospel of John, written by John the Apostle or John the Disciple. He was one of the original 12 disciples. Originally he was a fisherman and then Jesus called him to follow him. And he refers to himself throughout this book as the disciple whom Jesus loved. And that's his way of letting you know where he was at in the story as it was going on in the different situations that were happening. He wrote this gospel, there's quite a bit of discussion about the exact timing date, somewhere between 65 and 95 AD, which is a pretty broad range. But the way that scholars and those kind of guys debate these things is they believe it was either right around 65 AD, and a lot of scholars believe that, the majority believe that it was written probably more around 90 to 95 AD, very late in John's life. towards the end of his life when he wrote this along with the book of Revelation and such. And so that's what we understand about the Gospel of John. We don't have an exact date for it. But as he's writing, he's really writing, we say, to all people because he focuses on Jesus. And he tells us in chapter 20 that you might believe. He says these things are recorded that you might believe. And so he's really writing to an audience that they would believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. That's his focus today. That's what he's seeking to accomplish. And through this and throughout his gospel, he's talking about and emphasizing the deity of Jesus Christ. We saw in the gospel of Luke a real emphasis on the humanity of Jesus, that he really was 100% man. And of course, Luke also taught that Jesus is God, but really emphasizing that the humanity aspect of Jesus. Well, John, you know, kind of goes to the other side and emphasizes that Jesus is in fact God, that he's not just a man, that he's not just a good man or a great prophet or a good teacher, but that he is God who became man and died upon the cross for us. And so we've been looking at the focus of Jesus being God throughout the Gospel of John. And I just want to recap some of the ways that we've been looking at that because we've been keeping track of the different ways that John refers to Jesus as God. And I see a total of 16 different ways that he refers to Jesus as God and declares that Jesus is God throughout this Gospel. We've seen the majority of them in the chapters that we've read thus far, and this evening we'll see the final three of those different ways. And so he starts out really strong in John chapter 1 verse 1, saying the Word was with God and the Word was God. And then he later on in chapter 1 that the word is Jesus Christ. And so he declares quite clearly there in John chapter 1 verse 1 that Jesus is God. He also declares in verse 3 of chapter 1 That Jesus is the creator. That everything was made through Jesus. And there was nothing that is made that wasn't made by Jesus. That Jesus is the creator of all things. Indicating again that he is God. We also see that Jesus was before John the Baptist, which is something unique to Jesus because you and I and every other human being began to exist at a certain point in history. There's a certain point Where you didn't exist and then seconds later there was a point where you did exist. That there is that unique thing that you and I have that we began to exist at a particular time while Jesus doesn't have that. He existed before John the Baptist and John the Baptist was born before Jesus, conceived before Jesus, but Jesus existed before John the Baptist existed because he has always existed because he is God. Well, we also see Jesus is the Son of God in John chapter 1 verse 34. And throughout the whole book, we see this as a very strong theme. Jesus is the Son of God. likened unto that or right along with that is the the fifth one and that is that god is jesus's father now i know these are kind of the saying the same thing that jesus is the son and that god is his father but i separated them because well it's appropriate to emphasize and to understand every time that jesus is called the son of god it is a claim to be equal to god And every time that Jesus says, my father, referring to God, it is a claim to be equal to God. And this is one of the strong, you know, things that we see throughout the gospel of John, that Jesus is the son and that God is his father. And sometimes people get this confused. And sometimes people think, you know, well, the Bible doesn't really say that Jesus is God. But we need to understand the culture. We need to understand the context. When it refers to Jesus as the son of God, the son of something... is, well, it's one who has the same nature as the parents. So your children have your nature. You know, humans don't give birth to other species. They give birth to humans. They give birth to those who have the same nature as the parents. And it's, you know, goes on with all whatever type of animal you want to consider, whatever type of creature you want to consider. It's The children have the same nature as the parents. And so Jesus being declared as the Son of God, it's a declaration that Jesus has the same nature as the Father. That is that He is God. When we say that Jesus is God, we're not trying to say that Jesus and the Father are are the same person, that there's no difference between them. What we're seeking to say is that Jesus has the nature of God. And of course, we are referring in that to the triune nature of God. And so you have the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. The three are one, but they're also distinct from one another. And so Jesus is not the Father. He is the Son of God, which means, though, that he is God. He has the nature of God. God. And so every time you see Jesus referred to as the Son of God, it's a claim for his deity. Every time he declares, my Father, it's a claim that he himself is God. We'll see this later on in chapter 20 of John as we go through our chapters this evening as the Jews admit this as well, that Jesus claimed to be God. Well, then you can also look at the rest. Jesus came down from heaven. Again, this is unique to Jesus. You and I began to exist at a certain point in history, but we didn't come down from heaven and start to exist. We just began to exist. But Jesus had always existed and came down from heaven as he was born into this earth. He gives life. He is the one who can give life and take it. He deserves the same honor as the father he declares in John 5 23. And so that's a big declaration that he is equal to the father. He is the I am in John 8 58 saying that he is the one who spoke to Moses through the burning bush back in Exodus chapter 3. And he says that was me. I spoke to Moses. I am the I am. He declares that he is one with the Father in John chapter 10 verse 30. And again, this is a statement of his unity, his equality. Not that he is the same person as the Father. He's distinct from the Father. But he's united with the Father and he's equal to the Father. He also perfectly represents the Father, and he is the one who has authority to send the Holy Spirit. And so we've looked at those. We'll see some of these repeated throughout the chapters this evening, and a few more introduced for us. So let's get started with our chapters. In John chapter 16, verse 8 is the key verse. Here's what it says. This is a verse that is referring to the Holy Spirit and his work after Jesus departs. In verses 1 through 4, Jesus says, Now, again, we are right in the middle now of this. Well, not really in the middle. We're right at the end of this final week in the ministry of Jesus. In chapter 13, you had the last supper. He had that Passover meal with his disciples. He washed their feet. And in chapter 15, 16, 17, these are all things that are happening, you know, at the end of that supper, immediately following that supper. And so Jesus is preparing them For his departure. Because he's about to be arrested. He's headed out to the garden of Gethsemane. And he's going to be spending some time in prayer there. And then he's going to be arrested. Tried. He's going to be crucified. And then he will rise again on the third day. And so he's preparing them for this. And so he lets them know, listen, there's going to be some persecution. Things are going to get rough and people are going to think that they are serving God when they put you to death. And so prepare yourselves for that, he tells the disciples. But then he also goes on to say, but hey, I'm not leaving you alone. Yes, things are going to be rough, but I'm going to send you the Holy Spirit. In verses 5 through 15, he says, I will send the Holy Spirit to you. And so the Holy Spirit is going to be with you. The Holy Spirit is going to be active in the world and at work convicting the world, he says, of sin, of righteousness, and of the judgment that is to come. And so the Holy Spirit is going to be with you. So yes, there's going to be trouble. It's going to be rough. And people are going to be against you. There's going to be persecution. But you will have help, Jesus says. And he even goes on to say, it's to your advantage, in verse 7, that I go away. So not only is it going to be rough, but you're going to have comfort. And it's better for you that I go. It's your advantage that I go. Because if I go, I will send the Holy Spirit to you. And so there's a great advantage that we have in the Holy Spirit. We did a series a while back, back in 2010, on the Holy Spirit and the advantage that we have in Him. And so just a quick reminder of that, if you want to refresh yourself on the advantage that you have in the Holy Spirit, you can get to it on the website, cclivingwater.com slash advantage, or we have a pack of DVDs on the book table. But we talked about the different aspects of the Holy Spirit being in you and the producing of, you know, spiritual fruit, the fruit that the Holy Spirit produces, the upon you of the Holy Spirit and the power that comes with that, and then also the gifts of the Holy Spirit and the different aspects of our life and ministry. And then, of course, the walking in the Spirit and not fulfilling the lust of the flesh. And so these different things and different aspects of the ministry of the Holy Spirit are a great advantage to believers. And I always like this verse. I always highlight this verse. And I always talk extra amounts about this verse because it's so often that we as believers believe really don't receive the fullness of this advantage that we have. We neglect the Holy Spirit in our lives. And so we miss out many times on what God has for us because we are not engaging in what the Holy Spirit has for us. Well, going on in verse 16 through 24, Jesus explains, your sorrow will be turned to joy. So he's explaining, I'm going away. You know, you're going to have trouble. You're going to be really sad. But then your sorrow will be turned to joy. And so he's talking about, you know, he's going to be taken away in the crucifixion. But then also he's going to return in the resurrection. And then there's going to be trouble and persecution, you know, after he ascends and in the ministry. But then they'll be united with him once again in eternity. And so there will be sorrow, but it will be turned into joy. As God promises, he works all things together for good. Well then in verses 25 through 33, Jesus says, the Father himself said, loves you and this is really important for us to understand look with me at verse 26 please it says in that day you will ask in my name and i do not say to you that i shall pray the father for you for the father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that i came forth from god so jesus is explaining here our access to the father and he says you have access to pray to god Now, I'm sure you've heard, you know, when we pray, we usually end, you know, in Jesus' name we pray, amen. Well, this is where we get that from here in verse 26. He says, in that day you will ask in my name. And so we approach the Father, we approach God, and we pray in Jesus' name, just as he said that we should. But he's saying, I'm not saying that I'm going to pray for you. Like you have to tell me and then I'll tell the father. You have direct access to the father in my name. So as you claim my name, you have access to God. And not only that, Jesus says, for, here's why you have access to God, because he says the father himself loves you. Now this is so important for us to grasp hold of because, well, many times we miss out. We forget that the Father loves you. Sometimes we kind of get this picture in our head that, you know, the Father really only puts up with us because Jesus likes us a lot. It's like if Jesus didn't like us, then the Father would be like, you know, get out of here. You're just a nuisance and you mess up all the time and I'm tired of dealing with it. But that's not the way that it is. Remember John 3.16, For God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son. It's not just Jesus that loves you. The Father loves you. That's why he sent Jesus. And that's why he gives you access to himself in the name of Jesus. The Father himself loves you. loves you. And why does the Father love you? Because you're so good looking, or because you work so hard, or because you're so faithful and righteous. No, the Father loves you, Jesus says in verse 27, because you've loved me. So when you love Jesus, the Father loves you. And he says, and have believed that I came forth from God. When you believe in Jesus, the Father says, yes, I love you. He gives you access to himself and you can pray to the Father in the name of Jesus. So here in chapter 16, we see another reference to the deity of Jesus Christ in that the Holy Spirit glorifies Jesus. And we see this in verse 14 where Jesus declares that the work of the Holy Spirit will be to glorify him for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. The Holy Spirit, a member of the triune nature of God, points people to Jesus and focuses attention on Jesus. The Holy Spirit stresses the importance of Jesus. The Holy Spirit glorifies Him, referencing the honor and glory that is due to the name of Jesus and again the equality that Jesus has with the Father. And so we see this order within the triune nature of God, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. They are equal in nature, but they also have their place and their role within the triune nature of God. And so Jesus, as we saw earlier, sends the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit glorifies and honors the name of Jesus. So that's the new one that's introduced. But of course we have a few different ways that Jesus is referred to God here in chapter 16. Jesus sends the Holy Spirit. He's the one who has authority to send the Holy Spirit. I don't have authority to send the Holy Spirit on anybody. Neither do you. But Jesus does because he is God. God is Jesus' Father. In verse 10, the Holy Spirit glorifies Jesus and Jesus came down from heaven. So those are a quick look at some of the references to Jesus being God here in chapter 16. All right, chapter 17. Now verse 3 is the key verse. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. Here in John chapter 17, we have the Lord's Prayer. Now I know, you know, we often refer to the Lord's Prayer as, you know, that other prayer. Now I lay me down to sleep. No, no, no, not that one. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. You know, we refer to that one as the Lord's Prayer. And really it's a better understood as the model prayer where Jesus was teaching his disciples to pray. But here in John chapter 17, you have an actual prayer of Jesus. It's recorded here what Jesus actually prayed, probably in the Garden of Gethsemane, soon before, you know, he was going to be arrested. And this is his prayer to the Father, this whole chapter. And so in verses 1 through 5, he is praying to the Father and he's declaring, I have finished the work you gave me to do. So Jesus is looking back at his ministry here at the end of his ministry and saying, Father, you gave me these things to do and mission accomplished. I've completed and finished those things that you've given me to do with one final task, the cross. And he's about to endure that for our sake. But then he goes on to pray for his disciples. And he says in verse 6 through 19, keep my disciples from the evil one and so he prays for his followers those that have gathered together that he has chosen those 12 or really 11 now as judas has already departed and jesus prays for them for unity he prays for them for protection from the evil one he prays for them to have joy he prays for their sanctification and so he's lifting up his followers to the father But then he goes on in verses 20 through 26 to pray for us. And he says, I pray that all believers may be one. In verse 20 he says, I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in me through their word. And so we are those descendants, those who have believed through the testimony of the apostles and the gospel message that has spread. And so Jesus here was praying for us. And what did he pray for us? Well, he prayed that we would have unity with God, as Jesus talked about his unity with the Father and then him and us. And so we have unity with him and unity with the Father. But then he also prayed that we would have unity with one another. It's God's will and it's God's desire that we would be united together, that we would have fellowship together and that we would have this unity in the same way that we have unity with God. He also prayed that we would be effective in our witness. In verse 23, he says that the world may know that you have sent me. That in our lives, we would be a witness and a testimony of Jesus Christ to the world around us. And so that is Jesus' prayer today. Well, we see another reference to the deity of Jesus here in chapter 17, and that is that Jesus had glory before creation. Verse 5, he says, And now, O Father, glorify me together with yourself, with the glory which I had with you, before the world was. So not only did Jesus create all things, but he was in glory with the Father before all things were created. Jesus is not a created being. He existed in glory. He has existed for all eternity in glory. And we know from Isaiah chapter 42 verse 8 that God does not share his glory with another. And again, it's a reference to and a pointing to the deity of Jesus Christ. He is God because he had glory even before creation. Well, there's a few references here to the different aspects of the deity of Christ. He gives life. He came down from heaven. He had glory before creation. And he is one with the Father. And that unity gives that understanding of equality with the Father as well. Chapter 18 now, verse 12 is the key verse. It says, And so it tells us here that Jesus would often go to this Garden of Gethsemane with his disciples. And so Judas knew the place. He led the soldiers there and betrayed Jesus to them. Well, as they come seeking, Jesus steps up and he says, who are you seeking? And he says, well, they say, we're seeking Jesus of Nazareth. And Jesus says, I am he, or perhaps just I am. And it tells us in verse 6, it's interesting that they drew back and fell to the ground. And Jesus here, you know, just demonstrates a tiny fraction of his power at this moment. And they fall to the ground as he says, I am. And then he allows them to arrest him. So he gives us the understanding. He shows us that he has power. He has authority. This wasn't something that happened to him. But this is something that he allowed to happen in order to fulfill the will of God and to bring salvation to us. In verses 12 through 18, Peter denies Jesus once. Now this is what Jesus told him would happen in John chapter 13. Again, as they were having that last supper, Jesus warned Peter that there was going to be this denial that would take place. And he said, you'll deny me three times. So here we have the first time, the other two come in just a couple verses. Well, Jesus is taken in verses 19 through 24, first to Annas, who then sends Jesus to Caiaphas. Now, Annas and Caiaphas were both priests of the day. They were both priests, you know, among the Jewish people. Annas was the actual high priest as far as the Jews were concerned. He was the high priest from about 6 to about 15 AD. But he was removed from office by Rome. And you know how much the Jews loved Roman authority and their moves and the things that they did. And so Rome put Caiaphas, who is the son-in-law of Annas, in his place. And so Caiaphas is the high priest that Rome recognizes and Annas is the high priest that the Jewish people recognize. And so they were related and they kind of had to work together. But that's why there was this, you know, we took him here, then we took him there because they had to get Rome's approval in order to get him crucified. And so first to Annas, then to Caiaphas, and then ultimately he's going to be turned over to Pilate. Well, it's during this time in verse 25 through 27 that Peter denies Jesus two more times. And so all three denials are complete and he realizes what happens as the rooster crows and he weeps bitterly and runs off. Later on, he'll be restored and we'll see that in chapter 21. In verses 28 through 38, Pilate interrogates Jesus and finds no fault in him. He asks him, you know, he hears the case, but there's nothing really to charge him with and especially nothing worth, you know, putting him to death for. And so he testifies, I find no fault in him. He tries to get out of, you know, putting Jesus to death by offering a trade and saying, hey, why don't I release Barabbas or, you know, pick between Barabbas and Jesus and I'll release one of them to you, thinking that they would pick Jesus to be released because Barabbas deserved to die. But instead, the crowd calls for Barabbas to be released and Pilate complies with that. And so here is the trial of Jesus and he's about to be crucified. A few references to the deity of Jesus in John chapter 18. Again, as the soldiers come against him, he says, I am. And you notice probably in your Bible, if you have a New King James Version, the he is in italics, which means there's not an actual word there in the Greek. And so he really just said, I am, which is again a reference to Exodus chapter 3, where Jesus says, I'm the one who spoke to Moses from the burning bush. He refers to God as his father in verse 11, and he reminds us that he came down from heaven in verse 36. Chapter 19 now, verse 17 is the key verse. It says, And he, bearing his cross, went out to a place called the place of a skull, which is called in Hebrew Golgotha. In verses 1 through 4, Pilate has Jesus scourged. He's scourged, which was a very brutal process in which they would, you know, bind him and whip him. And the idea of the scourging was to bring out confession. You know, if they were going to be putting a criminal to death, they would scourge the criminal. And if the criminal confessed... then the blows would become softer. And so the more they confessed, the softer the blows would be. But if they didn't confess, then they would continue in full strength because they wanted to drive out the confession of whatever crimes had been committed. And so for Jesus who had no crimes to confess, it would have been very brutal for this scourging to be endured. But then after the scourging, then the soldiers mock Jesus. And they do the crown of thorns and they put it upon his head. They put the purple robe upon him. They strike him. They strike him with their hand. They beat down the thorns on his head. And so they're, you know, really abusing Jesus. Now this isn't the first time that Jesus is experiencing this. He'd spent all night with the Jewish authorities and the Jewish soldiers also beat Jesus and abused Jesus and mocked Jesus and then... John doesn't record it, but we've looked at it in the other Gospels. Pilate didn't just send Jesus right to the cross. Remember, first he sent him to Herod, hoping Herod would deal with it instead of him. And so Herod's soldiers also mocked Jesus and spat on him. And then he was sent back to Pilate, and then all of this goes on. And so Jesus has had a very rough night at this point. This is very early in the morning. And he is now scourged. He's mocked once again and beaten. And then in verse 5 through 16, Pilate delivers Jesus to be crucified. And so he once again tries to get out of it. He again says, I don't find any fault with this guy. But they insist. And he's like, what's going on? Why does he deserve to die? And verse 7 is a key verse here in John chapter 19. Verse 7 says, the Jews answered him, we have a law. And according to our law, he ought to die. Because he made himself the son of God. So again, we see the importance of this idea of Jesus being the Son of God. It doesn't mean that he's lesser to God. It means that he is equal to God. The Jews are saying he is speaking blasphemy because he has declared himself to be the Son of God. And as a result, he ought to die by our law. Now blasphemy, that was a serious offense. But Jesus' claim to be the Son of God and to be equal with God wasn't blasphemy because it was true. If anybody else made this claim, it would be blasphemy. If I tried to tell you that I was equal to God, I would hope you'd see right through it and understand that's not the reality. But when Jesus declared himself to be equal to God... It was the reality, so it wasn't blasphemy. But they didn't believe Jesus, so they counted it as blasphemy, and that's why they put Jesus to death. This is the whole thing that we need to understand. A lot of people, you know, struggle with the idea of Jesus being God. But that's why he was put to death. That's why he was crucified, because they understood that Jesus was claiming to be God. They considered that blasphemy, and they wanted to get rid of him. So then in verses 17 through 24, the soldiers crucify Jesus. They place the nails in his hands and the nail in his feet. And they hung him upon the cross there at Calvary, also known as Golgotha. And there he would hang and there he would die. But as he's hanging upon the cross, he speaks a couple things in verse 25 through 27. He says, He speaks to Mary and John, and he says to Mary, hey, this is your son. He speaks to John, behold your mother. And in doing so, he was telling John, hey, please take care of my mom after I'm gone. Now, of course, Jesus was going to be resurrected in a few days, and he would be walking around for a little bit, but ultimately he was ascending to the Father. And so he was entrusting the care of his family to the Apostle John and saying, take care of her, you know, behold your mom and behold your son. Well then in verse 28 through 30, he declares, it is finished. First he says, I thirst in verse 28. And then he received the sour wine. It says, he says, it is finished. And bowing up his head, he gave up his spirit. And so Jesus here takes his last breath. He releases his spirit. He commits his spirit into the Father's hands and he breathes his last. Well, a little bit later, verses 31 through 37, the soldiers come and they pierce the side of Jesus. The Jews had requested of Pilate that the people who were crucified, remember it was Jesus and then the two thieves, and they requested, please break their legs, which was a common practice when they wanted to hurry up a crucifixion. As gruesome as a crucifixion was, it wasn't a quick death. It was very, very slow. And people could last for many hours and sometimes a day or two on the cross. And so what they would do is they would break the legs to quicken the process. Because the way that you died by crucifixion was lack of oxygen. Because the way that they had you hung up, it was difficult to breathe. And so you would have to pull yourself up. And so they would pull themselves up by, you know, the nail in their wrists and in their feet. And so they'd push against the nail in their feet to lift themselves up to be able to catch a breath. And then they would drop down because it was painful. And they would have to do that for every breath. And so if they broke their legs, they wouldn't be able to push themselves up. And so they would die much more quickly from the lack of oxygen. And so because the Sabbath was imminent, it was right about to happen, they said, you know, we need to get these guys off of the cross as quickly. And so please break their legs so that, you know, they won't defile the Sabbath. Well, they came to Jesus after they'd broken the other two guys' legs, and they found that he was already dead. They were surprised by this. Now, Jesus was on the cross for six hours. It was, you know, six hours before he died, and they were surprised at how fast that happened, that he had died that quickly. I think you and I would think that six hours, you know, was already way too long, but it was short, you know, as far as crucifixion was concerned. And so just to make sure that he was dead, the soldier thrust the spear in the side of Jesus and then the water and the blood poured out, indicating that his heart had ruptured. Well, then in verses 38 through 42, Joseph of Arimathea comes and he buries Jesus. He requests the body of Jesus from Pilate and that request is granted. And then he buries him in a tomb nearby. It was his own tomb. And he buries him there in this tomb that had only a spot for one. Originally, the design, you know, it was going to be for two. But the other part wasn't finished. And so he buries Jesus there in his own tomb in a garden that's nearby. And if you make it out to Jerusalem one day, you can see for yourself that that tomb that was Joseph's and that is now... Well, in verse 7, we see again that Jesus is God because the Jews tell Pilate that Jesus declared himself to be the Son of God. During those times that Jesus was on the cross, for that six hours, there was seven specific things that the scriptures record that he said. And so I threw them here so that you could kind of look them up if you want to. There's some interesting things to consider and study through these things. And so Jesus says, Father, forgive them. Remember, as Jesus was on the cross and the people were mocking and ridiculing him still while he was dying upon the cross, he asked forgiveness. Then in Luke 23, 43, he tells the thief that he will be with Jesus in paradise. And so the thieves were mocking, but then one of them kind of caught on and realized what was happening. And so he rebuked the other thief and he says, Jesus, remember me in your kingdom. And Jesus says, you're going to be with me in that kingdom today. And so he rebuked the other thief and he says, He tells John and Mary to behold each other and to take care of each other. In John 19, we just saw that. In verse 46 of Matthew 27 is when he declares, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Which is a quotation from Psalm chapter 22. And that psalm is specifically about prophesying the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. And so he's experiencing the separation from God that results from sin. as he is taking the weight of our sin upon his shoulders and dying in our place for that sin. He says, I thirst in John 19.28. It is finished in John 19.30, which means it's completed. It's paid in full, indicating that the debt of sin, that your sin and my sin, completely paid for, past, present, and future, when Jesus died upon the cross. That's a huge statement to understand. I was listening to a pastor's perspective recently recently, And someone was asking the question, you know, I'm a new believer and I don't understand or I'm trying to wrestle with, you know, how do I really know if I'm saved because I still sinned And so if I sin and I don't repent before I die, then am I not saved? And what we need to understand regarding that is that all sin is forgiven by believing in Jesus. So you're not forgiven because you repent of each individual sin. You're forgiven because you believe in Jesus Christ. And so, yeah, you're still going to mess up. You're still going to make mistakes. You're going to still fall short in sin. And that's to be expected. And when you know about sin, you should repent of it. There needs to be that confession before the Lord, that turning from sin to follow Jesus. But your sin is forgiven by believing in Jesus. And so if you die and you didn't have a chance to get to church or to go to the Lord in repentance, that's not going to be something that would keep you from eternity. Because when Jesus died upon the cross, he said, it is finished. Your sin is completely paid for. And as you believe in Jesus Christ, you receive that payment unto your account. And that means that the full debt is completely covered. Well, he ends his life in chapter 23, verse 46 of Luke, saying, into your hands I commit my spirit. And so he entrusted himself to the Father and he breathed his last at that point. So good things to consider, those final words of Jesus upon the cross. All right, chapter 20 now, verse 22 is the key verse. It says, and when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, receive the Holy Spirit. So now in chapter 20, verses 1 through 10, we have the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And Mary Magdalene, as well as Peter and John, visit the tomb, which is now at Sunday morning, and they find that it is empty. And so they're perplexed. They're wondering what's going on. But then in verses 11 through 18, Mary Magdalene sees Jesus. She doesn't recognize him right away. Verse 15 tells us that she supposed that Jesus was a gardener. And she was, you know, not recognizing, not understanding who he was. And then as he spoke her name, she realized it's Jesus. And she grasped hold of him, you know, in shock, in awe, completely just, you know, wondering how is this possible? Jesus Christ has resurrected. She was the first one that Jesus appeared to. He appeared to different disciples in different ways. And again, this is something that you look at all the different gospel accounts to get the full picture. But in verses 19 through 23, you have the account where Jesus appears to his disciples that evening, that Sunday evening after he had resurrected. And it says that he breathed on them that they would receive the Holy Spirit. And that's specifically found in verse 22. It says, Now this is an important, you know, moment in the history of Christianity and the history of salvation because it's at this time the disciples are born again. Up to this time, they'd been following Jesus. They were his disciples. They were his apostles. They did miracles. You know, they were with him with all of those things. But they did not have what we refer to as the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is only possible... After Jesus is crucified, after the price is completely paid for sin and that we can have that perfect fellowship with the Father. And the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the product of what Jesus accomplished for us upon the cross. And so it's at this time as Jesus breathes on them, they receive the Holy Spirit. And they are born again. They are given spiritual life at this time. They're going to experience something different. And we'll see that this week as we go into the book of Acts now in our reading starting tomorrow. And you'll see Jesus promises another work of the Holy Spirit. That is the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which is an empowering for service. But the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is something that every believer has. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit is, you know, it comes upon us at conversion. When we believe in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit dwells within us. And the Holy Spirit is our seal and our guarantee of salvation. And the Holy Spirit is working in us and producing fruit. And again, I would refer you back to the Holy Spirit Advantage series to get a good understanding of all that we have as an advantage in the Holy Spirit dwelling within us and working in us and empowering us and so on and so forth. And so this is a huge moment. This is, you know, really the first conversions of being born again as they receive the Holy Spirit at this time. Well, Thomas is missing as they're gathered together that evening. And he's with them the following week in verse 24 through 29. Thomas gets to see Jesus. He missed out the week before. And from him we will learn a very important lesson. This is why you should never miss a Sunday service. Because Jesus is going to show up and you're going to miss him. If you miss on Sunday service. I'm just kidding. But that's what pastors like to say to get everybody in church on Sunday, right? You know, Thomas has a bad reputation though. We call him Doubting Thomas. But you know, it's not... So much that he doubted. It's that he was wanting to see for himself. He was wanting to verify. You know, wanting to understand that Jesus really had resurrected. He was really asking for the same experience that the rest of the disciples had. You know, when the ladies came back from the tomb first thing on Sunday morning and they said, the tomb is empty and an angel told us that Jesus had risen, the disciples didn't believe right away and then say, okay, yeah, oh, Jesus is the Son of God. He's resurrected. We have salvation. What did they do? They were like, what? No way. They ran to the tomb. We got to see for ourselves. Let's check it out. Let's see if it's really empty. And we want to find out what's going on. Thomas was asking for that same type of experience. I want to see. I need to know. And so Thomas, it's, I would say, commendable for him to want to find out for himself, to verify for himself. Just like we see the Bereans are commended in Acts chapter 17 verse 11. When it tells us that they were more noble than the Thessalonians because the Bereans heard what Paul said and then they searched the scriptures daily to find out if those things were so. That we need to check out and find out for ourselves the truth about the things that are taught, the things that we receive. Well, Thomas... Although he, you know, doesn't believe initially at the testimony of everybody else, when he sees Jesus, he doesn't require what he said he would require. He says, I need to put my hands, I need to feel, you know, his scars and the holes in his hands. I need to see those things. I need to touch those things to know for myself that Jesus is alive. But Thomas actually responds well. As Jesus appears, he doesn't require that anymore. He realizes Jesus really has resurrected. And so he believes in Jesus at that moment. In verse 30 through 31, John tells us that he recorded these signs. Jesus did lots of miracles, but he selected a few specific ones. And he recorded these ones that you may believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that Jesus is God who became man, who died upon the cross for us. Well, here we have the final way that John referred to Jesus as God, and it's recorded here what we've just been talking about in verse 28. Thomas answered and said to him, my Lord and my God. Here we see that Jesus allowed Thomas to call him God. He did not rebuke Thomas for calling him God. He did not correct him and say, oh, no, no, no, no, I'm not God, Thomas. Don't call me God. He received it. And not only did he receive it, but he said, good job, Thomas. And there's a blessing for everybody else who believes the same thing that you believe. In verse 29, Jesus says, Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed. So he says, Thomas, you believe now that I'm your Lord and your God. That's good. And there's a blessing for those who don't get to see me, but believe that I am Lord and God. And so Jesus confirms that he is God and allows Thomas to call him God. And so here in chapter 20, we have these references to Jesus being God that we've already seen. He refers to God as his Father. He sends the Holy Spirit. Again, he lets Thomas call him God. And he is, John 20-31, the Son of God. And these are recorded by John that we would know that Jesus is the Son of God. Well, the final chapter for the Gospel of John is John chapter 21. Verse 16 is the key verse. He said to him again a second time, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me? And he said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. So he said to him, tend my sheep. Here we have recorded for us another time that Jesus appears to his disciples. In verses 1 through 14, he shows himself to his disciples by the Sea of Galilee. During this time, immediately following the resurrection, we get this impression that Jesus was kind of like showing up and disappearing, showing up and disappearing. And the disciples were still not sure exactly what was going on and what all this meant. It all comes together later on, and we'll see that in the book of Acts. And they understand the church. They understand their role. They go out and, you know, spread the gospel. And so that comes in a little bit. But here they're kind of, they know Jesus has risen. They know he's the son of God. But they're still trying to figure out what all this means and how this impacts their life. And so they're hanging out one day, and Peter says, you know, I'm going fishing. And a few guys say, yeah, we'll go with you. And so it's Peter and Thomas and Nathaniel, James and John, and they go out fishing. They're fishing all night and they don't catch anything. and then some guy appears on the shore and says hey guys did you catch anything now we haven't caught anything we'll throw your net on the other side and then they catch this you know huge amount of fish that they're not able to pull it into the boat that it's more fish than they've caught before except for maybe the other time that jesus told them to cast their net on the other side at the beginning of his ministry and they caught a whole bunch of fish And so they realize that it's the Lord and they come up and then Jesus has breakfast with them and ministers to them. Well, during this breakfast, Jesus spent some time with Peter. In verse 15 through 23, he says, Simon, do you love me? Specifically in verse 15, he says, do you love me more than these? And we don't know exactly what Jesus was referring to when he said more than these. He could have been referring to the fish. He could have been referring to the boats. He could have been referring to the other disciples because it was a couple days earlier that Peter said, hey, even if all these other fools fall away, I'm never going to fall away. You know, I'm not going to deny you Jesus. And so Jesus now is saying, do you love me more than these guys love me? Or do you love me more than the things of this life and the occupation and the opportunities that you have? In other words, you know, regardless of whatever it is that he was referring to, Peter, do you love me? Am I the most important thing in your life? And Peter says, Lord, you know that I love you. And then Jesus asks him again. And he says, well, Lord, you know all things. And so you know that I love you. And Jesus asks him again. And it grieves Peter because, well, you can imagine the third time and his mind's, you know, making the connections. I denied Jesus three times. And now three times Jesus says, do you love me? And so Peter says, Lord, you know that I love you. And you see great restoration here. There's so much grace and mercy with God that even when we've messed up and denied the Lord, Here you see great restoration because here's what Jesus says. Feed my lambs. Do you love me? Yeah, yeah, you know I love you. Tend my sheep. He puts him to work. He gives him responsibility. He says, okay, here's your responsibility. Here's what you are to do. He restores Peter to ministry, to right relationship with him, and he calls him to go forward with God's plan for his life. He says, follow me. Now, as he's having this discussion with Peter, Peter looks back, he sees John. He says, well, what about that guy? Because Jesus is giving Peter here a glimpse of how he's going to die. And Jesus says, hey, if I want him to live until I come back, what does that matter to you? You follow me. Good reminder for all of us. You know, we often get stuck in that trap of comparing ourselves to one another and looking at each other. What about him or what about her? What does that matter to you? You follow Jesus. It doesn't matter if they have more blessings than you or more gifts than you or less gifts than you or whatever. You follow Jesus. That's what's most important and that's what Jesus tells Peter. Don't worry about him. You follow me and do what I've called you to do. You love me and feed my lambs and tend my sheep and feed my sheep. Well, John concludes the book in verse 24 and 25 saying, if everything that Jesus did was written, the world could not contain the books to account for all that Jesus did. Understand that Matthew, Mark, and Luke, again, the synoptic gospels, they record the life of Christ, right? There's a lot that they don't record though. It's not meant to capture every moment of everything that Jesus did. In fact, most of those gospels focus on just that final year of ministry of Jesus and then have a good portion towards the final week in the life of Christ. John, like half of his book is just focused on that final week in the life of Christ. Those final few days before his crucifixion. And so you can imagine there's much more that Jesus did. And if you consider beyond just what he did on this earth, then of course there's much, much more as well. He's just an incredible and amazing God who is always at work, who is gracious and merciful always. And blessing his people continually. So this is just a quick overview. I'm not going to go through all these. But Jesus is God. John makes it abundantly clear. In a variety of ways. 16 different ways. He lets us know. And many of these are repeated throughout the different chapters. So over and over again. We see that Jesus is God. This is not some obscure doctrine based on some minor technicality and you have to only focus on this one thing. No, John makes it abundantly clear. Jesus is God. He is equal to the Father. He is a member of the triune nature of God, the Godhead. He is God. And what is so important about that is, well, it's the gospel message. That Jesus, being God, became man. If Jesus was some good man or good prophet, but he wasn't God, then his sacrifice has little value. Even if he lived a really good life, his sacrifice has little value. But because he is God, his sacrifice has infinite value, and that's why he is able to pay for our sins. Well, I want to finish this evening and this gospel with a quick look at verse 7 here in John chapter 21. It says, As I was reading this this morning, I was considering it once again. It's something I always consider because it's a little bit unique in my mind anyways that Peter's out on the water, right? He's fishing. He hasn't caught anything. Jesus says, throw your net on the other side. He does. He gets all this fish. John says, it's the Lord. And then so Peter, he doesn't want to wait for the boat to get to the shore. He jumps in the water. But before he jumps in the water, he puts on his outer garment. So they would have, you know, an inner garment that they would have. But then they would have this outer garment. And so he took it off because he didn't want to get fish all over it and that kind of stuff, right? So he had taken off the outer garment. But now, before he jumps in the water, he puts it on. Now, how many of you put more clothes on before you jump in the water? It's not typical, right? You don't put on your shoes and then jump in the water. You take off your shoes and then jump in the water. You don't put on your jacket and then jump in the water. You take it off and then you jump in the water. And so it's always been, you know, intriguing to me that he put on his outer garment. And so as I was considering it again this morning, The Lord was ministering to me and reminding me the importance of a full commitment to Jesus. Here's my take on verse 7, at least this time around in the Gospel of John. Peter put on his outer garment because he had no intentions of going back to the boat. They didn't have clothes like you and I. They had a closet full. Usually they would have one outer garment, and that would be their outer garment. And that's why the Lord said, hey, when you take an outer garment and pledge... give it back to the person don't let him you know freeze at night and then you can get it back in the morning that they didn't have you know lots of changes of clothes uh like we do they had one outer garment and so it was precious to them and so peter i think as i'm looking at this this morning said i'm not coming back to this boat i'm not leaving anything but you know here to come back for it later i'm taking it with me and i'm going to jesus And I see this plunging in. He plunges into the sea. He just dives in. I'm going to be with Jesus and I'm not going back. And it was a reminder to me and I'll pass it on to you to plunge in. This is what the Lord desires from us. Put on your outer garment. Don't leave things back in, well, I'm going to go back to these other things that I used to do and other things that were also important to me and other things that, you know, distracted me or sin that held me down. Don't leave those opportunities. Don't, you know, make those avenues for you to go back to those old things. No, put on your outer garment and determine, decide now, I'm not going back that way. I'm not going back to those things. I'm not turning back. I'm going to plunge in. I'm going to dive in. I'm going to fully immerse myself in Jesus Christ. And I'm going to pursue Him. And He's going to be my passion. Because, well, He's the only one who's worthy of such devotion. Because He, being God, died upon the cross for my sin. And in Him, I have everlasting life. In Him, I have access to the Father. And in His name, I can pray and talk with the Father and know Him and have relationship with Him. And so I need to plunge in to be fully committed to Jesus Christ. As the song goes, I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back, no turning back. Let's pray. Lord, I pray that you would help us to have that same heart, that same mindset, Lord, that we would be fully committed, plunging into you. Not turning back. Not going back to the old things. Not going back to things that distracted us from you. Not going back to sins that bound us and entangled us and kept us from you. But Lord, help us to put on our outer garments. To plunge in. That we would be fully immersed. Fully devoted to you. To knowing you. To loving you. To walking with you. And to representing you to the world around us. Help us, God. Because you are God. And you gave yourself for us. So Lord, help us to give ourselves for you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.